#awesomefrench

[awesomefrench]

Se faire un sang d'encre.

“To make yourself ink blood” To be excessively worried. 

Mon fils ne m’a pas rappelé pendant deux jours, je me suis fait un sang d’encre !  My son hasn’t called me back in two days, I was worried to the bone! 

[zahdespeaks]

Miraculous Ladybug French Vocab

Hey French langblrs! I’ve been using Miraculous Ladybug episodes recently to try to improve my French (it’s not easy... they speak really fast...). So! I decided to make some vocab lists based on what I can hear in the various episodes. I’ll basically just listen hard to what they’re saying and try to pick out new words, find definitions, etc. so by no means will these be comprehensive lists. 

Also, for each episode I’ll be coming up with grammar and slang questions. Are there french langblrs out there who would be interested in helping and/or explaining some things if I tag you?

Just to get us started, here are a few common words used in most every Miraculous Ladybug episode. Please correct me if you see mistakes, and feel free to add more words!

ladybug - la coccinelle black cat - chat noir hide - cache toi butterfly - papillon earrings - des boucles d'oreille ring - bague lucky charm - porte-bonheur luck - la chance to blacken - noircir never - jamais what am I supposed to do with this? - qu'est-ce que ceux sont faire du ça? good job - bien joue

Which brings me to my first grammar question! When Le Papillon sends out an akuma, he often says, “Fly away little akuma, and blacken his heart!” and he uses the word “noircir” for “to blacken”. What’s the ending here for “noircir” (noirci? noircis?), and why?

Merci!

-Sarah

ps please signal boost this so I can get in contact with french langblrs willing to help with questions

[awesomefrench]

S'autocongratuler

To congratulate yourself

Trump s’autocongratule de la destruction complète des Etats-Unis.  Trump congratulates himself for the United States's full destruction. 

[awesomefrench]

Paris No-Go Zones. 

[patatoscope]

joyeux anniversaire awesomefrench!!

[awesomefrench]

... comme tout.

Cute and very poetic idiom to say “Very”. It gives the idea of something small and sweet being close to perfection.  Lit. “Like all”. Informal. 

“C’est mignon comme tout.  “That’s very cute.”

“Cet enfant est poli comme tout.”  “That child is very polite.” 

[mixkstyle]

awesomefrench : ceci est un sujet qui me tient à coeur, et qui, je pense, serait vraiment instructif pour tous, ne serait-ce que pour une prise de conscience et sortir du moule de consommateur bête et méchant à qui on arrive à tout vendre aveuglément. Dommage qu’il n’y ait pas (encore?) de sous-titres.  Mais comme ce n’est pour le moment accessible qu’aux francophones, et que tu as la plus grande base de followers francophones, pourrais-tu reblogger cette vidéo? Merci, bises.

P.S. une société néerlandaise s’est lancée dans la production d’un smartphone équitable, plus d’info ici et ici.

To my non-French-speaking followers, this is a documentary that aired last year, which investigated behind the scenes of the smartphone industry, and unveiled all the hidden skeletons in the biggest companies’ closets. Even if you don’t understand French, I think the images speak for themselves...Just know that not one brand is better than the other, they’re all guilty.

[awesomefrench]

How to make compound nouns plural in French.

You have to look at the fonction of each part. As a general rule, nouns and adjectives agree, adverbs, verbs and prepositions don't. 

1) noun + noun

a) When the second noun's fonction works as an adjective > both agree :

des choux-fleurs

b) When the second works as a complement, with a written or meant preposition to link them > only the first agrees :

des crocs-en-jambe, des timbres-poste (des timbres pour la poste)

c) When the first noun is shortened (generally ending by -i or -o) > the second agrees

des tragi-comédies

exceptions : des pot-au-feu, des rez-de-chaussée

2) noun + adjective or adjective + noun

Both agree :

des coffres-forts, des plates-bandes

3) adjective + adjective 

Both agree unless one of the adjectives works as an adverb (and hence can't agree) or color adjectives.

des sourds-muets

4) verb + noun

a) Noun that works as a direct object > agree depending on the meaning but verb remains invariable : 

des couvre-lits (several beds)

des gratte-ciel (only one sky) 

exceptions : des ayants-droit, des ayants-cause

b) Noun that works as an indirect object > don't agree :

des touche-à-tout

5) verb + adverb > Don't agree  :

des passe-partout

6) verb + verb > Don't agree

des savoir-vivre

7) adverb or preposition + noun

> the noun agrees  :

des arrière-boutiques

8) "demi" + noun

> the noun agrees :

des demi-heures

9) "garde" + noun

a) When "garde" means "gardiens" > "garde" agrees and the noun can also agree depending on the meaning

des gardes-malades (several sick people)

des gardes-chasse (the "concept" of hunting)

b) When "garde" refers to the verb "garder" (to keep, to protect) > don't agree :

des garde-manger

10) "grand" or "franc" + noun or adjective

"Grand" or "Franc" only agree when masculine : 

des grands-pères

des grand-mères ("grands-mères" can also works but never "grandes-mères")

Article translated from here