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 …