Learn how to talk about the past
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: When I was small. I'm joined here today by... |
| Alex: Alexandre |
| Sam: And... |
| Céline: Céline. |
| Sam: Ok. Let's get into today's conversation. |
| Céline: But what is today's conversation? |
| Sam: Today's conversation? That's a good question. I think Peter and Patti are talking at a party about their childhood. Shall we start? |
| Alex: On y va! |
| Céline: C'est parti! |
| Sam: Ok. Let's go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Christophe: Quand j’étais petit, la vie était plus simple. |
| Céline: On habitait dans un joli quartier. |
| Christophe: Mes parents travaillaient et j’étudiais. |
| Céline: Tu avais un beau vélo rouge que j’admirais. |
| Christophe: Maintenant c’est la galère! |
| Céline: Oh tu exagères! |
| Sam: One more time, with the English. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Christophe: Quand j’étais petit, |
| Sam: When I was small, |
| Christophe: la vie était plus simple. |
| Sam: life was simpler. |
| Céline: On habitait dans un joli quartier. |
| Sam: We lived in a nice neighborhood. |
| Christophe: Mes parents travaillaient et j’étudiais. |
| Sam: My parents worked and I studied. |
| Céline: Tu avais un beau vélo rouge que j’admirais. |
| Sam: You had a beautiful red bike that I admired. |
| Christophe: Maintenant c’est la galère! |
| Sam: Now, it’s a nightmare! |
| Céline: Oh tu exagères! |
| Sam: Oh, you exaggerate! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: You guys remember your childhood? |
| Alex: Oui. |
| Céline: Oh, oui. Bien sûr! |
| Sam: Me, too. |
| Céline: Tu es nostalgique? |
| Sam: Plus ou moins. More or-- Oh, go ahead! |
| Alex: Moi aussi je suis très nostalgique! J’avais une enfance très heureuse! |
| Sam: Great. |
| Céline: Ah ben bravo, oui, on est contents pour toi! Sam, dans la conversation il y a le mot “galère”. |
| Sam: Galère. |
| Céline: Tu connais le mot “galère”? Tu sais d’où ça vient? |
| Sam: Ah j’ai oublié. Qu’est-ce que c’est “la galère”? |
| Céline: La galère. Par exemple: travailler c’est la galère. |
| Alex: Etudier c’est la galère. |
| Céline: Voilà. Enfin, quand il y a un effort c’est la galère. |
| Sam: Oh, like something's a pain in the neck? |
| Céline: Exactement. Mais d’où vient le mot “galère”? |
| Alex: Oh c’est un mot très ancien. |
| Céline: Alors, ça vient du 18ème siècle, et en fait les galères étaient des bateaux sur lequels les malfaiteurs étaient condamnés à purger leur peine. |
| Sam: Oh zut! |
| Céline: Oui dommage hein! Alors ils étaient attachés et fouettés. |
| Sam: Ah oui? |
| Céline: Oui exactement. Quelle horreur! Enfin bref. Ok. C’était à l’époque, c’était au 18ème siècle. Maintenant on ne fouette plus personne en France. |
| Sam: Ah. Ah je comprends. |
| Céline: D'accord. Vous êtes prêts pour le vocab? |
| Alex: On y va! |
| Céline: Allez! |
| Sam: Let's look at some vocabulary. Great! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first item is? |
| Alex: Quand. |
| Sam: When. |
| Alex: Quand. Quand. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Petit. |
| Sam: Small. |
| Céline: Petit. Petit. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Simple. |
| Sam: Simple. |
| Alex: Simple. Simple. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Vie. |
| Sam: Life. |
| Céline: Vie. Vie. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Joli. |
| Sam: Pretty. |
| Alex: Joli. Joli. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Quartier. |
| Sam: Neighborhood. |
| Céline: Quartier. Quartier. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Parents. |
| Sam: Parents. |
| Alex: Parents. Parents. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Beau. |
| Sam: Beautiful. |
| Céline: Beau. Beau. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Vélo. |
| Sam: Bicycle. |
| Alex: Vélo. Vélo. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Rouge. |
| Sam: Red. |
| Céline: Rouge. Rouge. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Admirer. |
| Sam: To admire. |
| Alex: Admirer. Admirer. |
| Sam: And lastly? |
| Céline: Maintenant. |
| Sam: Now. |
| Céline: Maintenant. Maintenant. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Alex: Il est l’heure! |
| Sam: Time for what? |
| Céline: For the vocab usage. |
| Sam: The first word is “quartier”. |
| Céline: Quartier. |
| Sam: Quartier. |
| Céline: Quartier. |
| Sam: Quartier. |
| Céline: Bravo. |
| Alex: Vous avez déjà peut-être reconnu le mot “quart”, que nous avons vu précédemment. |
| Céline: Oui, la racine “quart” means 'quarter', however “quartier” indicates the subdivision of the city or, in one word, 'neighborhood'. |
| Sam: Interesting how the word and its usage evolved with time, huh? |
| Céline: Tout à fait. Exemple: Alex, tu habites dans quel quartier? |
| Alex: J’habite à Montmartre. Ou: J’habite dans le quartier de Montmartre, qui est à Paris dans le 18ème arrondissement, comme tout le monde le sait. |
| Sam: Ok. |
| Céline: Bravo pour les détails! |
| Alex: N’est-ce pas? |
| Céline: Merci! |
| Alex: J’ai vécu à Paris. |
| Sam: “Quartier”, like the watch? |
| Céline: Non! Non, non. Pas du tout. “Cartier” c’est un nom de famille, M. Cartier. |
| Sam: Ah, je comprends. |
| Céline: Et ça s’écrit avec un “c”. |
| Sam: Ah, merci beaucoup. |
| Céline: Donc n’achète jamais un sac ou une montre avec “qu” quartier. So next word is “beau”. Beau comme un dieu. |
| Alex: Ah Sam, tu es beau comme un dieu. |
| Céline: Tu trouves? Ok! |
| Sam: What do you think, Céline? |
| Céline: Je ne sais pas. “Beau” is a masculine adjective and is irregular. |
| Alex: Pour louer la beauté féminine, on utilise l’adjectif “belle”. |
| Céline: In the conversation, it refers to Peter's bicycle. Let's see another example. |
| Alex: Par exemple: Halle Berry est une belle femme. |
| Céline: C’est exact. Mais pourquoi pas un exemple au masculin, Sam? |
| Sam: Gabriel Aubry est un beau homme. |
| Céline: Pas exactement Sam. Enfin oui Gabriel Aubry est très beau. But if you place the adjective 'beautiful' before the noun, it becomes, “Gabriel Aubry est un bel homme”. And if you place it at the end, it is “Gabriel Aubry est un homme beau”. |
| Sam: Got it. How about the word 'vélo'? |
| Alex: 'Un vélo' or 'une bicyclette' or, more familiar “une bécane”, designate a bike. |
| Céline: Some cities in France have a program which allows you to rent bikes. |
| Alex: Vous pouvez les trouver à Paris, à Lyon et à Strasbourg. |
| Céline: Et à Toulouse. |
| Alex: Ah maintenant à Toulouse aussi? |
| Céline: Oui. Ben oui, bien sûr. |
| Alex: Bravo! |
| Sam: Ah oui? |
| Céline: Et à Bordeaux. Ensuite il y a le mot “maintenant”. |
| Alex: It is an adverb of time referring to the present moment. |
| Sam: It means 'now'. |
| Céline: Maintenant nous commençons avec une pointe de grammaire. |
| Sam: Sounds good to me. |
| Céline: Allez! |
| Alex: On y va. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Alex: In this lesson, we're going to study how to talk about past events with “l’imparfait”. |
| Céline: There isn't a corresponding tense in English. Depending on the situation expressed, it can be translated with a simple past or the past continuous. |
| Sam: So elevate my mind. |
| Alex: “L’imparfait” is used to make descriptions. It can indicate an ongoing state of being or a repeated or incomplete action. The beginning and the end of the state of being or action are not indicated. |
| Sam: For example? |
| Céline: So, for an ongoing state, let's say “Marc avait 12 ans.” Marc was twelve years old. |
| Alex: “J’allais à la boulangerie tous les dimanches”. That is a repeated action or habit in the past. |
| Sam: I went to the bakery every Sunday? How is the conjugation formed? Please tell me. |
| Céline: Ok. To conjugate a verb à l’imparfait, take the stem of the first person plural verb form at the present of the indicative. |
| Alex: Vous êtes perdus? Got lost? Let me give you an example. |
| Sam: So to form this tense, there's a very simple pattern you can follow. You take the stem and when we conjugate verbs, as you know, 'je', 'tu', 'il' or 'elle', 'nous' and 'vous' and 'ils' or 'elles' plural. For example, when we said earlier, “Marc avait 12 ans”, how would you say, "I was twelve," Céline? |
| Céline: J’avais 12 ans. |
| Sam: How would you say, "You were twelve," Alex? |
| Alex: Tu avais 12 ans. |
| Sam: How would you say, "We were twelve?" |
| Céline: Nous avions 12 ans. |
| Sam: How would you say, "You (plural) or you (formal) were twelve?" |
| Alex: Vous aviez 12 ans. |
| Sam: And how about a group of men? |
| Céline: Ils avaient 12 ans. |
| Sam: Women? |
| Alex: Elles avaient 12 ans. |
| Sam: Mixed group? |
| Céline: Ils avaient 12 ans. |
| Sam: Ok. So on the singular side, once we have the stem, just remember -ais, -ais, -ait. How about for our 'nous' form, Céline? |
| Céline: Nous avions? -ions. |
| Sam: Ok. A-V-I-O-N-S. |
| Céline: Oui. Tout à fait. |
| Sam: For the 'vous' form? |
| Alex: Vous aviez. -iez. |
| Sam: And for the plural form? |
| Céline: Ils avaient ou elles avaient. -aient. |
| Sam: Ok. And we can't forget third person singular. |
| Céline: Bien sûr que non! Il ou elle avait. -ait. |
| Sam: Ok. So once again, on the singular side, -ais, -ais, -ait. For the plural side, why don't you check our chart on FrenchPod101.com? It really is a very easy pattern to follow. |
| Céline: Yes, I think you should study the conjugation and it will be easier. |
| Sam: It's really easy, actually, once you learn the conjugation. |
| Céline: Exactement. Mais il faut apprendre la conjugaison! N’est-ce pas Alex? |
| Alex: Oui! |
| Céline: Ok, je crois que c’est la fin aujourd’hui. |
Outro |
| Sam: That's the end. Well, thank you guys. |
| Alex: Merci à tous! |
| Céline: Oulà t’es en forme Alex, hein! |
| Alex: A la prochaine! |
| Céline: T’es en forme quand c’est la fin. |
| Alex: Exactement. |
| Céline: Ok. Merci. |
| Sam: See you soon! |
Easily master this lesson’s grammar points with in-depth explanations and examples. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Comments
Hide