Learn how to ask what something is
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: Bonjour à tous! Hi everybody. Today, again, I'm here with Sylvain and Céline. |
| Sylvain : Bonjour, Sam! |
| Céline: Bonjour, Sam! Bonjour, Sylvain. |
| Sylvain : Bonjour, Céline! |
| Céline: Alors, comment ça va aujourd’hui? So, how is it going today? |
| Sam: Très bien, merci. |
| Sylvain : Super, super. |
| Céline: So, Sylvain, why don't you introduce today's lesson? |
| Sylvain : Bonne idée. Good idea. Today, Clever Robert and Pretty Julie are visiting Paris. |
| Céline: Pardon. Excuse moi. Who is Clever Robert and Pretty Julie? |
| Sylvain : Sorry. I just had nicknames on my papers. Clever Robert is Dupond. |
| Céline: Dupond? |
| Sylvain : Julie is-- Julie-- |
| Céline: Martin. |
| Sylvain : Martin. Merci. Julie Martin. |
| Sylvain : Today Clever Robert and Pretty Julie are visiting Paris. She asks him about the scenery around them. |
| Sam: That sounds interesting! J’adore Paris. I love Paris. J’adore la Tour Eiffel. I love the Eiffel Tower. Et j’adore les Champs-Elysées. I love the Champs Elysées. And, j’adore les jolies filles. I love the pretty girls. |
| Sylvain : Tu as raison. You're right. |
| Céline: Ok. Ok. Guys, let's get into the conversation. |
| Sam: Ok. Ok. Let's go. |
| Céline: Ok. So I'll be Julie, and Sylvain will be Robert. |
| Sylvain : I will be Robert. |
| Céline: Sam, you will be the taxi driver. |
| Sam: Ok. Sounds good! Let's go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Céline: Taxi! |
| Sylvain : Bonjour. Les Champs Elysées, s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: D’accord. |
| Céline: Qu’est-ce que c’est? |
| Sylvain : Un musée. C’est le musée Auguste Rodin, le sculpteur. |
| Céline: Et ça, qu’est-ce que c’est? |
| Sylvain : Une tour. La… |
| Céline: … Tour Eiffel. Pfff. Bien sûr! |
| Sylvain : Et les Champs Elysées. |
| Ok, let's try that again, slowly. |
| Céline: Taxi! |
| Sylvain : Bonjour. Les Champs Elysées, s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: D’accord. |
| Céline: Qu’est-ce que c’est? |
| Sylvain : Un musée. C’est le musée Auguste Rodin, le sculpteur. |
| Céline: Et ça, qu’est-ce que c’est? |
| Sylvain : Une tour. La… |
| Céline: … Tour Eiffel. Pfff. Bien sûr! |
| Sylvain : Et les Champs Elysées. |
| Now let's try that with the English. |
| Céline: Taxi! Hey, taxi. |
| Sylvain : Bonjour. Hello. Les Champs Elysées, s’il vous plaît. Les Champs Elysées. The Champs Elysées, please. |
| Sam: D’accord. Sure. |
| Céline: Qu’est-ce que c’est? What is it? |
| Sylvain : Un musée, c’est le musée Auguste Rodin, le sculpteur. A museum. It's the museum of Auguste Rodin, the sculptor. |
| Céline: Et ça, qu’est-ce que c’est? And this, what is it? |
| Sylvain : Une tour. La… A tower. The... |
| Céline: … Tour Eiffel! Pfff. Bien sûr! … Eiffel tower! Pfff. Of course. |
| Sylvain : Et les Champs Elysées. And the Champs Elysées. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sylvain : {singing} Oh, Champs Elysées, ba da dum. Oh, Champs Elysées. |
| Céline: Oh mon Dieu! Chut! Chut! |
| Sam: What was that? |
| Céline: Chut. |
| Sylvain : Chut. |
| Sam: What was that? |
| Sylvain: Chut, chut. |
| Céline: Yeah, chut. You know in French, we use many interjections and onomatopoeias? |
| Sam: Onomatopoeias? |
| Céline: Yes, exactly. That's it. For example, in French we say “aïe” for "ouch," and you see in the conversation Julie said "pfff." |
| Sam: Oh, ok. |
| Sylvain : It's a really hard for a man to listen to a girl who say, "pfff" about him. Hard. |
| Sam: I understand, and by the way, it's been a long time since I've been to Paris. How much does a taxi cost in Paris? |
| Sylvain : Let me think. The basic fare is around 5 euros and 60 cents. It can vary a lot at night, of course. It's more expensive. |
| Céline: Exactly, Sylvain. How much is that in dollars? |
| Sam: Maybe $8.50. |
| Céline: Wow! Well, in any case, we strongly recommend that you take a taxi ride at night in Paris. C’est magique. It's magical. |
| Sylvain : Ah, Paris, la ville lumière. |
| Sam: Paris, the city of lights. |
| Céline: Ah, well guys. Are you still daydreaming? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Let's look at some vocab. |
| Céline: Ok. The first word, "un." |
| Sam: A. |
| Céline: Un. Un. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Sylvain : Le. |
| Sam: The, masculine. |
| Sylvain : Le. Le. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Céline: Musée. |
| Sam: Museum. |
| Céline: Musée. Musée. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Sylvain : Sculpteur. |
| Sam: Sculptor. |
| Sylvain : Sculpteur. Sculpteur. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Céline: Et. |
| Sam: And. |
| Céline: Et. Et. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Sylvain : Ça. |
| Sam: It. |
| Sylvain : Ça. Ça. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Céline: Une |
| Sam: A, feminine. |
| Céline: Une. Une. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Sylvain : La. |
| Sam: The, feminine. |
| Sylvain : La. La. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Céline: Tour. |
| Sam: Tower. |
| Céline: Tour. Tour. |
| Sam: Next word. |
| Sylvain : Les. |
| Sam: The, plural. Feminine and masculine or mixed group. |
| Sylvain : Les. Les. |
| Sam: Next we have a phrase. |
| Céline: Qu’est-ce que c’est? |
| Sam: What is it? |
| Céline: Qu’est-ce que c’est? Qu’est-ce que c’est? |
| Sam: Next phrase. |
| Sylvain : Et ça, c’est quoi? |
| Sam: And this (or that), what is it? |
| Sylvain : Et ça, c’est quoi? Et ça, c’est quoi? |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Céline: So let's have a look at the usage of a few words. And we are also talking about a grammar point, feminine and masculine. |
| Sam: Oh. I had so many headaches over the whole masculine/feminine thing. |
| Céline: Yes, Sam. I have to be honest. It's really hard to get these, and it takes time. No worries. This concept is also difficult for native speakers. No fear. You chose the right language. That's the beauty of French. |
| Sylvain : So, basically, all the French noun have a gender, masculine and feminine. Sometimes both. When the noun is feminine you have to add an article, either definite or indefinite. Or partitive, but that's another story. |
| Céline: Ok, let's just give an example. |
| Sylvain : La Tour Eiffel. |
| Sam: The Eiffel Tour. |
| Sylvain : Une tour. |
| Sam: A tour. |
| Céline: Yeah. And same thing with masculine. You have to add the article "le," "the" or "un," "a." Example, Sylvain? |
| Sylvain : Le musée du Louvre. |
| Sam: The Louvre Museum. |
| Sylvain : Un musée. |
| Sam: A museum. |
| Céline: Yeah. Generally speaking, the noun can be masculine or feminine and you can tell by looking at the end of the word. Example, Sylvain? |
| Sylvain : Un acteur. |
| Sam: An actor. |
| Sylvain : Une actrice. |
| Sam: An actress. |
| Céline: Sometimes we can't hear the difference. Example with the word "friend." |
| Sylvain : Un ami. |
| Sam: A friend. |
| Sylvain : Une amie. |
| Sam: A friend. |
| Céline: For some words, the masculine and the feminine are completely different. Like... |
| Sylvain : Un frère. |
| Sam: A brother. |
| Sylvain : Une soeur. |
| Sam: A sister. |
| Céline: And also --- I'm sorry --- Some words are the same in feminine and masculine. |
| Sylvain : Un enfant. |
| Sam: A child. |
| Sylvain : Une enfant. |
| Sam: A child. |
| Céline: Well, we should stop here, for now. I'm tired. |
| Sylvain : Me, too! |
| Sam: Ok, Mademoiselle Céline. So, Sylvain, how about "Les Champs Elysées?" |
| Sylvain : {singing} Oh, Champs Elysées. Da, da, da, da. {end singing} "Les Champs Elysées," it's a plural. |
| Sam: Plurals? |
| Sylvain : With plurals, don't bother with masculine and feminine. Just put "les" before. |
| Sam: That sounds easy. |
| Céline: Yes, it is! |
| Sam: That's spelled L-E-S, right? |
| Sylvain : And with an S at the end. |
| Sam: L-E-S-S? |
| Sylvain : Yes! |
| Céline: Oh! |
| Sylvain : No, no, no. Just one. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: Thanks. And now to some grammar. Our main grammar point today is "What is it?" in French. Qu’est-ce que c’est? |
| Sylvain : Exactly, Sam. “Qu’est-ce que” has other forms, like “que” et “quoi”? |
| Sam: “Que” and “quoi” are interrogative pronouns which are used to ask open questions. Let's look at three ways to ask "What are you looking at?" |
| Céline: Qu’est-ce que tu regardes? Qu’est-ce que tu regardes? |
| Sam: Number two, Sylvain. |
| Sylvain : Que regardes-tu? Que regardes-tu? |
| Sam: And one more, Céline. |
| Céline: Tu regardes quoi? Tu regardes quoi? |
| Sam: Thanks, guys. They all have the same meaning, you know? "What are you looking at?" |
| Sylvain : But I would like to add that the third one is a little bit familiar. |
| Sam: Casual? |
| Sylvain : Yeah, casual. Thank you. |
| Céline: Yeah. “quoi” is really informal. Ok, let's see same sentence "What are you looking at?" in formal situations. First... |
| Sylvain : Qu’est-ce que vous regardez? |
| Céline: Second. |
| Sylvain : Que regardez-vous? |
| Sam: Parfait. Perfect. So guys, when you’re asking these questions, for example, number one was “qu’est-ce que tu regardes”. "What are you looking at?" notice "tu" was used because it's with a familiar person or a friend. Same thing in the next example. And, for the first two, you can change "tu" to "vous" when you're unfamiliar with your relationship with the person or if it's someone of higher status. |
| Sylvain : Perfect. |
| Céline: Yeah. And “regarder” is the conjugation. So don't forget to learn your conjugations. |
| Sylvain : That's right! |
| Céline: It's really important. |
| Sam: So basically, in all of these examples, you can change "tu" to "vous." |
| Sylvain : And you have a polite form. |
| Sam: Yes, that's correct. |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: Let's look at some practice questions and answers. Céline, can I ask you a question? |
| Céline: Sure. |
| Sam: Céline qu’est-ce que tu regardes? Céline, what are you looking at? |
| Céline: Je regarde un film. I'm watching a movie. |
| Sam: Sylvain, can I ask you a question? |
| Sylvain : Yes, do! |
| Sam: Tu regardes quoi? |
| Sylvain : Je regarde les beaux yeux de Céline. I'm looking at the Céline's beautiful eyes. |
| Sam: Oh. |
| Sylvain : To make a little bit ice, you know. |
| Céline: Ice? Ice, eyes. |
| Sylvain : And ice cream, you know? No, no. Sorry. Sorry. It's my pronunciation. |
| Sam: Oh, and they are beautiful. How about another example. Can I ask you a question Sylvain? Or Céline, maybe you can can ask the question? |
| Céline: D’accord. Sylvain? |
| Sylvain : Oui? |
| Céline: Que regardez-vous? |
| Sylvain : Euh… je regarde le tableau. I'm looking at the painting. |
| Céline: So basically, the grammar formation for the question, "What are you looking at?" is “qu’est-ce que” plus subject plus verb. |
| Sylvain : Qu’est-ce que tu regardes? Qu’est-ce que tu regardes? |
| Céline: Then “que” plus subject plus verb. |
| Sylvain : Que regardes-tu? |
| Céline: And subject plus verb plus “quoi”. |
| Sylvain : Tu regardes quoi? Tu regardes quoi? |
| Sam: And don’t forget, “quoi” is used in casual situations. |
| Céline: Yes, exactly. So I think we're done with grammar. Aren't we? |
| Sylvain : Yes! |
| Sam: Wow, Céline. Qu’est-ce qui se passe? |
| Sylvain : What's happening? |
| Sam: Oh! That’s ok. No problem. Well, that's a wrap for today's lesson. Thank you, Sylvain. |
Outro |
| Sylvain : Thank you very much! |
| Sam: Thank you, Céline. |
| Céline: Merci beaucoup. |
| Sam: Merci beaucoup. |
| Céline: We hope you enjoyed the lesson. |
| Sam: Yes, we certainly do. Until next time, à bientôt! |
| Céline: À bientôt! |
| Sylvain : À bientôt! |
| Sam: See you! |
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