Leçon 13
Lesson 13
Dialogue
Translation
Marie-Louise :
Bonjour, Madame !
Marie Louise:
Hello, Madam!
Madame Dubois :
Bonjour, Marie-Louise !
Mrs. Dubois:
Hello, Marie Louise!
Marie-Louise :
C’est Jean-Jacques Bouchand.
Jean-Jacques, c’est Madame Dubois.
Marie Louise:
This is Jean Jacques Bouchand.
Jean Jacques, this is Mrs. Dubois.
Jean-Jacques :
Enchanté. Bonjour, Madame !
Jean Jacques:
Pleased to meet you. Hello, Madam!
Madame Dubois :
Bonjour, Jean-Jacques !
C’est Robert Leblanc.
Mrs. Dubois:
Hello, Jean Jacques!
This is Robert Leblanc.
Jean-Jacques :
Bonjour, Robert !
Jean Jacques:
Hello, Robert!
Vocabulary
Marie-Louise [marilui:z] Marie Louise (female name)
bonjour ! hello!; good afternoon!; good morning!
madame f. madam, Mrs., ma'am (pl mesdames)
Dubois [dybwa] Dubois (surname)
c’est it’s, this is
Jean-Jacques [ʒanʒak] Jean Jacques (male name)
Bouchand [buʃã] Bouchand (surname)
enchanté m. — pleased to meet you (lit.: delighted/enchanted);
enchantée f. — pleased to meet you
Robert [rɔbɛ:r] Robert (male name)
Leblanc [ləblã] Leblanc (surname)
Grammar
Expression c’est
The expression c’est is a combination of ce (this, that) and est (“is” form of the verb être to be.). You know these words from the previous lessons. The expression c’est is used only in this joined form, where the apostrophe ’ indicates that the sound for “e” is not pronounced. C’est is often used to indicate an animate or inanimate object and literally means: it is, this is, that is.
| C’est Jean. | — This is Jean. |
| C’est Jean-Marie. | — This is Jean Marie. |
| C’est Jeacques. | — This is Jeacques. |
| C’est Madame Dubois. | — This is Mrs. Dubois. |
| C’est Marie-Louise. | — This is Marie Louise. |
| C’est Robert. | — This is Robert. |
Exercise 1. Translate into French:
1. Hello, Marie.
2. Hello, Robert.
3. This is Mrs. Dubois.
4. This is Robert.
5. Pleased to meet you, Madam.
Exercise 2. Look at the pictures and write what you see using c’est. Use the indefinite article un before every masculine word and the indefinite article une before every feminine word.
Example: C’est un livre. C’est une table.
Mastering the language subtleties
English and French systems of personal names
The English and French systems of personal names have a number of differences. The most striking ones are as follows.
Unlike English with its simple names consisting of only one component — John, Mary, Mark, Emma — French includes compound names that is made of two components, e.g.: Marie-Louise, Jean-Jacques. It is interesting that the male name Jean-Marie has the female name Marie as its second component. However, one-component personal names are more common in France.
As in English, it is appropriate to address people using only their first names like Robert or Louise. If you are going to communicate in a strictly formal setting, it is better to use the following formulas: Monsieur + family name (when addressing a man); Madame + family name (when addressing a married woman); Mademoiselle + family name (when addressing a young girl or an unmarried woman you know). For example: Bonjour, Madame Dubois.
If you do not know neither the name or surname of the interlocutor, you should call them simply Monsieur, or Madame, or Mademoiselle, for example: Bonjour, Madame.
Remember the abbreviations used in writing:
C’est Monsieur Calot. (This is Mr. Calot.)
—› C’est М. Calot.
C’est Madame Langlois. (This is Mrs. Langlois.)
—› C’est Mme Langlois.
C’est Mademoiselle Perle. (This is Miss Perle.)
—› C’est Mlle Perle.
