Learn how to use French stressed pronouns in a conversation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Sam: “Me, jealous?” So, I’m joined here today by… |
| Sylvain: Sylvain. |
| Sam: And? |
| Céline: Céline. |
| Sam: So, welcome back, guys. Another great lesson today! What’s the focus of today’s lesson? |
| Sylvain: Jealously. |
| Céline: No, the focus of this lesson is insisting, emphasizing on which people you are talking or giving |
| information about. This conversation takes place in the street. |
| Sam: This conversation is mainly between Catherine and Eric. While he holds Julie, his new girlfriend. |
| Céline: C’est parti! |
| Sylvain: Let’s go. |
| DIALOGUE |
| Céline: Moi, je t’aime! |
| Sylvain: Elle aussi. |
| Céline: Toi, tu as de beaux yeux. |
| Sylvain: Elle aussi. |
| Céline &Sylvain: Nous, nous avons de beaux yeux! |
| Sam: Now, once more slowly. |
| Céline: Moi, je t’aime! |
| Sylvain: Elle aussi. |
| Céline: Toi, tu as de beaux yeux. |
| Sylvain: Elle aussi. |
| Céline &Sylvain: Nous, nous avons de beaux yeux! |
| Sam: Now, once more with the English. |
| Céline: Moi, je t’aime! |
| Sam: “Me? I love you.” |
| Sylvain: Elle aussi. |
| Sam: “Her, as well.” |
| Céline: Toi, tu as de beaux yeux. |
| Sam: “You? You have beautiful eyes.” |
| Sylvain: Elle aussi. |
| Sam: “Her, as well.” |
| Céline &Sylvain: Nous, nous avons de beaux yeux! |
| Sam: “Us? We have beautiful eyes.” |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Céline: So, you know Sam, the sentence in the dialogue “Tu as de beaux yeux.” Do you know this sentence? |
| Sam: Yes. |
| Céline: You know that is from a famous, famous movie, French movie. |
| Sam: Of course. |
| Céline: Oh? Which movie? |
| Sam: A 1938 movie titled “Quai des brumes”. |
| Céline: Tout à fait! |
| Sylvain: Très bien! |
| Céline: With a famous, famous French actor Jean Gabin. Sylvain, can you say the sentence like Jean Gabin in the French movie? |
| Sylvain: Tu as de beaux yeux, tu sais? |
| Sam: “You have beautiful eyes, you know?” |
| Sylvain: The scene is really some kind of a quote in the cinema history. |
| Céline: So, you know, Sam, this quote is the most famous quote of the French movie. |
| Sam: Oh, I know. |
| Céline: You can use if you want to pick up a girl. |
| Sam: Oh really? Is that so? |
| Céline: Yes. Bien sûr. |
| Sam: Is it effective? |
| Sylvain: Really, I think. |
| Céline: I think so. |
| Sam: Okay. That’s an interesting fact to know. |
| Sylvain: Nice smile, nice smile. |
| Sam: Thank you. |
| Sylvain: Okay, let’s concentrate. What next? |
| Céline: Vocab. |
| Sylvain: Yahoo! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Sam: The first item is? |
| Céline: Moi. |
| Sam: “Me”. |
| Céline: Moi. Moi. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Sylvain: Elle. |
| Sam: “Her”. |
| Sylvain: Elle. Elle. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Toi. |
| Sam: “You”. |
| Céline: Toi. Toi. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Sylvain: Beaux. |
| Sam: “Beautiful”. |
| Sylvain: Beaux. Beaux. |
| Sam: Next? |
| Céline: Yeux. |
| Sam: “Eyes”. |
| Céline: Yeux. Yeux. |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Sam: Okay, that vocabulary was nice. Now, let’s look at the usage of some of these items from our lesson. |
| Céline: The first phrase we’ll look at it is “Moi je t’aime”. |
| Sam: Oh, that’s “I love you.” It was the same phrase used in the previous newbie lesson. |
| Sylvain: Not word for word. |
| Céline: Yeah, but the message is the same. |
| Sam: So, what’s the difference? |
| Sylvain: Here, there is an extra word you didn’t catch - “moi”. |
| Céline: When Catherine uses the word “moi” she tries to get Marc’s attention on her. |
| Sam: Oh, okay. And what does “moi” mean in English? |
| Céline: The best match is “me” or “I” depending on the grammar context in the English translation. |
| Sylvain: For example: Moi je suis d’accord avec Céline. |
| Sam: “I always agree with Céline.” |
| Céline: You too, Sam, right? |
| Sam: Of course. |
| Céline: Then we have the phrase “elle aussi” meaning... |
| Sam: … “Her as well”. |
| Céline: Or? |
| Sam: “Her too”. |
| Sylvain: Even though you cannot see the love bird, I imagine Eric glancing at Julie. |
| Sam: Oh, yes with that little spark in his eyes. |
| Céline: By saying that, Eric refuses to acknowledge Catherine feelings and reinforces the one Julie has for him. |
| Sylvain: He uses in the phrase “elle” or “she” in English, referring to Julie. And “aussi” meaning “also”. |
| Sam: After comes a long sentence. |
| Céline: Yes. “Toi, tu as de beaux yeux.” Literally, “You, you have beautiful eyes.” With this statement Catherine is still ignoring Julie’s presence by giving Eric a compliment. |
| Sam: How daring. First, she tells Eric in front of Julie’s face she loves him and then she goes on by complimenting him on his eye color. |
| Sylvain: Yes, almost frightening. |
| Céline: Yeah, here we have one keyword showing that Catherine is stressing only talking to Eric with “toi”. |
| Sylvain: “Toi” meaning “you”. |
| Sam: Oh, I see. It’s like a double reference to Eric. First with “toi”, and followed by “tu” second. |
| Céline: Yes, I think you understood the substitute of this speech and Catherine’s intention. |
| Sylvain: Toi, je vais te casser la figure. |
| Sam: You? I’m going to beat you up. How aggressive. |
| Céline: And also, don’t irritate a French woman. Especially by flirting with her man. Next phrase, I would imagine Eric is still looking at Julie and turning Catherine’s compliment into a praise for Julie. |
| Sylvain: Yes, with “elle aussi” meaning “her also”. That’s a clever response to let Catherine know that Julie has beautiful eyes. |
| Sam: Shall we move onto the grammar, guys? |
| Sylvain: That’s a wonderful idea. Let’s do grammar now. |
| Sam: Okay, let’s go. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Céline: So, today’s grammar point is about stressed pronouns. As we mentioned earlier, the words “moi”, “toi”, “elle”, “nous” as they appear in the dialogue are to insist on the person you’re talking to or about. |
| Sam: What are they called in French? |
| Sylvain: Now, they are “pronoms toniques”. |
| Sam: “Tonal pronouns”. Can you give us some examples from the dialogue? |
| Céline: In the first line of the dialogue, “moi je t’aime”, “moi” or “me” insists on the person who says the phrase. |
| Sylvain: Another illustration is in the second line with “elle aussi” the word “elle” here insists on third person, always being a woman. It is also a stressed pronoun or “pronom tonique”. |
| Sam: Isn’t “elle” like “je” or “tu”? |
| Céline: Good point. In fact, the person in pronoun “elle” translated as “she” in English has the same form in French for its stressed pronoun equivalent. |
| Sam: In other words, “elle” in French can be either personal or a stressed pronoun. |
| Céline: Exactly. For “we” is the same as “elle”. “Nous” can be either a personal pronoun or a stressed one. |
| Sam: As in? |
| Sylvain: Nous, nous nous aimons. |
| Céline: The first “nous” is the stressed pronoun or “pronom tonique” to insist on the person talking, being in the dialogue, Eric and Julie referring to each other as they speak at the same time. |
| Sylvain: The second “nous” is the personal pronoun corresponding to the first person plural “we”. |
| Céline: The third “nous” means “each other” therefore, “nous nous aimons” is “Us, we love each other.” |
Outro |
| Sam: So guys, let’s wrap up there. Thank you for today’s lesson. |
| Céline: Merci beaucoup! |
| Sylvain: A très bientôt! |
| Sam: Until the next time! |
| Sylvain: See you! |
| Sam: Bye bye! |
| Céline: See you! |
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