Learn the key pattern to ask the price of something
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| Let’s take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Ben asks, |
| "How much does this cost?" |
| Combien ça coûte ? |
| Let’s start with combien, "how much." Combien (enunciated). Combien. |
| Next is ça. "This." Ça (enunciated).Ça. |
| Translation note, ça could also translate as "it," in this context; however, we’ll use "this" as the translation. |
| Last is coûte. "Costs" as in "this costs." Coûte (enunciated).Coûte. |
| Coûte is from the verb coûter, "to cost." Coûter. |
| All together, it's Combien ça coûte ? Literally, "How much this costs?" But translates as "How much [does] this cost?" |
| Combien ça coûte ? |
| Let’s take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how the shop clerk says, |
| "It This costs two euro." |
| Ça coûte deux euros. |
| Let’s start with deux euros, "two euro." Deux euros. |
| First is deux, "two." Deux (enunciated). Deux. |
| Next is euros. "Euro," the name of the currency. Euro (enunciated). Euro. |
| Note that there is an s to indicate the plural form, but this "s" is silent. |
| Together it’s deux euros, "two euro." Deux euros. |
| Moving to the beginning of the sentence. Ça coûte. |
| First is ça. "This." Ça. |
| Next is coûte. "Costs." Coûte. |
| All together, it's Ça coûte deux euros. "This costs two euro." |
| Ça coûte deux euros. |
| The pattern is |
| Combien coûte {ITEM}? |
| "How much does {ITEM} cost?" |
| Combien coûte {ITEM}? |
| To use this pattern, simply replace the {ITEM} placeholder with the thing you’d like to know the price of. |
| Note: when naming specific items, you’ll need to use the correct corresponding article. |
| For example, imagine you’re at a cafe, and you’d like to know the price of "a coffee," un café. |
| Let’s start with café, "coffee." Café (enunciated). Café. |
| Café is masculine and singular. |
| Before café is un. Think of this like "a" in English. Un (enunciated). Un. |
| Un is masculine and singular to agree with café. |
| Ask, "How much does a coffee cost?" |
| Ready? |
| Combien coûte un café ? |
| "How much does a coffee cost?" |
| Combien coûte un café ? |
| Note: If you ask for un café, "a coffee," it’s assumed you’re asking for an espresso. |
| If you’d like a less strong coffee, you should ask for un café allongé or un café américain. |
| The word, ça, can be used to discuss an item without knowing its name and, subsequently, its gender in French. |
| To use the pattern with a specific item, you’ll need to know the number and gender of the thing you’re asking for. And also, whether you’re referring to something specific. |
| The key pattern section introduces the indefinite article, un, as in un cafe. Think of it like the "a" or "an" in "a coffee." It doesn’t refer to anything specifically. Here un agrees with masculine singular noun café; however, there is another form of this article. |
| For a feminine, singular noun, like pomme, apple, use une. Une pomme, "an apple." Une pomme. |
| When referring to something specific, use the definite article. It’s like "the" in English. |
| For a masculine, singular noun, like melon, melon, use le. Le melon, "the melon." Le melon. |
| For a feminine, singular noun, like pomme, apple, use la. La pomme, "the apple." La pomme. |
| For both masculine, singular and feminine, singular nouns starting with a vowel, and often "h," use l’. |
| Masculine, l’ananas, "the pineapple." L’ananas |
| Feminine, l’orange, "the orange," as in the fruit. L’orange. |
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