LFBP6

Lesson

6

Plus PublicationsBramleyDouglas RoadCorkIreland(t) 353-(0)21-4847444(f) 353-(0)21-4847675(e) [email protected](i) www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com

LEARN FRENCHBY PODCASTAUDIO PODCASTSFOR LEARNERS OF FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Discussing your interests

aimer + infinitive

Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006Level: beginner.

aimer + infinitif apprcier [ngocier, multiplier, nier, etc] sintresser, se passionner (pour) au, la, aux faire [+ activities] reflexive er verbs lundi, le lundi

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e Hello once again, and welcome to Learn French by Podcast. My name is Hugh Nagle and here with me is Amlie Verdier. Welcome back, Amlie!

Bonjour!

Today, Amlie?Nous allons parler des loisirs.

Leisure-time activities. Our likes and dislikes, I suppose you could say. So, what are your interests? Quels sont tes centres dintrt?

Eh bien, jaime la lecture. Je pense quil est important de lire. Cela permet dapprendre de nouvelles choses tout en se dtendant.

Now, just in case our listeners didnt catch all that first time round, lets hear it again

Bien sr! Bon, alors jaime la lecture. Je pense quil est []

And one final timeJaime la lecture. []

Now, today well be looking at some verbs which are central to talking about what interests us as well as the things that do quite the opposite! Right at the start, you said

Jaime la lecture.

Now that verb is easy. Its a regular er verb. That is, its infinitiveends in er. Lets just make one point about pronunciation: it sounds like em, not aim. How will we say Helikessurfing?

Il aime surfer.

Or, Theylikehiking in the mountains?Ils aiment les randonnes en montagne.

Note that the plural form of the verb sounds exactly the same as the singular.

Now, lets make one further point. We can put a second verb in its infinitive form directly afterwards to form all sorts of combinations. For example: Jane likes to swim

Jane aime nager.

Or, Jacques likes to tell jokes!Jacques aime plaisanter.

Or, Adrienne and Zo like to singAdrienne et Zo aiment chanter.

Remember!

aimer + infinitiveWe can create a wide range of possibilities with aimer, followed by the infinitive of another verb: jaime surfer elle aime lire nous aimons visiter des monuments ils aiment aller au cinma.

aimerjaimetu aimesil / elle / on aimenous aimonsvous aimezils / elles aiment

apprcier, (ngocier, multiplier, nier)


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eLesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006Level: beginner.


Note that, in each of these examples, the verb following aimer nager, plaisanter, chanter is in theinfinitive.

Tell us more about your leisure-time activities. Parle-nous davantage de tes loisirs

Japprcie galement la musique, notamment les chanteurs de musique traditionnelle franaise comme Edith Piaf. Jaime couter de la musique mais aussi chanter ! Au dbut, mes parents naimaient pas trop parce que je chantais comme une casserole !

Lets hear that once againJapprcie galement la musique []

Now, you said Japprcie la musique. Lets talk for a moment about that verb apprcier a regular er verb. Other verbs like ngocier, multiplier, nier are conjugated in the same way as apprcier. Lets hear a few examples. How do we say about two businessmen, for example They are negociating?

Ils ngocient.

How do we say He is negociating?Il ngocie.

How would we say talking about students doing arithmetic, for example Theyaremultiplyingnumbers?

Les lves multiplient des chiffres.

How would we say talking about the woman who is doing some calculations Sheismultiplyingtwo numbers?

Elle multiplie deux chiffres.

Talking about my parents, how would I say Theyappreciate they like classical music?

Ils apprcient la musique classique.

And finally, how would we say that He denies the facts?

Il nie les faits.

So, in summary, its important to remember that, inthepresenttense,atleast,therdpersonsingularandpluralformsarepronouncedthesame, and the final e is silent, once again.

On another point, you said that, initially, you werent a very good singer! You had an interesting expression

Oui. Je chantais comme une casserole!

comme une casserole thats funny! Normally of course, une casserole refers to a saucepan.

Watch it!

two forms of the Present in English, but only one in French:

remember that, in French, theres just one version of the Present tense. The following English sentences:

1. They negociate [in general]

and

2. They are negociating [right now]

are both rendered by:

Ils ngocient in French.

So, to reiterate: theres just one Present tense in French.

Remember!

Je chantais: Heres an example of the Imperfect tense, used when you want to say that you used to do something, e.g. I used to be a lousy singer!

sintresser , se passionner pour




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e Ok. Lets move on. You have other interests, tooOui. Je mintresse aussi la peinture. Jadore visiter des expositions Paris ou bien des muses comme le Louvre ou le muse dOrsay ! Je peins ds que jai un moment de libre !

Je me passionne galement pour le jardinage, mais on ne peut pas dire que jai la main verte !

Lets hear this againJe mintresse aussi la peinture []

And one final timeJe mintresse aussi la peinture []

Now, lets look at two expressions you used: Jemintresse and Jemepassionne(pour). These verbs are known as reflexiveverbs. In the first person, we can hear thereflexivepronoun,me: jemintresse. It was the same in the case of the expression Jemappelle, although we didnt mention it before.

We really should remember these verbs: lets take a few examples to imprint them in our brains! How about: Iminterestedinsport?

Je mintresse au sport.

Iminterestedinpainting?Je mintresse la peinture.

Imveryinterestedinthe cinemaJe mintresse beaucoup au cinma.

Hesfascinatedwithcomputers and gadgets?Il se passionne pour linformatique et les gadgets.

TheyrefascinatedwithgardeningIls se passionnent pour le jardinage.

Ok, Amlie. Lets talk a little more about your interests. Est-ce que tu tintresses au sport ?

Je ne mintresse pas trop au sport, mais mon petit ami adore a ! Je pense que le foot, cest sa grande passion ! En ce moment, il regarde tous les matchs de la Coupe du Monde de Football la tl. On dirait un lgume devant la tlvision ! Moi, je naime pas du tout regarder des joueurs courir derrire un ballon, a ne mintresse pas du tout ! Cest mourir dennui !

There are quite a few interesting expressions there. Lets hear that again

Je ne mintresse pas trop au sport []

And one final timeJe ne mintresse pas trop au sport []

expression

avoir la main verteliterally, to have a green hand, that is to have green fingers (i.e. to be a good gardener)

expressions..

On dirait (un lgume)That is, Youd say [he was a] couch potato. (In other words, one would describe him as a couch potato.)

Cest mourir dennui!That is, Its deadly boring!

au, la, aux

ballon (m) balle (f)


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Now, you said that you were not too interested. How did you say that, again?

Je ne mintresse pas trop au sport.

So, Im not too interested in reading, would be?Je ne mintresse pas trop la lecture.

Now, we have ausport but la lecture. Lets remember that this happens because of the gender masculine or feminine of the activity that were discussing. If were talking about something masculine lecinmaor lesport, for example well have

Je ne mintresse pas au sport.

On the other hand, if its a feminine activity lalecture, for example it will be

Je ne mintresse pas la lecture.

Finally, if we have apluralnoun desactivitssportives, for example well have aux

Il sintresse aux activits sportives.

Now, we mentioned the World Cup. Theres an interesting point here, too. The round object that the footballers kick around the field is called

le ballon.

On the other hand, in Wimbledon, the tennis players strike

la balle.

In French, you have a different word for ball in each of these sports.

Moving on a little, you said before that your sister was keen on sport. Tu nous as dit que ta sur tait sportive. Quel genre de sport fait-elle ?

Alors, oui, en effet, ma sur est trs sportive. Elle fait beaucoup de sport. Elle aime beaucoup, enfin, elle adore faire de lescalade. Elle sentrane trois fois par semaine : le lundi, le mercredi et le vendredi Elle apprcie galement la marche pied. Elle fait souvent des randonnes avec maman le dimanche.

Lets hear that one more timeMa sur est trs sportive. []

And one final timeMa sur est trs sportive. []

Note!

enfinElle aime beaucoup, enfin, elle adore

= She really likes, in fact, she loves

Note!

Remember the word order in the case of reflexive verbs used in the negative:

Je ne mintresse pas

The reflexive me or m, where it meets a vowel remains stuck to the verb (intresser, in this case). The ne and pas then come before and after this combination.

faire [+ activities]

reflexive verbs

lundi, le lundi Remember!

lundi ......................... Mondaymardi ........................ Tuesdaymercredi ................... Wednesdayjeudi ......................... Thursdayvendredi ................... Fridaysamedi...................... Saturdaydimanche ................. Sunday

In French, the days of the week are spelled with a small letter when they appear within a sentence.




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e Theres a key verb here: its the verb faire which is essential when talking about all sorts of activities. Totakepartina lot of sport is

faire beaucoup de sport.

Todoorparticipatein judo is:faire du judo.

Togo climbing?faire de lescalade.

Lets try a few concrete examples: I go climbing:Je fais de lescalade.

We go climbing:Nous faisons de lescalade.

They go hiking on Sundays.Ils font des randonnes le dimanche.

So, lets be sure to remember the conjugation of the verb faire. Dont forget, its all there for you in the PDF Guide which accompanies this lesson.

Now, weve already met Elle sappelle and Elle sintresse. Once again, we meet another of these reflexive verbs here: ellesentrane she trains. Now, Amlie, remind us of what I train would be:

Je mentrane

We trainNous nous entranons

The second nous here refers to ourselves. Its a reflexive verb because we are training ourselves, one might say. Once again, youll find the full conjugation of this reflexive verb in the PDF Guide.

Now, in French, on Sundays or on Mondays is simple, right? We simply say:

le lundi.

That is, we put the definite article le before the day of the week. Without the article, well be talking about a specific Monday, for example:

Lundi, je vais chez Marie.

which means: OnMonday, [that is, next Monday] Im going to Maries.

verbfaire [= to do, to make, to take part in [sport]]

je faistu faisil / elle / on faitnous faisonsvous faitesils / elles font

verbsentraner [to train]

je mentranetu tentranesil / elle / on sentranenous nous entranonsvous vous entranezils sentranent


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Ok, Amlie, once again, theres a lot of material to digest in this lesson. To our listeners, dont forget to download our accompanying PDF Guide from our website at www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com.

Finally, if youre enjoying our podcasts, why not send us some feedback? To do that, you can click the link on the last page of our PDF Guide or visit our website. We look forward to hearing from you.

So, Amlie, until next time!A la prochaine!

If you understood our lesson, then you should be ready for

1. We like reading.

2. They like going to the cinema.

3. Hlne is not interested in sport.

4. Jack and Jim are fascinated with information technology [linformatique].

5. They go climbing on Saturdays.

6. He trains twice a week.

7. We train often.

8. She doesnt train.

See the answers at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htm

Now

its

your

turn

Any questions?

Submit them to us at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/question.htm

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Vocab extra! apprendre ............. to learn aussi ...................... also, too avec ....................... with bien, eh ~ ............. well bien, ou ~ ............. or indeed chiffre (m) ............. number chose (f) ................ thing comme .................. like, as courir ..................... to run dbut, au ~ ........... at the beginning derrire ................. behind, after ds que.................. as soon as dtendre, se ~ ...... to relax galement ............. also, too ennui (m) .............. boredom exposition (f) ........ exhibition fois (f) ................... time, occasion grand .................... big jardinage (m) ........ gardening joueur (m) ............. player libre, de ~ ............. free loisir (m)................ hobby maman.................. mum, mom marche, ~ pied ... walking moment, en ce ~ .. at the moment mourir ................... to die muse (m) ............. museum notamment ........... notably, mainly nouveau, nouvelle . new [adj.] parce que .............. because penser ................... to think permettre .............. to allow randonne (f) ........ hike semaine (f) ........... week souvent ................. often

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