French/Lessons/People and things

Les gens et les choses Qu’est-ce que c’est ? C'est une colombe. Voici les deux garçons ! Grammar Gender of nouns Genre des noms Nouns are words that represent something perceived or conceived, like an apple or a thought. In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender; that is, they are either masculine (m) or feminine (f). Most nouns that express people or animals have both a masculine and a feminine form. For example, the two words for the cat in French are le chat (m) and la chatte (f). However, there are some nouns that talk about people or animals whose gender is fixed, regardless of the actual gender of the person or animal. For example, la personne f the person is always feminine, even when it's talking about your uncle; le professeur m the teacher is always masculine, even when it's talking about your female professor or teacher. The nouns that express things without an obvious gender (e.g., objects and abstract concepts) have only one form. This form can be masculine or feminine. For example, la voiture the car can only be feminine; le stylo the pen can only be masculine. Grammar Common endings french-common-endings Masculine nouns -age le fromage the cheese -d le pied the foot -g le rang the rank -isme le matérialisme materialism -ment le mouvement the movement -n le ballon the balloon -r le professeur the teacher -t le chat the cat Feminine nouns -ce la grâce the grace -che la touche the touch -ée la durée the duration -ie la boulangerie the bakery -ion la nation the nation -ite/-ité la stabilité stability -lle la fille the girl -nce la balance the scales -nne la personne the person -ure la figure the figure Exceptions There are many exceptions to gender rules in French which can only be learned. There are even words that are spelled the same, but have a different meaning when masculine or feminine; for example, le livre m means the book, but la livre f means the pound. Some words that appear to be masculine (such as la photo, which should be masculine but is not because it is actually short for la photographie) are in fact feminine, and vice versa. Then there are some that just don't make sense; la foi is feminine and means faith or belief, whereas le foie is masculine and means liver. Vocabulary Example nouns le cheval /ʃəval/ Fr-un cheval-fr.ogg Oost-Fries Paard Lithografie 1898.png le chien /ʃjɛ̃/ Fr-chien.ogg Flat Coated Retriever - black.jpg le livre /livʁ/ Fr-un livre-fr-ouest.ogg Open book nae 02.svg la colombe /kɔlɔ̃b/ Fr-colombe.ogg Rock dove - natures pics.jpg la chemise /ʃə.miz/ Fr-chemise.ogg Blue Business Shirt.jpg la maison /mɛ.zɔ̃/ Fr-une maison-fr-ouest.ogg Go-home-2.svg Masculine nouns le cheval Fr-un cheval-fr.ogg /ʃəval/ the horse le chien Fr-chien.ogg /ʃjɛ̃/ the dog le livre Fr-un livre-fr-ouest.ogg /livʁ/ the book le bruit Fr-bruit.ogg /bʁɥi/ the noise Feminine nouns la colombe Fr-colombe.ogg /kɔlɔ̃b/ the dove la chemise Fr-chemise.ogg /ʃə.miz/ the shirt la maison Fr-une maison-fr-ouest.ogg /mɛ.zɔ̃/ the house la liberté Fr-liberté.ogg /li.bɛʁ.te/ the liberty Grammar Articles The definite article L'article défini In English, the definite article is always the. In French, the definite article is changed depending on the noun's: gender number first letter There are three definite articles and an abbreviation. Le is used for masculine nouns, La is used for feminine nouns, Les is used for plural nouns (both masculine or feminine), and L''' is used when the noun is singular and begins with a vowel or silent h (both masculine or feminine). It is similar to English, where a changes to an before a vowel. singular feminine la /la/ lah Fr-la.ogg la fille lah fee-yuh the daughter masculine le /lə/ luh Fr-le.ogg le fils luh fees the son singular, starting with a vowel sound l’ /l/ l’enfant lah(n)-fah(n) the child plural les /le/ lay Fr-les.ogg les filles lay fee-yuh the daughters les fils lay fees the sons les enfants lay-zah(n)-fah(n) the children Unlike English, the definite article is used to talk about something in a general sense, a general statement or feeling about an idea or thing. Elision Elision refers to the suppression of a final unstressed vowel immediately before another word beginning with a vowel. The definite articles le and la are shortened to l’ when they come before a noun that begins with a vowel or silent h. When pronounced, the vowel sound is dropped. (le) ami → l'ami lah-mee the (male) friend (la) amie → l'amie lah-mee the (female) friend (le) élève → l'élève lay-lehv the pupil (la) heure → l'heure lewr the hour, the time Elision does not occur on an aspired h: (le) héros: le héros the hero In addition to the definite article, elision will also occur with other words, such as que, je, le, ce, ne, and de. The details on these words will be covered in later sections of the book. The indefinite article L'article indéfini In English, the indefinite articles are a and an. Some is used as a plural article in English. Again, indefinite articles in French take different forms depending on gender and number. The articles un and une literally mean one in French. singular feminine une /yn/ ewn une filleune a daughter masculine un /œ̃/ uh(n) un fils a son plural des /dɛ/ deh des filles some daughters des filsdesfils some sons une une is often (more often than not) pronounced (ewnuh) in poetry and lyric. desfils Des fils does mean some sons, but is a homograph: it can also mean some threads (when pronounced like /fil/ feel). Some Note that des, like les, is used in French before plural nouns when no article is used in English. For example, you are looking at photographs in an album. The English statement I am looking at photographs. cannot be translated to French as Je regarde photographies. because an article is required to tell which photographs are being looked at. If it is a set of specific pictures, the French statement should be Je regarde les photographies. I am looking at the photographs. On the other hand, if the person is just browsing the album, the French translation is Je regarde des photographies. I am looking at some photographs. Plurality, pronunciation, and exceptions The plural of most nouns is formed by adding an -s. However, the -s ending is not pronounced. It is the article that tells the listener whether the noun is singular or plural. Most singular nouns do not end in -s. The -s is added for the plural form of the noun. Fils is one exception. Whenever the singular form of a noun ends in -s, there is no change in the plural form. le filsthe sonles filsthe sonsun filsa sondes fils(some) sonsle coursthe courseles coursthe coursesun coursa coursedes cours(some) courses The final consonant is almost always not pronounced unless followed by an -e (or another vowel). Fils /fis/ Fr-fils.ogg fees is also an exception to this rule. Liaison Remember that the last consonant of a word is typically not pronounced unless followed by a vowel. When a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word beginning with a vowel sound (or silent h), the consonant often becomes pronounced. This is a process called liaison. When a vowel goes directly after un, the normally unpronounced n sound becomes pronounced. (un) ami unnami Fr-ami.ogg uh(n)-nah-mee /ɶ̃‿na.mi/ a (male) friend(un) élève unnélève /ɶ̃‿ne.lɛv/ uh(n)-nay-lehv a pupil Compare the pronunciation to words without liaison: un garçon /ɶ̃ gaʁsɔ̃/ uh(n) gahr-soh(n) Fr-garçon.oggUne is unaffected by liaison. Liaison also occurs with les and des. (les) amis leszamis /le‿za.mi/ lay-zhah-mee (some) (male) friends (des) amis deszamis /dɛ‿za.mi/ deh-zhah-mee (some) (male) friends (des) amies deszamies /dɛ‿za.mi/ deh-zhah-mee (some) (female) friends As with elision, an aspired h isn't liaised: (les) hangars: les hangars le æŋgəʁ Vocabulary People Les personnes la personne Fr-personne.ogg lah pehr-sohn /la pɛʁ.sɔn/ person Gender and age l'homme (m) Fr-homme.ogg lohm /lɔm/ man la femme Fr-femme.ogg lah fahm /la fam/ woman le garçon Fr-garçon.ogg luh gahr-soh(n) /lə gaʁ.sɔ̃/ boy la fille Fr-fille.ogg lah fee-yuh /la fi.j/ girl la fillette Fr-fillette.ogg lah fee-yuheht /la fi.jɛt/ little girl Friends l'ami (m)le copain /la.mi/ lah-mee/lə kɔ.pɛ̃/ luh koh-pa(n) male friend l'amie (f)la copine /la.mi/ lah-mee/la kɔ.pin/ lah koh-peen female friend Vocabulary Expressions Qu’est-ce que c’est ? To say What is it? or What is that? in French, Qu’est-ce que c’est ? /kɛs kə sɛ/ kehs kuh seh is used. Qu'est-ce que…? What is it that ? is used often to say What…? at the beginning of sentences. To respond to this question, you say C’est un(e) [nom]., meaning It is a [noun]: C'est un livre. It's a book. Remember that the indefinite article (un or une) must agree with the noun it modifies: C'est une chemise. It's a shirt. Il y a Il y a /il.ja/ Fr-il y a.ogg eel-yuhah when spoken or eel-ee-ah in lyric or poetry is used to say there is or there are. Il y a expresses the existence of the noun it introduces. Il y a une pomme. There is an apple. The phrase is used for both singular and plural nouns. Unlike in English (is → are), il y a does not change form. Il y a des pommes. There are (some) apples. The -s at the end of the most pluralised nouns tells you that the phrase is there are instead of there is. In spoken French, when both the singular and plural forms almost always sound the same, the article (and perhaps other adjectives modifying the noun) is used to distinguish between singular and plural versions. A is the present third person singular form of the verb to have, and y is a pronoun meaning there. The phrase il y a, then, literally translates to he has there. This phrase is used in all French tenses. It is important to remember that verb stays as a form of have and not be. Voici and voilà Like in English, il y a… is not often used to point out an object. To point out an object to the listener, use voici /vwa.si/ Fr-voici.ogg vwah-see, meaning over here is/are or right here is/are, and voilà /vwa.la/ vwah-lah, meaning over there is/are, or there you have it''. Voici les deux garçons ! Here are the two boys! Examples C'est un chien. It's a dog. Il y a un problème. There is a problem. Il y a deux personnes ici. There are two people here. Il y a deux tables dans le salon. There are two tables in the lounge. Il n’y a pas de chat. There is no cat. il n’y a pas que toi. You are not the only one. Voici le fromage. Here's the cheese.Voila une pomme There's an apple. Exercises Respond according to the pictures. French/Exercise/Responses with c'est.ogg Qu’est-ce que c’est? C'est …. thumbnail|left|100pxpomme thumbnail|left|70pxpoire thumbnail|left|140pxchat thumbnail|left|90px chien thumbnail|left|100px|C'est une pomme thumbnail|left|70px|C'est une poire thumbnail|left|140px|C'est un chat thumbnail|left|90px|C'est un chien Matching Match each noun with its corresponding image. une colombe des livres une chemise des chevaux une maison 110px 80px 70px 110px 110px thumbnail|left|110px|une chemise thumbnail|left|80px|une maison thumbnail|left|70px|des livres thumbnail|left|110px|une colombe thumbnail|left|110px|des chevaux Translation Translate each phrase from English to French the boy le garçon the female friend l'amie, la copine the man l'homme the little girl la fillette the woman la femme the person la personne the girl la fille the male friend l'ami, le copain Translation Translate each phrase from French to English l'amie the female friend la fillette the little girl la personne the person la femme the woman l'ami the male friend la copine the female friend le garçon the boy la fille the girl le copain the male friend l'homme the man Exercises french-exercises Gender Classify each noun as masculine or feminine based on its ending. rapidité feminine mutisme masculine récréation feminine bricolage masculine paille feminine découpage masculine grenouille feminine gallicisme masculine robinet masculine différence feminine rondelle feminine optimisme masculine question feminine modernisme masculine vaisselle feminine paysage masculine ambulance feminine originalité feminine famille feminine sévérité feminine couronne feminine particularité feminine anarchisme masculine feuille feminine mobilité feminine télévision feminine oreille feminine panne feminine frite feminine ordonnance feminine professionnalisme masculine sincérité feminine invitation feminine passage masculine abeille feminine résolubilité feminine canne feminine attention feminine validité feminine bagage masculine coquillage masculine créativité feminine chance feminine monolinguisme masculine village masculine To be