Lesson 2- Beginner

Vocabulary
Fiche didentit Identification form: Nom (de famille): last name Prnom: first name Age: age Nationalit: nationality Rsidence actuelle: current address Profession : profession Passe-temps prfrs : pastimes Questions personnelles Personal questions: Comment vous appelez-vous? : What is your name? Quel ge avez-vous ? : How old are you? Vous tes do ? : Where are you from? Quel est votre nationalit? : What is your nationality? O habitez-vous ? : Where do you live? Que faites-vous dans la vie? : What do you do for a living? Quels sont vos passe-temps prfrs ? : What are your favorite pastimes ? Mots interrogatifs Interrogative words: O ? : Where ? Quand ? : When ? Qui ? : Who ? Comment ? : How ? Quel / Quelle / Quels / Quelles ? : Which ? Pourquoi ? : Why ? Parce que : because

Lheure/ time (I)

Lheure/ time (II)

Grammar: nouns (I)

A noun is essentially a label for places, things, events, ideas, concepts and so on. Like English, nouns in French may be categorized as common or proper, count or mass, singular or plural. However, unlike English, French nouns are also categorized as either masculine or feminine. with capital letters. Count vs. mass Another way of classifying nouns is according to whether they can be counted or not. Count nouns identify individual entities that can be counted, like snails.

Common vs. proper Common nouns in English and French are the Ex: Un escargot, deux escargots = one snail, two generic term for something. Common nouns are snails. never spelled with a capital letter unless they begin a sentence. In contrast, a mass noun refers to an entity as an uncountable unit. Ex: Un escargot = a snail Ex: Je mange du pain = I am eating bread Proper nouns are specific names and thus begin

Grammar: nouns (II)

Unlike English, the grammatical concept of gender in French has little to do with biological sex. Therefore, inanimate objects such as tables and desks are categorized as either masculine or feminine (there is no neuter gender in French grammar). la table (feminine) le bureau (masculine) the table the desk

Remember that gender in French, for the most part, is not about sex, but is simply an arbitrary category. The terms 'masculine' and 'feminine' really mean nothing more than 'noun class A' and 'noun class B'. Because grammatical gender is fairly arbitrary, it is essential to memorize a noun's gender along with its spelling and pronunciation. Typically, words ending in -age, -ment, -eau, -phone, -scope, -isme are masculine and those ending in -tion, -sion, -t, -ette, -ance, -ence, -ie, -ure, -ode/-ade/-ude are feminine.

Grammar: nouns (III)

Masculine endings Le fromage Le monument Le sentiment Le couteau Le telephone Le microscope Le romantisme Cheese Monument Feeling Knife Telephone Microscope Romantism Feminine endings La salade Salad, lettuce La fourchette Fork La tlvision Television La culture Culture La situation Situation La socit Society La diffrence Difference La philosophie Philosophy

tre et avoir
Singular 1st person 2 person 3rd person
nd

Plural Nous (= We) Vous (= You) Ils/Elles (= They)

Je (= I) Tu (= You) Il/Elle (= He/She/It)

Le verbe tre : The verb tre is an irregular verb in the present tense. tre To be Je suis I am Nous sommes We are Tu es You are Vous tes You are Il/ Elle / On est He/ She / One is Elles sont They are Past participle : t Cest (It is) is a common expression used to describe and introduce people or things.

Le verbe avoir : The verb avoir is irregular in the present tense. Avoir To have Jai I have Nous avons We have

Tu as You have Vous avez You have Il/ Elle / On a He/ She/ One has Ils / Elles ont Ils / They have Past participle : eu Avoir, like tre, is used as an auxiliary in compound tenses. Besides ownership, the verb avoir expresses age in French, unlike the English equivalent, which used the verb to be.

Phonetics
Llision : Vowels which are replaced by an apostrophe in the writing system are said to be elided. Elision occurs in the context of a following vowel sound. In French, only the letter e is elided. Ex: Le petit enfant lenfant Lami de Pierre Lami dAlice La liaison : The pronunciation of a word in French varies depending on the words that precede or follow it. Ex: Trois femmes et Trois enfants / Des copains et des amis / Un franais et un amricain. The pronunciation of latent consonants (consonants that are normally not pronounced) before a following vowel is called liaison or linking. Liaison links two words with the sound /z/ (des amis) or with the sound /n/ (un amricain).

The End