French/Lessons/Introductory/Review

. G: The French alphabet CharactersAaBbCcDdEeFfGgHhIiJjKkLlMmPronunciationahbaysaydayuhehfzhayahsheezheekahehlehmCharactersNnOoPpQqRrSsTtUuVvWwXxYyZzPronunciation ehn oh paykewehrehstayewvaydoo-bluh-vayeeksee-grehkzehd In addition, French uses several accents which are worth understanding. These are: à, è, ù, (grave accents) and é (acute accent). A circumflex applies to all vowels: â, ê, î, ô, û. A tréma (French for dieresis) is also applied: ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ. Two combined letters are used: æ and œ, and a cedilla is used on the c to make it sound like an English s: ç. V: Basic phrases bonjour, saluthello (formal), hi (informal)Comment allez-vous ? (formal), Comment vas-tu ? (informal), Comment ça va ? / Ça va ? (informal) (lit: How you go/How it goes?)ça va (très) bienI'm doing (very) well (lit. It goes (very) well)mercithank youet toi ? et vous ?and you? (informal) and you? (formal)pas malnot badbienwellpas si bien/pas très biennot so wellcomme ci, comme ça so-soDésolé(e)I'm sorry.quoi de neuf ?what's up with you? (lit. what's new)pas grand-chosenot much (lit. no big-thing)au revoirbyeà demainsee you tomorrow (lit. at tomorrow)à plus tardsee you laterAu revoir, à demain.Bye, see you tomorrow V: Numbers un 1 une unité (a unity) deux 2   trois 3   quatre 4   cinq 5   six 6   sept 7   huit 8   neuf 9   dix 10 une dizaine (one ten) onze 11   douze 12 une douzaine (one dozen) treize 13   quatorze 14   quinze 15   seize 16   dix-sept 17   dix-huit 18   dix-neuf 19   vingt 20   vingt et un 21   vingt [deux - neuf] 22-29 trente 30   trente et un 31   trente [deux - neuf] 32-39   quarante 40   cinquante 50   soixante 60   soixante-dix 70   soixante et onze 71   soixante-[douze - dix-neuf] 72-79   quatre-vingts 80   quatre-vingt-un 81   quatre-vingt-[deux - neuf] 82-89   quatre-vingt-dix 90   quatre-vingt-[onze - dix-neuf] 91-99   cent 100 une centaine (one hundred) [deux - neuf] cents 200-900   deux cent un 201   neuf cent un 901   mille 1.000 un millier (one thousand) (un) million 1.000.000   (un) milliard 1.000.000.000   (un) billion 1.000.000.000.000   Things of note about numbers For 70-79, it builds upon "soixante" but past that it builds upon a combination of terms for 80-99 Only the first (21,31,41,51,61 and 71, but not 81 nor 91) have "et un" without a hyphen; but past this it is simply both words consecutively (vingt-six, trente-trois, etc.) with a hyphen in between. For 100-199, it looks much like this list already save that "cent" is added before the rest of the number; this continues up to 1000 and onward. V: Asking for the day/date/time Asking for the day. 1a Aujourd'hui c'est quel jour?Today is what day?(oh-zhur-dewee seh kehl zhoor) 1b Aujourd'hui c'est [jour].Today is [day]. 2a Demain c'est quel jourTomorrow is what day?(duh-ma(n) seh kehl zhoor) 2b Demain c'est [jour].Tomorrow is [day]. Asking for the date. 3a Quelle est la date(aujourd'hui)?What is the date(today)?(kehl eh lah daht) 3b C'est le [#] [month].It's [month] [#]. Asking for the time. 4a Quelle heure est-il? What hour/time is it? (kehl ewr eh-teel) 4b Il est quelle heure?(eel eh kehl ewr) 5 Il est [nombre] heure(s).It is [number] hours.(eel eh [nombre] ewr) V: Time In French, “il est” is used to express the time; though it would literally translate as “he is”, it is actually, in this case, equivalent to “it is” (unpersonal "il"). Unlike in English, it is always important to use “heures” (“hours”) when referring to the time. In English, it is OK to say, “It’s nine,” but this wouldn’t make sense in French. The French time system traditionally uses a 24-hour scale. Shorthand for writing times in French follows the format "17h30", which would represent 5:30PM in English. Quelle heure est-il ?What time is it?Il est une heure.It is one o’clock.Il est trois heures.It is three o’clock.Il est dix heures.It is ten o’clock.Il est midi.It is noon.Il est minuit.It is midnight.Il est quatre heures cinq.It is five past four.Il est quatre heures et quart.It is a quarter past four.Il est quatre heures quinze.It is four fifteen.Il est quatre heures et demie.It is half past four.Il est dix-neuf heures moins le quart.It is a quarter to seven, or six forty-five.Il est quatre heures trente.It is four thirty.Il est cinq heures moins vingt.It is twenty to five.Il est quatre heures quarante.It is four forty. V: The days of the week. French Pronunciation English Origin lundi /lœ̃di/ luh(n)-dee Monday (Moon) mardi /maʁdi/ mahr-dee Tuesday (Mars) mercredi /mɛʁkʁədi/ mehr-kruh-dee Wednesday (Mercury) jeudi /ʒødi/ zhur-dee Thursday (Jupiter) vendredi /vɑ̃dʁədi/ vah(n)-druh-dee Friday (Venus) samedi /samdi/ sahm-dee Saturday (Saturn) dimanche /dimɑ̃ʃ/ dee-mah(n)sh Sunday (Dies Domini) The days of the week are not capitalized in French. For phrases relating to the day of the week, see the phrasebook. Notes: What day is it today? is equivalent to Quel jour sommes-nous ?. Quel jour sommes-nous ? can be answered with Nous sommes..., C'est... or On est... (last two are less formal). Nous sommes... is not used with hier, aujourd’hui, or demain. C'était (past) or C'est (present/future) must be used accordingly. V: The months of the year French Pron. English janvier /ʒɑ̃vje/ zhah(n)-vyay January février /fevʁije/ fay-vree-yay February mars /maʁs/ mahrs March avril /avʁil/ ahv-reel April mai /mɛ/ meh May juin /ʒɥɛ̃/ zhoo-a(n) June juillet /ʒɥijɛ/ zhoo-ee-yeh July août /ut/ /u/ oot/oo August septembre /sɛptɑ̃bʁ/ sehp-tah(n)-br September octobre /ɔktɔbʁ/ ohk-toh-br October novembre /nɔvɑ̃bʁ/ noh-vah(n)-br November décembre /desɑ̃bʁ/ day-sah(n)-br December V: Relative date and time Times of Dayle lever du jourdaybreaklit:the rise of the dayle lever du soleilsunriselit: the rise of the sunle soleil levantrising sun.le matinmorning...du matinA.M., lit: of the mornnghier matinyesterday morningle midi noon, middayl'après-midi (m)afternoonle soirevening, in the evening...du soirP.M. lit: of the eveningle coucher du soleilsunsetla nuitnight Relative Daysavant-hierthe day before yesterdayhieryesterdayaujourd'huitodayce soirtonightdemaintomorrowaprès-demainthe day after tomorrow V: Seasons la saison /la sɛ.zɔ̃/ lah seh-zoh(n) season le printemps /lə pʁɛ̃.tɑ̃/ luh pra(n)-taw(n) Fr-printemps.ogg Spring l'été (m) /le.te/ lay-tay Summer l'automne (m) /lo.tɔn/ loh-tawn Autumn l'hiver (m) /li.vɛʁ/ lee-vehr Winter Dialogue A conversation between friends Une conversation entre amis Daniel Bonjour Hervé. Comment vas-tu ? Hello, Hervé. How are you? Hervé Je vais bien, merci. Et toi ça va ? I'm good,1 1 thank you. And you, it goes (fine)? Daniel Ça va bien. Est-ce que2 2 tu viens à mon anniversaire ? J'organise une petite fête. It goes well. You're coming to my party? I'm organizing a little party. Hervé C'est quand ? When is it? Daniel Le 3 mars à 20h. March 3 at 08:00 PM. Hervé Le 3 mars, entendu. Tu fais ça chez toi3 3 ? March 3, agreed. You're having it at your place? Daniel Oui c'est chez moi. J'ai invité une vingtaine d'amis. On va danser toute la nuit. Yes, it's at my place. I have invited (a set of) twenty friends. We4 4 are going to dance all night. Hervé C'est très gentil de m'inviter, merci. A bientôt. It's very nice to invite me, thank you. So long. Daniel A demain, bonne journée. Until tomorrow, good day. 1 1 Bien... is an adverb meaning well. Its adjective equivalent is bon(ne), which means good. Since je vais, meaning I go, uses an action verb, the adverb bien is used. In English, I'm good, which uses the linking verb am, is followed by an adjective rather than an adverb. 2 2 Est-ce que... doesn't mean anything (like the Spanish upside down question mark) and is used to start a question. This can be used in a similar manner to do in English. Instead of You want it?, one can say Do you want it? 3 3 chez... is a preposition meaning at the house of.... Chez moi is used to say at my place. Chez [name] is used to say at [name's] place. 4 4 on... can mean we or one. Review