Jft French Module 1

8/6/2019 Jft French Module 1

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Gender in FrenchGender in FrenchWe have a bad and a good news for you : asWe have a bad and a good news for you : as

opposed to English, French words have a gender.opposed to English, French words have a gender.

That's the bad news. The good news is thatThat's the bad news. The good news is that

French words can have only two genders :French words can have only two genders :masculine or feminine. Unfortunately, there is anmasculine or feminine. Unfortunately, there is an

additional bad news : the distribution of the wordsadditional bad news : the distribution of the words

in the masculine and the feminine genders doesin the masculine and the feminine genders does

not comply to any logical rule. Therefore, the onlynot comply to any logical rule. Therefore, the onlyway to know the gender of a word is to learn it byway to know the gender of a word is to learn it by

heart!heart!


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All nouns in French have a gender,

either masculine or feminine. For themost part, you must memorize the

gender, but there are some endings of

words that will help you decide whichgender a noun is. Nouns ending in -age

and -ment are usually masculine, as are

nouns ending with a consonant. Nounsending in -ure, -sion, -tion, -ence, -ance,

-t, and -ette are usually feminine.


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Indefinite Articles (A, An, Some)

Masculine Feminine Plural

un lita bed

une

pommean apple

des

gantssome

gloves


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Demonstrative Adjectives (This, That,

These, Those)

Masc.

Masc,

Before

Vowel

Fem. Plural

ce lit

this/thatbed

cet

oiseauthis/that

bird

cette

pommethis/that

apple

ces

gants

these/those

gloves


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If you need to distinguishbetween this or that and these or

those, you can add -ci to the end

of the noun for this and these,and -l to the end of the noun

for that and those. For example,

ce lit-ci is this bed, while ce lit-lis that bed.


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Masculine definite article:Masculine definite article:le [leu]le [leu]

Feminine definite article:Feminine definite article: lalaMasculine indefinite article:Masculine indefinite article:

unun

Feminine indefinite article:Feminine indefinite article:

une [?n']une [?n']


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The Roman invasion of Gaul

The French language is a Romance language,

meaning that it is descended from Latin. Before theRoman invasion of what is modern-day France by

Julius Csar (5852 BC), France was inhabited largely

by a Celtic people that the Romans referred to asGauls, although there were also other

linguistic/ethnic groups in France at this time, such

as the Iberians in southern France and Spain, the

Ligurians on the Mediterranean coast, Greekcoloniessuch as Massalia (i.e. present-dayMarseille),

Phoenician outposts, and theVascons on the

Spanish/French border.


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It is estimated that 12 percent (4,200) of common

French words found in a typical dictionary such as

the Petit LarousseorMicro-RobertPlus(35,000 words)

are of foreign origin. About 25 percent (1,054) ofthese foreign words come from English and are

fairly recent borrowings. The others are some 707

words from Italian, 550 from ancient Germanic

languages, 481 from ancient Gallo-Romancelanguages, 215 from Arabic, 164 from German, 160

from Celtic languages, 159 from Spanish, 153 from

Dutch, 112 from Persian and Sanskrit, 101 from

Native American languages, 89 from other Asian

languages, 56 from Afro-Asiatic languages, 55

from Slavic languages and Baltic languages, and

144about three percentfrom other languages

(Walter & Walter 1998).


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Modern French

For the period up to around 1300,

some linguists refer to the ollanguages collectively as Old French

(ancien franais). The earliest extant text

in French is the Oaths of Strasbourgfrom 842; Old French became a

literary languagewith the chansons de

gestethat told tales of thepaladins of

Charlemagne and the heroes of the

Crusades.


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By the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterts in 1539

King Francis I made French the official language

of administration and court proceedings inFrance, ousting the Latin that had been used

before then. With the imposition of a

standardised chancery dialect and the loss of the

declension system, the dialect is referred to asMiddle French (moyen franais). Following a period

of unification, regulation and purification, the

French of the 17th to the 18th centuries issometimes referred to as Classical French (franais

classique), although many linguists simply refer to

French language from the 17th century to today

as Modern French ran aismoderne .


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From the 17th to the 19th centuries, France

was the leading power of continentalEurope; thanks to this, together with the

influence of the Enlightenment, French

was the lingua franca of educated Europe,especially with regards to the arts,

literature, and diplomacy; monarchs like

FrederickII of Prussia and Catherine theGreat of Russia could both speak and write

in French.


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Modern issues

There is some debate in today's France about the

preservation of the French language and the

influence of English (see franglais), especially

with regard to international business, the sciences

and popular culture. There have been laws (see

Toubon law) enacted which require that all printads and billboards with foreign expressions

include a French translation and which require

quotas of French-language songs (at least 40%)

on the radio. There is also pressure, in differing

degrees, from some regions as well as minority

political or cultural groups for a measure of

recognition and support for their regional


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Main article:French phonology andorthography

French pronunciation follows strict

rules based on spelling, but Frenchspelling is often based more on

history than phonology. The rules for

pronunciation vary between dialects,but the standard rules are:


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single consonants, inparticular s, x, z, t,p,r, d, n

and m, are normally silent.(The final letters 'c', 'f', k,q

and 'l' however arenormally pronounced.)


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When the following word begins with a

vowel, though, a silent consonant mayonce again be pronounced, to provide a

"link" between the two words and avoid

a hiatus. Some liaisons are mandatory, forexample the sin les amantsor vous avez;

some are optional, depending on dialect

and register, for example the first sin

deux cents eurosor euros irlandais; and some

areforbidden, for example the sin beaucoup

d'hommes aiment.


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The tof etis never pronounced

and the silent final consonant ofa noun is only pronounced in the

plural and in set phrases likepied--terre. Doubling a final

consonant and adding a silent e

at the end of a word (e.g. Parisien Parisienne) makes it clearly

pronounced, always.


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elision or vowel dropping: Monosyllabic

words such asjeor quedrop their finalvowel before another word beginning

with a vowel. The missing vowel is

replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g.je aiis

instead pronounced and spelt j'ai).

This gives for example the same

pronunciation for "l'homme qu'il a vu"

("the man whom he saw") and

"l'homme qui l'a vu" ("the man who

saw him").


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nasal "n" and "m". When "n" or "m"

follows a vowel combination, the "n" and"m" become silent and cause the

preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e.

pronounced with the soft palate extended

downward so as to allow part of the air toleave through the nostrils). Exceptions are

when the "n" or "m" is doubled, or

immediately followed by a vowel. Theprefixes en-and em-are always nasalized.

The rules get more complex than this but

may vary between dialects.


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French word order isSubject Verb Object,

except when the object isa pronoun, in which case

the word order isSubject Object Verb.


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Single vowels

a

Pronunciation: like the first

"a" in "marmalade" or

in"heart", but just a little bit

less open.Examples: table (table),

sac(bag), chat (cat), rat (rat),

baggage (luggage),

san(his/her), bras (arm),

matin(morning).

Similar sounds: (more open

than a)


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e

Pronunciation: like the indefinitearticle "a" in English with a sharper

sound, or like the second a in

"marmalade".Examples: cheveu (hair), deux (two),

second [segon] (second), oeuvre

(work, as in master works), soeur

(sister), heure (hour), beurre (butter).

Similar sounds: "eu" and "oeu". The

latter one is more open than e and

eu.


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i

Pronunciation: like theEnglish "ee" but

shorter.Examples: pipe (pipe),

minute (minute),courir (to run), midi(midday), nid (nest).


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o

Pronunciation: two different sounds: an open "o"

more or less as the English "more" and "for" a

closed one like the English "go" and "low" Most of

the times the "o" in French is open. It is closed

when located at the end of the word. Note that the

difference between open and closed "o" is not asstressed as it is in English between the words

"open" and "control". Examples: Open o: botte

(boot), grotte (cave), dvelopper (to develop),

homme (man) Closed o: vlo (bicycle), indigo

(indigo) Similar sounds: (to a closed o): "au","eau", "". Examples: eau (water), auto (car),

contrle (control).


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u

Pronunciation: the French sound for "u"

does not exist in English. While in most

languages "u" is pronounced like the u in

"bush", in French it differs dramatically.

The French "u" is exactly the same sound

as the German "". As we're going to see

later, the sound "u" as the English "bush"

exists in French as well, but it is formed by

the vowel combination "ou".

Examples: voiture (car), minute, humain

(human).


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y

Pronunciation:pronounced the same way

as a double French "i".Examples: noyer [noi-ier](to drown), rayer [rai-ier]

(to scratch), loyer [loi-ier](lease), pays [pai-i]

(country).


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French letter(s) English Sound

a, , ah

, et, and final er and ez aye, , , ai, ei, ais eh

i, y ee

O oh

O shorter and more open thanaw in bought

Ou oo

oy, oi wah

U ewu + vowel wee

c (before e, i, y) s

(before a, o, u) s

c (before a, o, u) k


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g (before e, i, y) Zh

ge (before a, o) Zh

g (before a, o, u) G

Gn Nyuh

H Silent

J Zh

qu, final q K

R Rolled

s (between vowels) Z

Th T

X

ekss, except as s in six, dix, and

soixante

in liaisons, like z


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g (before e, i, y) Zh

ge (before a, o) Zh

g (before a, o, u) G

Gn Nyuh

H Silent

J Zh

qu, final q K

R Rolled

s (between vowels) Z

Th T

Xekss, except as s in six, dix, and soixante

in liaisons, like z


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a ah j zhee s essb beh k kah t teh

c seh l ell u ooh

d deh m em v veh

e uh n en w doo-blah-veh

f eff o oh x eeks

g zheh p peh y ee-grek

h ahsh q koo z zed

i ee r air


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It's / That's c'est say

Thereis/are

voil vwah-lah

and et ay

but mais may

now maintenant mahnt-nawn

especially surtout sir-too

except sauf sohf

of course bien sr bee-ahn sir

so socomme

ci, comme a

kohm see kohm

sah

not bad pas mal pah mal


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There is/are il y a eel-ee-yah

Here is/are Voici vwah-seealways Toujours too-zhoor

often Souvent soo-vawn

sometimes quelquefois kell-kuh-fwah

usually d'habitude dah-bee-tewd

also, too Aussi oh-see

again Encore awn-kore

late en retard awn-ruh-tar

almost Presque presk


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book le livre leevr

pencil le crayon krah-yohn

pen le stylo stee-lohpaper le papier pah-pyay

dog le chien shee-ahncat le chat shah


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friend (fem) une amieew nah-

mee

friend (masc) un amiah-nah-

mee

woman unefemme

ewn fawn

man

un

homme ah-

noh

mgirl une fille feey

boy un garon gar-sohn


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Formation of

Plural Nouns


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To make a noun plural, you usually add

an -s. But there are some exceptions: Sing. Plural

If a noun already ends in an -

s, add nothing.bus(es) le bus les bus

If a noun ends in -eu or -eau,

add an x.boat(s)

le

bateau

les

bateaux

If a masculine noun ends in -

al or -ail, change it to -aux.horse(s) le cheval

les

chevaux

Some nouns ending in -ou

add an -x instead of -s.knee(s) le genou

les

genoux


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There are, of course, some

weird exceptions: un il(eye) - des yeux (eyes);

le ciel (sky) - les cieux(skies); and un jeune

homme (a young man) -des jeunes gens (young

men).


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In most cases, the final e in a word isnot pronounced. Examples : bouche

[bouch'] (mouth), jambe [jamb'](leg), lampe [lamp'] (lamp).When followed by a doubled

consonant (l, t, p, r, m, n), e ispronounced like the English -ay as in"say", "bay", but without the glide

towards i and more open. In French,this sound is referred to as "" (e with

a grave accent). Examples : pelle[pl'] (shovel), mettre [mttr'] (to

put), lettre (letter), terre [tr'] (land).


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Vowels and consonantscombinations

ouPronunciation: like the "u" in

"bush"

Examples: bouche (mouth),genou (knee), cou (neck)oi

Pronunciation: pronounced likethe combination "oa"

Examples: oie (goose), doigt[doa] (finger)


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au, eau

Pronunciation: ""Examples: eau (water),

bateau (ship)ai

Pronunciation: ""

Examples: maison [mson](house), j'ai (I have), lait

(milk), mauvais (bad)


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eu, oeu

Pronunciation: "e"Examples: feu (fire),

bleu (blue)ui

Pronunciation: "-i"

(two sounds)Examples: aujourd'hui(today), fruit (fruit)


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er, et

Pronunciation: ""Examples: boucher

(butcher), boulanger(baker). Exceptions:

hier [ir'](yesterday), et (and)


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on

Examples: bon (good)anExamples: an (year)

enExamples: vent (wind)

in, ain, ein

Examples: matin(morning), main (hand),

pain (bread)


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r

The French "r" sound is fairlydifferent from the english one.

In English, "r" is soft, round.

In contrary, in French, "r" isguttural and must be

pronounced like Scottishpeople do (maybe, a little bit

less guttural !).


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j

The French "j" is pronounced like the

English "g". Examples : jardin (garden),

jour (day).

g

In French, the pronunciation of "g" dependson the subsequent character. If followed by

"a", "u", or "o", "g" is pronounced like the

"g" in "garden".I

f followed by "e" or "i", itis pronounced like the second "g" in

"language". Examples : langage (language),

langue (tongue).


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gn

The French sound for

"gn" is very similar to the

Spanish "" or like the

sound "ni". Examples :

gagner [ga] (to win),mignon [meeon] (cute).


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ch

The French "ch" ispronounced like the

English "sh". Examples :chambre [shambr'] (room),

chat (cat), chaussure

(shoe).


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h

In French, the character "h"is not pronounced when

located at the beginning of aword. Examples : haricot

[arico] (bean), homme [om'](man), hche [ach'] (ax)


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s

As in English, most French words

add an "s" when plural, however, thelast "s" in a word is never

pronounced. Examples : maisonand itsplural form maisonsare pronounced

the same way. There are, however,

some exceptions to this rule, forinstance,plus(more) is pronounced

[plss].


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la/une table (the/a table)

le/un sac (the/a bag)

le/un chat (male cat), la/une chatte (female cat)le/un bras (the/an arm)

la/une soeur(the/a sister)

la/une bouche (the/a mouth)la/une jambe (the/a leg)

la/une lampe (the/a lamp)

la/une terre (the/a land)

la/une botte (the/a boot)

la/une langue (tongue)

la/une chambre (room)


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When a word begins with a vowel,the definite article that precedes the word is

contracted whatever the gender is :

une assiette (a plate), l'assiette (the plate)un oiseau (a bird), l'oiseau (the bird)

un animal (an animal)l'animal (the animal)

ne aragne (a spider), l'aragne (the spiderune auto (a car), l'auto (the car)


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Plural articles

The plural form of the definiteand indefinite articles is very

simple for it does not vary

according to the gender:Definite article: les (both feminine

and masculine)

Undefinite article: des (bothfeminine and masculine)


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Singular: la table Plural: les tables

Singular: un chien Plural: des chiensSingular: une lionne Plural: des lionnes


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Some usual expressions

merci (thank you)

s'il vous plat (please)bonjour (literally "good day",

means good morning/

good afternoon)bonsoir (good evening)

bonne nuit (good night)

au revoir (literally "see you again",means goodbye)

pardon (sorry)

excusez-moi (excuse me)


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abattoir abbey baguette

baluster boudoir bouquet garni

adroit affair buffet cafetire

ycarte blanche cach chattel

ycouturier croquette delicatessen

entre etiquette faade fete fondue

fuselage glac glucose glutton

gradual grandeur force majeure

filibuster escargots fatigu ferventbien centi- chagrin chancellor

yau fait avant-garde azure


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Haute couture

ymauve nouveauyparfait ingenue

yjuxtaposition

limousine


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" tre " (to be) and " avoir " (to have)

As in many european languages, " tre " (to be)

and " avoir " (to have) play a special role inFrench. They are also referred to as auxilliaries.

French language makes use of only two auxiliary

verbs (tre and avoir) while English has many ofthem (to have, will, would, shall, should, can,

could, must, might, ought to, etc.). On one hand,

" tre " and " avoir " are strongly irregular but

in the other hand, they are used very often.Consequently, their conjugation must be well

known. In the present tense their conjugation are:


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tre (to be)

je suis [si] I amtu es [] You are

il/elle est [] He/She is

nous sommes [some] We are

vous tes [t'] They are

ils/elles sont [son] They (males)/ they (females)

are


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avoir (to have)

j'ai [j] I havetu as [a] You have

il/elle a He/she has

nous avons We havevous avez They have

ils/elles ont [on] They (males)

have / They (females) have

Conversation


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Conversation

La famille Dupont a de nouveaux voisins. Pierre rencontre

le fils de ses voisins.(The Dupont Family has new neighbours. Pierremeets

the son of his neighbours. )

Pierre : Bonjour. Je m'appelle Pierre. Comment t'appelles-tu ?

(Pierre : Hello, my name isPierre. What is your name ?)

Peter : Je m'appelle Peter

(Peter : My name isPeter. )

Pierre : D'o est-ce que tu viens ?(Pierre : Where do you come from?)

Peter : Je viens d'Angleterre. Mes parents sont anglais.

(Peter : I come fromEngland. My parents are english. )

Pierre : Super ! Est-ce que tu viens de Londres ?

(Pierre : Wonderful ! Do you come fromLondon ?)Peter : Oui. Je suis n Londres.

(Peter : Yes. I was born in London. )

Pierre : Tu parles bien franais. Moi, je ne parle pas anglais.

(Pierre : You speak French very well. As far as I amconcerned,I don't s eak Enlish. )


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ConversationLa famille Dupont a de nouveaux

voisins. Pierre rencontre

le fils de ses voisins.(The Dupont Family has new neighbours.

Pierremeets the son of his neighbours. )


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Pierre : Bonjour. Je m'appelle Pierre.

Comment t'appelles-tu ?Peter : Je m'appelle Peter

Pierre : D'o est-ce que tu viens ?

Peter : Je viens d'A

ngleterre.M

es parentssont anglais.

Pierre : Super ! Est-ce que tu viens de

Londres ?Peter : Oui. Je suis n Londres.

Pierre : Tu parles bien franais. Moi, je ne

parle pas anglais.


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Pierre : Hello, my name isPierre. What is your

name ?Peter : My name isPeter.

Pierre : Where do you come from?

P

eter : I come fromEngl

and. My parents areenglish.

Pierre : Wonderful ! Do you come fromLondon

Peter : Yes. I was born in London.

Pierre : You speak French very well. As far as Iamconcerned, I don't speak

English.

Documents

Jft French Module 1