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French Vocabulary

Learn French Vegetables:Easy Vocabulary Lesson!”

In this video, we’ll dive into the essential French vocabulary for vegetables!

Whether you’re shopping at a French market or just improving your language skills, this lesson will teach you the most common vegetable names in French.

With clear pronunciation and easy-to-follow examples, you’ll be able to talk about your favorite veggies like a pro.

Perfect for beginners or anyone looking to expand their French vocabulary!”

How to learn French by using effective learning tools?
French Vocabulary, Learning New Language

How to learn French by using effective learning tools?

There are many learning tools available online and are very effective for learning French.

If you want to learn French then you will have to undergo a proper language training & learning tools & module because learning a foreign language like French it is not

If you want to learn French then you will have to undergo a proper language training module because learning a foreign language like French it is not easy task, and it becomes more challenging to learn without proper lessons like, vocabulary, writing, reading, grammar and comprehension skills.

Now French is one of the most promising and demanding foreign languages and if you learn it completely then you are in for a variety of career opportunities. Apart from that, learning French is also effective for businessmen because they can easily handle and communicate with their foreign clients through their native language and it can be a great outcome for their business exposition and expansion.

 

What are the French learning tools?

There are different kinds of French learning tools available online and most of them are free. Some of them are given below:

  • Busuu: If you want to learn French in your android mobile then you can easily use this French learning tool. The best part about this tool is that it uses android and also the website applications. You can derive the most important things like the meanings and utterances, accents and also the ways of everyday conversations when you start using this tool.
  • FrenchPod: This is also a technically-advanced French learning tool that can facilitate your learning of this foreign language. It is a combination of Podcast and free website that makes your whole learning process full of fun and interesting. You learn many new facets of French conversation on each new day that you try to use this FrenchPod.

 

The BBC materials in French

In order to get both the basic and the advanced learning materials in French, you can switch on to the BBC course modules for French. The short phrases, axioms, French proverbs, grammatical arrangement and vocabulary are very well-explained by the BBC learning methods. In fact, if you opt for the French lessons Sydney, you will have an access to an array of great materials for learning French with the most error-free pronunciation.

 

What are the other French language tools that you can avail from us?

 At French Lessons Australia, we try to make you more conversant with the wide variety of resources that we have:

  • Video tutorials
  • French books and audio book recordings in French
  • We also try to guide you by making you read French newspapers and French dictionaries
  • French Radio online is a great learning tool that comes handy when you want to learn French
  • Pronunciation charts, grammar tables, and written tests are some of the other devices that act not just as learning tools but that also make you learn many new words and sentences in French

Apart from all these, you can also take the help of the internet, and the Collins Pocket Guide to learning French. Or else, you can just contact Amelie for learning French lessons Australia. You can reach her on  info@frenchlessons-australia.com.au or  0415 799 620.

reasons to learn French
French Vocabulary, Learn French

6 Top Reasons to learn French

Here we bring you the 6 top reasons to learn French

Before diving in, why is learning French such an useful activity?

  1. It extends your travelling possibilities.
  2. It develops your communication abilities.
  3. It opens your mind.
  4. It makes you accept differences.

and the list goes on.

Being multilingual can also sometimes be compulsory at school and essential at work, even more so with the importance of today’s globalization. Yes, but there are so many different languages to choose from.

Why pick French over Spanish or German or even Italian?

The answer is simple: French is one of the most spoken languages in the world. In fact, let’s highlight some interesting facts stated by the International Organization of Francophonie.

1) Significant aspects of the French language

The International Organization of Francophonie, which counts 84 member states and governments all over the world, gathers and analyses data about the French language.

Every four year, it publishes them in “La Langue Française dans le monde” (“the French language in the world”).

Its last publication dates from 2014. The report shows that French is present over the 5 continents. French is the official language in many countries. 29 to be precise.

These are mainly old French colonies. Moreover, French is commonly spoken in another 8 countries despite not being the official (or one of the official) spoken language.

In 2014, French was spoken by 247 million people around the globe which makes it the fifth global language after Mandarin, English, Spanish and Arabic.

There are two different types of Francophones: people who speak French as a foreign language (mainly when you go abroad or speak with French people) and people who use French as their everyday language.

Let’s take a deeper insight at the repartition of French speakers: 7.6% live in America and Caribbeans, 36.4% in Europe, 54.7% in Africa, 0.3% in Asia and Oceania and finally 0.9% in the Middle East.

This represents an increase of 7% of people who use French as their everyday language between 2010 et 2014.

Speaking French is, therefore, a real advantage for your studies, your professional career, your everyday life as well as your access to information.

If all these numbers don’t convince you choosing French when learning a language is the best option, let’s bury ourselves in more interesting facts!

2) Studying French

French is the second most learned language in the world. 125 million people study it each year. Among these 125 million people, 76 million learn French as their educational learning language and 49 million as a second language.

More and more French teachers are required all over the planet as learning French as a second language has increased by 6 % since 2010. In fact, let’s be more precise and look at the evolution on each continent: + 2% in America and Caribbeans, – 8% in Europe, + 7% in North Africa and the Middle East, + 44% in Sub-Saharan Africa and + 43% in Asia and Oceania!

Today, there are about 900 000 French teachers in the world. This rise has a significant impact on the development of the French language itself. Indeed, as any other language, it evolves.

Thus, to meet the needs of the growing French-speaking population, the dictionary of the French Academy went from 40 000 words to 60 000 words over the past 50 years.

Bilingual books

3) The importance of the French language in international media and on the Internet

It goes without saying that French holds a crucial place in the international media and on the Internet. Indeed it is globally used to communicate.

Thereby, there are 6 international French television channels (Euronews, Arte, TV5 monde, A24 and France 24) and many more French international radio stations. 180 million people surf the Internet in French which makes it the fourth most used language by Internet users. It holds the sixth place for the number of visited Internet pages (fifth place on Wikipedia and third place on Amazon which is incredible when we know how popular these two websites are!).

4) The French language and your professional career

French is the official working language for many international organisations such as the United Nations, UNESCO, NATO, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Labor Bureau, the International Olympic Committee, the 31-member Council of Europe, the European Community, the Universal Postal Union, the International Red Cross and the Union of International Associations (UIA).

French is also the dominant working language at the European Court of Justice, at the European Tribunal of First Instance as well as at the Press Room at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. It is the third spoken language in the international business community after English and Chinese.

But why is it so important for you to learn French?

As I mentioned previously, French has clearly made its way up the “most globally used and spoken language” rankings. Global expansion is happening fast nowadays, faster than ever in fact.

The globalisation of the workforce is more predominant than ever before and this will only carry on increasing in the forthcoming years.

Not only businesses are expanding abroad with thousand offices opening daily all over the world, there is also a significant increase in various business operations throughout the world thanks to the use of the Internet.

Being bilingual, if not multilingual, has, therefore, become a must when searching for a job. It will help you maintain a competitive career advantage. Even though most businesses are still conducted in English, the global business landscape is changing.

French, being the third most spoken language after English and Chinese in the business community, is clearly one of (if not THE) best option when deciding to learn a language.

Let’s summaries why it is vital for you to learn French to enhance your professional prospects : international businesses choose more and more to hire multilingual people, knowing one or more foreign languages may give you an edge when competing for an important position, thanks to globalization, opportunities abroad are increasing daily, being able to speak another language makes you more marketable with companies doing business internationally and last but not least communicating with people in their native tongue demonstrates that you have some knowledge regarding the culture and rituals of those people.

5) The economic weight of French-speaking countries

In 2014, countries belonging to the International Organization of Francophonie represented 16% of the global population, 14% of the global gross income and 20% of the international trade. The United States of America, which obviously has a massive impact on the international economic scene, has countless trading partners.

The first one is the European Union in which France is located as well as Belgium and Switzerland (French is spoken in these three countries). Their third trading partner (after China) is Canada with 544,894 million US dollars in 2016. France comes 8th with 77,706 US million dollars in the same year.

The economic relations between the United States and France are mutually beneficial as they allow growth and job creations in both countries. Trade in goods and services between the two countries reached $120 billion in 2016, according to Eurostat.

There is a bilateral direct investment between the USA and France. In 2015, the French direct investment position in the US reached $251 billion, and the American direct investment position in France amounted to $80 billion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

 

french speaking countries

6) The impact of the French language in Science and Technology areas

France is one of the leader countries when it comes to Science and Technology. For example, France is a leading exporter of nuclear technology. The country has many universities and colleges that offer courses in basic and applied sciences (let’s think of the prestigious Palais de la Découverte and Cité des Sciences both located in Paris).

Pioneers in the automobile industry, today France is the third largest car producer in Europe. Three worldwide known automobile brands are French (Peugeot, Renault, Citroën) and create jobs all over the world.

France holds many other technological assets including the TGV (the fastest train), Ariane rockets which put most commercial satellites into space, fiber optics which is one of the most advanced systems of telecommunication in the world… French also are avant-gardists in terms of medical advance. Indeed, French doctors and scientists are one of the main leaders in the medical community.

They have, as a case in point, isolated the AIDS virus. Medical genetics research has also tremendously progressed thanks to the French Genome Project located in Paris. Another very important area in which the French community is largely represented is the army.

The French army, officially known as the Land Army, is composed of about 123,000 people and is present in 15 countries to try and keep peace around the globe.

After having underlined some significant and essential facts about French and the predominance of this language around the world, it now seems crystal clear that speaking French is a safe bet and a must. Thanks to all this food for thought, I hope you are now as convinced as I am on the importance of choosing French when studying a language.

So join over 220 million people around the world who speak French.

Side Note: Want a light introduction to French grammar and vocabulary? Check Out Our French Course for Beginners

French Stories for Beginners, French Vocabulary, French Words

Romantic French phrases

« Aimer, ce n’est pas se regarder l’un l’autre, c’est regarder ensemble dans la même direction ».
Love doesn’t mean gazing at each other, but looking, together, in the same direction.
Antoine de St-Exupéry

 

Ah l’Amour, le beau, le vrai, le grand! (Ah love, the beautiful one, the real one, the true one!).

What would life be without love? Not as wonderful I’d imagine! Declaring your love to the person of your dreams can be a bit daunting so why not imagine a very romantic way to express it?

 

And what’s more romantic than telling someone you love him/her than by saying it in the language of love, French?

Not only will you impress your loved one, you will also make his/her heart melt and you will, therefore, become irresistable ! You’re already in a relationship?

Telling your partner romantic French phrases will add some originality and spice to your relationship! You’re planning a trip to France?

Well, let me tell you: you cannot fully immerse yourself in French without knowing some romantic expressions. You never know where a night out in a lovely French town can lead you to…

Whichever way you look at it, learning romantic French expressions is a must when it comes to love! In this article, I will teach you some phrases and quotes for you to romance your darling (to be).

Maintenant, tombons amoureux en français! (Now, let’s fall in love in French!)

 

1) Comment draguer en français? How to flirt in French? You have just met the woman/man of your dreams so it’s now time to woo her/him (woo is faire la cour in French).

I will tell you how! Some expressions might seem a bit cheesy but still they are so attractive. Learn them, build your confidence up and go and seduce that lovely person you cannot stop thinking about!

Je peux vous offrir un verre? This means : Can I get you a drink? Imagine the scene: a lovely summer afternoon, you’re sat outside a bar enjoying the sunshine when suddenly you see that beautiful lady.

Offering someone a drink is a great way to start a conversation! You could also buy this person a coffee: Je peux vous offrir un café?

Vous venez souvent par ici? If you think offering a drink to somebody straight away is a bit too straight forward, you could simply ask them if they often comes around here and therefore say “vous venez souvent par ici?”.

Vous êtes célibataire? C’est impossible! Don’t we all like a bit of flattering? Of course, we do! So here is a sentence to boost your loved one ego: Vous êtes célibataire? C’est impossible! (You are single? That’s impossible!)

 

2)Sentences to totally avoid when flirting in French!

Is there are sentences to say when flirting, there also are sentences to avoid!

Here are a couple of phrases you shouldn’t say at the risk of sounding slightly ponderous…

T’es trop charmante! Have you ever been in the situation where you’re walking down the street and you hear someone whistling at you? How cringy?!

Well, telling a girl “t’es trop charmante (word for word: you’re too charming)would have a similar effect.

Calling someone charming isn’t obviously bad but saying “trop charmante” (too charming) would appear rather uneducated.

C’est quoi ton 06? In France, most mobile numbers start with 06. Therefore asking someone for his “06” is the equivalent of asking him for his mobile number in a very rude and so unromantic way.

 

3) Romantic phrases The flirting stage is over.

It’s now time to move onto more serious matters and to become romantic.

In the following grid, I wrote some French romantic sentences you should learn and say to your chéri (your darling)!.

 


 

4) Romantic questions in French You may also want to ask questions to the love of your life.

Here are some of the most important ones.

Here is all you need to know to charm a French person. Tell him/her some of these romantic phrases and let the magic begin! I wish you both a long and happy loving life together!

Interrogative Pronouns
French Online Courses, French Vocabulary

What are Interrogative Pronouns?

How to ask question about the identity of a person or an object

Lequel? What does that mean?

Did you know that Lequel has to agree in gender and number, and as a result, there are several forms of Interrogative Pronouns?

Do you know how to use interrogative pronouns in French? And what are they?

Lequel, which usually means which, is one of the most difficult French pronouns.

But with a clear French lesson, we can make it easy for you.

The French interrogative pronouns

How can we use interrogative pronouns to speak and write French properly?

Follow this free French lesson and you will discover all about French interrogative pronouns.

Interrogative pronouns can be either simple – qui que quoi or compound – lequel laquelle lesquelles and so on.

Lequel is an interrogative pronoun as well as qui que quoi.

It has to agree in gender and number with the noun it replaces.

Take a look at the simple table :

The most common interrogative pronouns are qui (for people) and que (for everything else).

Singular Plural Indefinite
Masculine lequel lesquels; qui, que, quoi
Feminine laquelle lesquelles

Here are a few examples;

“Qui ?” means “Who ?” Is most of the time masculine singular, and applies only to people.

  • Qui est là ? Who’s here ?

“Que ?” Is neutral, it means What.

  • Que fais-tu ? What are you doing?

“Quoi ?” Is usually neutral and singular. It is employed with a preposition such as à or de.

  • A quoi penses-tu? What are you thinking about?
  • De quoi parles-tu? What are you talking about?

“Lequel ?”

Lequel can replace quel + noun.

The interrogative pronoun Lequel means Which. It represents one or more people or things already refered to immediately after the pronoun.

It involves a choice between several members of a group (people or things). Lequel agrees in gender and number with the name that replaces.

Singular Plural
Masculine Lequel chantera ce soir ?

Which one will sing tonight?

Lesquels sont Australiens parmi vous ?

Which ones are Australians among you?

Feminine Laquelle de vous est Laura ?

Which one of you is Laura?

Lesquelles de vos filles jouent du piano ?

Which ones of your daughters play the piano?

If you want to learn more or just practice your French, contact us at French Lessons Australia, we can offer new courses so the opportunities to learn and improve are always growing. Do not hesitate and enrol now for your first French Class.

Check our grammar online course HERE.

GRAMMAR TOOL OF GENDER IN FRENCH
French Grammar, French Vocabulary

Focus on the valuable grammar tool of gender in French

Feminine or masculine, that is the question you often ask yourself as a French learner.

Why “bureau” (desk) is masculine and “chaise” (chair) feminine?

Learning French grammar tool of gender in French is not that complicated! Here is some simple explanations.

In French, every noun has a gender, masculine or feminine.

You must think that the only one option to speak French properly is to learn by heart all the French nouns. Luckily this is one of many myths about the French language and you can actually know the gender of a French noun just by looking at its ending.

Why does gender in French matter?

Before you discover how easy it is to know the gender of French nouns with accuracy, you need to know that the gender has an influence on:

  • The article you use before a noun
  • Pronouns
  • The ending of adjectives

Did you know that a French word ending is a good indicator of its gender?

When learning the gender of French nouns, keep in mind that the meaning of the noun usually has nothing to do with whether it is masculine or feminine.

To learn grammar tool of gender in French, you need to know that in French grammar rules exit but exceptions remain.

The first one is to look at the ending of a word.

According to several studies, a noun’s ending indicates its gender in 80% of cases.

This could be learnt by heart but it would be boring. Instead write it down on a small note book and keep an eye on it each time you need to speak French.

Best Grammar tool of gender in French. Here is a simplified list that would be easier to remember.

Masculine

  • age (virage)
  • al (arsenal, journal, animal)
  • eau (tableau, chapeau, bateau)
  • ent (sergent, président, client)
  • isme (communisme, optimisme)
  • ment (département, gouvernement

Feminine

  • ade (promenade, salade)
  • aison (combinaison)
  • ance (espérance)
  • ence (providence)
  • esse (adresse, jeunesse)
  • ette, (cigarette, disquette)
  • ie (chimie)
  • tion (action, collection, correction)
  • sion (passion, conclusion, décision)
  • té : vérité, sincérité, université
  • ure (aventure, écriture)

Do you want to know how to speak French properly?

French gender rules explained

Once you know how to easily indentify the gender of nouns, you have to agree all the sentence with this gender. Follow this French lesson and discover all about French articles, pronouns, and adjectives.

The articles and adjectives that we pair with French nouns must agree in both gender and number. Otherwise things sound incorrect to a native French speaker.

• The article you use before a noun

An article is a part of speech that is used very often.

A definite article reveals a specific noun – in English the definite article is the.

I found the box = a specific box that you were looking for, or referred to before.

In French, le, la, and les are all definite articles.

In English, you always use “the”. In French, you have a masculine “the” (le) and a feminine “the” (la). Les is the plural form.

  • Le téléphone
  • La télévision
  • Les objets

An indefinite article doesn’t refer to a specific noun.

In English our indefinite articles are a or an depending on whether the noun starts with a vowel.

Look at this example :

I found a box = any random box out of an indescribable number of boxes. Similarly, you have a masculine “a” in French (un) and a feminine one (une).

  • Un paquet (a package)
  • Une boite (a box)

If the noun is plural in French, you have to use DES. English does not use any plural article.

  • Des paquets (packages)

Finally, while you say “some” in English. You need to make the distinction between “du” (masculine) and “de la” (feminine) in French.

Exercise yourself

Pronouns

In French , pronouns change according to the gender.

As in English you have a masculine pronoun il (he) and a feminine one elle (she).

However, regarding the plural, you have two different pronouns in French ils or elles.

English will be “they” for both.

Exercise yourself

Try to match with the right pronoun.

…..est poli….Correction….il

…..est polie….Correction….elle

…..sont polis….Correction….ils

The endings of adjectives and verbs

In the previous exercise, you have seen that adjectives can change due to the noun’s gender.

Poli (Polite) changes into Polie at the feminine form.

An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun. All French adjectives agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine) with the nouns they describe. In fact, in French, all words in a sentence must agree with each other.

Most of the time masculine adjectives can be change to feminine by adding a suffix.

Most adjectives add e to the masculine singular form to get the feminine singular.

Examples

Américain -> américaine

Bleu -> bleue

Content -> contente

Brun -> brune

Blond -> blonde

Fier -> fière

Charmant -> charmante

Idéal -> idéale

Agé -> agée

Dévoué -> dévouée

Fatigué -> fatiguée

Occupé -> occupée

Masculine singular adjectives ending in eux form the feminine by changing -x to -se,

Examples

Affectueux -> affectueuse

Chanceux -> chanceuse

Courageux -> courageuse

Form the feminine singular of masculine singular adjectives ending in f by changing -f to -ve.

Examples

Neuf -> neuve

Sportif -> sportive

Vif -> vive

Actif -> active

Masculine singular adjectives ending in -er form the feminine by changing -er to -ére,

Examples

Léger -> légère

Étranger -> étrangère

Premier -> première

Cher -> chère

Some masculine singular adjectives form the feminine by doubling the final consonant before the -e ending.

Examples

Bon -> bonne

Bas -> basse

Ancien -> ancienne

Européen -> européenne

In order to practice your French you can enroll now for French Classes at French lessons Australia just Click HERE

French Online Courses, French Vocabulary

How to deal with un, une, des in French ?

Je mange une tarte et je bois un café avec des amies.

If you want to know more about the French indefinite articles  go through this French lesson and you will know how to speak French properly.

Click here

Do you want to learn how to deal with un, une, des in French. There is No need to attend a French class to understand the French indefinite articles!

It’s very simple!! French articles are necessary to determine the gender of the noun. You cannot make a sentence without an article or a noun.

Un café très chaud.

The noun café needs the article to fit with the sentence.

The French indefinite article (un, une, des in French)  is used with a noun referring to an unspecified item, or to a specific item when the speaker and audience both do not know what the item is.

In English there are three kinds of singular articles «a,” “an,” or “one”.

In French there are only two.

Un for the masculine noun.

Une for the feminine noun.

The plural “some” in English corresponds to “des.” In French.

Des   m or f plural

Note that the plural indefinite article is the same for all nouns, whereas the singular has different forms for masculine and feminine.

Learning French & un, une, des in French is easy! Test yourself by doing this simply test.

What you should put in front of these nouns?

Bicyclette                                           une

Ordinateurs                                       des

Pain au chocolat                              un

Leçon de français                            une

Joueur de foot                                  un

Parties de tennis                              des

 

Caution !

In a negative sentence, the indefinite article changes to de or d’ in front of a vowel.

Il mange un pain au chocolat.

Il ne mange pas de pain au chocolat. (negative sentence with ne …pas)

Il mange un artichaut (artichoke).

Il ne mange pas d’artichaut.

 

Once again do the test!

DE or D’

Il ne boit pas … café.                       De       He doesn’t drink coffee.

Ils ne partent pas …. Paris             De       They do not leave from Paris.

Le client n’a pas … argent.            D’        The customer does not have cash.

Pierre n’a pas … amis.                    D’        Pierre does not have friends.

 

When referring to a person’s profession or religion, the indefinite is not used in French, although it is used in English.

Je suis professeure de français.

I am a french teacher.

If you want to learn more about French definite articles Click Here

If you want to practice your French join us at French lessons Australia and enroll into one of our class.

Yes, you really CAN learn French easily
French Online Courses, French Vocabulary

Yes, you really CAN learn French easily

French is a difficult language, but once you get to know the most common and useful verbs, it becomes a real piece of cake to master the basics!

You can Learn French Quickly and Easily. One of these verbs is the verb… POUVOIR.

The verb ”POUVOIR” is used a lot in French and can be translated in English by:

  • to be able to
  • to can
  • to be allowed to
  • to manage to

The particularity with this verb is that is it an irregular (which means tricky conjugation), but above all: it is a powerful verb!

It will make you able to say what you can do and to ask someone to do something for you!

Asking someone to do something:

Peux-tu faire les courses? -> Can you do the grocery shopping?

Pouvez-vous me donner le pain? -> Can you give me the bread?

Saying what you can/cannot do:

Je peux vous aider. -> I can help you.

Ma soeur peut t’apprendre le francais. -> My

sister can learn to you French.

Ma fille ne peut pas sortir ce soir. -> My daugher cannot go out tonight.

Then, the verb POUVOIR is also present in a few French expressions, check these ones:

Je n’en peux plus. -> I can’t do it anymore.

Je n’y peux rien. -> It’s not my fault.

Once you get the verb POUVOIR in mind, it becomes really easy to build basic but powerful sentences! Leave us a comment using this verb 🙂

If you want to know more about how to create easy and useful French sentences? We have a

large range of options for you available at French Lessons Australia!

To learn LEARN FRENCH easily contact us at info@french-lessons-australia.com to get more information or enroll now online or at one of our classes!

The passé composé with the verb “être”
French Grammar, French Vocabulary

The passé composé with the verb “être”

The ”passé composé” is the present perfect tense. This tense is used a lot in French to describe a situation that happened in the past at a definite time but that still has a meaning for today…

Seems very theoretical, but really, it is not as you will see soon with French Lessons Australia!

 

When to use it?

The passé composé is the usual tense for events and incidents that happened in a close past. Unlike the English present perfect, the passé composé is used very often by French people.

Sometime indicators can be used in addition to strengthen this relation between past and present! For instance: hier (yesterday), l’autre jour (the other day), samedi passé (last Saturday), plusieurs fois (several times), l’année passée (last year), … As you can see, it is not necessary to be very recent to use the passé composé. As soon as the information is still relevant with today, the passé composé is appropriate.

Obviously, the passé composé is not the only past tense used in French. The imperfect tense and the past simple tense are also used as we will see in another post on French Lessons Sydney. However, the passé composé is one of the predominant tense in everyday’s language!

How to use it?

The passé composé is, as its name suggests, a compound tense. Which means that it can be compounded with either the auxiliary  ‘être’ or ‘avoir’, followed by the past participle of the verb. The passé composé of a limited group of verbs is formed with the auxiliary ‘être’, and usually express a change of position.

The passé composé with the verb “être”

The conjugation of the auxiliary ‘être’ looks like this:

Je suis

Tu es

Il/Elle est

Nous sommes

Vous êtes

Ils/Elles sont         

Once you have put your auxiliary with your past participle, there is a rule you need to know: the past participle always agrees with the subject in gender and number.

That seems a bit complicated but basically it means that if the subject of your sentence is feminine you add an ‘e’ at the end of the past participle. If your subject is plural (more than one subject), you add an ‘s’.

Example: You are a group of girls and explain to your friend that you went to the beach yesterday. You will say “Nous sommes allées a la mer hier”. If you were a group of men, you would say “Nous sommes allés a la mer hier”.

If you want to learn more about French tenses, or just to know more about French in general and what we do at French Lessons Australia, don’t hesitate to contact us at info@french-lessons-australia.com

The old secrets of authentic Colmar and Strasbourg
French Online Courses, French Vocabulary

The old secrets of authentic Colmar and Strasbourg

Colmar is probably not the most known city in France, but it is for sure one of the loveliest!

What does this place look like? And why should you definitely see it?

Besides this city, another, bigger, called Strasbourg is also a must-see for its similar medieval architecture, but also for its European importance… At French Lessons Brisbane, we will give you 5 good reasons to visit these 2 beautiful places!

Colmar Medieval towns

Colmar is situated in the Alsace region, in the North East of France, close to the German border. Well-known for its wines and its lovely streets that makes you feel like you were walking 500 years ago, Colmar is one of these cities that remain in your memory.

There are still houses that have been built during the Middles Ages, and many places such as a monastery make Colmar a cultural and historical town to visit.

A good climate

Colmar is also known for its charming climate. Indeed, it is one of the driest cities in France, and its weather in summer is mild and Clement. During the winter, it rarely snows, which is quite surprising regarding its localization on the map!

A long history

Colmar is as you may have understood a pretty old town. The first time we heard about it was during the 9th century. Obviously, multiple wars left traces on the town, but is also what makes its charm… Colmar was the last city to be freed after the Nazi occupation.

Since then, Colmar has focused on its historical beauties. A large part of its historic centre has become a protected sector, and its local musee: the Musee Unterlinden is the most visited provincial one in France!

half-timbered-houses-in-Colmar

 

Siege of the European Parliament

Strasbourg is located in the same region as Colmar but is bigger and popular for political matters as well as it is the official seat of the European Parliament since 1952! Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the Council of Europe (with its European Court of Human Rights) and the Eurocorps. The city is also the seat of the International Institute of Human Rights. This political importance for the EU can be explained by its geographical position between the two first European leaders: France and Germany. In fact, Strasbourg has been for centuries the witness of the rivalry (and enmity) opposing these two great powers. Becoming a strategic city for the EU is therefore symbolic as well.

cathedrale strasbourg

 

A World heritage site

Strasbourg’s historic city centre is classed by the UNESCO as a world heritage site! The city’s gothic sandstone cathedral and its astronomic clock does have something magical, and medieval sights are all around the city centre.

Did you enjoy Colmar and Strasbourg? Or would you like to visit them but you would like to first start French? Don’t hesitate anymore longer and contact us at info@french-lessons-australia.com  🙂

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