THE EVERYTHING FRENCH LEARNNG BOOKS kho tài liệu bách khoa

THE

EVERYTHING
KIDS’
®

LEARNING

FRENCH
BOOK

Funexercisestohelpyoulearnfrançais
DAWN-M ICHELLEBAUDE,Ph.D.
TechnicalReviewbyVÉRONIQUEM OTERLÉ,Ph.D.


SpecialthanksforthisbookgoestoagroupofFrenchkids,includingAlba,Aleyna,Andrew,Axil,Arthur,Elise,Leonard,Leo,Louis,
Noah,Shawn,SophieandTheo,whoseoff-handconversationsuppliedmanycasestudiesforthisbook.Iwouldalsoliketothankmy
agent,GinaPanettieri,forherwisdomandpatienceingettingthisbookintoprint,andKerrySmithatAdamsMediaforensuringits
quality.IwouldalsoliketothankDr.KyokoInoue,forteachingmetohowtothinkaboutgrammar,andSallyFischer,for
outstandingsupport.AndIespeciallywanttothankmysonAlex,forhismeaningfulinsightsintokids’French.

PaulaMunier

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CONTENTS


Introduction
Chapter1:Let’sGetStarted!—Allons-y!

GettingtoKnowFrench—Alarencontredufrançais
TheAlphabet—L’alphabet

EssentialVocabulary—Vocabulairedebase
SpellingandPronunciation—Orthographeetprononciation
Numbers—Leschiffres
Nouns—Lesnoms
Verbs—Lesverbes
Chapter2:TimeandDates—L’heureetlesdates

TellingTime—Disonsl’heure
AskingaboutTime—Demanderl’heure
Days,Months,andYears—Lesjours,lesmois,etlesannées
WhatIsToday’sDate?—Quelleestladated’aujourd’hui?
PartsoftheDaysandYear—Lesmomentsdelajournéeetdel’année
Weather—Letemps
HolidaysandBirthdays—Fêtesetanniversaires
TimeQuestions—Questionssurladateetletemps
Chapter3:AllAboutMe—Toutsurmoi

DescribingMyself—Jemedécris
MyPersonality—Moncaractère
ThePlaceWhereILive—L’endroitoùjevis
MyFamily—Mafamille
MySchool—Monécole
MyFriends—Mescamarades
Chapter4:SocialLife—Laviesociale

Hi!What’sUp?—Salut!Çava?
GreetingFriends—Saluerlesamis
PleaseandThankYou—S’ilteplaîtetmerci
InvitingFriendsOver—Inviterdesamis
AskingQuestions—Poserdesquestions

SayingGoodbye—Direaurevoir
Chapter5:WhatShouldWeDo?—Qu’est-cequ’onvafaire?

RidingaBike—Faireduvélo
PlayingGames—Joueràdesjeux


AtthePark—Auparc
AttheMuseum—Aumusée
DoingSports—Fairedusport
AttheMovies—Aucinéma
Chapter6:I’mHungry!—J’aifaim!

IntheKitchen—Danslacuisine
PreparingFood—Préparerunrepas
Drinks—Lesboissons
AttheTable—Atable
AttheRestaurant—Aurestaurant
Yum,Yum!That’sGood!—Miam,miam,c’estbon!
Chapter7:GoingtoTown—Allerenville

Transportation—Lestransports
AskingforDirections—Demandersonchemin
SpendingMoney—Dépenserdel’argent
KeepingYourMoneySafe—Gardersonargentensecurité
AskingforHelp—Demanderdel’aide
Activities—Activités
Chapter8:Let’sGoOutdoors—Allonsdehors

IntheGarden—Danslejardin

TreesandFlowers—Arbresetfleurs
AttheBeach—Alaplage
AttheRiver—Auborddelarivière
AttheZoo—Auzoo
OntheFarm—Alaferme
Chapter9:GettingAlong—Biens’entendre

BestFriends—Lesmeilleursamis
ExpressingFeelings—Exprimersessentiments
RespectingMyFriends—Respectersesamis
SolvingProblems—Réglerdesproblèmes
MakingUp—Seréconcilier
GirlfriendsandBoyfriends—Amoureuxetamoureuses

AppendixA:English-FrenchDictionary
AppendixB:Glossary
AppendixC:PuzzleAnswers
AppendixD:ExerciseAnswers


INTRODUCTION


WelcometoTheEverything KIDS’LearningFrenchBook!Thisbookisdesignedtohelpyoulearn
®

Frenchthefunway—usingtopicsthatareofinteresttoyou,simpleexplanations,andexercisesandgames
totestyourskills.
Learninganewlanguageislikeopeningadoortoawholenewworld.Youstepthroughthatdoor,and
discovernewideas,sights,andsounds.Youlearnabouthowotherpeopleliveandthink.Thesimilarities

amongallpeoplesremindushowwe’reallverymuchalike,andthedifferencesremindusthattheworld
isabig,interestingplace,justwaitingtobediscovered.
French kids are like kids anywhere—they go to school, play with friends, enjoy favorite foods, and
watchmovies.Buttheyalsohavesomethingsthatmakethemdifferent.
Frenchkidsare,well,French,whichmeanstheyspeakalanguageandliveinaculturethatisdifferent
insomewaysfromotherlanguagesandcultures.Afterschool,theymightputabarofchocolatebetween
twopiecesofbread,andcallitpain-au-chocolat(“chocolate bread”). American kids usually don’t do
that,buttheymightwanttotryitoneday,sinceit’ssogood!
Butnomatterwheretheygrowup,kidsallaroundtheworldlearnlanguagesthesameway.Theybegin
withthealphabetandthenumbers.Thentheyaddvocabulary,onewordatatime.“Hi,”“please,”“thank
you,”and“goodbye”arethefirstwordstolearninanylanguage.Littlebylittle,thevocabularybeginsto
addup.Putafewwordstogether,andyoumakeaphrase.Eventually,youmakefullsentences.Beforeyou
knowit,you’rehavingaconversation.
Learningalanguageisalotlikeplayingwithabuildingblocktoy.Youhaveyourfavoriteblocks,and
you learn to arrange them. You might use the blocks to build a beautiful castle. Then you can take the
castleapartandusethesameblockstobuildahugehotel.Wordsworklikethat,too.Youcanusethemin
differentwaystosuityourpurpose.
Take the verb, “to want,” for example. In French it’s vouloir. You may want ice cream. Or you may
wantloudermusic.OryoumaywantanewCD,atickettoamovie,or…sleep!Vouloirisoneofthefirst
verbsyou’lllearninthisbook,soyoucantellsomeonewhatyouwant!
Havingsomebuildingblocksisessential,butyoualsohavetoknowhowtoputthoseblockstogether.
Youdon’twanttobuildacastlethatyouhavetoholdupwithbothhands!Youwantittostandupsolidly
onitsown.
Usingwordstobuildsentencesrequiresknow-how.Grammar—therulesthatholdlanguagetogether—
helpsyouusewordsinordertogettheeffectyouwant.Youdon’tneedtolearnalotofgrammarrulesto
communicateclearly;youjustneedafew.
This book gives you the basics to get started. As you go on to study French, you’ll continue to learn
aboutthelanguagesothatyoucanbuildmoreelaboratesentences.ThemoreFrenchyouunderstand,the
more the door opens onto a new world. French is a very rich, complex language, full of surprises. It’s
alsoafunlanguagetolearnandtospeak.

So“let’sgetgoing.”Or,astheFrenchwouldsay,Allons-y!


CHAPTER1

Let’sGetStarted!—Allons-y!


GettingtoKnowFrench—Alarencontredufrançais

YoualreadyknowsomeFrench!Maybeyou’vehadachancetoeatBrie,aFrenchcheese?Orhaveyou
gonetoamatinée?Doyouknowanybrunettes?Andyoucertainlyknowwhatdessertis,don’tyou?How
aboutachocolateéclair?
SomeFrenchwordsaresomuchapartofEnglishthatwedon’tthinkofthemasFrench;wethinkof
themasEnglish.Thetwolanguagesareoldfriends,afterall.BothEnglishandFrenchpartlygrewoutof
anancientlanguagecalledLatin,spokenovertwothousandyearsago.
AsEnglishdevelopedoverthelast600years,itborrowedalotofwordsfromFrench.Someofthem,
like“imagination,”aresofamiliarit’shardto“imagine”theywereeverFrench!ButmanyEnglishwords
thatweuseallthetimehaveFrenchorigins.
Luckily,thesharedwordsusuallymeanthesamethinginbothFrenchandEnglish.Hereisalistofsome
youknow:
•art
•ballet
•blond
•biscuit
•corduroy
•crayon


•denim

•dentist
•fruit
•mayonnaise
•menu
•niece
•omelet
•petite
•pioneer
•portrait
•rectangle
•restaurant
•somersault
•tennis
•trophy
CanyouthinkofotherwordsfromFrenchthatweuseinEnglish?Youknowalotmorethanyouthink
youdo!

TheAlphabet—L’alphabet

YouknowtheEnglishalphabet,right?ThenyouknowtheFrenchone,too!Thelettersarethesame,but
theyworkalittledifferentlythantheydoinEnglish.WhenyousaythelettersinFrench,youwantthemto
sound like French. That means you need to learn how to pronounce, or say, the letters the way French
speakersdo.
MostlettersinFrenchsoundliketheirnames.Butsome,suchasthew,don’t.LiketheEnglishnamefor
“w”(“double-u”),theFrenchwhasanamethatisdifferentthanitsounds.AndsomeFrenchlettershave
specialmarks,called“accents,”thattellyouhowtopronouncetheletter.

MISTAKES
TOAVOID

Fautesàéviter
InFrench,thewordsallruntogetherwhenwesaythemoutloud.Makingalinkbetweensounds
inawordorbetweenwordsiscalleda“liaison.”Forexample,jenesaispas(“Idon’tknow”)
really sounds like jenesaispas. When you speak French, try not to put too much of a pause
betweenwords.





Letter Namesoundslike Example
A
ah
aller(togo)
B
bay
bébé(baby)
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N

O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z


say
day
er
eff
jay
osh
e
gee
ka
el
em
en
oh
pay
kew
air

es
tay
ew
vay
DO-bluh-vay
eex
e-GRECK
zed

céréale(cereal)
décembre(December)
effacer(erase)
fleur(flower)
geyser(geyser)
hauteur(height)
idée(idea)
jouet(toy)
kangourou(kangaroo)
miel(honey)
mouton(sheep)
nid(nest)
olivier(olivetree)
pélican(pelican)
queue(tail)
raton(raccoon)
santé(health)
thé(tea)
univers(universe)
végétarien(vegetarian)
wagon(traincar)

xylophone(xylophone)
yaourt(yogurt)
zéro(zero)


Alphabackwards


Somebodyputthelettersupbackwards.CanyoumakeouttheFrenchwordshere?

TheFrenchwordfor“mirror”ismiroir.

*Holdthepageuptothemirrortoreadthewords.



NowthatyouknowtheFrenchalphabet,youhavetorepeatittolearnit.BecausetheFrenchalphabet
hasthesametwenty-sixlettersastheEnglishalphabet,youcanrecitethe“alphabetsong”youlearnedin
kindergarten.Keepthesamemelody,butusetheFrenchpronunciation.
EssentialVocabulary—Vocabulairedebase

Whenyoulearnanewlanguage,youlearnwords,or“vocabulary.”Certainwordsyouhavetoknowright
away,suchas“yes,”“no,”and“hungry.”They’rethewordsyouuseallthetime,overandover,every
day.Yousayhitopeople,askforinformation,andanswerquestions.HerearesomeyouneedinFrench:


English

French

Pronunciation


Hi
What’sup?

Salut
Çava?

SAH-loo
SAH-vah?

Yes
No
OK

Oui
Non
D’accord

We
Noh
DA-core

Let’sgo
Wait
I’mhungry
What

Onyva

Attends
J’aifaim
Quoi

OHN-e-vah
AH-tahn
JAY-fah
Kwah

Idon’tunderstand
Sorry
Repeat
Please
Thankyou
Bye

Jen’aipascompris
Pardon
Répétez
S’ilvousplaît
Merci
Aplus

Jeh-NAY-paw-COHM-pree
PAHR-don
REH-peh-tay
SILL-vousplay
MARE-see
AH-ploos

After learning some basic words in a new language, it’s time to put them together in sentences. In
English,youputwordstogetherwithouteventhinkingaboutit.ThesamewillbetrueforyouinFrench.

SpellingandPronunciation—Orthographeetprononciation

Lettersmakealldifferentkindsofsoundsindifferentlanguages.Asyoulearnedtospeak,youlearnedthe
sounds in English, just as French kids learned the sounds in French. Now you’re going to learn which
lettershavethesamesoundsinbothlanguages.Youalsoneedtolearnafewnewsounds.


Letter InFrenchsoundslike... Example
Aa
“a”in“ah”
Amérique(America)
Bb
“b”in“butter”
bateau(boat)
Cc
“k”in“kite”
capitaine(captain)


Dd
Ee
Ff
Gg
Hh

“d”in“dog”
“a”in“about”

dame(woman)
dessin(drawing)

“f”in“friend”
fée(fairy)
“g”in“game”
galet(pebble)
Oftensilent,asin“right” hamac(hammock)

Ii
Jj
Kk
Ll

“e”asin“see”
“j”asin“jump”
“k”asin“kite”
“l”asin“love”

Mm
Nn
Oo
Pp
Qq
Rr
Ss
Tt

Uu
Vv
Ww
Xx
Yy
Zz

“m”asin“mom”
“n”asin“new”
“o”asin“octopus”
“p”asin“party”
“k”asin“kite”
“r”asin“right”
“s”asin“sand”
“t”asin“television”
“oo”asin“oops”
“v”asin“valentine”
“v”asin“valentine”
“x”asin“x-ray”
“y”asin“yes”
“z”asin“zebra”

île(island)
jardin(garden)
kilo(kilogram)
livre(book)
maman(mom)
nuque(backofneck)
objet(object)
Pâques(Easter)

quiche(cheesetart)
roue(wheel)
soleil(sun)
tortue(tortoise)
uniforme(uniform)
vent(wind)
wagon(traincar)
xylophone(xylophone)
yaourt(yogurt)
zéro(zero)


SpecialSounds—Sonsspéciaux

Youknowhowthe“s”intheEnglishword“sea”alsomakesa“z”soundintheEnglishword“chose”?
ThesamethinghappensinFrench.Alettercanmakemorethanonesound,dependingonthelettersthat
arenexttoit.
HereareafewoftheselettersinFrench:

SpecialConsonants—Consonnesspéciales

You probably learned at school that two consonants that melt together in a single sound are called
“blends.”TheFrenchblendsarejustliketheEnglishones,withsomeexceptions.


AndFrenchhasconsonantblendswedon’thaveinEnglishatall!Here’soneyoushouldknow:


Blend Soundslike Example
gn

“yn”in“canyon” vigne(vine)

SpecialVowels—Voyellesspéciales

Frenchhasaspecialgroupofvowelscalled“nasalvowels.”They’recalled“nasals”becausethesound
theymakeisinyournose!Thesevowelsarewrittendifferentways(an,en,in,on,om,un),buttheyall
soundalmostthesame,like“aw”inthenoiseadonkeymakes,“hee-haw”!
Thereareafewothervowelcombinationsyoushouldknow:


Combination Soundslike
eu
“ew”
eur
“er”in“her”
oeur
“er”in“her”
au
“oh”
aux
“oh”
eau
“oh”
eaux
“oh”
ou
“boot”
our
“our”in“your”

Example
yeux(eyes)
beurre(butter)
soeur(sister)
chaud(hot)
chaux(chalk)
bateau(boat)
ciseaux(scissors)
roue(wheel)
bonjour(hello)


AddingAccents—Mettredesaccents

French gets even more sounds out of the same letters by adding accents. Some, like the accent
circonflexe,you’lllikerightaway.Informallyit’scalledthechapeau(“hat”)inFrench,becauseFrench
kidsdrawitoverthelettersthesamewayyoudrawahatoveraheadinapictureyou’remaking.Here
aretheaccentsandthejobstheydo:


Nowlet’sseehowyoudo.Lookatthefollowingwordsandpronounceeachonecarefully.Remember,
thesoundchangesdependingonthelettersthatarenexttoit.Tohelpyouout,theletteryouneedtopay
attentiontoisinboldfacetype.Hint:Theunderlinedletterineachlineispronounceddifferentlyineach
word.
•capitaine,glace,garçon
•galet,genou
•yaourt,y
•dessin,école,père
•livre,fille
Now try to match the English sounds with the French sounds. See if you can answer the following

questions:
1.WhichFrenchlettersoundslikethe“a”in“Dad”?______
2.WhichFrenchletterssoundlikethe“sh”in“ship”?______
3.WhichFrenchletterssoundlike“oo”in“boot”?______
4.WhichFrenchletterisoftensilent?______

MISTAKES
TOAVOID
Fautesàéviter
Not every letter in French is pronounced. A lot of them are silent. Eau (“water”) has three
vowels,butit’spronouncedlike“oh.”Andciseaux(“scissors”)ispronounced“SEE-zoh.”Soon
you’llgettheknackforwhichlettersneedtosoundandwhicharesilent.




Numbers—Leschiffres

Knowingnumbersinanewlanguageisveryimportant.Howelsecanyouaskfortwopiecesofpizza,or
tellsomeonethattherearetwenty-onekidsinyourclass?Sinceyoualreadyknowhownumbersworkin
English,youjusthavetolearntheirnamesinFrench.Herearetheonesyouneed:




Numeral French
0
zéro
1
un

2
deux
3
trois
4
quatre

SoundsLike
ZAY-roh
uh
duh
trwah
COT-truh

5
6
7

cinq
six
sept

sank
sees
set

8
9
10
11

12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

huit
neuf
dix
onze
douze
treize
quatorze
quinze
seize
dix-sept
dix-huit
dix-neuf

weet
nuhf
dees
ohnz
dooz
trez
KA-torz
kanz

says
DEE-set
DEEZ-weet
DEEZ-nuhf



FunnyPhone

Jacquesissayinghisphonenumber.Butwhatlanguageisthat?He’snotreallyspeakingalanguage,
butthesoundsareright.Canyouwritetheactualnumberbesidetheword?Trysayingitoutloud.




PuttingNumbersTogether—Mettreleschiffresensemble

Numbersdoafunnythinginlanguages—theystarttorepeat.Thinkofhowyouusethesame“twenty”in
“twenty-three”and“twenty-four.”Orthesame“thirty”in“thirty-six”and“thirty-seven.”Andhowoften
doyouusethesame“seven”in“fifty-seven,”“sixty-seven,”“seventy-seven,”and“eighty-seven”?
Thatmeansyoujustneedtoknowafewnumberstoknowthemall.InEnglish,andinFrench,numbers
betweenoneandtenkeepbeingusedoverandover.Takevingt(20)andaddatrois(3)tomakevingttrois(23).Ifyoustartwithvingt(20)andaddquatre(4),yougetvingt-quatre(24).Andsept(7)appears
ineverysevennumber,suchascinquante-sept(57),soixante-sept(67),andevenseptmille(7000).
BigNumbers—Lesgroschiffres

Frenchhasadifferentwayofrepresentingnumbersinthe70s,80sand90s.InFrench,70is60+10,or
soixante-dix. Eighty is four twenties, or quatre-vingts, and 90 is four twenties plus ten, as in quatrevingt-dix!


Numeral

20
21
22
30

French
vingt
vingt-et-un
vingt-deux
trente

SoundsLike
van
van-TAY-uh
van-DUH
trant


quarante
cinquante

40
50

CARE-rahnt
SANK-ahnt

soixante
SWE-sahnt
soixante-dix SWE-sahnt-dees

quatre-vingts COT-truh-van

60
70
80
90
100
1000
1.000.000
1.000.000.000

quatre-vingt-dix
cent
mille
million
milliard

COT-truh-VAN-dees
sahn
meel
MEEL-yohn
MEEL-yard


Nouns—Lesnoms

Nounsarenamesofthings.InEnglish,you’velearnedthatobjectnames,like“pencil,”arenouns.Soare
placenames,like“Paris”or“SanFrancisco.”Andtherearethe“person”words,like“man”or“Theo,”
thatarealsonouns.
Sincetherearesomanythingsintheworld,weneedalotofnounwordstokeeptrackoftheobjects,

placesandpeopleinourlives!Mostofthewordsinanylanguagearenouns.Herearesomeexamplesof
nounsinbothEnglishandFrench:

IMPORTANTTIPS
TRUCSIMPORTANTS!

Youknowhowyouwrite33,515withacommabetweenthe3andthe5?Well,theFrenchputa
periodthere,soit’s33.515.Don’tforgettoswapyourcommasforperiodswhenyouwritedown
bignumbers!



SingularandPlural—Singulieretpluriel

JustlikeinEnglish,youaddan“s”tothenountosaythatthere’smorethanone.OnechairinFrenchisa
chaise,sotwochairsarechaises.ButwordsinFrenchthatendinabunchofvowelsgetan“x”insteadof
an“s”toshowthey’replural.Andwordsthatendin“s”keepthe“s,”whetherthey’resingularorplural.


MasculineorFeminine?—Masculinouféminin?

Inmanyways,FrenchnounsarejustlikeEnglishnouns—butinonewaythey’renot.Frenchnounshave
“gender.”
Gender means that there are masculine words and feminine words. For example, fleur is a feminine
word,andoiseauisamasculineword.Afewwords,likeartiste,arenotreallyoneortheother,sothey
gettobeboth!
Todecidewhetheranounismasculinewordorafeminineword,allyouhavetodoislearnwhether
it’sprecededbyaun(masculine)oraune(feminine).Un/unedothesamejobas“a”inEnglish.Lookat
howitworks:

EnglishNoun MasculineorFeminine
adesk
M
aflower
F
abird
M
acup
F
anarena
F
arestaurant
M

FrenchNoun
unbureau
unefleur
unoiseau
unetasse
unearène
unrestaurant


Learning“A”—Apprendre“Un”

French kids learn their nouns with an un or an une so that they remember whether the noun is a
masculineorafeminineword.Why?Becauseit’shardtoknowwhichiswhich.There’snorealreason
whyétoile(“star”)isafemininewordandvent(“wind”)isamasculineword,butitis:une étoile, un
vent.It’sdifficulttoexplain.Betterjustlearnyourunandunefromthestart.

Bothunandunebecomedesinfrontofapluralword,nomatterwhatthegender.Sounlitbecomesdes
lits,whileunventbecomesdesvents.
Verbs—Lesverbes

Verbsperformactionineverylanguage—theyarewordsthattelluswhatnounsdo.“Eat,”“read,”and
“sleep”areallverbs,justlike“run”and“look.”ButFrenchverbsdosomethingthatEnglishverbsdon’t
—oratleastnotinsomuchdetail.They“conjugate.”Thatmeanstheendofthewordchangesdepending
onhowit’sused.


TheConjugationMap—Lacartedeconjugaison

Do you know what “conjugation” means? It means to change the form of the verb. In English, we
conjugatealittlebit.Wesay“shewalks”but“wewalk.”Thedifferenceisthe“s”forthesingular,“she”
who“walks,”andno“s”fortheplural“we”who“walk.”Frenchconjugationisfussier,butonceyouget
thehangofit,it’sfuntofigureoutwhichendinggoesontheverb.Therearealottochoosefrom!
Tomatchthenountotheverb,seeifthenounissingular(I,you,he/she/it)orplural(we,you,they).
-ERVerbMap.Manger(toeat)


Ieat
youeat
he/she/iteats
weeat
youeat
theyeat

jemange
tumanges
il/elle/ilmange

nousmangeons
vousmangez
ils/elles/ilsmangent



-IRVerbMap.Finir(tofinish)


Ifinish
youfinish
he/she/itfinishes
wefinish
youfinish
theyfinish

jefinis
tufinis
il/elle/ilfinit
nousfinissons
vousfinissez
ils/ellesfinissent



-REVerbMap.Rendre(togiveback)


Igiveback

jerends


yougiveback
turends
he/she/itgivesback il/elle/ilrend
wegiveback
yougiveback
theygiveback

nousrendons
vousrendez
ils/ellesrendent


TranslatingVerbs—Traduirelesverbes

Tryandusetheverbendingssoyoustarttogetusedtothem.FillintheFrenchequivalentofeachverb
phrase:
1.Ieat______
2.Wegiveback______
NowfillintheEnglishforeachFrenchversion:
3.Vousmangez______
4.Tufinis______


CHAPTER2

TimeandDates—L’heureetlesdates

TellingTime—Disonsl’heure

Knowing how to tell time is an important skill. How else do you get to school on time, share a dinner
together, or know how long you can stay on the computer? Everyone on our planet agrees that sixty
minutesequalanhour,andtwenty-fourhoursequaladay.ButtheFrenchtelltimealittledifferentlythan
Americansdo.


Let’ssayafriendwholivesinDetroitremindsyouthataTVshowyouwanttowatchisonat8o’clock.
Youmighthavetoask,“Eightinthemorning?Oreightintheevening?”InAmericanEnglish,“eight”can
bebydayornight,soweoftenaddA.M .(frommidnighttonoon)andP.M .(fromnoontomidnight)toavoid
confusion.
CountingtheHours—Compterlesheures

TheFrenchusenumberstotelldayfromnightwithoutusingA.M.andP.M.Eightinthemorningis8
(huit),buteightintheeveningis20(vingt).ThisisbecausetheFrenchofficiallyusea24-hourclock.
Insteadofcountingfrom1to12twiceaday,theycountallthewayto24.Thefirsttwelvehoursarethe
same,butinsteadofstartingoverintheafternoonwith1 P.M .,theykeepongoingwith13,14,15,andso
on,untiltheygetto24.Andinsteadofadding“A.M ..”and“P.M .,”or“o’clock,”theyaddtheFrenchword
for“hour,”heure.
Since you already learned your numbers in the last chapter, you’ll recognize them in the list of hours
below.


Englishhour TimeinFrench
12:00A.M .
minuit
1:00A.M .
uneheure

2:00A.M .
deuxheures
3:00A.M .
troisheures
4:00A.M .
quatreheures
5:00A.M .
cinqheures
6:00A.M .
sixheures
7:00A.M .
septheures
8:00A.M .
huitheures
9:00A.M .
neufheures
10:00A.M .
dixheures
11:00A.M .
onzeheures
12:00P.M .
midi
1:00P.M .
treizeheures
2:00P.M .
quatorzeheures
3:00P.M .
quinzeheures
4:00P.M .
seizeheures

5:00P.M .
dix-septheures
6:00P.M .
dix-huitheures
7:00P.M .
dix-neufheures
8:00P.M .
vingtheures
9:00P.M .
vingt-et-uneheures
10:00P.M .
vingt-deuxheures

Frenchhour
00:00
1:00
2:00
3:00
4:00
5:00
6:00
7:00
8:00
9:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00

16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00


11:00P.M .

vingt-troisheures

23:00


AskingaboutTime—Demanderl´heure

Onceyougetthehangofthe24-hourclock,youhavetopracticeusingit.Onewaytodothisistoask
questionsabouttime.
AskingtimequestionsinFrenchislikeaskingabouttimeinEnglish.HowlongcanIplay?WhendoI
havetobehome?ToanswertimequestionsinEnglish,youuse“itis”followedbythenumberofthehour.
“Itiseighto’clock”or“it’s8:00 A.M .”Frenchkidsdothesamething.Theystartwithilest(“itis”)and
endupwiththenumbersandhour,Ilesthuitheures.“Itis2o’clock”isIlestdeuxheures.
But things get a little trickier when you have to include the number of minutes. The French count the
minutesinawayyou’veprobablyneverseenbefore.Theycountbackwards!

IMPORTANTTIPS
TRUCSIMPORTANTS!

InFrance,lajournée(“theday”)lastsuntil5 P.M .L’après-midi(“theafternoon”)runsfrom1:00
P.M .to5:00 P.M .Lasoirée(“the evening”) goes from 5:00 P.M . until you go to bed. La nuit (“the
night”)iswhennighthasfallen.



CountingBackwards—Compterenarrière

Here’showitworks.InEnglish,youalwayscounttowardthenexthour.Yousay,it’s“tentothree.”But
theFrenchcountbackwards,soforthemit’s“threeo’clockminusten,”ortroisheuresmoinsdix. And
instead of saying “twenty to four,” they say it’s “four o’clock minus twenty,” or quatre heures moins
vingt.
Butwait—there’smore.Youstopcountingbackwardsatthehalfwaymark!So11:30A.M .isonzeheures
trente.And1:15P.M .istreizeheuresquinze,justlikeitisinEnglish.Youcanalsosayitanotherway,too.
InFrench,11:30P.M .isalsoonzeheuresetdemie(“11hoursandahalf”)and1:15P.M .isalsotreizeheuresetquart(“13hoursandaquarter”).
Thefollowingareaseriesoftimeresponsestothequestion“Whattimeisit?”(Quelleheureest-il?).
Payspecialattentiontothewordsthatnameunitsoftime.Forexample,“halfanhour”isunedemi-heure,
anda“quarterofanhour”isunquartd’heure.Herewego!


English
Whattimeisit?
It’s10:00A.M .
It’s10:00P.M .
It’s1:30A.M .
It’s1:30P.M .
It’s10:20A.M .
It’s10:20P.M .
It’s5minutesto4:00A.M .

French
Quelleheureest-il?
Ilestdixheures.
Ilestvingt-deuxheures.
Ilestuneheuretrente.
Ilesttreizeheurestrente.
Ilestdixheuresvingt.
Ilestvingt-deuxheuresvingt.
Ilestquatreheuresmoinscinq.


It’s5minutesto4:00P.M .
It’s12:30P.M .
It’s12:30P.M .
It’s12:30A.M .

Ilestseizeheuresmoinscinq.
Ilestdouzeheurestrente.
Ilestmidietdemie.
Ilestminuittrente.

It’s12:30A.M .
It’s15minutesafter5:00P.M .
It’saquarterafter5:00P.M .
It’s15minutesto7:00P.M .

Ilestminuitetdemie.
Ilestdix-septheuresquinze.
Ilestdix-septheuresetquart.
Ilestdix-huitheuresquarante-cinq.

It’saquarterto7:00P.M .

Ilestdix-neufheuresmoinslequart.


TranslatingTime—Traduireletemps

See?It’snotsohard!Nowyoutryitout.LookatthetimewordsthatfollowinEnglishandwritethe
Frenchtimewordsintheblanks.Usethenumberlistsinthelastchapterifyouneedclues:
1.9:10A.M .____________________
2.2:15A.M .____________________
3.4:45A.M .____________________
4.5:30P.M .____________________
5.12:30A.M .____________________
6.11:25P.M .____________________
7.1:48A.M .____________________
8.2:20P.M .____________________
Days,Months,andYears—Lesjours,lesmois,etlesannées

TheFrenchnamesofthedaysoftheweekarebasedonancientRomanmythology.TheFrenchwordfor
“moon”islune,soMondaybecomeslundi,orthemoon’sday.TuesdayisnamedafterthegodMars,so
Tuesdayismardi.WednesdayisdedicatedtoMercury,soit’scalledmercredi.ThursdayisJupiter’sday,
soinFrenchit’sjeudi,whileFridayisforVenus,soit’svendredi.SaturdayisnamedafterSaturn,soit’s
samedi.AndSundayisforthesun,whichtheRomansdescribedasthedayofthesunandwhichcameto
mean“dayofthelord,”ordimanche.
InsteadofstartingtheweekwithSunday,FrenchkidsnamethedaysoftheweekstartingwithMonday.
Checkoutthefollowinglist:

English
French
Monday
lundi
Tuesday mardi
Wednesday mercredi
Thursday jeudi
Friday
vendredi
Saturday samedi