Counting In French Helped Me Remember Les Nombres.

Les nombres (numbers) are difficult for me to remember in French. If I’m not forgetting the words for chaque nombre (each number), I’m trying to figure out if we’re talking about four twenties or eighty!

I have a hard time remembering les nombres in any language other than ma langue maternelle (my native language). I think it is related to how les nombres lack any context that helps me remember them. It feels like nothing but a list of random sounds to memorise!

It is also frustrating when most of the time numbers are not written out so you can see how they are pronounced. You are much more likely to see 80 than you are eighty or quatre-vingts.

This only gets worse if you’re dealing with des grands nombres (large numbers):

1 577 289 393,31

Un milliard cinq cent soixante-dix-sept millions deux cent quatre-vingt-neuf mille trois cent quatre-vingt-treize virgule trente et un

One billion five hundred seventy-seven million two hundred eighty-nine thousand three hundred ninety-three point thirty-one

Being able to understand a large string of numbers that sometimes use words milliard and billiard is un casse-tête (a headache). On top of that une virgule is used instead of un point for the decimal point.

C’est tellement difficile à retenir !

It’s so hard to remember!

The solution for me was to find a way to make les nombres so embedded in my brain that I knew them par coeur (by heart). I would never have to remember les nombres, I would just know them.

In order to have les nombres solidly placed in my memory I began counting anything I could en français. Les pages d’un livre, mes crayons, mes pas, etc (the pages of a book, my pencils, my steps, etc).

Where I made the most progress was during mon entraînement matinal (my morning excercise). Compter (counting) would keep my mind distracted and help me practice les nombres en français!

Un, deux, trois…

One, two, three…

It wasn’t easy and I would often get lost, repeat numbers, or skip numbers, especially with the 70s and the 90s:

Soixante-huit, soixante-neuf…. Euh… sept… soixante-dix, soixante-onze…

Sixty-eight, sixty-nine… uh… seven… seventy, seventy-one…

Eventually that daily practice made it easier to remember les nombres en français. I could remember les números de telephone and follow mes cours de comptabilité (my accounting classes) without any problem!

I wasn’t doing un milliard de pompes (a billion push-ups), but the practice made it easier to remember all French numbers!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Une Visite Chez Le Coiffeur

Here’s a short story in French (with it’s English translation below) about my son’s monthly trips to the barbershop. Following these three paragraphs, you can find the vocabulary used in the story as well as additional vocabulary you can use for your own trip to the hairdresser.

Chaque mois, mon mari amène notre fils chez le coiffeur, où notre fils s’assoit dans une petite voiture rouge faite de plastique et où il se fait tailler ses cheveux.

Normalement, mon mari demande au coiffeur une coupe de footballeur, ce que veut dire qu’il coupe les cheveux très court sur les côtes et les laisse longs sur le dessus.

Si notre fils reste calmement, il va avoir une sucette!

English Translation:

Every month, my husband brings our son to the barber, where our son gets to sit in a little, red plastic car and have his hair trimmed.

Normally, my husband asks the barber for a “soccer player’s haircut,” which just means short on the side and long on top.

If our son sits quietly, he will get a lollipop!

After reading that short story in French, here’s some additional vocabulary to help you when you need a trip to the barber or hairdresser:

hair: les cheveux (Remember: hair is always plural (m.) unless you are talking about a single strand of hair.)

haircut: une coupe

trim: tailler

barber: le coiffeur

a lock of hair: une mèche

bangs: une frange

hair part: une raie

crew cut: coupe en brosse

clippers: la tondeuse

hair ends: les pointes

Layered on top: dégradé sur le dessus

dyed: colorés

curly: bouclés

smooth: lisses

fine: fins

dry: secs

thick: épais

thick: gras

normal: normaux

a blow-dry or straightening treatment: un brushing

shampoo: le shampooing

conditioner: l’après shampooing

the sides: les côtes

the top: le dessus.

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

My early trips to l’épicerie were an interesting exercise in how much I trusted my French. I took gambles on whether the bottle I was buying was l’assouplissant (softener) or la lessive (detergent), hoping it wasn’t l’eau de Javel (bleach).

Before having the luxury of un lave-vaisselle (a dishwasher) I used to rely on du liquide vaisselle (dish soap) and des éponges (sponges). That means looking at many different products that even if I know le mot français (the French word), I often don’t know la marque (the brand)!

Cependant (however), before struggling to realise what the difference between French soap brands are, I had to also learn the vocabulary. The difference between la lessive, le liquide vaisselle et le savon (detergent, dish soap, and hand soap) is very important!

Luckily I knew how to say faire la vaisselle (wash dishes) so when I was confusingly staring at the different bottles at l’épicerie, I at least knew how to say what I was looking for.

La Vaisselle – Washing Dishes In French

Excusez-moi monsieur, vous cherchez quelque chose ?

Oui…. J’ai besoin du savon pour faire la vaisselle.

Vous voulez dire du liquide vaisselle ?

Je crois… oui…

Suivez-moi, monsieur, c’est juste ici.

D’accord.

Excuse me, sir, are you looking for something ?

Yes… I need soap for washing dishes.

Do you mean dish washing soap?

I believe so… yes…

Follow me sir, it’s right over here.

Alright.

I will admit I was not sûr à cent percent (one hundred percent sure) that le liquide vaisselle was the right word. I figured if l’employé (the employee) knew it would work with la vaisselle (dirty dishes), it should be the right thing.

I made my way out of l’épicerie and when it came time to faire la vaisselle I was relieved to find out that I bought the right kind of soap!

Voici un vocabulaire de la vaisselle :

Faire la vaiselle – To do the dishes

La vaisselle – Dirty dishes

Le liquide vaisselle – Dish soap

La lessive – Detergent

L’assouplissant – Softener

L’eau de Javel – Bleach

Le savon – Soap

L’assiette – Plate (physical dish)

Le plat – Plate (meal, dish)

La tasse – Cup

Le verre – Glass

Le lave-vaisselle – Dishwasher

Le plongeur – Dishwasher (person).

Blog submitted by: David at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Most native English speakers are familiar with the eight or nine English parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections, and articles). All English words fall into one of these general parts of speech.

Luckily, French follows the same basic organisation of parts of speech that English does.

Called les classes de mots, French parts of speech are categorised as follows:

Les noms

Nouns, or les noms, are one of the most important parts of a French phrase. As in English, French nouns identify a person, place, or thing. However, unlike in English, all French nouns have a gender. You can further divide French nouns into les noms propres, or proper nouns (names), and les noms communs, or common nouns (general nouns).

Les déterminants

Determiners, or les déterminants, consist of articles (les articles) and certain kinds of adjectives (les adjectifs non qualificatifs). These words precede nouns and determine the gender and number of the noun that they modify. Les articles include le, la, and les, and les adjectifs include words like mon, ma, mes, ce, cette, ces.

Les adjectifs

As in English, adjectives modify nouns. In French, most adjectives follow the nouns that they modify although this depends on the adjective (For more about adjective word order in French see this post.)

Les pronoms

Pronouns in French replace nouns, just as they do in English. French pronouns include je, tu, il/elle/on, vous, nous, and ils/elles. 

Les verbes

Verbs are another integral part of speech in each French sentence. They must always be conjugated to match with the person or thing (noun) that is performing the action. In French, verbs also change based on gender, number, tense, mood, and voice.

Les adverbes

Adverbs modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb. In French, adverbs do not change based on gender or number and are typically recognisable by the ending –ment. Check out this post for more information about French adverbs.

Les prépositions

Like adverbs, French prepositions are invariable, which means that they do not change based on gender or number. This makes them, along with adverbs, an easier part of speech to use in French. Prepositions link nouns and phrases to other parts of a sentence. They include words like après, à, and chez, among others.

…and finally…

Les conjonctions

Conjunctions in French are also invariable.

As in English, conjunctions are words that link a group of words together.

Conjunctions in French include et, car, mais, or, ou, and donc.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

The French are very big on manners and following the rules of étiquette. You can read here about the rules for gift giving, here for proper greetings, and here for the rules for kissing (yes, they even have rules for that!). But do you know where the rules come from?

The rules of French etiquette, from the French word étiquette (literally meaning a tag or label*), are often attributed to the period of Louis XIV as ways for the king to both accommodate and control the vast number of nobles whom he compelled to join him at the palace of Versailles (Louis believed in keeping his friends close, and his enemies closer!).

Over time, the rules of courtly etiquette spread throughout society as people sought to appear more sophisticated and “noble” themselves.

* Une étiquette can be the label on a bottle (like on a wine bottle), the tag in a shirt, or a sticker (though the French word for the English ‘sticker‘ is ‘autocollant‘ which literally means ‘self sticking‘ from the verb ‘coller‘, ‘to stick or adhere‘. ‘Coller‘ also gives us ‘la colle‘ which is French for ‘glue‘ . . . and the expression ‘être collé(e)‘, ‘to be in detention (at school).

And if someone ever calls you ‘un vrai pot de colle‘ (‘a real pot of glue‘) you should think about spending less time with them / giving them some space. This expression refers to someone who follows you around all the time or sticks too close.

Society is generally less formal today, but many people still follow the rules of etiquette and view good manners as a sign of “good breeding”. I still know some families in France where the children vouvoient leurs parents and where whole pieces of fruit are only eaten at the dinner table with a knife and fork (next time you’re in the mood for une belle pomme / a nice apple or une poire juteuses** / a juicy pear, try eating it on a plate, peeling it using just your knife and fork!)

Shifting gears just a bit: Did you get to see the Oscars ceremony this weekend?

It was a fun event – though not without controversy – at which France was particularly well represented.

From Best Actress nominee Isabelle Hupert and Best Animated Feature Film nominees My Life as a Zucchini and The Red Turtle, to nominations for Best Documentary, Best Costume Design, and Best Achievement in Visual Effects, French artists were up for a total of 9 awards.

If you liked La La Land, why not check out one of the French films often cited as inspiration for the film, look up and find out more about Les demoiselles de Rochefort (The young girls of Rochefort) and Les parapluies de Cherbourg (The umbrellas of Cherbourg)!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.