Lesson 21

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. Il fait aujourd’hui. Tu es en vacances en ce moment ?
2. étudiants russes sont en vacances d’hiver.
3. Vous avez . Vous travaillez que nous.
4. Je ne crois pas. Nous avons des vacances deux fois par an : hiver et été.
5. Est-ce que les vacances d’hiver sont ?
6. Les examens à la fin du mois de janvier. Nous en vacances à partir du 25 janvier. Le sept février les études .
7. D’accord, ce n'est pas très long. Est-ce que vous alpin en hiver ?
8. Oui, c’est à la mode. Mes amis vont souvent à la montagne avec parents.

9. Mais , aime le ski de fond. Je vais très souvent à la campagne pour avec mes amis.
10. Nous revenons très contents.
11. Le climat en Russie est assez dur. En hiver froid. Quel temps en été ?
12. C’est un climat continental, et en été chaud.
13. En automne souvent et parfois . Les arbres .
14. Le printemps est une saison, mais très courte.
15. Au mois de mars nous avons encore , mais les jours plus longs.
16. J’aime beaucoup Moscou la neige.

Grammar

Expressions with tout

The adjective tout (toute, tous, toutes) in the structure tout + a definite article + a noun is translated as “all (the)” or “the whole” and agrees with the noun in gender and number, compare:

Je lis tout le livre. — I’m reading the whole book.
Je connais toute la ville. — I know the whole city.
Tous les hommes sont dans la rue. — All the men are on the street.
Toutes les femmes sont dans la rue. — All the women are on the street.

Similarly, in the structure tout + an indefinite article + a noun, the adjective tout is translated as a whole, e.g.:

Il a tout un sac de pommes. — He has a whole bag of apples.

In the structure without the article, tout + noun, the adjective tout is translated as every, e.g.:

Toute femme [fam] connaît la firme « L’Oréal ». — Every woman knows the firm “L’Oréal”.

The word tout (toute, tous, toutes) can be a pronoun and used independently. In this case, the masculine plural form tous and the feminine plural form toutes are translated the same way as “all” or “everyone”, for example:

Tous sont ici. — All (men) are here.
Toutes sont ici. — Everyone (women) is here.

The masculine singular pronoun tout can be translated as it’s all, e.g.:

Tout est vrai. — It’s all true (lit.: All is true).

The verb tout can also be an adverb and translated as very, for example:

Un sac tout vieux. — A very old bag.

Exercise 3. Change the sentences using the structure tout + a definite article + a noun. Do not forget to agree the adjective tout with the noun in gender and number.

Verbs of Group III

Memorize a few more frequently used verbs of group III (see the beginning in lesson 17; see also lesson 18, lesson 19, lesson 20):

Exercise 4. Translate using a dictionary if necessary:

Verbs of Group II

Group II includes verbs that in the infinitive form end in -ir and add the suffix -iss- in the plural forms. Memorize the forms of the verb finir:

Exercise 5. Write out the verbs of group II from the dialogue.

Exercise 6. Translate using a dictionary if necessary:

Finis tes études ! Il fait beau temps, et nous pouvons faire du ski.

Possessive Adjectives Denoting Several Possessors

You already know what possessive adjectives are (see lesson 20). Now remember the possessive adjectives where the possessor is a group of people:

Note that these possessive adjectives do not agree in gender with the nouns denoting the object they possess. Compare examples with the masculine word livre and the feminine word habitation (which means a house or a flat in English = dwelling):

C’est votre livre. — This is your book.
C’est notre habitation. — This is our dwelling.
Ce sont nos livres. — These are our books.
Ce sont vos habitations. — These are your dwellings.
C’est leur livre. — This is their book.
Ce sont leurs livres. — These are their books.
C’est leur habitation. — This is their dwelling.
Ce sont leurs habitations. — These are their dwellings.

Exercise 7. Change the sentences by using possessive adjectives to denote more than one possessor.

French Stressed Pronouns

You already know that in French there are unstressed personal pronouns that are obligatory with verbs (see lesson 15). In addition, there are also stressed pronouns, which are used independently. They are used when it is necessary to emphasize a pronoun, to put a logical accent on it. Compare:

Je parle bien français. — I speak French well. (neutral)

Moi je parle bien français. — (As for me,) I speak French well. (with emphasis)

Memorize the stressed personal pronouns:

Stressed pronouns may be used with or in place of a subject or object. They must agree with the subject or object in number and gender. They can be used with the prepositions de, avec, sur etc., for example:

Viens avec moi ! — Come with me!
Nous parlons de toi. — We are talking about you.

The pronouns that replace nouns with the preposition à will be discussed in the next lesson.

Exercise 8. Use the stressed pronouns as subjects.

Adverb en

The adverb en (from there) is usually used before the verb (like the adverb y (there), see lesson 18), it is often not translated, for example:

J’en reviens. — I’m coming back (from there).

If there are two verbs in a sentence, one of which is in the infinitive form, then the adverb en is placed before the verb in the infinitive form, e.g.:

Je peux en revenir demain. — I can come back (from there) tomorrow.

If the verb is used in the imperative mood, the adverb en is placed after the verb and written with a hyphen, e.g.:

Revenez-en demain ! — Come back from there tomorrow!

If the verb is in the negative form of the imperative, the adverb takes the place after the negative particle ne, with which it merges and is written with the apostrophe: ne + en = n’en, e.g.:

N’en revenez pas ! — Do not come back from there!

Note that if the adverb en is preceded by a verb with a silent consonant at its end, the consonant becomes pronounceable, with the final s, х being pronounced as [z]. For example:

Il peut en revenir. [ilpøtãrəvəni:r]
Reviens-en ! [rəvjɛ̃zã]
Revenez-en ! [rəvənezã]
Je peux en revenir. [jəpøzãrəvəni:r]

Exercise 9. Translate the sentences (note that the verb revenir (to come back) is conjugated as venir, see lesson 20):

1. In summer we go to the country every week. We come back from there very tired.
   
2. He has to go to London tomorrow. He can come back from there on Thursday.
   
3. — Where are you? — I’m in the café. — Don’t come back from there very late!
   

Counting from 11 to 60

We are continuing our study of numbers. Memorize numbers from 11 to 29:

Note the numbers 17, 18, 19: dix-sept (literally ten-seven), dix-huit (lit. ten-eight), dix-neuf (lit. ten-ten).

Keep in mind that the final t in the number vingt (20) is not pronounced, but it is pronounced in the numbers from 21 to 29 inclusive.

Further counting is carried out according to the same pattern:

Ordinal numbers are formed from all these numbers, including 21, 31, etc., using the suffix -ième, which you already know (see lesson 20), for example:

Exercise 10. Translate by writing the numbers in words:

Months and Dates

Learn the French names of the months paying attention to the correct pronunciation:

Il y a 12 mois dans l’année : — There are 12 months in the year:

Remember also the typical word combinations with the months:

When denoting dates in French (except for the first number), it is necessary to use cardinal numbers with the definite article. The English language in this case requires ordinal numbers, compare:

Nous sommes le trois février, dimanche. — Today is the third of February, Sunday.

However, both French and English use the ordinal number for “day 1”:

Le premier mai, lundi. — The first of May, Monday.

Note that the article is not abbreviated before the numbers huit and onze: le huit juin [ləɥitʒɥɛ̃], le onze août [ləɔ̃zu].

Exercise 11. Look at the pictures and write in French what date it is and what day of the week it is (write in words, not numbers):

Weather

Remember the expressions that are used when referring to the weather:

Quel temps fait-il ? — What’s the weather like?

Il fait du soleil. — It’s sunny.

The words pleut and neige in the expressions il pleut and il neige are the forms of 3^rd person singular of the verbs pleuvoir (to rain) and neiger (to snow). The other forms of these verbs are not used and the pronoun il loses its direct meaning when translating into English.

The structure il fait is widely used to designate the states of environment in French, where the word fait is the 3^rd person singular of the verb faire (to do, to make) that you know. However, neither il nor fait are not translated literally here.

Exercise 12. Translate into English:

1. What is the weather like in July? — In July it is hot.
   
2. What is the weather like in October? — In October it is windy.
   
3. What is the weather like in November? — In November it rains.
   
4. What is the weather like in April? — In April it is bad (weather).
   

5. What is the weather like in December? — In December it snows.
   
6. What is the weather like in June? — In June it is sunny.
   
7. What is the weather like in May? — In May it is fine (weather).
   
8. What is the weather like in January in Moscow? — In January it is cold but sunny.
   

Mastering the language subtleties

I. As in English, French has expressions that soften disagreement. These include the expression je ne crois pas (I do not think/believe), for example:

— Vous travaillez moins que nous. (You work less than we do.)
— Je ne crois pas. (I don’t think so.)

II. The verb faire (to do, to make) is one of polysemantic verbs. The verb faire is used in the expressions about weather (il fait beau etc.) and sport: faire du ski (to go skiing), faire du vélo (to go cycling) и др.

III. The expression avoir de la chance (to be lucky) is widely used not only in colloquial but also in neutral speech style. Note that it contains a partitive article which in negation is changed to the preposition de, compare:

J’ai de la chance. — I’m lucky.
Je n’ai pas de chance. — I’m not lucky.

Exercise 13. It’s time to make sure you have learned the vocabulary and grammar of this lesson. Translate:

1. What is the weather like today?
   
2. Today the weather is fine.
   
3. It’s warm, it’s sunny, the days become longer.
   
4. In autumn it often rains and sometimes it snows.
   
5. Spring in Russia is very short.
   

6. In summer all the students are on vacation/holidays.
   
7. During the winter holidays you can do alpine skiing, now it’s fashionable.
   
8. My parents often go to the country with their friends.
   
9. They come back very happy (from there).
   
10. The exams start (commencer — to start) on the second of January and finish on the twenty-fifth.
    

Let’s laugh and enrich our vocabulary

Text I

Vocabulary

Exercise 14. Read and translate Text I. Choose the statements that fit its content (write Oui or Non):

Text II

Vocabulary

Exercise 15. Read and translate Text II. Choose the statements that fit its content and write C’est juste (It’s right) or C’est faux (It’s wrong):

Text III

Vocabulary

Exercise 16. Read and translate Text III. Determine if the following statements match its content and write Précisément ! (Precisely!) or Pas du tout ! (Not at all!):