être = to be Je suis (I am) Tu es (You are)

Transcription

1 Module 3: Qui suis-je? Lesson 3:00 La Culture: French Speaking Africa Did you know that French is the main language of many countries in Africa? Can you name three countries in Africa that speak French? 1) 2) 3) List two facts about French-speaking Africa 1) 2) Lesson 3:01 Être Helpful Hint: What is an infinitive? It s the base form of a verb. In English, we put to in front to be, to go, to swim, to run, etc. In French, it is the form given if you look it up in a dictionary. It s time to learn your first French verb!!! être = to be Je suis (I am) Tu es (You are) Singular Il (He is) Elle (She is) On Plural Nous (We are) Vous (You go) (You plural or formal when referring to older people or people you do not know very well or higher hierarchy) Ils [They are (masculine or mixed)] Elles

2 [One is, we are (informal)] [They are (feminine)] Imperative Commands (Command forms telling someone what to do) Sois! (tu form) Soyons! (nous form) Soyez! (vous form) When do I use être? Any tips on pronunciation? 1. When you want to describe what people or things are like, or to tell where they are, you will use être. EXAMPLE: 2. To tell people how to act, use sois, soyons, and soyez. EXAMPLE: 3. The final "t" of "est" and "sont" frequently is pronounced before a vowel sound. The final consonants of the other forms may also be pronounced in front of vowel sounds. EXAMPLE: Take some time to practice this in the lesson! Lesson 3.02: Le pluriel Le Pluriel des Noms Helpful Hint: In French, you usually cannot tell from the pronunciation of the noun whether it is singular or plural since the final "s" is not pronounced. How can you tell if a word is singular or plural? THE ARTICLE! Definite Articles Indefinite Articles Plural Masculine les livres des livres Plural Feminine les examens les chaises les affiches des examens des chaises des affiches

3 Pronounce the "s" of "les" and "des" like a " " before words that begin with a vowel sound. Helpful Hint: Remember: le, la and l become les in the plural. They all mean the. un and une become des in the plural. They mean a, an, and some. Changing nouns to plural: When you write, you will usually add an "s" to the noun to make it plural: EXAMPLE: la maison becomes Singular nouns ending in "eau" and "x": EXAMPLE: le bureau becomes Those ending in "al" change the "al" to "aux": EXAMPLE: l'hôpital becomes Those ending in "s" do not change: le mois = les mois EXAMPLE: le mois becomes Nouns with more than one word : EXAMPLE: la salle de classe becomes When you are identifying things, use ce sont before plural nouns: EXAMPLE: C est un crayon becomes des crayons. Take a minute to practice using plural nouns in the lesson. Lesson 3.03 Les Questions Some ways to ask questions in French Ways to ask Sample Questions Expected Results Vous allez en ville? Oui./Non. Raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the sentence. est-ce que (est-ce qu ) Est-ce que vous allez en ville? Oui./Non.

4 Vous allez en ville, n est-ce pas? Question words (+est-ce que) Qui va en ville? Où est-ce qu ils vont? (Agreement) Oui./Non. (Agreement) Oui./Non. Vocabulaire: Who? la bibliothèque la piscine English Où? French Helpful Hint: If people are mentioned by name, is often used without. Take some time to practice forming questions in French in the lesson. La Négation (Negatives) Look at how negatives are formed in French: Je suis = Je ne suis pas en ville. Nous sommes = Nous sommes en ville. Imperative = Ne sois pas en ville! soyez en ville! soyons en ville! Helpful Hints: To make a French sentence negative, put "ne" in front of the verb and "pas" after it. "Ne" becomes "n'" before a word beginning with a vowel or a vowel sound like the letter h which is always silent in French. EXAMPLE: When you want to tell someone not to do something, put "ne" in front of the command form and "pas" after it.

5 EXAMPLE: "Pas" can be used alone in short statements. EXAMPLE: Take some time and practice using LA NÉGATION in the lesson. Lesson 3.04: La famille Vocabulaire *** Be sure to include all accent marks. *** English This is my grandfather. These are my grandparents. This is my mother. This is my brother. I am my brother s sister. This is me. This is my uncle s family. There is my cousin. (male) There is my uncle. This is my son. This is my daughter. I am her mother. Do you have a brother? Yes, I have a brother. Non, I don t have a brother. C est ma grand-mère. Ce sont mes parents. C est mon père. Voilà ma cousine. Voilà ma tante. Je suis son père. French Est-ce que tu as un frère? Oui, j ai un frère. Non, je n ai pas de.

6 Est-ce que tu as une soeur? Yes, I have a sister. No, I don t have a sister. What s her name? Her name is Aimée. Her name is Marie. His name is Marcel. Comment s'appelle-t-elle? Elle s appelle Aimée. Il s appelle Marcel. Did you notice? You will see the word sister spelled soeur and sœur (notice how the oe are actually combined). Can you translate this conversation? Jean-Michel: Salut, ça va? ( ) Chantal: Oui. Où est-ce que tu vas? ( ) Jean-Michel: Je ne sais pas. Chez Alain ou chez Renaud. Et toi? ( ) Chantal: Moi. Je vais à la piscine avec Charlotte. ( ) Jean-Michel: Charlotte. C'est une copine? ( ) Chantal: Non. C'est ma sœur. Regarde, elle arrive. ( ) Jean-Michel: (très intéressé) Ah... Alors... Eh bien... dans ce cas moi aussi je vais à la piscine. ( ) Take some time to practice the new vocabulary in the lesson. Lesson 3.05 Les Adjectifs Did you notice? Comment êtes-vous? means What are you like? and not How are you?

7 Comment sont-ils? (What are they like?) English intelligent disagreeable a hypocrite sincere a snob funny shy poor rich polite They are neighbors. They are classmates. They are friends. This is an adorable cat. These are adorable cats. What s your friend like? What s your neighbor like? Very nice. her (his) [followed by plural word] French sympa/sympathique égoïste triste (s) bête sévère belle/jolie beau/joli C est un chien adorable. Comment est ton ami? Comment est votre voisine? Très aimable.

8 adorable your [followed by plural word] their [followed by plural word] not at all at/to your house er., uh. formidable don t be well, OK Why not? Pourquoi? because pal/friend to the contrary masculine feminine masculine: le camarade de classe feminine: la camarade de classe Helpful Hints: Syllables When you speak English, you put strong stress on different syllables within words and sentences. When you speak French, you should pronounce all syllables with the same amount of stress and with a fairly even rhythm. Practice speaking with an even rhythm and using pitch to form questions and statements. Did you notice? The French language is very musical because there are no stress marks on the words. All the syllables are pronounced at the same volume. All the words flow together and this is the reason why people say French is musical. Instead of stressed syllables, French sentences are divided into groups: noun groups, verb groups, and preposition groups. The last syllable of each group is pronounced at a higher pitch and the final syllable is pronounced at a lower pitch.

9 COLLABORATION ASSIGNMENT OPTION TWO You will need to complete only one collaboration each segment. Feel free to read these instructions so you know what to expect. There are four other options. Whenever you are ready to complete yours, you can submit it as assignment See your teacher s announcement page for more details on finding a partner. Lesson 3.06: Les Adjectifs Deux Adjectives are words that describe. In English we use adjectives like this: Marc is polite. Marc and Peter are polite. Sophie is polite. Sophie and Marie are polite. In English we use "polite" for all four sentences. It does not matter who we are describing. We do not make a change to "polite" according to who we are describing. But in French, adjectives must agree with what they are describing in (singular or plural) and (masculine or feminine). It helps to think of it as having the adjective "match" what it is describing. If what you are describing is masculine, the adjective must be in the masculine form. If what you are describing is plural, the adjective must be in the plural form. Let's go back to our example sentences in English. 1. Marc is polite. Marc is a male, so we use the masculine form of polite: Marc est poli. 2. Sophie is polite. Sophie is a female, so in French we use the feminine form of polite. We add an e for feminine: Sophie est polie. 3. Marc and Peter are polite. Marc and Peter are two males so we need to use the masculine plural form of polite. If the subject is a mixed group of males and females, you will also use the masculine plural form. We add an s for plural: Marc et Peter sont polis. Marc et Sophie sont polis. 4. Sophie and Marie are polite. Sophie and Marie are two females so we need to use the feminine plural form of polite. We add an e and an s for feminine plural:

10 Sophie et Marie sont polies.

11 Can you fill in the blank with the correct adjective? Masculine Feminine Singular Marc est. Plural Sophie est. Marc et Peter sont. Sophie et Marie sont. a) poli b) polies c) polis d) polie What if the masculine form ends in e? Many adjectives already end in an e in the masculine form. So for the feminine form we do not need to think about adding an e because it already ends in an e. So these adjectives are identical in the masculine and feminine forms. Let's look at the adjectives you have learned. Notice that for the adjectives in black, there is no difference in spelling between the masculine and feminine forms. These adjectives already end in an e in the masculine form so we do not need to worry about adding an e in the feminine.

12 The words in red do add an e for the feminine. Look at the words in green. This adjective is irregular and does not follow the rule either. But it also looks quite different in the masculine singular and plural forms. We need to memorize these spellings. We also have learned a few more adjectives which do not follow the rules of agreement. These adjectives are identical in all forms. Let's take a look: More about adjectives in French: In French, usually the adjectives come the noun they describe except if the adjective belongs to the acronym, then the adjective will come the noun. Each letter of the acronym represents a category of adjectives: B adjectives of (beau or belle) A adjectives of (vieux, jeune) N adjectives of (premier = 1st / deuxième = 2nd / troisième = 3rd) G adjectives of (bon mauvais) S adjectives of (grand petit)

13 Module Review for DBA: Here are the topics to review for your exam and DBA French-speaking Africa The verb "être" Plural nouns Asking Questions French Negation The family Adjectives The pronunciation of a, i, and u in French Adjective agreement