Lesson 4 Notes

CoffeeBreakFrench.com
Lesson 4
Notes
In this edition:
more about
where you’re
from and where
you live
Je viens de Paris mais j’habite à Nice
Talking about where you live
Programme Notes
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get more out of each episode by explaining how words are written and giving you more information
about each phrase along with some bonus vocabulary where appropriate.
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Language Notes
Coffee Break French: Lesson 4
d’où viens-tu?
where are you from? (informal)
d’où venez-vous?
where are you from? (formal)
je viens de ...
I come from ...
je viens d’Édimbourg
I come from Edinburgh
tu viens de ... ?
do you come from ... ?
tu viens de Londres?
do you come from London?
je ne viens pas de ...
I don’t come from ...
In French the negative is formed
by placing ne ... pas around the
verb. “I come from...” is je viens
de; “I don’t come from...” is je
ne viens pas de ...
j’habite à ...
I live in ...
Note that here the word for “in”
is à. There are a number of
words for “in” in French,
depending on the context.
je n’habite pas à ...
I don’t live in ...
If the word ne is followed by a
vowel, or a vowel sound (habite
begins with a silent ‘h’), then it
shortens to n’ as in je n’habite
pas.
où habites-tu?
where do you live?
informal
où habitez-vous?
where do you live?
formal
mais
but
silent -s on the end
maintenant
now
Covered in lesson 3
Note that de becomes d’ when
it’s followed by a word
beginning with a vowel
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Language Notes
je viens de Glasgow mais
maintenant j’habite à Londres
I come from Glasgow but now I
live in London
Montréal
Montreal
Francfort
Frankfurt
aujourd’hui
today
je suis prêt ...
I am ready ... (m)
the ‘t’ is silent on the end of prêt
je suis prête ...
I am ready ... (f)
the -e on the end of prête makes
you pronounce the ‘t’ sound
... pour apprendre le français
... to learn French
Note that languages and
nationalities don’t have capital
letters in French
The following conversation is a transcription of the conversation included in lesson 4. It brings together
a number of language points covered in lessons 1-3.
Spotlight
negatives
In English we form negatives in quite a complicated way. Think of the
phrase “I speak French”. To make this negative we have to introduce
another verb, “do”, and make that negative, resulting in “I do not
speak French”. If you heard the phrase “I speak not French”, then
you’d probably understand what was being said, ie. that the person
doesn’t speak French. However, we do not use this form in English.
When you’re learning another language it’s often useful to create for
yourself an intermediate language or code in between both languages
to help you. Let’s consider the phrase “I come from Paris”, in French
je viens de Paris. To make this negative, we could say in English “I do
not come from Paris” or “I don’t come from Paris”, but when we
translate this into French we don’t translate each word as in “I” = je;
“do” = ... and so on. Instead we translate the concept “I come not
from Paris”.
The French negative is formed by placing the word ne before the verb
(in this case viens) and then the word pas after the verb. In spoken
French you often don’t hear the word ne. It’s therefore quite normal to
hear je viens pas d Paris, but the correct form, especially in written
French is je ne viens pas de Paris.
As we cover more phrases in Coffee Break French we’ll come across
further examples of the negative and everything will fall into place!
Additional vocabulary
Coffee Break French: Lesson 4
ici
here
tu es d’ici?
are you from here? (informal)
vous êtes d’ici?
are you from here? (formal)
je suis d’ici
I am from here
je ne suis pas d’ici
I am not from here
j’habite dans un village
I live in a village
j’habite dans une ville
I live in a town
... qui s’appelle ...
... which is called ...
tu es means “are you” or “you
are”, and is linked to the verb je
suis
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Additional vocabulary
j’habite dans un village qui
s’appelle St-Jean
I live in a village which is called
St-Jean
j’habite dans une ville qui
s’appelle Villefranche
I live in a town which is called
Villefranche
Note that in French you can’t
really say “I live in a village
called St-Jean” - you have to
use the word for “which”
TRY OUT YOUR FRENCH
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Coffee Break French: Lesson 4
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