Learn how to pronounce numbers 1-10
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: A croissant, please!” And today I’m joined by… |
| Céline: Céline. |
| Sylvain: Et Sylvain. |
| Sam: Bonjour, ça va? |
| Sylvain: Ca va, ça va, tranquille. |
| Céline: Moi aussi ça va très bien merci. |
| Sam: So, you guys are in good shape. That’s fantastic! We have a fantastic lesson today for our listeners, right? |
| Céline: Tout à fait! |
| Sylvain: Nous allons au restaurant. |
| Sam: So, Sylvain, tell us about the backdrop for today’s lesson. |
| Sylvain: A tourist in a typical French café restaurant called “chez Marcel” and a delicious light breakfast. It’s time to get the bill and pay. The waitress calculates the bill and then give it to the patron. |
| Sam: The patron. Okay, shall we start? |
| Céline: Yeah, but why don’t we talk about the focus of this lesson? This lesson is about counting from one to ten and the numbers’ pronunciation. So, shall we start? |
| Sylvain: Let’s go. |
| Sam: On y va! |
| DIALOGUE |
| Sylvain: L’addition, s’il vous plaît. |
| Céline: Un café un euro dix, un croissant deux euros. |
| Sylvain: Je n’ai que cinq euros. |
| Céline: Oh, j’ai de la monnaie. Un euro, deux euros et trois euros. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, lentement. |
| Sylvain: L’addition, s’il vous plaît. |
| Céline: Un café un euro dix, un croissant deux euros. |
| Sylvain: Je n’ai que cinq euros. |
| Céline: Oh, j’ai de la monnaie. Un euro, deux euros et trois euros. |
| Céline: Encore une fois, avec l’anglais. |
| Male 1: L’addition, s’il vous plaît. |
| Male 2: The bill, please. |
| Céline: Un café un euro dix, un croissant deux euros. |
| Male 2: A coffee is 1,10 Euros, and a croissant is 2 Euros. |
| Male 1: Je n’ai que cinq euros. |
| Male 2: I only have 5 Euros. |
| Céline: Oh, j’ai de la monnaie. Un euro, deux euros et trois euros. |
| Male 2: Oh I have change. There’s one, two and three Euros. Here you go! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: So, guys, I got a question for you. |
| Sylvain: Yes? |
| Sam: What’s a typical French breakfast? |
| Sylvain: Du pâté avec de la moutarde. |
| Sam: Some pâté with mustard? |
| Céline: N’importe quoi. Nonsense. Non, we usually have “petits pains”. |
| Sam: Small piece of bread. |
| Céline: Avec du beurre. |
| Sam: With butter. |
| Céline: Et de la confiture. |
| Sam: And with jam. |
| Céline: Oui! |
| Sylvain: Okay. But there is also people who eat “céréales”. How do you say “céréales” in English? |
| Céline: Cereal. |
| Sam: Cereal, like Captain Crunch. |
| Sylvain: Yes, maybe. |
| Céline: Peut-être oui. |
| Sylvain: Jus d’oranges, du jus d’oranges par exemple. |
| Sam: Orange juice. |
| Céline: Yeah, French breakfast are really simple. Not as big as American ones. |
| Sam: Oh, do you have meat at breakfast, usually? |
| Céline: No. |
| Sylvain: Not at all, not often. |
| Sam: Not so often? |
| Céline: We like sugary food for breakfast. |
| Sam: So do Americans. |
| Sylvain: Don’t forget also that, you know, the most traditional thing is croissant. |
| Sam: Croissants? |
| Sylvain: Yeah. Pains au chocolat. |
| Sam: With chocolate. Those are popular in America too, for breakfast. |
| Sylvain: Really? |
| Sam: Somewhat popular. Okay, thanks for that, Sylvain. Shall we move onto the vocabulary now? |
| Sylvain: Let’s go. |
| Céline: Bonne idée. Good idea. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first item is… |
| Céline: S’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: “Please”, formal. |
| Céline: S’il vous plaît. S’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Sylvain: Croissant. |
| Sam: “Croissant.” |
| Sylvain: Croissant. Croissant. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Addition. |
| Sam: “Bill”, “check”, “addition”. |
| Céline: Addition. Addition. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Sylvain: Avoir. |
| Sam: “To have.” |
| Sylvain: Avoir. Avoir. |
| Sam: Next. |
| Céline: Monnaie. |
| Sam: “Change” as in coins. |
| Céline: Monnaie. Monnaie. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now, let’s have a close look at the conversation, and especially each phrase. Sylvain, how much I’d like to be in the tourist shoes in a café, enjoying an eye candy scenery? |
| Sylvain: Eye candy? Des bonbons pour les yeux? I don’t get it. |
| Céline: I know. |
| Sam: Not a bad mental picture I have here. |
| Céline: Okay, guys. I understand your joy of appreciating nice landscapes. I do too. But let’s look at the first phrase, which is: L’addition s’il vous plaît. L’addition s’il vous plaît. |
| Sam: Okay. “L’addition” sounds like “mathematics”. |
| Sylvain: Well, yes. L’addition, the “bill” is a feminine noun. My grandmother used to call it “la douloureuse”. “The painful one.” |
| Céline: Yeah, “la douleur” means “pain”. However, “la douloureuse” means that the bill is going to be a back breaker. |
| Sam: I see. What about S’il vous plaît? |
| Céline: S’il vous plaît? S’il vous plaît literally means “if you please”. Is commonly translated as “please” in English. |
| Sylvain: Using “vous” makes it formal. Using “te” as in “s’il te plaît” makes it informal. |
| Sam: Oh, I got you. Makes sense. |
| Céline: You know, Sam, we use “s’il te plaît” or “s’il vous plaît” so much we forget its formality. I mean, really think about it. “S’il te plaît” or “s’il vous plaît”, word for word means “if you please”. That’s quite a nice way to ask for things, right? |
| Sam: You’re right. Never thought of it that way. |
| Céline: So let’s go onto the waitress’s first phrase. Sylvain? |
| Sylvain: Here, there waitress indicates what the tourist consumed and the price. |
| Sam: Oh, she’s talking out loud while doing her math. |
| Céline: C’est bien ça. Correct. She confirms that he had a coffee at 1.10 euros by stating the drink and price with “un café, un euro dix”. |
| Sam: And does the same with the croissant at two euros. |
| Sylvain: Oui. With the masculine noun, in the second part of the waitress’s count “un croissant, deux euros”. |
| Céline: There’re many ways to fix a croissant, you know? The one that tourists enjoyed is the traditional plain one, with butter. |
| Sam: Warm and crispy, sounds good. What’s the most common way to eat croissants? |
| Sylvain: For breakfast? Dip it in your coffee. Other add butter, while some add marmalade. |
| Céline: I want to eat a croissant right now. |
| Sylvain: Me too. |
| Céline: Yes. Then, the next sentence is “j’ai de la monnaie”. |
| Sam: I didn’t catch exactly what was going on besides the fact there’s something to do with money. |
| Sylvain: Well, first, of the bill is only two euros. The tourist states that he only has a five euro. In other words, he has only a single five euro bill. |
| Sam: Oh, I thought there was like a one euro bill and maybe change. |
| Céline: Actually, there isn’t any one euro bill. The euro bills break down to five, ten, twenty, fifty, one hundred, two hundred and five hundred euro bills. |
| Sylvain: And instead of the one euro bill there is the one euro coin, as well other two euro coins - twenty, ten, five, two and one euro cent. Or in French, “un centime d’euro”. |
| Sam: “Once cent”. So, talking about bills and coins, what’s the word for “change”? |
| Céline: In the last phrase, the waitress reassured the tourist by telling him: J’ai de la monnaie. J’ai de la monnaie.“ “I have some change.” |
| Sylvain: La monnaie. You know, the little yellow and silver coins? Some collect for charity or put in a big bottle for the hard days. |
| Sam: Ah, funny. “La monnaie” is “money”. It also sounds like the artist. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. |
| Sylvain: Claude Monet, Giverny. |
| Céline: “Change” is “monnaie”, “dollar”, “euro”, “yen” etcetera. Sylvain, another example. If you want to change your dollars into our euros, you may say: Je voudrais changer des devises. Je voudrais changer des devises. |
| Sam: “I’d like to change my money.” |
| Sylvain: We can also say “je voudrais changer” and you add the money name. Je voudrais changer des dollars. Je voudrais changer des Yen. |
| Sam: “I’d like to change these dollars” or “I’d like to change these yen.” Into euro, of course. |
| Céline: Bien évidemment. |
| Sylvain: Bien évidemment. |
| Céline: Of course. |
| Sam: Hey, guys, towards the end of the conversation, the waitress is counting one, two, three euros. But, I didn’t think there’re any bills for two or three euro denominations. |
| Sylvain: You’re correct. But don’t think about it that way. |
| Céline: Yes, good point, Sylvain. Actually, Sam, counting is our grammar point today. The waitress, while counting, “un, deux, trois euros”. |
| Sam: “One, two, three euros.” |
| Céline: Is counting the change she has to give back to the tourist while gathering the necessary coins. |
| Sam: It’s clear now. So, let me see. In the dialogue, we have numbers: one, two, three. |
| Sylvain: Un, deux, trois. |
| Sam: Then, let’s see the number “five”. |
| Céline: Which is “cinq”. |
| Sam: And the number “ten”. |
| Sylvain: Ten is “dix”. |
| Céline: So, let’s recap. Imagine, Sam, you’re counting your fortune. |
| Sam: Un, deux, trois... |
| Céline: … centimes d’euros? Oh yeah, you’re rich. |
| Sam: Céline, don’t interrupt me while I’m trying to concentrate. So, un, deux, trois, then quatre. |
| Céline: Yes, quatre, or in English “four”. And after? |
| Sam: cinq, six. |
| Sylvain: Great. “Five” and “six”. How about “seven” and “eight” till ten? |
| Sam: sept, huit, neuf, dix. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: Today’s grammar point is a little bit different. We’re going to talk about price, numbers and their pronunciations. |
| Céline: Tout à fait Sam. For example, in the dialogue the croissant costs “un euro dix”. Notice how I pronounce the number: “un euro dix”. The last letter “n” of the number “one”, un, is linked with the following word “euro” to facilitate its pronunciation. You can’t say “un...euro”. You have to say “un euro”. |
| Sam: Thanks for that. |
| Sylvain: The word “euro” is always used when stating a price. It cannot be omitted. |
| Céline: Okay, let’s see another sentence from the dialogue. C’est deux euros. |
| Sam: “It’s two euros.” |
| Céline: In this phrase, deux, “two” is linked with the word “euros” with the sound “s”. You can’t say “deux...euros”, but you should say “deux euros”. |
| Sylvain: There is a “liaison”. |
| Céline: Exactement. A linked sound. Also, it is identical with the number three. “Trois” followed by the currency. Trois euros. |
| Sam: How would you say “three dollars”? |
| Sylvain: Trois dollars. |
| Sam: So, no liaison there. |
| Céline: Of course not, because dollar starts with a “d” -a consonant. |
| Sam: I understand. |
| Sylvain: Not a voyelle. |
| Sam: A vowel. |
| Sylvain: Not a vowel. The number “six”, “six”, and “ten”, “dix”, are pronounced respectively “six” and “dix” when used alone. When followed by words starting with a vowel or a silent “h”, they are pronounced “siz” and “diz”. |
| Céline: In the dialogue, we have another example. Je n’ai que cinq euros. |
| Sam: “I only have five euros.” |
| Céline: In this sentence, the number “five”, “cinq” is pronounced with the word “euros”. The last letter “q”, “q”, is pronounced as “k”. When followed by words starting with a vowel or silent “h”, you have to pronounce “cinq euros”. The last letter of “cinq”, “five”, “sept”, “seven”, and “huit”, “eight”, is pronounced when standalone or the following words starts with a vowel or a silent “h”. Got it? |
| Sam: That was a mouthful. But let’s stop with all the pronunciation for now. |
| Céline: Okay, I’m sorry. |
Outro |
| Sam: That’s okay. Just in case you didn’t catch all that, have a look at the PDF at FrenchPod101.com. |
| Céline: Oui, I think it’s the end of today’s lesson? |
| Sylvain: Yes, the pronunciation is a hard thing to master, but it takes time and it’s quite fun when you understand it. |
| Sam: Yeah, of course. |
| Céline: Oh bravo Sylvain. |
| Sam: So, that’s a great way to end and a good point by Sylvain. Before we go, we’d like to thank all of our listeners for tuning in the FrenchPod101.com and listening to this lovely lesson. So, until the next time… |
| Sylvain: A bientôt! |
| Céline: A bientôt! |
| Sam: See you later. Bye-bye. |
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