Lesson 7 Flashcards
In this deck, you will learn vocabulary terms dealing with clothes, weather, and professions. You will also learn about possessive pronouns and disjunctive (or stressed) pronouns.
Translate to French:
Yesterday I found twenty euros in the living room
Hier j’ai trouvé vingt euros dans le salon
to find - trouver
Translate to French:
Today I met a cool professor
Aujourd’hui j’ai rencontré un professeur sympa
to meet, to run into - rencontrer
Translate to French:
He cannot find a good job
Il ne peut pas trouver un bon emploi
a job - un emploi, un métier. Note that métier applies more to a “career.” In conversation, French speakers commonly use an informal term for “job” – le boulot.
Translate to French:
I’m going to work
Je vais au bureau
(place of) work, the office - le travail, le bureau. Note that un bureau can also refer to “an office (room)” in a house, as well as “a desk.”
Translate to French:
What do you do for a living?
Quel métier faites-vous?
What do you do for a living? - Quel métier faites-vous? An alternative would be: Que faites-vous dans la vie?
Translate to French:
How’s the weather?
Quel temps fait-il?
How’s the weather? - Quel temps fait-il? Literally, this translates to “What weather does it do?” Recall that temps refers to “(the) weather” as well as “time.”
Translate to French:
My father is a doctor
Mon père est docteur
a doctor - un docteur, un médecin. Recall that when declaring someone’s profession, articles can be omitted. In this case, un is not used.
Translate to French:
I need a lawyer
J’ai besoin d’un avocat
a lawyer - un avocat
Translate to French:
The most famous businessman is Bill Gates
L’homme d’affaires le plus connu est Bill Gates
a businessman - un homme d’affaires. A businesswoman is a femme d’affaires. Note how the past participle of connaître, connu (“known”), is used as an adjective to mean “famous.” Célèbre is another way of saying “famous.”
Translate to French:
I do not like politicians
Je n’aime pas les hommes politiques
a politician - un homme politique. The female equivalent of homme politique: femme politique. Note that politique must be made plural if you are talking about more than one politician.
Translate to French:
Mr. Dupont is an engineer
M. Dupont est ingénieur
an engineer - un ingénieur. Note that you can also use the more general term technicien.
Translate to French:
- me
- you
- him/her
- oneself
- us
- you
- them
- moi
- toi
- lui/elle
- soi
- nous
- vous
- eux/elles
These are disjunctive, or stressed, pronouns. They are used for emphasis when referring to people.
Translate to French:
I don’t want to leave
Moi, je ne veux pas partir
Stressed pronouns often come at either the beginning or end of sentences to emphasize pronouns or nouns. The literal translation here would be “Me, I don’t want to leave.”
Translate to French:
You are thinking about him. Is he thinking about you?
Tu penses à lui. Pense-t-il à toi?
Note the use of disjunctive pronouns after prepositions.
Translate to French:
Are you going to their house without us?
Vas-tu chez eux sans nous?
English translations of French phrases containing stressed pronouns often end up being quite different. In this case, the English does not employ “them,” the counterpart of eux, because of the term chez.
Translate to French:
Who wants some sugar? Him
Qui veut du sucre? Lui
Note how disjunctive pronouns can be used to answer questions. They can also be used in asking questions: Elle veut aller. Et toi? – “She wants to go. And you?”
Translate to French:
I like only him
Je n’aime que lui
The negative construction ne… que, which means “only,” is commonly used with disjunctive pronouns.
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You are a lot stronger than he/him
Tu es beaucoup plus fort que lui
Note how stressed pronouns are used after que in a comparison.
Translate to French:
You’re the one who wants to go hiking
C’est toi qui veux faire de la randonnée
Stressed pronouns can be used after c’est. Also note how the verb veux agrees with the subject; in this case, it is conjugated in the second-person singular to match toi.
Translate to French:
It’s they who are eating
Ce sont eux qui mangent
All disjunctive pronouns can follow c’est, with the exception of eux and elles, which must use ce sont instead.
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You’re going to make food yourself?
Tu vas faire à manger toi-même?
Note the use of the stressed pronoun with même, which is done for emphasis.
Translate to French:
- myself
- yourself
- himself
- herself
- oneself
- ourselves
- yourself/yourselves
- themselves
- moi-même
- toi-même
- lui-même
- elle-même
- soi-même
- nous-mêmes
- vous-même(s)
- eux-mêmes/elles-mêmes
Translate to French:
I will find the cat myself
Je trouverai le chat moi-même
Translate to French:
This pencil is mine
Ce crayon est à moi
Note how possession can be conveyed by using être à with a disjunctive pronoun. An alternative would be to use the adjective propre, which can mean “own”: C’est mon propre crayon – “This is my own pencil.”
Translate to French:
You and I are arriving
Toi et moi, nous arrivons
Note how disjunctive pronouns are used when there is more than one subject in a sentence. The same is true when there is more than one object.
Translate to French:
Every man/Each one for himself
Chacun pour soi
The disjunctive pronoun soi is used when the subject is general or consists of unspecified persons.
Translate to French:
When one is tired, one stays home
Quand on est fatigué, on reste chez soi
Because the indefinite pronoun on is used, the indefinite disjunctive pronoun soi is employed after the preposition chez. Here you’re really saying “When people are tired, they stay home” (at their respective homes). An alternative is Quand nous sommes fatigués, nous restons chez nous, but the meaning there changes slightly: “When we’re tired, we stay home” (at our single house).
Translate to French:
I want to be a fireman
Je veux être pompier
a fireman - un pompier
Translate to French:
My sister is going to be a nurse
Ma soeur va être infirmière
a nurse - un infirmier. Note the feminine form in the example.
Translate to French:
Pablo Picasso is a very well known painter
Pablo Picasso est un peintre très connu
a painter - un peintre. Note that “a painting” is une peinture.
Translate to French:
I do not see anyone over there
Je ne vois personne là-bas
nobody, no one, not anyone - ne… personne. Note the use of ne together with personne. Personne is the negative pronoun when it comes to people.
Translate to French:
I don’t know these people
Je ne connais pas ces gens
people - des gens. Note that gens is used in a general sense, while personne(s) is used to describe a specific person or group of people.
Translate to French:
Are there any people over at your house?
Est-ce qu’il y a du monde chez toi?
people - du monde. Du monde is often used to refer to a few people or a crowd of people. Des gens can also be used, literally meaning “some people.”
Translate to French:
Have you called the plumber?
As-tu appelé le plombier?
a plumber - un plombier. Note how appeler can mean “to call.” “To call oneself,” on the other hand, would be the reflexive form of the verb, s’appeler: je m’appelle Jean.
Translate to French:
The policeman is coming now
Le policier arrive maintenant
a policeman - un policier. Note that when referring to the police generally, la police is used.
Translate to French:
My boss is mean
Mon patron est méchant
a boss, a manager - un patron. An alternative is chef, which also means “cook” or “chef.”
Translate to French:
There are five employees eating
Il y a cinq employés en train de manger
an employee, a worker - un employé
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It’s a small business
C’est une petite entreprise
a company, a business - une société, une entreprise. To refer to business in general, use le commerce.
Translate to French:
In the company of his classmates and friends, Luc is very happy
En compagnie de ses camarades et ses amis, Luc est très heureux
company (social) - la compagnie. This word does not correspond to a company or business.
Translate to French:
Are you going to become a member of the club soon?
Vas-tu bientôt devenir membre du club?
a member - un membre. Note that the word for a social or athletic organization (club) is the same in French as in English.
Translate to French:
The members of the government are not motivated to act
Les membres du gouvernement ne sont pas motivés à agir
government - le gouvernement. Note that the adjective motivé is formed by the past participle of the verb motiver, “to motivate.”
Translate to French:
He works for the Department of Education
Il travaille pour le ministère de l’Éducation
a ministry, a department - un ministère. This noun applies to governmental departments (or ministries). To refer to administrative or academic departments, you can use département.
Translate to French:
- mine
- yours
- his/hers/its
- ours
- yours
- theirs
- le mien
- le tien
- le sien
- le nôtre
- le vôtre
- le leur
These are possessive pronouns. They replace a possessive adjective and a noun. The possessive pronoun must agree with the noun being replaced. Note that there are also feminine and plural forms of these pronouns.
Translate to French:
Here is my pen. Where is his?
Voici mon stylo. Où est le sien?
Here, instead of repeating the word stylo by asking Où est son stylo?, you can replace son stylo with the appropriate possessive pronoun, le sien.
