LESSON NOTES

Absolute Beginner S1 #3 To Know Anything About Anybody in France, You HAVE to Start Here!

CONTENTS
2 2 2 3 3 6 French English Vocabulary Sample Sentences Grammar Cultural Insight

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FRENCH
1.

Giulia : Rob : Giulia : Rob : Giulia :

Tu viens au Centre Georges Pompidou ? Le Centre Georges Pompidou ? Quest-ce que cest ? Cest un muse dart moderne. Et Georges Pompidou, qui cest ? Oh l l. Cest un prsident franais.

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ENGLISH
1.

Giulia: Rob: Giulia: Rob: Giulia:

Are you coming to the Georges Pompidou Center? The Georges Pompidou Center? What is it? It's a museum of modern art. And who is Georges Pompidou? Oh la la, he is a French President.

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VOCABULARY
Fr e nc h le centre un muse l'art English center museum art C lass noun noun noun Ge nde r masculine masculine masculine

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moderne un prsident venir

modern president to come

adjective noun verb

masculine or feminine masculine

SAMPLE SENTENCES
Le Cent r e Geor ges Pompidou est r econnaissable sa st r uct ur e par t iculir e. Le muse d'Or say est amnag dans l'ancienne gar e d'Or say inaugur e pour l'Exposit ion univer selle de 19 0 0 .

"T he Georges Pompidou Center is recognizable because of its particular structure."

"T he Orsay Museum is housed in the former Orsay railway station, which was inaugurated at the 1900 Universal Exhibition."
L'ar t est impor t ant l'cole.

Ce muse est int r essant .

"T his museum is interesting."

Le r seau fer r oviair e japonais est t r s moder ne.

"Art is important at school."

Il est le pr sident .

"He is the president."

"T he Japanese railway system is very modern."

J e viens bient t ! L'ambulance est venue t out de suit e.

"I am coming soon!"

"T he ambulance came right away."

GRAMMAR
T he Focus of t his Lesson Is Asking About Ident ifying People and Object s. Le Centre George Pompidou ? Qu'est-ce que c'est ? "T he Geor ges Pompidou Cent er ? What is it ? "

Traveling in a French speaking country or being acquainted with French people, you will certainly see and hear about unknown places and people. To overcome the culture gap, you

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should know some very useful questions so you can ask about famous buildings or French people. The first very useful question to ask about objects, places, or cultural landmarks is the question Qu'est-ce que c'est ?, meaning "What is it?" Qu'est-ce que c'est? "What is it /t his/t hat ? " This question is composed of the question particle Qu'est-ce que and the verb tre at the third person singular form, est, preceded by the adjective demonstrative ce. As the verb form est starts with a vowel, the adjective demonstrative ce is shortened to the letter c followed by an apostrophe. Therefore, Qu'est-ce que or Qu'est-ce qu' when followed by a word starting with a vowel, means "what," and c'est is translated as "this" or "that" when physically pointing to something or generally speaking about it. This question has other forms that are more or less formal, as shown below. St andar d: Qu'est-ce que c'est? "What is it?" Infor mal: C'est quoi? "What is this/that?" For Example: French Qu'est-ce que c'est ? C'est un muse. Ce n'est pas un cinma. C'est quoi ? C'est une pice de voiture. Et Georges Pompidou, qui c'est? "And who is Geor ges Pompidou? " "English" "What is it?" "It's a museum." "It's not a movie theater." "What is it?" "It's a car part."

When encountering a French personality or French full name in a document or during a visit, you may wish to get more information about that person. To ask about people, use the question particle qui, meaning "who," as in Qui c'est? "Who is t his/t hat ? " In this question, you can observe three parts. The first one is qui ("who"), followed by the demonstrative adjective c'-usually to physically designate people or things around you-and

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the verb tre with the verb form est. You can formulate this question in different ways depending on the language register: St andar d: Qui c'est ? "Who is this/that?" For mal: Qui est-ce ? "Who is this/that?" Infor mal: C'est qui ? "Who is this/that?" According to the circumstances, you can also add the name of the person. For Example: French Qui c'est Monsieur Sarkozy ? Qui est ce Monsieur Sarkozy ? C'est qui, Monsieur Sarkozy ? "English" "Who is Mr. Sarkoz y?" "Who is Mr. Sarkoz y?" "Who is Mr. Sarkoz y?"

And to answer of any of the above questions, just use c'est followed by the appropriate information. For Example : French Qui c'est ? C'est Marc. Ce n'est pas Paul. Qui est-ce ? C'est (ma fille) Julie. C'est qui Carla ? C'est la femme du prsident franais. "English" "Who is this/that?" "It's Marc." "It is not Paul." "Who is this/that?" "It's (my daughter) Julie." "Who is Carla?" "It's the French president's wife."

Dialogue Focus: Tu viens au Centre Georges Pompidou ? "I'm going t o t he Geor ges Pompidou. Ar e you coming? "

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To make an informal invitation to friends or family members, use the verb venir at the present tense, called l'indicatif prsent in French. For Example: French Fir st Per son Singular Second Per son Singular Fir st Per son Plur al Second Per son Plur al Je viens Tu viens Nous venons Vous venez "English" "I come" "you come" "We come" "You come"

You can offer to do something as follows: Tu viens + au + masculine noun Tu viens + la + feminine noun Tu viens aux + plural noun For Example: French Tu viens au cinma ? Tu viens la plage? Tu viens aux concerts des Eurokennes*? "English" "Are coming to the movie theater?" "Are you coming to the beach?" "Are you coming to the Eurokennes* concerts?"

*Not e : Les Eurokennes is a three-day event, usually held in the city of Belfort in France during July. During Les Eurokennes, many artists offer multiple concerts. Dialogue Expansion

To express your amaz ement either in a positive or an incredible way, depending on the situation you're in and what you are feeling, you can use Ce n'est pas possible!, literally "It's not possible!" or more commonly "No, way!," instead of Oh l ! l !

CULTURAL INSIGHT

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Cent er Geor ge Pompidou: Your One-St op Cult ur e St op!

If roaming the streets of Paris near the Center George Pompidou, you won't miss it just because of its futuristic aspect and its original location. This cultural center is dedicated to gathering in one place all forms of contemporary and modern art, including theater, music, movies, books, and speeches along with fine art. Designed by Renz o Piano and Richard Rogers and built in the 1970s, this building is a symbol of twentieth-century architecture and offers many ways to enrich your personal interests either through its expositions, lectures, documentaries, and unique library.

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