macboll Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 So it depends only on how formal the question is. But I want to ask about est-ce que in combination with interrogation particles again. I've seen it with "qu'est-ce que" (= onque est-ce que) or "ou est-ce que" some times. But can I do that with all interrogation particles? Is it possible to say 'Pourquoi est-ce que tu gâche ta vie?' for example? We can use the different combinations: où est-ce que tu vas? = où vas-tu?= tu vas où? quand est-ce que tu pars?= quand pars-tu?= tu pars quand? comment est-ce qu'on fait?= comment fait-on?= on fait comment? D'où est-ce que ça vient?= d'où ça vient?= ça vient d'où? They all mean the same but they depend on the context. The bolded questions are more informal, oral, everyday formulations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerMoment1608 Posted February 18, 2013 Share Posted February 18, 2013 Thanks, cathouzouf and macboll I like the formal variant, it's just like we construct questions in German Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowli Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 11 - onze12 - douze 13 - treize 14 - quatorze 15 - quinze 16 - seize 17 - dix-sept (like 10 +7) 18 - dix-huit 19 - dix-neuf 20 - vingt 21 - vingt et un (like 20 and 1) 30 - trente 40 - quarante 50 - cinquante 60 - soixante 70 - soixante-dix (like 60 + 10) 71 - soixante-onze (60 + 11) 80 - quatre-vingt (4 x 20) 90 - quatre-vingt dix 91 - quatre-vingt onze (90 + 11) 100 - cent 1000 - mille 1000000 - milllion 1000000000 - milliard (not really sure. ) Well I'm not that good at french, but I know the numbers 1 - un 2- deux 3 - trois 4- quatre 5 - cinq 6 - six 7 - sept 8 - huit 9 - neuf 10 - dix http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/ss/numbers.htm thanks a lot for you guys:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowli Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 I am finding the biggest problem with learning a second language is just learning to think in a different language rather than remembering vocabulary or specific rules. It would be so much easier to learn to think in French by using English words but French grammar. I think it would sink in a lot faster and people wouldn't make the mistakes that they do. the french grammar seems quite difficult for me,so maybe basic vocabulay still works quite well,when i first studied english i surely couldn't think that way cuz i completely had no idea about what i was talking about,i suppose only when the base is made can we be able to learn about grammar:wink2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alie Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 The best way to learn the vocabulary of a new language is.. to read ! You can't even imagine how much my english has improved in 6 months on the MFC. This is awesome. It's sure that you need to look really often in a dictionnary (or google traduction ) but it really worths it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowli Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 it's a pity that i can't stay here longer,i will start school next week and meanwhile i will have no chance to come here until the summer:(it improved mine as well,especially when i reviewed those old interviews my listening just rises in a high speed,time is the only problem now,any good advice to learn french in short time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathouzouf Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 it's a pity that i can't stay here longer,i will start school next week and meanwhile i will have no chance to come here until the summer:(it improved mine as well,especially when i reviewed those old interviews my listening just rises in a high speed,time is the only problem now,any good advice to learn french in short time? read books, watch french TV or find a tutorial online or maybe you can buy one:thumb_yello: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerMoment1608 Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I've just tried to understand the Caprice interview myself to practice my French. It's really astonishing how much I did understand However there are two small parts where I have problems with understanding and I hope you can help me: On vous a déjà vu souvent en Suisse. I don't understand why the "on" is here. For now I just know that it's used for "we" or the general "you". But that doesn't make sense in this sentence for me. Without the "on" the sentence would make much more sense for me: "Vous a déjà vu souvent en Suisse" - "You have already been in Switzerland a lot of times". Mais mon entourage m’a dit que cela ne m’allait pas pas. What does "ne m'allait pas pas" mean? Is it a phrase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camille* Posted March 17, 2013 Share Posted March 17, 2013 I've just tried to understand the Caprice interview myself to practice my French. It's really astonishing how much I did understand However there are two small parts where I have problems with understanding and I hope you can help me: On vous a déjà vu souvent en Suisse. I don't understand why the "on" is here. For now I just know that it's used for "we" or the general "you". But that doesn't make sense in this sentence for me. Without the "on" the sentence would make much more sense for me: "Vous a déjà vu souvent en Suisse" - "You have already been in Switzerland a lot of times". Mais mon entourage m’a dit que cela ne m’allait pas pas. What does "ne m'allait pas pas" mean? Is it a phrase? 'On vous a déjà vu souvent' is a perfectly correct phrase, which means 'You have already often been seen'. Where English uses passive we tend to use active in French so the literal translation would be 'we have already often seen you' 'Cela ne m'allait pas' : there's apparently a double 'pas' in the sentence they wrote so that's a mistake. Otherwise it's a correct phrase meaning 'it doesn't suit me' Hope that helped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerMoment1608 Posted March 18, 2013 Share Posted March 18, 2013 Yes, it did! After reading your translation of 'On vous a déjà vu souvent' I realized that I had a big fallacy. I somehow thought the "a" belongs to "vous", but that's nonsense, it belongs to "on" as it's "a" and not "avez". And the "vous" is not the "Who?-vous" but the "Whom?-vous" and it is in front of "a" and not in front of "vu" because of the exception rule "have always steals the pronoun". Thanks, now it's total clear And I'm happy that the double "pas" is just a mistake, it confused me very much Thanks for translation as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilasko Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 Anyone want to correct my french text? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilasko Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 I need help. How do I say: this book is about le petit prince in french? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macboll Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 I need help.How do I say: this book is about le petit prince in french? We could say "Ce livre parle du Petit Prince" or "Ce livre raconte l'histoire du Petit Prince" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilasko Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 We could say "Ce livre parle du Petit Prince" or "Ce livre raconte l'histoire du Petit Prince" Damn didn't write it like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreacher Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I was about to open a thread like this Since i might be going to Montreal I did my first French lesson today, it was on how to say things like "Do you speak english?" and "I don't understand french?". I've already forgotten most of what i learned though, especially regarding pronounciation. I want instant results If i don't get frustrated and totally give up i'll probably be using this thread a lot. FRENCH IS SO HARD! Thanks to all the french speakers who're helping out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 I was about to open a thread like this Since i might be going to Montreal I did my first French lesson today, it was on how to say things like "Do you speak english?" and "I don't understand french?". I've already forgotten most of what i learned though, especially regarding pronounciation. I want instant results If i don't get frustrated and totally give up i'll probably be using this thread a lot. FRENCH IS SO HARD! Thanks to all the french speakers who're helping out I am using this app. My French is not beginner's so you might struggle a bit but I tried the Dutch and managed even though I didn't know a word before. You'd just need to look up some of the grammar rules to try to make sense of some of the differences you see from one example to the next. Just the whole concept of masculine and feminine is totally bizarre for us. https://www.duolingo.com Just so you know you will probably not have to deal with anyone who doesn't speak English or even tell them that you don't speak French. Everyone in the service industry seems to be bilingual and will usually greet you with "bonjour, hello" so if you respond in English they will speak English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreacher Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 (edited) I am using this app. My French is not beginner's so you might struggle a bit but I tried the Dutch and managed even though I didn't know a word before. You'd just need to look up some of the grammar rules to try to make sense of some of the differences you see from one example to the next. Just the whole concept of masculine and feminine is totally bizarre for us. https://www.duolingo.com Just so you know you will probably not have to deal with anyone who doesn't speak English or even tell them that you don't speak French. Everyone in the service industry seems to be bilingual and will usually greet you with "bonjour, hello" so if you respond in English they will speak English. Ah, thank you. I'll check it out. Thanks for the info. I'll still probably try & learn some of the basics. I'm sure Mika will speak some French during the gig & I don't want to have to ask my seat neighbors all the time what he means. Also with my luck I'll get the one person who speaks absolutely no english whatsoever. Edited October 14, 2014 by kreacher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Ah, thank you. I'll check it out. Thanks for the info. I'll still probably try & learn some of the basics. I'm sure Mika will speak some French during the gig & I don't want to have to ask my seat neighbors all the time what he means. Also with my luck I'll get the one person who speaks absolutely no english whatsoever. I've been working on French on and off for about 30 years and I can still only understand about half of what he says so good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Kristal Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I was also looking for a thread like this and couldn't find, so thank you for bumping it! I've wanted to learn French for a long time now so I will definately (try ) to use this thread if i can would love to be able to speak and understand some if I'm going to Montreal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreacher Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 (edited) I am using this app. My French is not beginner's so you might struggle a bit but I tried the Dutch and managed even though I didn't know a word before. You'd just need to look up some of the grammar rules to try to make sense of some of the differences you see from one example to the next. Just the whole concept of masculine and feminine is totally bizarre for us. https://www.duolingo.com Just so you know you will probably not have to deal with anyone who doesn't speak English or even tell them that you don't speak French. Everyone in the service industry seems to be bilingual and will usually greet you with "bonjour, hello" so if you respond in English they will speak English. i tried duolingo, i like it. thank you it doesn't work on my tablet, but on the comp it's working great. i already learned how to say "Je suis rouge" and "Je suis un enfant", those will definitely come in handy! I've been working on French on and off for about 30 years and I can still only understand about half of what he says so good luck. oh there's no hope for me then general question: i can't roll my "R"s at all, is that a big problem? I guess what i need to know is, for example, does "trrrres" mean 'very' but "tres" mean something totally offensive? Edited October 16, 2014 by kreacher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreacher Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 ^me when i'm trying to repeat what the french teacher says Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kreacher Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Are they many differences between France French and Quebec French? Thanks for any insights anyone can offer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emelyne412 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Are they many differences between France French and Quebec French? Thanks for any insights anyone can offer Not necessarily. French people understand Quebec people, but, in Quebec, there are some expressions that French people don't says. I lived this experience with a Quebecker ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlgaMikafreak Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 Can i be a student plz???? :blush-anim-cl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emelyne412 Posted October 29, 2014 Share Posted October 29, 2014 Can i be a student plz???? :blush-anim-cl: I can be your teacher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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