French 17

French I: Assignment 17
Voilà vos devoirs pour le 22 janvier :
• Review the grammar and memorize the vocabulary in this assignment.
• Do the exercises in this assignment.
• Write at least three sentences of your new composition. If you find you need to learn new
words, make a list of such words and hand them in.
• Practice saying and writing the following verse (track 40). We may say it in class together.
Ne savez-vous pas
que vous êtes le temple de Dieu,
et que l’Esprit de Dieu habite en vous ?
(1 Corinthiens 3.16)
Vocabulary
ce, cet, cette, ces
səә sɛt sɛ
this, that
demander
dəәmɑ̃de
to ask [a question]
prendre
prɑ̃dr
to take
comprendre
kɔ̃prɑ̃dr
to understand
vendre
vɑ̃dr
to sell
dire
dir
to say
faire
fɛr
to do
connaître
kɔnɛtr
to know, be acquainted with
savoir
savwar
to know, know how to
‘This’ and ‘that’
The word for ‘this’ and ‘that’ used with a noun in French varies depending on the gender and
number of the noun.
masculine singular: ce (before consonant), cet (before vowel)
feminine singular: cette
plural: ces
Assignment 17
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Below are example sentences using these forms:
Je n’obéis pas ce mauvais homme.
Je n’obéis pas cet homme.
Je n’obéis pas cette femme.
Je n’obéis pas ces personnes.
If a contrast between ‘this’ and ‘that’ is needed, ceci (‘this here’) and cela (‘that there’) are used.
Actually, ça (as in Comment ça va ? ) is a contracted form of cela.
Conjugations
This week you learned a number of common verbs which have slightly irregular conjugations. Now
that you are (hopefully) familiar with conjugation of verbs in -er and -ir, as well as être, avoir and
aller, you should soon feel confortable with these as well. You may need to recite these conjugations
to learn them well. Look carefully for the irregularities, in pronunciation and spelling.
prendre
je prends
tu prends
il prend
nous prenons
vous prenez
ils prennent
ʒəә prɑ̃
ty prɑ̃
il prɑ̃
nu prəәnɔ̃
vu prəәne
il prɛn
vendre
je vends
tu vends
il vend
nous vendons
vous vendez
ils vendent
ʒəә vɑ̃
ty vɑ̃
il vɑ̃
nu vɑ̃dɔ̃
vu vɑ̃de
il vɑ̃d
dire
je dis
tu dis
il dit
nous disons
vous dites
ils disent
ʒəә di
ty di
il di
nu disɔ̃
vu dit
il diz
faire
je fais
tu fais
il fait
nous faisons
vous faites
ils font
ʒəә fɛ
ty fɛ
il fɛ
nu fəәzɔ
̃
vu fɛt
il fɔ̃
connaître
je connais
tu connais
il connaît
nous connaissons
vous connaissez
ils connaissent
ʒəә kɔnɛ
ty kɔnɛ
il kɔnɛ
nu kɔnɛsɔ̃
vu kɔnɛse
il kɔnɛs
savoir
je sais
tu sais
il sait
nous savons
vous savez
ils savent
ʒəә sɛ
ty sɛ
il sɛ
nu savɔ̃
vu save
il sav
Assignment 17
2
The other ‘that’
There is another word ‘that’ in English, used to join sentences together. (It is usually pronounced
[ðəәt], not [ðæt], in this situation.) Notice that has a different meaning from the pointing word ‘that’.
The French word is que, which appears twice in this week’s verse.
Again, que/ ‘that’ joins two sentences. It often appears after a word meaning ‘to think’ or ‘to say’.
Exercises
Translate the following sentences into correct French. Reflexive verbs and infinitives might be
needed. Sentences 11–15 use the passé composé to express the past tense. For the past participles of
words that are not -er verbs, look up the past participle forms. (They are on the vocabulary page.)
1. I hate mosquitoes.
2. There isn’t time.
3. They don’t need that cheese.
4. My eyes and ears are very attentive.
5. I blush when he is [careful with this word!] at the table with me.
6. Do you know that I am the only girl in my family?
7. Are you hungry today?
8. I like to have fun with my uncle and my aunt.
9. Do you think that that* famous person is beautiful/handsome?
‑
10. It isn’t fun to be afraid of dogs.
11. I repeated the question for the students.
12. We didn’t find him. [Stuff goes around/before the conjugated verb, not the participle.]
13. Are your eyes green or blue?
14. I asked my sister† why she did not give her child‡ a gift for his birthday [anniversaire].
‑
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15. My brother bought a cat yesterday.
* The double ‘that’ is not a typo. Remember that ‘that’ means two different things in English.
† demander une question = ‘to ask a question’; demander à une personne = ‘to ask a person’
‡ You will need an extra preposition here! Think of another way to word this in English.
Assignment 17
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