Restaurant Menu
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
French articles another post
Articles are tiny words used to introduce nouns. They’re generally considered adjectives, and as such they match in gender and number the noun they qualify.
There are four kinds of articles in French:
1) Definite articles:
le (masculine), la (feminine), l’(masculine or feminine), les (either) = the.
Note also that l’ is just the elision of le or la.
These articles indicate that the noun they describe is known with certainty.
Examples:
2) Indefinite articles:
un (masculine), une (feminine) = ades (either) = some
These articles in French indicate that the noun they describe is not known with certainty.
Example:
un fromage / a cheese
une aiguille / a needle
des moutons / some sheep
3) Partitive articles:
du (masculine), de la (feminine), de l’ (elision of the two others) = some
These articles in French are used when the quantity they describe can not be divided into parts (sand, water, flour).
Example:du sable / some sandde la paille / some hayde l’eau / some water
CAREFUL! Do not mistake the constituent for the category. While flour the substance can not be divided (you wouldn’t say one flour, two flour without qualification), flour as a category can reasonably be thought of as being definite and singular. In French, it most definitely is.
Contrast: du caramel / some caramel AND le caramel / the caramel category
4) Demonstrative articles:
ce, cet (masculine), cette (feminine) = thisces (plural) = these
Note that cet replaces ce when the noun starts with a vowel (only used in this context)
Demonstrative articles in French are used to point emphatically to the specific object/person/animal/concept that the noun represents.
Example:
Ce politicien / This politician
Cet avion / This plane
Cette voiture / This car
Ces routes / These roads
For even more emphasis the following forms are used:
ce…ci, cet…ci, cette…ci = this…hereces…ci = these…herece…là, cet…là, cette…là = this…thereces…là = these…there
Examples:
Ces gens ci / These people here
Cet avion là / This plane there
Ces moutons là / These sheep there
There are four kinds of articles in French:
1) Definite articles:
le (masculine), la (feminine), l’(masculine or feminine), les (either) = the.
Note also that l’ is just the elision of le or la.
These articles indicate that the noun they describe is known with certainty.
Examples:
- Le chat / The cat
- La tarte / The pie
- L’autruche / The ostrich
- Les avions / The planes
2) Indefinite articles:
un (masculine), une (feminine) = ades (either) = some
These articles in French indicate that the noun they describe is not known with certainty.
Example:
un fromage / a cheese
une aiguille / a needle
des moutons / some sheep
3) Partitive articles:
du (masculine), de la (feminine), de l’ (elision of the two others) = some
These articles in French are used when the quantity they describe can not be divided into parts (sand, water, flour).
Example:du sable / some sandde la paille / some hayde l’eau / some water
CAREFUL! Do not mistake the constituent for the category. While flour the substance can not be divided (you wouldn’t say one flour, two flour without qualification), flour as a category can reasonably be thought of as being definite and singular. In French, it most definitely is.
Contrast: du caramel / some caramel AND le caramel / the caramel category
4) Demonstrative articles:
ce, cet (masculine), cette (feminine) = thisces (plural) = these
Note that cet replaces ce when the noun starts with a vowel (only used in this context)
Demonstrative articles in French are used to point emphatically to the specific object/person/animal/concept that the noun represents.
Example:
Ce politicien / This politician
Cet avion / This plane
Cette voiture / This car
Ces routes / These roads
For even more emphasis the following forms are used:
ce…ci, cet…ci, cette…ci = this…hereces…ci = these…herece…là, cet…là, cette…là = this…thereces…là = these…there
Examples:
Ces gens ci / These people here
Cet avion là / This plane there
Ces moutons là / These sheep there
French Letter Writing
The salutation is also very formal and includes the recipient’s title when appropriate, as in Monsieur le Directeur. Alternately, use Monsieur, Cher Monsieur, Messieurs or Madame, Chère Madame or Mesdames.
The body of the letter should be concise, to the point and formally polite.
If you are following up on a previous letter, you might start with, “Suite à ... je vous écris pour…” or “Nous vous remercions de votre lettre du …”.
If your letter is a request for something, you can use “Je vous serais reconnaissant de ... “ or “Je vous prie de
You might end with, “Dans l’attente de votre réponse ...”, then sign off with one of these phrases, which sound much more formal than the accepted “Yours sincerely” in English but are de rigueur in a French formal letter:
Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur le Directeur, l’assurance de ma considération distinguée
Veuillez accepter, Messieurs (or Monsieur or Madame), mes salutations distinguées
Croyez, cher Monsieur (or chère Madame), à l’expression de mes sentiments les meilleurs
Je t’embrasse bien affectueusement
Grosses bises (very informal)
Or more simply with:
Bien amicalement
À bientôt
To include other friends or family in the letter, you might add:
Embrasse Sophie pour moi.
Paul te fait ses amitiés.
If you’re mailing your letter, here are guidelines for addressing the envelope, line by line:
1 – Recipient’s name
Begin with Monsieur, Madame or Mademoiselle followed by the recipient’s full name, as in Monsieur Jacques Untel. This is polite form for both formal and informal letters. For a married couple, use Monsieur et Madame Untel.
On a business letter envelope, you can use the person’s title instead, for example, Madame la directrice.
2 – Recipient’s title
If you’ve used the person’s name in the first line, use the second line for his or her title, for example, Directrice, Service à la clientele.
3. - Company or organization
Use the full name or accepted abbreviation, as in Hôtel Au Bon Accueil and SNCF.
4 – Number, name and type of street
Full street names can be abbreviated, e.g. av for avenue, as in 45 av de la République, or bd for boulevard, as in 15 bd de Beaumanoir. If there’s no street address, this is where you put the post box number.
5 – Postcode and town or city
The postcode comes before the name of the town, as in 75010 Paris.
The body of the letter should be concise, to the point and formally polite.
If you are following up on a previous letter, you might start with, “Suite à ... je vous écris pour…” or “Nous vous remercions de votre lettre du …”.
If your letter is a request for something, you can use “Je vous serais reconnaissant de ... “ or “Je vous prie de
You might end with, “Dans l’attente de votre réponse ...”, then sign off with one of these phrases, which sound much more formal than the accepted “Yours sincerely” in English but are de rigueur in a French formal letter:
Je vous prie d’agréer, Monsieur le Directeur, l’assurance de ma considération distinguée
Veuillez accepter, Messieurs (or Monsieur or Madame), mes salutations distinguées
Croyez, cher Monsieur (or chère Madame), à l’expression de mes sentiments les meilleurs
Je t’embrasse bien affectueusement
Grosses bises (very informal)
Or more simply with:
Bien amicalement
À bientôt
To include other friends or family in the letter, you might add:
Embrasse Sophie pour moi.
Paul te fait ses amitiés.
If you’re mailing your letter, here are guidelines for addressing the envelope, line by line:
1 – Recipient’s name
Begin with Monsieur, Madame or Mademoiselle followed by the recipient’s full name, as in Monsieur Jacques Untel. This is polite form for both formal and informal letters. For a married couple, use Monsieur et Madame Untel.
On a business letter envelope, you can use the person’s title instead, for example, Madame la directrice.
2 – Recipient’s title
If you’ve used the person’s name in the first line, use the second line for his or her title, for example, Directrice, Service à la clientele.
3. - Company or organization
Use the full name or accepted abbreviation, as in Hôtel Au Bon Accueil and SNCF.
4 – Number, name and type of street
Full street names can be abbreviated, e.g. av for avenue, as in 45 av de la République, or bd for boulevard, as in 15 bd de Beaumanoir. If there’s no street address, this is where you put the post box number.
5 – Postcode and town or city
The postcode comes before the name of the town, as in 75010 Paris.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
DELF A1
Unité 1 Apprendre Ensemble (Learning Together)
- Vous comprenez?(You understand?)
- Au travail!(To work!)
- On se détend?(We relax?)
- Racontez-Moi?(Tell Me?
Unité 2
- Bon voyage!(Happy Journey)
- Bon appétit!(Enjoy your meal)
- Quelle journée!(What a day! )
- qu'on est bien ici!(it is here!)
Unité 3
- Souvenez-vous?(Remember? )
- On s'appelle?(One is called? )
- Un bon conseil!(A good tip! )
- Parlez-moi de vous(Tell me about you)
Friday, February 14, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
social networking words & phrases
réseau social = social network
réseautage social = social networking
un contact = a contact
un compte = account, username
un mot de passe = password
un utilisateur = user
un profil = profile
une communauté = community
partager = to share
s'abonner = to subscribe
un(e) abonné(e) = a subscriber
un lien permanent = a permalink
un commentaire = a comment
rédiger = to compose (post)
un lecteur = a reader
s'identifier = to login
se connecter = to login
fermer (une) session = to logout
s'inscrire = to sign up, to register
envoyer un message = to send a message
ajouter à sa liste d’ami(e)s un(e) ami(e) = to “friend”
un blog = a blog
un fil d’alimentation en nouvelles RSS = an RSS feed
un fil de discussion = a discussion thread
un forum = a forum
un hashtag = a hashtag (keyword for searching, following a conversation or marking a topic)
une mise à jour du statut = a status update
un news feed, une alimentation en nouvelles = a news feed
une photo du profil = a profile photo
poster quelquechose sur le mur de quelqu’un = to post something on somebody’s wall
retweeter = to retweet
un suiveur, une suiveuse = a follower
suivre = to follow
un tableau de bord = a dashboard
taguer quelqu’un sur une photo = to tag somebody in a photo
un sujet tendance = a trending topic
un tweet = a tweet
tweeter (sur) – to tweet
réseautage social = social networking
un contact = a contact
un compte = account, username
un mot de passe = password
un utilisateur = user
un profil = profile
une communauté = community
partager = to share
s'abonner = to subscribe
un(e) abonné(e) = a subscriber
un lien permanent = a permalink
un commentaire = a comment
rédiger = to compose (post)
un lecteur = a reader
s'identifier = to login
se connecter = to login
fermer (une) session = to logout
s'inscrire = to sign up, to register
envoyer un message = to send a message
ajouter à sa liste d’ami(e)s un(e) ami(e) = to “friend”
un blog = a blog
un fil d’alimentation en nouvelles RSS = an RSS feed
un fil de discussion = a discussion thread
un forum = a forum
un hashtag = a hashtag (keyword for searching, following a conversation or marking a topic)
une mise à jour du statut = a status update
un news feed, une alimentation en nouvelles = a news feed
une photo du profil = a profile photo
poster quelquechose sur le mur de quelqu’un = to post something on somebody’s wall
retweeter = to retweet
un suiveur, une suiveuse = a follower
suivre = to follow
un tableau de bord = a dashboard
taguer quelqu’un sur une photo = to tag somebody in a photo
un sujet tendance = a trending topic
un tweet = a tweet
tweeter (sur) – to tweet
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)