Structure et Vocabulaire

A. Le present des verbs en er et les pronoms-sujets

Note the forms of the verbs visiter (to visit) and parler (to speak) in the chart below.
Each verb is consist of two parts:

-the stem (visit-, parl), which remains the same;

-the ending, which changes with the subject.

INFINITIVE Visiter Parler

Singular First Person Je visite New York. Je parle anglais.

Second Person Tu vistes New York. Tu parles anglais.

Third Person Pierre visite New York. Il parle anglais.

Plural First Person Nous visitons New York. Nous parlons anglais.

Second Person Vous visitez New York. Vous parlez anglais.

Third person Alain et Paul visitent New York. Ils parlent anglais.

Patrice et Sylvie visitent New York. Elles parlent anglais.

NOTE:

The basic form of the verb is the infinitive. In French, verbs are classified by their infinitive
endings. Many French verbs end in er in the infinitive.

A set of verb forms, like the forms of visiter in the chart above is called a conjugation. Most
er verbs are conjugated like the examples above. They are called regular verbs because their
forms are predictable.

-In the present tense, each regular er verb has one stem (the infinitive minus er) and one set
of written endings:

Je -e nous -ons

Tu -es vous -ez

Il/elle -e ils/ells -ent

-the endings e, -es, and ent are silent.

-the French present tense corresponds to three English Forms:

Marc parle anglais. Marc speaks English.

Marc is speaking English.

Marc does speak English.

The infinitive construction is formed according to the pattern:

Subject + ne + main verb + pas + infinitive + rest of the sentence.

-In French there are eight personal subject pronouns:

Je I tu you il he elle she

Nous we vous you ils they elles they

-Tu vs. Vous

-When talking to one person, speakers of French use:

Tu (the familiar form) to address a close friend, a child, or member of the family;

Vous (the formal form) to address someone older or a person who is not a close friend.

-When talking to two or more people, speakers of French use:

Vous (both the familiar and the formal form)

-Ils vs. Elles

When talking to two or more people, speakers of French use:

Ils when at least one member of the group is male;

Elles when the entire group is female.

Vocabulaire:

Verbs en er

Detester to dislike, to hate Paul deteste Paris.

Diner to have dinner Roger dine avec Nicole
Jouer au to play Nous jouons au tennis.
Parler to speak; to talk Jacques parle anglais.
Regarder to look at; to watch Nous regardons Suzanne.
Rentre to return; to go back Je rentre a Montreal.
Telephoner to phone; to call Vous telephonez a Sylvie.
Travailler to work Peirre travaille.
Visiter to visit Nous visitions Quebec.

Expressions

a to Jacques parle a Henri.

At Tu travailles a lhotel Meridien.
In (+city) Ils travaillent a Montreal.
de from Vous telephonez de New York.
Of, about Nous parlons de Michele.
avec with Tu joues avec Monique.
pour for Elle travaille pour Air Canada.
et and Voici Guy et Helene.
ou or Jean parle francais ou anglais.
mais but Je joue au tennis mais vous jouez au golf.

Vocabulaire:
Verbs en er
Chanter to sing Jean et Claire chantent.
Danser to dance Jeanne et Richard dansent.
Nager to swim Vous ne nagez pas.
Voyager to travel Paul ne voyage pas.

Adverbes:
Assez enough Tu ne travailles pas assez.
Aussi also, too Jinvite Paul. Jinvite Sylvie aussi.
Beaucoup a lot, very much Nous aimons beaucoup Dakar.
Maintenant now Il travaille pour Air Afrique maintenant.
Souvent often Michele ne voyage pas souvent.
Bien well Tu chantes bien.
Mal badly, poorly Je chante mal.
Assez rather Vous dansez assez bien.
Tres very Anne ne nage pas tres souvent.

Notes de Vocabulaire:

In French, adverbs usually come immediately after the verb or after pas if the verb is in
negative. Adverbs never come between the subject and verb.

Je joue souvent au tennis. I often play tennis.

Vous ne voyagez pas beaucoup. You dont travel very much.

B. Elision et Liaison

Elision. The final e of few short words, like je and de, is dropped when the next word begins
with a vowel sound, that is, with a mute h or a vowel. This is called elision. In written French,
elision is marked by an apostrophe.
 Je travaille a Paris. Jhabite a Paris.

Nous parlons de Jacques. Nous parlons dAlbert.

Liaison. When a French word ends in consonant, this consonant is almost always silent. In
certain words, however, the final consonant is pronounced when the next word begins with a
vowel sound. This is called liaison and occurs between words that are closely linked in
meaning, such as s subject pronoun and its verb. Note the liaison after nous, vous, ils, and
elles.

-the liaison consonant is always pronounced as if it were the first sound of the following word.

Vocabulaire:
Aimer to love, to like Paul aime Paris

Arriver to arrive Nous arrivons a Boorduex.

Ecouter to listen to Vous ecoutez la radio.
Etudier to study Ils etudient avec Sophie.
Habiter to live Barbara habite a Boston.
Inviter to invite Elle invite Robert.

Francais ou Anglais?

The following are travelling. Say which cities they are visiting and whether they are speaking
French (francais) or English (anglais). Use subject pronouns and the appropriate forms of the
verbs visiter and parler.

Paul (Paris) Il visite Paris. Il parle francais.

1. Louis (San Francisco)

2. Helene et Sylvie (Quebec)
3. Jacqueline (Chicago)
4. Jacques et Albert (Geneve)
5. Louis et Thomas (Dallas)
6. M. et Mme. Dupont (Los Angeles)
7. Charles and Louiss (Bordeaux)
8. Nathalie (Paris)
9. Albert (Hawaii)
10. Alain (Canada)

Qui parle francais?

Ask the following people whether they speak French.

Annette Tremblay (a student from Montreal) Tu parles francais?

M. Tremblay (Annettes father) Vous parlez?

1. Helene Duval (a student from Paris)

2. Alain Duval (Helenes younger brother)
3. Madame Duval (Helenes mother)
4. M. Lacroix (your English teacher)
5. Pierre at Andre (M. Lacroixs young children)
6. Sylvie Leblanc (an employee at the reservation desk of Air Canada)
7. Paul (a student from hockey team)
8. Albert Lafleur and Jacques Bourdeau (Pauls roommates)
9. Lucien Lambert (the coach of the hockey team)

Au telephone

The participants at an international convention are calling home. Tell which city they call and
which language they are speaking. Use verbs telephoner a and parler.

Henri (Paris/ Francais) Henri telephone a Paris. Il parle francais.

1. Nous (New York/Anglais)

2. Vous (Mexico/Espagnol)
3. Marc (Quebec/francais)
4. Christine (Montreal/anglais)
5. Je (San Francisco/anglais)
6. Tu (Moscou/russe)

Activites

Describe what the following people are doing.

Cecile/jouer au volleyball. Cecile joue au tennis.

1. Nous/jouer au volleyball
2. Vous/travailler
3. Philippe /telephoner a Sylvie
4. Pierre et Paul/diner
5. Tu /regarder la television
6. Loiuse et Jacqueline/rentrer a lhotel
7. Je/telephone a Monique

Expression Personelle
 Say whether or not you like the following activitites.

Parler francais Jaime parler francais.

Ou: Je naime pas parler francais. Ou: Je deteste parler francais.

1. Parler en public
2. Etudier le week end
3. Voyager en autobus
4. Jouer au baseball
5. Nager dans locean
6. Chanter
7. Regarder la television aprs minuit
8. Organiser des surprise-parties
9. Diner a la cafeteria

Une bonne raison

Read what the following people are doing or not doing and explain why. Use the construction
aimer+ infinitive in affirmative or negative sentences.

Philippe telephone a Michele. Philippe aime telephoner a Michele.

Marc netudie pas. Marc naime pas etudie.

1. Nous travaillons
2. Vous etudiez
3. Tu nages
4. Peirre et Annie dansent
5. Linda joue au volleyball
6. Nous voyageons
7. Je ne travaille pas le week end.
8. Je ne regarde pas la television.
9. Paul et Marc necoutent pas la radio.
10. Tu ne chantes pas.
11. M. Moreau ne voyage pas en bus.
12. Vous ne dinez pas a la cafeteria.

Oui et non

Read what the following people are doing, then say what they are not doing. Use the
expression in parenthesis in the negative sentence.

Je parle francias. (anglais) Je ne parle pas anglais.

 1. Nous parlons anglais. (francais)
2. Vous habitez Paris. (Canada)
3. Je joue au tennis. (au football)
4. Eric telephone a Jacqueline. (a Nicole)
5. Tu invite Monique. (Anne)
6. Vous travaillez pour air Canada. (pour Air France)
7. Thomas etudie la physique. (la biologie)
8. Jecoute Sylvie. (Christine)

Oui au non?

Read what the following people do and say whether or not they do the things in parenthesis.

Paul etudie. (jouer au tennis? travailler?) Il ne joue pas au tennis. Il travaille.

1.Nous habitons a Quebec. (habiter en France? Parler italien?)

2. Vous regardez la tele. (etudier? Travailler?)

3. M. Dumas telephone a un client (travailler? Ecouter la radio?)

4. Les touristes visitent Quebec. (aimer Quebec? Habiter a quebec?)

Sur la textes

Lamine, a student from Senegal, introduces herself and her friend Hamadi.

Bonjour! Je mappelle Lamine. Je ne suis pas francaise. Je suis Senegalese (from Senegal).
Je ne suis pas francais.

Je suis etudiante (student) en medicine a luniversite de Dakar. Jaime etudier, mais je ne

etudie pas tout le temps (all the time). Jaime la musique at jaime danser. Jaime aussi les
sports. Je nage (swim) et je joue au tennis.

Et vous, est-ce que vous aimez les sports? Est-ce que vous aimez jouer au tennis?

Voici Hamadi.

Il est etudiant aussi., mais il nest pas tres sportif (athletic). Est-ce quil nage bien? Non, il
naime pas nager. Est ce quil joue au tennis? non, il deteste jouer au tennis!

Hamadi et moi, nous sommes differents, mais nous sommes amis (friends). Cest essentiel
(what counts), nest-ce pas?