Intro
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Hi, everyone. I’m Lindsay from FrenchPod101.com. In this video, we’ll be talking about How to Ask for and Give Directions. Let’s begin! |
PATTERN 1 |
[Normal] Où est le / la / les ~? [Slow] Où est le / la / les ~? |
"Where is the ~?" |
Où means where. |
There is a grave accent on où to tell the difference between ou (which means “or”), but the pronunciation remains the same. |
Here is a sample sentence, Où est la banque? |
Which means "Where is the bank?" |
PATTERN 2 |
[Normal] Je dois aller au ~. [Slow] Je dois aller au ~. |
This means "I need to go to the ~." |
Je dois means "I have to" or "I need to" and comes from devoir, which is an irregular verb. |
For example, you can say Je dois aller au commissariat, |
which means "I need to go to the police station." |
PATTERN 3 |
[Normal] Comment puis-je aller au ~? [Slow] Comment puis-je aller au ~? |
This means "How do I get to the ~?" |
Comment means "how." Puis-je means "can I," aller means "to go," and au is the preposition you need to use before masculine nouns. |
For example, you can say Comment puis-je aller au musée? |
Which means "How do I get to the museum?" |
PATTERN 4 |
[Normal] Est-ce qu'il y a un/ une ~ près d'ici ? [Slow] Est-ce qu'il y a un/ une ~ près d'ici ? |
This means "Is there a ~ near here?" |
For example, Est-ce qu'il y a une bibliothèque près d'ici? |
means "Is there a library near here?" |
Don't get confused with librairie and bibliothèque. Librairie means "bookshop." "Library," in French, is bibliothèque. |
PATTERN 5 |
[Normal] Excusez-moi, savez-vous où est le / la ~ ? [Slow] Excusez-moi, savez-vous où est le / la ~ ? |
This means "Excuse me, do you know where the ~ is?" |
When you don't know the person you are speaking to, use vous instead of tu. Both mean "you," but tu is informal and vous is formal. |
For example, you can say Excusez-moi, savez-vous où est le parc? |
Which means "Excuse me, do you know where the park is?" |
PATTERN 6 |
[Normal] Est-ce que le / la ~ est loin d'ici ? [Slow] Est-ce que le / la ~ est loin d'ici ? |
This means "Is the ~ far from here?" |
Est-ce que literally means "Is it that..." A convenience of everyday French is that a phrase can easily be turned from a statement into a question. |
For example, you can say Est-ce que la Poste est loin d'ici? |
Which means "Is the post office far from here?" |
PATTERN 7 |
[Normal] tournez à gauche [Slow] tournez à gauche |
This means "turn left." |
This is the basic indication to go left. The first word, tournez, means "turn." It is followed by à, which means "to." Lastly, we have gauche, which means "left." |
For example, you can say Tournez à gauche au deuxième pâté de maison, |
which means "Turn left at the second block." |
PATTERN 8 |
[Normal] tournez à droite [Slow] tournez à droite |
This means "turn right." |
This is similar to "turn left," you just have to substitute gauche with droite, which means "right." |
For example, you can say Tournez à dcdroite au troisième feu de circulation, which means "Turn right at the third traffic light." |
PATTERN 9 |
[Normal] allez tout droit [Slow] allez tout droit |
This means "go straight." |
This is the basic indications to go straight. The first word, allez, means "go" and it's in the imperative mood. The next two words, tout droit, mean "straight." |
For example, you can say Allez tout droit, puis tournez à gauche au prochain feu, which means "Go straight, and turn left at the next light." |
PATTERN 10 |
[Normal] Passer devant... [Slow] Passer devant... |
This means "go past" |
Passer means "to pass," and passer devant means "to go past." Devant is a preposition meaning "in front of." |
For example, you can say Passez devant l'église, |
which means "Go past the church." |
PATTERN 11 |
[Normal] A l'angle de... [Slow] A l'angle de... |
This means "at the corner of." |
This sentence may help you to indicate a particular place. |
For example, you can say C'est à l'angle de l'avenue, meaning "It's at the corner of this avenue." |
An avenue is a big, wide street in an urban area. |
PATTERN 12 |
[Normal] En face de... [Slow] En face de... |
This means "in front of." |
For example, La station de bus est en face du supermarché. |
This means "The bus station is in front of the supermarket." |
Traveling in France by bus is easy and cheap. Every city has its own public transit system. Of course, it's easier if you speak a little French! |
PATTERN 13 |
[Normal] Derrière [Slow] Derrière |
This means "behind." |
For example, Le parking se trouve derrière la salle de cinéma. |
This means "The parking lot is behind the movie theater." |
Se trouver is a transitive verb that means "to be located somewhere," or "can be found." It can be about an object or a person. |
PATTERN 14 |
[Normal] à côté de... [Slow] à côté de... |
This means "next to." |
À Côté de means "next to" or "nearby" and is very common in French. It is used to indicate the relative physical positions of one thing to another. |
For example, you can say Le restaurant est à côté du parc. |
Which means, "The restaurant is next to the park." |
PATTERN 15 |
[Normal] Entre [Slow] Entre |
This means "between." |
For example, you can say Le magasin est entre le café et l'animalerie. |
Which means, "The store is between the coffee shop and the pet store." |
In French, café refers to both the drink and the place where you can drink it. Animalerie is a pet shop. |
PATTERN 16 |
[Normal] Opposé [Slow] Opposé |
This means "opposite." |
Opposé is an adjective that means "opposite” or “opposed." When you say côté opposé, it means "opposite side." |
For example, you can say Il est sur le côté opposé de la rue, |
which means "It's on the opposite side of the street." |
PATTERN 17 |
[Normal] à côté de ~. [Slow] à côté de ~. |
This means "next to ~." |
For example, C'est à côté de l'école means, "It's next to the school." |
C'est is the root form used for impersonal expressions and general comments. Don't use c'est when talking about specific people, things, or ideas. |
Outro
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Okay, that's all for this lesson. Which pattern you like more? Leave us a comment letting us know. And we'll see you next time! |
À bientôt! |
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