Learn many different ways to extend, accept, or refuse invitations in French, both formally and informally
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: I'm Sam and I'm joined here by... |
| Céline: Céline. |
| Alex: Et Alexandre. |
| Céline: Tout à fait, Sam. Alors aujourd’hui quelle est la conversation? |
| Sam: Alex, what do you think? What's today's conversation about? |
| Alex: The focus of this lesson is making an invitation. This conversation takes place in a business meeting where the CEO announces the company anniversary party. |
| Sam: So I think this will be an informal conversation. Wouldn't you say, Alex? |
| Alex: I think it will be formal because the boss is speaking, is using formal French. |
| Céline: Yes, but when the colleagues, they talk together, they're using informal French, so actually both. |
| Alex: You're right, actually. |
| Sam: Ok. This conversation takes place between several colleagues. They're talking about work, more specifically, the tenth anniversary of the company next month. |
| Céline: Oh! In today's conversation we have so many people. First, Mr. CEO played by Christophe. Henri played by you, Sam. Robert played by Alex. And I'll be Happy Patti. Let's go! |
| Sam: Ok. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Christophe: Mes chers associés, collègues et assistants, je voudrais vous inviter à la célébration du dixième anniversaire de notre société le mois prochain. |
| Sam: Malheureusement, le 15, je ne peux pas. Et toi Robert? |
| Alex: Moi non plus, je dois m’occuper de mes vieux parents. |
| Céline: Quelle surprise! Moi si, j’accepte avec plaisir! Nous pouvons l’organiser pour le 25. |
| Christophe: Excellente idée! Comme d’habitude, Happy Patty est de la partie! |
| Céline: One more time, with the English. |
| Christophe: Mes chers associés, collègues et assistants, je voudrais vous inviter à la célébration du dixième anniversaire de notre société le mois prochain. |
| Sam: Dear associates, colleagues and assistants; I’d like to invite you to the 10th anniversary celebration of our company next month. |
| Sam: Malheureusement, le 15, je ne peux pas. Et toi Robert? |
| Sam: Unfortunately, on the 15th, I can’t. And you Robert? |
| Alex: Moi non plus, je dois m’occuper de mes vieux parents. |
| Sam: Me neither, I have to take care of my elderly mother and father. |
| Céline: Quelle surprise! Moi si, j’accepte avec plaisir! Nous pouvons l’organiser pour le 25. |
| Sam: What a surprise! But hey, I can make it! We can organize it for the 25th. |
| Christophe: Excellente idée! Comme d’habitude, Happy Patty est de la partie! |
| Sam: Excellent idea! As usual, Patty has the answers! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So guys, I have a question. What are company parties or dinner parties like back home for you guys? Can you drink or shall you just be social? What's it like? |
| Céline: Yeah, you should be social, but you shouldn't drink that much with your boss and with your colleagues. |
| Sam: Oh really? |
| Céline: Yes, it's not appropriate at all. Even if you want to drink, you can't. You shouldn't. |
| Sam: Oh, no. |
| Céline: Yeah, yeah, yeah. |
| Alex: I think that it's because the boss is observing you. Is that right? |
| Céline: Yes, exactement. Et aussi les collègues sont toujours en train de vous observer. Faites attention. |
| Sam: So your colleagues are always observing you. And your boss. It's like a test. |
| Céline: Oui un petit peu. Tu sais en France, même dans les repas d’affaires, il faut toujours se tenir. |
| Alex: Il ne faut pas se lâcher quoi. |
| Céline: Non. |
| Sam: So you have to be careful at these parties. |
| Céline: Oui, tout à fait. |
| Alex: Voilà. |
| Céline: Que diriez-vous de regarder le vocabulaire? |
| Sam: Now let's look at some vocabulary from the lesson. |
| Alex: On y va! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first item is? |
| Céline: Vieux. |
| Sam: Old. |
| Céline: Vieux. Vieux. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Malheureusement. |
| Sam: Unfortunately. |
| Alex: Malheureusement. Malheureusement. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Associés. |
| Sam: Associates. |
| Céline: Associés. Associés. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Cher. |
| Sam: Dear. |
| Alex: Cher. Cher. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Collègue. |
| Sam: Colleague or coworker. |
| Céline: Collègue. Collègue. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Prochain. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Alex: Prochain. Prochain. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: S’occuper. |
| Sam: To take care of. |
| Céline: S’occuper. S’occuper. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Etre de la partie. |
| Sam: To be part of. |
| Alex: Etre de la partie. Etre de la partie. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Anniversaire. |
| Sam: Anniversary or birthday. |
| Céline: Anniversaire. Anniversaire. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Great guys. Now let's have a closer look at the usage of some of the words. The first word we'll look at is 'cher'. Can you give us an example sentence? |
| Alex: Oui, bien sûr. Par exemple: Cher Paul. |
| Céline: 'Dear Paul'. 'Cher' is commonly used in writing and openings of formal letters or speeches followed by a title. |
| Alex: Or in a friendly message to someone close to you in informal writing. |
| Sam: The next word we're going to look at is “malheureusement”. How about an example with this word? |
| Céline: Malheureusement je ne peux pas venir. Unfortunately, I can't come. |
| Alex: This adverb often expresses a regret or a deception. |
| Céline: Le mot suivant est “vieux”. |
| Alex: A common expression is “vieux comme le monde”. |
| Sam: As old as the world. |
| Céline: Oui. As our planet is far from young, the adjective “vieux” describes the old age of something or someone. |
| Alex: And it is an irregular adjective as you can encounter it as “vieille”, spelled V-I-E-I-L-L-E for feminine nouns, or without the last “le” (which is -le in English), as “vieil” for masculine nouns as in “le vieil arbre”. |
| Sam: The old tree. Hey guys, this is a pretty simple point, but it might be easier to see, so look at the PDF at FrenchPod101.com, where we go more in detail. Ok? |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Alex: Bien sûr! |
| Céline: Très bon idée! Une autre expression. “Le vieux de la vieille.” Literally 'the old man of the old woman', meaning a person with experience or being involved for a long time into whatever is talked about. |
| Sam: Finally, there's “anniversaire”. |
| Alex: It is used for birthday celebrations and anniversaries. Everybody likes it, right? |
| Sam: Yeah. There isn't any specific word in French for anniversary then? |
| Céline: Non. Both definitions call for the masculine noun “anniversaire”. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: Let's look at the grammar. What's today's grammar point? |
| Alex: We're going to look at how to reply in a short and efficient manner to a negative statement or question. |
| Sam: Ok. Is it in the dialogue? |
| Céline: Certainement. At the time of making an invitation to someone, you can either accept or refuse. |
| Alex: For example, after Mr. See Heeho announced the tenth anniversary of the company, Henri states “Je ne peux pas le 25”. |
| Sam: I can't on the 25th. |
| Céline: Yes, he replies with a negative statement. In order for the other people to answer, they will base their response according to the negative phrase from Henri. |
| Alex: Therefore, to accept the invitation formulated with either a negative statement or a question, 'moi si' can be said. |
| Céline: Let's see that in an example. Ok, so let's say Sam invited us to see a movie tonight. I would answer: Je suis désolée Alex, je ne peux pas venir au cinéma ce soir. |
| Sam: I'm sorry Alex, I can't come to the cinema tonight. |
| Alex: Moi si je peux! |
| Sam: But I can! |
| Alex: On the contrary, to refuse, the short answer could be 'moi non' or 'moi non plus'. Let's give an example. |
| Céline: Sam invited me again to see a movie, and I would say: Ah je suis désolée Sam, je ne peux pas venir au cinéma ce soir. |
| Sam: I'm sorry, Sam. I can't come to the cinema tonight. |
| Céline: Et toi, Alex? |
| Sam: And you, Alex? |
| Alex: Moi non plus. |
| Sam: Me neither. What's the difference between 'moi non' et 'moi non plus'? |
| Céline: 'Moi non' is simply to refuse an offer and 'moi non plus' is the negative of 'moi aussi'. |
| Sam: Sounds pretty easy to me. How about one more example? |
| Céline: Ok. Mais bien sûr Sam, un autre exemple. Tu ne voudrais pas aller voir ce film Alex? |
| Sam: You wouldn't like to see a film, Alex? |
| Alex: Moi non. Il n’a pas de bonnes critiques. |
| Sam: Me, no. It doesn't have good reviews. |
| Céline: Et toi, Sam? |
| Sam: Moi non plus, ça ne m’intéresse pas. C’est correct? |
| Céline: Yes! C’est parfait. Me neither. It doesn't interest me. |
| Alex: To sum up, we have 'moi si' to accept an invitation formulated with a negative question or statement. |
| Sam: 'Moi non' to simply refuse it. |
| Céline: Et 'moi non plus' to agree with someone else in refusing an offer or invitation. |
| Sam: That's a pretty easy explanation, I think, guys. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Alex: Bien sûr c’est facile. |
| Sam: Of course. It's easy. |
| Céline: How about the sentence: “Je t’aime. Moi non plus.”? |
| Sam: I don't love you anymore? |
| Céline: No. Ok. If I said to Alex, "Je t'aime." |
| Sam: I love you. |
| Alex: Well, normally I would say, "Moi aussi." |
| Sam: Me too. Go ahead. Sorry, sorry. |
| Céline: Je t'aime. |
| Sam: I love you. |
| Alex: Moi non plus. |
| Sam: Me neither. It's a play on the words. Céline said, "I love you," and Alex said, "Me neither." It's kind of funny. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: Maybe. |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: We hope so. |
Outro |
| Sam: So that's the end of today's lovely lesson. I wish we had videocasts, because Céline's really cracking up about something here. So thank you guys for listening. |
| Céline: Merci, Sam. Merci, Alex. Et merci aux auditeurs. |
| Alex: Merci à vous tous. Au revoir! |
| Sam: Au revoir! |
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