The French Learning Thread

[Big Bee]

ha ha ha... that was meant to come out sooner or later..!!!

 

[metoo4]

"Le" in "Le Reine Elizabeth" refers to "L'Hotel" and "Hotel" is masculine.

No, it's not because of what the Queen look like, you silly boys!

 

[figtree]

Merci

Thanks for all your chapeaux.

The fun part about gender is that logic does not apply. Consider the following:
le vagin, le sein, le clitoris
and then la verge, la bite.
What poor confused anglophone could have guessed at those?

 

[metoo4]

...The fun part about gender is that logic does not apply. Consider the following:
le vagin, le sein, le clitoris
and then la verge, la bite.

Nothing confusing! It's all about perspective: it's who the toy is intended for that defines it's gender! Vagin, sein,clitoris are intended for guys so, masculine gender!

 

[figtree]

The rule of toy?

Nothing confusing! It's all about perspective: it's who the toy is intended for that defines it's gender! Vagin, sein,clitoris are intended for guys so, masculine gender!

Metoo4, The toy idea is interesting but there are some problems. After I confiscate my girlfriend's le godemiché and le vibrateur where do I put them? Or better still, don't answer that...

 

[Esco!]

Would you guys quit hijacking my thread FFS, I'm trying to learn french

I still dont have an answer to my question BTW, scroll back two pages

 

[Big Bee]

Cheap in French is Bon Marche.

Expensive can either be Cher or Couteux, which one of the two is used in Quebec most often????

Go with "Cher", they'll understand..!!

Enjoy our language...

 

[chef]

Would you guys quit hijacking my thread FFS, I'm trying to learn french .......

Are you saying that the discussion during the hijacking did not help you learn French ? It sure helped me; I'm an anglophone who is far from fluent in French, and figtree's explanation of the difference between when you use beau and belle was very educational. It removed one more veil between me and the language.

 

[CantSeeMrHappy]

Try to guess what this in English:

Ayoye maudit christi de tabarnacle de coliss ma tite orteille de crisse

Translation: Ow, shit, banged my little toe
Click and scroll your mouse over to reveal the answer...

 

[Esco!]

Cheap in French is Bon Marche.

Expensive can either be Cher or Couteux, which one of the two is used in Quebec most often????

Let me ask again ^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Big Bee]

Let me ask again ^^^^^^^^^^^^

You didn't like my answer ?

 

[hard2cum]

How do I say "Teach me some french"

As it happens, I often have 20 minutes to kill after my usual 5 hour sessions. So how do I say "Teach me some French" in French? (pronounciation guide too SVP )

 

[metoo4]

H2C, beside bragging to us, you can just try speaking French with the lady! If the session was good enough, the lady will feel pity and teach you some French without you asking...

 

[DirtyOWL]

grassouillette

What does grassouillette mean?

 

[figtree]

grassouillette

What does grassouillette mean?

Plump, chubby

 

[figtree]

More gender fun

And according to the académie française, certain professions are always masculine, even when performed by a woman; thus a woman prime minister would be "madame le premier ministre". In Canada, we tend to feminize these terms, so here it would be "madame la première ministre".

We need to be careful with the assumption that we can conveniently change the gender of a word:
Your personal trainer is l'entraîneur, which is masculine. If your trainer is a woman she is not l'entraîneuse because that is a hostess in a night club.
Also, a trucker is le camionneur. A woman truck driver may be la camionneuse but in France that would make her a dyke.
A puppy is le chiot. Is a female puppy la chiotte?

Consider also that all French rivers are hermaphrodites. If it flows into another river or lake it is a feminine la rivière. If it flows into the sea it changes its name and its gender to le fleuve.

Also,beware of using the ending of a word to determine its gender. The word stère (a measure of wood) looks like it should be feminine but alas it is le stère.

If it all sounds too confusing just remember that learning French is like learning to play the violin. Some people get good at it but nobody does it perfectly. It can be fun though.

 

[Esco!]

You didn't like my answer ?

I thought you were kidding, doesnt 'Cher' mean dear????

 

[chef]

I thought you were kidding, doesnt 'Cher' mean dear????

It does mean "dear", but it also means "expensive". BTW in English "dear" may also mean expensive - a happy coincidence where both French and English agree !

 

[Esco!]

"Les femmes de Devilish est tres cher".....is that proper French then???

 

[Agrippa]

"Les femmes de Devilish est tres cher".....is that proper French then???

Minor error: if you say "Les femmes" then it's plural and therefore the verb must also be plural "sont" and not "est." Inversely you could say "Cette femme de Devilish" (singular, This particular woman) and leave the "est".

Otherwise, it's an ok pun when spoken out loud. Written out, you would have to make the distinction between "cher" (expensive) and "chère" (dear)

If the verb conjugations confuse you then this is what you need to get: Beschrelle and practically memorize each page