Avoir Conjugation In The Present Tense [+10 Examples
Avoir Conjugation In The Present Tense [+10 Examples
Conjugation avoir | Conjugate verb avoir French | Reverso
French Conjugation: French verb, future, participle
French Conjugation: 6 Verbs That Use Both “Avoir” And
Avoir - French Verb Conjugations - Lawless French Verb Tables
Conjugation French verb avoir - Conjugate avoir in French
3 Ways to Conjugate Avoir - wikiHow
French verb 'avoir': Conjugation and pronunciation
Avoir Conjugation in French, Translation, and Examples
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conjugate french word avoir
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Learning FRENCH verbs
French regular -RE verbs are a small group of French verbs which share a conjugation pattern. Here are the most common regular -RE verbs: attendre to wait (for) défendre to defend descendre to descend entendre to to hear étendre to stretch fondre to melt pendre to hang, suspend perdre to lose prétendre to claim rendre to give back, return répandre to spread, scatter répondre to answer vendre to sell Irregular verbs are so named because they do not follow any of the regular conjugation patterns. But that doesn't mean that every irregular French verb is unique; many of them share a conjugation pattern with at least one other verb. By learning how to conjugate one verb in a group and memorizing the list of similar verbs, you'll be able to conjugate all the verbs in that group. French has five irregular -RE verb patterns - see examples at the bottom of the page: 1.The first group includes prendre and all of its derivations (comprendre, etc). These verbsdrop the din all three plural forms and alsodouble the nin the third person plural. 2.The second group includes battre and all of its derivations (débattre, etc). These verbsdrop the stem's final tin the singular forms. 3.The third group includes mettre and all of its derivations (promettre, etc). These verbs are conjugated just like battre verbs in the present tense, but I consider them a separate group because they are conjugated differently in the passé simple, imperfect subjunctive, and past participle. (As you can see in the table below, the first three groups take the same present tense verb endings.) 4.The fourth group of irregular -RE verbs includes rompre and its derivations (corrompre, etc). These verbs are conjugated exactly like regular -RE verbs with the single exception of the third person singular present tense, which adds atafter the stem. 5.The fifth group of irregular -RE verbs includes all verbs that end in -aindre (e.g., craindre), -eindre(like peindre), and -oindre (such as joindre). These verbsdrop the din the root in all forms, andadd a g in front of the nin the plural forms. The rest of the irregular -RE verbs have unique or unwieldy conjugations, so you have to memorize each one separately. Try working on one verb a day until you've mastered them all: absoudre, boire, clore, conclure, conduire, confire, connaître, coudre, croire, dire, écrire, faire,inscrire, lire, moudre, naître, plaire, rire, suivre, vivre. 📷 French imperfect conjugations are very easy, as the imperfect of virtually all verbs—regular and irregular—is formed the same way: drop the -ons ending from the present indicative nous form of the verb and adding the imperfect endings. Être is the only irregular verb in the imperfect, because the present tense nous sommeshas no -ons to drop. So it has the irregular stem ét- and uses the same endings as all other verbs. As in many other tenses, spelling change verbs, that is, verb which end in -cer and -ger, have minor spelling changes in the imperfect. Verbs that end in -ier have an imperfect root that ends in i, so end with double i in thenous and vous form of the imperfect. This isn't irregular, but it looks kind of weird. 📷 There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -ER, -IR, -RE; stem-changing; and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. The majority of French verbs are regular -ER verbs - see the next page for a list of some common -ER verbs. The verb form that ends in -ER is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"), and -ER is the infinitive ending. The verb with the infinitive ending removed is called the stem or radical. To conjugate -ER verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem and add the endings in the table below. 📷 French regular -ER verbs, by far the largest group of French verbs, share a conjugation pattern. Here are just a few of the most common regular -ER verbs: aimer to like, to love arriver to arrive, to happen chanter to sing chercher to look for commencer* to begin danser to dance demander to ask for dépenser to spend (money) détester to hate donner to give écouter to listen to étudier** to study fermer to close goûter to taste jouer to play laver to wash manger* to eat nager* to swim parler to talk, to speak passer to pass, spend (time) penser to think porter to wear, to carry regarder to watch, to look at rêver to dream sembler to seem skier* to ski travailler to work trouver to find visiter to visit (a place) voler to fly, to steal There are a lot of French verbs that end in -ER and there are a lot of irregular French verbs, but there is only one irregular -ER verb. However, there are three groups of -ER verbs that have some irregularities. AllerAller (to go) is the only truly irregular -er verb in French - its conjugations are unique and, according to some, very odd. Spelling change verbs Spelling change verbs are verbs that end in -cer or -ger. Their stem formation and verb endings are the same as for regular -er verbs, but there is a slight spelling change for pronunciation purposes in certain conjugations. Stem-changing verbs Stem-changing verbs are -er verbs that take the regular endings but have two different radicals. There are five categories of French stem-changing verbs: -yer, -eler, -eter, -e_er, and -é_er. -IER verbs There is nothing actually irregular about the conjugation of -ier verbs - they are conjugated like regular -er verbs, but some of their forms look strange. 📷 French regular -IR verbs, the second largest group of French verbs, share a conjugation pattern. Here are just a few of the most common regular -IR verbs: abolir to abolish agir to act avertir to warn bâtir to build bénir to bless choisir to choose établir to establish étourdir to stun, deafen, make dizzy finir to finish grossir to gain weight, get fat guérir to cure, heal, recover maigrir to lose weight, get thin nourrir to feed, nourish obéir to obey punir to punish réfléchir to reflect, think remplir to to fill réussir to succeed rougir to blush, turn red vieillir to grow old Irregular verbs are the bane of every French student's existence, but there is some good news. There are some patterns in the irregularities - once you learn the conjugations for one verb in a group, you shouldn't have any trouble with the other verbs in that group. There are two groups of irregular -IR verbs: 1.The first group of irregular verbs includes dormir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir, sortir, and all of their derivatives (repartir, etc). These verbs drop the last letter of the radical in the singular conjugations - see example in table below. 2.The second group of verbs includes couvrir, cueillir, découvrir, offrir, ouvrir, souffrir, and their derivatives (recouvrir, etc). These verbs are conjugated like regular -ER verbs - see example in table below. The rest of the irregular -IR verbs don't follow a pattern - you have to memorize the conjugations for each one separately: asseoir, courir, devoir, falloir, mourir, pleuvoir, pouvoir, recevoir, savoir,tenir, valoir, venir, voir, vouloir 📷 Thepassé composéis the most common French past tense, often used in conjunction with the imperfect. The passé composé can express any of the following: I. An action completed in the past As-tu étudié ce weekend ? Did you study this weekend? Ils ont déjà mangé. They have already eaten. II. An action repeated a number of times in the past Oui, j'ai mangé cinq fois hier. Yes, I did eat five times yesterday. Nous avons visité Paris plusieurs fois. We've visited Paris several times. III. A series of actions completed in the past Quand je suis arrivé, j'ai vu les fleurs. When I arrived, I saw the flowers. Samedi, il a vu sa mère, a parlé au médicin et a trouvé un chat. Saturday he saw his mother, talked to the doctor, and found a cat. The passé composé is a compound conjugation, which means it has two parts:
📷 Imperfect Quand j'avais 15 ans, je voulais être psychiatre. Je m'intéressais à la psychologie parce que je connaissais beaucoup de gens très bizarres. Le week-end, j'allais à la bibliothèque et j'étudiais pendant toute la journée. When I was 15, I wanted to be a psychiatrist. I was interested in psychology because I knew a lot of really weird people. On the weekends, I used to go to the library and study all day. Passé composé Un jour, je suis tombé malade et j'ai découvert les miracles de la médecine. J'ai fait la connaissance d'un médecin et j'ai commencé à étudier avec lui. Quand la faculté de médecine m'a accepté, je n'ai plus pensé à la psychologie. One day, I got sick and discovered the wonders of medicine. I met a doctor and started studying with him. After the medical school accepted me, I didn't think about psychology any more. Indicators The following key words and phrases tend to be used with either the imperfect or the passé composé, so when you see any of them, you know which tense you need: The imperative, called l'impératif in French, is a verb mood which is used to · give an order · express a desire · make a request · offer advice · recommend something Unlike all other French verb tenses and personal moods, the subject pronoun is not used with the imperative: Fermez la porte. Close the door. Mangeons maintenant. Let's eat now. Ayez la bonté de m'attendre. Please wait for me. Veuillez m'excuser. Please excuse me. The above are called "affirmative commands," because they are telling someone to do something. "Negative commands," which tell someonenotto do something, are made by placing ne in front of the verb and the appropriate negative adverb after the verb: Ne parle pas ! Don't speak! N'oublions pas les livres. Let's not forget the books. N'ayez jamais peur. Never be afraid. -ER verbs (regular, stem-changing, spelling change, and irregular) The imperative conjugations for nous and vous are the same as the present indicative, and the tu form of the imperative is the indicative minus the final s (but see item 4 on this page): parler (tu) parle (nous) parlons (vous) parlez lever (tu) lève (nous) levons (vous) levez aller (tu) va (nous) allons (vous) allez Verbs which are conjugated like -ER verbs (meaning that in the indicative the tu form ends in -es), such as ouvrir and souffrir, follow the same rules as -ER verbs. ouvrir (tu) ouvre (nous) ouvrons (vous) ouvrez -IR verbsand-RE verbs The imperative conjugations for all regular and most* irregular -IR and -RE verbs are the same as the present indicative conjugations. finir (tu) finis (nous) finissons (vous) finissez attendre (tu) attends (nous) attendons (vous) attendez faire (tu) fais (nous) faisons (vous) faites *Except for verbs conjugated like -ER verbs and the following four irregular imperative verbs: avoir (tu) aie (nous) ayons (vous) ayez être (tu) sois (nous) soyons (vous) soyez savoir (tu) sache (nous) sachons (vous) sachez vouloir (tu) veuille (nous) n/a (vous) veuillez The order of words in a French sentence can be very confusing due to affirmative and negative imperative constructions and object and adverbial pronouns. This lesson will teach you exactly how to order your sentences when using the imperative. Remember that there are two kinds of imperatives, affirmative and negative, and the word order is different for each of them. Negative imperatives are easier, because their word order is the same as that of all other simple verb conjugations: any object, reflexive, and/or adverbial pronouns precede the verb and the negative structure surrounds the pronoun(s) + verb: Finis ! - Finish! Ne finis pas ! - Don't finish! Ne le finis pas ! - Don't finish it! Lisez ! - Read! Ne lisez pas ! - Don't read! Ne le lisez pas ! - Don't read it! Ne me le lisez pas ! - Don't read it to me! Affirmative commands are more complicated, for several reasons. 1.The word order is for affirmative commands is different from that of all other verb tenses/moods: any pronouns follow the verb and are connected to it and to each other with hyphens. Finis-le ! - Finish it! Allons-y ! - Let's go! Mangez-les ! - Eat them! Donne-lui-en ! - Give him some! 2.The order of the pronouns in affirmative commands is slightly different from all other verb tenses/moods (see table at the bottom of the page): Envoie-le-nous ! - Send it to us! Expliquons-la-leur ! - Let's explain it to them! Donnez-nous-en ! - Give us some! Donne-le-moi ! - Give it to me! 3.The pronouns me and te change to the stressed pronounsmoi and toi... Lève-toi ! - Get up! Parlez-moi ! - Talk to me! Dis-moi ! - Tell me! ...unless they are followed by y or en, in which case they contract to m' and t' Va-t'en ! - Go away! Faites-m'y penser. - Remind me about it. 4.When a tu command is followed by the pronouns y or en, the final s is not dropped from the verb conjugation: Vas-y ! - Go away! Parles-en. - Talk about it. 📷
English is terrible, and we should get back to french being the lingua franca.
First of all, that makes more sense to have french as a "lingua franca" because "Franca" reminds you of "France" and "French". Secondly, it just sounds muffled, can't english be clear from the begining? While with french, it's easier, the "R" for example really sounds like a purr in french, while in english it's a quirky "W" where you put your tongue on your palate! The same goes for all of the words that looks like "though", because not only they all look the same once written, but they are a pain in the ass to pronounce. While pronounciation in french is easier (except for the nasal sounds), sounds are clearly defined, and you don't have to make an air-cunilingus to pronouce those words! thirdly, conjugation. English barely have the means to express when an action happened, while englighted french have tenses for present, past, future, close past, past in the past (we actually have 2 of them), close future and past in the future. Not to mention that French also have modes that allows the speakers to talk about something that might happens or one to talk about things that we're not sure. Honestly, I just wish we could have all of this precision in english. fourthly, if it pisses english people, I'm all for it. But one thing I can't really cricticise about english is their spelling, because of how many silent letters there are in french. ________________________________ Premièrement, c'est plus logique d'avoir le français comme "lingua franca", car quand on dis "franca", ça nous rappelle immédiatement "France" et "français". deuxièmement, comme le disent les profs d'anglais en France, "pour bien parler anglais, faites comme si vous aviez une patate chaude dans la bouche." Et c'est le meilleur conseil qu'on m'ait jamais donné vu comment l'anglais est une langue qui sonne étouffée. Genre le "R" en Français, ça sonne comme un ronronnement, ou un grognement si on est Alsacien. Mais en anglais, c'est juste un "w" un peu con où on doit coller la langue sur le palais. où tous les mots genre "though" pour lesquels on doit faire un cunnilingus à un fantôme pour les prononcer correctement. Au moins en Français, les sons sont bien clairs et les mots nécessitent pas de bouger la langue dans quatre dimensions différentes. Troisièmement, la conjugaison. En anglais, c'est trop simple, t'a zéro contexte donné par la conjugaison, genre vite fais t'as le moment où ça se passe, et vite fais si l'action est encore/déjà en cours. Comment fais-je pour exprimer les conditions et les situations fictives si j'ai pas le conditionnel et le subjonctif? Comment Alphonse Allais aurait pu écrire cette magnifique oeuvre qu'est la complainte amoureuse? Fallait-il que vous assassinassiez mes rêves de précision grammaticale?! quatrièmement, si ça fait chier les rosbifs, ça ne peut être que bien. Mais bon, après je peut pas critiquer l'orthographe anglaise vu le nombre de lettres muettes en Français.
Explication exagérément détaillée de "tokébakicitte" pour les anglos
J'ai répondu ça à des anglos sur Canada alors j'me dis ça pourrait intéresser certain de comprendre le processus linguistique, ou faire taire un quelqu'un qui pense que c'est par manque d'éducation qu'on a cet accent, ou pour avoir un copié-collé vraiment démesuré à portée de main (J'ai pas la patience de traduire désolé) : Tldr; Tokébakicitte means 'MURICA for Québec. It parodies a stereotyped rural ignorant asshole who says "This is Québec so this is how it works" every time he faces some change or evolution. It's also very much an older generation problem, so quite similar to the irony of "ok boomer". Also, skipping the pronoun when not neeeded, in casual oral speech, is quite common in French. We do it more in Québec but it's not unique to here. it's just something Latin languages allow because vern conjugation makes pronouns redundant. Like it's Spanish, you're supposed to do it. For us it almost only works when the sentence begins with it. it's doable in English too, when the context allows it. "am good, you?" is just as clear as "I am good, what about you?". As for how we came up with that sentence, you have to understand that the opposite happened with French in Québec than with English in North America. France decided to reform and simplify a lot of pronunciation, and some spelling, that didn't sound nice or proper. But French isn't a phonetically written language, its grammar is etymological and rule based off Latin. So although it simplified it, it created some inconsistencies. We didn't follow with all these changes because we disagreed with them, and they came from a very arrogant Parisian upper class that we don't relate too. And no one thinks the British are wrong for not following the American language simplifications. It's the same thing. Our accent and spelling seen as slang or. wrong even by our own people, is actually just the same French that was used in Europe before those rather recent reforms. For example, we have 2 different A's, (a and à, or tache vs tâche are pronounced differently here but not in France. They removed the "open a"). We still have some diphthongs, and we still soften T and D before before I and U, like most languages do actually. But they removed it. It makes pronunciation much harder, it feels less smooth an natural. Obviously we can totally speak with their accent, we choose not to. (For example, poutine is pronounced with an S between T and I. ti/tu are tsi/tsu, and di/du are dzi/dzu) So you have "On est au Québec ici" On is removed, pronoun not needed in casual oral speech. "Est au Québec ici" Then, the rural boomer accent turns final "eh" sounds into "ah". This was actually a rule in old French. It's arguably correct, but no one does that and it sounds backwards af. For French Canadians, think of words like "balais", we still hear "Bala" from older people. "Est au Québac ici" Ici, in Québec casual slang, is often pronounced icitte. This is the old French spelling and is incorrect, but is one of the most common and typical old French word we keep around, when we want to sound more casual So now we have "Est au Quebac icitte" To parody the excessive contractions, we go as far as taking the verb to be out with pronouns. The verb to be is actually not needed in most situations in any language. In Russian for example, there is no verb to be at all. However, in French, you rarely say two vowels in a row. It's awkward because we make almost no gluttal stops. French supposed to flow from one word to the other and be very smooth. This is what our silent consonnants are for at the end of words, to chain with a vowel from the next word. For example "On" has a silent N, but we say the N in "on est". This is proper and universal in French. When we skip or contract over a word, we generally keep the linking consonnants, as they're there to facilitate pronunciation and smoothness, which we want in casual speech. So pronunciation wise we had "n'est tau Quebac icitte" take out est "tau Quebac icitte" Now, French works with combinations of letters, because we have way more sounds than characters in the alphabet. English does that too, to a lesser extent (oo, th, au, gh make different sounds in English) AU is a combination that makes "oh" QU is a combination that makes K so we have "To Kébac icitte" Remove spaces, which aren't needed in the pronunciation since it's all linkable with vowel and consonnant alternance. Switch the C for a K to avoid ambiguity with "S" sounding C's and to ironically look more retarded and you get : "Tokébakicitte" Voilà.
The 10 most common mistakes my students make in French
If you are a French learner with an A2-B2 level, this post will be very useful to you. I’ve been working as a French tutor for 5 years and I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most common speaking mistakes I hear my students make. These are SO common that I truly believe that if a learner stops making all 10 of them, their French would already improve by like 50%. If you have any questions or if you don't understand some of the mistakes, feel free to comment and I will gladly give a more detailed explanation. ** Also, please note: Almost every single grammar rule in French has exceptions. But the rules listed below work 95%+ of the time. ........................................................................................... #1: When saying “to the” or “at the”, you cannot say “à le”. The preposition “À” + the masculine article “le” merge and become “au”. CORRECT: Je veux aller au cinéma WRONG: Je veux aller à le cinéma. ALSO WRONG: Je veux aller au le cinéma. (I hear “au le” a lot but that literally means “to the the”) Same thing for “de” + “le” and “de” + “les”. “De” + “le” merge and become “du”, and “de” + “les” become “des”. CORRECT: Le nom du chanteur du groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité des pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol. WRONG: Le nom de le chanteur de le groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité de les pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol. ......................................................................................... #2: To say “A lot of…” you have to say “Beaucoup de” or “Beaucoup d’” (if the next word starts with a vowel). “Beaucoup” can NEVER be followed by des or du or de la. CORRECT: Il y a beaucoup de personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup d’amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup de chocolat. WRONG: Il y a beaucoup des personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup des amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup du chocolat. ......................................................................................... #3: Sometimes, people don’t know where to place the negation “ne” in the sentence. But it’s actually very simple. “Ne” comes right after the subject or the subject pronoun. CORRECT: Je ne suis pas fatigué / Je n’ai pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants ne veulent pas aller à l’école. WRONG: Je suis ne pas fatigué / J’ai ne pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants veulent ne pas aller à l’école. Another important thing to remember is that when the sentence has another negation word like “rien” or “jamais” or “personne”, these words will replace the “pas”. CORRECT: Je ne suis jamais allé en France / Il n’y a rien à manger / Personne n’aime faire des devoirs. WRONG: Je ne suis pas jamais allé en France / Il n’y a pas rien à manger / Personne n’aime pas faire des devoirs. .......................................................................................... #4: This one is extremely common. Learners often use the conjugated form of the verb when it should be the infinitive or they use the infinitive form when it should be the conjugated form. When to use the infinitive?: When the verb is used with what I call a “connector verb” (vouloir, aimer, aller, pouvoir, devoir…) or right after prepositions like “à”, “de”, and “pour”. CORRECT: Je veux manger une pomme / J’aime prendre l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demander quelque chose? / Tu dois faire tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménager au Canada. / Pour apprendre une langue, il faut étudier souvent. WRONG: Je veux mange une pomme / J’aime prend l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demande quelque chose? / Tu dois fais tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménage au Canada. / Pour apprend une langue, il faut étudie souvent. Now, when to use the conjugated form of a verb?: When it comes after a subject or a subject pronoun, or after “qui”. CORRECT: Ça prend beaucoup de temps / Mes parents ont une grande maison / C’est un film qui parle de l’Égypte / Je te vois. WRONG: Ça prendre beaucoup de temps / Mes parents avoir une grande maison / C’est un film qui parler de l’Égypte / Je te voir You can understand why it’s wrong by comparing it to English. You wouldn’t say “It to take a lot of time”. You would say “It takes a lot of time”. ........................................................................................... #5: In French, the verb "connaître" and "savoir" both mean "to know", but they are used differently. “Connaître” means “to know” with the idea to be personally familiar with, to have experienced it yourself. It is used with books, movies, cities, people... CORRECT: Je ne connais pas le film Titanic / Connais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu les connais? WRONG: Je ne sais pas le film Titanic / Sais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu les sais? "Savoir" has to do with acquired knowledge. It is followed by interrogative expressions (où, pourquoi, qui, avec qui, quand, etc…), or by verbs. CORRECT: Sais-tu où il habite? / Je ne sais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je sais parler français. WRONG: Connais-tu où il habite? / Je ne connais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je connais parler français. .................................................................................... #6: This mistake is fairly easy to fix. Pronouns “je”, “te”, “me”, “le”, “la”, and "se" have to be attached to words that start with a vowel or with an “h”. CORRECT: J’habite à Montréal / J'apprends le français / Je ne t’entends pas / Il m’a demandé si j’étais célibataire / Je l’ai vu au restaurant. / Il s'est réveillé tôt. WRONG: Je habite à Montréal / Je apprends le français / Je ne te entends pas / Il me a demandé si je étais célibataire / Je le ai vu au restaurant. / Il se est réveillé tôt. ........................................................................................... #7: Most French verbs in the past tense (passé composé) use the auxiliary verb “avoir”. But some use the auxiliary verb “être”. Here are the most important ones to remember: CORRECT: Je suis allé au casino / Il est devenu pilote / Je suis revenu à la maison / Nous sommes retournés dans notre ville natale / Chantal est venue à mon anniversaire / Ils sont arrivés à Montréal ce matin / Je suis resté chez moi toute la journée. WRONG: J'ai allé au casino / Il a devenu pilote / J’ai revenu à la maison / Nous avons retourné dans notre ville natale / Chantal a venu à mon anniversaire / Ils ont arrivé à Montréal ce matin / J’ai resté chez moi toute la journée. Also, useful tip: Every single reflexive verbs (se + verb) use the auxiliary “être” in the passé composé. For example: Je me suis réveillé / Nous nous sommes promenés / etc... ................................................................................................ #8: In English, words like “sometimes, never, always, often, already…”, usually come right after the subject or subject pronoun. But in French, it isn’t so. They must come after the verb. CORRECT: François va souvent au parc / Je ne mange jamais de viande / J’ai déjà fini mon projet / Nous passons toujours du temps ensemble. WRONG: François souvent va au parc / Je ne jamais mange de viande / Je déjà ai fini mon projet / Nous toujours passons du temps ensemble. ............................................................................................. #9: In French, “que” and “qui” can both mean “that”, but they are used differently. “Que” is used before subjects or subject pronouns whereas “qui” is used before verbs. CORRECT: La robe que tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens qui n’aiment pas voyager. / Aimes-tu le plat que j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film qui a gagné un oscar. WRONG: La robe qui tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens que n’aiment pas voyager / Aimes-tu le plat qui j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film que a gagné un oscar. ............................................................................................. #10: In English, you can express the present tense by saying for example “I eat” or “I am eating”. But in French, the “I am eating” tense does not exist. We only use 1 present tense. You can NEVER say “I am + infinitive verb” to express the present tense in French. CORRECT: Je mange une pomme / Marie fait ses devoirs / Je cuisine / Il prend une douche WRONG: Je suis manger une pomme / Marie est faire ses devoirs / Je suis cuisiner / Il est prendre une douche. Saying “Je suis manger une pomme” would literally mean “I am to eat an apple”. It does not make sense in French. However, there is one thing that we sometimes say. It’s “Je suis en train de + infinitive verb”. It means “I am in the process of…”. So, you could actually say “Je suis en train de manger”, which technically means I’m eating / I’m in the process of eating. ...................................................................................................
Bonjour, j’apprends le français depuis presque deux ans et j’ai voulu vous dire les ressources qui m’a aidé. J’ai des leçons avec une tutrice et cette année j’ai commencé à faire un cours de français à l’école, mais je pense que vous pouvez bien vous améliorer avec ces cahiers et ces sites. Clairement j’utilise Duolingo, il est très bon pour connaître des mots et il est facile à utiliser et gratuit! Deuxièmement j’utilise conjugaison, c’est une application pour la grammaire, elle est gratuit mais si vous voulez avoir tous les verbes et tous les temps elle coûte environ $11 AUD, £5-6 ou $7 USD. Larousse est un dictionnaire français que j’utilise beaucoup, en fait je l’ai utilisé pour m’aider à écrire ce texte. Alors les cahier, quand j’étais moins avancé j’ai utilisé un cahier de grammaire qui s’appelle « oxford easy learning french grammar, » il explique toutes les règles en anglais alors c’est plus facile a comprendre pour les débutants. Maintenant j’ai un cahier qui s’appelle « grammaire progressif du français » par clé international. Ce cahier est pour les gens un peu plus avancé dans leurs études. Il est aussi assez cher. Finalement le site TV5 Monde est génial, il y plus de 2000 exercices pour les niveaux de A1 à B2 et c’est complètement gratuit. Je suis sûre que vous apprendrez vite si vous utilisez ces ressources. Désolé s’il y a des erreurs et j’espère que je vous ai aidé. Je mettrai aussi des chaînes sur YouTube que vous pouvez regarder. Bonne chance avec vos études! Hello, I have been learning french since almost two years and i wanted to tell you the ressources that have helped me. I have lessons with a tutor and this year i started doing a french course at school but i think that you can improve well with these textbooks and these sites. Obviously i use duolingo, it is very good for learning words and its easy to use and free. Secondly i use conjugaison, it is an application for grammar, it is free but you can have all of the verbs and all of the tenses for $11AUS, £5-6 or $7USD. Larousse is a french dictionary app that i use a lot, in fact i used it to help me write this text. So the notebooks, when i was less advanced i used a grammar textbook called “oxford easy learning french grammar” it explains all the rules in English so it is easy to understand for beginners. Now i have a textbook called “grammaire progressif du français” by clé international. This textbook is for people who are a bit more advanced in their studies. It is also quite expensive. Finally the website TV5 Monde is awesome, there are over 2000 exercises for all the levels from A1 to B2 and its completely free. I am sure that you will learn quickly if you use these ressources. I hope i have helped you. I will also put some YouTube channels that you can look at. Good luck with your studies! duolingo conjugaison Larousse oxford easy learning french grammar grammaire progressif du français clé internationale TV5 Monde YouTube channel- easy french YouTube channel -damonandjo YouTube channel- inner french J’ai décidé de vous montrer des chanteurs et chanteuses que j’écoute souvent, ce n’est pas tres bien pour apprendre le français mais les chansons sont bonnes et vous pourriez apprendre quelques choses. I decided to show you some singers i listen to a lot, its not very good for learning french but the songs are good and you could learn some things. Angèle Pomme Roméo Elvis Arcadienne Louane Here is my french playlist too french playlist (Spotify)
The 10 most common mistakes my students make in French
If you are a French learner with an A2-B2 level, this post will be very useful to you. I’ve been working as a French tutor for 5 years and I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most common speaking mistakes I hear my students make. These are SO common that I truly believe that if a learner stops making all 10 of them, their French would already improve by like 50%. If you have any questions or if you don't understand some of the mistakes below, feel free to comment and I will gladly give a more detailed explanation. ** Also, please note: Almost every single grammar rule in French has exceptions. But the rules listed below work 95%+ of the time. ........................................................................................... #1: When saying “to the” or “at the”, you cannot say “à le”. The preposition “À” + the masculine article “le” merge and become “au”. CORRECT: Je veux aller au cinéma WRONG: Je veux aller à le cinéma. ALSO WRONG: Je veux aller au le cinéma. (I hear “au le” a lot but that literally means “to the the”) Same thing for “de” + “le” and “de” + “les”. “De” + “le” merge and become “du”, and “de” + “les” become “des”. CORRECT: Le nom du chanteur du groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité des pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol. WRONG: Le nom de le chanteur de le groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité de les pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol. ......................................................................................... #2: To say “A lot of…” you have to say “Beaucoup de” or “Beaucoup d’” (if the next word starts with a vowel). “Beaucoup” can NEVER be followed by des or du or de la. CORRECT: Il y a beaucoup de personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup d’amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup de chocolat. WRONG: Il y a beaucoup des personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup des amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup du chocolat. ......................................................................................... #3: Sometimes, people don’t know where to place the negation “ne” in the sentence. But it’s actually very simple. “Ne” always comes right after the subject or the subject pronoun. CORRECT: Je ne suis pas fatigué / Je n’ai pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants ne veulent pas aller à l’école. WRONG: Je suis ne pas fatigué / J’ai ne pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants veulent ne pas aller à l’école. Another important thing to remember is that when the sentence has another negation word like “rien” or “jamais” or “personne”, these words will replace the “pas”. CORRECT: Je ne suis jamais allé en France / Il n’y a rien à manger / Personne n’aime faire des devoirs. WRONG: Je ne suis pas jamais allé en France / Il n’y a pas rien à manger / Personne n’aime pas faire des devoirs. .......................................................................................... #4: This one is extremely common. Learners often use the conjugated form of the verb when it should be the infinitive or they use the infinitive form when it should be the conjugated form. When to use the infinitive?: When the verb is used with what I call a “connector verb” (vouloir, aimer, aller, pouvoir, devoir…) or right after prepositions like “à”, “de”, and “pour”. CORRECT: Je veux manger une pomme / J’aime prendre l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demander quelque chose? / Tu dois faire tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménager au Canada. / Pour apprendre une langue, il faut étudier souvent. WRONG: Je veux mange une pomme / J’aime prend l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demande quelque chose? / Tu dois fais tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménage au Canada. / Pour apprend une langue, il faut étudie souvent. Now, when to use the conjugated form of a verb?: When it comes after a subject or a subject pronoun, or after “qui”. CORRECT: Ça prend beaucoup de temps / Mes parents ont une grande maison / C’est un film qui parle de l’Égypte / Je te vois. WRONG: Ça prendre beaucoup de temps / Mes parents avoir une grande maison / C’est un film qui parler de l’Égypte / Je te voir You can understand why it’s wrong by comparing it to English. You wouldn’t say “It to take a lot of time”. You would say “It takes a lot of time”. ........................................................................................... #5: In French, the verb "connaître" and "savoir" both mean "to know", but they are used differently. “Connaître” means “to know” with the idea to be personally familiar with, to have experienced it yourself. It is used with books, movies, cities, people... CORRECT: Je ne connais pas le film Titanic / Connais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu connais? WRONG: Je ne sais pas le film Titanic / Sais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu sais? "Savoir" has to do with acquired knowledge. It is followed by interrogative expressions (où, pourquoi, qui, avec qui, quand, etc…), or by verbs. CORRECT: Sais-tu où il habite? / Je ne sais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je sais parler français. WRONG: Connais-tu où il habite? / Je ne connais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je connais parler français. .................................................................................... #6: This mistake is fairly easy to fix. Pronouns “je”, “te”, “me”, “le” and “la” have to be attached to words that start with a vowel or with an “h”. CORRECT: J’habite à Montréal / J'apprends le français / Je ne t’entends pas / Il m’a demandé si j’étais célibataire / Je l’ai vu au restaurant. WRONG: Je habite à Montréal / Je apprends le français / Je ne te entends pas / Il me a demandé si je étais célibataire / Je le ai vu au restaurant. ........................................................................................... #7: Most French verbs in the past tense (passé composé) use the auxiliary verb “avoir”. But some use the auxiliary verb “être”. Here are the most important ones to remember: CORRECT: Je suis allé au casino / Il est devenu pilote / Je suis revenu à la maison / Nous sommes retournés dans notre ville natale / Chantal est venue à mon anniversaire / Ils sont arrivés à Montréal ce matin / Je suis resté chez moi toute la journée. WRONG: J'ai allé au casino / Il a devenu pilote / J’ai revenu à la maison / Nous avons retourné dans notre ville natale / Chantal a venu à mon anniversaire / Ils ont arrivé à Montréal ce matin / J’ai resté chez moi toute la journée. ................................................................................................ #8: In English, words like “sometimes, never, always, often, already…”, usually come right after the subject or subject pronoun. But in French, it isn’t so. They must come after the verb. CORRECT: François va souvent au parc / Je ne mange jamais de viande / J’ai déjà fini mon projet / Nous passons toujours du temps ensemble. WRONG: François souvent va au parc / Je ne jamais mange de viande / Je déjà ai fini mon projet / Nous toujours passons du temps ensemble. ............................................................................................. #9: In French, “que” and “qui” can both mean “that”, but they are used differently. “Que” is used before subjects or subject pronouns whereas “qui” is used before verbs. CORRECT: La robe que tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens qui n’aiment pas voyager. / Aimes-tu le plat que j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film qui a gagné un oscar. WRONG: La robe qui tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens que n’aiment pas voyager / Aimes-tu le plat qui j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film que a gagné un oscar. ............................................................................................. #10: In English, you can express the present tense by saying for example “I eat” or “I am eating”. But in French, the “I am eating” tense does not exist. We only use 1 present tense. You can NEVER say “I am + infinitive verb” to express the present tense in French. CORRECT: Je mange une pomme / Marie fait ses devoirs / Je cuisine / Il prend une douche WRONG: Je suis manger une pomme / Marie est faire ses devoirs / Je suis cuisiner / Il est prendre une douche. Saying “Je suis manger une pomme” would literally mean “I am to eat an apple”. It does not make sense in French. However, there is one thing that we sometimes say. It’s “Je suis en train de + infinitive verb”. It means “I am in the process of…”. So, you could actually say “Je suis en train de manger”, which technically means I’m eating / I’m in the process of eating. ...................................................................................................
[OC] List of fun/interesting Football Terminology in various Languages
Hi everyone, a while ago I asked for funny or interesting football words in your languages in the daily discussion thread. I promised I'd make a text post about it but kind of forgot, better late then never, eh? Please contribute as well, I'm sure there are many more languages with hilarious or interesting football words, this is just a small list I gathered today. If there are any mistakes, let me know. I'll be adding new entries as we go. So without further ado:
someone who only wants to play in perfect conditions, i.e. sunny, not too cold/hot, perfect pitch
Sonntagsschuss
sunday shot
long range goal from an unlikely position to score a goal from
Straßenfußballer
street footballer
a skillful player who grew up on the streets (Ronaldinho, Kevin-Prince Boateng, Mahrez, etc.)
Tunnel
-
nutmeg
Turniermannschaft
tournament team
a (national) team that traditionally perfoms better in the big tournaments as opposed to meaningless friendlies or less important qualifying matches, like Germany (disregard 2018)
Übersteiger
overstepper
step over
Wadenbeißer
calves biter
tenacious defenders/defensive midfielders especially if they have low body height, think Gennaro Gattuso as the prototype
Two teams that agree to end the game with a certain result that would benefit both and most likely damage some other team (Sweden and Denmark drew 2-2 at Euro 2004 to eliminate Italy)
Bomber
word borrowed from English
goalgetter
Calcio
"I kick" - 1stpersonsingularconjugationof"calciare"
popular phrase coined by Cruyff: important players or players with a lot of experience
*"Arquero" is the main term for goalkeeper here (Argentina/Uruguay) as well. Even though that word means archer, in this case it comes from the fact that we actually call the goal "arco" instead of "portería/puerta". So yes, arco means both goal and bow. Therefore arquero stands both for goalkeeper and archer
anden4
thanks to cilinderman, nocomet, Beatlepy93, anden4 ?*What does the word "crack" literally mean? Does it refer in any way to cocaine or did it come from somewhere else etymologically?
Polish
Word/Phrase
semi-literal translation
meaning
Grać z klepki
to play on/from the stave
exchanging fast first touch passes (tiki taka)
Szczupak
pike (the fish)
diving header
Wolny elektron
Free electron
free role player
Kosa, kosić
Scythe, to scythe
hard slide tackle
Laga
long, hard stick
attacking with long balls only (Pulisball)
Plecy, plecy rosną
Back, the back is growing (back as anatomical part of human)
warning when the player with the ball is approached from the back by opponent
Piątek
friday
Sheva reincarnated
Sito
a sieve
nutmeg
Austrian German
Word/Phrase
semi-literal translation
meaning
Außenpracker
exterior carpet beater
fullback
Dribblanski
a technical player with good dribbling skills that lacks end product, think Adama Traore
Eiergoalie
egg goalkeeper
error prone keeper
Fersler
comes from Ferse (heel)
back heel goal/pass
Gaberln
comes from Gabel (fork)
doing keepie uppies
Jud
Jew
toe poke
Wadlbeißer
calves biter
tenacious defenders/defensive midfielders especially if they have low body height, think Gennaro Gattuso as the prototype
player who always fouls, this comes from stephen chow’s kung fu soccer
收山腳 (shou shan geuk)
-
career ending tackle
磨薑 (mor geung)
grinding ginger
grinding your leg against the ground when u fall
疊瓦 (dip nga)
overlapping tiles
overlapping run by a fullback
執雞 (tsup gai)
picking chicken
player scoring on easy goal/tap-in, for example due to goalie error or defender making a poor clearance
莫氣 (mok hei)
no gas left
player is low on stamina
單蹄馬 (dan tai ma)
horse with only one hoof
player who is not ambidextrous and relies too much on his strong foot, ie Robben
單刀 (dan dou)
single knife
player is one on one with the goalie
炒飛機 (tsao fei gei)
shooting airplanes
player making a shot that flyes into row z
曬靴 (sai hur)
to show one’s soles
going studs up in tackles
底線傳底 (dai seen cheun dai)
to pass to the touchline at the touchline
absolute fail of a cross that went out of bounds
烏龍 (oolong)
-
to score an own goal
牛奶仔 (ngau lai zai)
milk boy
player who is playing safe and doesn’t take risks
妹下妹下 (mui ha mui ha)
to nibble
player is not paying full effort in a match
扭波 (lau ball)
to twist and turn with a ball
dribbling
爆人 (bao yen)
to explode past ppl
use pure speed to dribble past someone, ie bale vs maicon/ bale vs bartra
箍波 (cool ball)
to be entangled with the ball
to be good at at retaining possession; being press resistant
衛生波 (wai seng ball)
hygienic football
playing a match where players are not aggressive towards each other
痾蛋 (or dan)
to lay an egg
goalkeeper failing to control the ball, thus the ball slips from his hands
大細龍 (dai sai long)
big and small nets
ball goes right through between the legs of a defender into the net
打仔格 (dai tsai gak)
aggressive personality
player such as Gattuso, Keane, etc
雪糕筒 (seud gow tong)
traffic cone
defender who gets dribbled past every time
放題 (fong tai)
all you can eat buffet
same meaning as the one above
貼身膏藥(tip sun go yeuk)
ailment that sticks firmly on the skin
man marking opposition player
神龍(son long)
godly dragon
goalkeeper that makes amazing saves, for example de gea
叉燒 (tsa siu)
bbq pork
easy chance to score
跑狗 (pau gau)
running dog
derogative description for a player who is running his socks off but isn’t actually contributing much in attack
手榴彈 (sau lau dan)
hand grenade
Rory Delap-esque throw in
七旋斬 (tsut suen zam)
ball that spins seven times
Beckham’s trademark curved free kick
浪射 (long se)
wave shoot
shooting from unlikely positions or shooting excessively
柱躉 (tseu dung)
pillar
big man up front
海鮮波 (hoi seen bor)
seafood soccer
the team’s performance is as unstable as fluctuating seafood price in a wet market, usually used to describe Liverpool a few years back (利記海鮮)
鐵桶陣 (tit tung zhun)
iron bucket formation
park the bus
魚生粥 (yu sang zhuk)
fish congee
match that is won by fine margins, for example a 1-0
互交白卷( wu gau bak guen)
handing each other empty papers
nil nil draw
七個一皮
7-1
losing in a humilating manner - NOT related to Germany 7-1 win against Brazil, see details below*
水銀瀉地 (sui ngun sei dei)
water and silver is poured all over the ground
team is playing attractive attacking football
波係圓嘅 (ball hai yuen ge)
the ball is round
you never who wins or who loses until the end
黑哨 (huk sau)
black whistle
unfair refereeing
十二碼
a 12 yard
penalty
閘
a gate
full-back
倒掛
hanging upside-down
- overhead kick, sometimes added with 金鈎 (golden hook)
有鬼!
There's a ghost!
Man on!
踩波車
stepping/riding on the ball vehicle
when a player miss kicks the ball, slips on the ball and falls on his ass (rare one, probably more common in amateur football)
食波餅
eat a ball cake/pie
when player gets smacked hard in the face by the ball, as if taking a massive pie to the face
收山腳 (shou shan geuk)
retiring tackle
career ending tackle
派牌 (pai pai)
distributing cards
midfielder that springs passes on the the pitch, like David Silva, Fabregas, Pirlo, Xabi Alonso, etc
*so this seven to one saying comes from gambling; so 一皮means one cent in Cantonese, and one dollar is equal to ten cents, so that gambler lose three cents; three has the same sound (sam) as 衫 (means clothes in cantonese), so the hidden meaning is that the gambler has lost so much that he has to use his clothes to exchange for cash to pay up
standing in a circle trying to keep the ball in the air
Danska/Norska krysset
The Danish/Norwegian cross
bottom corner. Top corner is called krysset (the cross) so the danish or norwegian cross is just a worse version of the cross
Dansken
the Danish
a "tactic" where you kick it back at kickoff and send a long ball directly up field where everyone has ran. So all wingers and strikers just rush forward and a midfielder sends a long ball on chance. Popular with youth teams, "they are doing the danish"
Dansk skalle
Danish skull
to headbutt someone, Zidane gave Materazzi a danish skull
Filma
to film sth.
diving or embellishment of the referee
Korpen
The Raven
More or less sunday league, recreational football. I play football with my mates in The Raven
Mjölka/Maska
to Milk/To worm
to waste time
Ronaldinhofinten
the Ronaldinho trick
Elastico
Tåpaj
Toe Pie
Toe poke
Tunnel
-
nutmeg
TV-räddning
TV save
hollywood save by the keeper, making it look more dramatic than necessary
Various
Word/Phrase
semi-literal translation
meaning
Cantonese - 摘雞
to pick chicken
easy tap in goal
Japanese - メンバーチェンジ (Menbaa Chenji)
member change
substitution
Japanese - スパイク
spikes
football boots
Greek - Παλτό (palto)
coat
a shit footballer, usually one with high expectations he hasn't met
Als je niet kunt winnen, moet je zorgen dat je niet verliest
If you can't win you have to make sure you don't lose
Je moet schieten, anders kun je niet scoren
You have to shoot, otherwise you can't score
Als wij de bal hebben kunnen hun (sic) niet scoren
If we have the ball, they can't score
Voetbal is simpel, maar simpel voetballen blijkt vaak het moeilijkste wat er is.
Football is simple, but simple football often proves to be the hardest thing there is
Voetbal is simpel: je bent op tijd of je bent te laat. Als je te laat bent moet je eerder vertrekken.
Football is simple, you're on time or you're too late. If you're too late you have to leave earlier
Als Italianen één kans krijgen, maken ze er twee
If Italians get one chance, they'll score twice
Italianen kunnen niet van je winnen, maar je kan wel van ze verliezen
Italians can't beat you, but you can lose to them
Kijk, de bal is een essentieel onderdeel van het spel
You see, the ball is an essential part of the game
Thanks to Jujugg (French), HippoBigga (Spanish), Vacuumflask (Austrian), spikeeleslie515 (Cantonese), vul6, mojekosio (Polish) and two redditors whose accounts have been deleted since then. Also thanks to Glenn55whelan, if you could provide the Icelandic words for these football words as well I will incorporate them into their own section. Thanks to Ravenblood21 for Greek, Kyuashu for Serbian, amanfikry for Malay I'm sorry it took so long, dieyoubastards. So, now it's your turn. These are only very few of such words, I'd like to see many more languages with their own quirky football terminology. Of course, if there are some lesser known English words, comment them as well. Something along the lines of twatter meaning "laces shot pelting someone right in the face" (propably non-existent), you surely have many more like these to contribute.
The 10 most common mistakes my students make in French
If you are a French learner with an A2-B2 level, this post will be very useful to you. I’ve been working as a French tutor for 5 years and I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most common speaking mistakes I hear my students make. These are SO common that I truly believe that if a learner stops making all 10 of them, their French would already improve by like 50%. If you have any questions or if you don't understand some of the mistakes below, feel free to comment and I will gladly give a more detailed explanation. ** Also, please note: Almost every single grammar rule in French has exceptions. But the rules listed below work 95%+ of the time. ........................................................................................... #1: When saying “to the” or “at the”, you cannot say “à le”. The preposition “À” + the masculine article “le” merge and become “au”. CORRECT: Je veux aller au cinéma WRONG: Je veux aller à le cinéma. ALSO WRONG: Je veux aller au le cinéma. (I hear “au le” a lot but that literally means “to the the”) Same thing for “de” + “le” and “de” + “les”. “De” + “le” merge and become “du”, and “de” + “les” become “des”. CORRECT: Le nom du chanteur du groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité des pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol. WRONG: Le nom de le chanteur de le groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité de les pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol. ......................................................................................... #2: To say “A lot of…” you have to say “Beaucoup de” or “Beaucoup d’” (if the next word starts with a vowel). “Beaucoup” can NEVER be followed by des or du or de la. CORRECT: Il y a beaucoup de personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup d’amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup de chocolat. WRONG: Il y a beaucoup des personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup des amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup du chocolat. ......................................................................................... #3: Sometimes, people don’t know where to place the negation “ne” in the sentence. But it’s actually very simple. “Ne” comes right after the subject or the subject pronoun. (There are exceptions, but this rule works 95% of the time) CORRECT: Je ne suis pas fatigué / Je n’ai pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants ne veulent pas aller à l’école. WRONG: Je suis ne pas fatigué / J’ai ne pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants veulent ne pas aller à l’école. Another important thing to remember is that when the sentence has another negation word like “rien” or “jamais” or “personne”, these words will replace the “pas”. CORRECT: Je ne suis jamais allé en France / Il n’y a rien à manger / Personne n’aime faire des devoirs. WRONG: Je ne suis pas jamais allé en France / Il n’y a pas rien à manger / Personne n’aime pas faire des devoirs. .......................................................................................... #4: This one is extremely common. Learners often use the conjugated form of the verb when it should be the infinitive or they use the infinitive form when it should be the conjugated form. When to use the infinitive?: When the verb is used with what I call a “connector verb” (vouloir, aimer, aller, pouvoir, devoir…) or right after prepositions like “à”, “de”, and “pour”. CORRECT: Je veux manger une pomme / J’aime prendre l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demander quelque chose? / Tu dois faire tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménager au Canada. / Pour apprendre une langue, il faut étudier souvent. WRONG: Je veux mange une pomme / J’aime prend l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demande quelque chose? / Tu dois fais tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménage au Canada. / Pour apprend une langue, il faut étudie souvent. Now, when to use the conjugated form of a verb?: When it comes after a subject or a subject pronoun, or after “qui”. CORRECT: Ça prend beaucoup de temps / Mes parents ont une grande maison / C’est un film qui parle de l’Égypte / Je te vois. WRONG: Ça prendre beaucoup de temps / Mes parents avoir une grande maison / C’est un film qui parler de l’Égypte / Je te voir You can understand why it’s wrong by comparing it to English. You wouldn’t say “It to take a lot of time”. You would say “It takes a lot of time”. ........................................................................................... #5: In French, the verb "connaître" and "savoir" both mean "to know", but they are used differently. “Connaître” means “to know” with the idea to be personally familiar with, to have experienced it yourself. It is used with books, movies, cities, people... CORRECT: Je ne connais pas le film Titanic / Connais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu connais? WRONG: Je ne sais pas le film Titanic / Sais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu sais? "Savoir" has to do with acquired knowledge. It is followed by interrogative expressions (où, pourquoi, qui, avec qui, quand, etc…), or by verbs. CORRECT: Sais-tu où il habite? / Je ne sais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je sais parler français. WRONG: Connais-tu où il habite? / Je ne connais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je connais parler français. .................................................................................... #6: This mistake is fairly easy to fix. Pronouns “je”, “te”, “me”, “le”, “la”, and "se" have to be attached to words that start with a vowel or with an “h”. CORRECT: J’habite à Montréal / J'apprends le français / Je ne t’entends pas / Il m’a demandé si j’étais célibataire / Je l’ai vu au restaurant. / Il s'est réveillé tôt. WRONG: Je habite à Montréal / Je apprends le français / Je ne te entends pas / Il me a demandé si je étais célibataire / Je le ai vu au restaurant. / Il se est réveillé tôt. ........................................................................................... #7: Most French verbs in the past tense (passé composé) use the auxiliary verb “avoir”. But some use the auxiliary verb “être”. Here are the most important ones to remember: CORRECT: Je suis allé au casino / Il est devenu pilote / Je suis revenu à la maison / Nous sommes retournés dans notre ville natale / Chantal est venue à mon anniversaire / Ils sont arrivés à Montréal ce matin / Je suis resté chez moi toute la journée. WRONG: J'ai allé au casino / Il a devenu pilote / J’ai revenu à la maison / Nous avons retourné dans notre ville natale / Chantal a venu à mon anniversaire / Ils ont arrivé à Montréal ce matin / J’ai resté chez moi toute la journée. Also, useful tip: Every single reflexive verbs (se + verb) use the auxiliary “être” in the passé composé. For example: Je me suis réveillé / Nous nous sommes promenés / etc... ................................................................................................ #8: In English, words like “sometimes, never, always, often, already…”, usually come right after the subject or subject pronoun. But in French, it isn’t so. They must come after the verb. CORRECT: François va souvent au parc / Je ne mange jamais de viande / J’ai déjà fini mon projet / Nous passons toujours du temps ensemble. WRONG: François souvent va au parc / Je ne jamais mange de viande / Je déjà ai fini mon projet / Nous toujours passons du temps ensemble. ............................................................................................. #9: In French, “que” and “qui” can both mean “that”, but they are used differently. “Que” is used before subjects or subject pronouns whereas “qui” is used before verbs. CORRECT: La robe que tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens qui n’aiment pas voyager. / Aimes-tu le plat que j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film qui a gagné un oscar. WRONG: La robe qui tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens que n’aiment pas voyager / Aimes-tu le plat qui j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film que a gagné un oscar. ............................................................................................. #10: In English, you can express the present tense by saying for example “I eat” or “I am eating”. But in French, the “I am eating” tense does not exist. We only use 1 present tense. You can NEVER say “I am + infinitive verb” to express the present tense in French. CORRECT: Je mange une pomme / Marie fait ses devoirs / Je cuisine / Il prend une douche WRONG: Je suis manger une pomme / Marie est faire ses devoirs / Je suis cuisiner / Il est prendre une douche. Saying “Je suis manger une pomme” would literally mean “I am to eat an apple”. It does not make sense in French. However, there is one thing that we sometimes say. It’s “Je suis en train de + infinitive verb”. It means “I am in the process of…”. So, you could actually say “Je suis en train de manger”, which technically means I’m eating / I’m in the process of eating. ...................................................................................................
Mon premier semaine en Normandie / My first week in Normandy!
Salut à tous! J'ai déménagé en Normandie la semaine dernière et je voulais partager mon expérience jusqu'à là. Mais mon français c'est pas bon maintenant, donc j'écrire en Anglais. So as above, I just moved to Normandy last week for work and wanted to share my experience and thoughts for anyone that is interested or might be in a similar situation in the near future. Some background information: I just recently completed my master's degree in engineering in September, which was sponsored by a major French company. They decided to hire me with a 1 year contract (in France, a limited duration contract is called a CDD, and full-time is CDI), with possibility of re-hire afterwards. The company started the immigration process in August and I finally got my visa the week before Christmas, so it takes quite a while. I am a 100% Canadian Anglophone, which means that my French is hot garbage. I took "core french" until grade 9 (which is 6 years of conjugating avoir and être), and took 1 online university class in 2015 as an elective. I've been "studying" the past 4 months, but it is difficult when everything around you is in English. I've tried to listen and watch French music, TV, books, work on some apps, and so on. So by the end of the 4 months, I was able to read very basic language and follow simple stories, but my hearing and speaking was still very minimal. I also started chatting with someone in Paris using HelloTalk so that has helped a lot with writing casual language. I would've taken courses if I knew exactly when I was supposed to move to France, but it was all in the dark during the process. So essentially, I moved to Normandy with minimal French knowledge. Let me tell you that it has been extremely difficult. I'm lucky to have my supervisor help me with having a place to stay, transportation to work, and office paperwork. One extremely awesome grad student intern in my office has also been helping me with some of the paperwork and training with translation - he's also invited me to go out for drinks after work on Thursday this week (because apparently Thursday is the night to go out?), and so I got to meet a bunch of other young people. Being in Normandy, I've been finding that many people speak minimal English. Even at my company, only the engineers speak English out of international necessity, but most of everyone else speaks French only. This has been difficult as all of the training and lectures have been in French, with no translation. During lunch and coffee breaks, all conversation is in French. I am essentially a child that can't do anything by myself - I am trying to find a place to move into right now, but I essentially need someone to help me communicate with the landlords. Also to open a bank account, and get a phone number (which I still don't have because I need a bank card and I went in to open a bank account on Tuesday and still waiting for them to MAIL me a code to bring to the bank to get a card). Things are very slow here in terms of administration, so you definitely need to have some patience and be well prepared (10000 copies of all of your documents). Despite the difficulties, my hearing has definitely gotten better but obviously still not good. Instead of everything sounding like the same thing, I can pick out a lot of words but my mind isn't there yet to process it right away. My speaking is still very bad because I need to think about what I want to say instead of just saying it. By the recommendation of my boss, I've started using Assimil and it seems to be helping quite a bit. By listening to slow conversation, I am starting to recognize common words and be able to recognize them right away instead of translating in my head. I also watch the news every night in French and continue to listen to French music. My friends at work try to get me to say simple conversation in French. I even went to the market today to buy groceries and spoke broken-French and charade-d my way through buying groceries. I've met an American that moved here 5 months ago and said that once you start to hear and understand everything, then speaking becomes much easier because now you know what to answer. Anyway, that's just some experience of an Anglophone with very minimal knowledge moving to a small city in France, where many people do not speak English. If you managed to read this far, and if you are a French native that would be willing to help me integrate more into society (maybe phone calls once I receive my phone number?), please let me know! :) if you are planning/thinking on moving to France soon and are an anglophone, feel free to ask if you have any questions! ALSO, some different things that I've noticed my time here: Small breakfast, huge lunch (~12 for 1-1.5h), small/medium dinner (~8pm). Lunch is a big thing it seems like, and you eat together. The French also seem to really like their dessert (even if it's something simple like yoghurt or fruit, as long as it is something), and their scheduled coffee breaks. I do enjoy the eating schedule because I snack much less. Also espresso is very popular - espresso for breakfast, regular coffee for break, espresso for after lunch. Most people seem to drink their coffee black. Work hours are so odd, but that may be my team (which is very technical). They are about 8:00-8:30 until 5:30-6:00. I'm very used to finishing work at 4:30 (because I would go in early), so leaving so late feels odd. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. Try to avoid getting the hard thing in a slice of galette because I can't afford to buy the next one right now (galette is a cake made of puff pastry and the filling is almond, and it is delicious and rich. If you get a slice with a something hard in it, usually a little plastic piece, then you have to buy the next one). Toilet is in a separate room than the showesink. Weird. Fresh food here is amazing. Pâté is also amazing. Driving lanes and signals seem more like a suggestion. The street lights are also super low, so you need to look to the side to see when the light changes. A lot of people dress really well. Streets are very narrow. EDIT: also saying "bonjour" to literally everyone that I pass in the hallways at work. Breaking the habit of just walking past, saying nothing, and nodding has been a bit hard. I have to consciously remind myself to say "bonjour". Of course, it's different in public, but that's been something I've had to adjust to at work.
In which every single species in the universe has a language that operates logically. Except for humans, because fuck logic. "How are things going on your side, Commander Reikvus?" Secretary-General Phoema asked. "They've chosen to allocate more resources to protecting their technological secrets than safeguarding their communications channels. So while we haven't managed to access their research yet, we have managed to take full control of their communications systems," her cybersecurity expert replied. Phoema smirked. "Vulnerable communications systems. That is about the stupidest thing you could do in any war. Really?" "Really. We can now intercept their messages, and with luck we might even pose as them." Ha-ha. Earth was in trouble. As in, buried deep in fifty langues of gurdu dung sort of trouble. They thought they were so smart, but clearly that wasn't the case, if they weren't covering up their military intelligence. "Excellent." "But…" "But what?" He cleared his throat. "Minor problem, really. Ah…we're having a bit of a difficult time deciphering their messages." "How?" the Secretary-General demanded. "You've already cracked their code; that was the hardest part, wasn't it?" She stole a glance at the computer screen. There was a string of some gibberish that looked like a hatchling's drawings. "The humans are transmitting this in their own language." Was that it? How primitive. Who even used pictographs anymore? "I don't see what the problem is. Run it through the universal translation software; that's what it was designed for." "That is the UTS…as you can see, it isn't really working…" He pointed to the string of gibberish in the output box, which she had earlier dismissed as remnants of a test run.
泥西环筒因妈? >>> mud west ring cylinder because mother
"And why not? I thought Teralingua was already in there." "Well, it's not Teralingua. Teralingua was purposefully designed with predictable syntax to make communication with other species easier. This right here is one of their early human languages, from before their pan-species unification," the young Commander explained. Never let it be said that Phoema was one of those demanding superior officers that didn't understand the plights of her engineers. Even so, she was having a difficult time keeping her annoyance in check. After all, it was the universal translation software. It had been a collaborative effort by the council, perfected decades ago, and the AI running it was so powerful it could impeccably translate languages it had never even seen before, all by similarity analyses with existing languages in its database. "That was the best it could do?" "That's the thing. This is the perfect translation. I manually cross-referenced the inputs with a raw dictionary for Zhongwen – that's the specific dialect of Teralingua they're using − and I got the exact same thing. I even used their own translation software, the one the humans built for themselves, with no better results. We're inclined to believe that on top of the cryptography, they've put a second layer of code…" "Can't you just convert the text to an audio file and search the language database for similar results?" Phoema asked. "Yeah, we did that. When we managed to get past that level they started using another language of theirs."
>>> CINDER SHE HAS SHE HAS E E E E E E E E
"What's that supposed to mean?" the Secretary-General demanded. "It was translated from a sound file, and that was what all the words sounded like. This is what we got when we matched the sound up with their written language."
CENDRE ELLE A ELLE A AI AIE AIENT AIES AIT ES EST ET
"Five of them are different forms of the same word, two more are also different forms of a different word, and from what our wiretaps have gathered, all of them are pronounced the same. So, yes, they have words that look different and are different but sound the same." Phoema blinked at the words on the screen and frowned. "What the heck? Why don't they say it like they write it?" "Beats me." "But then how do they expect their recipients to understand which is which? Didn't they send some sort of key?" Phoema demanded. "No. This isn't a mathematical code. Humans are weird. They're bad at doing lots of simple computations, but they're naturally good at doing complex analyses. And I suppose the mess they call linguistics is one of those." He squinted at the screen. Phoema nodded. Some complex problems were easy for living things out of necessity, like depth perception. The thing was, they had designed reliable image processors with that ability ages ago. What they hadn't done was figure out an efficient way to solve certain graph problems, which for some reason humans could do just by "looking at it", though none of them could really explain exactly how. (These were the same creatures who couldn't do simple twelve-digit multiplications in their head. Really!) "Apparently, their species has a critical period of development that allows them to, like everything else they seem to do, 'just know it'. We're still trying to figure out what that is, but one of my codebreakers thinks that it might be a joke. The thing is, some of their words look different and are different but sound the same. And to make things worse, they also have words that look different and sound different but mean the same thing." "You mean like synonyms? Why is that so hard? Some of the more artistic species have plenty of those, due to the cultural importance they place on connotation, and our translation software worked just fine." "No, no, I mean, they are the exact same thing. They just change them up slightly," Reikvus groaned. "Sometimes for no goddamn reason, other than it's a different speaker."
ROMANES EUNT DOMUS >>> PEOPLE CALLED ROMANS THEY GO TO THE HOUSE
"That makes no sense. If the subject has already changed to denote that, why do you have to change the other verbs and adjectives?" Reikvus coughed. "We've determined that the answer is no reason at all, except for screwing with us. And don't get me started on grammatical genders." "Genders?" "Not biological gender. Grammatical gender. These guys have assigned non-reproducing, nonliving objects with genders." "Wait, what? Why?" Reikvus smirked. "Exactly. The current translation AI couldn't handle the concept of non-reproducing, nonliving objects having genders either. And the fact that the same phrases have to be written differently because of this fact. And the fact that all of this really doesn't have any meaningful significance, except the presence of a gendered object usually means that they start playing switcheroo with their articles and adjectives. AGAIN." "Again? Do they play 'switcheroo' with their words elsewhere?" "Oh, you don't want me to get started on their verb tenses." "So? The AI didn't have a problem with the Kaorii verb tenses." "Because verb tenses have an obvious impact on the meaning of a sentence, and the Kaorii followed a specific pattern that was easily identifiable. They didn't have irregular verbs, or a case system, or – " "Wait, wait, wait – irregular verbs? Case systems? What?" Phoema wasn't much of a grammar nerd, but she was a stickler for proper speech, as misunderstandings in military matters of any kind was a recipe for disaster.
Я ненавижу систему дела вы ненавидите систему дела мы все ненавидим систему случай! >>> [nenavizhu: I hate] >>> [nenavidite: (you) hate] >>> [nenavidim: we hate]
"You know how earlier, I told you they totally changed up the adjectives and the verbs and the articles because of something the subject did? They also conjugate articles and adjectives and possessive pronouns and several other parts of a sentence for something that ONLY AFFECTS THE USAGE OF THE VERB!" The Secretary-General cocked one of her ears. "How do they even communicate with each other? How do they even remember which words are the same and which are different? How did they communicate before they invented Teralingua?" "That's the thing. They didn't. Or, well, they had a few individuals who learned more than one of their 'you're just supposed to know these monstrosities by instinct' and even they weren't perfect. They have thousands of these stupid codes! And they keep pulling out new ones every time we crack an old one. They even make up their own nonsensical exceptions and puns." Reikvus shuddered. "What type of species has languages so nonsensical that other members of their own species don't know it?!" "The same species that made this shit up in the first place. One of our interns has a conspiracy theory that this is all just an elaborate invention to mess with us." Commander Reikvus sighed. "I mean, it's a bit farfetched, since it's clearly part of their history, way before they had electricity, even, but at the same time…the kid had a point. After all, this non-algorithmic obfuscation was done in the exact perfect way a computer can't handle easily." But that was… Phoema opened and closed her nostrils a few times. "Why can't the computer…"
ICH KANN DICH SEHEN DICH KANN ICH SEHEN SEHEN KANN ICH DICH KANNST DU MICH SEHEN? >>>I can you see >>>you can I see >>>see can I you >>>can you me see
"Because the algorithm works by parsing syntactical patterns. All four of those sentences have the same words in a different order, but according to the Earth translation software, three of them mean the exact same thing." "Clearly the Earth one has to be wrong. It has to be; that is completely illogical." Reikvus scratched his knuckles. "About that. You know all those stupid rules I told you earlier? Apart from all those rules, let's just say, human languages also have more…exceptions to the rule than usual." "Exceptions?" "Like the verbs that change in a nonspecific pattern in tense changes. Or nouns that also change in a nonspecific pattern for plurals and possessives." "But our translation software can just remember that, can't it? Give it some training time…what is that?" Reikvus blinked at the newest language to pop up on the screen, and sighed. "Okay, you know those first two languages with all the words and stuff sounding the same? This one has all of that, plus words that look the same but sound different and mean different things. As well as words that look the same and sound the same but mean different things, and words that sound the same and are the same but look different, and words that look the same and are the same but sound different." Secretary-General Phoema felt her nose twitch at the sheer audacity of these…assholes. Really, there was no better way to put it. Language, by definition, was a concept of communication! Who the hell took language and made it as uncommunicable as possible?! "You know what, I take what I said earlier back." "Take what back?" "Them being stupid. Trying to save resources by allocating their security to protecting their engineering secrets instead of their communications networks. That wasn't the stupid part. The stupid was already ingrained in them from the dawn of their species." She shot one last angry glance at the glowing screen, where a new message had popped up in the alert box.
1) Both of these Chinese phrases, phonetically, are "ni xihuan tongyin ma"; the only difference is the tones. 泥西环筒因妈? = mud west ring cylinder because mom 你喜歡同音嗎? = Do you like homophones? 2) In French, AI, AIE, AIENT, AIES, AIT, ES, EST, ET are all pronounced "eh". The first five are conjugations of "avoir" (to have); the next two are conjugations of "etre" (to be) and the last is "et" (and). 3) Monty Python Reference Video 4) Ya nenavizhu sistemu dela, vy nenavidite sistemu dela, my vse nenavidim sistemu sluchay! = I hate the case system, you hate the case system, we all hate the case system! *Russian grammar has 6 cases, and you have to conjugate verbs/nouns/adjectives/etc. accordingly, while keeping tense and gender in mind. 5) I can see you, I can see you, I can see you, can you see me? In non-questions, German puts the verb in the second position, the subject right next to the verb (before or after doesn't matter) and everything else wherever the hell they want. 6) The first rule of English: there are no rules. Sorry for not featuring more non-European languages; I could only use the ones I had passing familiarity with. Plus they're a regular source of irregular verbs :) If any native speakers see any errors please tell me. And yes, the humans were well aware that they were being hacked. They were just messing with the aliens. (And also gathering information on their technological and translation capabilities.)
I just posted this on /newbrunswickcanada, figured I'd share it here too. It doesn't directly affect most of you, but it's a Canada thing, so here it is if you're interested. Bilingualism is always a hot topic, and I never see my perspective represented in the discussions so I wanted to put this out there. I have pretty much always lived in the Saint John area, for context. I rarely come across someone here with a French accent, and never someone that can't speak English perfectly well. So we're pretty Anglo around here. Even since I was a kid, I tried really hard to embrace bilingualism. My parents and teachers told me I'd do really well to learn French and have more opportunities. Sounds good to me, so I tried hard. My elementary school teachers recommended I go into French immersion, so I did from grades 7 to 12. I did really well at it. I got good marks in French, and by grade 9, I could write short, simple, but understandable paragraphs in French. I could read almost any educational material designed for a French learner like me. But reading anything written for French people was nearly impossible. Even kids books, like board books, were full of words we had never seen in class, and weren't result or directly translatable to English, or the words were familiar but the endings and order were unfamiliar so we couldn't figure it what it really said. We read a few short novels in high school but man, I couldn't follow those at all. They were way beyond what any of us could understand. I could read them out loud and sound good doing it, but without any comprehension. Conversational skills were similar. I could understand my friends speak French because they only knew a very few words and spoke slowly without a French accent. Listening to any native francophone speak was brutal. Too fast, unfamiliar words, and unfamiliar accent. The majority of my French teachers were not native Francophones themselves, so we didn't speak or understand a French accent well, and we were rarely encouraged to work on ours. We watched some French movies and tv shows (Filles de Caleb, anybody?) in class, but still, couldn't understand anything. By grade 11 and 12, if a bunch of French students were hanging out together, we would talk and joke in French, but it was pretty rough. We had terrible accents and our grammar and word order was very inconsistent because we never quite sure of the right way to say something. And we didn't know how to find out. A French-English dictionary wouldn't help us translate a phrase like, "What are you talking about?", for example. The effects it had on other classes was kinda rough too. Social studies, math, and probably other stuff were all in French. Grades 7 to 9 were a total write off for those subjects. We didn't speak French yet, and no English allowed in class. If you don't understand, you don't even know how to ask for help, and you wouldn't understand the answer. Maybe it was the best way to learn French, I don't know, but it was the worst way to learn other subjects. It sure didn't feel like I was learning French in math and social studies. It just made me frustrated, made me feel like French was a barrier to learning other stuff. Even in French classes, we barely progressed some years. Year after year, we'd be quizzed on conjugating avoir and etre, and memorizing the list of verbs that are conjugated in past tense with etre instead of avoir (who remembers Vandertramp?). It felt like so much of the same thing over and over and over. I was always wondering, when are we going to learn how to actually TALK to people and learn how real people say things? It never really happened. We didn't have an AP French class in my school, but we did get the opportunity to take the AP exam anyway. A good amount of us tried it and scored at least 3/5, which was enough for a free 3 credit-hours at UNBSJ. I got a score of 4, if I remember right. And still, I've never felt the slightest bit comfortable in my ability to speak in French to a native French speaker. But then, that was it for French. I graduated in 2003, and didn't HAVE to use French again until 2017 when I spent a week near Quebec City. I had to ask a pharmacist where the Gravol was, and a mechanic if he could plug a flat tire. For 14 years, I didn't meet anyone who couldn't speak English much better than I could speak French so it never made sense to speak French to anyone. In my experience (which shouldn't be taken for too much, of course), it seems quite unnecessary to be bilingual to get by just fine in New Brunswick, except when it's a requirement for a job. All that to say, I don't wonder why bilingualism is kind of a mess. I don't see an obvious path for English speaking people without access to real French speakers (which is probably most of us) to learn French. I would assume it's much easier for a French speaker to learn English since it's so much more common, and because of all the media in English you'd want to consume. I knew from childhood that there were tensions between anglophones and francophones in NB. I had this idealistic idea that I was going to learn French, not just to help me out, but also show some respect to people on the other side, like, "I get that you love your language and it's in the minority. Look, I worked really hard to learn it too. Let's hang out." But that never happened. I tried, but it didn't work. Sorry, francophones. I'm not sure what else to do to help at this point. I'm frustrated, maybe even resentful, that all my time in French immersion feels like a waste. I can't speak French, and I missed out on years of other classes that I didn't understand. I don't know how to fix bilingualism in NB and make it work, but I would be a lot more optimistic if French education was better, and there was an opportunity to learn French without the luck of having a French parent or something like that.
Canadian Living in Normandy, France - Feeling normal for once...while on vacation
Bonjour à toutes et à tous ! I am a Canadian living in Le Havre, France (Normandie region) and have been here for 5 months on a 1-year CDD (temporary) contract. First off, some background information. Before I moved here, I had extremely little ability in French (the last time I took a French course was 10 years ago and it was entirely conjugations of avoir and être for 6 years). Luckily, the company that sponsored my thesis project in Canada offered to take me in for a contract, despite my lack of French. Throughout these past few months, I've been learning quite a lot about French culture, what are popular activities in France, how the "friend" culture is like here, and so on. I have been so immersed for the past few months (many people here do not speak English, and thus, French is mandatory to do anything in this city). However, we recently had a holiday (Ascension day was Thursday, followed by Friday off that most companies give). My friends that I made at work (whom are all French natives) suggested we go to Brighton, as it is a nice little ferry ride across the English Channel. Little did I realize that I was going to be hit by a huge wave of "feeling normal". Indeed, when we landed in Portsmouth, I was excited to finally be able to show my friends that I am actually a person that can make conversation and jokes by having some banter with the border guard. It should be noted that my French friends only speak in French and although they include me in their activities, I often just sit on the side and observe since it is very difficult for me to follow the conversation and even come up with a response. I don't blame them because their English proficiency is not great. The feeling of normalcy, however, did not hit me until the next day. As we strolled around the beautiful beaches and streets of Brighton, I started to realize that for the first time in months, I did not feel anxious to ask someone for directions or help, I effortlessly made conversation with bartenders, and I could understand every sign and announcements over PA systems. Furthermore, my friends started to make (good-natured) comments about how lively I was and how chatty I was - they've never seen this side of me. As much as I love living in France, there are many things that are different culturally. One example is the openness of many Anglophones and willingness to create new friends outside their current circle. Of course, I do not speak for all French people (there are always exceptions), but it feels to me that many people here will often stick to their inner circles. Coupled with the inability to communicate like a grown adult, friendships do not last long and if they do last, they are very surface level. I am sure the latter problem goes away with proficiency, but the former still remains and my French friends seem to agree. They definitely noticed quicker friendliness from the Brits than their fellow French and you may argue that it is simply superficial friendliness but I believe a friendship has to start somewhere. Another example, specific to me, is the lack of popularity of musical theatre, as well as the difficulty in joining organized music groups in general (orchestras, wind ensembles, and so on). I have been a part of theatre productions for 8+ years, and to suddenly take that all away has been heartbreaking. It is what has helped me through school and tough times. In France, films are especially the big art form here (and there are organized music groups but it is difficult to break into them). These feelings of normalcy were further exacerbated when I broke off from the group to see a showing at the Brighton Fringe Festival, and was able to understand all the jokes and meaning behind the words. I even got to participate in the performance (I played as the grieving father of a murdered DJ...). I also saw an theatre company perform a showcase of musical numbers from various musicals. I managed to drag my French friends to an improv show where they ask the audience to write down the last movie they saw and write a quick summary. They then picked a submission and created an entirely improvised musical around the plot of the movie - it was fantastic (the show is called Notflix). They seemed to get the general gist but missed a few jokes. Again, comments ensued from my friends, saying they have never seen me laugh so hard (mort de rire, in their words) and saying how they understand now what it's like for me to try to attend a show in France. Bref, these past 4 days in the UK has left me emotionally drained and homesick. I miss feeling like a normal person, creating conversation that isn't one-sided, and living somewhere that is filled with opportunities for my hobbies. I love France, don't get me wrong, but it has been a struggle of isolation and day-to-day life. I've only been here for 5 months now, so not too long, and I still have 6 months to see where I end up. Maybe I will be offered further opportunities in the company in Paris, where there are many more opportunities; maybe I will decide that 1 year is enough France for me; maybe I will decide to try to find a job in the UK (it is a nice cross between North American and general European culture, in terms of vacation); maybe I will just go home to Canada. I needed to get this written down and off my chest, as I do not have many people with the same experience (in my personal life) that can empathise, but this seems like the perfect place ! It has made me feel a little bit better to have it all written down. Thanks for making it this far to the end ! Salut et bonne soirée !
The French irregular verb avoir, which means "to have", is one of the most frequently used of all French verbs. Avoir is also an auxiliary verb, which means it's used to form compound tenses, such as the passé composé. Since most French verbs use avoir to form their compound tenses, it is essential to memorize and understand avoir. French verbs Conjugation. More than 9,000 conjugated French verbs. The leading conjugator for French verbs. A true verb conjugation dictionary. how avoir is pronounced in French; how avoir is used in sentences in French, how you can quiz yourself on avoir conjugation in the present tense; how avoir conjugation Anki files can be downloaded; Please refer to the French A1 Curriculum to get a better overview of French grammar, if you are curious about this fits in French A1. By the end of the lesson you will know all about avoir Conjugate the French verb avoir in several modes, tenses, voices, numbers, persons : indicative mode, subjunctive, imperative mood, conditional, participle form avoir: Conjugation. The avoir conjugation tables below show how to form the French verb avoir according to tense and person. To listen to the pronunciation of a given tense of avoir, click on the loudspeaker icon at the bottom of the table.See the notes on the conjugation of avoir at the end of this page. French conjugation: the best way to learn how to conjugate a French verb. Write the infinitive or a conjugated form and the French Conjugator will provide you a list of all the verb tenses and persons: future, participle, present, subjunctive, auxiliary verb. Translate a French verb in context, with examples of use and see its definition. Conjugate the French verb avoir in all tenses: future, participle, present, indicative, subjunctive. Irregular verbs, auxiliary verbs, conjugation rules and conjugation models in French verb conjugation. Translate avoir in context, with examples of use and definition. In French, we conjugate it in the passé composé with: Être → Il est sorti de la maison à 20 heures. He left the house at 8pm. Avoir → Il a sorti ses gants de sa poche. He took his gloves out of his pocket; Rule of thumb: If the subject is the one that’s going from “inside” to “outside” (= to leave, to go out), then we use être. Say "j'ai" to mean "I have." In the first person present tense, the verb avoir takes the form "ai" (pronounced ay).Since it starts with a vowel, glide between the pronoun je and the verb – don't say them separately, but treat them as one word.. In French, the verb avoir is used when telling people your age. The literal translation would be that you "have" a certain number of years. Avoir is one of the most important French verbs - here's how to conjugate it into every tense and mood. Conjugations for the irregular French verb avoir.
Learn the French verb Avoir "to have" by Etienne - YouTube
Alexa teaches you how to conjugate Avoir (to have) in 5 main French tenses. SUPPORT GUIDE and EXCLUSIVE VIDS at https://learnfrenchwithalexa.com. Test Your... Key French verbs: Avoir- Être - Aller - Faire conjugated in the present tense with a song for each to help memorise them Learn how to conjugate a super-basic and super-useful verb in French : to have, or actually 'avoir'. FRENCH VERB CONJUGATION = Prendre = Indicatif Présent - Duration: 1:10. French conjugation with Vincent 8,385 views. 1:10. Learn French conjugation #aller #avoir #être #faire - Duration: 2:23. Dialogues in French and English : https://www.youtube.com/123dialoguesFacebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Learn-French-Video-Lessons-YouLearnFrench/... Song: AVOIR IICD: La danse des araignéesDVD: RockumentaireSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/track/4LVhYNTiVRZmmkuQJqsLQwMore French grammar, language structu... French Lesson - Conjugate the verb Avoir (To Have) in Present Tense - Duration: 5:12. The French Formula 18,543 views. 5:12. Top 10 Basic French Words Every BEGINNER Should Know - Duration: 13:27. ... Know the 2 most important French verbs? http://LFWA.COM presents être (to be) and avoir (to have) in Lesson 10 of Alexa’s popular Beginner’s French Essential... Alexa teaches you 20 useful expressions with Avoir (to have).SUPPORT GUIDE and EXCLUSIVE VIDS at https://learnfrenchwithalexa.com. Test your French level w...