Tag Archives: free French lesson
Funny French Expressions Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Feb 23, 2017
Recently, we’ve gone over French idioms and other common French expressions. But now let’s go over some funny French expressions that will have you laughing out loud (check out this post on the French equivalent of LOL–MDR). Avoir le cafard One of the most common French idiomatic expressions is a funny … if not odd… one…
Aïe! French When You’re in Pain Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Feb 6, 2017
Aïe! (Ow!) I caught a head cold and am dealing with a painful headache today. I’m trying not to complain too much, but sometimes you’ve just got to speak about your ailments. And, if you happen to be in France when said ailments come on, you’ll need the correct French translation to express your pain and get…
French Question: Why is it “Le Nouvel An” and not “Le Nouveau An”? Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Jan 4, 2017
Bonne année! Happy New Year! I wish all of our Transparent French readers a happy and healthy 2017. Talking about the new year in French can be especially difficult. This is because there are two words that mean “year”–an (m) and année (f)–and because both of these words start with a vowel, which can change the word that…
C’est Noël! Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Dec 19, 2016
Well, not quite. Ce n’est pas encore Noël. But it will be soon enough. And it’s the perfect time to enjoy some Christmas music … en français. Last week, John shared with you le chanson “Au Royaume du Bonhomme Hiver” (Walking in a Winter Wonderland). There’s another holiday classic is often played on French airwaves during this season: “C’est Noël” (It’s Christmas)…
Adjective Placement in French (Part 2) Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Dec 12, 2016
Last week, we went over an easy acronym to help you determine where to place an adjective in relation to the noun it is modifying. However, as we know, there are exceptions to grammar rules. And with French adjective order, the rules can get tricky … particularly when certain adjectives change meaning depending on where…
Les Petites Noires Chaussures? Ou Les Petites Chaussures Noires? (Adjective Placement in French) Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Dec 5, 2016
So, which one is right? Les petites noires chaussures? Or … les petites chaussures noires? Believe it or not, there are rules governing proper adjective placement in English, too, although we are not typically aware of them. Native English speakers typically can “feel out” whether something is correct or not by how it sounds. This is why you…
La Toussaint (All Saints’ Day) Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Oct 24, 2016
As Tim mentioned in a recent post, Halloween traditionally wasn’t celebrated in France and has only been exported to France is recent years from American traditions. Even when I was living in France around eight years ago, you wouldn’t see children trick-or-treat in the streets of Paris. Rather, some friends would hold small Halloween parties and…