French Language Blog

 Just like in English, a complex sentence in French is a sentence with more than one clause. These are often used and many times we don’t even realize they’re so complex because several of them so easily come rolling off our tongues. To begin our discussion, there are two kinds of clauses: main clauses and subordinate clauses. Main clauses can stand alone and can be completed with one or more other clauses to provide more information in a sentence. And these subordinate clauses that complete main clauses can not stand alone as they are dependent on the main clauses and function like nouns, adjectives or adverbs. Let’s take a look at some sample sentences and break the clauses down.

Le chien est un animal qui souvent habite avec l’homme.
^{MAIN CLAUSE                                  SUBORDINATE CLAUSE}

Bien que Christèle et Julia soient jumelles, elles ne se ressemblent pas parce qu’elles ont des personnalités très distinctes.

Above, we have two subordinate clauses (in bold) and the main clause (underlined).

Now, let’s talk about four different types of subordinate clauses.

1. LA SUBORDONNÉE RELATIVE – Relative clauses that modify noun phrases and begin with a relative pronoun (qui, que, dont, etc.)

Ex: J’ai un professeur qui est américain.

2. LA SUBORDONNÉE COMPLÉTIVE – Complement clauses that are arguments of a predicate and begin with the conjunction que. In English, these are sometimes known as “nominal that-clauses”.

Ex: Je pensais que ce magasin restait ouvert toute la nuit.

3. LES SUBORDONNÉES CIRCONSTANCIELLES – Adverbial clauses that modify other clauses just like adverbs do.

a. DE CAUSE (cause)

Ex: Je suis triste parce que mon mec m’a quitté.

b. DE CONSÉQUENCE (consequence)

Ex: Il a tellement crié qu’il a mal à la gorge.

c. DE TEMPS (time)

Ex: Quand j’ai mal à la gorge, j’aime bien manger de la glace.

d. DE BUT (purpose)

Ex: Je ferai tout pour que tu m’aimes encore.

e. DE CONDITION (condition)

Ex: Tu peux venir avec moi à condition que tes parents le sachent.

f. D’OPPOSITION (opposition)

Ex: Bien qu’elles sont soeurs, elles ont des goûts très différents.

g. DE COMPARAISON (comparison)

Ex: Elle parle à sa mère comme si c’était sa copine.

4. LA SUBORDONNÉE INTERROGATIVE INDIRECTE – Interrogative clauses that function like nominal clauses and begin with interrogative words.

Ex: Ma mère m’a demandé si j’avais fait mes devoirs. 

Okay, that’s complex enough for now, right?

C’est déjà assez complexe pour aujourd’hui, n’est-ce pas?

As I’ve mentioned before, I love French music.  So, in this article I will present another of my favorite French singers – Francis Cabrel.  This singer/songwriter was born on November 23, 1953 in Agen, France and grew up in a small village near Toulouse.  He started learning guitar as a shy teenager and later said that he thought his guitar helped him appear more interesting to others.  He is known to have been inspired by Bob Dylan and is said to know all of Dylan’s work by heart.  He learned English by translating the lyrics to these and other songs.  His music has a folk and sometimes country or blues feel.  I particularly like him because he has written about Spanish-related topics like bullfighting and has written and sung some very beautiful songs in Spanish like La corrida and La quiero a morir.

 Some of his most famous songs among French-speaking people are Petite Marie, which was dedicated to his wife Mariette, and L’encre de tes yeux.
  

The song he wrote about a young girl’s suicide called C’était l’hiver has been widely successful and also recorded by other singers such as Canada’s Isabelle Boulay.
 

Cabrel’s first album Les murs de poussière was recorded in 1977.  He is currently on tour as he released his most recent album Des roses et des orties this year.  I find that it fits right in with his repertoire as all of his songs in general are really in touch with nature and humanity and his native Southwest France.

You can read more about him in French and listen to clips of all of his songs at his official website by clicking here.

Finally, here is my very favorite by Cabrel:
Un samedi soir sur la terre
The sound quality of this video isn’t particularly great, but you can read the lyrics in the video. 

We had a request from LaDawn for some basic phrases, so that’s what I’ll write about today.  I’m always willing to try to please the readers!

Let’s start with the very basics and given that it’s basic…this is all language you will use with friends or people you know – in other words, people you address as ‘tu’: