Learn how to ask someone for an item's price
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Intro |
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| Virginie: Bon jour! Hello! Virginie, here! |
| Eric: Hello, Eric here! How Much Are You Spending in France? |
| Virginie: What are we going to talk about today? |
| Eric: Well, it looks like Rob wants to buy a book for Giulia. |
| Virginie: So I guess we're going to talk about currency and numbers. |
| Eric: Right, the euro. |
| Virginie: Yes. So this conversation is about Rob and the clerk in the bookstore. Let's listen to it. |
Lesson conversation |
| Rob: Excusez-moi, c'est combien le livre? |
| Vendeur: Cinq euros. |
| Rob: Merci. Et ça, c’est combien? |
| Vendeur: Dix euros. |
| Rob: Oh, c’est cher. Et le marque-page? |
| Vendeur: Un euro. |
| Rob: D’accord. Voilà six euros. |
| Eric: One more time with the translation. |
| Rob: Excusez-moi, c'est combien le livre? |
| Eric: Excuse me, how much is this book? |
| Vendeur: Cinq euros. |
| Virginie: Five euros. |
| Rob: Merci. Et ça, c’est combien? |
| Eric: Thank you. And this, how much is it? |
| Vendeur: Dix euros |
| Virginie: Ten euros. |
| Rob: Oh, c’est cher. Et le marque-page ? |
| Eric: It's expensive. And the bookmark? |
| Vendeur: Un euro. |
| Virginie: One euro. |
| Rob: D’accord. Voilà six euros. |
| Eric: Okay. Here are six euros. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Eric: Now I've got to say, I really love French bookstores. |
| Virginie: Me too. That's because you know how to read French though. |
| Eric: I was actually in an English bookstores in France. IN Paris, there's the Shakespeare and Company and bookstore. |
| Virginie: Yes, that's true and it has a really nice French atmosphere, right? |
| Eric: Yeah, exactly. So Virginie, do you think American bookstores are very different from French bookstores? |
| Virginie: Yes I don't know. You know, maybe it's because the covers of the books are so different. The French covers are usually very austere and just white and the American ones are so colorful that's a little aggressive to me. |
| Eric: Right. Whereas the French books, yeah, it seems like you're just getting one volume, the encyclopedia or something like that. |
| Virginie: Yeah, exactly. So there is that and I find American bookstores to be a little dark. Yeah, I don't like the carpet. True. |
| Eric: It's like, well, you seem to have had some really bad experience in American bookstores. |
| Virginie: No, no. Don't get me wrong, and I like any kind of bookstores. |
| Eric: Well, that's good. That's great. |
| Virginie: But I miss La Fnac a little bit. |
| Eric: What is La Fnac? |
| Virginie: Well, La Fnac is our main bookstore chain. |
| Eric: So that's a little bit like Barnes and Noble? |
| Virginie: Yes, a little bit like Barnes and Noble but they also sell electronics, music, cell phone, et cetera. |
| Eric: Okay. But what's the name of YOUR favorite bookstore in France. |
| Virginie: Oh, yeah. There is a big one in my hometown called Ombres Blanches. |
| Eric: White shadows, very clever. |
| Virginie: Yeah, it's a clever name I think. It's very nice, very big bookstore with an excellent selection too, and the building is beautiful. |
| Eric: Wow. I can hear nostalgia, longing for home. |
| Virginie: Yeah, sorry about that. Let's look at the vocabulary. |
| Eric: Let's go. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Virginie Cinq. |
| Eric: Five. |
| Virginie: Cinq, cinq. |
| Eric: Then. |
| Virginie: Six. |
| Eric: Six. |
| Virginie: Six, six. |
| Eric: Next. |
| Virginie: Combien. |
| Eric: How much or how many. |
| Virginie: Combien, combine. |
| Eric: Okay. |
| Virginie: Un euro. |
| Eric: One euro. |
| Virginie: Un euro, un euro. |
| Eric: Okay. |
| Virginie: l'euro. |
| Eric: The euro. |
| Virginie: L'euro, l'euro. |
| Eric: Then. |
| Virginie: Ca. |
| Eric: It, this or that. |
| Virginie: Ca, ça. C'est. |
| Eric: This is, that is, or it's. |
| Virginie: C'est. |
| Eric: c'est. The next one. |
| Virginie: Cher. |
| Eric: Expensive. |
| Virginie: Cher, cher. |
| Eric: Uh-hmm. |
| Virginie: Un marque-page. |
| Eric: A bookmark. |
| Virginie: Un marque-page, un marque-page. |
| Eric: Okay. |
| Virginie: Voilà. |
| Eric: Here it is, here you are, here is, this is, here are, these are. |
| Virginie: Voilà. |
| Eric: viola. |
| Virginie: Livre. |
| Eric: Book. |
| Virginie: Livre, livre. |
| Eric: Okay. |
| Virginie: Un. |
| Eric: One. |
| Virginie: Un, un. |
| KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES |
| Eric: Okay. So this lesson is all about money. |
| Virigine: Yes, later today we will talk about how to count from 1 to 10. |
| Eric: Okay. But what other vocabulary is new today? |
| Virginie: Okay. I think the important word today is ""combine."" |
| Eric: How much. How would we use it? How will I say for example, ""How much do you have?"" |
| Virginie: That's easy. “Combien tu as”? You start your question with the word ""combien."" |
| Eric: Okay. |
| Virginie: And then you just add your subject ""tu"" ""you"" and your verb ""as"" which is have. And in the end you have, ""Combien tu as?"" |
| Eric: ""Combien tu as."" How much do you have? Pretty easy. |
| Virginie: Yeah, it's facile. Easy. |
| Eric: What about the little word ca? Rob says, ""Et ca."" |
| Virginie: He says, ""Et ca, c'est combine."" Ca is a demonstrative adjective, and that means ""this or that."" |
| Eric: So this is kind of important. You hear this all the time. It's basically, whenever you don't know what you're talking about you hear that or this or that. |
| Virginie: Yeah, exactly. You can just say ""ca."" For example, ""Ca c'est bien."" |
| Eric: Which is literally, that is good. |
| Virginie: Ca c'est bien. |
| Eric: I guess, you can also use that at the end of the sentence too. |
| Virginie: Yes. You can also say, ""C'est bien, ca."" It still means, ""This is good."" |
| Eric: You can say, ""Ca c'est bien"" or ""C'est bien, ca."" |
| Virginie: Exactly. |
| Eric: Okay. So let's move on to a little grammar. |
Lesson focus |
| Virginie: So what is our focus today, Eric? |
| Eric: Well, we're first going to be looking at how to ask a price of an item. |
| Virginie: How does our Rob do this? |
| Eric: Well, he uses two different types of questions. |
| Virginie: Let's see the first one ""C'est combien le livre."" That's the first question Rob asks. |
| Eric: Right. And that means, ""How much is the book?"" ""C'est combien le livre."" |
| Virginie: Now if we break it down, you will recognize ""c'est."" |
| Eric: It is. |
| Virginie: And then… |
| Eric: Combien, ""how much?"" |
| Virginie: And finally, you have, ""le livre,"" ""the book."" |
| Eric: Now, what if I want to say ""this book"" to be a little more specific with the sales person? |
| Virginie: You will need to use the little demonstrative ""cue"", before, ""livre."" ""Ce livre,"" this book. |
| Eric: We'll talk a little bit more about that another time. What about the other question that Rob asks? |
| Virginie: Yeah, in other to ask for the price, Rob uses the other question, he says, ""Et ca, c'est combien?"" |
| Eric: Literally, ""And this, how much is it?"" |
| Virginie: We saw already that ""ca"" is ""this"" or ""that"". |
| Eric: And also, you probably identified the word ""et"" at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Virginie: Just a quick reminder, ""et"" is ""and."" So you have, ""et ca,"" and ""this."" |
| Eric: Right. So the question will be, ""et ca , c'est combien."" |
| Virginie: This is -- can become very handy when you're shopping at Chanel. |
| Eric: Which Virginie does all the time. |
| Virginie: Yeah, right. No, you definitely need to know the prices in Chanel because, you know, it's pretty expensive. And you'll find more ways of asking a price in our lesson notes, too. |
| Eric: Let's do a little bit of counting just to remind everyone how to do this. |
| Virginie: That will be very straightforward. |
| Eric: Okay. So Virginie is going to count for us. |
| Virginie: And Eric will give you the translation as I go. |
| Eric: Great. Let's start. |
| Virginie: Un. |
| Eric: One. |
| Virginie: Deux. |
| Eric: Two. |
| Virginie: Trois. |
| Eric: Three. |
| Virginie: Quatre. |
| Eric: Four. |
| Virginie: Cinq. |
| Eric: Five. |
| Virginie: Six. |
| Eric: Six"" |
| Virginie: Sept. |
| Eric: Seven. |
| Virginie: Huit. |
| Eric: Eight. |
| Virginie: Neuf. |
| Eric: Nine. |
| Virginie: Dix. |
| Eric: Ten. |
| Virginie: Okay. Now, you're all set you can count from one to 10. If you want to say the price for something, you will need to put the word ""euro"" right after your number. |
| Eric: Euros. |
| Virginie: For example, Eric, how would you say, ""Three euros?"" |
| Eric: ""Trois euro."" |
| Virginie: Five euros? |
| Eric: ""Cinq euro."" |
| Virginie: That is how Eric links the two words, ""trois euro,"" ""cinq euro."" It's like, it almost sounds like one word. |
| Eric: This is because the ""euro"" the word ""euro"" starts with a vowel, so you're going to be linking the number with the word ""euro."" |
| Virginie: Yes, absolutely. |
Outro |
| Virginie: Okay, I think we're done here. |
| Eric: See you soon! |
| Virginie: And thank you for listening. Have a great day! Bye-bye. |
| Eric: Bye! |
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