Lesson 22

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. Je dans le centre-ville.
2. Ma mère est , mais mon père comprend qu’un jour il faudra quitte.
3. Je déménage dans le quartier où habitent ma et mon — mon Jacques.
4. A présent je le verrai souvent.
5. Je dessiner le plan de mon appartement. Il une chambre, une petite cuisine et une entrée.
6. Où les fenêtres de ton appartement ?

7. La fenêtre de la cuisine donne sur la cour. fenêtre est petite et la cuisine est sombre.
8. La fenêtre de la chambre sur la rue et dans la chambre il y a beaucoup de soleil.
9. Mon appartement est au étage. C’est haut, mais il y a .
10. En bas, , il y a un magasin et une pharmacie. D’ailleurs, tu peux voir toi-même.
11. Je vais te donner ma : 110, la rue de la Gare.
12. Est-ce que je peux venir avec ma Christine ?
13. Bien sûr. Venez !

Grammar

Futur Immédiat / Futur proche (Near Future)

To express an action that will take place in the very near future, French uses a special — near future — tense, le futur immédiat. It is formed according to the following model: the personal form of the verb aller + the infinitive form of the main verb, for example:

It is usually translated into English by using the construction “to be going to (do something)”, for example:

Je vais déménager. — I’m going to move (also: I’m moving out).
Je vais les voir plus souvent. — I’m going to see them more often.

Interrogative structures in the near future tense are constructed in different ways, namely:

Note that in the second variant, that is the word order change, the pronoun is placed after the verb aller and is written with it with a hyphen, compare:

Tu vas déménager ? — Vas-tu déménager ?

Don’t forget the transformations that accompany the change in word order:

1. The silent consonant at the end of the form vont becomes pronounceable before the pronouns ils, elles:

Vont-ils déménager ? [vɔ̃tildemenaʒe]
Vont-elles déménager ? [vɔ̃tɛldemenaʒe]

2. -t- is inserted between the form va and the pronouns il, elle for euphony:

Va-t-il déménager ?
Va-t-elle déménager ?

When forming a negative construction in the near future tense, the particle ne is placed before the verb aller, the particle pas — after it:

Je ne vais pas déménager. — I'm not going to move.
Tu ne vas pas déménager. — You’re not going to move.
Il (elle) ne va pas déménager. — He (she) is not going to move.
Nous n’allons pas déménager. — We’re not going to move.
Vous n’allez pas déménager. — You’re not going to move.
Ils (elles) ne vont pas déménager. — They’re not going to move.

Exercise 3. Write out the sentences from the dialogue that have the verb in the form of Futur Immédiat.

Exercise 4. Change the sentences by using the verbs in the form of Futur proche.

Example: Je déménage. — Je vais déménager.

Personal pronouns (unstressed) as objects

You are already familiar with French personal pronouns as subjects (those who have forgotten them may want to check out lesson 15). Now let’s get acquainted with the personal pronouns that act as objects in a sentence.

In French, a direct object is a member of a sentence denoting an object of animate or inanimate nature, to which the action is directly addressed. If there is no preposition in front of the noun, and the noun can be replaced by a direct object pronoun, then it is a direct object. For example:

Nous cherchons Jean. — We are looking for Jean.
Il écrit la lettre. — He is writing the letter.
Je ne vois pas les livres ici. — I don’t see the books here.

An indirect object in French is a member of a sentence denoting an object to which the action is indirectly addressed. If the preposition à precedes an animate noun and the can be replaced by an indirect object pronoun, then it is an indirect object. For example:

Je téléphone à Jean. — I call Jean.
Elle lit la lettre à sa mère. — She reads the letter to her mother.

The French unstressed personal pronouns as objects are as follows:

Unstressed personal pronouns as objects come before the verb, e.g:

Tu me vois. — You see me.
Je l’attends. — I’m waiting for him/her.
Je les prends. — I take them.
Nous vous lisons. — We read you.
Je leur téléphone. — I phone them.
Vous m’écrivez. — You write to me.

If there are two verbs in a sentence, one of which is in the infinitive form, the pronoun is placed before the infinitive form, for example:

Je veux les arrêter. — I want to stop them.
On peut me téléphoner. — You can call me.
Je ne peux pas les voir. — I can’t see them.

Here is also an example in which the verb is used in the near future tense:

Je vais les arrêter. — I’m going to stop them.

In this case, vais — the 1^st person singular of the verb aller; and arrêter is the infinitive form of the verb.

If the verb is in the negative form, the pronoun is placed as an object after the particle ne, compare:

Je ne vois pas Paul. (I don’t see Paul.) — Je ne le vois pas. (I don’t see him.)
Je n’écris pas à Pierre. (I don’t write to Pierre.) — Je ne lui écris pas. (I don’t write to him.)

In the affirmative form of the imperative, the pronoun as an object is placed after the verb and written with a hyphen together with the verb, the form me is replaced by moi, compare:

Prends mon costume ! (Take my suit!) — Prends-le ! (Take it!)
Donnez le costume à Paul ! (Give the suit to Paul!) — Donnez-lui le costume ! (Give the suit to him!)
Ecris-moi une lettre ! (Write a letter to me!)

In the negative form of the imperative, the pronoun as an object is placed after the particle ne, compare:

Ne prends pas mon costume ! (Don’t take my suit!) — Ne le prends pas ! (Don’t take it!)
Ecris-moi une lettre ! (Write a letter to me!) — Ne m’écris pas ! (Don’t write to me!)

Exercise 5. Replace the words in bold with personal pronouns-objects. Remember to put these pronouns in their proper place in the sentence.

Example: Je vais voir mon oncle. — Je vais le voir.

Demonstrative Adjective ce

The English demonstrative pronouns “this” and “that” correspond to only one demonstrative adjective ce which has the following forms:

Ce is an adjective because it is placed directly in front of a noun or an adjective + noun. You cannot use it independently, there are other forms for this, which you will learn in lesson 26.

So, remember that ce is placed before a noun and changes in number and gender. Here are some examples:

— with masculine singular nouns:

Ce jardin est grand. — This garden is big.
Cet enfant est grand. — This child is big.

— with feminine singular nouns:

Cette chambre est grande. — This room is big.
Cette habitation est grande. — This dwelling is big.

— with plural nouns:

Ces enfants sont grands. — These children are big.
Ces fenêtres sont grandes. — These windows are big.

Note that the silent s at the end of the word ces becomes pronounceable as [z], if the following word begins with a vowel or mute h (but not with *h), for example:

ces enfants [sezãfã]
ces habitudes [sezabityd]

Exercise 6. Replace the articles in bold with demonstrative adjectives.

Example: L’enfant est petit. — Cet enfant est petit.

Counting from 70 to 100

Remember cardinal numbers from 70 to 100:

It is curious that the French language retains traces of the ancient system of counting by twenties: compare English eighty and French quatre-vingts (lit.: four twenties).

Note the peculiarities of some names of numbers when counting from 70 to 100, for example: 79 — soixante-dix-neuf (lit.: sixty-ten-nine); 99 — quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (lit.: four (times)-(by)twenty-ten-nine).

Exercise 7. Translate by writing the numbers in words:

Age

The personal forms of the verb avoir (to have) and the noun an (year, plural — ans) are used to denote age, e.g:

J’ai vingt-deux ans. — I’m 22 years old. (lit.: I have 22 years.)
Elle a trente ans. — She’s 30 years old. (lit.: She has 30 years.)
Il a quatre-vingt-un an. — He’s 81 years old. (lit.: He has 81 years.)

Note that the singular an is used after numbers ending in un or after the number un (one) itself, and the plural ans is used after other numbers.

You can also formulate phrases about age differently, using the combination of the preposition de with a cardinal number and a proper form of the noun an, for example:

C’est une petite fille de cinq ans. — This is a five-year-old girl.
C’est un vieux monsieur de soixante-douze ans. — This is an old gentleman of seventy-two years.

Remember how to ask the question about age:

The question uses the personal forms of the verb avoir and the noun âge (age).

Exercise 8. Answer the questions in French (write the numbers suggested in the answers in words):

Word même

The word même is polysemantic, i.e. has many meanings.

1. In the construction definite article + même + noun, même is translated as the same, e.g.:

C’est le même livre. — It’s the same book.
C’est la même ville. — It’s the same city.

This word takes the plural form — mêmes, if the noun it refers to is in the plural, e.g:

Ce sont les mêmes livres. — These are the same books.
Ce sont les mêmes villes. — These are the same cities.

2. In the position after a noun or a personal stressed pronoun, même(s) is translated as oneself, e.g.:

Le directeur lui-même ne le sait pas. — The director himself does not know it.
Je travaille dans la ville même. — I work in the city itself.
Viens voir toi-même. — Come and see for yourself.
Répondez vous-même. — Answer yourself(-ves).

Note that the word même (mêmes) in such cases is written with a hyphen with the preceding pronoun.

3. In the construction même + noun, the word même is translated as even. Since it is an adverb, it does not have the plural form, compare:

Même Monsieur Durant est mécontent. — Even Mr. Durant is unhappy.
Même les parents sont en colère. — Even the parents are angry.

Exercise 9. Translate into English:

Subordinating conjunction que

The word que is also polysemantic and is a very common word. You have already met it in the interrogative structure est-ce que (see lesson 16), and as a comparative conjunction que (than) (see lesson 18).

This word can also be used as a subordinating conjunction, i.e. it can link simple sentences into a compound one, for example:

The subordinating conjunction que is translated into English also with a subordinating conjunction which is that. Before vowels and before silent h (but not before *h), que appears in the form qu’.

Exercise 10. Translate into English:

1. He says his flat is on the seventh floor. (british)
   
2. She doesn’t know that he’s married.
   
3. My cousin writes that the weather in Paris is fine.
   
4. We understand that we have to come back from there.
   

Mastering the language subtleties

I. The first floor of French buildings is uninhabited. It is the ground floor — le rez-de-chaussée [ləredʃose]. Thus, French uses the same system as in Britain and not as in America. Note that the first sentence in the previous exercise would look like this in American English: He says his flat is on the eighth floor. Compare:

II. When it comes to writing an address on an envelope, the French first write the addressee’s first and last name, then the house number, street, zip code, city, and country. For example:

Exercise 11. Let’s see how well you have learned the vocabulary and grammar of this lesson. Translate:

1. I’m going to move to the city center.
   
2. My parents agree (are in agreement), but my mother is a little sad.
   
3. My father understands that I have to live alone.
   
4. My aunt and cousin live in this district.
   
5. How old is he? — He is twenty-two years old, like me.
   
6. In the apartment there is a bedroom, a small kitchen and an entrance.
   

7. This window looks out onto the street and in the room there is a lot of sun(light).
   
8. Where is your window? I can’t see it.
   
9. I live on the fourth floor (british). It’s high, but there’s an elevator.
   
10. On the first floor there are two shops.
    
11. Here is my address: 110, Station Street.
    

Let’s laugh and enrich our vocabulary

Text I

Vocabulary

Exercise 12. 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

Vocabulary

Exercise 13. Read and translate Text II. 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 III

Vocabulary

Exercise 14. Read and translate Text III. 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):