High School French: L'art d'écrire

I am excited to announce that Nallenart's program for first year high school, L'art d'écrire, has gone to press. L'art d'écrire follows the Ontario curriculum guidelines for FSF1D, grade 9 advanced French.

More than just grammar lessons, vocabulary, and exercises, the content of the course is built around the theme of self-discovery. Students are challenged to examine their likes and dislikes, the uniqueness of their personalities, and their hopes and dreams for the future.

In addition to this, students begin to explore some of the classics of French literature, such as the famous play Cyrano de Bergerac and the novels of Jules Verne.

Sample Pages will be posted soon!

Available April 6, 2009.

Le Louvre

The Louvre (LOO-vruh) in the French capital city of Paris is one of the largest art museums in the world. Many famous and easily recognized paintings and sculptures are exhibited there, such as Leonardo DaVinci's Mona Lisa and the Greek statue Venus de Milo. The museum covers more than 16 hectares (40 acres) and contains 13 kilometers (8 miles) of galleries!

To see the Louvre online visit: The Louvre Museum Official Website.

This site can be viewed in French or English.

Lire = to read

Lire is an irregular verb meaning to read. The English words literature and literary are related to lire.

je lis (zhuh LEE)
= I read, I am reading, I do read
tu lis (tyoo LEE)
= you read, you are reading, you do read
il lit (eel LEE)
= he reads, he is reading, he does read
elle lit (el LEE)
= she reads, she is reading, she does read

nous lisons (noo lee-SOH)
= we read, we do read, we are reading
vous lisez (voo lee-ZAY)
= you read, you are reading, you do read
ils lisent (eel LEEZ)
= they read, they are reading, they do read
elles lisent (el LEEZ)
= they read, they are reading, they do read

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Dormir

Dormir means “to sleep.” Our English words dormitory and dormant are related to dormir. Write out and memorize the present tense of dormir.

je dors (zhuh DOHR)
= I sleep, I am sleeping, I do sleep
tu dors (tyoo DOHR)
= you sleep, you are sleeping, you do sleep
il dort (eel DOHR)
= he sleeps, he is sleeping, he does sleep
elle dort (el DOHR)
= she sleeps, she is sleeping, she does sleep

nous dormons (noo dohr-MOH)
= we sleep, we are sleeping, we do sleep
vous dormez (voo dohr-MAY)
= you sleep, you are sleeping, you do sleep
ils dorment (eel DOHRM)
= they sleep, they are sleeping, they do sleep
elles dorment (el DOHRM)
= they sleep, they are sleeping, they do sleep

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More -IR Verbs

Here are some more -IR verbs.

réfléchir (ray-flay-SHEER) = to think, to reflect
choisir (shwah-ZEER) = to choose
bâtir (ba-TEER) = to build
punir (pyoo-NEER) = to punish
grandir (grahn-DEER) = to grow
réussir (ray-yoo-SEER) = to succeed

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-IR Verbs

Finir means to finish. Other verbs have similar endings. This group of verbs, -IR verbs, is the second major verb group, after -ER verbs.

je finis (zhuh fee-NEE)
= I finish, I am finishing, I do finish
tu finis (tyoo fee-NEE)
= you finish, you are finishing, you do finish
il finit (eel fee-NEE)
= he finishes, he is finishing, he does finish
elle finit (el fee-NEE)
= she finishes, she is finishing, she does finish

nous finissons (noo fee-nee-SOH)
= we finish, we are finishing, we do finish
vous finissez (voo fee-nee-SAY)
= you finish, you are finishing, you do finish
ils finissent (eel fee-NEES)
= they finish, they are finishing, they do finish
elles finissent (el fee-NEES)
= they finish, they are finishing, they do finish

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Expressions with avoir

Avoir (to have) is used in many common expressions in French. Some of these are quite different from English, so you must memorize them.

1. avoir chaud (a-VWAHR shoh)*- to be hot
2. avoir froid (a-VWAHR frwah)- to be cold
3. avoir mal (a-VWAHR mal)- to be sick
4. avoir faim (a-VWAHR fay)- to be hungry
5. avoir soif (a-VWAHR swahf)- to be thirsty
6. avoir sommeil (a-VWAHR soh-MAY)- to be tired, sleepy
7. avoir peur de (a-VWAHR PUHR duh)- to be afraid of
8. avoir besoin de (a-VWAHR buh-ZWAY duh)- to have need of

*Please note that these pronunciation guides give only a crude approximation of the French sounds!

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Quelle est la date?

To ask, “What is the date today?” say:
Quelle est la date aujourd’hui?

To answer, we say:
Aujourd’hui, c’est le jour numéro mois.
eg.: Aujourd’hui c’est le lundi 6 février.
Today is Monday, February 6.

Another possibility:
Aujourd’hui, c’est jour, le numéro mois.
eg.: Aujourd’hui c’est mercredi, le 14 mars.
Today is Wednesday, March 14.

Les Mois de l’année

Can you put the months of the year in order? Notice how the months in French are very similar to the months in English.

février
avril
août
octobre
septembre
mai
novembre
janvier
juin
juillet
décembre
mars

Listen to the French Months of the Year Podcast.

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Les jours de la semaine

Can you put the French days of the week in order?

vendredi
mardi
dimanche
lundi
samedi
jeudi
mercredi

Take the days of the week quiz.

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Days of the Week

Les jours de la semaine

Sunday - dimanche
Monday - lundi
Tuesday - mardi
Wednesday - mercredi
Thursday - jeudi
Friday - vendredi
Saturday - samedi

Notice that the days of the week are not capitalized in French as they are in English.

Take the days of the week quiz.

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Au clair de la lune

Maybe you have heard this French folk song.

Au clair de la lune,
mon ami Pierrot,
prête-moi ta plume
pour écrire un mot.
Ma chandell’ est morte;
je n’ai plus de feu.
Ouvre-moi ta porte
pour l’amour de Dieu.

By the light of the moon, the singer asks his friend Pierrot to lend him a pen so that he can write. He also complains that his candle has also gone out. He begs Pierrot to open the door “for the love of God.”

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Using Colour Words

In French the colour words come after the nouns that they describe.

For example:
une pomme rouge = a red apple (an apple, red)

See if you can translate the following phrases:

une tomate rouge
un chien brun
une banane jaune
une carotte orange
le céleri vert

Try our Colour Wordsearch and Colour Crossword Puzzles.

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Pronouns

Instead of having a separate pronoun such as it to refer to things, French uses il (he, it) to replace masculine nouns and elle (she, it) to replace feminine nouns.

The book is black. It is black.
Le livre est noir. Il est noir.

The tomato is red. It is red.
La tomate est rouge. Elle est rouge

Plural nouns follow the same pattern.

The bananas are yellow. They are yellow.
Les bananas sont jaunes. Elles sont jaunes.

The pencils are green. They are green.
Les crayons sont verts. Ils sont verts.

Notice that the colour words must be plural if the noun that they describe is plural!

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What colour is it?

To ask what colour something is, use the phrase "De quelle couleur...?"

What colour is the book?
De quelle couleur est le livre?

The book is red.
Le livre est rouge.

What colour is the cat?
De quelle couleur est le chat?

The cat is black.
Le chat est noir.

Try our Colour Wordsearch and Colour Crossword Puzzles.

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More Than One

Most French nouns form the plural by adding “s” at the end, just like in English. Because this final “s” is not usually pronounced in French, The plural must also be indicated by the accompanying article.

• le or la becomes les (the)


• un or une becomes des (often translated as some)

For example:
le chien (the dog), les chiens (the dogs)
un chien (a dog), des chiens (dogs, or some dogs)

Words that end in “eau” add “x” instead of “s.”

For example:
le chapeau (the hat), les chapeaux (the hats)
un chapeau (a hat), des chapeaux (hats, or some hats)

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Paris

Paris (pa-REE) is the capital city of France and home to many famous French landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral and the renowned art museum, the Louvre. These attractions and its many lovely gardens and historic buildings combine to make the city of Paris one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Another great reason to learn to speak French!

What is the weather like in Paris today? Find out here:
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/weather/frxx0076

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Asking Questions 4: Use Question Words

Another way to ask a question is to use one of these words or phrases:

Qui = who
Qu'est-ce que = what
Où = where
Combien de = how much, how many
Quand = when
Comment = how
Pourquoi = why

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Asking Questions 3: Use Inversion

The third way to ask a question in French is by using inversion, or switching the verb and the subject.

Manges-tu des bonbons? = Are you eating some candies?
Parlez-vous français? = Do you speak French?

When you use inversion with il or elle, you must add “t” between your verb and the subject pronoun if the verb does not already end in “t”.

Ton cousin, est-il beau? = Is your cousin handsome?
Pierre, mange-t-il des bonbons? = Is Peter eating candies?
Marie, regarde-t-elle la télévision? = Is Marie watching television?

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Asking Questions 2: Use est-ce que

Another way to ask a question is by placing est-ce que at the beginning of a declarative sentence.

Tu manges des bonbons. = You are eating some candies.
Est-ce que tu manges des bonbons? = Are you eating some candies?

Elle mange des bonbons = She is eating some candies.
Est-ce qu’elle mange des bonbons? = Is she eating some candies?

Notice that que forms a contraction when it precedes a word starting with a vowel.

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Asking Questions 1: Use Intonation

Over the next few lessons, we will learn several ways to ask a question in French.

The easiest way is by changing the intonation of your voice, raising the pitch near the end. We also do this in English.

I’m eating some candies.
You’re eating some candies?

Je mange des bonbons.
Tu manges des bonbons?

Practice using the intonation of your voice to ask questions.

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