Archive for 'Vocabulary'
Que vas-tu faire? * Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 7, 2016
After last week’s example of the passé composé, I thought this week we’d take a look ahead . . . to the avenir (“the future”). There are two common ways of forming the future in French: the futur proche which like the passé composé is formed using an auxillary verb (recall that the passé composé…
Après moi, le déluge – Flood Vocabulary in French Posted by Josh Dougherty on Jun 2, 2016
If you’ve been following the news, you’ve probably heard of the torrential downpour in Europe that has caused flooding responsible for the death of at least 10 people. Unfortunately, la météo (the forecast) shows more rain in the coming days. Thousands of people in France have been evacuated as the floods have now been declared…
What’s On The Agenda? – Time Management In French Posted by John Bauer on Jun 1, 2016
I received un mail (an email) the other day with a simple message: La prochaine réunion sera chez moi à 17h. Est-ce que vous êtes disponible ? The next meeting will be at my place at 5 o’clock. Are you available? After making sure that 17h is 5 PM and not 7 PM, I wrote…
Punctuation Mark and Symbol Names in French Posted by Josh Dougherty on May 26, 2016
John’s post yesterday reminded me of the first time I had to orally give mon adresse mail. I knew she was talking about my email address. I’d mastered the alphabet and proudly spelled out the letters, but I stopped when I got to the at sign. How do you say that?? I didn’t want to say…
Two Different Mails – Email In French Posted by John Bauer on May 25, 2016
Talking about the Internet in French can be confusing. There’s a mix of vocabulary borrowed from English and new terms in French. It can also be hard to know how to say any symbol whether it’s just numbers or “@” (arobase). Then there’s learning how to type using un clavier AZERTY! Writing and sending emails…
Silence, on tourne!* Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 24, 2016
« A mes yeux Paris restera le décor d’un roman que personne n’écrira jamais.»** Paris, Julien Green, 1984 Before we get to this week’s post, I wanted to revisit last week. While I included examples like Bonjour / Bonne journée, I forgot to include Bonsoir et Bonne soirée (good evening) . . . and bonne matinée…
Properly Soft – Laundry In French Posted by John Bauer on May 18, 2016
La vie quotidiènne (everday life) can sneak up on you in French. You may know how to conjugate the subjunctive, but can still have trouble asking someone to fermer les stores (close the blinds). I always have to learn new words for everyday things, like when I needed to buy un tournevis ou une pile…