Lesson - Learn French by Podcast

LEARN
FRENCH
BY PODCAST
AUDIO PODCASTS
FOR LEARNERS
OF FRENCH
AS A FOREIGN
LANGUAGE
Lesson
11
Talking about
the weather
Plus Publications
Bramley
Douglas Road
Cork
Ireland
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Lesson 11
Level: beginner. DISCUSSING THE WEATHER
Dialogue
•
•
•
•
•
il fait [beau / mauvais / chaud / froid]
il fait 24 degrés
Ça nous change de…
M’en parle pas!
on a eu…
Hello again from Learn French by Podcast. My name is
Hugh Nagle and joining me in the studio today is Amélie
Verdier – bonjour Amélie !
Bonjour !
Note!
il risque d’y avoir…
This expression means There’s a risk
of (there being)…
In this context, it means “There’s a
risk of thunder…”
… and Julien Gruet – bonjour Julien!
Bonjour!
Today’s short podcast will give us some vocabulary
to discuss the weather. Let’s listen first to a short
conversation…
Bonjour !
Bonjour !
Il fait beau aujourd’hui !
Oui, il n’y a pas un seul nuage à l’horizon !
En plus il fait chaud ! Je pense qu’il fait au moins 24
degrés. C’est agréable !
Oui, mais s’il fait trop chaud, il risque d’y avoir de
l’orage dans la soirée !
J’ai peur de l’orage ! Surtout lorsque qu’il y a
beaucoup d’éclairs et du tonnerre !
En tout cas, ça nous change d’il y a une semaine ! Il
faisait un temps de chien !
M’en parle pas ! Je pense qu’on a tout eu ! Grêle,
pluie, vent ! Je déteste quand je dois sortir et qu’il
pleut des cordes !
Remember!
avoir peur de [= to be afraid]
j’ai
| peur de l’orage
nous avons |
Note the use of the verb avoir in
French. The expression really means to
have fear of (something).
Remember!
il y a
This expression can mean There is /
are or, in this case, ago:
Il y a une semaine = a week ago
Now, let’s hear all that once again…
Bonjour !
Bonjour ! […]
Note!
• pleuvoir comme vache qui pisse …
And one final time…
Bonjour !
Bonjour ! […]
When you described today’s weather, Julien, you said…
Il fait beau.
Il fait…, that’s the verb faire. We’d use this verb, too, if we
said the weather was bad. In this case we’d say…
Il fait mauvais.
Where you see
this symbol…
… it’s your turn
to repeat what
you’ve heard.
Then we’ll
repeat once
more.
2
faire [in
relation to
the weather]
The verb faire appeared again when you mentioned
today’s temperature. You said…
Il fait au moins 24 degrés.
Il pleut comme vache qui pisse! means It’s raining
like… well, you can guess, can’t you? Similar in meaning
– but less colourful – is the expression: Il pleut des
cordes.
And, yet again, we heard the verb faire when you worried
that it might get too hot. That expression was…
S’il fait trop chaud…
pleuvoir [= to rain]
il pleut.....................it’s raining
il a plu......................it rained
il pleuvra.................it will rain
Now, to simplify things for a moment, and practice using
this verb, the expression « It’s hot ! » is…
Il fait chaud.
Il fait chaud.
Note that pleuvoir is “an impersonal verb”: it’s used only
in the 3rd person singular, that, is with the pronoun il.
© Plus Publications. All rights reserved.
Lesson 11
Level: beginner. DISCUSSING THE WEATHER
il fait [beau / mauvais / chaud / froid]
il fait 24 degrés
Ça nous change de…
M’en parle pas!
on a eu…
Dialogue
•
•
•
•
•
It’s very hot is…
Il fait très chaud.
Il fait très chaud.
Remember!
très...........................very
trop..........................too
And, it’s too hot is…
Il fait trop chaud.
Il fait trop chaud.
Remember!
In the middle of winter, we might talk of the cold…
Il fait froid.
Il fait froid.
It’s very cold…
Il fait très froid.
Il fait très froid.
… it’s your turn
to repeat what
you’ve heard.
Then we’ll
repeat once
more.
© Plus Publications. All rights reserved.
C’est chaud.
être
oneself*
J’ai chaud.
avoir
*”A year” can also be une année.
As a general rule, une année is found
in more specific contexts:
• l’année scolaire (the school year)
• depuis le début de l’année (since
the start of the year)
We have the feminine plural form of the adjective
– “… froides” – as we are describing someone’s hands
and “la main” is feminine. So remember, « faire » for the
weather, « être » for objects.
Where you see
this symbol…
faire
objects
une semaine...........a week
un mois....................a month
un an*......................a year
That’s “C’est chaud…” – the verb être. If we were to say
« Your hands are cold », we’d hear…
Tes mains sont froides.
Literally, « It changes us… » though, in English, we simply
say « It has changed … ».
Amélie, « There’s been a change since a month
ago… » would be…
Ça nous change d’il y a un mois.
Ça nous change d’il y a un mois.
Il fait beau.
Remember!
Now, we must point out that the use of the verb faire in
these cases relates to the weather. On the other hand, if
we’re talking about an object being hot, for example the
cooker, in that case we use the verb être. We might warn a
child who was about to approach a fire…
« Attention au feu ! C’est chaud ! »
Let’s hear that once again…
Ça nous change d’il y a une semaine.
Ça nous change d’il y a une semaine.
That’s the verb…
the weather
*In this conversation, we didn’t hear “J’ai chaud/froid”. Remember,
however, that “avoir” is used when we wish to say that we,
ourselves, are hot/cold. We’ll meet this expression in future lessons.
And, it’s too cold…
Il fait trop froid.
Il fait trop froid.
Amélie, we heard you mention that there was a change
from a week ago. You said…
Ça nous change d’il y a une semaine.
In relation to… We say…
Ça nous
change de…
Ça
Ça is an abbreviation of the word Cela
(= “That…”).
Cela can be quite emphatic, as in the
following examples:
• Cela ne fait aucun doute.
[= There’s no doubt about that.]
• Cela nous rassure.
[= That reassures us.]
3
Lesson 11
Level: beginner. DISCUSSING THE WEATHER
Dialogue
•
•
•
•
•
il fait [beau / mauvais / chaud / froid]
il fait 24 degrés
Ça nous change de…
M’en parle pas!
on a eu…
… and, from a year ago…
Ça nous change d’il y a un an.
Ça nous change d’il y a un an.
Not only in relation to the weather, but in a wide variety
of contexts, we would use the expression « Don’t talk to
me ! » or « Don’t mention that ! ». In French, we have the
expression…
M’en parle pas !
imperative
The Imperative
negative
imperative
In this situation (on the left), what we
are really saying is: “Don’t [you] talk to
me about that!”
“Ne m’en parle pas!” comes from the
2nd person singular of the verb
“parler”, a regular “–er” verb.
In fact, this negative imperative is Ne m’en parle pas ! but
remember, in quick, spoken French, the initial « Ne… »
tends not to be heard. Let’s hear that once more…
[Ne] m’en parle pas!
[Ne] m’en parle pas!
You said we had had [a bit of] everything recently – hail,
rain, wind. How did you say that again?…
Je pense qu’on a tout eu.
That is, « I think we’ve had everything. » The easiest way of
remembering this expression is simply to learn the sound
of the pattern. Let’s hear it again : the first part is…
Je pense …
… followed by :
… qu’on a tout eu.
… qu’on a tout eu – “… that we have had
everything”.
« On a… » – that’s the auxiliary verb « avoir », followed
by “… eu”, the past participle of the verb « avoir » ! In
other words, « We have had… ». Let’s put this expression
to work :
“We have had thunder.”
On a eu du tonnerre.
On a eu du tonnerre.
“We have had lightning.”
On a eu des éclairs.
On a eu des éclairs.
This is the form of the verb we use
when we are ordering or directing
someone to do something.
In the case of “–er” verbs, the
“s” of the 2nd person singular is
dropped in the imperative:
avoir, au passé
composé
Tu parles a Parle! (No “s” in the
imperative form.)
verb
avoir [= to have]
j’ai
tu as
il / elle / on a
nous avons
vous avez
ils / elles ont
past participle: eu
Note!
The pronoun “on” means one,
people, we, depending on the
context.
Here, we could also have:
• Nous avons eu des éclairs.
“We have had rain.”
On a eu de la pluie.
On a eu de la pluie.
Where you see
this symbol…
… it’s your turn
to repeat what
you’ve heard.
Then we’ll
repeat once
more.
4
And… unrelated to the weather : « We have had visitors »
or simply : « We had visitors… » would be…
On a eu des invités.
On a eu des invités.
© Plus Publications. All rights reserved.
Lesson 11
Level: beginner. DISCUSSING THE WEATHER
il fait [beau / mauvais / chaud / froid]
il fait 24 degrés
Ça nous change de…
M’en parle pas!
on a eu…
Dialogue
•
•
•
•
•
Amélie and Julien, we’ve covered a lot of ground today:
we’ve seen several uses of the verb faire, we know how
to describe objects as being hot or cold, we can direct
people not to do something and finally, we’ve used the
verb “avoir” in the past. Until next time !
A la prochaine.
Now it’s your turn…
If you understood our lesson, then you should be ready for…
1. It’s cold today.
2. It’s hot today.
Vocab extra!
… filmé d’une
façon […]
3. It’s cold. [In this case, you’re talking about the surface of something, i.e. la surface.]
4. We’ve had a surprise! [une surprise]
5. I’ve had a disrupted afternoon. [un après-midi perturbé]
click!
mignon,
mignonne
See the answers at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htm
Any questions?…
• agréable................... pleasant
• aujourd’hui............... today
• beaucoup................. a lot, many
• cas, en tout ~........... in any case
• détester.................... to detest, to
hate
• devoir....................... to have to
• éclair (m).................. (flash of)
lightning
• grêle (f).................... hail
• horizon, à l’~........... on the horizon
• invité (m)................. guest
• lorsque..................... when
• moins, au ~............. at least
• nuage (m)................ cloud
• orage (m)................. storm
• penser...................... to think
• peur (f).................... fear
• peur, avoir ~ de........ to be afraid of
• pisser(!).................... to piss(!)
• pleuvoir des cordes... to lash with
rain
• pluie (f).................... rain
• quand....................... when
• seul.......................... single, lone
• soirée (f).................. evening
• sortir........................ to go out
• surtout..................... especially
• tonnerre (m)............ thunder
• très........................... very
• trop.......................... too
• vache (f)................... cow
• vent (m)................... wind
Submit them to us at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/question.htm click!
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Submit them to us at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/feedback.htm click!
© Plus Publications. All rights reserved.
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