Learn patterns to make simple questions with French interrogative adverbs
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Jason: Do You Come From the North of France? C'est Jason. Jason here! |
| Ingrid: Bonjour à tous, Ingrid here! |
| Jason: In this lesson, you're going to learn how to make simple questions with the interrogatives adverbs "Quand" and "Où". |
| After this lesson, you will be able to ask people about their origin, their birthplace and about their life plans by using these two adverbs that we have already mentioned in the previous lesson. |
| Ingrid: Yes, Jason, this lesson will be very useful, especially when you are meeting someone for the first time and that you want to know him better. For example, talking about your city of origin is a good topic to start a conversation, don't you think? |
| Jason: You're right! And that's not all… you will also be able to ask about future plans! So Ingrid, tell our listeners a bit more about this conversation. |
| Ingrid: Today's conversation will take place in Karine's apartment. |
| Jason: She has invited some friends for diner and among them, a new guy named Marcel is going to tell her a bit more about himself. |
| Ingrid: So, let's see how they get to know each other. |
| Jason: Yeah, and this dialog is in informal French, as Marcel is Karine's guest. Even if they don't know each other very well, they are likely to become friends soon! |
| Ingrid: Ok, let’s listen to this conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 1st time: natural native speed: |
| (In Karine's apartment) |
| Karine: Alors comme ça, tu es originaire du sud de la France? Marcel: Oui je suis né à Marseille mais je vais bientôt déménager... |
| Karine: Ah oui, et tu vas où? |
| Marcel: Devine quoi ! Je suis muté dans le Nord! |
| Karine : Mon pauvre, ça va te changer! Et quand déménages-tu ? Marcel: Dans deux jours ! |
| (1 time slowly) |
| (In Karine's apartment) |
| Karine: Alors comme ça, tu es originaire du sud de la France? Marcel: Oui je suis né à Marseille mais je vais bientôt déménager... |
| Karine: Ah oui, et tu vas où? |
| Marcel: Devine quoi ! Je suis muté dans le Nord! |
| Karine : Mon pauvre, ça va te changer! Et quand déménages-tu ? Marcel: Dans deux jours ! |
| (1 time natural native speed with the translation) |
| (In Karine's apartment) |
| Karine: Alors comme ça, tu es originaire du sud de la France? |
| So, do you come from the south of France? |
| Marcel: Oui je suis né à Marseille mais je vais bientôt déménager... |
| Yes, I was born in Marseille but I will soon move to a new place… |
| Karine: Ah oui, et tu vas où? |
| Really? And where are you going now? |
| Marcel: Devine quoi ! Je suis muté dans le Nord! |
| Guess what! I have been transferred to the North of France, to the Nord-Pas de Calais! |
| Karine : Mon pauvre, ça va te changer! Et quand déménages-tu ? |
| Oh my dear! It will be a big change! And when are you moving? |
| Marcel: Dans deux jours ! |
| Within two days! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Jason: So Ingrid, please tell us what is this strange word "Ch'ti"?? |
| Ingrid: Yes Jason! In fact it is the name given to inhabitants of Northern France, ones who are living in the Picardie and Nord-Pas de Calais regions. They have their own customs and dialect and the name "Ch'ti" precisely comes from this dialect name which is called "he cht'imi". |
| Jason: Hey interesting! And why "Ch'tis" are so special? Because it seems Marcel is not really eager to go and live in the North of France! |
| Ingrid: Yes, actually the Ch'ti region is also called "Pas de Calais" and it has a very harsh climate—it's often raining and temperatures are quite cold, even in summer! |
| Jason: And how do other French people consider them? |
| Ingrid: To be honest, Parisians for example often make fun of them because of their strong accent and their customs, which are quite different from theirs! |
| Jason: What do you mean by that? |
| Ingrid: Ch'ti people are famous for being very spontaneous and friendly, they are maybe more natural than Parisians!! But anyway, Ch'tis are also very well-known for being very welcoming people, they are always happy to help foreigners discover their region. |
| Jason: And what is often said about them, I heard a French proverb once… |
| Ingrid: Yes we often say that "People for the North have in their heart the sun they don't have outside". Isn't it poetic? |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Okay, so now, let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first expression we shall see is: |
| Originaire de [natural native speed] |
| Meaning "coming from" |
| Originaire de [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Originaire de [natural native speed] |
| Je suis[natural native speed] |
| Meaning "I am" |
| Je suis [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Je suis[natural native speed] |
| Né [natural native speed] |
| Meaning "Born" |
| Né [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Né [natural native speed] |
| À [natural native speed] |
| Meaning "in" |
| À [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| À [natural native speed] |
| Déménager [natural native speed] |
| Meaning "To move to another living place" |
| Déménager [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Déménager [natural native speed] |
| Être muté [natural native speed] |
| Meaning "To be transferred (for professional reasons)" |
| Être muté [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Être muté [natural native speed] |
| Mon pauvre ! [natural native speed] |
| Meaning "Oh my dear!" |
| Mon pauvre! [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Mon pauvre! [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: The expression is? |
| Ingrid: First expression is "Être originaire de" which means "to come from". |
| Jason: Could you say it again slowly for our listeners? |
| Ingrid: (Slowly) « Être originaire de » |
| Jason: And now at natural speed |
| Ingrid: (Natural speed) « Être originaire de » |
| Jason: Great! So Ingrid, when can you use this expression? |
| Ingrid: You use it to talk about a country or region of origin. As "originaire" is coming from the word "origin", it's really dealing with your roots, your birthplace. Usually you use it to talk about your country, especially when you are abroad. But you can also use it when you come from a specific region. |
| Jason: Okay, so could you give us examples with these meanings? |
| Ingrid: For example "Je suis originaire de France" means "France is my country of origin" and more simply "I'm French". You could also say "Je suis originaire de Bretagne" as Britain is a specific region of France. |
| Jason: Great so next expression is? |
| Ingrid: You could say « Je suis né à » which literally means « I was born in» |
| Jason: Ok, can you break it down please? |
| Ingrid: [slowly] « Je suis né à ». This is composed of "Je suis" that is the verb "etre" in the 1st person singular present tense + "né" which means "born" |
| Jason: And what are the details of this pattern? |
| Ingrid: In fact it is composed by "Je suis" that is the verb "être" in the 1st person singular present tense + "né", which means "born" |
| Jason: And does it mean the same as "être originaire de"? |
| Ingrid: Yes it's similar but it is even more precise and talks about a city. For example "Je suis né à Paris" to specify you were born in Paris. |
| Jason: Next word is? |
| Ingrid: Next is the verb "déménager" that means "to move to", "to change its living place". |
| Jason: Is it also this verb you can use when you change your apartment for another one, even if it's close? |
| Ingrid: Yes of course, the distance doesn't matter, what is important is that you move your stuff to another place. For example you can say "Je déménage à New-York" or "Il a déménagé il y a deux ans" which means "He moved two years ago". |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Jason: So today's grammar will be: how to ask questions with the "where" and "when" interrogative adverbs. This will allow you to ask people about their origins (country, cities) but also about their past or future living places. |
| Ingrid: After this lesson, you will be able to ask people about their birthplace, their current living place and their future plans. This a continuation of our previous lesson based on interrogative adverbs. |
| Jason: So the 1st pattern we are going to learn is the one used to ask about origins or birth place, am I right? |
| Ingrid: Yes exactly, we'll see that there are many ways to ask "Where do you come from?" in French. There are also nuances that you have to be aware of. |
| Jason: So Ingrid, What would be the basic pattern to ask someone about their origins? |
| Ingrid: The general way is "D'où venez-vous?" which literally means, in a formal form "Where are you coming from?" But be careful, this form is quite vague and we can't know if you are asking about birthplace, nationality or just the city of residence. |
| Jason: So what can you say to be more specific? |
| Ingrid: For example you can use the expression "être originaire de" as in "D'où êtes vous originaire?" which means "what is your country of origin?" or "what is your city of origin?" depending of course on the context, if you are in your own country or not. |
| Jason: But in our dialog, Karine is asking Marcel if he is from the South of France, even though they are both French? |
| Ingrid: Yes you're right, when you are coming from a specific or well-known region you can also use the expression "être originaire de". In France, each region has its own customs so it's usual to specify region of origin. |
| Jason: And what about the birth place, how can you ask where it is? |
| Ingrid: You can say "Où êtes-vous né?" or "Dans quelle ville êtes-vous né ? » which means «In which city were you born ? » |
| Jason: So Ingrid, could you specify the pattern to ask questions with "Where" adverbs? |
| Ingrid: Yes, it is always the same, the pattern is: Où + verb + subject. |
| Jason: So again it makes where+verb+subject. And are there other orders to make questions beyond this one? |
| Ingrid: Yes indeed, you will often hear other word orders in casual French conversations. This pattern, interrogative+verb+subject, is the "official" and more formal way to ask questions but you can check in lesson notes that if the order is inversed, it will sound more casual! |
| Jason: Okay! So listeners have a look to lesson notes to know how making more informal question patterns. So Ingrid what is next? |
| Ingrid: Now we are going to learn how to ask questions related to somebody's past or future living places. |
| Jason: So what if a friend of yours is going to move, what can you ask? |
| Ingrid: You can ask "Quand déménages-tu?" which means "When are you moving?" in an informal way. Here again, we use the verb "déménager" that we just saw before. |
| Jason: Great! And what if a person you don't know well is telling you he has already moved to a new apartment, what could you ask ? |
| Ingrid: You can ask "Quand avez-vous déménagé ?" which means "When did you move?" in a polite way. |
| Jason: Yes, a really convenient way to strike up a conversation! |
| Ingrid: Listeners, don't miss our lesson notes where you will find many details concerning expressions we have just seen! |
Outro |
| Ingrid: A bientôt! |
| Jason: See you next time! A bientôt! |
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