Learn to tell a new flame that you're booked
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Greg: Hello everyone, I’m Greg. Is He the French Man of Your Dreams? |
| Mailys: Bonjour tout le monde. This is Mailys. In this lesson, we will learn about 3rd person indirect object pronouns. |
| Greg: These pronouns generally mean “to him”, “to her” or “to them”. |
| Mailys: In this lesson, Mireille confides in her friend Sophie about her feelings for Jacques. They will use informal French. |
| Greg: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sophie: Ça ne va pas, Mireille ? Tu n'as pas l'air dans ton assiette aujourd'hui... |
| Mireille: Non, ça ne va vraiment pas. Je pense à Jacques tout le temps. |
| Sophie: Jacques, le concierge ? Mais qu'est-ce que tu lui trouves ? Tu peux faire mieux ! |
| Mireille: Mais je ne veux pas faire mieux, Sophie, je veux être avec lui! Je pense que je l'aime ! Je veux le voir, lui parler, lui écrire, lui raconter ma journée... |
| Sophie: Oh là là, ça a l'air du grand amour, ça ! |
| Mireille: Tu penses ? |
| Sophie: Mais si ! Qu'est-ce que tu attends ! |
| Mireille: Tu as raison! Je l'aime vraiment ! Je lui téléphone tout de suite ! |
| Greg: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Sophie: Ça ne va pas, Mireille ? Tu n'as pas l'air dans ton assiette aujourd'hui... |
| Mireille: Non, ça ne va vraiment pas. Je pense à Jacques tout le temps. |
| Sophie: Jacques, le concierge ? Mais qu'est-ce que tu lui trouves ? Tu peux faire mieux ! |
| Mireille: Mais je ne veux pas faire mieux, Sophie, je veux être avec lui! Je pense que je l'aime ! Je veux le voir, lui parler, lui écrire, lui raconter ma journée... |
| Sophie: Oh là là, ça a l'air du grand amour, ça ! |
| Mireille: Tu penses ? |
| Sophie: Mais si ! Qu'est-ce que tu attends ! |
| Mireille: Tu as raison! Je l'aime vraiment ! Je lui téléphone tout de suite ! |
| Greg: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Sophie: Ça ne va pas, Mireille ? Tu n'as pas l'air dans ton assiette aujourd'hui... |
| Sophie: Are you OK, Mireille? You look under the weather today... |
| Mireille: Non, ça ne va vraiment pas. Je pense à Jacques tout le temps. |
| Mireille: Yeah, something's wrong. I think about Jacques all the time. |
| Sophie: Jacques, le concierge ? Mais qu'est-ce que tu lui trouves ? Tu peux faire mieux ! |
| Sophie: Jacques, the janitor? But what do you find in him? You can do better! |
| Mireille: Mais je ne veux pas faire mieux, Sophie, je veux être avec lui! Je pense que je l'aime ! Je veux le voir, lui parler, lui écrire, lui raconter ma journée... |
| Mireille: But I don't want to do better, Sophie, I want to be with him! I think I love him! I want to see him, talk to him, write to him, tell him about my day... |
| Sophie: Oh là là, ça a l'air du grand amour, ça ! |
| Sophie: Oh my, sounds like he's the one! |
| Mireille: Tu penses ? |
| Mireille: You think so? |
| Sophie: Mais si ! Qu'est-ce que tu attends ! |
| Sophie: Sure! What are you waiting for! |
| Mireille: Tu as raison! Je l'aime vraiment ! Je lui téléphone tout de suite ! |
| Mireille: You're right! I really love him! I'm calling him right away! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Greg: So in this dialogue, Sophie thinks Mireille is under the weather. But what would you do if you really were feeling sick in France, Mailys? |
| Mailys: Well, you’d be in luck because the French health system is considered to be one of the best in the world. Unlike the American system, most health care services offered in the public system in France are completely free and waiting lists are short. |
| Greg: There is also a private system, but there is no shortage of doctors in the public sector, as is the case in some other countries where public and private systems coexist. The doctors' fees are heavily state-regulated. |
| Mailys: Many countries' public health systems are funded by the state, but the French system is financed by workers and employees. There is a special programme for people who are unemployed. |
| Greg: And as we said, there is also a private system alongside the public one. |
| Mailys: As you can imagine, this public system is fairly costly, but the French are very proud of their health care system. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Greg: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Mailys: assiette [natural native speed] |
| Greg: plate, dish |
| Mailys: assiette [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: assiette [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: tout [natural native speed] |
| Greg: all, everything |
| Mailys: tout [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: tout [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: mieux [natural native speed] |
| Greg: better |
| Mailys: mieux [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: mieux [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: vouloir [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to want |
| Mailys: vouloir [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: vouloir [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: journée [natural native speed] |
| Greg: day |
| Mailys: journée [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: journée [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: avoir l’air [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to look like |
| Mailys: avoir l’air [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: avoir l’air [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: avoir raison [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to be right |
| Mailys: avoir raison [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: avoir raison [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: téléphoner à [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to phone |
| Mailys: téléphoner à [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: téléphoner à [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: tout de suite [natural native speed] |
| Greg: right away |
| Mailys: tout de suite [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: tout de suite [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Greg: Let’s take a closer look at some of this lesson’s vocabulary. ‘Tout’ means all or everything. When it means everything, it's always written ‘tout’. |
| Mailys: J'aime tout. |
| Greg: I like everything. |
| Mailys: Il pense qu'il sait tout. |
| Greg: He thinks he knows everything. |
| Greg: However, when it means all of something, then it becomes an adjective and agrees with the noun. |
| Mailys: Tout le plaisir est pour moi. |
| Greg: The pleasure is mine, or , literally, all the pleasure is for me |
| Mailys: Il travaille toute la journée. |
| Greg: He works all day. |
| Mailys: Elle va au marché tous les jours. |
| Greg: She goes to the market every day. |
| Mailys: À Noël, toutes les maisons sont décorées. |
| Greg: On Christmas, all houses are decorated. |
| Greg: ‘Vouloir’ means “to want.” Here is the conjugation and some examples. |
| Mailys |
| je veux |
| tu veux |
| il veut |
| nous voulons |
| vous voulez |
| ils veulent |
| Mailys: And some sentences. Est-ce que vous voulez un café? |
| Greg: Do you want a coffee? |
| Mailys: Tu veux sortir ce soir? |
| Greg: Do you want to go out tonight? Okay, what's next? |
| Mailys: ‘Mieux’ means “better”, but only in the sense of "more well". |
| Greg: It's the comparative form of the adverb ‘bien’ which means “well”. |
| Mailys: Il travaille bien, mais elle travaille mieux. |
| Greg: He works well, but she works better. |
| Mailys: Elle chante mieux que moi. |
| Greg: She sings better than I. |
| Mailys: Make sure to read the lesson notes for a more detailed explanation of ‘mieux’. |
| Greg: Okay, and now let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Greg: The focus of this lesson is 3rd person indirect object pronouns. |
| Mailys: These generally mean “to him”, “to her” or “to them”. |
| Greg: In French, it's important to make a distinction between direct and indirect objects. The object is the noun that follows the verb, the one that is affected by the verb and isn't the subject. |
| Mailys: For instance, in the sentence “je regarde la télé”, the object is la télé - meaning “the tv”. |
| Greg: When the verb introduces an object without any preposition, as is the case in the previous example, we say it's a direct object. However, verbs sometimes need a preposition to introduce the object; we then say it's an indirect object. |
| Mailys: For instance, in the sentence “je parle à mon ami”, mon ami is introduce by à, so it's an indirect object. |
| Greg: Whether a verb requires a direct or indirect object is not always logical and needs to be learned on a case-by-case basis. The distinction is important because direct and indirect objects are replaced with different pronouns. |
| Mailys: In lesson 8, we saw that le, la and les are the 3rd person direct object pronouns. |
| Greg: The indirect object pronoun in the singular is lui. |
| Mailys: Je parle à mon ami |
| Greg: “I talk to my friend” becomes |
| Mailys: je lui parle |
| Greg: I talk to him |
| Mailys: Elle donne un livre à Jacques |
| Greg: “She gives a book to Jacques” becomes |
| Mailys: Elle lui donne un livre |
| Greg: She gives him a book |
| Greg: In the plural, instead of lui, we use leur. Pay attention to the prepositions the French verbs need - each verb has its own requirements independent of the English equivalent. |
| Mailys: Nous donnons des biscuits à nos amis |
| Greg: “We are giving cookies to our friends” becomes |
| Mailys: Nous leur donnons des biscuits |
| Greg: We are giving them cookies |
| Mailys: Elles veulent téléphoner à leurs parents |
| Greg: “They want to call their parents” becomes |
| Mailys: Elles veulent leur téléphoner |
| Greg: They want to call them |
| Mailys: Check the lesson notes for a full table of 3rd person object pronouns if you’re in doubt. |
Outro |
| Greg: And that’s it for this lesson! Join us for lesson 16 to find out what Mireille is going to tell Jacques! |
| Mailys: Yes, I really want to know! À bientôt! |
| Greg: See you soon! |
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