nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int MICHEL THOMAS FRENCH (ADVANCED) COURSE, 4 CDs TRANSCRIPT. This is an approximate transcript of the course, since Michel often changed his mind in the middle of a sentence to be translated, or adapted his sentences for the students. The booklet that accompanied Michel's courses was wholly inadequate, so Thave written this transcript. Ihave found it useful, so maybe other people will, too. Naturally, it would be foolish to try to learn the language using this transcript, without buying the recordings. Note that English is my native language, so I don't guarantee that there are no mistakes. Tracks and track times in the recording are shown in brackets. Version 2, Jan 15th 2006 Transcribed by JK CD -1(75.26 (3.46 | want it now je le veut maintenant 1 don’t want them je ne les veux pas do you want it? le voulez-vous?, est-ce que vous Ie voulez? why do you want it now? pourquoi le voulez-vous maintenant? why don't you want it now? pourquoi ne le voulez-vous pas maintenant? 2.32 I don't know where itis je ne sais pas ot c'est I don't know what itis je ne sais pas ce que to explain éxpliquer can you explain to me what it is? pouvez-vous m’éxpliquer what do you want? qu'est-ce que vous voulez? ait do you want to do? qu'est-ce que yous voulez faire? ait do you want to say? qu'est-ce que vous voulez dire? what do you mean? qu'est-ce que vous voulez dire? T don't understand what you mean je ne comprends pas ce que yous voulez dire can explain to me what you mean? pouvez-vous m'éxpliquer ce que vous voulez dire? tha w st not what I mean ce n'est pas ce que je veux dire ait do you mean? qu'est-ce que vous-voulez dire? it means ga veut dire pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 1133nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int what does it mean? qu'est-ce que ga veut dire? T don't understand what it means je ne comprends pas ce que ¢a veut dire T want T'mgoing Twant it 1 don't want it T want some, I want some of it'en veux don't want any je n'en veux pas that’s not what I mean ce n’est pas ce que je veux dire 1 don't know what it means je ne suis pas ce que ga veut dire @) 4.00 there are many people here ily a beaucoup de monde ici (monde is used in a general sense for "a lot of people") everybody knows where itis tout le monde sait oi c'est nobody knows where it is, nobody can find it personne sait ot ¢ trouver but everybody wants to see it mais tout le monde veut le voir Thave it T don't have it Twant it est, personne peut le 1 don't want it T want them. T don’t want them T don’t want anything je ne veux rien 1 don't want it T don't want any offi je n'en veux pas 1 don't want it I don’t want them, T don't want any je n'en veux pas (4) 2.03 I don’t understand it je ne le comprends pas T don’t understand anything je ne comprends rien never T never understand what he wants je ne comprends jamais ce que il veut Tnever know je ne sais jamais T know I don't know I don't know anything Tnever know (’not...any more" is ne..plus) pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnants wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int I don't know any more je ne sais plus T don't understand him any more je ne le comprends plus (8) 4.45 I'm going to see it je vais le voir to it, there y T'm going there j'y vais T would like to go there je voudrais y aller but I cannot go there now mais je n'y peut pas y aller maintenant because I'm busy parce que je suis oceupé I'm very busy now je suis trés occupé maintenant T would like to go there je voudrais y aller with you with him with her with them avee eux I'm going to see him tonight and I'm going to give him his book je vais le voir ce soir et je vais lui donner son livre T'm going to see her tonight and I'm going to give her her book je vais la voir ce soir et je vais lui donner son livre Tm going to tell him je vais lui dire T'm going to tell her je vais lui dire Will you tell him voulez-vous lui di can you tell her? pouvez-vous lui dire? to them leur will you tell them voulez-vous leur dire Will you give them the book voulez-vous leur donner le livre (0.82 the book le livre the pound la livre (2351 to them leur their leur to bring apporter Will you bring them their book voulez-vous leur apporter leur livre T'm going to send him the money je vais lui envoyer argent I'm going to send her the money je vais lui envoyer 'argent I'm going to send them money je vais leur envoyer argent T'm going to send the money to him je vais envoyer l'argent & lui T'm going to send the money to her je vais envoyer l'argent & elle T'm going to send the money to them je vais envoyer l'argent & eux pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 33nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int (8) 6.20 I'm going to send it to him je vais le lui envoyer T'm going to send it to her je vais le lui envoyer (ifyou have two pronouns that both begin with I- then le, la abvays comes before lui, leur. Any pronouns that don't begin I- come first, such as vous le "it - to you" T'm going to send it to you je vais vous l'envoyer I'm going to send it to him je vais le lui envoyer T'm going to send them to her je vais les lui envoyer T'm going to send them fo her je vais les envoyer & elle I'm going to send them to Paris je vais les envoyer 4 Paris I'm going to write a etter to them je vais leur éerire une lettre T'm going to send themo her I'm going to send them to him T'm going to send them to them will you send it to me voulez-vous me lenvoyer, voulez-vous l'envoyer 4 moi cannot tel it to you now because I don't know it je ne peux pas vous le dire maintenant parce que je ne le sais pas (9) 3.38 (verbs are in four groups, ending -er, -ir, -re, -oir) the power le pouvoir the duty le devoir that is your duty c'est votre devoir homework les devoirs (eighty percent of verbs end -er. Verbs can be thought of as belonging to two groups: -er verbs and non -er verbs) (10) 3.48, (welll talk now about -er verbs) to speak (ve can think of conjugated verbs belonging to two boxes, a long and short box. The long box consists of "we" and "you") you speak vous parlez we speak nous partons (all others are in the short box. Cut off the -r from the infinitive. They all sound the same, and the final consonant is sounded e.g. je parle, il parle) T speak je parle Tam ready je suis prét Tam eating je mange I don't speak je ne parle pas to stay we are staying nous restons pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int you are staying vous restez how long are you staying? combien de temps restez-vous? how long are we staying? combien de temps restons-nous? ay 1.19 (for the imperative, just drop vous) stay! restez!, restez ici! dont stay! ne restez pas! we are staying (for “let's” imperative, just drop nous) ket’s stay! restons! let's stay here! restons ici! kkt’s speak French! parlons francais! speak French with me! parlez frangais! don't speak English now! ne parlez pas anglais maintenant (12) 4.01 Tmstaying Tmnot staying everybody is staying tout le monde reste nobody is staying personne reste my fiiend is staying mon ami reste itis ready c'est prét itis staying ga reste it is not staying ga ne reste pas he is staying il reste they are staying ils restent cent is silent as the verb ending for "they") itis special c'est spécial specially spécialement normal normally possible possibly certain certain certain certainment (for -ent and -ant words, you must contract) evident évident evidently évidemment constant constant constantly constamment (13) 6.57 pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int to begin wwe are starting ket’ start! at what time are we starting? at what time are you starting? start now! dont start now! Start a litle later! ne commencez pas maintenant! Commences un peu plus tard! I don't understand 1 don’t understand anything T don't understand any more je ne comprends plus itis ready itis starting now everybody is starting ny fiend is starting my fiends mes ami my fiiends are starting mes ami commencent ny ftiends are arriving tonight mes ami arrivent ce soir to kave we are kaving let's keave! at what time are you leaving? at what time are we leaving? dontt eave to prepare préparer he is preparing it ile prépare they are preparing it ils les préparent he is not accepting it il ne 'aceepte pas he doesn't accept the condition il n'accepte pas la condition everybody is ready everybody is starting my fiends are starting mes amis commencent ny fiends are arriving mes amis arrivent ny fiiends are leaving mes amis partent they are leaving ils partent to sell vendre they are selling it ils le vendent to wait attendre they are waiting ils attendent they are waiting for me ils m'attendent pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnants wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int yy fiends are waiting for me mes amis m'attendent wait! Wait a moment! attendez! attendez un moment! ket’ don't wait! n'attendez pas! they are waiting for you ils vous attendent (14) 3.50 (For non -er verbs: don't sound the final consonant of the infinitive stem in the short box, except for "they" forms) Tam waiting jtattends he is waiting il attend they are waiting ils attendent everybody is leaving tout le monde part Tmleaving je pars they are leaving ils partent to sleep T'msleeping je dors he is sleeping il dort everybody is sleeping tout le monde dort ny fiends are sleeping mes amis dorment she is sleeping elle dort to serve servir he is serving the dinner il sert le diner they are serving the dimer at seven o'clock ils servent le diner & sept heures one is serving the dimer at seven o'clock on sert le diner & sept heures (15) 2.16 dinner is being served at seven o'clock on sert le diner 4 sept heures wwe are very comfortable here on est trés confortable ici, nous sommes trés confortable ici we are leaving soon on part bientdt, nous partons bientdt wwe are going to leave soon on va partir bientot, nous allons partir bientat (16) 1.11 ‘we are going to start soon on va commencer bientdt, nous allons commencer bientat, on commence bientdt, nous commencons bientat we can start now on peut commencer maintenant; nous pouvons commencer maintenant we mus 7131 to feel sentir Tfeeliit je le sens they feel it ils le sentent wait here! attendons ici! ut on doit commencer; nous devons commencer pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 73nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int he feeks itil le sent (to make a distinction in French between "I feel something" and "I feel fine", "I don't feel well” use "I myself feel") 1 feel fine je me sens bien T don't feel fine je ne me sens pas bien (18) 3.29 better mieux T feel better je me sens mieux (note comparitive and superlative: good-better-best is bon-meilleur-le meilleur but well-better-best is bien-mieux-le mieux) this wine is better than the other ce vin et meilleur que l'autre itis the best wine of the house ¢’est le meilleur vin de la maison 1 feel fine je me sens bien T feel better je me sens mieux maintenant 1 feel much better now je me sens beaucoup mieux maintenant (sentir bon means "to smell", not "to feel good") it smells good ga sent bon (19) 1.38 T'msleeping je dors he is sleeping il dort one is skeeping on dort they are sleeping ils dorment (for -er verbs, you drop the -r from the infinitive in the short box to leave -e, or -ent for "they". For non -er verbs, the short box is je —s, il ~t, ils ~ent) todo Tmdoing je fais T'mnot doing it je ne le fais pas he is doing it ile fait one is doing it on le fait one is not doing it that way on ne le fait pas comme ga (that also means "it is not being done that way") (20) 1.25 itis making a big difference that way ga fait une grande différence comme ga (english nouns ending -ence are the same in French, and are la) it doesn’t make much difference ¢a ne fait pas beaucoup de différence how much time combien de temps I don’t have much time je n'ai pas beaucoup de temps (21) 2.20 itis too ite c'est trop tard you're going too fast vous allez trop vite pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int itis too much 'est trop to work trayailler he is working too much il travaille trop to take prendre itis taking too much time ¢a prend trop de temps itis taking too much time like that ga prend beaucoup trop te temps comme ga itis much too much e'est beaucoup trop itis much too much for me c'est baucoup trop pour moi itis taking much too much time that way (22) 1.40 T'mtaking it je le prends he is taking il le prend (it is not spelled prendt because -t is not added to a"a" or "t") he doesn't understand me il ne me comprend pas everybody is waiting for me tout le monde m'attend yy fiends are waiting for me mes amis m'attendent (23) 1.55 (for -ir verbs, in the short box, you drop the consonant that you don't sound. The endings are still -s and -t, though) Tam sleeping je dors everybody is sleeping tout le monde dort ny fiends are sleeping mes amis dorment T feel it je le sens dinner is being served on sert le diner (24) 1.32 to put T'm putting it on the table je le mets sur la table he is putting it on the table il le met sur la table where are you putting it? oft le mettez-vous? put the book on the table please mettez le livre sur la table, s'il vous plait dont put it here! ne le mettez pas (25) 2.27 to start start now! dont start! ket’ start! let’s not start! let's wait! ket’s not wait! let's put the book on the table mettons le livre sur la table pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int on the floor par terre let's not put it on the floor ne le mettons pas par terre don{t put iton the floor! ne le mettez pas par terre! (in a positive command, the pronoun goes after the verb) put it here! mettez-le (end of recording) CD 2(76.07) (3.47 dont put it there ne le mettez pas I Tam putting it here je le mets ici ‘we are putting it here nous le mettons ici dont put ithere ne le mettez pas ici put it here mettez-le don't put it there ne le mettez pas Ia put them on the table mettez-les sur la table don't put them on the floor ne les mettez pas par terre T'mcalling you je vous appelle you are being called on vous appelles call me later! appelez-moi plus tard! don't call me today, call me tomorrow ne m'appeler pas aujourd'hui appelez-moi demain wait for me! attendez-moi! (an alternative to this imperative is a polite form using voulez-vous) Will you wait for me voulez-vous m'attendre? wait for me! don't wait for me ne m'attendez pas 2) 139 you have to wait for me vous devez m'attendre Cone has to wait for me on doit m’attendre wait for me don't wait for me @)3.14 Iwill do it je le ferai Thave he has they have ils ont to eave pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 1039nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int Twill eave je partirai he will kave il partira they will eave ils partiront we will leave nous partirons you will eave vous partirez (4) 3.56 (there are a few exceptions in the future tense, but they concern stems and not endings. For example -oir verbs contract) to be able pouvoir Iwill be able je pourrai to have to devoir Twill have to je devrai wwe will have to leave soon nous devrons partir bientdt; on devra partir bientot Twill have it je Paurai wwe will have it nous laurons Twill know je saurai Twill tel you later je vais dirai plus tard Twill write to you je vous éerirai Twill do it je le ferai he won't do itil ne le fera pas he won't tell you why he won't do itil ne vous dira pas pourquoi il ne le fera pas (8) 0.55 to put I will put it here je le mettrais ici (all English composite verbs ending -mit come from the French mettre) to commit commettre to omit omettre to permit permettre to submit soumettre to promise promettre I promise je promets I promise you je vous promets (6) 1.03 I will put it here je le mettra Twill take itje le prendrai I won't understand him je ne le comprendrai pas he will sell it il le vendra he's seling itil le vend they're selling it ils le vendent (247 pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 3nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int to come Tam coming je viens they are coming ils viennent they are coming from Vienna ils viennent de Viennes it is coming ga vient itis going to come ga va venir Twill come je viendrai wwe will come nous viendrons to come back revenir I will come back je reviendrai they will come back soon ils reviendrent bientt wwe will come back soon nous reviendrons bientot wwe are going to come back soon nous allons revenir bientat (8) 3.03 to be Gtre Iwill be je serai he will be il sera they willbe ils serent we will be nous serons you will be vous serez (the French verb aller is irregular because it comes from three separate Latin verbs) T'mgoing he is going they are going ils vent they're going to be here soon ils vent étre ici bientdt they will be here tonight ils vent @tre ici ce soir; ils serent ici ce soir (9) 231 it wor't be possible to do it that way ce ne sera pas possible de le faire comme ga it wor't be necessary to do it today ce ne sera pas nécessaire de le faire aujourd'hui it will take too much time that way ga prendra trop de temps comme ¢ it will take too much time ga prendra trop de temps it's a pleasure to see you ¢a me fait plaisir de vous voir I enjoy very much seeing you ga me fait grand plaisir de vous voir Twill enjoy seeing you ga me fera plaisir de vous voir (this means "I'm looking forward to seeing you") (10) 2.07 T'mgoing he's going theyre going pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 83nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int wwe are going you're going they're going to come with us ils vent venir ave nous, Twill go jirai he will go ilira we will go nous irons they will go ils irent you will go vous irez Twill go there j'y irais ‘we will go there tonight nous y irons ce soir (11) 2.06 (there are three ways in French fo express the future tense) I will call you tomorrow je vous appellerai demain; je vais vous appeller demain; je vous appele demain I will call you next week je vous appele la semaine prochaine (12) 2.46 (in the long box, there is a single exception for nous and three exceptions for vous) wwe are nous sommes you are vous @tes you are doing, you are making vous faites you are saying, you are telling vous dites what are you doing? qu'est-ce que vous faites? what are you saying? qu'est-ce que vous dites? I don't understand what you're saying je ne comprends pas ce que vous dites tell me! dites-moi! don't tell me, I don't want to know it ne me dites pas, je ne veux pas le savoir don't tellit to me ne me le dites pas dont tellit to him ne le Iui dites pas dont tellit to her ne le Iui dites pas (13) 2.03 (the key to the short box is the sound of the Ist person je) nobody knows where it is personne sait of c'est everybody wants to see it tout le monde veut le voir nobody can find it personne peut le trouver everything must be ready today tout doit ¢tre prét aujourd'hui (whereas the key to the long box is the infinitive of the verb) nobody knows we know nous sayons (14) 2.50 (prendre, comprendre, apprendre, rependre all lose -d- in nous, vous, ils) pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 1939nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int ‘we understand nous comprenons you understand vous comprenez do you understand? comprenez-vous? do you understand it? le comprenez-vous? do you understand me? me comprenez-vous? we are taking it nous le prenons why don't you take it? paree que ne le prenez-vous pas? they take ils prennent they don't understand it ils ne le comprennent pas (15) 1.59 (there are three irregular verbs in French) Thave jtai he has il a they have ils ont 1 go je vais he's going il va they're going ils vent wwe have nous avons you have vous avez we are going nous allons you are going vous alllez Tamje suis he is il est they are ils sont ‘we are nous sommes you are vous étes where are they? oti sont-ils? they are not there ils ne sont pas la (la also means "to be in, to be home") they are not in ils ne sont pas Ii he's not in il n'est pas la (16) 1.04 (faire is also irregular in the "they" form) they are ils sont they have ils ont they are going ils vont they are doing, making ils font they are doing it ils le font they are not doing it ils ne le font pas they are not in ils ne sont pas Ii pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt wsnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int (17) 4.03 (for the past tense, use avoir. So, "I bought it" becomes "I have bought it") er verbs now end é, both sound the same) I spoke jai parlé he spoke il a parlé did you speak? avez-vous parlé? wwe didn't speak with him nous n'ayons pan parlé avec lui when did you speak with him? quand avez-vous parlé avec lui? did you buy something? avez-vous acheté quelque chose? what did you buy? qu'est-ce que vous avez acheté? he prepared a dinner il a preparé un diner the film has started le film a commencé (18) 2.31 aleady deja stil, stil more encore I would like another cup of cofite je voudrais encore une tasse de café a litle more encore un peu not yet pas encore we haven't started yet nous n'avons pas encore commencé the film has started le film a commencé the film has started akeady le film a commencé déja ago ily a ten minutes ago ily a dix minutes two days ago ily a deux jours (19) 6.32 Thave it T don't have it Thave them T don’t have them Thave some, I have some oft jten ai I don't have any je n'en ai pas (in the past tense, all the pronouns come before the verb) T bought it je 'ai acheté 1 didn't buy it je ne lai pas acheté T bought them je les ai acheté 1 didn't buy them je ne les ai pas acheté T bought some for you jen ai acheté pour vous 1 didn't buy any today because I didn't find any je n'en ai pas acheté parce que je n'en ai pas trouvé how many did you buy of them? combien en avez-vous acheté? pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 1909nants wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int where did you buy them? od les avez-vous acheté? to forget oublier 1 forgot where I bought them j'ai oublié of at what time did you call? & quelle heure avez-vous appelé? at what time did you call me? A quelle heure m'ayez-vous appelé? she called me this moming elle m'a appelé ce matin why did you call me? pourquoi m'avez-vous appelé? why didn't you call me? pourquoi ne m'avez-vous pas appelé? I called them je les ai appelé I called him je l'ai appelé T called her je I'ai appelé I called you je vous ai appelé 1 didn't call you je me vais ai pas appelé to ask Tasked you je vous ai demandé 1 didn't ask you je ne vous ai pas demandé why did you ask me? pourquoi m'ayez-vous demandé? why didn't you ask me? pourquoi ne m'ayez-vous pas demandé? (20) 3.14 (re verbs take -u in past tense) I sold it je Vai vendu why did you sell it? pourquoi 'avez-vous vendu? why didn't you sell them? pourquoi ne les avez-vous pas vendu? he sold themil les a vendu les ai acheté wwe sold some nous en avons vendu T waited j'ai attendu I waited for you je vous ai attendu you didn't wait for me vous ne m’avez pas attendu why didn’t you wait for me? pourquoi ne m'ayez-vous pas attendu? (ir verbs take -i in the past tense) we finished nous avons fini at what time did you finish? & quelle heure avez-vous fini? he skept il a dormi we slept well nous avons bien dormi bad, badly mal he skept very badly il a mal dormi 1.49 (instead of avoir, you can use a construction involving étre) he prepared the dimer il a preparé le diner dinner is prepared le diner est preparé pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 1899nants wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int he sold itil 'a vendu everything is sold tout est vendu nothing is sold yet rien est vendu encore one served the dinner on a servile diner ved le diner est servi dinner is s (22) 3.24 (a few verbs are a regular in the past tense.For example comprendre etc becomes compris etc) understood compris service inched servie compris service is included le service est compris service is not inchided le service n'est pas compris did you understand? avez-vous compris? did you understand it? est-ce que vous I'avez compris? did you understand me? mavez-vous compris? why did you not understand me? pourquoi ne m'avez-vous pas compris? T understood you je vous ai compris T understood you well je vous ai bien compris T understood you very well je vous ai trés bien compris (prendre becomes pris) Ttook them je les ai pris Took some of it fen ai pris why did you take them? pourquoi les avez-vous pris? why didn't you take them? pourquoi ne les avez-vous pas pris? (apprendre becomes appris) Tleamed j'ai appris I kamed something today j'ai appris quelque chose aujourd'hui (i'ai appris also means "I found out") (23) 2.48, (mettre becomes mis) where did you put it? of Yavez-vous mis? where did you put them? oi! les avez-vous mis? 1 forgot where I put them j'ai oublié od je les ai mis to admit admettre to omit omettre to permit permettre to promise promettre (promettre becomes promis) I promise you je vous ai promis 1 did not promise you je ne vous ai pas promis hpihuvageccites wsfjockane7EStreadyshtr 3nants wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int you promised me vous m'avez promis I promised him je lui ai promis itis promised c'est promis (24) 5.18 (three more: faire becomes fait, dire becomes dit, écrire becomes écrit) he is doing it il le fait he did itil 'a fait (English -ct verbs come from French) the fact le fait the object l'objet the subject le sujet he is doing iti Ie fait he did itil 'a fait itis done c'est fait 1 didn't do it je ne I'ai pas fait why did you do it? pourquoi l'avez-vous fait? why didn't you do it? pourquoi ne l'avez-vous pas fait? he did itil 'a fait itis done c'est fait he didn't do itil ne 'a pas fait he told me ill m'a dit Ttold you je vais ai dit 1 didn't tell you je ne vous ai pas dit you told me vous m'avez dit why didn’t you tell me? pourquoi ne m'avez-vous pas dit? I wrote to you je vous ai éerit why didn’t you write to me? pourquoi ne m'avez-vous pas why didn't you call me? pourquoi ne m'avez-vous pas appelé? itis written c'est écrit one told me on m'a dit (in English, this would be "I was told") T called you this moming je vous ai appelé ce matin why didn’t you buy them? pourquoi ne les avez-vous pas acheté? (25) 4.05 ais Thad jtavais Twas very busy he was here to they were ils étaient who was there? qui était 1a? ‘étais trés oceupé pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 139nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int nobody was there personne était la Twas there j'étais 1a Twas very busy j'étais trés oceupé it was ready e'était prét Twas there but it wasn't ready yet j'étais I mais ce n'était pas prét encore last night hier soir who was there with you last night? qui était lA avee vous hier soir? yes I was there but nobody was there oui 'étais IA mais personne était li ‘we were nous étions you were vous étiez (26) 1.23 (whenever you have -ais in the short box, the full set of endings are always -ais -ait -aient (short) -ions -iez (long) ) Thad jtavais he had il avait they had ils avaient we had nous avions you had vous aviez wwe had a plane nous avions un avion 27) 0.42 everything is sold tout est vendu everything was sold tout était vendu everything will be sold tout sera vendu (because after any form of avoir or étre, you always dive i.e. use -é-i -u!) (28) 1.19 T would like je voudrais he would like il voudrait they would like ils voudraient everybody would like to see it tout le monde voudrait le voir ny fiends would like to go there mes amis voudraient y aller we would like nous voudrions you would like vous voudriez (29) 1.09 (ais, -rait, -raient, -rions, -riez express "would" and can be used with any verb) (end of recording) CD 3(74.12 (3.1 pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt s939nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int (wwill” and "would" use the same contractions, i.e. "Iwill have" j'aurai "I would have" j'aurais) Twill have jfaurai he will have il aura they will have ils aurent wwe will have nous aurons you will have vous aurez T would have j'aurais he would have il aurait they would have ils auraient ‘we would have nous aurions you would have vous suriez T would have it je 'aurais we would have it nous 'aurions we would have them nous les aurions we would have brought them nous les aurions acheter Twas j'étais he was il était he had il avait he would have il aurait he will have il aura 2.48 oir verbs in the past tense end -u e.g. voir becomes vu) I saw it je Pai vi if had seen it si je Vavais vu if had seen it I would have bought it si je lavais vu, je aurais acheté (savoir becomes su) if had known it si je avais su T would have told you je vous aurais dit if had known it, I would have told you si je 'avais su, je vous aurais dit ifyou had told me, I would have seen it and I would have bought it si vous m'aviez dit, je Vaurais vu et je laurais acheté maviez @)3.19 he wouldn't wait il n'attendrais pas you wouldn't wait vous n’attendrions pas we wouldn't wait nous n'attendrions pas (so "would" is -rais etc, and "would have" is therefore aurais etc) he would sellit il le vendrait he would have sold it il 'aurait vendu 1 did it je Vai fait pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int 1 didn't do it je ne I'ai pas fait why did you do it? pourquoi 'avez-vous fait why didn't you do it? pourquoi ne I'avez-vous pas fait? Told you je vous ai dit 1 didn't tell you je ne vous ai pas dit you didn't tell me vous ne m’avez pas dit why didn't you tell me? pourquoi ne m'avez-vous pas dit? (42.07 was était étions étiez had avait avions aviex would have aurais aurions auriez Twas busy j'étais oceupé he was not here il n'était pas i who was there last night? qui était Id hier soir? nobody was there personne était li Twas there with my friend but you were not there j’étais IA avee mon ami mais vous n’étiez pas la Twas very busy and I didn't have the time to do it était trés occupé et je n'avais pas le temps de le faire (6) 1.38 (avoir becomes eu, savoir becomes su, pouvoir becomes pu, devoir becomes du, voir becomes vu) did you see? avez-vous vu? did you see it? Pavez-vous vu? where did you see me? ot m'avez-vous vu? Twas there last night but I didn't see you j'@tais Ia hier soir mais je ne vous ai pas vu where were you? oli étiez-vous? 1 didn't see you je ne vous ati pas vu (1.48 (the three steps on the diving board are: at the top "would have" aurais (conditional), in the middle "had" avais (perfect past tense) and at the bottom "have" ai (past tense) ) Thad jtavais T would have j'aurais T saw it je Yai vu had avais aviez avions would have aurais auriez aurions T saw it je Yai vu if had seen it si je Vavais vu T would have seen it je 'aurais vu pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 21188nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int and I would have tokd you why I didn't buy it at je vous aurais dit pourquoi je ne Iai pas acheté 131 he told me that you wouldn't do itil m'a dit que vous ne le feriez pas Thad j'avais ifyou had told it to me, I would have known it si vous me I’aviez dit, je 'aurais su (8) 5.55 (with a handful of French verbs, you don't dive from the low diving board. e.g. "I was" is not "Ihave been" but j'étais) wwe were nous étions you were vous étiez Thad jtavais T would have j'aurais if had had si 'avais eu Twas j'étais been été summer 616 summer fashion mode d’été summer dress mode d'6té Thad been jfavais été if had been there, I would have seen it sijfavais été la, je Taurais vu you would have seen it if you had been there last night vous l'auriez vu si vous aviez 616 i hier soir (of course, you don't "dive" after a handle verb) you can vous pouvez T could je pouvais they could ils pouvaient nobody could wait personne pouvait attendre we could nous pouvions you could vous pouviez was était étiez étions had avait aviez azions could pouvait pouviez pouvions 9) 1.30 had to (ie. must) devais devions deviex he had to wait il devait attendre one had to wait on devait attendre wwe had to wait nous devions attendre T wanted je voulais (10) 4.33 pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int he had to wait il devait attendre (don't confuse "had" and "had to") you have to wait vous devez attendre (and, "you have to wait" = "you must wait", but "you don't have to wait" is not "you mustn't wait" but "you don't need to wait") to need avoir besoin you don't have to wait vous n'avez pas besoin d'attendre you don't have to give it to him vous n'avez pas besoin de le lui donner you don't have to need to give it to me vous n'avez pas besoin de me le donner (139 ("Will" usually expresses the future, but not always) Will you tell me? voulez-vous me dire? when will you tell me? quand me dirais-vous? (12) 2.53 was had could pouvais pouviex pouvions had to devais deviez devions wanted voulais vouliez voulions 1 didn't want to do it je ne voulais pas le faire he didn't want to tell me il ne voulais pas me dire T knew je savais 1 didn't know je ne savais pas nobody knew where it was, nobody could find it personne savais oil c'était personne pouvait le trouver was had could wanted had to knew (these are the few cases where you don't dive) (13) 2.24 (that applies to the simple past. For "had" of course you must dive) T knew where it was je savais ot 'était if had known where it was I would have told itto you si 'avais su oi c"était, je vous Vaurais dit T wanted to buy it je voulais l'acheter (vouloir becomes voulu) if had wanted to have it, I would have bought it sij'avais voulu lavoir, je l'aurais pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 2308nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int acheté (14) 3.49 (there is one more handle: aller. In the past, use ais) Iwas going j'allais Twas going to do it 'allais le faire I wasn't going to tell you je n’allais pas vous dire 1 didn't know you were going to come today je ne savais pas que vous alliez venir aujourd'hui you didn't tell me that you were going to be here this affemoon vous ne mavez pas dit que vous alliez @tre ici cet apré's-midi ‘we were going to eave today nous allions partir aujourd'hui (15) 1.58 ifyou had called me this morning and ifyou had told me that you were going to arrive today, I would have waited for you and we would have had dinner si vous m'aviez appelé ce matin et si vous m'aviez dit que vous allicz arriver aujourd'hui, je vous aurais attendu et nous aurions diné (16) 3.08, Tam going to do it je vais le faire Twas going to do it 'allais le faire wwe are going to do it nous allons le faire ‘we were going to do it nous allions le faire you are going to do it vous allez le faire you were going to do it yous alliez le faire he is going to do itil va le faire he wasn't going to do itil n'allais pas le fai wwe are going to leave nous allons partir we were going to eave nous allions partir you didn't tell me that you were going to arrive today vous ne m'avez pas dit que vous alliez arriver aujourd'hui (17) 5.00 (so the w-ing tenses "I was (go)ing, they were (go)ing - can be used with any verb. In French, the -ing verb is an -ais, -ait verb) Tam staying je reste was staying je restais ‘we were staying here nous restions ici he is waiting for me il m'attend he was waiting for me il m’attendait ‘we were waiting for you nous vous attendions we are waiting for you nous vous attendons he is leaving il part pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 2088nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int he was leaving il partait ‘we were leaving nous partions (the w-ing tense is used more in French than in English. The w-in tense expresses a straight line in the past, e.g. "I was doing it" je le faisais) Twas doing it je le faisais Twas telling it je le disais to read lire Twas reading je lisais to write éerire Twas writing j Twas doing it je le faisais (in French, this straight line could also be a broken line, meaning in English "used to do it" or "I did it repeatedly (every day, very often) ) Tused to do it je le faisais 1 did it (continuous line) je Vai fait 1 did it every day (broken line) je le faisais tous les jours 1 did it often (broken line) je le faisais trés souvent he prepared it this moming il I'a preparé ce matin he prepared it (every day), he used to prepare itil le preparais (18) 3.03 er verbs can usually be guessed from the English equivalent. -ir verbs are a closed book - no new verbs will ever be added, the same for -oir verbs) (19) 2.49 Gir verbs have two branches. The one we have been using is finished - no new verbs will be added. The other branch is "living", implying going, becoming, growing, getting - ie. movement. e.g. finir "to go to the end" or "to finish". These are conjugated differently from other -ir verbs - you just drop the -r from the infinitive) I finish je finis he is finishing il finit (-ss- is used in all the plurals) we finish nous finissons you finish vous finissez they finish ils finissent (20) 2.26 (will now give some French -ir verbs. Try to work out what they mean) to grow (grow big) grandir the child is growing l'enfant grandit the children are growing les enfants grandissent to blush, tum red rougir you are blushing! vous rougissez! rrivais pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 25108nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int to tum pale palir you are going pale vous palissez to grow old vieill he is growing old il vieillit they are growing old ils vieillissent to grow young again, rejuvenate rajeunir (21) 2.12 to land atterir wwe are kinding in a few minutes nous atterissons dans quelque minutes to land on the water (seaplane) amerrir to land on the moon alunir (in French you don't literally say "land on the water" or "land on the moon" since it is not logically possible) (22) 4.32 (now talking about a family of verbs ending -vrir e.g. ouvrir or -frir e.g. offrir. They behave as -er verbs, except the past participle. e.g. ouvert means "open" and opened") T opened it je "ai ouvert itis open, itis opened c'est ouvert (also couvert "covered", découvert "discovered", offert "offered") I offered it to you je vous lai offert 1 offered it je Iai offert 1 offered it to him je le lui ai offert (23) 3.29 (use of tu - it is in the short box and follows the sound of "I", except for three verbs where it follows the sound of "he") you have tu as you are going tu va you are tues (tu as an object is te) what are you saying? qu'est-ce que tu dis? Tam telling you je te dis (24) 3.07 T'mdoing it je le fais T don't do it je le fais pas (for "I have been doing it for/since", use present tense plus depuis "since") he has been working here for a long time il travaille ici depuis longtemps déja (25) 2.08, ifyou had been here last night he would have seen it and you would have bought it si vous aviez été ici hier soir, vous 'auriez va et vous l'auriez acheté pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int everything his sold tout est vendu everything was sold tout était vendu everything will be sold tout sera vendu everything would be sold tout serais vendu everything would have been sold tout aurait été vendu (26) 1.25 (will now give three master keys to unlock the door to 19 tenses. Key #1: -ing. Lam waiting, Ihave been waiting, Iwas waiting, Iwill be waiting (Iwill wait), I would be waiting (I would wait) ) (end of recording) CD 4 (76.28 (1) 6.36 (note that in English, you can use -ing by itself or after a preposition, without expressing a tense, e.g. "he left without saying a word, seeing is believing voir c'est croire, understanding everything is forgiving everything tout comprendre c'est tout pardonner, leaving is dying a little partir c'est mourir un peu) (2) 5.33 (Key #2: -r- will or would have) (Key #3: two diving towers, to have and to be, after which there is no place else but to dive) (these are the nineteen cases) he is selling the house ill vend la maison he was selling the house il vendait la maison he sold the house il a vendu la maison he has been selling the house for a long time ill vend la maison depuis longtemps the house is sold la maison est vendu the house was sold la maison était vendu the house has been sold la maison a éte vendu he will sell the house il vendra la maison he is going to sell the house il vais vendre la maison the house will be sold la maison sera vendu the house is going to be sokd la maison va étre vendu he would sell the house il vendrait la maison the house would be sold la maison serait vendu if had sold the house si 'avais vendu la maison ifthe house had been sold si la maison avait été vendu he would have sold the house il aurait vendu la maison, pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 288nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int the house would have been sold la maison aurait été vendu he will have sold the house il aura vendu la maison the house will have been sold la maison aura été vendu @) 1.29 we would be very busy noun serions trés oceupé he would be ready nous serions préts we would have been ready nous aurions été préts (4434 (for some French verbs, you dive from the étre tower, not the avoir tower. For verbs of coming and going, use étre) T went to see it je suis allé le voir ‘we went nous sommes allé he went il est allé they went ils sont allé you went vous @tes allé where did you go? oft @tes-vous allé? 1 didn't go je me suis pas allé he came with us il est venu avec nous he came back il est revenu we came back nous sommes revenu at what time did you come back? & quelle heure they came back ils sont revenu he didn't come back yet il n'est pas encore revenu (8) 6.43 (actually, there is a going group and a coming group. The going group is aller "to g0", sortir "to go out", partir "to leave") ‘we went out list night nous sommes sorti hier soir where did you go? oft @tes-vous allé? he left a few minutes ago il est parti il ya a quelque minutes (the going group is venir, revenir, retourner, arriver) we arrived nous sommes arrivé at what time did you arrive? quelle heure étes-vous arrivé? he didn't arrive yet il n'est pas encore arrivé (there's a third group which includes going and coming, e.g. entrer) he came ini est entré (and also rentrer to re-enter (i.e. the home) ) at what time did you come home last night? & quelle heure he didn't come home yet il n'est pas encore rentré (also monter to go up, come up) I went up je suis monté étes-vous revenu? vous rentré hier soir? pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt 28188nantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int ‘we went up nous sommes monté they came up ils sont monté (also descendre to go down, come down) I went down je suis descendu he came down il est descendu (and one more which is neither coming nor going, rester to stay) I stayed je suis resté how long did you stay? combien de temps étes-vous resté? wwe didn't stay long, we left right after dinner nous ne sommes pas resté longtemps, nous sommes parti toute suite aprés le diner and we went to the cinema et nous sommes rentré trés tard (61.38 (monter expresses any motion up: bringing up, carrying up etc. In any sense except "going up", "coming up", monter uses avoir. This also applies to descendre) the bellboy went up and he brought up my suitcase le gargon est monté est il a monté ma valise he came down il est descendu and he brought down my suitcase et il a descendu ma valise (6.14 to lift up lever Tmiifting it up je le leve T'm getting up je me leve wwe are getting up nous nous levons you're getting up vous vous levez he is getting up il se Ive they are getting up ils se event she is getting up elle se leve everybody is getting up tout le monde se léve nobody is getting up personne se lve itis getting up ga se eve you are getting up tu te eves heavy lourd | cannot lif it up because it’s too heavy je ne peux pas le lever parce que c'est trop lourd Will you lft it up please? voulez-vous le lever s'il vous plait? can you lft it up? pouvez-vous le lever? lift it up! levez-le! dont lift it up, itis very heavy ne le levez pas, c'est trés lourd T'm getting up je me leve get up please! levez-vous! pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int don't get up ne vous levez pas T'm going to get up soon je vais me lever bientot ‘we are going to get up soon nous allons nous lever bientdt one is going to get up on va se lever (8) 2.12 to hury se dépécher T'm hurrying je me dépéche to be ina hury étre pressé T'mina hury je suis pressé T'm hurrying because I am in a hury je me dépéche parce que je suis pressé wwe are hurrying because we are in a hurry nous nous dépéchons parce que nous sommes pressé humry up because we are in a hurry dép@chez-vous parce que on est pressé (9) 4.02 toask T'masking you je vous demande Twas asking you je vous demandais Tasked you je vous ai demandé to call to call back rappeler Will you call me back voulez-vous me rappeler T call you back later je vous rappelle plus tard T call you back tomorrow je vous rappelle demain T'm going to call you back je vais vous rappeler I will call you back je vous rappelerais to remember se rappeler I don't remember je ne me rappelle pas to ask Tmasking you je vous demande Task myself, I wonder je me demande Twas wondering why je me demandais pourquoi Tasked you je vous ai demandé (10) 3.33 (reflexive verbs always dive from the étre tower) T lifted it up je Vai lever 1 got up je me suis levé (this applies even when you make a non-reflexive verb reflexive) totell I say to myself je me dis Ttold you je vous ai dis pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int I said to myself that it cannot be done that way je me suis dit que ¢2 ne peut pas faire comme ga T'm hurrying je me dépéche Twas hurrying je me dépéchais Thurried je me suis dépéché wwe hurried nous nous sommes dépéché T wondered why je me suis demandé pourquoi (1) 3.42 (the subjunctive tense isn't used as much in English as much as in French, e.g. you must be here. It is absolutely necessary that you be here. The subjunctive expresses doubt or uncertainty. It is always used after certain expressions implying doubt e.g. clest nécessaire que, il faut que) (12) 3.12, I must ask you il faut que je vous demande (all -er verbs are the same as the present in the short box. In the long box, they end -ions -iez) you must say il faut que vous restiez ‘we must kave now il faut que nous partions mantenant you must start now il faut que vous commenciez maintenant ‘we must stay here il faut que nous restions i he must stay il faut que je reste (13) 4.57 T'm speaking je parle T'mleaving je part (so in the short box, -er verbs sound the final consonant and non -er verbs don't. In subjunctive, all verbs sound the final consonant in the short box, following the form of "they") itis necessary that I eave il faut que je parte T must wait il faut que jfattende T must finish il faut que je finisse ‘we must finish il faut que nous finissions you must finish il faut que vous finissiex itis necessary that you put it on the table here il faut que vous le mettiez sur la table ici he must put it here il faut quril le mette ici T must tell you il faut que je vous dise T must read itil faut que je le lise T must write to you il faut que je vous écrive you must write to me il faut que vous m'écriviez (14) 4.28 pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt susnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int (in English, whenever you say "I want you to" or "do you want me to", in French you say "I want that you..." followed by the subjunctive) T want you to stay here with me je veux que vous restiez ici avee moi what do you want me to tell you? qu’est-ce que vous voulez que je vous dise? T would like you to tell me je voudrais que vous me disiez T want you to read it je veux que vous le lisiez T want you to write to me je veux que vous m'écriviez they come ils viennent do you want me to come with you? est-ce que vous voulez que je vienne avec vous? at what time do you want me to leave? A quelle heure voulez-vous que je porte? where do you want me to put it? oi1 voulez-vous que je le mette? they take ils prennent do you want me to take it? voulez-vous que je le prenne? (15) 8.22 (there are four one-syllable exceptions, where "they" is not the key to the subjunctive) Tamje suis that I be que je sois that we be que nous soyons at what time do you want me to be here tonight? & quelle heure voulez-vous que je sois ici ce soir? I would lke you to be ready je voudrais que vous soyez prét Thave jai that I have que jtaie that we have que jayons to be sois soyez soyons to have aie ayez ayons 1 go je vais that I go jraille do you want me to go there with you? voulez-vous que j'y aille avec vous at what time do you want me to go there? quelle heure voulez-vous que j'y aille that we go nous allions that you go nous allie T would like you to go there with me je voudrais que vous y alliez avee moi tobe to have to go aille allions alliez that I do je fasse that we do nous fassions what do you want me to do? que'st-ce que vous voulez que je fase? pina geocites wsockane7EStready srtnantes wu gooctes.wsjookana76Streac int what do you want me to tell you? qu’est-ce que vous voulez que je vous dise? why don't you want me to do it? pourquoi ne youlez-vous pas que je le fase? what do you want me to tell him? qu'est-ce que vous voulez que je lui dise? I don’t want you to do it je ne veux pas que vous le fassiez why don't you want me to do it? (16) 2.59 (v0 more exceptions: savoir becomes sache, sachions, sachiez) T must know it il faut que je le sache ‘we must know it il faut que nous le sachions T would lke you to know it je voudrais que vous le sachiez (the other is pouvoir which becomes puisse. This comes from the old form pui only used now in the question puis.je? "can I, may I?") it's important that he may see it c'est important qu'il puisse le voir (17) 2.22 (past subjunctive is very easy - just use avant que..., oF:) before I leave avant que je parte Tlefije suis parti before I lefl avant que je sais parti before we start avant que nous commencions before we started avant que nous ayons commencé (18) 3.12, (end of recording) pina geocites wsockane7EStready srt s09