This is an important difference between French and English. English no longer distinguishes between the singular and the plural, formal version of you, although thou used to be the informal singular version up to the Mid-nineteenth Century. In French, it is culturally important to know when to use vous/vu/ (voo) and when to use tu/ty/ (tew).
Vous is the plural form of you. This is somewhat equivalent to you all, you guys, all of you, except that it does not carry any familiarity when used with the plural. You'd use it to address your friends as well as when talking to the government at a press conference. Vous is also used to refer to single individuals to show respect, to be polite or to be neutral. It is used when talking to someone who is important, someone who is older than you are, or someone with whom you are unfamiliar. This is known as Vouvoiement.
Conversely, tu is the singular and informal form of vous (you) in French. It is commonly used when referring to a friend or a family member, and is also used between children or when addressing a child. If it is used when speaking to a stranger, it can be taken as disrespect. This is known as Tutoiement. As a rule of thumb, use tu only when you would call that person by his first name, otherwise use vous. French speaking people will make it known when they would like you to refer to them by tu. In French speaking Canada, the use of the singular tu is used everywhere, and can be considered a cultural difference from that of Europe and Africa. You can use the vous in Canada, but it won't affect your respect.
Il, elle, and on
French pronouns carry meanings that do not exist in English pronouns. The pronoun it does not exist in French. Il replaces all masculine nouns, even those that are not human; the same is true with elle and feminine nouns.
The French third person on has several meanings, but most closely matches the now archaic English one. While in English, sentences with one as the subject sound old-fashioned, their French equivalents are quite acceptable. In everyday language, on is used, instead of nous, to express we; the verb is always used in the 3rd person singular.
Ils and elles
While the third person plural they has no gender in English, the French equivalents ils and elles do. However, when pronounced, they normally sound the same as il and elle, so distinguishing the difference requires understanding of the various conjugations of the verbs following the pronoun. Also, if a group of people consists of both males and females, the male form is used, even with a majority of females; however, this sensibly yields to overwhelming majority: given a group of only one male to thousands of females, the female form would be used.
A verb is a word that describes an action or mental or physical state.
Tenses and moods
French verbs can be formed in four moods, each of which express a unique feeling. Each mood has a varying number of tenses, which indicate the time when an action takes place. The conjugations in the present tense of the indicative mood, the present indicative, is discussed in the next section. There is one conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns.
Infinitives
The infinitive form is the basic form of a verb. It does not refer to a particular tense, person or subject. The infinitive form of the verb is often used to identify it. In English, the infinitive form is to ___. In French, the infinitive is one word. For example, parler translates to to speak, finir translates to to finish, and aller translates to to go.
Conjugation
French verbs conjugate; they take different shapes depending on the subject. English verbs only have one conjugation; that is the third person singular (I see, you see, he/she sees, we see, they see). The only exception is the verb to be (I am; (thou art); you are; he/she is; we are; they are). Most French verbs will conjugate into many different forms. Most verbs are regular, which means that they conjugate in the same way. The most common verbs, however, are irregular.
Tu es d’accord ou pas ?, Tu es d’accord ?, literally meaning You are of agreement?, or simply D'accord ?/d‿a.kɔʁ/ is used informally to ask whether someone agrees with you.
To respond positively, you say Oui, je suis d'accord. or simply D'accord:
Nationalities are not capitalized as often in French as they are in English. If you are referring to a person, as in an Arab person or a Chinese person, the French equivalent is un Arabe or un Chinois. However, if you are referring to the Arabic language or Chinese language, the French would not capitalize: l'arabe, le chinois. If the nationality is used as an adjective, it is normally left uncapitalized: un livre chinois, un tapis arabe.
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Translate from French to English.
le magasin
the store
la gare
the train station
le bureau
the office
la maison
the house
la banque
the bank
le bar
the bar
l'hôtel
the hotel
l'école
the school
ExerciseTranslation of places
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Translate from English to French.
the school
l'école
the hotel
l'hôtel
the bar
le bar
the train station
la gare
the store
le magasin
the house
la maison
the office
le bureau
the bank
la banque
ExerciseFill in the blank using être
(Highlight or hover over a line to show the answer.)
Fill in each blank with the correct form of être.
nous ______
nous sommes
elle ______
elle est
tu ______
tu es
il ______
il est
elles ______
elles sont
vous ______
vous êtes
je ______
je suis
ils ______
ils sont
ExerciseWorking with the dialogue
Translate the dialogue to English with the help of the lists of vocabulary. Write your translation on a piece of paper before you check it.
Listen to the recording without reading and try to understand the meaning of the words. If you cannot remember some words, look them up and start again.
Read the dialogue aloud. Compare your pronunciation with the pronunciation of the recording.
Listen to the recording without reading and write down the dialogue in French. Pause the playback after each sentence to write down what you have heard. Repeat this exercise until you know the spelling of the French words.
/sa.ly/ (help·info)
/ɛtʁ/ (ehtr)
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