Download 1.12 Talking About People (Part 3)

1.12 Talking About People (Part 3)
Language & Culture Lessons
I hope you're enjoying the lessons so far. Grammar is not everyone's favorite topic, but if you take it in bite-sized bits, it
can be easy to digest. And it will be rewarding when you start to see patterns emerging in the way the language is
structured and really begin to understand the mechanics behind it.
Our objective in this lesson is to examine some of the pieces of common French conversations - and you'll notice that
many of these words and phrases are the same ones that appear in the early lessons of the Interactive Audio Course.
Today we're learning how to express ourselves using the verb « avoir » (to have), allowing you to say "I'm tired", "I'm
happy" and all the emotions in between.
Language Lesson
Talking about People
Action words in French have to agree with who is doing the action. In addition, we'll also look at how the verb être,
"to be", works with descriptions (adverbs and adjectives). The endings of the descriptive words that go with the verb
être, “to be”, has to agree in gender and number (plurals) with the part of the verb you choose.
This does not apply to « avoir », “to have”, the other verb you will be looking at in this lesson.
The verb "to have" is widely used in French to describe feelings, states and moods, such as hunger and cold, as well as
age, which in English, we normally associate with the verb “to be”. We are used to saying that we are hungry.
In French we use the verb “to have” to express hunger, as in: “we have hunger”. Je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils and
elles are “people” pronouns which are central to any language. In this module we will explain the uses of the verb “to
have” with these pronouns. Consider the verb avoir and the verb être are two of the French language’s corner stones,
on which many of your expressions will be built.
Avoir : To Have
In the following table you can look at how the different pronouns work with the verb « avoir », "to have".
The same applies in French with avoir and all other verbs. Il a, “he has”, is different to avoir: one is adapted to the
pronoun il (he) and the other is in neutral form, avoir, “to have”. This type of conjugation happens throughout the
French language, which means you will need to become familiar with the concept and begin to do some memorizing!
Most of these changes are totally unpredictable! In grammar this principle is referred to as verbs being “regular” or
“irregular”.
For the purposes of this learning program with Rocket French, we recommend that you view all verbs in French as
highly random and best stored through repetition and use, to a safe place in your memory bank!
Elle a
She has
« Avoir » with Pronouns
J’ai
I have
Tu as
You have (casual)
Il a
He has
Elle a
She has
Nous avons
We have
Vous avez
You have (formal)
Ils ont
They have (masculine)
Elles ont
They have (feminine)
Elle a faim
Il a soif
She is hungry!
He is thirsty!
Let’s use the above examples to make statements with the verb avoir, “to have”. You will notice that in French,
avoir is often associated with describing states and feelings. The most notable are:
Thirst
Hunger
Fear
Cold
Heat
Age
Bonne fête
Happy birthday
You might tell someone that you are 29 years old in English– in French, you have to think of age as something that
you have, as in I have 29 years. You might tell someone about being afraid in a particular situation. In French, you
have to think of fear as something that you have, as in I have fear of the dark. Let’s look at this principle in more
detail with the verb « avoir ». In each example, it’s a case of substituting what you would normally say in English,
using the verb “to be”, with the verb “to have”.
Avoir (to have) used with Pronouns and Adverbs
Person
Action
Description
(Pronoun)
(Verb)
(Adverb or Adjective)
J’
ai
I
Tu
29 ans
am
as
You (casual)
Il
peur
are
a
He
29 years old
afraid
froid
is
cold
Elle
She
Nous
We
Vous
You (formal, plural)
Ils
a
raison
is
right
avons
faim
are
hungry
avez
chaud
are
hot
ont
They (masculine)
Elles
They (feminine)
faim
are
hungry
ont
soif
are
thirsty
In summary:
● Descriptions used with « avoir » (to have) do not change form to agree with gender or plural pronouns.
● « Avoir » (to have) is often used to express feelings, emotions, age and moods in French.
J’ai vingt ans
I am twenty years old (I have twenty years).
Tu as raison !
You are right! (You have reason)
Elle a froid
She is cold (She has coldness).
Il a peur
He is afraid (He has fear).
Vous avez chaud
You are hot (You have heat).
Ils ont besoin
They need (They have need).
Elle a tort.
She is wrong
Nous avons faim !
We are hungry!
Il a mal.
He is in pain (he has hurt)
Vous avez chaud !
You are hot!
As a last note on the basics about avoir, to have, there will be times when there is a fine line between feelings and
states that you want to describe. Let’s take the example of “feeling tired”. You could say the phrase “I am tired” or “I
am feeling sleepy” depending on the context. In French one phrase uses the verb être and the other, the verb avoir.
Notice that “being tired” in French is one of those adverbs that agree with gender and plural. Why? Because it is part
of the exclusive principle that applies only with the verb être!
Je suis fatigué
I am tired (masculine)
Je suis fatiguée
I am tired (feminine)
Nous sommes fatigués
We are tired (plural)
J’ai sommeil
I am feeling sleepy (I have sleepiness)
Nous sommes fatigués
We are tired
Avoir with Pronouns
J’ai
Tu as
Il a
Elle a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils ont
Elles ont
I have
You have (casual)
He has
She has
We have
You have (formal)
They have (masculine)
They have (feminine)
● All verbs change from their neutral form as in « avoir » (to have) to agree with pronouns.
● « Avoir » (to have) is used to express some feelings, age and moods in French.
● Descriptions used with avoir do not change form to agree with gender or plural pronouns.
Discover new French Words!
These audio tracks are for all the words in this lesson that you haven’t heard yet!
Manger
To eat
Je mange
I eat
Une idée
An idea
Un croissant
A croissant
La soif
Thirst
Une bonne idée
A great idea
Avoir soif
To be (feel) thirsty
Ours en peluche
Teddy bear
Aimer
To love
Elle aime
She loves
La veste
Jacket
En fourrure
Fur lined
Très
Very
Être fatigué(e)
To be tired
Avoir sommeil
To be (feel) sleepy
Dormir
To sleep
Ils dorment
They are sleeping
Être en retard
To be late
Transpirer
To sweat
Il transpire
He is sweating
Boire
To drink
Il boit
He drinks
Vite
Quickly
Culture
Café Culture
Many travelers are gob-smacked at how French cafés always seem to be full! Do the locals never go to work?! Yes the
locals do work occasionally, but they just love the café environment. Whether you're catching up with a friend,
talking business or meet someone for the first time… there's a strong likelihood that you'll end up on the terrasse of a
café.
Parisienne girls at a 'terrasse d'un café de Paris'
A terrasse is the outdoor area of a café. If there is even a hint of sun, the French will be sitting outside to enjoy their
food or coffee. Spring, summer, autumn or winter… if there's sun then the terrasse will be open. The size of a café
terrace will range from a couple tables on a street corner to a tennis court-sized area in the city centre.
Cafés typically serve a small selection of hot food, and specialize in tea and coffee. Now if you're the kind of person
that likes to order a decaf trim hazelnut latte, or an iced mochaccino with cream and chocolate on top; you might need
to re-think your coffee order! In France coffee typically comes in two forms: espresso or café long. Espresso is a small
strong shot of coffee, and café long is just regular coffee served black. If you want a coffee with milk, ask for a
cappuccino.
Pick a café that's packed with locals, sit down and soak up the atmosphere. It's one of the cheapest and most enjoyable
ways to absorb the local culture.
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