Yer Verbs
March 15, 2011 § Leave a comment
These verbs are regular ‘er’ verbs, except that for the je, tu, il, and ils forms in present tense, one changes the ‘y’ to an ‘i’.
payer – to pay (for)
envoyer – to send
nettoyer – to clean
essayer (de) – to try (to)
essuyer – to wipe
balayer – to sweep
renvoyer – to send back, to fire
appuyer – to push
employer – to use, to employ
ennuyer – to annoy, to bore
aboyer – to bark
se noyer – to drown
To conjugate these verbs;
a. drop the er
b. add the ending to match the subject
c. for the je, tu, il, and ils forms, change the ‘y’ to ‘i’
payer
| je paie | nous payons |
| tu paies | vous payez |
| Il paie | ils paient |
essuyer
| j’essuie | nous essuyons |
| tu essuies | vous essuyez |
| il essuie | ils essuient |
Je paie à la caisse. I’m paying at the cashier
Sophie essuie le comptoir – Sophie’s wiping the counter
Nous nettoyons notre chambre – We’re cleaning our room
Porter vs. Mener
March 7, 2011 § Leave a comment
Pizza à emporter – take-out pizza
Porter means to carry. Mener means to lead. One uses forms of porter when talking about taking or bringing things. One uses forms of mener when talking about taking or bringing people. The prefix ‘a’ indicates bringing toward, the prefix ’em’ indicates taking away.
apporter – to bring
emporter – to take
porter – to carry
amener – to bring
emmener – to take
se promener – to walk
mener – to lead
Commands
March 6, 2011 § Leave a comment
When one is doing a command, one is directing another person to do something. The audience is either one person (tu), a group of people (vous) , an unknown audience (as in written instructions such as a recipe), or ourselves (let’s do _____). For each of these audiences, we conjugate the verb according to the audience.
1. for a basic command to another person, conjugate the verb for “tu”. For regular ‘er’ verbs, and for aller, drop the ‘s’. *the only irregular verbs are savoir, être, and avoir – the conjugations for them are listed at the very bottom of the page*
listen – écoute
pay attention – fais attention
eat your dinner – mange ton dîner
wait – attends
2. for a basic command for vous, conjugate the verb for ‘vous’. There are no changes for ‘er’ verbs nor for aller.
listen – écoutez
do your homework – faites vos devoirs
wait – attendez
3. when the audience is unknown, as in instructions, leave the verb in the infinitive form
prepare a sauce with lemon juice, oil, salt, and pepper – préparer une sauce avec le jus de citron, l’huile, du sel, et du poivre
peel and chop the onion – peler et hacher l’oignon
4. Let’s ________!
let’s dance – dansons
let’s go – allons-y
let’s eat – mangeons
| pronoun | être | avoir | savoir | vouloir |
| tu | sois | aie | sache | |
| nous | soyons | ayons | sachons | |
| vous | soyez | ayez | sachez | veuillez |
Chapter 3 Vocabulary
March 6, 2011 § Leave a comment
les courses et les distractions
to attend (a show) – assister à un spectacle
to deposit money – déposer de l’argent
to borrow a book – emprunter un livre
to go shop – faire les magasins
to window shop – faire les vitrines
to eat with friends – manger avec des amis
to forget – oublier
to take photos – prendre des photos
to go out – sortir * (way irregular)
to see a play – voir une pièce d théâtre
a painting – un tableau
pour indiquer le chemin
(prepositions are listed under prepositions post)
stuck, squeezed into – coincé
to go straight ahead – aller tout droit
to turn (to the left, to the right) – tourner (à gauche, à droite)
to cross – traverser
a bridge – un pont
pour se déplacer en ville: les transports
a bus stop – un arrêt d’autobus
heavy traffic – la circulation intense
a traffic jam – une embouteillage
a traffic signal – un feu de signalisation
a crowd (of people) – une foule (de gens)
rush hour – les heures de pointe
the subway – le métro
the station platform – le quai
the side of the platform – la voie
public transportation – les transports (m) en commun
a train car – un wagon
to get out of a taxi – descendre d’un taxi
to get on a bus – monter dans un autobus
to obey the rules – obéir aux règles
to wear a helmet – porter un casque
to take a train – prendre un train
to go by car – rouler en voiture
to go fast – rouler vite
to park in a no parking zone – stationner dans une zone interdite
to use a city map – utiliser un plan
se promener en ville
to go by foot – aller à pied
to be patient – avoir de la patience
to stroll – se balader
to go someplace – se déplacer
to obey a flashing sign – obéir au signal lumineux
to think of *- penser à
to think of (have an opinion of) – penser de
to look both ways – regarder dans les deux sens
to risk – risquer
pour faire des achats
I’ll take (two) of them – j’en prends (deux)
which one? – lequel? laquelle?
full of options – plein(e) d’options
to cost – coûter
to ask (for) – demander
to save money – faire des économies
a choice – un choix
mineral water – l’eau minérale
the euro – l’euro
a flower – une fleur
a daisy – une marguerite
a brand – une marque
a medication – un médicament
a style – un modèle
a cell phone – un portable
the price – le prix
a foreign product – un produit étranger
a detective novel – un roman policier
a novel – un roman
a stamp – un timbre
a salesman – un vendeur
a saleslady – une vendeuse
the wine – le vin
quand
each time – à chaque fois
at the time of – au moment de
in the early morning – au petit matin
from time to time – de temps en temps
while – pendant que
all the time – tout le temps
mots et expressions utiles
it’s convenient – c’est commode
okay, agreed – d’accord
in style – à la mode
a gourmet dinner – un dîner gastronomique
it is necessary – il faut
no parking – stationnement interdit
everyone together, all together – tous ensemble
Quantities and Some
March 5, 2011 § 1 Comment
Some – an unspecified quantity of something = du, de la, de l’, and des
part of something masculine – du
part of something feminine – de la
part of something that starts with a vowel – de l’
some plural – des
some cake – du gâteau some ham – du jambon
some jam – de la confiture some ice cream – de la glace
some orange – de l’orange some onion – de l’oignon
some grapes – des raisins some strawberries – des fraises
Fixed quantities are diffferent. There is no article for the noun, so the ‘de’ stays ‘de’.
beaucoup de – a lot of, much, many
plus de – more
moins de – less
pas de – not any
trop de – too much
assez de – enough
peu de – few, a little bit of
tant de – so many, so much
pas mal de – a lot of
une tasse de – a cup of
un tas de – a pile of
un morceau de – a small piece of
un panier de – a basket of
un verre de – a glass of
une bouteille de – a bottle of
un bol de – a bowl of
une part de – a piece of, a part of
un morceau de – a small piece of
une lamelle de – a super thin slice, a sliver
une boîte de – a can of
une boîte de – a box of
un pot de – a jar of
une tranche de – a slice of
une cannette de – a can of (Coke, beer)
A glass of water – un verre d’eau
a jar of jam – un pot de confiture
a cup of tea – une tasse de thé
a bowl of soup – un bol de soupe
more coffee – plus de café
too much candy – trop de bonbons
Extra Info from Class March 2
March 3, 2011 § Leave a comment
What does _________ mean? Que veut dire …….?
How does one say ______________? Comment dit-on_____________?
What happened? Qu’est-ce qui est arrivé?
What’s going on? Qu’est-ce qui se passe?
What happened? Qu’est-ce qui s’est passé?
here – ici
there (as in over there) – là
ONE (as in one can buy) – on
Vouloir in conditional – “would like”
| je voudrais – I would like | nous voudrions – we would like |
| tu voudrais – you would like | vous voudriez – you would like |
| il voudrait – he would like | ils voudraient – they would like |
Y – there (replaces prepositional phrases)
shopping phrases
how much is … – c’est combien …? (ex. c’est combien le boeuf?, c’est combien le beurre?)
how much is it all together? – ça fait combien?
it is price per quantity – 20 francs le kilo OR 8 francs la livre – 20 francs per kilo OR 8 francs per pound
anything else? – autre chose?
and with this? – et avec ça?
this is all, that’s all? – c’est tout?
nothing else, thank you – rien d’autre, merci
this is everything – c’est tout
supplemental words for chapter 13
to park a car – garer une voiture
a parking lot – un parking
a parking space – une place de parking
to stay (in a hotel) – loger
Acheter
March 3, 2011 § Leave a comment
Acheter is a regular ER verb except for the addition of accents for the je, tu, il, and ils forms. The addition of the accent is to emphasize the accented syllable as the last syllable. There are other verbs that follow the same pattern with accents or double consonants at the last syllable.
Acheter – to buy
| j’achète | nous achetons |
| tu achètes | vous achetez |
| il achète | ils achètent |
Verbs like acheter
to complete – achever
to bring up, to raise – élever
to remove, to take off – enlever
to freeze – geler
to raise, to lift – lever
to weigh – peser
to throw – jeter
| je jette | nous jetons |
| tu jettes | vous jetez |
| il jette | ils jettent |
verbs like jeter
rejeter – to reject
projeter – to plan, to project
appeler – to call
| j’appelle | nous appelons |
| tu appelles | vous appelez |
| il appelle | ils appellent |
verbs like appeler
épeler – to spell
rappeler – to recall, to remind
se rappeler – to remember
mener – to lead
| je mène | nous menons |
| tu mènes | vous menez |
| il mène | ils mènent |
verbs like mener
amener – to bring (a person)
emmener – to take (a person)
se promener – to walk
préférer – to prefer
and
espérer – to hope
follow the same rule where the accent over the second syllable changes direction in the je, tu, il, and ils forms – again to place emphasis on the second syllable as the last pronounced syllable.
verbs like préférer
célébrer – to celebrate
considérer – to consider
se sécher – to dry oneself
répéter – to repeat
suggérer – to suggest
protéger – to protect
céder – to yield
compléter – to complete
exagérer – to exaggerate
interpréter – to interpret
posséder – to possess
révéler – to reveal
| je préfère | nous préférons |
| tu préfères | vous préférez |
| il préfère | ils préfèrent |
| j’espère | nous espérons |
| tu espères | vous espérez |
| il espère | ils espèrent |
Les Principales Prépositions
March 1, 2011 § Leave a comment
at, to – à
after – après
along, the length of – le long de
before – avant
with – avec
at the house, office of – chez
against – contre
in – dans
from, of – de
since – depuis
behind – derrière
in front of – devant
in – en
between – entre
toward – envers
during – pendant
for – pour
by – par
without – sans
except – sauf
under – sous
on – sur
toward – vers
next to – à côté de
across from – en face de
to the left of – à gauche de
to the right of – à droite de
around (the perimeter of) – autour de
near to – près de
far from – loin de
underneath – au dessous de
above – au dessus de
at the bottom of – en bas de
at the top of – en haut de
Negation
March 1, 2011 § 1 Comment
You have learned that to negate a sentence, you put ‘ne … pas’ around a verb. Here are the notes to say ‘nothing’, ‘no one’, ‘only’, ‘no more’ / ‘not any more’, ‘never’, ‘not yet’, and ‘barely’.
nothing – ne verb rien
only – ne verb que
no more, not any more – ne verb plus
never – ne verb jamais
not yet – ne verb pas encore
not a single – ne verb aucun(e)
not (emphatic) – ne verb point
no one – ne verb personne
*no one as a subject is done – personne ne verb …*
Examples
Qu’est-ce que tu fais? Je ne fais rien – What are you doing? I’m not doing anything / I’m doing nothing.
Je n’ai rien à faire – I have nothing to do
Elle n’achète rien – She’s not buying anything / She’s buying nothing
Tu ne parles jamais – You never speak
Nous n’allons jamais au cinéma – We never go to the cinema
Je ne travaille plus – I’m not working anymore
Je n’ai plus de bananes – I have no more bananas / I don’t have any more bananas
Il n’y a plus de temps – There is no time left / There is no more time
Je n’ai aucune idée – I have no idea
Elle ne nettoie que sa chambre – She’s only cleaning her room.
Nous n’avons que les bananes – We only have bananas.
Je ne vois personne – I don’t see anyone / I see no one
Elle n’écoute personne – She doesn’t listen to anyone / She listens to no one
OR – no one as a subject …
Personne n’est là – No one is there
Personne n’achète les tee-shirts – No one is buying the tee-shirts
French Notes 