Working with

Numbers

MASTER THESE SKILLS

•

Using cardinal numbers

•

Using ordinal numbers

•

Expressing days, months, seasons,

and dates

•

Telling time

In this lesson you’ll learn the essentials

for making plans: numbers, and how they

are used to express the date and tell time,

and how to combine all these elements

in the chapter to plan an outing.

CARDINAL NUMBERS

The French write two numbers differently from how we do. The number

one has a little hook on top, like a typewritten number: 1. In order to

distinguish a one with a hook on top from the number seven, the French

put a line through the seven when they write it: 7

–

.

In numerals and decimals, where English speakers use commas the

French use periods, and vice versa:

English: 3,000 .75 $18.95

French: 3.000 0,7

–

5 $18,95

Carefully study the French cardinal numbers presented below:

CARDINAL FRENCH CARDINAL FRENCH

0 zéro 21 vingt et un

1 un 22 vingt-deux

2 deux 30 trente

3 trois 40 quarante

4 quatre 50 cinquante

5 cinq 60 soixante

6 six 70 soixante-dix

7 sept 71 soixante et onze

8 huit 72 soixante-douze

9 neuf 73 soixante-treize

10 dix 74 soixante-quatorze

11 onze 75 soixante-quinze

12 douze 76 soixante-seize

13 treize 77 soixante-dix-sept

14 quatorze 78 soixante-dix-huit

15 quinze 79 soixante-dix-neuf

16 seize 80 quatre-vingts

17 dix-sept 81 quatre-vingt-un

18 dix-huit 82 quatre-vingt-deux

19 dix-neuf 90 quatre-vingt-dix

20 vingt 91 quatre-vingt-onze

92 quatre-vingt-douze 2,000 deux mille

100 cent 1,000,000 un million

101 cent un 2,000,000 deux millions

200 deux cents 1,000,000,000 un milliard

201 deux cent un 2,000,000,000 deux milliards

1,000 mille

Note the following about French numbers:

•

To express your age, use the idiomatic expression

avoir . . . ans

,

given in Chapter 22:00:

J’ai vingt-six ans

. (I’m twenty-six years old.)

•

To express numbers between 1,000 and 10,000 in words, you can

avoid using

mille

and simply use

cent

: 1,100 =

mille cent

or

onze

cents

; 1,900 =

mille neuf cents

or

dix-neuf cents.

•

The conjunction

et

(and) is used only for the numbers 21, 31, 41,

51, 61, and 71. In all other compound numbers through 99, a

hyphen is used.

•

Before a feminine noun,

un

becomes

une

:

vingt et un hommes

,

vingt

et une femmes.

•

To form 70–79, use:

soixante

+

dix

,

onze

,

douze

, etc.

•

To form 90–99, use:

quatre-vingt

+

dix

,

onze

,

douze

, etc.

•

When using

quatre-vingts

(80) or the plural of

cent

(100), drop the

s

before another number, but not before a noun:

quatre-vingt-quinze

francs

,

quatre-vingts francs

;

deux cent cinquante dollars

,

deux cents

dollars.

•

Un

is not used before

cent

(100) or

mille

(1,000):

cent hommes

,

mille femmes

.

•

Mille

doesn’t take s in the plural:

deux mille dollars.

•

Mille

is sometimes written

mil

in dates:

Je suis né en mil neuf cent

soixante-quatre

.

NOUNS OF NUMBER

Certain numbers are used as collective nouns to express a round number:

une dizaine about ten une centaine about a hundred

une douzaine a dozen un millier about a thousand

une quinzaine about fifteen un million a million

une vingtaine about twenty un milliard a billion

une cinquantaine about fifty

These numbers are followed by

de

(

d’

) before another noun. In the

plural, add

s

to these numbers:

une centaine de familles about a hundred families

deux douzaines d’oeufs two dozen eggs

des milliers de gens thousands of people

PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

When numbers are used before plural nouns beginning with a vowel

or vowel sound, the pronunciation of the numbers changes to allow for

elision:

BEFORE A BEFORE

CONSONANT PRONUNCIATION A VOWEL PRONUNCIATION

deux valises duh vah-leez deux enfants duh zahN-fahN

trois dollars trwah doh-lahr trois hommes trwah zohm

quatre garçons kahtr gahr-sohN quatre années kaht rah-nay

cinq femmes saNk fahm cinq ans saN kahN

six francs see frahN six artistes see zahr-teest

sept dames seht dahm sept heures seh tuhr

huit familles wee fah-mee-y huit acteurs wee tahk-tuhr

neuf personnes nuhf pehr-sohn neuf autos nuh fo-to

dix phrases dee frahz dix oranges dee zoh-rahNzh

ORDINAL NUMBERS

Ordinal numbers are very important when you are in an elevator building,

such

as

an

apartment

building

or

a

department

store.

Note

that

le

sous-sol

is the basement,

le rez-de-chaussée

is the ground or main floor,

and

le premier étage

is the first floor above ground level.

ORDINAL FRENCH ORDINAL FRENCH

1st premier (première) 7th septième

2nd deuxième, second(e) 8th huitième

3rd troisième 9th neuvième

4th quatrième 10th dixièmee

5th cinquième 11th onzième

6th sixième 12th douzième

20th vingtième 72nd soixante-douzième

21st vingt et unième 100th centième

Note the following about ordinal numbers:

•

Ordinal numbers agree in number with the nouns they describe.

Premier

(

première

) and

second

(

seconde

) are the only ordinal numbers

that

have

a

feminine

form:

le

premier

garçon

(the first boy),

la première fille

(the first girl),

les premières années

(the first years).

•

Second

(

e

) is generally used in a series of two. In a series with more

than two items, use

deuxième

.

•

Except for

premier

and

second

, ordinal numbers are formed by

adding

-ième

to the cardinal number. Silent

e

is dropped before

-ième

:

quatrième

,

onzième

, etc.

•

A

u

is added in

cinquième

, and a

v

replaces the

f

in

neuvième

.

•

Use

le

or

la

before

huit/huitième

and

onze/onzième

. There is no

elision necessary:

le huitième anniversaire

(the 8th anniversary),

le onze juillet

(July 11th).

•

In French, cardinal numbers precede ordinal numbers:

Les quatre

premières personnes

(the first four people).

•

In dates,

premier

is the only ordinal number that is used. For all

other days of the month, use the cardinal number:

le premier mai

(May 1st),

le sept mai

(May 7th).

•

Premier

is used only for the first in a series. For 21 through 71,

unième

is added after the conjunction

et

to express “first” with the

noun it modifies:

le cinquante et unième match

(the 51st match).

DAYS, MONTHS, AND SEASONS

Days of the Week

ENGLISH FRENCH ENGLISH FRENCH

Monday lundi Friday vendredi

Tuesday mardi Saturday samedi

Wednesday mercredi Sunday dimanche

Thursday jeudi

To express “on a certain day,” the French use the definite article

le

, as

explained in Chapter 23:00:

Le dimanche je lave la voiture

. (On

Sunday[s] I wash the car.)

Months of the Year

ENGLISH FRENCH ENGLISH FRENCH

January janvier July juillet

February février August août

March mars September septembre

April avril October octobre

May mai November novembre

June juin December décembre

All months, days of the week, and seasons in French are masculine and

are not capitalized unless they are used at the beginning of a sentence.

The Four Seasons

ENGLISH FRENCH ENGLISH FRENCH

summer l’été (m.) winter l’hiver (m.)

fall, autumn l’automne (m.) spring le printemps

Use the preposition

en

to express “in” with months and seasons, except

with

printemps

, when

au

is used:

en juillet (in July) en été (in the summer)

en septembre (in September) en automne (in the fall)

en décembre (in December) en hiver (in the winter)

en mai (in May) au printemps (in the spring)

An important fact to remember if you have a lot of appointments in a

French-speaking country is that French calendars start with Monday as

the first day of the week.

Time Expressions

ENGLISH FRENCH ENGLISH FRENCH

a day un jour eve la veille

a week une semaine day before avant-hier

yesterday

a month un mois

yesterday hier

a year un an/une année

in dans/en tomorrow demain

ago il y a day after après-demain

per par

tomorrow

during pendant

next day le lendemain

next prochain(e)

from dès

last dernier (dernière)

a week from d’aujourd’hui

past passé(e)

today en huit

today aujourd’hui

two weeks de demain

from tomorrow en quinze

Dates in French can be expressed in several ways:

lundi onze juillet 2000 lundi le onze juillet 2000 le lundi onze juillet 2000

Note the following when expressing a date:

•

The first of each month is expressed by

premier

. Cardinal numbers

are used for all other days:

le premier avril

(April 1st),

le deux août

(August 2nd).

•

Years are usually expressed in hundreds, just like in English:

dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

(1999), but

mille (mil) neuf

cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

(1999) can also be used. To express

“in the year 2000” say:

en l’an deux mil

. The year 2001 (and

so forth) would be expressed

deux mil(le)un

.

•

When writing the date in numbers, the French follow the sequence:

day + month + year:

le

22

janvier

2004, or 22/1/04 (January 22,

2004, or 1/22/04).

•

The word for year,

an

, is used with ordinal numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.)

unless an adjective is used to describe the word

year

. In that case,

the word

année

is used. Sometimes either word is acceptable:

un an a year

une année a year

trois bonnes années three good years

quelques années a few years

l’an dernier last year

l’année dernière last year

•

The English words

on

and

of

are not expressed in French dates:

J’arrive le vingt-deux avril

. (I’m arriving on April 22nd.)

Il part le

douze juin

. (He’s leaving on the 12th of June.)

To get information about the day or the date of an event, you will need

the following questions and answers:

What day is today? Quel jour est-ce (aujourd’hui)?

Today is . . . C’est aujourd’hui . . .

What day is today? Quel jour sommes-nous (aujourd’hui)?

Today is . . . Nous sommes (aujourd’hui) . . .

What’s today’s date? Quelle est la date d’aujourd’hui?

Today is . . . C’est aujourd’hui . . .

What is the date of the . . . ? Quelle est la date du (de la, de l’, des) . . . ?

Remember that the adjective

ouvert

or

fermé

must agree in number and

gender with the noun it modifies (see Chapter 19:00):

Le musée est fermé

quels jours?

(The museum is closed on what days?)

Les bibliothèques

sont ouvertes quels jours?

(What days are the libraries open?)

TELLING TIME

When making plans, you need to know at what time you will meet and

when an event is going to take place.

What time is it? Quelle heure est-il?

—It is . . . —Il est . . .

At what time does . . . start? À quelle heure commence(nt) . . . ?

—At . . . —À . . .

At what times does . . . end? À quelle heure finit (finissent) . . . ?

—At . . . — À . . .

At what time shall we meet? À quelle heure on se rejoint?

—At . . . — À . . .

1:00 une heure 7:35 huit heures moins vingt-cinq

2:05 deux heures cinq 8:40 neuf heures moins vingt

3:10 trois heures dix 9:45 dix heures moins le quart

4:15 quatre heures et quart 10:50 onze heures moins dix

5:20 cinq heures vingt 11:55 midi moins cinq

6:25 six heures vingt-cinq midnight minuit

7:30 sept heures et demie noon midi

To express time properly, remember the following:

•

To express time after the hour, the number of minutes is added.

Et

(and) is used only with

quart

(quarter) and

demi

(

e

) (half).

•

Moins

(less, minus) is used to express time before the hour.

•

Moins le

is used before

quart

.

NOTE

Because midi (noon) and minuit (midnight) are masculine, to say

“half past,” use et demi: J’arrive à midi et demi. (I arrive at 12:30

[in the afternoon].)

When making plans, you will need to know how to form a variety of

questions. Look at the phrases below. You may mix and match any of

the elements in the columns to get a correct sentence. Use the forms

shown here when you know the person well. To be formal, use the

vous

form, as shown in Chapter 17:00:

Tu veux sortir quand?

(When do you

want to go out?)

Tu peux partir à quelle heure?

(At what time can you

leave?)

Tu veux Do you want aller (to) go

Tu peux Can you sortir (to) go out

Tu as envie de Do you feel like partir (to) leave, leaving

Tu désires Do you want revenir (to) return, come back

Tu dois Do you have to rentrer (to) come back (in)

à quelle heure? at what time? quand? when?

More Time Expressions

ENGLISH FRENCH

a second une seconde

a minute une minute

an hour une heure

in the morning,

A

.

M

. du matin

in the afternoon,

P

.

M

. de l’après-midi

in the evening,

P

.

M

. du soir

at exactly midnight à minuit précis

at exactly 1:00 à une heure precise

at exactly 2:00 à deux heures précises

at about 2:00 vers deux heures

a quarter of an hour un quart d’heure

a half hour une demi-heure

in an hour dans une heure

until 2:00 jusqu’à deux heures

before 3:00 avant trois heures

after 3:00 après trois heures

since what time? depuis quelle heure?

an hour ago il y a une heure

early tôt, de bonne heure

late tard

late in arriving en retard

NOTE

1. The f sound in neuf becomes a v sound when liaison is made

with heures (hours, o’clock) and ans (years): Il est neuf heures

(eel eh nuh vuhr). Il a neuf ans (eel a nuh vahN).

2. In public announcements, such as timetables, the official twenty-fourhour

system

is

commonly

used,

with midnight as the zero hour:

0 h 40 = 12:40

A

.

M

.; 16 heures = 4:00

P

.

M

.; 21 h 45 = 9:45

P

.

M

.

TIME’S UP!

If you’ve got the numbers, times, dates, and seasons down pat, you should

be able to perform the following tasks in French without looking back:

1. Tell how old you are.

2. Ask for today’s date.

3. Express your birth date.

4. Ask what days the museum is closed.

5. Express the season we are in.

6. Give today’s date.

7. Ask your friend when he/she wants to go out.

8. Say what time it is.

9. Ask at what time we’ll be getting back together.

10. Say when le film begins.

Offering Ideas

and Issuing

Commands

MASTER THESE SKILLS

•

Making proposals

•

Giving commands

•

Getting there

•

Using the pronoun y

•

Using idioms

•

Using ce + être or il est

In this lesson you’ll learn how to be

persuasive when you make suggestions

and how to use commands to give and

receive directions.

MAKING PROPOSALS

In English, when you want to persuade someone to do something or go

somewhere, you ask, “How about . . . ?” or use the contraction

Let’s

.

The words that allow you to make suggestions are quite idiomatic and,

therefore, cannot be translated word for word from English to French.

There are several ways to get around this problem.

•

Use the subject pronoun

on

(we, you, they, people, one) to refer to

an indefinite person.

On

always takes a third person singular verb

(

il

form) and has several different meanings in English. The active

construction with

on

is often used in French where the passive is

used in English:

Ici on parle français.

Active: We (You, They, People, One) speak(s) French here.

Passive: French is spoken here.

You may use

on

+ the third person singular conjugated form of any

verb to make a suggestion:

On danse? Shall we dance?

Si on allait à la discothèque? What if we went to the discotheque?

•

Use

avoir envie de

+ an infinitive to ask what a person feels like

doing:

Avez-vous envie d’aller au cinéma?

(Do you feel like going

to the movies?)

•

Use

vouloir

+ an infinitive to ask if a person wants to do something:

Voulez-vous aller au zoo? Do you want to go to the zoo?

Veux-tu aller au parc? Do you want to go to the park?

•

Use the

nous

form of the verb to express “Let’s

. . .”

:

Allons à l’aquarium! Let’s go to the aquarium!

Regardons un film! Let’s watch a film!

NOTE

After certain short words ending in a pronounced vowel sound, such as

et (and), ou (or), où (where), and si (if), the form l’on may be used for

pronunciation purposes: si l’on tourne à gauche (if you turn to the left),

la chambre où l’on travaille (the room in which we work).

GIVING COMMANDS

Commands are most useful in directing people to locations. The subject

of a command is understood to be

you

, because you are being told where

to go or what to do.

There are two ways to say

you

in French:

tu

and

vous

. When

tu

is the

subject, the command is referred to as the familiar command, because

tu

is used when speaking to a friend or family member. When

vous

is the

subject, the command is referred to as the polite command, as

vous

is

used when speaking formally.

Vous

is also the subject of a command

directed to more than one person; it is the only

you

pronoun that refers

to a plural subject.

To form a command, simply drop the subject pronoun. Use only the

correct conjugated verb form:

Finis ton travail!/Finissez votre travail!

(Finish your work!)

The familiar

tu

command of

-er

verbs drops the final

s

from the conjugated

verb

in

both

regular

and

irregular

verbs:

Regarde le panneau! Look at the sign!

Descends du train! Get off the train!

Va à droite! Go to the right!

To make a command negative, put

ne . . . pas

around the conjugated

verb:

Ne va pas à gauche

. (Don’t go to the left.)

Irregular verbs follow the same rules as regular verbs except for:

AVOIR

(TO HAVE)

ÊTRE

(TO BE)

SAVOIR

(TO KNOW)

(tu) aie sois sache

(vous) ayez soyez sachez

(nous) ayons soyons sachons

Commands with Reflexive Verbs

With reflexive verbs, the subject pronoun is dropped but the reflexive

pronoun must be used. In negative commands, the reflexive pronoun

precedes the verb:

Ne te lève pas tôt. Don’t get up early.

Ne vous réveillez pas tard. Don’t wake up late.

Ne nous dépêchons pas. Let’s not hurry.

In affirmative commands, the reflexive pronoun follows the verb and is

attached to it with a hyphen. After the verb,

toi

is used instead of

te:

Lève-toi tôt. Get up early.

Réveillez-vous. Wake up.

Dépêchons-nous. Let’s hurry up.

GIVING AND RECEIVING DIRECTIONS

Here are the most frequently used verbs you will need to give or receive

directions:

DIRECTION

TU

FORM

VOUS

FORM

continue continue continuez

cross traverse traversez

get off descends descendez

go va allez

go down descends descendez

go up monte montez

pass passe passez

take prends prenez

turn tourne tournez

walk marche marchez

To give proper directions, you will need the names of the means of transportation.

When explaining the means of transportation a person will

take, you use a definite article (

le

,

la

,

les

):

Prends l’autobus

. (Take the

bus.) But when saying that someone travels by a certain means of transportation,

be

careful

to

use

the

correct

preposition

as

shown:

Means of Transportation

airplane en avion foot à pied

bicycle à bicyclette/à vélo motorcycle à moto

boat en bateau subway en métro

bus en bus taxi en taxi

car en automobile/en voiture

Je vais au supermarché à pied. I walk to the supermarket.

Il voyage en bus. He travels by bus.

Also use

à

+ definite article (

au

,

à la

,

à l’

,

aux

) to express where to get

the transportation you need:

Vous allez à l’aéroport et vous prenez l’avion à la porte numéro six.

You go to the airport and you take the plane at gate number six.

Where to Go

to the airport à l’aéroport (m.)

to the bus stop à l’arrêt (m.) de bus

to the gate à la porte

to the platform au quai

to the station à la gare

to the taxi stand à l’arrêt (m.) de taxi

to the terminal au terminal

to the track à la voie

To give or receive adequate directions you also need the prepositions

and prepositional and adverbial phrases below showing location and

direction.

Giving and Receiving Directions

above dessus

alongside le long de

at à

at the bottom of au fond de

at the top of en haut de

at home à la maison

downtown en ville

far (from) loin (de)

from de

in the country à la campagne

in the direction of dans la direction de

nearby à proximité/près (de)

Also use

à

+ definite article (

au

,

à la

,

à l’

,

aux

) to express where to get

the transportation you need:

Vous allez à l’aéroport et vous prenez l’avion à la porte numéro six.

You go to the airport and you take the plane at gate number six.

Where to Go

to the airport à l’aéroport (m.)

to the bus stop à l’arrêt (m.) de bus

to the gate à la porte

to the platform au quai

to the station à la gare

to the taxi stand à l’arrêt (m.) de taxi

to the terminal au terminal

to the track à la voie

To give or receive adequate directions you also need the prepositions

and prepositional and adverbial phrases below showing location and

direction.

Giving and Receiving Directions

above dessus

alongside le long de

at à

at the bottom of au fond de

at the top of en haut de

at home à la maison

downtown en ville

far (from) loin (de)

from de

in the country à la campagne

in the direction of dans la direction de

nearby à proximité/près (de)

Turn right (left) at the light. Tournez à droite (gauche) au feu.

Stop! Arrêtez!

Follow me. Suivez-moi.

It would be better to take (definite Il vaudrait mieux prendre (le, la, l’

article + means of transportation). + means of transportation).

And if you are far from your destination:

Is it to the north? C’est au nord? Is it to the east? C’est à l’est?

Is it to the south? C’est au sud? Is it to the west? C’est à l’ouest?

USING THE PRONOUN

Y

The adverbial pronoun

y

(pronounced

ee

) means “there” when the place

has already been mentioned.

Y

can also mean “it,” “them,” “in it/them,”

“to it/them,” or “on it/them.”

Y

usually replaces the preposition

à

+ the

noun object of the preposition but may also replace other prepositions of

location or position, such as

chez

,

dans

,

en

,

sous

, or

sur

+ noun:

Je vais à Paris. I’m going to Paris.

J’y vais. I’m going there.

Il répond au téléphone. He answers the phone.

Il y répond. He answers it.

Nous restons à l’hôtel. We are staying in the hotel.

Nous y restons. We are staying in it.

Sometimes

y

is used in French but is not translated into English:

Vous allez au restaurant? Are you going to the restaurant?

—Oui, j’y vais. —Yes, I am going there.

Vous répondez au courrier? Are you answering the mail?

—Oui, j’y réponds. —Yes, I am.

The pronoun

y

is used to replace a preposition (

à

,

en

,

dans

) + noun of

place or location.

Tu vas à l’aéroport? Are you going to the airport?

—Oui, j’y vais. —Yes, I’m going there.

Le restaurant est dans la gare? Is the restaurant in the station?

—Oui, il y est. —Yes, it is.

Never use

y

to replace

à

+ a person. Indirect object pronouns are used for

this purpose. They will be explained in greater detail in Chapter 10:00.

Positioning

Y

In simple sentences,

y

is placed before the verb to which its meaning is

tied. When there are two verbs,

y

is placed before the infinitive:

Tu y vas. You are going there.

Tu n’y vas pas. You aren’t going there.

Tu veux y aller? Do you want to go there?

Tu ne veux pas y aller? Don’t you want to go there?

N’y va pas! Don’t go there!

The only time

y

follows the verb is in an affirmative command:

Allez au

carnaval

. (Go to the carnival.)

Allez-y

. (Go there.)

Affirmative familiar commands retain the final

s

from the conjugated

verb before

y

to prevent the clash of two vowel sounds. A liaison is made

between the final consonant of the verb and

y

:

Va au parc d’attractions.

Vas-y.

(vah-zee) (Go to the amusement park. Go there.)

In compound tenses,

y

is placed before the conjugated helping verb:

J’ai dormi une fois sous les étoiles. I once slept under the stars.

J’y ai dormi une fois. I once slept there.

J’ai dormi sous une tente. I slept in a tent.

J’y ai dormi. I slept there.

Il était allé en France. He had gone to France.

Il y était allé. He had gone there.

Nous serons rentrés à Paris. We will have returned to Paris.

Nous y serons rentrés. We will have returned there.

Elle aurait pensé à ses vacances. She would have thought

about her vacation.

Elle y aurait pensé. She would have thought

about them.

USING IDIOMS

In English, you use idioms and idiomatic expressions all the time without

even realizing that you are doing so. An example will help you

understand exactly how an idiom works. When you say, “She fell head

over heels for him,” you do not mean, in a literal sense, that she fell

head-first and tripped over her feet. To someone who doesn’t speak

English well, this sentence would be extremely confusing. But a native

speaker instinctively and immediately understands the underlying meaning

of

this

phrase—that

she

really

liked

him

a

lot.

Idioms occur in every language, are generally indigenous to that

specific language, and do not translate well from one language to the

next. If a French speaker were to say,

Elle a du chien

, that would mean

that she is attractive, even though the literal translation of the sentence

is, She has some dog.

Use these idioms to express your opinions and accentuate the positive:

still/all the same/ tout de même

nevertheless

as for me de ma part

in my opinion à mon avis

of course bien entendu/bien sûr

OK d’accord

on the contrary au contraire

really/utterly tout à fait

to tell the truth à vrai dire

without a doubt sans doute

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

If you would like to persuade someone to do something, positive reinforcement

is likely to work. Reinforce your opinions by using the words and

expressions below to help you convince even the most stubborn among us:

It’s a good idea! C’est une bonne idée!

It’s extraordinary! C’est extra!

It’s great! C’est chouette!

It’s important! C’est important!

It’s interesting! C’est intéressant!

It’s magnificent! C’est magnifique!

It’s marvelous! C’est merveilleux!

It’s super! C’est super!

COMPLAINTS

If you have persuaded someone to go along with you and the person is

not satisfied, you could expect to hear one of these phrases:

It’s boring! C’est embêtant!/C’es ennuyeux!/

C’est la barbe!

It’s disgusting! C’est dégoûtant!

It’s awful! C’est affreux!

It’s horrible! C’est horrible!

It’s ridiculous! C’est ridicule!

It’s unpleasant! C’est désagréable!

Combine an idiom with a positive or negative expression to form a stronger

sentence:

À mon avis, c’est magnifique

. (In my opinion, it’s magnificent.)

USING

CE

+

ÊTRE

OR

IL EST

The pronoun

ce

(

c’

before a vowel) (it, he, she, this, that, these, those) is

most frequently used with the verb

être

(to be):

C’est

or

Ce sont. Ce

replaces

il

,

elle

,

ils

, and

elles

as the subject of the sentence in the following

constructions:

•

Before a modified noun:

C’est une église. It’s a church.

C’est un musée intéressant That’s an interesting museum.

Ce sont de bons films These are good movies.

But:

Il est docteur [unmodified]. He’s a doctor.

•

Before a name:

C’est Marie

. (It’s Marie.)

•

Before a stress pronoun:

C’est moi

. (It is me.)

•

Before a superlative:

C’est la plus jeune fille

.

(She’s the youngest girl.)

•

In dates:

C’est le trois mai

. (It is May 3rd.)

•

Before a masculine singular adjective that refers to a previously

mentioned idea or action:

Il est important. He is important.

—C’est évident. —That’s obvious.

Je peux vous aider? Can I help you?

—Ce serait inutile. —That would be useless.

•

Before an adjective +

à

+ infinitive:

C’est bon à savoir. That’s good to know.

C’est impossible à faire. That’s impossible to do.

Use

il est

in the following constructions:

•

To express the hour of the day:

Il est deux heures.

(It’s two o’clock.)

•

With an adjective before

de

+ infinitive:

Il est bon de manger. It’s good to eat.

Il est facile de danser. It’s easy to dance.

•

With an adjective before a clause beginning with

que

:

Il est

important que je travaille.

(It is important that I work.)

When pronouns refer to a preceding noun,

il

and

elle

are used:

Luc est mon frère. Luke is my brother. He is very friendly.

Il est très aimable.

J’adore cette cathédrale. I adore this cathedral. It is sensational.

Elle est sensationnelle.

Some adjectives can be used in impersonal expressions using

il est

+

adjective +

de

or

c’est

+ adjective +

à

:

Il est impossible de comprendre

son accent

. (It’s impossible to understand his accent.) The following

adjectives are often used in impersonal expressions:

difficult difficile fair juste

doubtful douteux fun amusant

easy facile good bon

essential essentiel important important

impossible impossible scary effrayant

interesting intéressant surprising étonnant

nice gentil unfair injuste

necessary nécessaire urgent urgent

possible possible useful utile

NOTE

Although the English versions of the following sentences are identical,

they have two different meanings in French:

Il est intéressant de lire. It is interesting to read.

(Reading, in general, is interesting.)

C’est intéressant à lire. It is interesting to read.

(The material is interesting to read.)

TIME’S UP!

Without looking back, see if you can do the following:

1. Use on to suggest going to a restaurant.

2. Use the nous command to propose going to the zoo.

3. Ask where the Eiffel Tower (la tour Eiffel ) is.

4. Using an affirmative command, tell someone to go three blocks.

5. Using a negative command, tell someone not to go straight ahead.

6. Tell a friend to wake up early.

7. Using y, tell someone to go there.

8. Give a positive reason for going to visit Notre-Dame Cathedral.

9. Say that in your opinion, it’s great.

10. Give a negative reaction toward going to the theater.