Lesson 27

Dialogue

Boris Petroff, directeur d’une compagnie franco-russe, a invité ses collègues français à un dîner d’affaire. Ils ont discuté de tous les problèmes et Boris a proposé de changer de sujet.

Vocabulary

Exercise 1. Read and translate the dialogue. Determine if the following statements fit its content. Answer C’est vrai (It’s true) or C’est faux (It’s not true):

Exercise 2. Listen to the recording of the dialogue several times. Fill in the blanks in the sentences by recalling what you have heard:

1. Mais dans la vie il y a pas le travail, il y a aussi les loisirs, les vacances, les voyages et les festivals.
2. que dans le domaine des loisirs, le modèle est anglo-saxon, mais dans le domaine des vacances, il est français.
3. Oui, mais les modèles tu parles changent avec l’âge.
4. Quand j’ jeune, je les vacances actives avec mes amis et je ne pas au confort.
5. Nous n’ pas assez d’argent pour aller en Amérique, en Asie ou en Australie.
6. D’habitude nous en France au bord de la mer ou nous à montagne.
7. Quand j’ étudiant, j’ beaucoup voyager avec mon sac sur le dos.
8. Pendant ces voyages j’ la Provence et j’y ensuite quatre ou cinq fois.

9. Avec les TGV modernes on ne sent pas la distance la fatigue.
10. Il n’y a plus de compartiments de couchettes, uniquement des fauteuils, comme dans l’avion.
11. Moi, dans mon enfance, j’ souvent au Canada avec mes parents, parce que mon oncle là-bas.
12. Nous y toujours en avion, mais une fois nous avons fait un magnifique voyage en bateau.
13. Le bateau au bord nous m’a paru énorme : plusieurs ponts, des cabines confortables, des piscines, des salles de conférences et des cinéma.
14. Ma femme et moi, nous avions aussi une petite maison à la campagne, mais c’ difficile de l’entretenir et nous l’ l’année dernière.
15. Je déteste les bouchons se forment sur les autoroutes au départ et à la sortie des villes du vendredi jusqu’au dimanche soir.
16. Je suis très de me reposer ainsi.

Grammar

Imparfait (Imperfect Past Tense)

The imperfect past tense (l’imparfait) is used to describe an incomplete or ongoing action or state of being. Most of the time, it can be translated with the English past continuous tense (be + ing), but it is also can be translated using the expression “used to” (and “would” in this meaning) and also just by using the past simple tense (was). For example:

Je parlais. — I was talking.
Elle marchait lentement. — She walked slowly. or She was walking slowly.

The formation of the imperfect past forms of verbs of all groups is the same, namely the endings -ais [ɛ], -ais [ɛ], -ait [ɛ], -ions [jɔ̃], -iez [je], -aient [ɛ] are added to the stem of the 1^st person plural of the present tense, for example:

group I parler (to speak, to talk): nous parlons — je parlais
group II finir (to finish, to end): nous finissons — je finissais
group III partir (to leave): nous partons — je partais

Remember all the forms of conjugation of these verbs in the imperfect past tense:

The verb être has a special past incomplete form, not from the stem of the 1^st person plural of the present tense:

Note that the endings in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd person singular and 3^rd person plural of the imperfect past tense are the same in colloquial speech: [ɛ].

Remember that verbs that have an i before the ending in the 1^st person plural of the present tense, for example nous rions, double that letter in the 1^st person plural of the imperfect past tense — nous riions; the pronunciation of both forms is the same: [nurijɔ̃]. Verbs that have y before the endings in the 1^st person plural of the present tense, for example nous voyons, add the letter i after that letter in the 1^st person plural of the imperfect past tense — nous voyions. The pronunciation of both forms is also the same: [nuvwajɔ̃].

The negative form of verbs of the imperfect past tense is formed with the construction ne... pas, for example:

The interrogative form of verbs of the imperfect past tense is formed by reversing the word order (except for the 1^st person singular), for example:

Exercise 3. Write out sentences from the dialogue that contain verbs in the imperfect past tense.

Exercise 4. Continue the sentences by putting the verbs in bold in the imperfect past form.

1. Mon frère va souvent au cinéma. Quand mon frère était petit ...
   
2. Vous me téléphonez souvent. L’année dernière ...
   
3. Nous nous couchons tard. Pendant les vacances ...
   
4. Mes parents sont très sportifs. Dans leur jeunesse ...
   
5. Tu apprends le français avec plaisir. L’année dernière ...
   
6. Je veux devenir écrivain. A l’école ...
   

Imparfait vs Passé composé

The compound past tense is often used for complete actions, while the imperfect past tense is often used for incomplete actions. For example:

Compound past tense				complete action
	|				|
Hier j’	ai téléphoné	à Paul.	—	Yesterday I	called	Paul.

Imperfect past tense				incomplete action
	|				|
Je	téléphonais	à Paul.	—	I	was calling	Paul.

However, this is not always the case, compare:

Imperfect past tense				complete action
	|				|
Je	téléphonais	à Paul chaque jour.	—	I	used to call	Paul every day.

Here is a table to help you better understand the difference in the use of the two tenses.

The imperfect past tense is often used at the beginning of a story, in descriptions of the state of nature or being, for example:

Exercise 5. Open the brackets and put the verbs in the compound past tense or the imperfect past tense.

Pronoun dont

The relative pronoun dont replaces the preposition de plus a person or thing and serves as the object of a relative clause. It can be translated differently depending on the context: that, about that, which, from which, who(m), from who(m) etc. Compare:

The pronoun dont in a sentence is always followed by the subject of the relative clause. The word order in a French sentence with the pronoun dont may be different from that of the English translation, for example:

the end of the main clause	subject of the relative clause
		↑
Voilà l’enfant	dont	je	connais	le père
				↓
	object of the relative clause

The English word order is just a bit different:

the end of the main clause	subject of the relative clause
			↑
Here is the child,	whose	father	I	know.
		↓
object of the relative clause

Exercise 6. Observe how the pronoun dont is used. Translate using a dictionary if necessary:

C’était une nuit merveilleuse dont l’ombre semblait pleine de bruits légers.

Regardez cette voiture dont la couleur est affreuse !

Il a 2000 livres dont beaucoup sont très vieux.

C’est un hôtel dont les fenêtres donnent sur la mer.

Pronouns lequel, auquel, duquel

From the previous lessons (see lesson 24, in particular) you already know how to use the pronouns qui and que that is translated into French with the words that, which, who that connect main and subordinate clauses in compound sentences, for example:

In the first case, the pronoun who serves as a subject in the relative clause (who loves me?) and is translated as qui. In the second case, who is the direct object, which can be ommited, (who do I love?), it is translated as que.

Let’s see how the word for that, which, who is translated in a subordinate clause when it is an indirect object. Indirect objects are the objects in a sentence to or for whom/what the action of the verb occurs.

The indirect object that is expressed here with the word lequel.

Now let’s see at how the translation will look like if we put the word pencil in the plural form:

As you could guess, lesquels is the plural form of the French pronoun lequel. In this case, it is the masculine plural form because the word crayon (pencil) is masculine.

Here are also the examples with feminine and plural forms of the pronoun lequel:

This is the little girl (that) I’m talking to. — Voici la petite fille avec laquelle je cause.
These are the little girls (that) I’m talking to. — Voici les petites filles avec lesquelles je cause.

You see that in these examples the pronoun lequel is used after the preposition avec (with). This pronoun may also appear after other prepositions, for example:

To sum up, the pronoun lequel appears after the prepositions avec, vers, sur, après and others in the following forms:

In case the pronoun lequel comes after the preposition à, it merges with it (except à laquelle) and takes the following forms:

The same happens if the pronoun lequel is preceded by the preposition de:

Here are some examples:

Le passant auquel j’adresse ne répond pas. (The passer-by to whom I address does not answer.) — The verb s’adresser à... (to speak to, to address...) requires the preposition à.

Voici le village près duquel on construit le pont. (This is the village near which the bridge is being built.) — The combination près duquel here replaces the combination près de le village, which includes the preposition de.

Now pay attention to one subtlety in French: the pronouns lequel, auquel, duquel most often replace designations of an object. The designation of a person should preferably be replaced by the pronoun qui with prepositions. This means, for example, that in French you can say this:

Voici la petite fille avec laquelle je cause. — This is the little girl (who) I’m talking to.

But it’s better if you construct the sentence as follows:

Voici la petite fille avec qui je cause.

And one more linguistic subtlety for you to grasp: the pronoun duquel is used when it refers to a noun with a preposition. Have a look:

Voici le bateau au bord duquel nous avons voyagé. (This is the boat on board which we traveled.) — Duquel refers to the prepositional phrase au bord (on board).

Je regarde la maison sur le toit de laquelle il y a un petit chien. (I look at the house on the roof of which there is a small dog.) — De laquelle refers to the prepositional phrase sur le toit (on the roof).

Now pay attention! For the word that is translated as who, that, which that refers to a noun without a preposition and replacing the combination of a noun with the preposition de, French has the special invariable pronoun dont. Look at how it is used:

Exercise 7. Combine the two sentences into one by using the pronoun dont or duquel.

1. Le bateau m’a paru énorme. Au bord du bateau nous voyagions.
   
2. Vous parlez du livre. Le livre est très intéressant.
   
3. Où est le journal ? Nous avons parlé du journal hier.
   
4. Voilà l’étudiant. Je connais le professeur de français de l’étudiant.
   
5. Il a posé la question. Je me suis étonné de cette question.
   

Mastering the language subtleties

Remember that the prepositions en (to) and de (from) are used with feminine country names, e.g::

For masculine country names, the fused articles au (to) and du (from) are used, for example:

If the name of the country is in the plural, the fused articles aux (to) and des (from) are used, for example:

Les Etats-Unis (the United States) — je vais aux Etats-Unis (I’m going to the United States) — je reviens des Etats-Unis (I’m coming back from the United States).

Some names of islands are used without an article, for example:

Cuba (Cuba) — je vais à Cuba (I’m going to Cuba) — je reviens de Cuba (I’m coming back from Cuba).

Exercise 8. Let’s see how well you have learned the vocabulary and grammar of this lesson. Translate:

1. When Michel was a student, he liked to travel a lot. (lit.: loved a lot the tourist trips.)
   
2. They had no money to go to America or to Australia.
   
3. He came back to Provence 4 times.
   
4. Usually Anthony went to Canada by plane.
   
5. One day he made a magnificent trip by boat.
   

6. During the vacations you can discover new activities.
   
7. These are activities that we don’t usually take an interest in.
   
8. My parents had a small house in the country, but they sold it.
   
9. Second homes are very convenient for weekend trips. (lit.: departures)
   
10. This is the rest that I am very happy with.
    

Let’s laugh and enrich our vocabulary

Text I. Vacances au Sahara

Vocabulary

Exercise 9. Read and translate Text I. Choose the statements that fit the text and write Je suis du même avis (I am of/have the same opinion) or Je ne suis pas de votre avis (I disagree with you):

Text II. Voyage de noces

Vocabulary

Exercise 10. Read and translate Text II. Choose the statements that fit the text and write Certes (Certainly) or Vous vous trompez (You are mistaken):

Text III. En vacances

Vocabulary

Exercise 11. Read and translate Text III. Choose the statements that fit the text and write Certes (Certainly) or Vous vous trompez (You are mistaken):

Etes-vous attentif (attentive) ?

Exercise 12. Read and translate the text and find the contradiction in it:

On va au cinéma

Vocabulary