REGULAR VERBS ENDING IN -IR

The infinitive of a large number of French verbs ends

in-ir
finir to finish
garantir to guarantee
choisir to choose
grossir to put on weight
maigrir to lose weight
remplir to fill
réussir to succeed

We form the present tense by removing the -ir from the

infinitive and adding:

je nous -issons
tu -is vous -issez
il/elle -it ils/elles -issent

je finis I inish
tu finis you finish
il finit he finishes
elle finit she finishes
nous finissons we finish
vous finissez you linish
ils finissent (m.) they finish
elles finissent (f.) ihey finish

NOTE: The singular familiar form tu finis should be used

only to close friends, children, and animals.
 VOCABULARY
le rapport report
le magnétoscope video recorder
le gâteau cake
le verre glass
l'occasion (f.) opportunity
saisir to seize

IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (11)

fec-neerr: gah-rahng-1eerr; shwah-zeerr: groh-seerr:
may-greerr; rahng-pleerr; ray-ü-seerr; fee-nee; fee-nee:
fee-nee; fee-nee-song; fee-nee-say; fee-neess;
rah-porr: man-yay-t0-skop: gah-toh; vairr: o-kahz-yong:
say-zeerr.

Exercise 10
Translate:
1 l am flinishing the report.
2 We guarantee the video recorder.
3 She chooses a cake.
4 He is putting on weight.
5 They (f.) are losing weight.
6 They (m.) are filling the glasses.
7 We seize the opportunity.

12 DEMONSTRATIVES:THIS, THAT, THESE, THOSE

Both 'this' and 'that' are expressed by:

ce (m. sing.) ce trainn this/that train

cette (f. Sing.) cette voiture this/that car
ces (m. & f. pl.) ces avions these/those planes

If a distinction needs to be made between 'this' and

that' or 'these' and 'those', we can add -ci (short for ici
here') and -là ('there') to the noun:

ce train-ci this train 20/131

ce train-là that train

VOCABULARY
le guichet ticket office
l'ascenseur (m.) lift
le compartiment compartment
le billet ticket
la gare railway station
la place seat

rapide fast
important important
fermé closed
cher, chère (f.) expensive
plein full
réservé reserved

occupé occupied
valable valid
 Translate:
1 This train is last.
2 This railway station is important.
3 This ticket office is closed.
4 That car is expensive.
5 That lift is full.
6 These seats are reserved.
21/131
7 These compartments are occupied.
8 Those tickets are valid.

13 USEFUL EXPRESSIONS USING AVOIR

In French there are a number of expressions with avoir
'to have' which would be expressed in English with the
verb 'to be':

avoir faim to be hungry

avoir soif to be thirsty
avoir chaud to be warm
avoir froid to be cold
avoir raison to be right
avoir tort to be wrong

avoir is also used in connection with age:

Il a douze ans. He is 1welve. (lit. "He has twelve years:)

IMITATED PRONUNCIATION
ah-vwahr lang; swahl; shoh; frwah; ray-zong: torr; ahng.
 NEGATIVES: NEVER, NOTHING, EI
14 MORE 21/15

We have already seen that 'not is expressed by putting

ne (n') before the
verb and pas after
Je ne travaille pas. I do not work.
Il n'écoute pas. He is not listening.

Here are some more negatives and model sentences:

ne..jamais never
ne...rien nothing
ne...personne no-one

ne... Plus no longer, no more

Il ne travaille jamais. He never works.

Elle n'exporte rien. She exports nothing.
lls n'invitent personne. They invite no-one.
Je ne fume plus. I no longer smoke.

NOTE
Rien and personne can also begin a sentence:

Rien n'est cher. is expensive.

Nothing
Personne ne fume ici. No one smokes here.

After a negative un, une, du, de la, de l', des change

to de (d')

Je mange de la salade. I eat salad.

Je ne mange jamais de salade. I never eat salad.
 22/131

IMITATED PRONUNCIATION (14)

ner; zhah-may; ree-ang: pair-sonn; plüi; plah-ieen lah
vairr: fro-mahzh; om dah-fairr: glahs; dyay-tay-tees-yen;
mahng-zhay: rahng-kong-tray.

Exercise 13.
Answer the questions using 'not, as follows:
Vous voyagez en voiture? Do you travel by car?
Non, je ne voyage pas en voiture. No, I don't travel
by car.
1 Vous travaillez?
2 Vous écoutez?
3 Vous avez faim?

Now answer using 'never:

4 Est-ce que vous choisissez du fromage?
5 Est-ce que vous téléphonez?
6 Est-ce que vous avez froid?

Now answer using 'nothing':

7 Mange-1-il une glace?
8 Prépare-t-elle un rapport?
9 Exporte-t-il des platines laser?
T6ASKING: VWHERE, VVHEN, HOW, EIG

You will need to know how to ask questions in French:

où? where?
où est-ce que vous habitez? Where do you live?

quand? when?
Quand écoutez-vous la radio?
When do you listen to the radio?

comment? how?
Comment allez-vous?
How are you? (literally: How do you go?)

qui? who? whom?

Qui parle français? Who speaks French?
Qui est-ce qu'elle invite? Whom is she inviting?

pourquoi? why?
Pourquoi téléphone-t-elle?
Why is she telephoning?

Note the reply to pourquoi is parce que 'because

quel (m.), quelle (f.)
quels (m. pl.), quelles (f. pl) which (what)?