Today's French

French OU Sound – Today’s French at FH

By Anne on February 17th, 2018

French Sound OU – Today’s French

French Sound OU – Today’s French

OU is kind of tough to pronounce, because it doesn’t exist in English.

Listen to these three words: l’amour, la mort, le mur. These are three words that are really close in pronunciation. However, you might find yourself in a funny situation if you do not pronounce them the right way.

Read these sentences.

J’ai trouvé l’amour sur le mur de FBK.

I found love on the facebook wall.

Can you imagine if you said?

J’ai trouvé la mort sur le mur de FBK.

I found death on the facebook wall.

So, make sure you pronounce the sound OU very correctly. And you can practice with my worksheet. It’s a little laboratoire de phonétique, a little worksheet for you to be aware of the sound OU, and to pronounce it well. Of course, there is also a worksheet on the sound U in the course.

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le sixième sens – French expression at FH

By Anne on February 9th, 2018

sixième sens – French expression

le sixième sens – French expression

the sixth sense – Mot du Jour

What does the French expression ‘ le sixième sens ‘ mean? How do you say ‘ the sixth sense ’ in French? How is it used in a sentence?

le sixième sens – the sixth sense. le sixième sens means to be instinctive, that you’re able to feel what’s going to happen.

Les cinq sens sont: le toucher, le goût, l’odorat, l’ouïe et la vue. Regardez les tapisseries de La Dame À La Licorne.

« J’ai l’impression qu’il va arriver ce mois-ci, c’est mon sixième sens. »
- “I have a feeling he’s going to be here this month. That’s my sixth sense talking.”

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Near Future – Today’s French

J’ai mal – Today’s French

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Today's French

Near Future – Today’s French at FH

By Anne on February 8th, 2018

Near Future – Today’s French

Ce magasin va faire faillite.

Near Future

Le futur proche

aller + infinitif – to be about + infinitive – What is the near future in French? How does the near future work in French?

The expression ‘ALLER + infinitive verb’ expresses the notion of to be about to + infinitive, to be going to + infinitive. When ALLER is in the present tense, it’s called the near future because it’s closer in time and/or more likely to happen than ‘le futur simple’ the regular French future tense.

Exercice – Practice

Translate the sentences from one column to another. From French to English (la version) is easier, from English to French (la thèse) a bit more challenging.
Traduisez les phrases d’une colonne à une autre. Du français en anglais (la version) est plus facile, de l’anglais au français (la thèse) un peu plus difficile.

Français

Je vais réparer le carburateur.
Tu vas découvrir la ville.
Elle va avoir son diplôme.

Anglais

I’m going to repair the carburetor.
You’re going to discover the town.
She’s about to get her degree.

Continue- Continuez

J’ai mal – Today’s French

Sixième sens – French expression

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Today's French

To use – Today’s French at FH

By Anne on February 6th, 2018

About To Use – Today’s French

La crème chantilly est super simple à faire. C’est mon fils qui avait fait celle de la photo, un jour de bonheur à Thourie ?

About To Use

to use – se servir de, employer et utiliser

The direct translation of TO USE is UTILISER. However, UTILISER isn’t used as much as TO USE is in English, if that makes sense.

Translating ‘to use’ is always a bit of a pickle in French. Well, there is no pickle in crème chantilly, so let’s ‘un-pickle’ se servir de vs. utiliser vs. employer.

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Do prefer ‘se servir de’ rather than ‘employer’ or ‘utiliser’, although they are synonyms.

Je me sers d’un fouet pour faire la crème chantilly.

I use a whisk to make crème chantilly.

J’emploie un fouet pour faire la crème chantilly.

I use a whisk to make crème chantilly.

J’utilise un fouet faire la crème chantilly.

I use a whisk to make crème chantilly.

Other instances

For using the bathroom, using a word for another, using cream in coffee, using a pen to write, and other situations…, it’s much better NOT TO use either one of these verbs : ‘se servir de’, ‘employer’ or ‘utiliser’.

The French prefer other verbs such as ALLER or PRENDRE…

I used the bathroom.
I use the verb SE SERVIR DE to mean TO USE.
I use a pen to write

Je suis allé/e aux toilettes.
Je traduis le mot TO USE par SE SERVIR DE.
- Je dis SE SERVIR DE pour traduire TO USE.
- Je prends le verbe SE SERVIR DE pour traduire TO USE.
Je prends un stylo.
- Je me sers d’un stylo.

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La Crème Chantilly – Recette

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Today's French

Passé composé or imparfait – Today’s French at FH

By Anne on January 26th, 2018

Passé composé or imparfait

Choosing between the PASSE COMPOSÉ or the IMPARFAIT is always tricky. Let’s start figuring it out here.

Both the passé composé and the imparfait are past tenses. So, we frequently use 2 past tenses in French, where there is only one commonly used in English.

Exercice – Practice

Translate the sentences from one column to another. From French to English (la version) is easier, from English to French (la thèse) a bit more challenging.

Traduisez les phrases d’une colonne à une autre. Du français en anglais (la version) est plus facile, de l’anglais au français (la thèse) un peu plus difficile.

En hiver, avant, il _______________ (neiger) beaucoup dans les Alpes.
L’hiver dernier, il _______________ (neiger) beaucoup dans les Alpes.
Ce soir, nous _______________ (manger) au resto quand il _______________(commencer) à pleuvoir.