Dialogue

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Vocabulary (Review)

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

Let's take a closer look at the conversation.
Do you remember how Hugues Henry asks,
"Where are you from?"
Hugues Henry: D'où venez-vous ?
First is d'où. “From where.". D'où.
This starts with de, which translates as "from" in this context. De (enunciated). De.
Next is où, meaning "where." Où (enunciated). Où.
De is contracted with où to form d'où.
Next is venez. "Come," as in "you come." Venez (enunciated). Venez.
Venez is from the verb, venir, meaning "to come." Venir.
After this is vous, which is literally the plural form of "you," as in "you all." But it's also the formal way to address a single person, as is the case here. Vous (enunciated).Vous.
Together, venez-vous translates as "you come." Venez-vous.
All together, D'où venez-vous ? literally means "From where come you?" But it translates as "Where are you from?" D'où venez-vous ?
Remember this question. You'll hear it again later in this lesson.
Now, let's take a closer look at the response.
Do you remember how Mark Lee says,
"I'm from New York."
Mark Lee: Je viens de New York.
First is je. "I." Je (enunciated). Je.
Next is viens, meaning "come," as in "I come." Viens (enunciated). Viens.
Viens is from the verb, venir, meaning "to come." Venir.
After this is de, which means "from" in this context. De.
Last is the city, New York. "New York." New York (enunciated). New York.
All together, it's Je viens de New York. This literally means "I come from New York," but can translate as "I'm from New York." Je viens de New York.
The pattern is
Je viens de {CITY NAME}.
"I'm from {CITY NAME}."
Je viens de {CITY NAME}.
To use this pattern, simply replace the {CITY NAME} placeholder with the name of your hometown.
Imagine you're from Sydney. Sydney. Sydney (enunciated). Sydney.
Say
"I'm from Sydney."
Ready?
Je viens de Sydney.
"I'm from Sydney."
Je viens de Sydney.
When talking about where you’re from, de is used before feminine nouns.
All cities are feminine in French, so when talking about your hometown or home city, use de.
You can also use this pattern with countries. However, countries can be either masculine or feminine.
If you use this pattern with a country name that's masculine, use du instead of de.
For example,
Je viens de France. France, "France," is feminine.
Je viens du Japon. Japon, "Japan," is masculine.

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