Learn many different restrictive phrases in French such as the French words ne, que, seulement, juste, and faire among others
Now Playing: Lesson Audio
Get a breakdown of the dialogue and translations instantly with the Premium line-by-line Audio. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Get this lesson’s key vocab, their translations and pronunciations. Sign up for your Free Lifetime Account Now and get 7 Days of Premium Access including this feature.
Unlock Lesson Notes and Transcripts for every single lesson. Sign Up for a Free Lifetime Account and Get 7 Days of Premium Access.
| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: And I’m joined here by? |
| Céline: Céline. Hello. |
| Sam: Welcome back to Frenchpod101.com, Céline. |
| Céline: Merci! |
| Sam: So, we have a lovely lesson today. What’s it about? |
| Céline: Today, we’re going to express the restriction in French. The conversation takes place at the movie theater, watching “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis” with some friends. |
| Sam: And the conversation is between? |
| Céline: Sophie and Nicolas, and they’re brother and sister. |
| Sam: So, I guess they’ll be using casual French, right? |
| Céline: Exactement. |
| Sam: Ok, so shall we start? |
| Céline: Yes. |
| Sam: Let’s start. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Woman: Nicolas, je n’entends que toi! |
| Woman: Et moi, je ne vois que toi! |
| Woman: Je n’écoute que toi! |
| Woman: Alors, tu n’as qu’à partir! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Sam: Hey, Céline. What’s “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis”? |
| Céline: “Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis”? it’s a movie. A French comedy. |
| Sam: It was a really popular comedy… |
| Céline: It was really, really popular. You should watch it. |
| Sam: Is it funny? |
| Céline: It’s really funny, yes. |
| Sam: Ok. I’ll take your word for it. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: So, I’ve got another question for you. |
| Céline: Ok. |
| Sam: We had some brothers and sisters in this dialogue here. What’s the general relationship between brothers and sisters in France? |
| Céline: It depends on the family, but I think that most of the families they’re really close. Brothers and sisters, yes. I’m really close to my brothers and sisters. |
| Sam: How many brothers and sisters do you have? |
| Céline: Deux frères... |
| Sam: Two brothers. |
| Céline: … et deux soeurs. |
| Sam: Two sisters. Wow, big family. |
| Céline: Oui. |
| Sam: I’ve got one sister. |
| Céline: Une soeur. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: Ok. Since we talked about some family ties there, let’s jump into the vocabulary. The first item is? |
| Céline: Entendre. |
| Sam: “To hear” |
| Céline: Entendre. Entendre. |
| Sam: Next “you”. |
| Céline: Toi. Toi. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Voir. |
| Sam: “To see” |
| Céline: Voir. Voir. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Ecouter. |
| Sam: “To listen” |
| Céline: Ecouter. Ecouter. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Partir. |
| Sam: “To leave” |
| Céline: Partir. Partir. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Now let’s have a closer look at the usage for some of the items from this lesson. |
| Céline: So, the first word is “entendre”. |
| Sam: “To hear” |
| Céline: In the dialogue, Sophie’s complaining about Nicolas. Je n’entends que toi. |
| Sam: “I only hear you.” |
| Céline: So, this is a verb from the 3rd group. Here, the meaning is “to hear”, as you said, but “entendre” has different meanings in French. For example, with my brother I always tell him to study English, but “il ne veut rien entendre”. |
| Sam: “He doesn’t want to listen.” |
| Céline: Yes, he doesn’t pay attention to what I’m saying. As well, another example with “entendre”: Je fais comme je l’entends. |
| Sam: “I do as I want.” |
| Céline: Je fais comme je l’entends. Also in some cases, “entendre” stand for “to understand”. Ce mot s’entend de plusieurs façons. |
| Sam: “This word can be understood in several ways.” Kind of difficult. |
| Céline: Oui. Ok, so why don’t we see the other word which is closer to this one? Ecouter. |
| Sam: “To listen”. That’s a verb from the 1st group. |
| Céline: Tout à fait. J’écoute la chanson de Brel. |
| Sam: “I’m listening to a Brel song.” |
| Céline: Yes, in general you can say “J’écoute de la musique”. |
| Sam: “I’m listening to music.” |
| Céline: So, basically, Sam, “entendre” and “écouter” have the same meaning as “to hear” and “to listen”. “Entendre” is a passive action, “écouter” is volitional. Je t’entends mais je ne t’écoute pas. |
| Sam: “I’m hearing you but I’m not listening to you.” Nice. |
| Céline: Yes. As always. Next is another verb: partir. |
| Sam: “To leave” |
| Céline: In our dialogue, Nicolas strongly suggests his sister to leave by saying “tu n’as qu’à partir”. |
| Sam: “Just leave.” That’s a strong suggestion. |
| Céline: Yes. You use “partir” every time you want to go anywhere, as in: Je pars à Paris demain . |
| Sam: “I’m leaving for Paris tomorrow.” |
| Céline: Je pars bientôt. |
| Sam: “I’m leaving soon.” But, in our dialogue, “partir” is not conjugated, right? |
| Céline: Right. But, as in: Je dois partir. |
| Sam: “I have to leave.” |
| Céline: Here, see, “je dois partir”, “partir” is not conjugated. It’s like in English. |
| Sam: I see. |
| Céline: Finally, we have “toi”. |
| Sam: “You” I always have troubles with “toi”. |
| Céline: Yes, I know, it’s difficult. So, we’ve already seen “toi” in many lessons. But let’s talk about it one more time. When you want to use “you” in French, just think about who the subject is. “Tu” is always subject of the verb. “Toi” is always object of the verb. |
| Sam: Ok. |
| Céline: So, for example: Je ne vois que toi. |
| Sam: “I just see you.” |
| Céline: Here, “you” - “toi”, is the object of the verb. You’re not doing the action. But, if I say: Tu ne vois que moi. |
| Sam: “You only see me.” |
| Céline: Here, we use “tu” because “you” is the subject of the verb. |
| Sam: Ok, I got it. So, to wrap up, we have “tu” and “toi”. If you want to say “you” using “tu”, that means the person’s doing an action. If you’re only a referencing the person, you use “toi”. |
| Céline: I see you’re listening to me. Tu m’écoutes. |
| Sam: At least for today. |
| Céline: So, question, Sam? |
| Sam: Ok. |
| Céline: How would you say “I have a present for you.” in French? |
| Sam: Ok. J’ai un cadeau pour toi. |
| Céline: Oh, yes? You have a present for me? |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Sam: No, not really. That was just practice. But, anyway, let’s get on to some French grammar. How about that? |
| Céline: That’s my present. |
| Sam: Of course. |
| Céline: Well, I was expecting something else, but ok. Today we will be talking about restrictions in French using “ne que” or “ne qu’”. |
| Sam: So, show restrictions in our dialogue. |
| Céline: Je n’entends que toi. |
| Sam: “I’m only hearing you.” But one note about this. In French, the Present Tense and Present Progressive are a bit ambiguous. So, as English speakers we would say “I’m only hearing you.” or “I only hear you.” And I think they have the same feeling. So, Céline, what’s the next phrase? |
| Céline: Je ne vois que toi. |
| Sam: “I just see you.” |
| Céline: Je n’écoute que toi. |
| Sam: “I only listen to you.” So, listeners, notice I translated that using the Present Tense or the Indicative Tense. “I only listen to you.”, “I’m only listening to you.” Basically the same meaning there. Right, Céline? |
| Céline: Tout à fait Sam. So, to describe a restricted situation or fact about yourself, use “je” + “ne” or “n’” + verb + “que” or “qu’” + complement. So, you have to use an apostrophe with verbs starting with a vowel and use “qu’” when the following word starts with a vowel. For example: Je n’aime que toi. |
| Sam: “I only love you.” |
| Céline: Je ne veux être qu’avec toi. |
| Sam: “I only want to be with you.” Wow. Are you in love? |
| Céline: Non, those are examples and can be quite useful for romantic dinner or date. So, let me try useful examples. Je ne mange que des légumes. |
| Sam: “I only eat vegetables.” |
| Céline: See the construction of the sentence? Very easy. “Je ne” + “manger” conjugated + “que”. And then, the complement “des légumes”. |
| Sam: How about “I only speak English?” |
| Céline: Je ne parle qu’anglais. |
| Sam: “Qu’” because the word after starts with a vowel. |
| Céline: Yes, always. |
| Sam: “I only have 100 euros.” |
| Céline: Je n’ai que 100€. It’s very easy. C’est très facile. So, now let’s talk about another grammar point in our dialogue. The strong suggestion. |
| Sam: When do we hear that? |
| Céline: Tu n’as qu’à partir. Nicolas suggests her sister to leave, as she’s been complaining about him. |
| Sam: “You just leave.” |
| Céline: “Tu” + n’ + “avoir” “to have” conjugated + “qu’à” + Infinitive verb. Use n’ with verbs starting with a vowel. Use qu’ when the following word is starting with a vowel. |
| Sam: I see. So, but if I’m tired and sleepy? |
| Céline: I would tell you “tu n’as qu’à dormir”. |
| Sam: “You just sleep.” |
| Céline: So, one point. Be careful of the intonation when you say this. It could be very, very aggressive. In other situations, “tu n’as qu’à” expresses something you have to do regarding a situation. For example, if you want to listen to Frenchpod lessons, on the way to work, I would say “tu n’as qu’à télécharger les leçons sur ton iPod”. |
| Sam: “You just download the lessons on the iPod.” Great. “Tu n’as qu’à” can be used for giving strong advice. |
| Céline: Yes, a very strong advice. |
| Sam: And, I think that’s the end of today’s lesson, right? |
| Céline: Oui. Tu as faim? – “Are you hungry?” |
| Sam: Oui, toujours. – “Always” |
| Céline: On a qu’à aller manger des crêpes. |
| Sam: “We should just go eat some crepes.” That’s advice for us. And very good advice. So, shall we go? |
| Céline: Allez. |
Outro |
| Sam: Ok. So, until to the next time, listeners. Until next time. |
| Céline: A bientôt! |
| Sam: Salut! |
Comments
HideWhat is a strong suggestion you made recently ?
Bonjour Shelley,
Je t'en prie ! 😄
Belle journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101.com
Chers FrenchPod,
Mais oui! That is what I meant to say❤️
Merci😊
Bonjour Shelley,
Did you mean, "Tu n'as qu'à les cuire"? 😉
That's very kind of your son, you're lucky!
Belle journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101.com
Chers amis a FrenchPod,
This is an example of something that was said to me today:
Today my son, David, gave me some freshly-caught fish.He had already cleaned & filleted the fish. ❤️
"Tu n'ai que les courire," he said to me.
You don't even have to clean them
You only have to cook them!
(This is a paraphrase ⬆️ :)
Bonjour Josh,
I'm happy I could help! Don't worry, you'll definitely get to study with the team again in further levels! I hope you enjoy the lessons 😄
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Bonjour Marion,
Merci bien pour vos commentaires! J'apprends vraiment beaucoup et j'ai termine ce pathway. I made frenchpod101.com as my primary learning resource in learning French. And I think I will surely miss Eric, Virginie, JP, Alexandre, Celine and Sam. 😅 Although, there are many pathways that belong in beginner level that I can learn from.
Le francais est une belle langue! 😄
Je vous remercie! ❤️️❤️️
Bonjour Josh,
No you do have to conjugate "avoir" depending on the subject/pronoun! 😉
Vous n'avez qu'à étudier
Il n'a qu'à écouter
Tu n'as qu'à venir
etc.
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Bonjour tout le monde!
In the phrase "tu n'as qu'a + infinitive verb", do we conjugate the avoir or do we maintain the "as" regardless of the pronoun used? Par exemple, is it: Vous n'avez qu'a etudier? Or is it: Vous n'as qu'a etudier?
Je vous remercie et bonne journee!
Bonjour Chris,
Thank you for your feedback! I'll make sure the Academic Team receives it and I'll keep you on the loop about their response. Take care! 😄
Belle journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
This might take longer to write but I think it would be highly beneficial and help learning greatly!
I've had to split the messages because of the character limit :S
These are my two biggest bug bears I'd say, I'm enjoying it on the whole :)
2. When translating, if provide the *exact/literal* meaning of what's being said, word-by-word if possible. A good example was in one lesson the phrase "prendre dans ses bras" was stated which means "to take in her/their arms" (if I'm not mistaken, still learnin') but the meaning was given as just 'to hug' which is really confusing when you have a lot of other words there. If you do it this way then people can learn other words at the same time a lot easier, rather than puzzling over why it takes a lot of words just to say one thing or what certain words are doing in the sentence. So the format would be -
"Prendre dans ses bras" - "to take in their arms" (to hug)
Bonjour,
You're always asking for feedback so I have these two major ones to make -
1. Have a notification system so that you know when someone has replied to your comment, you'd get a lot better flow on the site with more people commenting, helping them to learn and get yourself feedback. With no notification it's easily forgotten and often gives no impetus to come back (since you have to remember then go back to specific lesson you commented on, not easy when you're doing a few night)
Bonjour Eva,
Thanks for your comment!
Bonjour Ron,
Il faut dire "je ne bois pas de jus d'orange", "je ne mange que des légumes" et "je n'achète que des chemises Lacoste". 👍
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
tu n'as qu'à coure
Bonjour Ron,
Thank you for contacting us.
It's possible to download the audio tracks using a computer. When you click on the "Download" button and then on the audio file you want to download, the audio will load on a separate page where the audio player gives you the option to download the audio. The audio file is in an mp3 format. Then you can transfer it to your iPad just like you transfer music files (ex. via iTunes).
If your iPad browser doesn't give you the option to change the speed, try using our Innovative Language 101 app: https://www.greekpod101.com/apps/
Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any more questions!
Bonne journée,
Levente
Team FrenchPod101.com
Bonjour!
Comment allez vous?
Est ce que c’est correct?
Je ne bois jus d’orange. Ou, Je ne bois du jus d’orange?
Quand vous utilisez “des” apris “que” comment Je ne manger que des legumes.? Pouvez vous dire “Je ne achete que des Chemises de Lacoste?
Pouvez vous m’aider sil vous plait?
Merci beaucoup
Ron
Bonjour
How do you download audio lessons on iPad?
Merci beaucoup.
Bonne journee!
Ron
Bonjour Shanti,
"Let's go and eat somewhere" would translate to "Allons manger quelque part" in French.
Hope this helps! 😄
Bonne journée,
Marion
Team FrenchPod101
Hi!
Comment on dit, "Let's just go and eat somewhere?" en français?
Merci d'avance
I'm