Learn how to use the French verb that means "to say"
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| Introduction |
| Virginie: Bonjour tout le monde! |
| Eric: Hello, Eric here. Pick Up Lines That Don't Work, And Ones That Do! |
| Virginie: Hi everyone, it’s Virginie. I am here with Eric. Hi, Eric. |
| Eric: Hey, how are you? |
| Virginie: I am good, how are you? |
| Eric: Great. |
| Virginie: So Eric, what are we going to see today? |
| Eric: Well, we are looking at the adverbs concerning frequency. |
| Virginie: Oh yes, I see always, never, these kind of things. In this dialogue, Joe is still with Frank and the manager and they are talking about seduction in French. |
| Eric: Ah! I see! |
| Virginie: Yes, and it’s going to be interesting. Let’s have a listen. |
| Dialogue |
| Joe : Encore merci. Vous faites ça souvent ? |
| Franck : En général, une fois par mois. Eh ! Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Joe : Ça ? C'est juste un livre. |
| Franck : "Leçons de séductions à la française". Passe ! |
| Joe : Tiens. |
| Directrice : "Vous avez du feu, Mademoiselle ?" (rires). Joe, vilain garçon ! |
| Joe : Non ... |
| Franck : (rires) Je plaisante. "Vous êtes charmante." (rires) |
| Directrice : Ça ne va jamais marcher. |
| Joe : Qu'est-ce que vous dites alors ? |
| Franck : Parfois, je dis "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?". Pas "Vous êtes charmante." |
| Directrice : Moi les hommes me disent toujours, "Tu as un plan ? Je me suis perdu dans tes yeux." |
| Joe : Ça marche, ça ? |
| Franck : Ça marche toujours ! |
| Eric: One more time, a little more slowly. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, plus lentement. |
| Joe : Encore merci. Vous faites ça souvent ? |
| Franck : En général, une fois par mois. Eh ! Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Joe : Ça ? C'est juste un livre. |
| Franck : "Leçons de séductions à la française". Passe ! |
| Joe : Tiens. |
| Directrice : "Vous avez du feu, Mademoiselle ?" (rires). Joe, vilain garçon ! |
| Joe : Non ... |
| Franck : (rires) Je plaisante. "Vous êtes charmante." (rires) |
| Directrice : Ça ne va jamais marcher. |
| Joe : Qu'est-ce que vous dites alors ? |
| Franck : Parfois, je dis "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?". Pas "Vous êtes charmante." |
| Directrice : Moi les hommes me disent toujours, "Tu as un plan ? Je me suis perdu dans tes yeux." |
| Joe : Ça marche, ça ? |
| Franck : Ça marche toujours ! |
| Eric: One more time, with the translation. |
| Virginie: Encore une fois, avec la traduction. |
| Joe : Encore merci. Vous faites ça souvent ? |
| Eric: Thank you again! Do you do this often? |
| Franck : En général, une fois par mois. Eh ! Qu'est-ce que c'est ? |
| Eric: In general, once a month. Hey, what's this? |
| Joe : Ça ? C'est juste un livre. |
| Eric: This? Oh, it's just a book. |
| Franck : "Leçons de séductions à la française". Passe ! |
| Eric: "Seduction Lessons-The French Way." Pass it over! |
| Joe : Tiens. |
| Eric: Here you go. |
| Directrice : "Vous avez du feu, Mademoiselle ?" (rires). Joe, vilain garçon ! |
| Eric: "Do you have a light, Miss?" (laughing). Joe, naughty boy. |
| Joe : Non ... |
| Eric: No... |
| Franck : (rires) Je plaisante. "Vous êtes charmante." (rires) |
| Eric: Just kidding. "You are charming." (laughing) |
| Directrice : Ça ne va jamais marcher. |
| Eric: That will never work. |
| Joe : Qu'est-ce que vous dites alors ? |
| Eric: Then what do you say? |
| Franck : Parfois, je dis "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?" Pas "Vous êtes charmante." |
| Eric: I sometimes say, "Did it hurt when you fell out of the sky?" Not "You are charming." |
| Directrice : Moi les hommes me disent toujours, "Tu as un plan ? Je me suis perdu dans tes yeux." |
| Eric: Men always tell me, "Do you have a map? I got lost in your eyes." |
| Joe : Ça marche, ça ? |
| Eric: That works? |
| Franck : Ça marche toujours ! |
| Eric: It always works! |
| Post Conversation Banter |
| Virginie: There are some good pickup lines, right? |
| Eric: Are there really? I don’t know. |
| Virginie: Yeah I guess. I don’t know. They don’t really work on me though, but… |
| Eric: Aha! |
| Virginie: Aha! |
| Eric: Tu es difficile. You are difficult. |
| Virginie: I am difficult. Do you want to hear a couple? |
| Eric: Sure. |
| Virginie: Let’s start with – No, actually let’s start with one from our dialogue. It’s "Ça vous a fait mal quand vous êtes tombée du ciel?" |
| Eric: You didn’t get hurt when you fell from the sky. |
| Virginie: Oh yeah. |
| Eric: My angel. |
| Virginie: That’s beautiful, isn’t it? |
| Eric: Indeed. |
| Virginie: You never use pickup lines on girls, Eric? |
| Eric: You know, you have to really pick the most corny one you can. |
| Virginie: I know. |
| Eric: That’s the only one that will work. |
| Virginie: Nah…Okay. |
| Eric: Do we have anyone like that here? |
| Virginie: Uh… what do we have? We have this one, excusez-moi, est-ce que tu embrasses des étrangers? Non. Danc, je me présenter. |
| Eric: That’s very good. Okay, excuse me, do you kiss strangers? No? Well, let me introduce myself. |
| Virginie: Okay, yeah. |
| Eric: That might work. |
| Virginie: That might work, yeah. It can be charming, I guess. |
| Eric: Maybe. |
| Virginie: Let’s talk about something more serious, vocabulary. |
| Vocab List |
| Virginie: souvent [natural native speed] |
| Eric: often |
| Virginie: souvent [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: souvent [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: en général [natural native speed] |
| Eric: generally, usually |
| Virginie: en général [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: en général [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: par [natural native speed] |
| Eric: per (referring to frequency) |
| Virginie: par [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: par [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un mois [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a month |
| Virginie: un mois [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un mois [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: juste [natural native speed] |
| Eric: just |
| Virginie: juste [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: juste [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: livre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: book |
| Virginie: livre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: livre [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: passer (quelque chose) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to pass (something) over |
| Virginie: passer (quelque chose) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: passer (quelque chose) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: la séduction [natural native speed] |
| Eric: seduction |
| Virginie: la séduction [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: la séduction [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: une leçon [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a lesson |
| Virginie: une leçon [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: une leçon [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: parfois [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sometimes |
| Virginie: parfois [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: parfois [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: à la française [natural native speed] |
| Eric: the French way |
| Virginie: à la française [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: à la française [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: toujours [natural native speed] |
| Eric: always, anyway, still |
| Virginie: toujours [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: toujours [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: marcher [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to work, to walk |
| Virginie: marcher [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: marcher [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: vilain(e) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: naughty |
| Virginie: vilain(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: vilain(e) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un garçon [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a boy |
| Virginie: un garçon [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un garçon [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: tomber [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to fall |
| Virginie: tomber [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: tomber [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: le ciel [natural native speed] |
| Eric: sky |
| Virginie: le ciel [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: le ciel [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: quand [natural native speed] |
| Eric: when |
| Virginie: quand [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: quand [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: charmant(e) [natural native speed] |
| Eric: charming |
| Virginie: charmant(e) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: charmant(e) [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un plan [natural native speed] |
| Eric: a map |
| Virginie: un plan [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un plan [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: se perdre [natural native speed] |
| Eric: to get lost |
| Virginie: se perdre [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: se perdre [natural native speed] |
| Virginie: un oeil / des yeux [natural native speed] |
| Eric: an eye/eyes |
| Virginie: un oeil / des yeux [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Virginie: un oeil / des yeux [natural native speed] |
| Vocab and Phrase Usage |
| Eric: Woo! That's a lot of vocab. |
| Virginie: Yes we need to pick some essential words here. |
| Eric: How about "une fois par mois" |
| Virginie: Yes that's a good one. Une fois par mois is once a moth. |
| Eric: Literally it is one time per month |
| Virginie: Yes, une fois is one time |
| Eric: Par is per, that’s easy |
| Virginie: And then mois is month. |
| Eric: Sounds exactly like moi, me. |
| Virginie: Yes, same pronunciation but different spelling though. Ends with an s. |
| Eric: So how do i say "twice a mont? |
| Virginie: same structure, deux fois par mois. We already know that deux is two |
| Eric: Two times a month then, |
| Virginie: Then if you want to say once a week you 'll say |
| Eric:Une fois par semaine |
| Virginie: Exactly. |
| Eric: Semaine is week in french. |
| Virginie: If you want to say “I have french class twice a week” |
| Eric: twice a week? that's intense |
| Virginie: No its' not. Anyway. Twice a week will be, Eric? |
| Eric: Well twice is two times, so deux fois |
| Virginie: Oui |
| Eric: And then we have per, and that's par |
| Virginie: Go on |
| Eric: Finally we have week, and that's semaine |
| Virginie: Absolutely! |
| Eric: That's good to know. |
| Virginie: J'ai un cours de francais deux fois par seamine. I have a french class twice a week. |
| Eric: Let's do some grammar. now |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Virginie: The focus of this lesson is the adverb of frequency and the verb dire, to say. |
| Eric: So our friends are sharing some good pick up lines. |
| Virginie: Yes. Men still think that pick up lines work on women. |
| Eric: They don't? |
| Virginie: Well, it all depends on how you say them. |
| Eric: Ahah. Anyway. |
| Virginie: So to share their pick up lines, they say "parfois je dis" |
| Eric: "Sometimes I say" |
| Virginie: First let's look at "parfois" |
| Eric: that's the adverb "sometimes |
| Virginie: In our dialogue it is at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Eric: But you can also use it at the end of your sentence. |
| Virginie: for example if you want ot say "I sometimes go to the movies |
| Eric: You can say either |
| Virginie: Parfois je vais au cinema - beginning of the sentence |
| Eric: Or, je vais au cinema, parfois - end of the sentence |
| Virginie: And even "je vais parfois au cinema - middle of the sentence, right after the verb. |
| Eric: It's very mobile. |
| Virginie: it's a free word, it does what it likes |
| Eric: Ahah. |
| Virginie: Now what else do we have in the world of frequency? |
| Eric: We have the adverb "toujours" |
| Virginie: Yes the manager says "les mecs me disent toujours" |
| Eric: Men, or guys always tell me |
| Virginie: toujours is "always. |
| Eric: Je suis toujours en retard. |
| Virginie: I am always late. |
| Eric: tu es toujours sympa. |
| Virginie: You are always nice. |
| Eric: And that's true. |
| Virginie: Unlike "parfois", though, toujours is alway placed right after the conjugated verb. |
| Eric: So don't put it at the beginning of the sentence. |
| Virginie: And the opposite of toujours is "jamais" |
| Eric: Never, of course. |
| Virginie: Yes the manager say "ca ne va jamais marcher" it will never work. |
| Eric: She's talking about Joe's book's poor pick up lines. |
| Virginie: So jamais is a little different from toujours. |
| Eric: YEs. It is used with the negative particuel ne |
| Virginie: It sort of replaces "pas" not |
| Eric: Like in the sentence "je ne vais jamais au cinema" |
| Virginie: Your verb this time is squeezed between en and jamais (instead of pas) |
| Eric: the regular negative form would be "je ne vais pas au cinéma.” I don't go to the movies. |
| Virginie: And with jamais, again, it will be "je ne vais jamais au cinema.” |
| Eric: In our sentence, ca ne va and then jamais and then marcher. |
| Virginie: Now, Frank also says" en general" |
| Eric: oui en general means "in general", that's pretty clear too. |
| Virginie: Yes en is in and general is general obviously. |
| Eric: Isn't there a French song that goes "les histoire d'amour... |
| Virgniie: Oh yes it's "les histoires d'amour finissent mal, en general. |
| Eric: What's the name of the band?? |
| Virginie: Les Rita Mitsouko. It was a great band, I definitely recommend them. |
| Eric: Now let's see the verb dire, "to say" |
| Virginie: It's irregular. Je dis que Eric est avec moi dans le studio. |
| Eric: Eric just said "I say that Eric is with me in the studio.” |
| Virginie: And again, je dis, I say. |
| Eric: Eric, tu dis n'importe quoi |
| Virginie: What Eric just said is "Virginie, you're saying nonsense.” |
| Eric: And that's not true. What about Frank? What does he say? |
| Virginie: Frank, il dit, "ca marche toujours! It always works! |
| Eric: Right. |
| Virginie: so now you know, je dis, “I say”; tu dis, “you say”; and il or elle or on dit, “he says, she says, or we say.” |
Outro |
| Eric: Ok, great! Well, I think that’s enough for today. |
| Virginie: Thank you for listening. |
| Eric: À bientôt! |
| Virginie: À bientôt! Bye-bye! Au Revoir! |
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