Learn how properly to discuss your comings and goings using the French verbs, aller, venir, and arriver
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Céline: Bonjour c’est Céline! |
| Christophe: Et moi c’est Christophe! |
| Sam: Sam here. Come and Leave. Hello, my name is Sam, or you can call me Mr. America. |
| Céline: Et moi, je suis Céline. So, what's today's conversation? |
| Sam: Today's conversation takes place during the afternoon between Whiz Alice and Clever Robert. Alice is going to the supermarket and she'd like to know if Robert would like to join her. Shall we start? |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Christophe: Let's go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Céline: Je vais au supermarché. Tu viens avec moi? |
| Sylvain: J’en viens. Je viens juste d’y aller. |
| Céline: Ah, tu viens d’arriver à la maison? |
| Sylvain: Oui, il y a 5 minutes. |
| Céline: Oh je comprends. Alors je pars. |
| Sam: One more time with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois avec l’anglais. |
| Céline: Je vais au supermarché. Tu viens avec moi? |
| Sam: I’m going to the supermarket. Are you coming with me? |
| Sylvain: J’en viens. Je viens juste d’y aller. |
| Sam: I just came from there. |
| Céline: Ah, tu viens d’arriver à la maison? |
| Sam: Ah you just got back? |
| Sylvain: Oui, il y a 5 minutes. |
| Sam: Yes, five minutes ago. |
| Céline: Oh je comprends. Alors je pars. |
| Sam: Oh I understand. Then I’ll leave. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Christophe: J’ai une question pour vous en ce qui concerne les supermarchés, Sam et Céline. Est-ce que vous faites souvent les courses? |
| Céline: Moi je fais tout le temps les courses. Tous les jours. Ben comme la plupart des Français. |
| Christophe: Tous les jours? |
| Céline: Ben y a toujours quelque chose à acheter. |
| Sam: Can I ask you guys a question? |
| Christophe: Oui, bien sûr! |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Sam: So in France, when you have a family, for example, the man and the woman, who buys the food? Who cooks? Is it 50/50? Case by case? |
| Christophe: Moi je pense qu’on se partage les tâches. |
| Céline: Yeah, it's 50/50. |
| Sam: 50/50? |
| Christophe: Par exemple, une semaine c’est toi qui vas faire les courses, et une autre semaine… Mmm... ça marche pas tout le temps. |
| Céline: Oh ben attends c’est super carré ça! Ben ça dépend. |
| Sam: La même chose aux Etats-Unis. |
| Céline: Ah bon? |
| Christophe: Ah bon? |
| Sam: Pas vraiment. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: Now let's look at some of the vocabulary and phrases from this lesson. The first item is? |
| Christophe: au |
| Sam: 'At' or 'to' followed by a masculine noun. |
| Christophe: au. au. |
| Sam: The next item is? |
| Céline: à la |
| Christophe: 'At' or 'to' followed by a feminine noun. |
| Céline: à la. à la. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Christophe: juste |
| Sam: Just or fair. |
| Christophe: juste. juste. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: aller |
| Sam: To go. |
| Céline: aller. aller. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Christophe: venir |
| Sam: To come. |
| Christophe: venir. venir. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: arriver |
| Sam: To arrive. |
| Céline: arriver. arriver. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Christophe: maison |
| Sam: House. |
| Christophe: maison. maison. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: il y a |
| Sam: Ago. |
| Céline: il y a. il y a. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Christophe: alors |
| Sam: Then. |
| Christophe: alors. alors. |
| Sam: And last word. |
| Céline: supermarché |
| Sam: Supermarket or grocery store. |
| Céline: supermarché. supermarché. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now let's look at the usage of some of the vocabulary and words from this lesson. What's our first word? |
| Céline: Le premier mot est “juste”. It has two grammatical functions. |
| Christophe: On les utilise comme adverbe dans notre dialogue. |
| Céline: Oui. Par exemple, Robert dit: Je viens juste d’y aller. Here “juste” modifies the fact that Robert went to the supermarket. The adverb “juste” slightly changes the word meaning by adding that going to the supermarket happened a few minutes ago. Ok, un autre exemple, je viens juste d’arriver. |
| Sam: Is there another usage for “juste”? |
| Christophe: Oui. Bien sûr. Il peut aussi être utilisé en tant qu’adjectif pour décrire… |
| Céline: Fairness. |
| Christophe: Yes, to describe fairness. Par exemple: Le juge est juste. |
| Sam: 'The judge is just' or 'the judge is fair'. |
| Christophe: Oui exactement. Et donc vous pouvez former la négation en disant: Le juge n’est pas juste. |
| Sam: 'The judge isn't fair'. That's some great insight into the word “juste”. |
| Céline: Donc le prochain mot est “arriver”. |
| Christophe: Oui. It is a verb of motion focusing on destination. |
| Sam: It's primarily used to mean 'arrive'. You can also say “j’arrive!”, 'I'm coming!'. |
| Céline: And if it's followed by the preposition “à”, it expresses to succeed as in: Il est arrivé à communiquer . |
| Sam: He succeeded in communicating. |
| Christophe: Par exemple, dans le dialogue, on a la phrase: Tu viens d’arriver à la maison? |
| Sam: You just got home? |
| Céline: C’est ça. And aother example: Tom est grand. Il arrive à mes épaules. Tom is tall. He comes up to my shoulders. It means 'to reach'. |
| Sam: It means to reach, attain, get to or be at a certain level. It can be used figuratively and literally. |
| Céline: Wow, Sam. You're French really improved. |
| Sam: I hope so. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Christophe: Grâce à nous. |
| Céline: So after there's the sentence “il y a”. |
| Christophe: Ce groupe de mots a différents usages. |
| Sam: Par exemple? |
| Christophe: One is enumerating. For example... |
| Céline: Il y a, there is. Il y a, there are. Same. So it's easy, right? |
| Sam: Very easy. |
| Christophe: Can you give me an example, Sam? For training? |
| Sam: An example? Il y a des jolies filles comme Céline. |
| Céline: Mais vous êtes trop mignons hein, aujourd’hui, hein. Qu’est-ce qui se passe? |
| Sam: There are lots of cute ladies like Céline. |
| Céline: Yeah, in the dialogue, Robert said: Il y a 5 minutes. |
| Sam: There are five minutes. |
| Céline: But in that case, it's not 'there are five minutes.' Five minutes ago. |
| Sam: Ah, that's tricky. |
| Céline: Eh oui. |
| Sam: What if I want to say, for example, I'm taking a test and I look at my watch. "There's five minutes left!"? |
| Céline: Oh, that's totally different. Il me reste 5 minutes. |
| Sam: Oh. |
| Céline: Because 'left' is rester. |
| Sam: Oh, I got it. That's not so difficult. I can remember that. |
| Céline: So “il y a” is just 'there is', 'there are' or 'ago'. |
| Sam: Easy grammar rule. It's a piece of cake. |
| Céline: Oui c’est très facile. |
| Sam: Christophe, how about “alors”? |
| Christophe: “Alors” is commonly used as 'so' or 'then'. It expresses an effect or cause without much stress. Its other English cousin would be 'well' or 'in that case'. |
| Céline: In the dialogue, Alice says: Alors je pars. "Well, I'm leaving." |
| Sam: Interesting. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: We say the same thing in English, too. Well then, I'm leaving. |
| Christophe: Oui c’est vrai, c’est la même chose. |
| Céline: So another example, Sam. Christophe et moi nous allons au cinéma. Alors tu viens? |
| Sam: Si vous allez voir Indiana Jones, alors je viens. |
| Christophe: Very good, Sam! |
| Sam: Merci beaucoup. So the question was, "Would you like to come to the movies with us?" The response was, "Well, if you're going to see Indiana Jones, I'll come." |
| Céline: Ok. So what's left? |
| Sam: So guys, before we go to the cinema, we need to finish the lesson. Let's move on to the grammar? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: So, Sam, did you notice any new structure or word in the dialogue? |
| Sam: Yes. “J’en viens”. And, I didn't catch that. What does “en” mean? |
| Christophe: En. |
| Sam: En. What does “en” mean? |
| Christophe: En, like “y” , is a preposition. They indicate places in the dialogue. The preposition “y”, as in previously, refers to a destination or things after verbs followed by the preposition “à”. |
| Céline: “En” is used to avoid repetition in three situations. The first one is to replace a location or place preceded by “de”. |
| Sam: What does “en” refer to in the dialogue? |
| Christophe: It refers to the point of origin of Robert's trip. In other words, the supermarket where he just came from. |
| Sam: Ah! I get it. I get it. |
| Céline: Par exemple: Je viens de la boulangerie. |
| Sam: You just came from the boulangerie. |
| Céline: The second use of “en” est purement grammatical. |
| Sam: The next example refers to quantity with the verb followed by a direct object composed of an indefinite article as “un, une, des”, or a partitive article as “du”, or “d’ ”, “de la”, translated as 'some' or 'any' in English, plus a noun. I think we should practice that. |
| Christophe: Très bonne idée. |
| Sam: Hey, what if I said,: Je vois de la bière. I could also say “j’en bois”. I drink some beer. I drink some. |
| Christophe: Très bon exemple. |
| Céline: Oui. Or with the indefinite article: Tu as des billets de concert. Tu en as. |
| Sam: Ah! So you said, “tu as des billets de concert”. I have some concert tickets. And you said, “tu en as”. I have some. I got it. The second usage of “en”, I think I can explain that. It's used to replace the indirect object of a verb followed by the preposition “de”. Here, the preposition “de” is part of the verb, as in “parler de”, 'talk about', or “se souvenir de”, 'to remember'. The indirect object indicates a thing or concept. |
| Céline: Par exemple? |
| Christophe: Je me souviens de mon enfance. Je m’en souviens. |
| Sam: I remember my childhood. I remember it. So is “en” always placed before the verb? |
| Céline: Oui. Toujours. Always and forever and ever. |
| Sam: Oh, I got it. That's a nice way to wrap things up, huh? Now we can go to the movies. |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Christophe: Ouais! |
Outro |
| Sam: That's it for today's lesson. Venez nous voir. See you next time! |
| Céline: Merci, Sam. Et merci, Christophe. |
| Christophe: Au revoir! Merci, Céline. Merci, Sam. |
| Sam: Merci, guys. See you next time. |
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Comments
HideDoes your family member or friends ask your for many favors too often?
Bonjour Jessica,
No, you'd say "J'en viens" ;-)
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101.com
Hi,
Should I be saying 'J'en suis venue' for I came from there?
Bonjour Adrienne et merci pour votre commentaire !
"J'y viens" and "j'en viens" don't have the same meaning :
J'y viens = I'm coming to that
J'en viens = I just came from there (Je viens de là.)
A bientôt !
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
mon convo ne marche pas?
colette
Hi, could you say "J’y viens" interchangeably with "J’en viens"? Thanks and love the lessons! They're all very well done.
'au' I thought was not merely to, at or in.
'au' I think should be translated as 'to the', 'at the', or 'in the'.
to, at, in would be translated as 'à' and not 'au'.
Hi James D. Brumfield,
We are working to provide all FrenchPod101.com lessons with transcripts.
Unfortunately it will still take some time.
Thank you for posting and for your patience.
Ofelia
Team FrenchPod101.com
It would be very helpful if the banter between the 3 people were printed somewhere so that one could understand words and phrases not in the lesson proper. Fortunately, I understand a lot, but there are parts in the conversation that escape my understanding and a printed version of their talking would help a great deal.
Hello Mike,
Merci pour votre commentaire !
Both sentences "Depuis 5 minutes" et "il y a 5 minutes" translate “five minutes ago”.
The more normal and common one is "Il y a 5 minutes".
About your last comment our team will check this problem.
A bientôt
Marie Alice
Team FrenchPod101.com
I have already said this is an excellent lesson but I do find one problem. Not for the first time. I can download four pdf pages of lesson notes including what is printed under the heading "Grammar". These four pages are really helpful but, as has happened previously, none of the "Grammar" that is in the audio (important stuff about the use of "en") seems to be covered in the lesson notes. It is the part after someone says "Let's move on to the grammar" that seems to be completely missing in print. So, in this lesson, what has happened to page five and six please?
Another comment that may surprise you - I still struggle to hear fast spoken chunks of conversation in French and, without lesson transcripts. I still can't always understand what is being said.by the team. Repeated playback of the audio does not always solve my problem so, unfortunately, it is often difficult for me to join in with the laughter that follows because I haven't truly understood the jokes! It would be interesting to know whether other users ever have the same problem.at this stage of the intermediate course? I guess it is most likely that I am just too slow learning the language or too hard of hearing to completely understand this normal speed level of French dialogue! I will now write out ten times, I must get up even earlier and work much harder!
Mike (2 September 2014)
Hi Natsuko ! I agree with Emile - this is one of the most helpful FP101 lessons covering arriver, venir and aller.. I have always been confused with French versions of "coming and going" and I have found that some French people sometimes use these verbs the wrong way round when they are speaking English. I am going to concentrate on S1/11 and go through everything again.. I also have a question that results from the dialogue - can "depuis 5 minutes" be used as a direct alternative to "il y a 5 minutes" and do both these phrases translate in exactly the same way "five minutes ago"? If so, which would be the more normal for everyday conversation please?
Regards, Mike (2 September 2014)
Hi Barbara,
Thank you for your sincere comment. Please notice that this Throwback Thursday lesson is from a Lower Intermediate level series, that's why you may have found it a little difficult.
Please skip it and give it a try later! :wink:
Thank you,
Ofelia
Team FrenchPod101.com
Hi...I just listened to this lesson, but this was a difficult lesson to follow. I am finding the conversations spoken between the three of you to be challenging to my comprehension. You all know and understand what you are saying, but, at this level, I do not. Because I am only at the advanced Beginner level, I am not understanding the finer points you are making, especially when you pose a question to each other in French, reply to it in French, and then move on. I find myself not having a clue as to the grammatical point you have made. Please do not misunderstand, I enjoy listening to your conversations, and they are often very amusing; but at times, as in this lesson, your comments mostly evaded my understanding. Perhaps having back-and-forth discussions in French when teaching grammar should be restricted to more advanced students?
Merci,
Barbara
Bonjour Emile,
Thank you very much! :smile:
Glad to know that:wink:
Natsuko,
Team FrenchPod101.com
Good lesson. The use of "En" is difficult and you explained it well.
Dear Fior,
Thank you so much for your comment and suggestion. We are always working on improving our materials and your opinion is highly valuable!
If you have any questions, please let us know.
Kind regards,
Laura
Team FrenchPod101.com
I feel these lessons are too short, there are too much English in the introduction, and a little new words.
I believe that the introduction should be in French only, may be at a slower pace. Also is unnecessary to try to explain the grammar without a video, since is confusing. I know there is a PDF for each lesson. I think that would be more efficient if the lessons would concentrated in one topic and learn the related new words to the topic in question. For example: if the dialogue is related to a person who is requesting a room in a hotel, then we should be learning all the item's names related to the hotel room: shower, towels, bed, blankets, pillows etc. and question given to the receptionist, how much is the room, double, single bed? what is the less noisy one? etc. This is just an example.
Also the speech recognition is not working for me.
Please take these points into consideration, as I feel that I have learned very little so far, and this intermediate course.
Thank You.
Bonjour Marcia !
Merci pour votre commentaire !
N'hésitez pas à poser des questions !
Cheers !
Mélanie
Team FrenchPod101.com
Je ne ai pas un commentaire.
Jeudi a Decembre 12 2:45 pm
Merci petiteclaire!
Je n'ai rien à rajouter! :grin: