Stressed pronouns
Let’s observe the following part of the dialogue.
—Méléro . . . est-ce qu’elle est espagnole ?
—Non, elle n’est pas espagnole. Elle est franỗaise . . . enfin, moi,je ne sais pas . . . je pense . . .
The pronoun moiis a stressed pronoun. Stressed pronouns are used to emphasize or highlight a personal pronoun, in this case je.The pronoun is “doubled” by adding a stressed pronoun.
Look at the following literal translation in English (although it is not correct):
French: Moi, jene sais pas. Literal translation: Me, Idon’t know.
Each personal pronoun has its “counterpart” stressed pronoun. Here is a chart with all the stressed pronouns and the personal pronoun they emphasize. We are only including some of them. There are a few more, but you will learn them later.
The stressed pronoun can be placed either before the peronal pronoun or at the end of the sentence.
Lui, ilparle quatre langues ! Ilparle quatre langues, lui ! Eux, ilshabitent à Lyon. Ilshabitent à Lyon, eux.
stressed subject English
pronoun pronunciation pronoun “equivalent”
moi mwa je me
toi twa tu you
lui lÿi il him
elle èl elle her
nous nu nous us
vous vu vous you
eux ử ils them
elles èl elles them
TABLE 2-3 Stressed pronouns
Quick Tip
The preposition chez also means in the house of or to the house of when used before a proper name or a stressed pronoun.
Examples:
Il va chez Muriel. He’s going to Muriel’s house.
Il est chez Muriel. He is in Muriel’s house.
Muriel est chez moi. Muriel is in my house.
In this chapter you have learned:
✔What to say to introduce a person, when you are introduced, or to introduce yourself.
✔How to give the date: le+number +month +year and that the months, sea- sons, and days of the week are always written in small letters.
✔How to count after 70.
It’s a Wrap
✔ Different ways of saying good-bye.
✔ How to use the prepositions à andchez.
✔ How to form regular plurals by adding -s.
✔ How questions can be formed either by rising the intonation or by adding est-ce que.
✔ How to conjugate regular -irending verbs and some irregular verbs.
✔ How to use ne . . . pasfor negation.
✔ How to emphasize using stressed pronouns.
A. Write the following dates in French.
1. It’s December 12, 2001.
2. It’s May 2, 1966.
3. It’s July 27, 1939.
4. It’s August 14, 1994.
B. Introduce these two people in a formal way. Complete the sentence.
앳 Test 앳
Yourself
Nicolas Nathalie
Tremblay Rivard
Monsieur Tremblay
C. Ask who the following people are:
Céline Dion ? Gustave Eiffel ?
Jean-Claude Van Damme ?
D. Using the following information, give the answers to the questions that you wrote in the previous exercise.
chanteuse/canadienne architecte/franỗais comédien/belge
E. Put the following sentences in the negative.
1. J’habite à New York.
2. Elle est italienne.
3. Muriel va à la piscine.
4. Vous partez au printemps.
5. Nous travaillons deux fois par semaine.
F. Translate the following sentences.
1. Do I start working tomorrow?
2. She is leaving in winter.
3. I don’t speak German.
4. What is he doing here?
5. What a pity!
ANSWER KEY
A. 1. Le 12 décembre 2001. 2. Le 2 mai 1966. 3. Le 27 juillet 1939. 4. Le 14 aỏt 1994.
B. Monsieur Tremblay, je vous présente Madame Nathalie Rivard. Madame Rivard, je vous présente Monsieur Nicolas Tremblay.
C. 1. Qui est-ce Céline Dion ? 2. Qui est-ce Gustave Eiffel ? 3. Qui est-ce Jean- Claude Van Damme ?
D. 1. C’est une chanteuse canadienne. 2. C’est un architecte franỗais. 3. C’est un comédien belge.
E. 1. Je n’habite pas à New York. 2. Elle n’est pas italienne. 3. Muriel ne va pas à la piscine. 4. Vous ne partez pas au printemps. 5. Nous ne travaillons pas deux fois par semaine.
F. 1. (Est-ce que) je commence à travailler demain ? 2. Elle part en hiver. 3. Je ne parle pas allemand. 4. Qu’est-ce qu’il fait ici ? 5. C’est dommage !
You should read this chapter if you need to review or learn about:
Communication skills
➜Expressing possession
➜Talking about one’s family
➜Expressing likes and dislikes
➜Making polite requests
➜Telephoning a hotel
➜Asking information questions Grammar and vocabulary skills
➜Interrogatives (ó, quand, combien)
➜The personal pronoun on
➜Possessive adjectives
➜Family members
➜Verbs connaợtreand savoir
➜Regular -reending verbs
➜Sports and hobbies
Th is Chapter?
to Read Do I Need
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Les vacances de Maxime
Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for Terms of Use.
➜Demonstrative adjectives
➜Vocabulary related to hotels
➜Je voudrais(to express politeness)
➜pas de(negation with avoir)
➜Vocabulary related to the city
➜Qu’est-ce que c’est ?and qui est-ce ?
Dialogue 3.1
Franỗois and Maxime, two friends of Julian’s, are talking about their holidays. Read the conversation.
Franỗois et Maxime, deux amis de Julian, parlent de leurs vacances. Lisez la conversation.
FRANÇOIS Vous allez ó cet été ? Vu zalé u sè tété ? MAXIME On va à Cannes.
õ va a kan.
FRANÇOIS Vous partez quand ? vu parté kã ?
MAXIME On part en juillet.
õ par ã zhÿiyé.
FRANÇOIS Combien de temps ? kõby˜e de tã ?
MAXIME Cinq semaines.
s˜ek semèn.
FRANÇOIS Tu connais Cannes ? tü kònè kan ?
MAXIME Non, mais ma copine connaợt trốs bien la ville. Ses parents nõ, mè ma kòpin kònè trè by˜e la vil. sè parã
ont une maison à Cannes, près de la plage.
õ tün mèzõ a kan, prè de la plazh.
FRANÇOIS C’est formidable ! Est-ce que tu aimes la plage ? sè fòrmidabl! ès ke tü èm la plazh ?
MAXIME Oui, j’aime beaucoup la plage, mais je préfère la montagne.
wi, zhốm boku la plazh, mố zhe prộfốre la mừtaủ.
Translation
FRANÇOIS Where are you going this summer?
MAXIME We’re going to Cannes.
FRANÇOIS When are you leaving?
MAXIME We’re leaving in July.
FRANÇOIS For how long?
MAXIME Five weeks.
FRANÇOIS Do you know Cannes?
MAXIME No, but my girlfriend knows the city very well. Her parents have a house in Cannes, close to the beach.
FRANÇOIS That’s wonderful! Do you like the beach?
MAXIME Yes, I like it a lot, but I prefer the mountains.
Get Started
The following words and expressions will be helpful throughout this chapter.
Question words: ó, quand, combien
ó ? u ? where?
quand ? kã ? when?
combien de temps ? kõby˜ede tã ? (for) how long?
Notes
1. The question word combienalso means how much.
2. The question words óand quandcan be placed before the personal pronoun and verb or after the verb:
Oùvous allez cet été ? Vous allez ócet été ? Quandvous partez ? Vous partez quand ?
The personal pronoun on
In the dialogue, Franỗois uses both vousand tu.When he uses vous,we can tell, by the con- text, that he is using vous(youplural) and not the formal vous.We know this because Franỗois is a friend of Maxime, and Maxime does not answer with je.He answers with on, which in this case is equivalent to nous.
Other words and expressions
le temps le tã time
la semaine la semèn week
la copine la kòpin girlfriend
le copain le kop˜e boyfriend
l’ami(e) lami friend
la ville la vil city
les parents (m.) lè parã parents
la maison la mèzõ house
près de prè de close to/near
C’est formidable ! sè fòrmidabl ! It’s wonderful!
la montagne la mừtaủ mountain
les vacances (f.) lè vakãs holidays
Verbs
The following verbs were used in the opening dialogue:
connaợtre kũnốtr to know a person/place
aimer èmé to like/to love
préférer préféré to prefer
Verbs connaợtre and savoir
Here is the conjugation of verbs connaợtre andsavoir.
Quick Tips
1. The use of on instead of nous is very frequent in informal spoken French.