Learn how to use the French expression Pourriez-vous, which means "Could you?"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jason: A French Concert You Couldn't Miss. C’est Jason. Jason here! |
| Ingrid: Bonjour à tous, Ingrid here! |
| Jason: In this lesson, we're going to learn how to ask polite questions to someone you don’t know. For example, in a shop. |
| Ingrid: We will look at the expression “Pourriez-vous” which means “Could you” in English. Using this, will make you sound very polite and comfortable with the French language. |
| Jason: Okay so we will see that the expression “could you” in French is very common in formal situations, especially when you want to ask someone for help or a favor. So Ingrid, what’s happening in our conversation? Where does it take place? |
| Ingrid: The conversation takes place at a ticket office, where Vanessa is trying to buy a ticket to go to her favorite singer's concert. Because she’s speaking to a ticket seller, she is using formal French. |
| Jason: Let’s listen to the conversation! |
| DIALOGUE |
| 1st time: natural native speed: |
| (At a ticket office cashier) |
| Vanessa Bonjour, je voudrais un billet pour le prochain concert de Mylène Farmer s'il vous plait. Pourriez-vous me donner une place au premier rang? |
| Employee: Je suis désolée mais il n'y a plus de places pour ce concert. |
| Vanessa: C'est impossible! La vente des billets a commencé ce matin! Pourriez-vous revérifier s'il vous plait? |
| Employee: Je vous confirme que tout a déjà été vendu madame, je suis navrée! |
| (1 time slowly) |
| Vanessa Bonjour, je voudrais un billet pour le prochain concert de Mylène Farmer s'il vous plait. Pourriez-vous me donner une place au premier rang? |
| Employee: Je suis désolée mais il n'y a plus de places pour ce concert. |
| Vanessa: C'est impossible! La vente des billets a commencé ce matin! Pourriez-vous revérifier s'il vous plait? |
| Employee: Je vous confirme que tout a déjà été vendu madame, je suis navrée! |
| (1 time natural native speed with the translation) |
| Vanessa Bonjour, je voudrais un billet pour le prochain concert de Mylène Farmer s'il vous plait. Pourriez-vous me donner une place au premier rang? |
| Hello, I would like a ticket for the next Mylène Farmer concert please. Could you give me a seat in the front-row please? |
| Employee: Je suis désolée mais il n'y a plus de places pour ce concert. |
| I am sorry but there are no more seats for this concert. |
| Vanessa: C'est impossible! La vente des billets a commencé ce matin! Pourriez-vous revérifier s'il vous plait? |
| Impossible! But the ticket sale just started this morning! Could you check again please? |
| Employee: Je vous confirme que tout a déjà été vendu madame, je suis navrée! |
| I can confirm that everything has been sold already madam, I am sorry! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jason: So Ingrid tell us a bit more about this singer Vanessa is talking about, does she really exist? |
| Ingrid: Yes of course, Mylène Farmer is the most successful female singer as she is the one who sells the highest number of albums each year. |
| Jason: But it is quite surprising because she is not very famous abroad, is she? |
| Ingrid: You’re right, although she is a real phenomenon in France, her songs are not very easy to export as they are very melancholic and mainly sung in French. |
| Jason: Interesting. And who are the other main French singers? I guess Edith Piaf is the most famous as even foreigners know her. |
| Ingrid: Yes you’re right, she is certainly the most famous ever, as her name is known worldwide. But there are also all singers from the “yéyé” period which was during the 60’s, like “Françoise Hardy” or “Claude François”. Their songs are popular because they always deal with the daily problems youngsters have such as love affairs and so on. |
| Jason: But this is quite old-fashioned now I guess, who are the famous artists nowadays? |
| Ingrid: Today, the well-known French artists are electro music DJs like David Guetta, Bob Sinclar or Daft Punk. |
| Jason: Yes, I know them! |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word we shall see is: |
| Prochain [natural native speed] |
| Next |
| Prochain [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Prochain [natural native speed] |
| Place [natural native speed] |
| Space |
| Place [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Place [natural native speed] |
| Premier rang [natural native speed] |
| Front-row |
| Premier rang [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Premier rang [natural native speed] |
| Plus de [natural native speed] |
| No more |
| Plus de [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Plus de [natural native speed] |
| Commencer [natural native speed] |
| To start |
| Commencer [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Commencer [natural native speed] |
| Revérifier [natural native speed] |
| To check again |
| Revérifier [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Revérifier [natural native speed] |
| Déjà été vendu [natural native speed] |
| Already sold |
| Déjà été vendu [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Déjà été vendu [natural native speed] |
| Je suis navrée [natural native speed] |
| I am very sorry |
| Je suis navrée [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Je suis navrée [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. |
| Jason: So first let’s have a look at an interesting phrase which means “there is no more” or “there isn’t anything left.” How do you say that in French Ingrid? |
| Ingrid: You say “Il n’y a plus” |
| Jason: So for example, in our conversation we had? |
| Ingrid: We had « il n'y a plus de places pour ce concert» which means « there are no more seats available for this concert » |
| Jason: Could you repeat it in French but slowly please? |
| Ingrid: {slowly} “il n'y a plus de places pour ce concert” |
| Jason: And again at natural speed? |
| Ingrid: {natural speed} “il n'y a plus de places pour ce concert” |
| Jason: Do you have any other examples to help us understand how to use this pattern correctly? |
| Ingrid: So the pattern is very simple in French: you just have to say “il n’y a plus de” + the thing which is missing. For example if you notice that there are no more eggs in the fridge, you can say “Il n’y a plus d’œufs dans le frigo” as “œufs” is the word for “eggs” and “frigo” is the one for “fridge. |
| Jason: This is even easier than in English! Very useful then! What is our next expression? |
| Ingrid: It is “avoir déjà” which means “to have already”. You use this expression to talk about an action already finished, something already completed, as in “Toutes les places ont déjà été vendues” which means “All seats have already been sold”. |
| Jason: So how does this pattern work in French?” |
| Ingrid: Basically, as in English we use first the auxiliary “avoir” which is “to have” + “déjà” which is “already” + the verb + the thing which is already finished. It makes, for example “Tu as déjà fini tes devoirs” into “you have already finished your homework” |
| Jason: Great so can you repeat this sentence one more time and break down the pattern at the same time please? |
| Ingrid: {Slowly} So for the sentence “Tu as déjà fini tes devoirs” you first have “Tu as” which is “you have”, then you have the adverb “déjà” which means “already”, after it you have “fini” which is “finished” and finally you have “tes devoirs” that are “your homework”. The whole sentence is “Tu as déjà fini tes devoirs” to say “you have already finished your homework” |
| Jason: Great so now, let’s have a look on the today’s grammar point. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jason: In this lesson, you'll learn how to use the interrogative pattern “Could you please?” in French, which will allow you to ask someone something very politely. |
| Ingrid: Yes, in French “Could you please?” is translated by “Pourriez-vous s’il vous plait?” which is in fact exactly the same as the English pattern, that’s to say the conditional verb “could you” which is “pourriez-vous” + “s’il vous plait” which is “please” in polite form |
| Jason: I guess that as in English, you will add a question inside this pattern… For example, how would you ask “Could you give me this please?” |
| Ingrid: You would say “Pourriez-vous me donner ceci s’il vous plait? » Here you just have to add the clause « me donner ceci » between “Pourriez-vous » and « s’il vous plait » the whole sentence is {slowly} « Pourriez-vous me donner ceci s’il vous plait? » |
| Jason: Can you repeat it at natural speed a last time? |
| Ingrid: {natural speed} « Pourriez-vous me donner ceci s’il vous plait? » |
| Jason: Now, what if you want to ask “Could you tell me how to go there please?” if you point at a place on the map for instance? |
| Ingrid: You will say « Pourriez-vous me dire comment aller la s’il vous plait ? » |
| Jason: Could you repeat it slowly please? I guess it’s a useful question if you visit France! |
| Ingrid: {slowly} « Pourriez-vous me dire comment aller la s’il vous plait ? » |
| Jason: And at natural speed? |
| Ingrid: {natural speed} « Pourriez-vous me dire comment aller la s’il vous plait ? » |
| Jason: Great, so in which situations can our listeners use this expression? |
| Ingrid: This expression is always used to ask someone to do something for you politely. It’s a way to ask for a favor or a service gently. Thanks to the conditional, the sentence is soft, as it is the case in English when you use “Could you” instead of “Can you” |
| Jason: Could you tell us a bit more about the grammatical construction of this pattern? |
| Ingrid: In fact, the two first words “Pourriez-vous” and the last expression “s’il vous plait” never change as they are the basis of the pattern. The only thing you can change here is “the verb + complement” that are composing the core question. |
| Jason: Can you give us some different examples, according to different things you can ask to somebody? |
| Ingrid: Of course! So first if you ask someone to do something for you, a favor, you will say “Pourriez-vous” + the infinitive verb and complement which describes the thing you want to be done + “s’il vous plait?” as in “Pourriez –vous fermer la fenetre s’il vous plait?” that is “Could you close the window please?” |
| Jason: And what if you ask for a concrete thing, an object for instance? |
| Ingrid: In this case, the pattern stays the same; you just have to use the verb “donner” in the question you ask. For example “Pourriez-vous me donner le menu s’il vous plait? » which is « Could you give the menu please?” |
Outro |
| Jason: Great. Now, you are able to ask everything you need in French, from a concrete thing to a favor, very easily and politely! |
| Ingrid: Yes, good job! À bientôt! |
| Jason: See you all soon listeners, à bientôt! |
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