Learn how to talk about something in the past
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Eric: Hi everyone, I'm Eric. |
| Yasmine: And I'm Yasmine. |
| Eric: Talking About the Past. |
| Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use a sentence pattern for talking about something in the past. |
| PATTERN |
| Eric: For example, "I went to the post office this morning." |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. |
| Yasmine: [slow] Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. |
| Eric: The pattern for talking about something in the past has 3 elements. First, the pronoun, in this case "I." |
| Yasmine: Je. |
| Eric: Second, the verb conjugated in the first person singular, feminine and perfect tense. In this case, "I went." |
| Yasmine: suis allée. |
| Eric: Third, the complement, in this case "to the post office this morning." |
| Yasmine: à la poste ce matin. |
| Eric: Altogether, we have "I went to the post office this morning." |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. [slow] Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. [normal] Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. |
| Eric: First you have a pronoun, then a verb conjugated in the perfect tense. The writing of the verb varies depending on if the speaker is a man or a woman. Finally you have the complement. |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. |
| Eric: So remember, to talk about something that happened in the past, start with a pronoun, then a verb in the past tense, and then the thing you want to talk about. |
| Eric: Here's another example meaning, "I went to the beach." First, the pronoun, in this case "I." |
| Yasmine: Je. |
| Eric: Second, the verb conjugated in the first person singular, feminine and perfect tense. In this case, "I went." |
| Yasmine: suis allée. |
| Eric: Third, the complement, in this case "to the beach." |
| Yasmine: à la plage. |
| Eric: Altogether we have... |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la plage. [slow] Je suis allée à la plage. [normal] Je suis allée à la plage. |
| Eric: "I went to the beach." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la plage. |
| Eric: How do you say - "I went to the hairdresser's." To give you a hint, "to go to the hairdresser's" is... |
| Yasmine: aller chez le coiffeur. [slow] aller chez le coiffeur. [normal] aller chez le coiffeur. |
| Eric: "I went to the hairdresser's." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée chez le coiffeur. [slow] Je suis allée chez le coiffeur. [normal] Je suis allée chez le coiffeur. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée chez le coiffeur. |
| REVIEW |
| Eric: Let's review the sentences from this lesson. I’ll give you the English equivalent of the phrase, and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud in French. Here we go. |
| Eric: "I went to the post office this morning." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. |
| Eric: "I went to the beach." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la plage. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la plage. |
| Eric: "I went to the hairdresser's." |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée chez le coiffeur. |
| [pause] |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée chez le coiffeur. |
Outro |
|---|
| Eric: Okay. That's all for this lesson. You learned a pattern for talking about something in the past, as in... |
| Yasmine: Je suis allée à la poste ce matin. |
| Eric: meaning "I went to the post office this morning." |
| Eric: Thanks, everyone, see you next time! |
| Yasmine: A la prochaine! |
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