Learn about French liaisons, and how and where to use them
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: Hi. Sam here, and I'm joined by two friends today. |
| Céline: Céline… |
| Alex: … et Alexandre. |
| Sam: Funny Flight Attendant. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. |
| Sam: Ok. Are you ready to go? |
| Céline: Je suis prête! |
| Alex: On y va! |
| Sam: Let's go! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sylvain: Mesdames et Messieurs, mes amis voyageurs avec 1 minute et 37 virgule 28 secondes d’avance, bienvenue à destination sous le soleil de Londres qui est… au dessus des nuages. |
| Sylvain: Veuillez garder vos jolis appareils de communication portables éteints. Ne vous cachez pas entre deux sièges, je vous vois et je vous entends. |
| Sylvain: Assurez-vous de ne pas laisser vos affaires personnelles, sacs, vestes, femmes ou belles-mères. J’ai eu les deux… ça va merci! A bientôt! |
| Sam: One more time, with the English. |
| Sylvain: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Sylvain: Mesdames et Messieurs, mes amis voyageurs avec 1 minute et 37 virgule 28 secondes d’avance, bienvenue à destination sous le soleil de Londres qui est… au dessus des nuages. |
| Sylvain: Veuillez garder vos jolis appareils de communication portables éteints. Ne vous cachez pas entre deux sièges, je vous vois et je vous entends. |
| Sylvain: Assurez-vous de ne pas laisser vos affaires personnelles, sacs, vestes, femmes ou belles-mères. J’ai eu les deux… ça va merci! A bientôt! |
| Sam: Ladies and Gentlemen, my traveling friends with one minute and thirty-seven point twenty-eight seconds ahead on schedule, welcome to our destination under the London sun, which is… over the clouds. |
| Sam: Please keep your pretty portable communication device off until the aircraft stops. Don’t hide yourself between the two seats, I can see you and hear you. |
| Sam: Make sure not to leave your personal belongings, bags, jackets, wives, or mothers-in-law. I had both of them. Thank you, it’s ok. See you soon! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So guys, I haven't flown so many times, but I hear Air France is a quite famous airline. |
| Céline: Ah oui, c’est... |
| Sam: Have you flown Air France before? |
| Céline: Oui. Bien sûr. Ben bien sûr, je suis française. |
| Sam: Oh. |
| Céline: Je voyage en Air France. |
| Sam: Air France. |
| Céline: Je voyage avec Air France, pardon. |
| Alex: Seulement? |
| Céline: Non non pas seulement. Mais bon Air France, c’est très pratique, ils parlent français. |
| Sam: So Air France is practical for French people. But aren't the other airlines also practical? |
| Céline: I don't know, but Air France is good, I think. |
| Alex: Et les hôtesses de l’air sont jolies. |
| Céline: Ah bon? |
| Alex: Oui! |
| Sam: The flight attendants are nice. |
| Céline: Les stewards aussi ils ne sont pas mal hein. |
| Alex: Ah, d'accord. |
| Sam: Well, anyway, have you ever had a funny flight attendant on your flight? |
| Céline: Non. Non jamais. Je suis désolée. I'm not going to lie, but no. |
| Sam: No? |
| Céline: Non mais tu sais Sam, est-ce que tu connais Airbus? |
| Sam: Airbus? |
| Céline: Oui, ce sont les concurrents de Boeing. |
| Sam: Ah, yeah! I know. They're like rivals. Airbus and Boeing. |
| Céline: Oui, oui. C’est terrible. |
| Sam: One is out of Europe and one is out of North America, right? |
| Céline: Je crois oui. Ben Boeing c’est américain et Airbus c’est européen. |
| Sam: Oh. Which one's better? |
| Céline: Airbus! |
| Alex: Airbus! Mais le dernier qui est sorti c’est... |
| Céline: … l’ A380. |
| Alex: Voilà c’est ça. Et, combien de passagers déjà? |
| Céline: Ah je sais plus. Oh, let's ask the listeners. |
| Alex: 800 je crois. |
| Sam: I think that they have a new plane coming out, right? |
| Céline: Oh, no. It came. Oh, my god, yeah. |
| Sam: I think it holds... |
| Céline: More than 8... |
| Alex: 800 or something like that, yes. I heard that Singapore Airlines bought a... |
| Céline: Oui! Tout à fait. |
| Sam: Wow. |
| Céline: Il faut souligner que les… la... l’usine Airbus... Toulouse is known for Airbus et l’aéronautique. Aeronautics. It's the city of aeronautics. |
| Sam: The city of aero-- Kind of like NASA? |
| Céline: Voilà! |
| Sam: Oh, I got you. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Now let's have a look at the vocabulary from this lesson. The first item is? |
| Céline: Ami. |
| Sam: Friend. |
| Céline: Ami. Ami. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Voyageurs. |
| Sam: Travelers. |
| Alex: Voyageurs. Voyageurs. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Bienvenue. |
| Sam: Welcome. |
| Céline: Bienvenue. Bienvenue. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Sous. |
| Sam: Under. |
| Alex: Sous. Sous. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Soleil. |
| Sam: Sun. |
| Céline: Soleil. Soleil. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Au dessus. |
| Sam: Over. |
| Alex: Au dessus. Au dessus. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Nuage. |
| Sam: Cloud. |
| Céline: Nuage. Nuage. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Garder. |
| Sam: To keep. |
| Alex: Garder. Garder. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Appareil. |
| Sam: Device. |
| Céline: Appareil. Appareil. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Portable. |
| Sam: Portable. |
| Alex: Portable. Portable. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Eteindre. |
| Sam: To turn off or to stow. |
| Céline: Eteindre. Eteindre. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Se cacher. |
| Sam: To hide oneself. |
| Alex: Se cacher. Se cacher. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Siège. |
| Sam: Seat. |
| Céline: Siège. Siège. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Voir. |
| Sam: To see. |
| Alex: Voir. Voir. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Entendre. |
| Sam: To hear. |
| Céline: Entendre. Entendre. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: S’assurer. |
| Sam: To make sure. |
| Alex: S’assurer. S’assurer. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Laisser. |
| Sam: To leave. |
| Céline: Laisser. Laisser. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Affaires. |
| Sam: Belongings. |
| Alex: Affaires. Affaires. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Sac. |
| Sam: Bag. |
| Céline: Sac. Sac. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Veste. |
| Sam: Jacket. |
| Alex: Veste. Veste. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Hôtesse de l’air. |
| Sam: Female flight attendant. |
| Céline: Hôtesse de l’air. Hôtesse de l’air. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Alex: Avance. |
| Sam: Ahead. |
| Alex: Avance. Avance. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Atterrissage. |
| Sam: Landing. |
| Céline: Atterrissage. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now let's look at some of the vocab usage from our lesson. |
| Alex: Le premier mot est “portable”. |
| Sam: We've seen that word before. Why talk about it again? |
| Céline: To confuse you, Sam. It can be used as a noun referring to a cell phone. |
| Alex: And as an adjective to tell that you can hold something and take it wherever you go. |
| Sam: Like my head when I don't forget it. Or my iPod. |
| Céline: So, the next word is a verb, and it's “éteindre”. Ok. An example. Eteins la lumière. Turn off the light. |
| Alex: Saving energy is good for your wallet and for Mother Earth. |
| Sam: Very true. |
| Céline: C’est vrai! |
| Alex: “Eteins” in the example sentence is conjugated in the imperative form, but in the dialogue it is the past participle of “éteindre” used as an adjective. |
| Sam: I don't hear any difference! |
| Céline: Well, the pronunciation is identical but the spelling different. |
| Sam: Look at your display to see how the adjective “éteint” in the dialogue is spelled. On your iPod that is. If you're listening to this on your iPod, click on the center button twice and the dialogue will appear on your screen. |
| Céline: Exactement, Sam. |
| Alex: While our listeners are doing that, let me ask you a question, Sam. |
| Sam: Ok. |
| Alex: Do you know what the next word is? |
| Sam: I think so. Siège? |
| Alex: No. The next one, in order of appearance, is “se cacher”. |
| Sam: Is that cash? |
| Céline: Non, non, non, non, non. They sound alike, but it means to hide oneself. |
| Sam: Oh! |
| Alex: Oui, oui, oui, oui! One of these pronominal verbs. |
| Sam: Can you give us an example sentence please? |
| Céline: L’éléphant se cache derrière la souris. |
| Alex: The elephant hides behind the mouse. |
| Sam: Ok. I don't think the elephant is going to be that invisible. |
| Céline: I don't think so! So, the next vocab word is “siège”. |
| Alex: “Un siège” to be exact. In English, it's just a seat. |
| Céline: Oui. Just a seat. |
| Sam: Oh, ok. Like the cushy ones. Like under my bottom. |
| Alex: Except that for the bike seats, you say, “une selle”, for example. |
| Sam: Ok. To wrap up our vocabulary usage, we have a participle. In our dialogue, the flight attendant used a phrase. J’ai eu les deux. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. “Eu” is the participle and you have to pronounce only the letter 'u' in French. It's a form of “avoir”. |
| Sam: Ah! I understand. What if I wanted to say, "Aw. Zidane had a red card."? |
| Céline: Oh, super exemple... Zidane a eu un carton rouge. |
| Sam: Ah, I got you. |
| Alex: Excuse me! Are we playing soccer here? |
| Sam: No, we're talking about grammar! Relax! |
| Céline: Oui. C’est fantastique. Super exemple. |
| Alex: So let's take it... |
| Céline: The other way around. |
| Alex: Par exemple. “J’ai eu” means literally, 'I had had' which is the conjugation of “avoir” at the passe composé with the auxiliary “avoir” and not “être”. |
| Céline: Therefore, there are two forms of “avoir” in “j’ai eu”. First the auxiliary at the present tense, and the second is the past participle of “avoir”. |
| Alex: Simple comme bonjour! |
| Sam: Simple as goodbye. No, hello. So let's just recap here. 'Eu' is the past participle of the verb “avoir”. That's our main point. |
| Céline: Tout à fait, Sam. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: Let's look at the grammar? We've started a little bit. |
| Sam: Yeah. |
| Céline: But let's go. |
| Sam: Yeah, but hey, it's ok. Our listeners love grammar. And we have something else besides what we talked about before. |
| Céline: Oui. We are going to challenge you to work on your reading and pronunciation. |
| Alex: Is it some kind of exercise? |
| Sam: Yep. We're going to first ask our listeners to listen and read on their iPod display, or their computer, the dialogue from the lesson. |
| Alex: So don't hesitate to pause us. |
| Céline: We are going to talk about, liaisons, the link sounds between the last syllable of a word and the one of the following word. |
| Alex: Ah, oui. Some are required and others are optional. They are called “les liaisons” en français. |
| Céline: Les liaisons dangereuses. |
| Sam: Dangerous liaison. Hopefully, not too dangerous. Anyway, let's go back to where this appeared in the conversation. Can you repeat that sentence please? |
| Alex: Mes amis voyageurs. You cannot say “Mes… amis voyageurs”, par exemple. |
| Sam: Ah. My friends, travelers. Or 'my traveling friends'. |
| Céline: Oui. For a linked sound or une liaison, you have to have two elements. First, the last letter of the first word has to be a consonant and the first letter of the following word a vowel. Which is the case with 'mes' ending with an 's' and 'amis' starting with an 'a'. |
| Alex: Here, la liaison is mandatory as we have a determiner or word making the denotation of a noun specific as an article. Or here the possessive adjective 'mes' followed by a noun. In other words, 'amis' in this example. |
| Sam: Ok. The other mandatory liaisons? |
| Céline: There are three more situations. The following one is found in “vos jolis appareils”. |
| Sam: Your lovely devices. |
| Alex: Here, the linked sound is applied between an adjective and a noun. The plural 's' of “jolis” is linked with the vowel 'a' of “appareils”, pronounced as a 'z'. “Zappareils”.“Vos jolis appareils”. |
| Sam: Again, we see that in “Ils ont raison”. |
| Céline: They're right. Yes. And you're right, too. Where do you see this phrase in the dialogue? |
| Sam: Nowhere. It's just a statement praising your present performance. |
| Alex: Merci. Effectivement. Between a personal pronoun a verb, la liaison est aussi obligatoire. |
| Céline: The linked sound is also mandatory. You can find fixed phrases which have the grammar points par exemple: |
| Alex: Les Etats-Unis. |
| Sam: The United States. |
| Alex: C’est-à-dire. |
| Sam: That is. |
| Alex: Voilà! |
| Sam: Ok. Some lovely examples of le... |
| Alex: Les liaisons. |
| Sam: Les liaisons. |
| Alex: Fais attention, elles sont très importantes en français! |
| Céline: Oui très importantes. |
| Sam: Yes, very important in French. So you listeners out there, make sure to pay attention to your liaisons when you're speaking. And also when you're writing, you can see them as well. |
| Céline: Oui, exactement. Mais je crois que ce sont les liaisons qui font du français une très belle langue. |
| Alex: Oui voilà. |
| Sam: So the liaisons make French a beautiful language. |
| Alex: Oui. |
| Sam: Especially if you speak it with an American accent. |
| Céline: Oh mon Dieu, il se jette des fleurs. This is the end. |
| Sam: Really? |
| Céline: Yeah. You are throwing flowers to yourself. That was the meaning of my sentence. |
Outro |
| Sam: Oh. Ok. I'm throwing flowers. They smell good, too. But anyway, that's a good place to end. See you next time! Thank you! |
| Céline: Oui. À très bientôt! Merci. Merci, Alex. |
| Alex: Au revoir, à la prochaine! Merci au revoir! |
| Sam: Merci. |
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