Lecon 4

There are many verbs in French. A verb is word denoting an action, occurrence, or state of existence. You will be taught some essential verbs. These verbs will allow you to create or construct a mixture of sentences. The first two very essential verbs are ‘to be’ and ‘to have’. A raw verb (infinitive) in English starts with a ‘to’. In French, infinitive verbs end in –er, -ir and –re.

But let’s have a look at pronouns. A pronoun is a function word that is used in place of a noun or noun phrase. A pronoun is divided into a first-person, a second-person and third-person. It could also be in the state of singular and plural. For instance, in English, the first person singular is ‘I’, while a first person plural is ‘We’. Second person singular and plural is ‘You’, while third person singular can either be ‘it’, ‘he’ or ‘she’. Plural third person is ‘They’.

In this lesson, you will learn about pronouns, the verbs “être” and “avoir”, as well as some simple descriptive sentences and how to create negations.

Pronouns

Je	zhuh
Tu (singular, informal)	tew
Il	eel
Elle	el
On	oñ
Nous	noo
Vous (formal or plural)	voo
Ils (masc. or mix)	eel
Elles (exclusively feminine)	el

The verbs “être” (to be) and “avoir” (to have)

être etruh		avoir ahvwar
Je suis zhuh swee	I am	J’ai zhay	I have
Tu es (inf., sing.) tew ay	You are	Tu as (inf., sing.) tew ah	You have
Il est ee lay	He is	Il a ee lah	He has
Elle est el lay	She is	Elle a el lah	She has
On est on nay	One is	On a on ah	One has
Nous sommes noo som	We are	Nous avons noo zavoñ	We have
Vous êtes voo zet	You are	Vous avez voo zavay	You have
Ils sont eel soñ	They are	Ils ont eel zoñ	They have
Elles sont el soñ	They are	Elles ont el zoñ	They have

être is usually used to describe something or someone. In using descriptive words (adjectives), the adjective used must agree with the gender and whether the noun described about is singular or plural. Thus, changes have to be done accordingly.

Example

Il est grand ee lay grañ	He is big/tall
Elle est grande el lay grand	She is big/tall
Ils sont grands (all male or mix group) eel soñ grañ	They are big/tall
Elles sont grandes (all female group) el soñ grand	They are big/tall
Je suis fatigué (a male speaker) zhuh swee fahteegay	I am tired
Je suis fatiguée (a female speaker) zhuh swee fahteegay	I am tired
Nous sommes malaisiens noo som mahlayziañ	We are Malaysians
Je suis malaisienne (female speaker) zhuh swee mahlayzien	I am Malaysian

Some example of phrases that can be used with avoir

J’ai un rendez-vous zhay añ rañdayvoo	I have a meeting
Ils ont des portables eel zoñ day portahbluh	They have handphones
Elle a mon frère el lah moñ frair	She has my brother
Vous avez trois livres voo zavay trwa leevruh	You have three books

The pronouns can be ‘exchanged’ with any nouns, in either case. But, don’t forget the rules on gender and plurality for any sentences using ‘être’.

Ma mère a une maison mah mair ah ewn mayzoñ	My mother has a house
Mes frères ont des automobiles may frair zoñ day zohtohmohbeel	My brothers have cars
Tes soeurs ont des ordinateurs tay suhr zoñ day zohrdeenahtuhr	Your sisters have computers
Mes amis et moi avons un vélo may zamee zay mwa ahvoñ zañ vayloh	My friends and I have a bicycle
Ta femme est belle tah fam ay bel	Your wife is beautiful
Votre mari est beau vawtruh mahree ay bo	Your husband is handsome
Son enfant est mauvais saw nañfañ tay mohvay	His/her child is bad
Ses filles sont géniales say feeyuh soñ zhayneeyal	His/her daughters are brilliant.

NO NO NO!!!

In English, a negative sentence is made simply by putting in a ‘not’. Example: I am Malaysian. To make it negative, ‘not’ is added after the verb, thus becomes “I am not Malaysian.”

In French, the words ‘ne’ and ‘pas’ are added, one before the verb, one after. Thus, the word “Je suis malaisien” becomes “Je ne suis pas malaisien”. When met with a verb that starts with a vowel, the ne become n’.

For avoir, the negative for any sentences with des will change to de. For instance, the sentence “J’ai des livres” becomes “Je n’ai pas de livres”.

More examples :

Je suis célibataire zhuh swee sayleebahtair	I am single	Je ne suis pas célibataire zhuh nuh swee pah sayleebahtair	I am not single
Je suis marié(e) zhuh swee mahreeyay	I am married	Je ne suis pas marié(e) zhuh nuh swee pas mahreeyay	I am not married
Tu as un livre tew ah añ leevruh	You have a book	Tu n’as pas de livre tew nah pah duh leevruh	You don’t have any book
Nous avons des radios noo zavoñ day rahdeeoh	We have (some) radios	Nous n’avons pas de radios. noo navoñ pah duh rahdeeoh	We don’t have any radios
Je suis sûr(e) zhuh swee sewr	I am sure	Je ne suis pas sûr(e) zhuh nuh swee pah sewr	I am not sure

Can You Answer These Questions ?

1. Es-tu marié?

2. Es-tu célibataire?

3. Avez-vous des radios?

4. Avez-vous des livres?

5. Es-tu grand?

Lecon 3

There are two words for ‘you’ in French. ‘Vous’ is used to address someone with higher authority or to a stranger. It can also be used to address to a group of people (plural). It is equivalent to the Malay word ‘awak’. ‘Tu’ is used to address someone whom you are familiar with, close friends, people of your own age or younger; it is equivalent to the Malay word ‘kau’ or ‘engkau’.

If in English, the word “I have” is “J’ai”, the words for “You have” are “Vous avez [voo zavay]” or “Tu as [tew ah]” depending on whether you’re talking in a formal or informal situation.

In order to denote ‘possession’, the English use the words ‘my’, ‘your’, ‘his’, ‘her’, etc. As in English, French has several terms as well, only that, a single word like ‘my’, there are three in French; each to convey the idea of a singular noun, a plural noun, with respect to its gender.

In this lesson, you will learn about possessive adjectives, how to ask questions and making simple sentences to introduce other people.

Useful Words

mon moñ	my (with singular masculine noun) (with singular noun that starts with a vowel)	mon père mon automobile
ma mah	my (with singular feminine noun)	ma mère
mes may	my (with plural noun, masc. or fem.)	mes parents mes frères mes soeurs
ton toñ	your (with singular masculine noun, informal) (with singular noun that starts with a vowel)	ton frère ton automobile
ta tah	your (with singular feminine noun, informal)	ta soeur
tes tay	your (with plural noun, masc. or fem.)	tes nièces tes neveux
votre vawtruh	your (with singular noun, masc. or fem., formal)	votre mère votre père
vos voh	your (with plural noun, masc. or fem., formal)	vos parents vos oncles vos tantes
son soñ	his/her (with singular masculine noun) (with singular noun that starts with a vowel)	son oncle son neuve
sa sah	his/her (with singular feminine noun)	sa femme sa tante
ses say	his/her (with plural noun, masc. or fem.)	ses oncles ses tantes

Asking Questions

To ask a question in French is very simple. There are 3 ways to do so:

1. to change the intonation from ‘making a statement’ intonation to ‘making a question’ intonation.

• in making a statement, the tone of voice goes lower at the end of the sentence

• Vous avez trois filles.

• in making a question, the tone of voice goes higher at the end of the sentence

• Vous avez trois filles?

2. to add in an ‘est-ce que [es kuh]’ line in front of the whole statement.

• statement: Vous avez trois filles. [voo zavay trwa feeyuh]

• question : Est-ce que vous avez trois filles ? [es kuh voo zavay trwa feeyuh]

3. to invert or exchange place between the pronoun and the verb. In English, the statement “You have three daughters” can be a question with inversion: “Have you three daughters?” The same formula can be used as follows:

• statement: Vous avez trois filles.

• question : Avez-vous trois filles ?

A Conversation

This is a conversation between two people talking about their families.

Personne A : Avez-vous des enfants?

Personne B : Oui, j’ai trois fils et une fille. Et vous ?

Personne A : Moi, j’ai une belle-fille.

Useful Words and Phrases

Voici vwasee	Here is/are
Voilà vwalah	There is/are
C’est say	This is / That is
Ce sont suh soñ	Those are
Voici ma femme vwasee mah fam	Here is my wife
Voilà mon fils vwalah moñ fees	There is my son
Voici mes enfants vwasee may zañfañ	Here are my children
Ce sont mes soeurs suh soñ may suhr	Those are my sisters
Avez-vous des soeurs et des frères ? avez voo day suhr et day frair	Do you have any brothers and sisters?
C’est ta mère ? say tah mair	Is that your mother ?
Je vous présente … zhuh voo prayzañ	I introduce you …