Title : GC's Official Prince Diamond Posts : 2408 Join date : 2015-07-20 Age : 32 Location : Teleporting between Elysion and Nemesis
Subject: Parlez-vous français? 18th September 2016, 2:21 am
In English: Do you speak french?
Or: why is french complicated
Or: actually it's quite simple when you get the hang of it
Or: only Quebec speak 100% french, but you all know english, so french it is
French is the language of poets. Of romance. Of... of a lot of things, but though it can be immensely pretty, as a bilingual (sort of), english is better when it comes to administrative texts because it offers simpler ways to say things.
But, it's not the point of this topic. Note that some of the english translations are literal because there's not really a good equivalent.
NOTE: A game awaits you at the end of this post Participate for a bumper. MORE: If you ever were curious about a sentence, a word, an expression, etc and wished to have it's french equivalent, you're welcome to ask in this thread, whether in your answer post or in another post and I will gladly translate it for you
Basic sentences, phrases, greetings
Bonjour -> Hello Comment ça va? (standard) -> How are you? Comment vas-tu? (polite non-formal) -> How are you? Comment allez-vous (formal) -> How are you? Bonne nuit -> Good night Fais de beaux rêves -> Sweet dreams À bientôt! -> See you later! À demain! - > See you tomorrow! Au revoir -> Bye Oui -> Yes Non -> No Merci -> Thank you S'il te plaît (polite non-formal) -> Please S'il vous plaît (formal) -> Please Je m'appelle EK -> My name's EK (I am EK), etc, etc Comment t'appeles-tu? (polite non-formal/standard) -> What's your name? Comment vous appelez-vous? -> (formal) What's your name? Enchanté / Enchantée -> Nice to meet you
Affectionate terms
Chérie, chéri, chère, cher -> Darling, love Mon coeur -> (literal) My heart Mon amour -> My love Ma chouette -> Which is kinda the feminine form of owl... but means something like darling?
Funnily, same as 'chouette', "You're a doll." is weird for french speakers because "Tu es une poupée" (literal translation) has no affectionate connotation. Instead, we say: "Tu es un amour", which literally translated means: you're a love. It makes no sense since love is all kind of nouns, verbs and adjectives in french and not so much in english.
What's complicated in French then?
French nouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjugated verbs, etc, are or masculine, or feminine. Or sometimes both. In those last rarer occasions, only the article or determinant used before them can clue you on which they are.
Nouns: Most nouns are only feminine or only masculine. -La colombe (dove) : feminine -Le bateau (boat) : masculine
Some nouns can be both (use the determinant or article to know). -Un malade (masculine), une malade (feminine) meaning a sick person -Un enfant (masculine), une enfant (feminine) meaning a child
Some nouns can be both but only if they change how they're written. -Un ami (masculine), une amie meaning a friend
Some nouns finish differently depending if you speak of a woman or a man. -Un berger (masculine) becomes une bergère (feminine) meaning shepherd -Un chanteur (masculine) becomes une chanteuse (feminine) meaning singer -Un acteur (masculine) becomes une actrice (feminine) meaning actor / actress
Some nouns (like in english) change completely. -Un frère (masculine) becomes une soeur (feminine) meaning brother then sister -Un vache (feminine) becomes un taureau (masculine) meaning cow then bull
Adjectives: Most of the time, we transform the masculine by adding an 'e' at the end: -Grand becomes grande (tall) -Marié becomes mariée (married) -Original becomes originale (original)
Nothing changes if the masculine ends in 'e'. -Sévère (grave)
If the masculine ends with an unheard letter 't', 'd', 's', it would become heard after you add an 'e'. -Grand becomes grande. -Blond becomes blonde. -Intelligent becomes intelligente.
Sometimes the end consonant is doubled: -Canadien becomes canadienne (canadian) -Mignon becomes mignonne (cute)
Or the end of the word changes completely: -Curieux becomes curieuse (curious) -Rêveur becomes rêveuse (dreamy) -Menteur becomes menteuse (liar)
And the way you conjugate verbs would also change depending on whether it's a woman or a man who does the action.
Here's a small video to help explain a bit better what all of this means. Like many things in french, both way to conjugate and feminine / masculine business has to be learned and rarely can be guessed.
Feminine or Masculine?
Easy enough. You'd think. But not so much. Try to guess whether these words below are feminine or masculine. Three of them are traps. One of them is a masculine noun transformed into a feminine one
Chaise (chair)
Table (table)
Chien (dog)
Chat (cat)
Divan (couch)
Pierre (rock)
Roche (rock)
Caillou (rock)
Ruban (ribbon)
Tasse (mug, cup)
Tapis (rug)
Piano (piano)
Soleil (sun)
Lune (moon)
Couverture (blanket)
Tête (head)
Bouche (mouth)
Monsieur
Madame
Cloche (bell)
Église (church)
Bras (arm)
Jambe (leg)
Amour (love)
Coeur (heart)
Fenêtre (window)
Corbeau (crow)
Écrivaine (writer)
Silence (silence)
Paix (peace)
Last edited by Eternal Knight on 18th September 2016, 2:44 am; edited 1 time in total
CrystalBunny
Lotus Crystal
Posts : 1446 Join date : 2016-07-28 Age : 19
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 18th September 2016, 2:39 am
Oh ,oui je parle français ,je suis Roumain . I know some french but I'm not perfect .
Neo King Helios
Lotus Crystal
Title : ~GC's Official Helios!~ Posts : 242 Join date : 2016-06-08 Age : 26 Location : Down Under
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 18th September 2016, 3:29 am
Oh! Merci beaucoup! Je parle un petit peux francais car j'ai etudier il y a des anees, mai mon francais est tres pauvres. Toutefois, I'm more than eager to learn this! ^^
Cosmos-Hime
Moderator
Title : ミ☆ GC's official Sailor Cosmos! ミ☆ Posts : 12832 Join date : 2014-11-14 Age : 31 Location : ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 18th September 2016, 12:17 pm
Do we PM our guesses or post them in this thread?
Eternal Knight
Lotus Crystal
Title : GC's Official Prince Diamond Posts : 2408 Join date : 2015-07-20 Age : 32 Location : Teleporting between Elysion and Nemesis
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 18th September 2016, 12:20 pm
You can post here, I'll give the answers at the end of the Fair.
Sailor Neptune
Outer Senshi Admin RP Graphics & Canon Admin
Title : Drinker of Roleplayers' Tears ~ The Internationaliest™ Posts : 9577 Join date : 2013-07-25 Age : 36 Location : Canada
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 20th September 2016, 5:53 am
Chaise (chair) - F Table (table) - M Chien (dog) - M Chat (cat) - F Divan (couch) - M Pierre (rock) - M Roche (rock) - F? Caillou (rock) - idk Ruban (ribbon) - F Tasse (mug, cup) - F Tapis (rug) - F Piano (piano) - M Soleil (sun) - M Lune (moon) - F Couverture (blanket) - F Tête (head) - M Bouche (mouth) - F Monsieur - M Madame - F Cloche (bell) - F Église (church) - F Bras (arm) - M Jambe (leg) - F Amour (love) - F Coeur (heart) - F Fenêtre (window) - F Corbeau (crow) - M Écrivaine (writer) - F Silence (silence) - F Paix (peace) - F
Cosmos-Hime
Moderator
Title : ミ☆ GC's official Sailor Cosmos! ミ☆ Posts : 12832 Join date : 2014-11-14 Age : 31 Location : ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 20th September 2016, 9:51 am
Chaise (chair)-male
Table (table)-female
Chien (dog)-male
Chat (cat)-female
Divan (couch)-male
Pierre (rock)-male
Roche (rock)-male
Caillou (rock)-male
Ruban (ribbon)-female
Tasse (mug, cup)-female
Tapis (rug)-male
Piano (piano)-male
Soleil (sun)-male
Lune (moon)-female
Couverture (blanket)-female
Tête (head)-male
Bouche (mouth)-male
Monsieur-male
Madame-female
Cloche (bell)-male
Église (church)-female
Bras (arm)-female
Jambe (leg)-male
Amour (love)-female
Coeur (heart)-female
Fenêtre (window)-male
Corbeau (crow)-male
Écrivaine (writer)-female
Silence (silence)-female
Paix (peace)-male
I just guessed for these. Even with the video, it was confusing.
Eidolune
Moderator
Title : GC's Official Princess Serenity Posts : 897 Join date : 2015-07-28 Age : 27 Location : Louisiana
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 20th September 2016, 10:09 am
Even with four years of French, this is still hard...
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 20th September 2016, 11:19 am
Chaise (chair)F
Table (table)F
Chien (dog)M
Chat (cat)F
Divan (couch)M
Pierre (rock)F
Roche (rock)F
Caillou (rock)M
Ruban (ribbon)M
Tasse (mug, cup)M
Tapis (rug)F
Piano (piano)M
Soleil (sun)M
Lune (moon)F
Couverture (blanket)F
Tête (head)F
Bouche (mouth)F
Monsieur M
Madame F
Cloche (bell) M
Église (church) F
Bras (arm) M
Jambe (leg) F
Amour (love) F
Coeur (heart) F
Fenêtre (window) M
Corbeau (crow) M
Écrivaine (writer) M
Silence (silence) F
Paix (peace) F
Eternal Knight
Lotus Crystal
Title : GC's Official Prince Diamond Posts : 2408 Join date : 2015-07-20 Age : 32 Location : Teleporting between Elysion and Nemesis
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 20th September 2016, 6:33 pm
Cosmos-Hime: The video wasn't here to give all the answers since it's a guessing game
3 days left before the answers and bumper are given! Thanks to those who participated!
Hikari-chan
Lotus Crystal
Title : Honestly, I’ve never fit in with the world. I was always alone. Posts : 8662 Join date : 2013-05-26 Age : 33
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 23rd September 2016, 6:07 pm
Chaise (chair)-F
Table (table)-F
Chien (dog)-M
Chat (cat)-M
Divan (couch)-F
Pierre (rock)-M
Roche (rock)-F
Caillou (rock)-M
Ruban (ribbon)-F
Tasse (mug, cup)-M
Tapis (rug)-M
Piano (piano)-M
Soleil (sun)-M
Lune (moon)-F
Couverture (blanket)-F
Tête (head)-F
Bouche (mouth)-F
Monsieur-M
Madame-F
Cloche (bell)-F
Église (church)-F
Bras (arm)-F
Jambe (leg)-F
Amour (love)-F
Coeur (heart)-F
Fenêtre (window)-F
Corbeau (crow)-M
Écrivaine (writer)-could be both- it depends on if the writer is male or female...atleast thats my guess
Silence (silence)-M
Paix (peace)-F
Andalusite
Lotus Crystal
Title : GC's official Eudial Posts : 1955 Join date : 2015-02-25 Age : 31 Location : Mentally still in Zagreb
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 26th September 2016, 10:30 pm
Chaise (chair) - F Table (table) - M Chien (dog) - M Chat (cat) - F Divan (couch) - M Pierre (rock) - M Roche (rock) - M Caillou (rock) - M Ruban (ribbon) - F Tasse (mug, cup) - F Tapis (rug) - M Piano (piano) - F Soleil (sun) - M Lune (moon) - F Couverture (blanket) - F Tête (head) - F Bouche (mouth) - F Monsieur - M Madame - F Cloche (bell) - F Église (church) - F Bras (arm) - M Jambe (leg) - M Amour (love) - M Coeur (heart) - M Fenêtre (window) - F Corbeau (crow) - M Écrivaine (writer) - F Silence (silence) - F Paix (peace) - F
*May or may not have just written random letters after awhile *
Wait, so you're telling me that the whiny Caillou kid from that one kid's show is named after rocks? *mind blown/childhood ruined XD*
Eternal Knight
Lotus Crystal
Title : GC's Official Prince Diamond Posts : 2408 Join date : 2015-07-20 Age : 32 Location : Teleporting between Elysion and Nemesis
Subject: Re: Parlez-vous français? 29th September 2016, 8:11 am
For all of those who participated in this guessing game: