Learn the key pattern to talk about your occupation
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| Let's take a closer look at the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Mark asks, |
| Mark Lee: "Are you a student?" |
| Mark Lee: Êtes-vous étudiant ? |
| First is Êtes, "are" as in "are you." Êtes (enunciated). Êtes. |
| Êtes is from the verb, être, meaning "to be." Être. |
| After this is vous, the plural form of "you," as in "you all." But here it's the formal way to address a single person. Vous (enunciated). Vous. |
| Together, Êtes-vous, "are you" when addressing a single person. Êtes-vous. |
| Last is the word, étudiant, "student." Étudiant (enunciated). Étudiant. |
| In French, all nouns have grammatical gender and are either singular or plural. Étudiant is masculine singular. |
| All together, it's Êtes-vous étudiant ? "Are you a student ?" Êtes-vous étudiant? |
| Now, let's take a closer look at the response. |
| Do you remember how Hugues says, |
| "No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
| Hugues Henry: Non, je ne suis pas étudiant. Je suis investisseur. |
| First is non, "no." Non (enunciated). Non. |
| It answers Mark's yes-or-no question, "Are you a student?" Êtes-vous étudiant? |
| After this, Hugues specifies that he’s not a student. Je ne suis pas étudiant. "I'm not a student." Je ne suis pas étudiant. |
| First is je, "I." Je (enunciated). Je. |
| After this is ne suis pas, meaning "am not." Ne suis pas. |
| Let’s start with suis, meaning "am," as in "I am." Suis (enunciated). Suis. |
| Suis is from the verb, être, meaning "to be." Être. |
| Before the verb is ne. Ne (enunciated). Ne. |
| After the verb is pas. Pas (enunciated). Pas. |
| Together, ne...pas means "not." Ne...pas. |
| All together, it's je ne suis pas, "I am not." Je ne suis pas. |
| Next is étudiant. "Student." Étudiant. |
| All together, Je ne suis pas étudiant. "I'm not a student." Je ne suis pas étudiant. |
| Hugues then tells Mark his actual occupation. Je suis investisseur. "I'm an investor." Je suis investisseur. |
| First is je, "I." Je. |
| Next is suis, "am," as in "I am." Suis. |
| Last is investisseur, "investor." Investisseur (enunciated). Investisseur. |
| The word investisseur is a masculine singular noun. |
| Together, Je suis investisseur. "I'm an investor." Je suis investisseur. |
| All together, Non, je ne suis pas étudiant. Je suis investisseur. |
| "No, I'm not a student. I'm an investor." |
| Non, je ne suis pas étudiant. Je suis investisseur. |
| The pattern is |
| Non, je ne suis pas {occupation}. Je suis {actual occupation}. |
| "No, I'm not {occupation}. I'm {actual occupation}." |
| Non, je ne suis pas {occupation}. Je suis {actual occupation}. |
| Imagine you're Emma Auge, a student. The word for a female "student" is étudiante. Étudiante (enunciated). Étudiante. |
| Hugues asks you if you're a teacher. The word for a female "teacher" is professeure. professeure (enunciated). professeure. |
| Say |
| "No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
| Ready? |
| Emma Auge: Non, je ne suis pas professeure. Je suis étudiante. |
| Emma Auge: "No, I'm not a teacher. I'm a student." |
| Emma Auge: Non, je ne suis pas professeure. Je suis étudiante. |
Comments
Hide