命ある限り希望あり

gökçen. 23. she/her. infj 4w5. slytherin. engineering major.

[petrichorals]

How do you stay motivated?

Motivation is a fickle bitch. Don’t expect motivation. You don’t stay motivated; you work through the periods of exhaustion and disinterest with relentless discipline and enjoy the moments of motivation when they come, ride the wave, and then struggle through the depths again.

(Habit, not motivation, should be your best friend. Routine, persistence, patience.)

[crookedlanguagestudent-deactiva]

How to sound more natural in French

1) For questions, use “est-ce que”, or just the plain affirmative form with a question mark/rising tone.

 Où vas-tu ? (correct, but nobody actually speaks like that)

 Où est-ce que tu vas ? (much better) Tu vas où ? (most common) Partez-vous en vacances cet été ? (hello, I’m a robot)

 Est-ce que vous partez en vacances cet été ? (natural)

 Vous partez en vacances cet été ? (what I would probably say) => Note that even though I used the formal “vous” in this last example (could also be that I’m addressing multiple people, but let’s say it’s just one person), it’s still completely ok/common/natural to use these more “informal” question forms. Same goes for all the other tips below. This is how people actually speak, even in slightly more formal situations. 

2) Drop “ne” in “ne pas”

E.x. Je ne sais pas. => Je sais pas.

E.x.  Je n'ai pas faim. => J'ai pas faim.

3) Use “on” (conjugates like the third person) instead of “nous”

E.x. Nous habitons à Paris. => On habite à Paris. 

4) Shorten “tu” to t’ when the verb starts with a vowel of a “silent” H 

E.g. Tu habites où ? => T'habites où ?

5) Drop “il” in “il y a”. It turns into “y'a”

E.x.  Il y a un chat dans le jardin. => Y'a un chat dans le jardin.

E.x. Il n'y a pas de soucis. => Y'a pas de soucis. 

 These are the most important I think. Then there’s obviously vocab, with some words/contractions being more informal to varying degrees (“bouquin” for “livre”, “aprem” for “après-midi”…). 

And then, there’s pronunciation. There are a lot of sounds that can get slurred together, but I couldn’t really tell you the rules. As an example though, “je” followed by “sais” or “suis” will turn into j’, then ch if you’re really slurring.

 "Je sais pas" => “J'sais pas” => “Chaipas” (this last one is not usually written, but you will hear it) 

Some people will tell you that all these things are “incorrect” and “not proper French”, but I think that’s bullshit. You *need* to do all these things if you want to sound like a real person, and not like a textbook. Good luck!

 - with the help of a user from the HiNative App. When you have doubts about anything in particular, using HiNative is a great way to get the answers you’re looking for in a language you’re studying. 

 These were just some helpful tips I got from him/her about sounding more natural and gaining a better understanding of the language.

[limbile]

Little fact about French because I just learned that

The accent circonflexe (^) exists in French words to replace the “s” that no longer exists but used to be there in older French.

For example: fenêtre used to be fenestre

It is still possible to see the “s” at times in family words like “défenestrer”.

[culmaer]

knowing this, « être » becomes much more regular :

être  → estre (es, est, sommes, ê[s]tes, sont ; ser-)

some French derivations become clearer :

fenêtre   → défenestrer → L. fenestra

fête   → festival

hôpital → hospitaliser (E. hospital, ise)

intérêt  → intéressant (E. interest, -ing)

ancêtre  → ancestral (E. ancestor, -ral)

arrêt    → arrestation

épître  → épistolaire (E. epistle)

some English cognates become more obvious :

hôtel  → hostel (E. ‘hotel’ borrowed from French)

forêt  → forest (tipp to remember ^ goes on the ‹e›)

bête  → beast

côte  → coast

honnête → honest

pâte, pâté → pasta, paste

quête   → quest

enquête  → inquest

tempête  → tempest

vêtements → vestments (ie. clothes)

baptême → baptism

sometimes, the acute replaces the circumfex for phonetic reasons :

ḗcole   → escole → L. schola (E. school)

ḗtranger   → estrangier (E. stranger)

ḗtudier   → estudier (E. study)

dḗgoûtant → desgoustant (E. disgusting)

dḗbarquer → desembarquer (E. disembark)

rḗpondre  → respondre (E. respond)

rḗpublique → L. res publica

Also, where « c → ch » (eg. cantare→ chanter) :

château → castel (E. castle)

pêcher → L. piscare

and « w → gu » (eg. war→ guerre ; warden→ guardian) :

guêpe → E. wasp ! (this is my n° 1 favourite cognate)

bonus etymologies :

tête   → L. testa

fantôme  → L. phantasma (E. ‘phantom’ borrowed from French)

Pâques  → Gk. pásxa → Am. pésaḫ (E. Paschal)

Also just be aware that the circumflex has some other uses too, like distinguishing « sur — sûr » or « dû » and the vowel quality in « âge »

[hayley-studies]

Where was this post when I was doing A-Level French! This is actually a really interesting language change called “syncope” (the loss of a medial segment within a word) and what makes it even more interesting to me is that not only was the -s- dropped post vocalically and largely before voiceless stops, but that the circumflex was (unnecessarily but coolly) adopted as an orthographic marker of the lost -s-. Even more interesting is that syncope usually occurs in vowels. I love this.

[gherf]

~ FRENCH MEDIA #1 ~

This is a list regarding ways I expose myself to French both spoken and written in music, film and news portals. Obviously this list is non-exhaustive and there are several aspects which I haven’t discovered yet and in the future I’ll most probably create better & improved versions as I discover different artists, films, etc. and possibly even include other segments such as literature!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

//MUSIC//

This is the longest section in my list because I’m quite exposed to French music and different French artists. This is the best way for me personally to learn vocabulary as well as get my ears somewhat used to spoken French especially since it is such a fast-spoken and elidable (omission of letters, ex. ce que je dis= c’qu’j’dis, etc.) language. All the artists can be found on Spotify yet possibly not their entire discography.

What I usually do is give a listen to a song the first time to see if I like it and then follow the lyrics on a lyric website. This is very crucial to both test your understanding of the language and also enrich your vocabulary. Google any words you don’t know and try to keep a list of the words you learn. Listening to music can also introduce you to colloquial or vulgar terms which is quite cool tbh but be attentive when to use them. Also try to listen to the songs as much as you can so you’ll eventually learn the lyrics which will be a huge boost to your understanding of spoken French and better your pronunciation, and will assure you remember new vocabulary. 

Artist Name: Description. Favourite songs.

Stromae: Probably the most popular singer in French nowadays; mostly electronic; very good lyrics for general vocab, not too hard to follow or understand. Papaoutai, Tous Les Mêmes, Alors On Danse, Formidable, Carmen, Sommeil

Indila: pop; very nice and catchy debut album; really good for vocab and quite easy to follow. Dernière Danse, Tourner Dans Le Vide, SOS, Ego

Coeur de Pirate: Francophone singer from Canada; indie and pop; moderately-paced songs. Place de la République, Comme des Enfants

Vitaa: earlier work is very soul but most recently transitioned to pop and electronic; some colloquial expressions, uses a lot of elision, might be quite difficult to understand just by listening. No Limit, La Même, Game Over, Emmène-Moi, Emmenez-Moi, Mégalo, Vivre, Ma Soeur

Sexion D’Assaut: rap collective; not super fast but I find it rather hard to understand just by listening. Ma direction, Désolé

Maître Gims: member of Sexion D’Assaut; rap; quite fast at times; quite good for vocabulary, frequent use of one-off english words. J’Me Tire, Zombie, Bella

Orelsan: rap and electronic; really good for vocab on the whole and not so difficult to keep up with. La Terre Est Ronde, Le Chant Des Sirènes, Ils Sont Cools (<- this song contains A LOT of slang/colloquial words and phrases)

Lio: 80′s pop singer; upbeat songs; very easy to keep up with, ideal for beginners and beginner vocabulary. Amoureux Solitaires, Le Banana Split

Vive La Fête: synthpop music duo; very alternative hipster tumblr pale blog aesthetic; very easy to follow. Noir Désir, Nuit Blanche

Shy’m: pop and electronic; typical commercial pop music-sound but in a different language tbh; quite easy to follow and keep up with. L’Effet de Serre, En Apesanteur, Et Alors!

Kendji Girac: winner of The Voice France; dance-pop and kind of gypsy as well; easy to follow, good for vocab and some simple yet commonly used words you might not know. Andalouse, Color Gitano, Mon Univers, Viens Chez Nous

H Magnum: I’ve only recently found out about him because he was featured in a song with Vitaa but his music seems really catchy though not too easy to follow just by audio. Aucun Mytho, Garde L’Équilibre

Lartiste: same as H Magnum because he was featured on Vitaa’s new album, a bit tricky to follow by audio. Polygame

Rose: I know like one song of hers because our French teacher showed us a song of hers during class which was really cute and she doesn’t seem hard to follow; quite good song for vocab. La Liste

Édith Piaf: really slow traditional-pop 40′s 50′s music, easy to follow but some low quality audio files can be annoying to actually understand. La Vie En Rose (I actually prefer Grace Jones’ version of this so check that out too)

France Gall: winner of ESC 1965; very 60′s French pop, catchy songs; alright to keep up with. Poupée de cire, poupée de son, Laisse Tomber Les Filles

Zaz: I know one song but it’s super catchy and nice and also not hard to keep up with. Je Veux

Eurovision Entries: Check out the Eurovision entries of: France (almost all in French)  Switzerland (some in French) Belgium (some in French) Luxembourg (most in French)

LYRICS:

Wiktionary: Extremely good for searching individual word meanings, nice and clean interface with usage notes where applicable and most often verb conjugations as well. Also denotes little yet important details of words (ex. H aspiré, Colloquial/Vulgar words, etc.) If a word / expression is not present in the English version, it’s most probably in French Wiktionary, but the definitions might be difficult to understand sometimes.

Word Reference: I prefer Wiktionary to this yet whenever I’m not satisfied with a meaning on Wiktionary, Word Reference saves the day tbh. Extremely good and reliable online dictionary + different languages as well.

Genius: My favourite lyric website. Contains songs in many different languages and the words are 99% of the time spelt perfectly. Some songs might also contain annotations to hep you delve between the lines and discover the lyrical meaning. Check out Genius  specifically for French.

Paroles Et Traduction: Lyrics to French songs + lyrics to English songs which are also translated to French!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

//FILM//

To be completely honest I haven’t explored French cinema so much so far but I’m getting into it more and more. Ideally, films in French should be watched with subtitles even at more intermediate stages, just so everything is understood. However at the same time try to grab hold of some words here and there and test your understanding by listening to the dialogue and it will also help you get used to the usual fast-paced conversation which typically takes place in French. I recommend watching it without subs after you’ve given it at least one run-through and understood the basic conversations and the film plot, and then continue to test your hearing and observation just by hearing.

Film Name ((If Any) Translation) (Year) Description.

First and foremost I’d recommend every film by the Québécois director Xavier Dolan because his work is honestly so lovely tbh.

I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère) (2009) Probably one of my favourite films ever actually. Essentially the film deals with the complex bond between a (gay) son and his mother 

Heartbeats (Les Amours imaginaires) (2010) The story of two friends who fall in love with the same man

Laurence Anyways (2012) “The story of an impossible love between a woman named Fred (Frédérique) and a transgender woman named Laurence (then living as a man) who reveals her inner desire to become her true self” (Wikipedia)

Tom at the Farm (Tom à la ferme) (2013) “Tom, a young advertising copywriter, travels to the country for the funeral of his boyfriend Guillaume. There, he is shocked to learn that no one knows who he is, nor his relationship to the deceased. Guillaume’s brother Francis soon sets the rules of a twisted game. In order to protect the family’s name and the deceased’s grieving mother, Agathe, Tom now has to play the peacekeeper in a household whose obscure past bodes even greater darkness for his “trip” to the farm.” (Wikipedia)

Mommy (2014) “Diane Després is a widowed mother who is overwhelmed by the difficulty of raising her troubled, sometimes violent son Steve as a single parent. Després then begins to receive assistance and support from her mysterious new neighbour Kyla.” (Wikipedia)

Other films I know of:

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) Also one of my favourite films ever TBH. “ It tells the story of a shy waitress who decides to change the lives of those around her for the better, while struggling with her own isolation.” (Wikipedia) (It has a really lovely soundtrack too, check that out!)

Blue Is The Warmest Colour (2013) This won the Palme D’Or unanimously so it’s definitely good I presume even though I haven’t actually gotten myself round to seeing it yet?? “The film revolves around Adèle , a French teenager who discovers desire and freedom when a blue-haired aspiring painter enters her life. The film charts their relationship from Adele’s high school years to her early adult life and career as a school teacher.” (Wikipedia)

Le Roi Danse (2000) Recommended by my French teacher during our Molière lesson of Le Malade Imaginaire to help us understand the context of the setting. It’s based on a biography of the composer Lully and it features his relationships with Louis XIV Of France, Molière and Robert Cambert.

Molière (1978) Also recommended by my French teacher, except that this is biographical of Molière himself to my knowledge. 

Also check out the most popular French-language films on IMDB!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

//NEWS PORTALS// (+ more)

This is very good to get used to reading French without the long-term dedication / difficulty of actual French literature, and extremely beneficial to vocabulary. I recommend liking their Facebook pages as well rather than just visiting their websites to receive constant updates and a passive French-language presence online! Also try to read the comments left by people to test your understanding further (however be cautious of spelling errors or colloquialisms)

Outlet Name (Website) / (Facebook page): Description.

Le Monde (Website) / (Facebook): very popular and very regularly updated

Le Figaro (Website) / (Facebook): also very popular and regularly updated

L’Internaute (Website) / (Facebook): not as popular as Le Monde or Le Figaro yet is still very good and well-updated

Okapi (Website) / (Facebook): this is a magazine rather than an actual news portal. It has some magazine pages on its moderately updated Facebook page, but you can also get a subscription through its website

TV5MONDE  (Website) / (Facebook): also not an actual news portal but rather a television network, but there are plenty of written articles on its website (under Informations) which you should check out!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That comprises this list of a few ways to become more exposed to the French language! As I said, this is far from exhaustive, and I hope to create another list as I delve into the language further. Hope this is of use to people learning the language!

[organisaticns]

okay i seem to have collected a lot of french resources over the last few weeks, and i wanted to collate them and share them with you guys <33

checkers and dictionaries

these things have saved my life like hundred times over, theyre great for checking your accuracy and looking up words (these work for most languages as well!)

bonpatron - checker

languagetool - another checker

reverso - another checker yay!

linguee - dictionary

reverso dictionary - reverso have a dictionary as well, actually its a super helpful website with like conjugation and stuff

reverso context -  i had to include another reverso one, this one will translate a phrase into another language, but give you examples in context which is super helpful

collins dictionary - yep another dictionary 

wordreference - guess what? its another dictionary!

language learning websites

babbel - a great website with loads of different ways of testing your skills

lingvist - im in love with this website, its so good for learning vocab, and has listening and reading exercises as well

duolingo - of course, everyone loves duolingo

lingvo - not quite a language learning website, but its awesome and has info about linguists and stuff i love it

pronunciation

frenchcrazy - an introduction to french phonetics

beginning pronounciation - basic sounds etc

fsi language - a very in depth phonology course

ultimate guide - a very good clear pronunciation guide

pronunciation charts - charts with sounds in (bit confusing maybe)

phonetique - website for photenics of french, with sound

pronunciation guide - very extensive pronunciation guide

ways to sound more native - the ultimate dream of sounding like a native

listening exercises - put your phonetics to the test!

listening

peppa pig - im not even joking, listening to peppa pig is a really good way to improve your french because its pretty simple language

easy to understand french movies - watching movies in french is also a really good way of improving your french

french youtubers - a fun way to improve your listening (cyprien is my fave as he sometimes has english subtitles on his videos)

news websites

le monde - french world news website

1jour 1 actu - kids news website so its really simple which is good

courrier international - another french world news website

etre meilleur - a self improvement article website

linternaute - french news website

dictations

basically when you try to listen to a french audio and write it down as you hear it

theyre horrible and difficult but really good at improving your french because they test your reading and listening skills

collection of lots of them - like 120 different ones

lots of different levels - loads of levels for school age french kids so you can pick which ones you want

categorized ones - to test you on certain grammar things etc

this ones v helpful - you have to write the dictation while correcting errors, so obvs a bit harder

other helpful stuff by other studyblrs

really helpful french resources masterpost by @highschoolering

shortened french words by @mot-du-jour

french grammar masterpost by @la-linguistique

making the most of duolingo by @leahrning

french media masterpost by @gherf

french resources masterlist by @nathalliastudies

french movies by @studybusy

my other masterposts

maths masterpost

setting goals masterpost

i hope that was helpful for you guys, and if you have a resource you want me to add to the other peoples resources section or if you have any requests for other masterposts, message me or send me an ask <3333

[girafeduvexin]

Anyway, on fera jamais mieux que ce graphique du LA Times.

[translatingpostsinfrench]

Qu’est que c’est <<tkt>>?? J’ai le vu sur un poste mais je comprends pas (français n’est pas ma langue maternelle désolée)

short for "t'inquiète" = "don't worry"!

[translatingpostsinfrench]

[explainingpostsinfrench]

The french experience is shortening shortenings and doing "verlan" on "verlan"

[trans-ralsei]

[linguistness]

My French 🇫🇷 Masterlist

-> what i'm using to learn French

Vocab:

Duolingo vocab lists

Quizlet folder: Duolingo unit 1-3, unit 4-6, unit 7-9, unit 10-12, unit 13-15, unit 16-18 (no more updates, i don't use Quizlet anymore)

Grammar:

French nasal sounds

Pronunciation of French c & ç

Le futur proche & le futur simple

Books:

Comic books for French learners

[pompadourpink]

Radio plays

Can you recommend any sources for radio plays? In the late 80s, there was a show called LA Dramatique de Minuit. Monday through Friday from 11:30 PM to midnight. Each week two actors would perform 5 different half-hour radio plays. One each night. I loved that show when I was studying in France. Is there anything like that now accessible via the internet?

*

Nuits noires - France Inter (2010s): detective stories (45mn)

Playlist Fictions enfantines - France Inter (2010-)

57, rue de Varenne - France Inter (2014/2020, 5 seasons): the daily life of a prime minister (24mn)

Signé Furax - RTF/Europe 1 (50s): Detectives Black and White fight against an evil genius, the dreaded criminal Edmond Furax, as well as a shadowy organization, the "Babus" (8mn)

Bons baisers de partout (60s/70s, from the same people) parody of spy/James Bond movies (60mn)

Les maîtres du mystère - France Inter (52/65): adaptation of spooky stories - Christie, Doyle, Poe, etc. (55mn) then turned into Mystère mystère (50mn) and L'heure du mystère (55mn) in 65/74.

Le mystérieux Docteur Cornélius - France Culture (77/78): the clash of two characters and antagonistic conceptions of the world: one, the debonair French scientist Prosper Bondonnat, whose research is directed with the sole aim of adding a stone to the "radiant edifice of modernity", the other, by the evil Dr. Cornelius Kramm, an American plastic surgeon, inventor of "carnoplasty" (a process that allows giving an individual the appearance of another), obsessed with power and money. (29mn)

[prepolyglot-moved]

Making Nouns Plural in French

Most nouns in French are made plural by simply adding a silent -s to the singular form:

la famille -> les familles un élèves -> les élèves

Nouns ending in -s, -x, or -z remain unchanged in its plural form:

le corps -> les corps le prix -> les prix le nez -> les nez

Nouns ending in -eau add -x to the plural form:

le bateau -> les bateaux l'oiseau -> les oiseaux

Nouns ending in -eu add -x to the plural form:

le jeu -> les jeux le lieu -> les lieux

Exception: le pneu -> les pneus

Nouns ending in -al change to -aux in the plural:

l'animal -> les animaux le journal -> les journaux

Exceptions: le bal -> les bals, le festival -> les festivals

Nouns ending in -ou add -x to the plural:

le bijou -> les bijoux le genou -> les genoux

Some nouns are always plural (such as les ciseaux, les gens, les lunettes).

Some nouns are singular but refer to a group of people (le public, tout le monde, le groupe). Singular verbs need to be used for agreement.

In French, last names do not add an -s in the plural unlike in English

Les Renard (The Renards) Les Lescaut (The Lescauts)

Some useful irregular plurals:

l'oeil -> les yeux le travail -> les travaux madame -> mesdames monsieur -> messieurs

Please let me know if there are any mistakes. Information gathered from here.

[lass-uns-studieren-deactivated2]

Verbs to use instead of dire by lass-uns-studieren !

Inspired by @languageoclock‘s German version of this, I have made an accompanying French version. Tagging @langsandlit, @malteseboy, @langblog and @wonderful-language-sounds!

As always, please feel free to add in or let me know of any errors.

annoncer - to announce repondre à - to answer embeter - to annoy se disputer - to argue bien exprimer/s’exprimer - to articulate respirer - to breathe exprimer - to express/ to voice prononcer - to pronounce déclarer - to state soutenir - to maintain (a claim/statement) subvenir aux besoins de - to maintain (support) avouer - to confess (a crime) insulter - to insult/to offend aboyer sur/après/contre - to bark (figuratively get angry) remarquer - to notice/to realise rapporter - to report souligner (le fait) que - to emphasise/to stress (the fact that…) proposer - to offer demander - to ask supplier - to plead marmonner - to mutter/to mumble bramer - to bellow/to roar discuter - to debate/to discuss inviter - to invite rétorquer - to retort/to reply expliquer - to explain mentionner - to mention raconter - to tell (story) jurer - to curse/to swear poser une question - to ask/to question faire un large sourire - to grin gazouiller - to gurgle hurler - to howl tousser - to cough imiter - to imitate informer - to inform gémir - to wail glapir - to yelp crier - to yell/ squeal glousser - to giggle corriger - to correct radoter - to ramble sourire - to smile rire - to laugh mentir - to lie grommeler - to grumble penser - to think/to have the opinion that éternuer - to sneeze brailler - to bawl se vanter - to boast/to brag protester - to protest papoter - to chatter/to blabber claquer des dents - to chatter one’s teeth réagir - to react se moquer de - to tease appeler - to call sangloter - to sob bavarder - to chat cancaner - to gossip soupirer - to sigh se plaindre - to complain converser - to talk/to converse chanter - to sing parler - to speak balbutier - to stammer geindre - to moan/to groan bégayer - to stammer/to splutter se disputer - to argue/to fight/to quarrel verbaliser - to verbalise introduire - to introduce pleurer - to cry râler contre - to rant/to curse chuchoter - to whisper admettre - to admit/to confess pépier - to chirp/to tweet 

[lucylangblr-deactivated20220424]

French Negative Adverbs

ne … plus – not anymore/no more 

e.g. Je ne suis plus là – I’m not there anymore

ne … jamais - never 

e.g Je ne suis jamais allée là-bas – I’ve never been there before

ne … que – only 

Je ne mange que les pâtes – I only eat pasta

ne … pas toujours – not always 

e.g. Il n’est pas toujours gentil – He isn’t always kind

ne … pas encore – not yet 

e.g. il n’a pas encore 18 ans – he isn’t 18 yet

ne … pas du tout – not at all 

e.g. il n’aime pas du tout sa sœur – he doesn’t like his sister at all

ne … pas non plus – neither/either  

e.g. Il n’aime pas non plus les choux de Bruxelles – he doesn’t like brussel sprouts either

ne … aucunement – not at all 

e.g. je n’en suis aucunement responsible – I am not at all/in no way responsable

ne … guère – barely/hardly 

e.g. Il n’a guère mangé – he has barely eaten

ne … nullement – not at all

E.g. je n’ai nullement l’intention de vous aider – I have no intention to help you

ne … nulle part – nowhere 

e.g. il n’est nulle part – he’s nowhere/he isn’t anywhere

ne … point – not (literary, or used for emphasis) 

E.g. je ne fus point bouleversée par ce qu’il me dit – I was not at all upset by what he told me

Exercise:

(you may get a bit confused with the two ‘at alls’, but they have slightly different uses, so look at the examples again to pick the right one)

1. Eve hardly looked at me last night.

2. I have no intention of going out with him.

3. Léo didn’t go anywhere darling, he died.

4. Sarah doesn’t like Marie at all.

5. He doesn’t always kiss me.

6. He can’t drive yet.

7. I was not annoyed (literary)!

8. He won’t benefit at all from this project.

9. He only sleeps!

10. Anne never visits her mother.

11. Louis doesn’t love me anymore.

12. Ryo doesn’t like cats either.

Keep reading

[salutcavaouiettoi]

The French Version of “Like” 🇫🇷

So I’m one of these people that say “like” in everyday sentences way too much, so you can imagine that in french it’s even worse.

So basically:

Like = Genre

Just like anglophones, we use “genre” //“like” everywhere. Here is an example:

“Et puis genre je suis allée à la plage et là genre y avait ce mec qui a commencé à surfer mais y avait genre zéro vagues”

“And then like I went to the beach and there was like this dude that started surfing but there were like no waves”

CAREFUL!!!!!!

We don’t write “genre”, it’s only used when french is spoken, as “like” would be used just when speaking in English. Genre also has other meanings, but in this context you should never write it

“Genre” tends to generally be used more by teens and young adults in the french population. My parents always correct me for using it too much :P

And you? What is your “like” in your native language? I’d be curious to know!!

[0-miso]

french — indefinite pronouns

quelque chose – something

quelque part – somewhere

quelqu’un – someone 

quelquefois, parfois – sometimes

n’importe quoi – anything

n’importe où, ailleurs – anywhere

n’importe qui – anyone

n’importe quand – anytime 

tout – everything

partout – everywhere

tout le monde – everyone

toujours, (à) chaque fois – every time, always

rien – nothing

nulle part – nowhere

personne – no one

jamais – never 

[jaimetalangue]

ailleurs actually means elsewhere

[crookedlanguagestudent-deactiva]

How to sound more natural in French

1) For questions, use “est-ce que”, or just the plain affirmative form with a question mark/rising tone.

 Où vas-tu ? (correct, but nobody actually speaks like that)

 Où est-ce que tu vas ? (much better) Tu vas où ? (most common) Partez-vous en vacances cet été ? (hello, I’m a robot)

 Est-ce que vous partez en vacances cet été ? (natural)

 Vous partez en vacances cet été ? (what I would probably say) => Note that even though I used the formal “vous” in this last example (could also be that I’m addressing multiple people, but let’s say it’s just one person), it’s still completely ok/common/natural to use these more “informal” question forms. Same goes for all the other tips below. This is how people actually speak, even in slightly more formal situations. 

2) Drop “ne” in “ne pas”

E.x. Je ne sais pas. => Je sais pas. Je n'ai pas faim. => J'ai pas faim.

3) Use “on” (conjugates like the third person) instead of “nous”

E.x. Nous habitons à Paris. => On habite à Paris. 

4) Shorten “tu” to t’ when the verb starts with a vowel of a “silent” H 

E.g. Tu habites où ? => T'habites où ?

5) Drop “il” in “il y a”. It turns into “y'a”

E.x.  Il y a un chat dans le jardin. => Y'a un chat dans le jardin.

E.x. Il n'y a pas de soucis. => Y'a pas de soucis. 

 These are the most important I think. Then there’s obviously vocab, with some words/contractions being more informal to varying degrees (“bouquin” for “livre”, “aprem” for “après-midi”…). 

And then, there’s pronunciation. There are a lot of sounds that can get slurred together, but I couldn’t really tell you the rules. As an example though, “je” followed by “sais” or “suis” will turn into j’, then ch if you’re really slurring.

 "Je sais pas" => “J'sais pas” => “Chaipas” (this last one is not usually written, but you will hear it) 

Some people will tell you that all these things are “incorrect” and “not proper French”, but I think that’s bullshit. You *need* to do all these things if you want to sound like a real person, and not like a textbook. Good luck!

 - with the help of a user from the HiNative App. When you have doubts about anything in particular, using HiNative is a great way to get the answers you’re looking for in a language you’re studying. 

 These were just some helpful tips I got from him/her about sounding more natural and gaining a better understanding of the language.

[clowergen]

I just discovered this while being in France (or more precisely, I am still discovering these…for a few days more). Wish I’d read this earlier

[commepoussentlespissenlits]

Collection d’astuces pour s’exprimer sans genrer

I. Formules dites « androgynes »                

1. Additionner la forme masculine et la forme féminine de l’adjectif, du nom, etc.

-          Créatifive, heureuseux

2. Délimiter la forme masculine et la forme féminine de l’adjectif, du nom, du participe passé, etc.

-          Acteur/ice, est allé.e

3. Amalgamer la forme masculine et la forme féminine de l’adjectif, du nom, etc.

-          Chanceuxe, copaine

Avantage : Proximité avec la langue française telle qu’on la connaît déjà.

Désavantages : Rien de révolutionnaire. Fait appel à des options binaires. Pas réellement « neutre ».

II. Recours à « la personne »

1. Placer « la personne » avant chaque adjectif ou participe passé.

-          La personne est belle. La personne est allée.

2. Possibilité de combiner à des accords dits androgynes.

-          La personne est belleau. La personne est allé.e.

Avantages : Facile à intégrer dans la manière de s’exprimer. Formule neutre renversant la règle sexiste du « masculin l’emportant sur le féminin ». Subversif, puisque la plupart des gens ne réalisent pas que cette formule est employée. Humanise la personne dont il est question.

Désavantages : Possibilité d’alourdir le texte. Potentiel de blesser les gens souhaitant se distancer des accords féminins. (Dans ce cas, remplacer par « l’individu ».)

III. Recours à des mots épicènes

Remplacer l’adjectif ou le titre par un synonyme se terminant par « e ».

-          Habile (pour doué.e, talentueuseux). Universitaire (pour étudiant.e).

Avantages : Ces mots font déjà partie de la langue française. Absence d’accent sur le genre.

Désavantages : Requiert de la pratique. Peut être plus difficile à l’oral.

IV. Reformulations

1. Remplacer l’adjectif par « verbe + nom commun le plus près »

-          J’éprouve du bonheur (plutôt que « je suis content.e » ou « je suis heureuseux »).

-          Tu présentes une certaine naïveté (plutôt que « tu es naïfive »).

2. Transformer la phrase.

-          Lorsque j’étais en bas âge ou à l’enfance (plutôt que « lorsque j’étais petit.e »).

-          J’ai une certaine force (plutôt que « je suis fort.e »).

Avantage : Absence d’accent sur le genre.

Désavantages : Requiert de la pratique. Peut être plus difficile à l’oral.

V. À l’oral : jongler les participes passés

Remplacer un participe passé dont la forme masculine se terminerait par une consonne… à un participe passé se terminant par une voyelle.

-          A vaincu.e, a gagné.e (plutôt que « est victorieuseux »).

Avantage : Il y a énormément de participes passés se terminant en « é.e » !

Désavantages : Requiert de la pratique. Peut freiner la conversation.

VI. Créer des mots :’)

Révolution langagière. Un jour.

********

En savoir plus sur le langage non genré: voir ma compilation de titres neutres dans le genre.