Learn about French reflexive verbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Greg: Hello everyone, I’m Greg. Of Love And Clean Floors in France. |
| Mailys: Bonjour tout le monde. This is Mailys. |
| Greg: Mireille decides to call Jacques to express her feelings. |
| Mailys: As always, they will use informal French. |
| Greg: Let’s listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Jacques: (d'un air déprimé) Oui allô ? |
| Mireille: Jacques ? |
| Jacques: Mireille ? C'est toi, Mireille ?! |
| Mireille: Écoute, je veux te dire quelque chose. Je pense à toi tout le temps - quand je me lève, quand je me brosse les dents, quand je me peigne les cheveux, quand je m'habille, quand je fais la cuisine, quand je mange, quand je regarde la télé, quand je m'amuse, quand je m'ennuie... Je pense à toi tout le temps et je veux être avec toi ! |
| Jacques: ...Tu penses à moi quand tu te peignes les cheveux ? |
| Mireille: Oui ! Enfin, c'est un peu bizarre, je sais, mais je pense aussi à toi quand je me lave les mains! Je t'aime ! |
| Jacques: Mireille ! Moi aussi je t'aime et je pense à toi tout le temps ! Même quand je lave les planchers ! |
| Mireille: Ah oui ? Ah bon. Mais ça ne fait rien, parce que je t'aime, tu m'aimes et ... |
| Jacques et Mireille: ...nous nous aimons ! |
| Greg: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly. |
| Jacques: (d'un air déprimé) Oui allô ? |
| Mireille: Jacques ? |
| Jacques: Mireille ? C'est toi, Mireille ?! |
| Mireille: Écoute, je veux te dire quelque chose. Je pense à toi tout le temps - quand je me lève, quand je me brosse les dents, quand je me peigne les cheveux, quand je m'habille, quand je fais la cuisine, quand je mange, quand je regarde la télé, quand je m'amuse, quand je m'ennuie... Je pense à toi tout le temps et je veux être avec toi ! |
| Jacques: ...Tu penses à moi quand tu te peignes les cheveux ? |
| Mireille: Oui ! Enfin, c'est un peu bizarre, je sais, mais je pense aussi à toi quand je me lave les mains! Je t'aime ! |
| Jacques: Mireille ! Moi aussi je t'aime et je pense à toi tout le temps ! Même quand je lave les planchers ! |
| Mireille: Ah oui ? Ah bon. Mais ça ne fait rien, parce que je t'aime, tu m'aimes et ... |
| Jacques et Mireille: ...nous nous aimons ! |
| Greg: Now let’s hear it with the English translation. |
| Jacques: (d'un air déprimé) Oui allô ? |
| Jacques: (depressed) Hello? |
| Mireille: Jacques ? |
| Mireille: Jacques? |
| Jacques: Mireille ? C'est toi, Mireille ?! |
| Jacques: Mireille? Is it you, Mireille? |
| Mireille: Écoute, je veux te dire quelque chose. Je pense à toi tout le temps - quand je me lève, quand je me brosse les dents, quand je me peigne les cheveux, quand je m'habille, quand je fais la cuisine, quand je mange, quand je regarde la télé, quand je m'amuse, quand je m'ennuie... Je pense à toi tout le temps et je veux être avec toi ! |
| Mireille: Listen, I want to tell you something. I think about you all the time...when I get up, when I brush my teeth, when I comb my hair, when I get dressed, when I cook, when I eat, when I watch TV, when I'm having fun, when I'm bored... I think about you all the time, and I want to be with you! |
| Jacques: ...Tu penses à moi quand tu te peignes les cheveux ? |
| Jacques: ...You think about me when you're combing your hair? |
| Mireille: Oui ! Enfin, c'est un peu bizarre, je sais, mais je pense aussi à toi quand je me lave les mains! Je t'aime ! |
| Mireille: Yes! Well, it's a bit odd, I know, but I also think about you when I'm washing my hands! I love you! |
| Jacques: Mireille ! Moi aussi je t'aime et je pense à toi tout le temps ! Même quand je lave les planchers ! |
| Jacques: Mireille! I love you too, and I think about you all the time! Even when I'm washing floors! |
| Mireille: Ah oui ? Ah bon. Mais ça ne fait rien, parce que je t'aime, tu m'aimes et ... |
| Mireille: Really? OK. But it doesn't matter because I love you, you love me and... |
| Jacques et Mireille: ...nous nous aimons ! |
| Jacques et Mireille: ...we love each other! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Greg: Aww, that’s nice! To help you remember all this lesson's vocabulary and the reflexive form, we suggest you try to describe your morning routine, in writing or by speaking out loud. |
| Mailys: Try to answer these questions - |
| Greg: À quelle heure vous levez-vous? [What time do you get up?] |
| Mailys: D'habitude, est-ce vous prenez le petit déjeuner? Qu'est-ce que vous mangez?[Do you usually eat breakfast? What do you eat?] |
| Greg: Est-ce que vous vous peignez les cheveux? [Do you comb your hair?] |
| Mailys: Vous brossez-vous les dents?[Do you brush your teeth?] |
| Greg: If you’re able to, pause the lesson and try writing down your answers. Now, listen to Mailys's morning routine and compare it to yours |
| Mailys: Le matin, je me lève à 6 heures. Je prends une douche et puis je prends mon petit déjeuner. D'habitude, je mange un croissant et je prends un bon café chaud. Ensuite, je me brosse les dents et je vais prendre l'autobus pour aller travailler. |
| Greg: Okay, now let’s move onto the vocab. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Greg: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Mailys: écouter [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to listen |
| Mailys: écouter [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: écouter [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: dire [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to say |
| Mailys: dire [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: dire [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: quelque chose [natural native speed] |
| Greg: something |
| Mailys: quelque chose [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: quelque chose [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: se lever [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to get up |
| Mailys: se lever [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: se lever [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: se brosser les dents [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to brush one's teeth |
| Mailys: se brosser les dents [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: se brosser les dents [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: s’habiller [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to get dressed |
| Mailys: s’habiller [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: s’habiller [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: se peigner les cheveux [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to comb one's hair |
| Mailys: se peigner les cheveux [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: se peigner les cheveux [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: s’amuser [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to have fun |
| Mailys: s’amuser [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: s’amuser [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: s’ennuyer [natural native speed] |
| Greg: to be/get bored |
| Mailys: s’ennuyer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: s’ennuyer [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| Mailys: rien [natural native speed] |
| Greg: nothing |
| Mailys: rien [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mailys: rien [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Greg: Let’s take a closer look at some of this lesson's vocabulary. |
| Mailys: ‘Écouter’ means “to listen to”. |
| Greg: The French verb requires a direct object, meaning that there is no preposition used between the verb and the noun. |
| Mailys: Here are some example sentences. Écoute-moi, c'est important! |
| Greg: Listen to me, it's important! |
| Mailys: Elle ne m'écoute jamais. |
| Greg: She never listens to me. |
| Mailys: ‘Écouter’ can sometimes mean “to watch” when referring to tv or movies. |
| Mailys: Chut! J'écoute la télé. |
| Greg: Shh, I'm watching TV. |
| Mailys: Nous aimons écouter des films le samedi soir. |
| Greg: We like watching movies on Saturday evenings. |
| Greg: ‘Dire’ means “to say” or “to tell”. It's an irregular verb so let's look at the conjugation first. |
| Mailys |
| je dis |
| tu dis |
| il dit |
| nous disons |
| vous dites |
| ils disent |
| Mailys: And here are some sentences. Il dit à son amie de prendre un parapluie. |
| Greg: He tells his friend to bring an umbrella. |
| Mailys: Elle dit toujours non quand je propose d'aller voir un film d'horreur. |
| Greg: She always says no when I propose that we go see a horror movie. |
| Mailys: What’s next? |
| Greg: Se brosser les dents means to brush one's teeth. |
| Mailys: On its own, ‘brosser’ is a regular verb meaning “to brush”, but when the subject is doing something to one of their own body parts, instead of using a possessive (as you would in English in "I brush my hair"), French makes the verb reflexive and uses a definite article. |
| Greg: This feature applies to all verbs. Look at the following examples- |
| Mailys: Elle se brosse les dents. |
| Greg: She brushes her teeth. |
| Mailys: Je me lave les mains. |
| Greg: I'm washing my hands. Ok, let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Mailys: The focus of this lesson is reflexive verbs. |
| Greg: In lesson 2, we first introduced you to the phrase ‘je m'appelle’ to say "my name is". Literally, this means "I call myself" or, word for word, "I me call". |
| Mailys: This type of structure, where the subject and the object refer to the same person, is called reflexive. |
| Greg: They are more common in French than in English, where the object is often left out. For instance, ‘laver’ has the same meaning as “to wash”, but ‘se laver’ means “to wash oneself”, which English usually expresses by dropping the object -- “to wash” or “to get washed.” |
| Mailys: Let's look at the conjugation of ‘se laver’. Pay particular attention to the pronouns. |
| je me lave |
| tu te laves |
| il se lave |
| nous nous lavons |
| vous vous lavez |
| ils se lavent |
| Mailys: Here are some examples - Je me lève à 8 heures le matin. |
| Greg: I get up at 8 in the morning. |
| Mailys: Elle se lave avant le petit déjeuner. |
| Greg: She washes before breakfast. |
| Mailys: Est-ce que vous vous amusez? |
| Greg: Are you having fun? |
| Mailys: Vous semblez vous ennuyer. |
| Greg: You seem bored. |
| Greg: As we mentioned in the vocab section, when the object is a body part of the subject (as in “I wash my hands”), the possessive turns into a definite article and the verb becomes reflexive. This applies to all verbs. |
| Mailys: Est-ce que tu te brosses les dents 3 fois par jour? |
| Greg: Do you brush your teeth 3 times a day? |
| Mailys: Les enfants se lavent les mains avant de manger. |
| Greg: The kids wash their hands before eating. |
| Mailys: Quand Mireille se peigne les cheveux, elle pense à Jacques. |
| Greg: When Mireille combs her hair, she thinks about Jacques. |
| Greg: Verbs where two or more subjects do something to each other are called reciprocal verbs. They work the same way as reflexive verbs, but they are always plural. |
| Mailys: And here are some sentences. Nous nous aimons! |
| Greg: We love each other! |
| Mailys: Ils s'appellent tous les jours. |
| Greg: They call each other every day. |
Outro |
| Greg: And that’s it for this lesson! Join us for lesson 17 to find out what the next step is for Mireille and Jacques! |
| Mailys: I'm so happy for them! À bientôt! |
| Greg: See you soon! |
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