Lesson 25

Dialogue

Michel Sandeau et Antoine Sabatier sont en mission à Moscou. Ils viennent de passer le contrôle des passeports à l’aéroport Chérémétiévo. A la sortie de la salle d’arrivée ils voient Nina, la collègue russe qui les attend pour les accompagner à l’hôtel.

A la réception Nina s’adresse à l’employée.

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. Ils passer le contrôle des passeports à l’aéroport Chérémétiévo.
2. A la sortie de ils voient Nina, la collègue russe qui les attend pour les accompagner à l’hôtel.
3. Bonjour, Nina. Le vol très bien passé, merci.
4. En plus, nous rapidement passé la douane.
5. Dans l’avion on nous le déjeuner du nous avons bien mangé.
6. Pendant le dîner vous discuter du programme du séjour.
7. Parfait. Nous à quel hôtel ?
8. Ah non, nous ne pas encore descendus à cet hôtel.
9. Nous étions l’hôtel « Afanassi Nikitine ».
10. C’est Michel Sandeau et Antoine Sabatier. Notre société leur deux chambres à un lit.

11. Voilà le passeport de Monsieur Sabatier et voilà .
12. Je note : date d’arrivée — le 25 janvier 2004. Quand est-ce que vous repartir ?
13. D’accord, j’ la date du départ. Voilà votre clé, Monsieur Sandeau. Et voilà , Monsieur Sabatier.
14. Vous avez deux chambres au premier étage.
15. Vous pouvez laisser vos bagages ici, on les monter.
16. N’oubliez pas, que le petit déjeuner est inclus dans de la chambre.
17. Voilà de la chambre : un lit, une table de nuit, un bureau, une chaise, un fauteuil.
18. Si vous de quelque chose, vous pourrez téléphoner à la femme de chambre ou à la réception.
19. Monsieur Petroff et moi, nous vous à 8 heures moins le quart dans le hall.

Grammar

Passé Composé (Compound Past Tense)

The compound past tense (le passé composé) describes an action that ended in the past, for example: j’ai mangé (I ate, I’ve eaten), j’ai fini (I(’ve) finished), j’ai voulu (I wanted), je suis parti (I left). The difficult part is that it can be translated in three different ways in English, for example: j’ai fini = I finished, I’ve finished, I did finish. This tense is formed according to the following model:

For example:

Most verbs in French use the verb avoir to form the compound past tense, and in this case, the past participle does not agree with the subject in number and gender, for example: il а mangé, elle a mangé, nous avons mangé.

From those verbs that congugate with the verb être in the compound past tense, remember the following 12:

The past participles conjugated with être, agree with the subject in number and gender, for example (the endings are highlighted):

Note that in the compound past tense, the consonant t at the end of the verbs est and sont becomes pronounceable if these verbs precede the main verb that begins with a vowel, e.g.:

il est arrivé [ilɛtarive]
elles sont entrées [ɛlsɔ̃tãtre]

The verbs descendre (to go down), sortir (to go/come/take out), monter (to go up) used with a direct object are conjugated with avoir. If these verbs are without a direct object, they are conjugated with être. Compare:

Nous avons sorti la voiture du garage. — We took the car out of the garage (the word car is the direct object).
Nous sommes sortis. — We went out (no object).

Prefixal verbs, i.e. the verbs that are formed out of those verbs with the use of prefixes, are also conjugated with être, for example: revenir (to come back), devenir (to become), rentrer (to come/go/get home).

The verb passer in the meaning to go, to pass is also conjugated with the verb être, for example:

Nous sommes passés au salon. — We went to the salon.

In the meaning to go through, the verb passer is conjugated with avoir, for example:

Nous avons passé la douane. — We went through customs.

You will learn about other verbs in the compound past tense that are conjugated with the verb être in the following lessons (see lesson 26, in particular).

Participe passé (Past participle)

Past participle of the verbs of the first group is formed this way: the infinitive verb drops the ending -er and adds -é. For example:

parler (to speak) + -é =› parlé
manger (to eat) + -é =› mangé

Past participle of the verbs of the second group is formed if we drop the ending -r from the infinitive verb. For example:

finir (to finish) =› fini

Memorize the past participles of the third group and of the verbs of irregular conjugation. Here are some of them:

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

Exercise 4. Change the sentences by using verbs in the compound past tense.

Interrogative Form

If a question containing a verb in the compound past tense is constructed on the basis of the inverse word order, the personal pronoun-subject is placed between the auxiliary verb and the past participle. In this case, the auxiliary verb is separated with the pronoun by a hyphen, for example:

Avez-vous vu cet homme ? — Have you seen this man?
Est-il parti ? — Did he leave?

In the 2^nd person singular of verbs conjugated with avoir, a t is inserted between the auxiliary verb and the subject pronoun, spelled with hyphens, for example:

A-t-il vu cet homme ? — Has he seen this man?

The object pronoun in a question with a verb in the compound past tense is placed before the auxiliary verb, e.g.:

Les avez-vous vu ? — Have you seen them?

In the interrogative construction with est-ce que... ? the word order does not change, e.g.:

Est-ce que vous avez vu cet homme ? — Have you seen this man?

Exercise 5. Ask the interlocutor a question in different ways.

1. Nous avons réservé les chambres à l’hôtel.
   
2. Ils sont descendus à cet hôtel pour la première fois.
   
3. Elle a laissé ses bagages au rez-de-chaussée.
   
4. J’ai oublié le numéro de votre chambre.
   
5. Il a invité ses amis à dîner.
   
6. Elle est partie à Moscou.
   

Negative Form

In the negative form of verbs in the compound past tense, the negative particle pas, the words rien (nothing) and jamais (never) are placed between the auxiliary verb and the past participle; the word personne (nobody) is placed after the past participle, for example:

Je n’ai pas vu Pierre. — I haven’t seen Pierre.
Je ne suis pas allé à Londres. — I didn’t go to London.
Je n’ai rien vu. — I didn’t see anything.
Je ne l’ai jamais vu. — I have never seen him.
Je n’ai vu personne. — I didn’t see anybody.

Personal pronouns-objects and the adverb y (there) are placed directly after ne, e.g.:

Je ne l’ai pas vu. — I haven’t seen him.
Je n’y suis pas allé. — I didn’t go there.

Note that the words déjà (already), vite (fast), encore (still), longtemps [lɔ̃tã] (a long time) are placed before the auxiliary verb and the past participle, for example:

Nous sommes déjà descendus à cet hôtel. — We have already stayed in this hotel.

Exercise 6. Let’s go back to the phrases in exercise 5. Put the verbs they contain in the negative form.

1. Nous avons réservé les chambres à l’hôtel.
   
2. Ils sont descendus à cet hôtel pour la première fois.
   
3. Elle a laissé ses bagages au rez-de-chaussée.
   
4. J’ai oublié le numéro de votre chambre.
   
5. Il a invité ses amis à dîner.
   
6. Elle est partie à Moscou.
   

Possessive Pronouns

Earlier you got familiar with French possessive adjectives (see lesson 20, lesson 21). French possessive adjectives are always used together with nouns, which include, for example:

C’est mon passeport. — This is my passport.

Let’s look at another example:

Here is your passport, sir, and here is mine.

Here we have the pronoun “mine” but we cannot translate it with the word “mon” because it is used independently, without the noun passport. In this case, in French there are special words — possessive pronouns. Now let’s have a look at the translation of our English sentence above:

Voilà votre passeport, Monsieur, et voilà le mien.

Remember French possessive pronouns:

Compare:

Exercise 7. Replace the words in bold with possessive pronouns.

Example: Je prends ma clé. — Je prends la mienne.

Adverbs with -ment

In French, it is very common to form adverbs from adjectives by means of the suffix -ment. As a reminder, a suffix is a part of a word that comes after the root and serves to form new words.

1. Most French adverbs with -ment are formed from feminine adjectives, for example:

doux m, douce f (gentle, sof) — doucement (gently, softly)
vif m, vive f (lively) — vivement (vivaciously)
exact m, exacte f (exact) — exactement (exactly)

2. Adjectives that end in the masculine and feminine singular with a vowel add -ment to the masculine form, for example:

poli m, polie f (polite) — poliment (politely)
vrai m, vraie f (true, real) — vraiment (truely, really)

3. Adverbs from the adjectives with the ending -ent(e) are formed by replacing the mentioned ending with -emment, for example:

différent m, différente f (different) — différemment (differently)
prudent m, prudente f (careful) — prudemment (carefully)

4. Adverbs from the adjectives with the ending -ant(e) are formed by replacing the mentioned ending with -amment, for example:

courant m, courante f (fluent) — couramment (fluently)

5. There are also special cases of the adverb formation, for example:

gentil m, gentille f (kind) — gentiment (kindly)
bref m, breve f (short) — brièvement (shortly)
énorme m, f (enormous) — énormément (enormously)

Exercise 8. Form adverbs from the given adjectives:

Mastering the language subtleties

I. In the “nationality” column, the French write the feminine adjective française regardless of the gender of the writer because the nationality of the person is indicated, and the word nationalité is feminine: la nationalité française.

II. When it is necessary to name a period corresponding to a week, the French prefer to use the term huit jours which in this case is not translated as eight days but as a week. The same goes with the term quinze jours which should be translated as two weeks and not as fifteen days.

Exercise 9. Let’s see how well you have learned the vocabulary and grammar of this lesson. Translate:

1. Michel and Antoine arrived in Moscow.
   
2. They have just gone through passport control.
   
3. They went through customs quickly.
   
4. At the exit of the arrival hall they saw Nina.
   
5. Nina booked them two rooms in the hotel.
   

6. They are staying at the “Pont-Royal” hotel. (lit.: ...(have) stayed at the hotel...)
   
7. They have never lived in this hotel.
   
8. Antoine gave his passport and Michel gave his.
   
9. The employee noted the date of arrival and the date of departure.
   
10. The friends left the luggage downstairs.
    
11. Mr. Petroff invited the French to dinner together.
    

Let’s laugh and enrich our vocabulary

Text I. Dans le taxi

Il pleut. Une dame appelle un taxi à l’aéroport.

Vocabulary

Exercise 10. Read and translate Text I. Choose the statements that fit the text (write Oui or Non):

Text II. A l’hôtel

Alexandre et Victor entrent à l’hôtel de Médicis. Ils ont choisi cet hôtel parce qu’il n’est pas cher. Ils parlent à l’employé.

Alexandre et Victor sont montés à pied. L’employé leur a montré la chambre libre.

Tous les trois ils ont pris l’ascenseur et sont entrés dans une autre chambre.

Vocabulary

choisir to choose
intérieur m, intérieure f inside, inner
prix m price
par here: per
par jour per day
Voulez-vous faire monter nos bagages, s’il vous plaît ? Would you have our luggage brought up, please? (causative construction faire + the infinitive verb is similar to the English construction have something done here)
Je vous laisse manger I’ll let you eat (The construction laisser + the infinitive verb means to let someone do something)

Exercise 11. Read and translate Text II. Determine if the following statements fit its content and write C’est ça ! (That’s it!) or Absolument pas ! (Absolutely not!):

Text III. Les jeunes mariés à l’hôtel

Deux jeunes mariés arrivent à l’hôtel où ils ont réservé une chambre. Enfin des vacances à l’étranger ! Ils veulent poser leurs bagages et plonger dans la piscine. Un employé les accueille très aimablement.

Vocabulary

Exercise 12. Read and translate Text III. Choose the statements fit its content and write C’est ça ! (That’s it!) or Absolument pas ! (Absolutely not!):

Etes-vous attentif (attentive) ?

Exercise 13. Read and translate the text and find the contradiction in it:

On va à Paris

Vocabulary