French/Lessons/Weather

Le temps Grammar At À french-at The preposition à /a/ Fr-à.ogg means at or in: Nous sommes à la maison. We are at home. Il est à l'hôtel. He is at the hotel. The contraction au /o/ Fr-au.ogg is used in place of à le (singular): Je suis au bar. I am at (in) the bar. Likewise, the contraction aux /o/ Fr-aux.ogg is used in place of à les (plural). Dialogue Is it going to rain? Mireille: Il fait beau temps ! It is fine weather ! Monique: Il va pleuvoir aujourd'hui ? Is it going to rain today? Monique could also use the question form instead of the intonation given above: Est-ce qu'il va pleuvoir aujourd'hui ? (Pronounced eh-skeel) or Va-t-il pleuvoir aujourd'hui ? Mireille: Non, il ne va pas pleuvoir, il fera beau. No, not raining, it will be sunny. Monique: Très bien ! Allons au parc ! Very well! let's go to the park. Marcelle: Apporte un parapluie, au cas où il pleuvrait. Bring an umbrella in case it rains. Similar to English, pleuvoir is an impersonal verb: it has only a third-person singular conjugation: il pleut (present) il va pleuvoir or il pleuvra (future) il pleuvrait (conditional). Grammar Negation Négation In order to say that one did not do something, the ne … pas construction must be used. The ne is placed before the verb, while the pas is placed after. Formation and rules Simple negation is done by wrapping ne … pas around the verb: Je ne porte pas mon manteau. I am not wearing my coat. In a past tense, ne … pas surrounds the auxiliary verb, not the participle: Je n'ai pas porté mon manteau. I did not wear my coat. When an infinitive and conjugated verb are together, ne … pas usually surrounds the conjugated verb: Je ne veux pas porter mes gants. I do not want to wear my gloves. Ne pas can also precede the infinitive for a different meaning: Je veux ne pas porter mes gants. I want not to wear my gloves. Ne precedes any pronoun relating to the verb it affects: Je ne les porte pas. I am not wearing them. In spoken French, the ne can be omitted, leaving simply pas after the verb in context: Je sais pas qui vous êtes. I do not know who you are. Examples Il est avocat.Il n'est pas avocat. He is [a] lawyer.He is not [a] lawyer. Nous faisons nos devoirs.Nous ne faisons pas nos devoirs. We are doing our homework.We are not doing our homework. Je joue du piano.Je ne joue pas du piano. I play the piano.I do not play the piano. Vous vendez votre voiture.Vous ne vendez pas votre voiture. You sell your car.You do not sell your car. Negation of indefinite articles The indefinite articles un, une, and des change to de (or d’) when negating a sentence. J'ai un parapluie.Je n'ai pas de parapluie. I have an umbrella.I don't have an umbrella. J'ai des bottes en caoutchouc.Je n'ai pas de bottes en caoutchouc. I have some wellington boots.I don't have any wellington boots. Examples Il est belge.Il n'est pas belge. He is Belgian.He is not Belgian. Nous lisons un livre.Nous ne lisons pas de livre. We read a book.We do not read a book. Je mange une cerise.Je ne mange pas de cerise. I eat a cherry.I do not eat a cherry. Vocabulary Common weather Quel temps fait-il ? How's the weather? le soleil Fr-soleil.ogg luh soh-lehyuh /lə sɔ.lɛj/ sun le ciel Fr-ciel.ogg luh syuhehl /lə sjɛl/ sky Ébloui par le soleil /e.blu.i paʁ lə sɔ.lɛj/ ay-bloo-ee pahr luh soh-lehyuh Dazzled by the sun (example: coming into the sun from indoors) Warm weather Il fait beau. It's fine/nice. Il fait chaud. It's warm/hot. Le ciel est dégagé.Le ciel se dégage. The sky is clear.The sky is clearing up. Le soleil brille The sun is shining Cloudy weather le nuageIl y a des nuages Fr-nuage.ogg newahzh /nɥaʒ/ cloudIt's cloudy nuageux(-euse) /nɥa.ʒø/ newah-zhew) cloudy l'éclaircie (f) sunny spell (in clouds) Cold and windy weather Il fait froid eel feh fwah It is cool/cold Il fait trop froid eel feh troh fwah It is too cold le ventIl y a du ventLe vent souffle. Fr-vent.ogg vah(n) /vɑ̃/ windIt's windy.The wind blows la rafale /ʁafal/ gust of wind Note that le temps means both the weather and the time. Grammar To go Aller The verb aller is translated to to go. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -er verb). Formation aller /a.le/ (ah-lay) Fr-aller.ogg to readje vais /vɛ/ (vay) Fr-Paris--vais (je).ogg I gotu vas /va/ (vah) Fr-Paris--vas (tu).ogg you goil va /va/ (vah) Fr-Paris--va (il).ogg he goesnous allons /a.lɔ̃/ (ah-loh(n)) Fr-Paris--allons.ogg) we govous allez /a.le/ (ah-lay) you goils vont /vɔ̃/ (voh(n)) Fr-Paris--vont (ils).ogg they goallé /a.le/ gone Usage There is no present progressive tense in French, so aller in the present indicative is used to express both I go and I am going: Où est-ce que tu vas? Where are you going? Aller must be used with a place and cannot stand alone. In addition to meaning at or in, the preposition à /a/ Fr-à.ogg means to when used with aller: Je vais à Paris. I am going to Paris. Je vais au bureau. I am going to the office. Tu vas à l'école ? You're going to school? Near future Futur proche An infinitive preceded by aller is used to say that something is going to happen in the near future: Il va pleuvoir demain. It's going to rain tomorrow. Il va faire froid. It's going to be cold. Je vais aller au magasin. I will go to the store. Recall that the negative goes around the conjugated verb. Il ne va pas pleuvoir demain. It's not going to rain tomorrow. Grammar There y french-there In place of a preposition and place, the pronoun y /i/, meaning there, can be used; y comes before the verb: J'y vais. I'm going there. Nous allons au Mexique. Nous y allons. We are going to Mexico. We are going there. Remember that aller must be used with a place (there or a name) when indicating that you are going somewhere, even if a place wouldn't normally be given in English. The negative form of aller with the y pronoun has both the verb and pronoun enclosed between ne and pas: Il n'y va pas. He's not going there. Vocabulary Expressions french-aller-expressions Allons-y ahlon-zee Let's go Ça va ?Comment allez-vous ? sah vah)(koh-mah(n) tahlay-voo How are you? Allez ! Come on! encouragement vas-yallez-y go ahead; go on On y va ! Let's get going! On y va ? Should we go? Vocabulary Rain and snow La pluie et la neige Rainy weather la brume Fr-brume.ogg /bʀym/ fog, haze, mist le brouillard Fr-brouillard.ogg /bʀujaʀ/ fog la bruine Fr-bruine.ogg /bʁɥin/ drizzle une goutte de pluie a drop of rain la pluieLa pluie tombe. rainThe rain falls. Il pleut.Il a plu.Il va pleuvoir. It's raining.It rained.It's going to rain. pluvieux(-euse)Le temps est pluvieux. rainyIt's raining. l'averse (f) Fr-averse.ogg /a.vɛʁs/ shower Snowy weather la neigeIl neige. Fr-neige.ogg /nɛʒ/ snowIt's snowing. la grêleIl tombe de la grêle. Fr-grêle.ogg /gʀɛl/ /ɡʁɛl/ hailIt's hailing. Extreme weather un orageorageux(-euse)Il y a un orage! Fr-orage.ogg /ɔʁaʒ/ a stormstormyThere's a storm! l'éclair (m)la foudre Fr-éclair.ogg /e.klɛʁ/Fr-foudre.ogg /fudʁ/ flash (of lightning)lightning la tempête Fr-tempête.ogg storm, tempest le tonnerre Fr-tonnerre.ogg thunder Dialogue Exercises The house Travel