Lesson

8

Plus PublicationsBramleyDouglas RoadCorkIreland(t) 353-(0)21-4847444(f) 353-(0)21-4847675(e) editor@learnfrenchbypodcast.com(i) www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com

LEARN FRENCHBY PODCASTAUDIO PODCASTSFOR LEARNERS OF FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Making a suggestion

Ça m’est égal!

avoir envie de

�� © Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

Lesson 08: Thursday, June 29th, 2006Level: beginner.

• adjectives• “Ça m’est égal!”• avoir envie de• “Ça te dirait de…?”• the Imperative

Dia

logu

e Hi again, Amélie. Bonjour!

Here, we’ve got a short podcast which arises from a question put to us by Brady, in Los Angeles. The question he asks is : how do we say « I don’t mind ! », for example, where one person asks another « Would you like to eat Thai or Chinese tonight ? »

Now, when we were preparing a little dialogue to illustrate this situation, several other interesting phrases came up, too. So we’re devoting a short lesson to Brady’s question, and some other expressions.

Listen to our short dialogue.Je suis fatiguée ce soir. Je n’ai pas envie de faire la cuisine. Ça te dirait de manger au resto du coin? Tu veux manger quoi ? Thai ou chinois ?Bah, ça m’est égal. T’as qu’à choisir!Bon, et bien, allons au chinois alors !

Let’s hear that once again…Je suis fatiguée […]

And a final time…Je suis fatiguée […]

Now, to start with the answer to Brady’s question, « I don’t mind » or, « It’s all the same to me » is…

Ça m’est égal.

Let’s try another quick exchange :« Tu veux le rouge ou le bleu ? »« Peu importe – ça m’est égal. »

Let’s hear that once again.« Tu veux le rouge ou le bleu ? »« Peu importe – ça m’est égal. »

Now, in our initial dialogue, we met some other useful expressions. When you said you didn’t want to cook, you said…

Je n’ai pas envie de faire la cuisine.

Now that expression – Je n’ai pas envie de … – is extremely useful when talking about what you’d like to do, or indeed, what you wouldn’t like to do.

Let’s try some other examples : suppose you’re watching some guys surfing. You say « I’d like to try that… »

J’ai très envie d’essayer ça.

On the subject of a political debate on TV, you might say…Un débat politique?! Ça me donne envie de zapper.

verb

essayer [= to try]j’essaietu essaiesil / elle / on essaienous essayonsvous essayezils / elles essaient

Past participle: essayé

Note!

… au chinois.That is, “… to the Chinese [restaurant].” The word “restaurant” is implied.

adjectives

fatigué [= tired]fatigué is the masculine singular form of the adjective.

In this case, however, Amélie is talking about herself so we need the feminine singular form of the adjective. That is, we must add an “e” to the adjective. This additional, silent “e”, makes no difference to the pronunciation of the adjective but is important, however, in the written form.

If Amélie and her sister were both tired, Amélie would say: “Nous sommes fatiguées.” In other words, the feminine plural ending would be required.

verb

vouloir [= to want, to wish]je veuxtu veuxil / elle / on veutnous voulonsvous voulezils / elles veulent

Past participle: voulu

Ça te dirait de…?

© Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved. �

Dia

logu

eLesson 08: Thursday, June 29th, 2006Level: beginner.

• adjectives• “Ça m’est égal!”• avoir envie de• “Ça te dirait de…?”• the Imperative

Then, when you proposed a couple of alternatives to me, regarding this evening’s meal, you said…

Ça te dirait de manger au resto du coin ?

Ça�te�dirait�de…�? That is, « Would you like to… ? » or « How would you feel about… ? » Let’s hear that again :

Ça te dirait de manger au resto du coin ?

Let’s try another couple of examples. « (How) would you like to go and see a movie ? »

Ça te dirait d’aller voir un film ?

« Would you like to go and have a drink ? »Ça te dirait d’aller prendre un pot ? »

“Un pot” – “a drink”. So, the formula is easy : it’s the expression Ça�te�dirait�de…,�followed�by�the�infinitive�of�another�verb. Now, there’s one more thing we should say : Amélie and I know each other, so we are using the informal « tu » form in French, rather than the more formal « vous » form which would be appropriate if we did not know each other, if we had only just met, for example.

So, if you were using this formula with a French person you had only just met, you’d say…

Ça vous dirait de… ?

And now, Amélie, how did you refer to « the local restaurant » ?

… le resto du coin.

…�le�resto�du�coin. Let’s point out two things here : « le resto » is a colloquial way of referring to …

… le restaurant.

It’s used frequently among friends. Then there’s the expression …�du�coin which means local. « Le resto du coin… », that is « the local restaurant » or « the restaurant down the road ».

Amélie, how would we refer to the�locals, that is, the�people�living�in�the�locality�? That would be…

… les gens du coin.

When I answered you, I said: Ça�m’est�égal.�T’as�qu’à�choisir. « T’as qu’à choisir » literally means « You only have to choose », in other words, « it’s up to you to decide ». Note that, in quick spoken French, the 2nd person singular of the verb « avoir » – « tu as » – becomes very quick : « T’as… ». Amélie, how might I say « Would you have some money ? »

« T’as de l’argent ? »

« Would you have a pen ? »« T’as un stylo ? »

verb

prendre [= to take, to get, to have (food)]

je prendstu prendsil / elle / on prendnous prenonsvous prenezils / elles prennent

past participle: pris

du, de la, des

conveying the idea of “some” [money], etc

… de l’argent (m)........some money… du sel (m) ................some salt… du sucre (m) ............some sugar… de la nourriture (f) ..some food… des poissons (m) .....some fish

In summary, du, de la, etc, convey the idea of “some [money]”, or simply, “money” without specifying exactly how much [money].

the Imperative

�� © Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

Lesson 08: Thursday, June 29th, 2006Level: beginner.

• adjectives• “Ça m’est égal!”• avoir envie de• “Ça te dirait de…?”• the Imperative

Dia

logu

e When we’re learning French, it’s probably better to use the full – unabbreviated form – « tu as… », but be aware that this sound is very common.

And finally, Amélie, you said « Let’s�go to the Chinese then ! » Remind us of how you said that :

Allons au chinois alors.

« Allons… » – « Let’s go… », that is the�imperative�form�of�the�verb�«�aller�». That imperative form in this case is easy : it’s just the « nous » part of the verb but we’re omitting the « nous ». How would we say, « Let’s eat ! »

Mangeons.

Let’s continue !Continuons!

And, « Let’s go ! »Allons-y !

Ok, Amélie, we’ll leave it there for now. To our listeners, don’t forget that you’ll find the content of our lesson in our PDF Guide, downloadable from our website at www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com. Until next time…

imperative

The ImperativeThis is the form of the verb we use when we are ordering or directing someone to do something. The following are examples of the Imperative in English:• Go!• Leave!• Let’s decide!

In French, the third example above is formed by taking the “Nous…” part of the Present tense and simply omitting the “nous”:

• [Nous] allons• [Nous] écoutons• [Nous] continuons

Note…

Allons-y!This is another example of the Imperative. Literally, “Let’s go there!”

© Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved. �

Dia

logu

eLesson 08: Thursday, June 29th, 2006Level: beginner.

• adjectives• “Ça m’est égal!”• avoir envie de• “Ça te dirait de…?”• the Imperative

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

1. He wants to try that.

2. That makes me want to eat.

3. Would you like to go [into] town?

4. Would you like to visit Claire?

5. Let’s work!

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

Now

it’s

your

turn

…

Any questions?…

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

Any comments?…

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

Vocab extra!• alors ...................... so, then• bien ....................... good, well• bleu ....................... blue• bon ........................ good• chinois ................... Chinese• choisir ................... to choose• cuisine, faire la ~ .. to cook• débat (m) .............. debate• peu importe .......... it doesn’t matter• quoi ....................... what?• rouge ..................... red• soir (m) ................. evening• très ........................ very• zapper ................... to change

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