[Drapeaux] You too can learn French !
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Created by Jacques LΘon
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Lesson 8 - Comparer (Comparing)
Some sound files of this lesson are not available yet but I thought that it
was worth releasing this lesson because I know how eager to learn French
you are. The missing sound files will be added very soon.
Lesson plan :
1. Vocabulary
2. Conversation
3. Notes on Vocabulary
4. Grammar
5. Liaisons Guidelines
6. Ordinal Numbers
1.Vocabulary
Noms (Nouns)
* un collΦgue (a colleague)
* un travail (a job, a work)
* un restaurant (a restaurant)
* une voiture (a car)
* une idΘe (an idea)
* un litre (a liter)
* un kilomΦtre (a kilometer)
* un mΦtre (a meter)
* un mΦtre carrΘ (a square meter)
* un mΦtre cube (a cubic meter)
* une garantie (a warranty)
Verbes (Verbs)
* rencontrer (to meet)
* acheter (to buy)
* vendre (to sell)
* co√ter (to cost)
* avoir envie de (
* changer (to replace, to change)
* devoir (must, to have to)
* aimer (to like, to love)
* trouver (to find)
* consommer (to consume)
* vouloir (to want)
* avoir raison (to be right)
* avoir tort (to be wrong)
Adjectifs (Adjectives)
* nouveau (m.s.), nouvelle (f.s.), nouveaux (m.p) (new)
* vieux (m), vieille (f) (old)
* superbe (superb)
* cher (m), chΦre (f) (expensive)
* bon marchΘ (cheap)
* beau (m), belle (f), beaux (m.p.) (nice, beautiful)
* actuel (m), actuelle (f) (current, present)
* puissant (m), puissante (f) (powerful)
* performant (m), performante (f) (performant)
PrΘpositions (Prepositions)
Conjonctions (Conjunctions)
* pourquoi (why)
* parce que (because)
* combien (how much, how many)
* trop + adjectif (too + adjective)
* beaucoup (too much)
2. Conversation
Monsieur Dupont rencontre un collΦgue de travail au restaurant.
Mister Dupont meets a colleague in a restaurant.
M. Dupont : J'ai envie d'acheter une nouvelle voiture.
M. Dupont : I'd like to buy a new car.
Le collΦgue : Pourquoi ?
The colleague : Why ?
M. Dupont : Parce que ma voiture est trop vieille. Je dois la changer.
M. Dupont : Because my car is too old. I must replace it.
Le collΦgue : Est-ce que tu as une idΘe de ce que tu veux acheter ?
The colleague : Do you have an idea of what you want to buy ?
M. Dupont : Oui. J'aimerais acheter la nouvelle Renault. Elle est superbe.
M. Dupont : Yes. I'd like to buy the new Renault. It is superb.
Le collΦgue : Oui, mais elle doit co√ter cher, n'est-ce pas ?.
The colleague : Yes but it must be expensive, isn't it ?
M. Dupont : En effet, elle co√te cher, mais elle est moins cher que la
nouvelle Peugeot. C'est la plus performante et elle a la meilleure
garantie.
M. Dupont : Indeed it is expensive but is less expensive than the new
Peugeot. It is the most performant and it has the best warranty.
Le collΦgue : Combien consomme-t-elle ?
The colleague : How much gas does it consume ?
M. Dupont : Sept litres au cent. Ce n'est pas beaucoup. C'est beaucoup
moins que ma voiture actuelle. En plus, elle est plus puissante.
M. Dupont : Seven litres every one hundred kilometers. It is . It is far
less than my current car. In addition, it is more powerful.
Le collΦgue : Tu as raison. Tu fais une bonne affaire.
The colleague : You're right.
3. Notes on Vocabulary
To be right / to be wrong
The French counterparts of the English to be right and to be wrong are
avoir raison and avoir tort. While in English one uses the verb to be in
French one uses avoir (to have).
Emphasizing Questions
Consider the following question : Is this car expensive ? You ask this
question because you don't have any idea of the price of the car being
considered. You expect that the person we are talking to tells you the
price of the car. Now, imagine you already know the price of the car, and
it is really expensive. You surely don't ask your question the same way.
You would probably say : This car is expensive. Isn't it ?
In French it is possible to emphasize your questions the same way. The
normal interrogative form is : Est-ce que cette voiture est chΦre ? But, if
you already know that it is expensive and emphasize the fact that it is
expensive you could say : Cette voiture est chΦre. N'est-ce pas ? In the
latter sentence, n'est-ce pas plays exactly the same role as the English
isn't it. There is, however, a difference between the English and the
French form.
It is ...
The expression it is is translated in French by Cela est or more currently
by the contracted form C'est. To some extent, cela or c' plays a similar
role as it. However, cela must not be considered as the impersonal pronoun.
There is no impersonal pronoun in French (it in English) because things and
animals are either masculine or feminine.
Examples :
* C'est une belle voiturre (It is a nice car)
* C'est une grande maison (it is a big house)
* C'est un homme agrΘable (He is a pleasant man. Literrally : It is a
pleasant man).
4. Grammar
Comparative and Superlative Forms
Comparatives are used to compare things. A comparison can express a
superiority, an inferiority or an equality relationship. In English the
comparisons are expressed as follows :
Superiority
My car is more performant than yours.
My car is nicer than yours.
Inferiority
Your car is less performant than mine.
Your car is less nice than mine.
Equality
Your car is as performant as mine.
My car is as nice as yours.
In French, there is only one superiority comparison form built as follows,
regardless the length of the adjective :
plus + adjective + que
As we can notice, plus is equivalent to more, and que is equivalent to
than.
Examples :
* Ma voiture est plus performante que la tienne. (note that la tienne
means yours)
* Ma voiture est plus belle que la tienne.
The inferiority form is composed like this :
moins + adjective + que
where moins plays the same role as less and que the same role as than.
Examples :
* Ta voiture est moins performante que la mienne. (note that la mienne
means mine)
* Ta voiture est moins belle que la mienne.
The equality comparison is formed as follows :
assi + adjective + que
where assi plays the same role as as and que the same role as as.
Examples :
* Ma voiture est aussi performante que la tienne.
* Ta voiture est aussi belle que la mienne.
Note that, the adjectuve must respect the concordance rules with the gender
and the number.
Superlatives are used to denote the highest degree of an adjective (or an
adverb). In English, superlatives are built up by appending an adjective
with the termination -est or by adding most before. In French, the
superlaive form of an adjective is derived by adding plus before. Note that
plus plays a similar role as most in English. However, while in English,
the superlative is preceded by the definte article the, in French, the
definte article must be in accordance with the gender and the number of the
noun(s) it refers to.
Examples :
* Ma voiture est la plus performante.
* Ma voiture est la plus belle.
Examples :
* Ta voiture est la moins performante.
* Ma voiture est la moins belle.
These rules are very simple and apply to almost every adjective.
Unfortunately there are a few exceptions, as in English !
* bon (good)
o superiority comparative : mieux que
o inferiority comparative : moins bon/bonne que
o equality comparative : aussi bon/bonne que
o superiority superlative : le/la meilleur/meilleure
o inferiority superlative : le/la moins bon
* mauvais (bad)
o superiority comparative : pire que or plus mauvais que (both are
correct)
o inferiority comparative : moins mauvais/mauvaise que
o equality comparative : aussi mauvais/mauvaise que
o superiority superlative : le/la pire or le/la plus
mauvais/mauvaise
o inferiority superlative : le/la moins mauvais/mauvaise
Expressing a wish
In French, people express a wish by using the conditional tense. It is
pretty the same as in English.
The conditional present conjugation for aimer (to like) and vouloir (to
want) is listed below.
Aimer
J'aimerais
Tu aimerais
Il/elle aimerait
Nous aimerions
Vous aimeriez
Ils/elles aimeraient
Vouloir
Je voudrais
Tu voudrais
Il/elle voudrait
Nous voudrions
Vous voudriez
Ils/elles voudraient
Conjugation Pattern :
-ais
-ais
-ait
-ions
-iez
-aient
Irregular conjugation
Vouloir (to want)
Je veux
Tu veux
Il/elle veut
Nous voulons
Vous voulez
Ils/elles veulent
Devoir (must)
Je dois
Tu dois
Il/elle doit
Nous devons
Vous devez
Ils/elles doivent
Vendre(to sell)
Je vends
Tu vends
Il/elle vend
Nous vendons
Vous vendez
Ils/elles vendent
5. Liaisons Guidelines
M. Dupont : J'ai envie d'acheter une nouvelle voiture.
Le collΦgue : Pourquoi ?
M. Dupont : Parce que ma voiture est trop vieille. Je dois la changer.
Le collΦgue : Est-ce que tu as un_ idΘe de ce que tu veux acheter ?
M. Dupont : Oui. J'aimerais acheter la nouvelle Renault. Elle est superbe.
Le collΦgue : Oui, mais_elle doit co√ter cher, n'est-ce pas ?.
M. Dupont : En effet elle co√te cher, mais_elle est moins cher que la
nouvelle Peugeot et je la trouve plus belle.
Le collΦgue : Combien consomme-t-elle ?
M. Dupont : Sept litres au cent. Ce n'est pas beaucoup. C'est beaucoup
moins que ma voiture_actuelle. En plus, elle est plus puissante.
Le collΦgue : Tu as raison. Tu fais une bonne_affaire.
6. Ordinal Numbers
In French, ordinal numbers are directly derived from the numbers by
appending iΦme. There is only one exception : the French counterpart of
first is not uniΦme but premier.
Notes
1. there are some irregular numbers which result in a minor alteration of
the spelling (e.g. ninth is neuviΦme instead of neufiΦme, fifth is
cinquiΦme instead of cinqiΦme).
2. 21st, 31st, 41st, etc. are translated by vingt-et-uniΦme,
trente-et-uniΦme, quarante-et-uniΦme, etc. and not vingt-premier,
trente-premier, quarante-premier, etc. as in English !
* premier (first)
* deuxiΦme or second (second)
* troisiΦme (third)
* quatriΦme (fourth)
* cinquiΦme (fifth)
* sixiΦme (sixth)
* septiΦme (seventh)
* huitiΦme (eighth)
* neuviΦme (ninth)
* dixiΦme (tenth)
* onziΦme (eleventh)
* douziΦme (twelveth)
* treiziΦme (thirteenth)
* quatortziΦme (forteenth)
* quinziΦme (fifteenth)
* seiziΦme (sixteenth)
* dix-septiΦme (seventeenth)
* dix-huitiΦme (eighteenth)
* dix-neuviΦme (nineteenth)
* vingtiΦme (twentieth)
* vingt-et-uniΦme (twenty first)
* centiΦme (hendredth)
* milliΦme (thousandth)
The abbreviated notation of the ordinal numbers is : 1er (1st), 2iΦme
(2nd), 3iΦme (3rd), 4iΦme (4th), 21iΦme (21st), 31iΦme (31st), 100iΦme
(100th), 101iΦme (101st), etc.
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