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 CONTENTS

 Page
Purpose of this study guidev

UNITÉ 0:  D’Introduction1

UNITÉ 1: Présentations4

UNITÉ 2: La famille9

UNITÉ 3: Les professions14

UNITÉ 4: La ville et la campagne18

UNITÉ 5: Les courses21

UNITÉ 6: Toutes directions25

UNITÉ 7: À toute vitesse28

UNITÉ 8: Les hôtels et le camping32

UNITÉ 9: Les intérieurs37

UNITÉ 10: Les loisirs41

UNITÉ 11: Bon Appetit44

UNITÉ 12: La forme et la santé47

UNITÉ 13: Au travail52

UNITÉ 14: Plaire et seduire56

UNITÉ 15: Par tous les temps60

UNITÉ 16: Voyages62

UNITÉ 17: Les langues et le travail64

UNITÉ 18: Vacances65

UNITÉ 19: Culture: sejour a Paris66

UNITÉ 20: Les Francophones67

FRC1501/1/2015-2021(iii)
1 PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY GUIDE

Module FRC1501 is intended for students with very little or no knowledge of the
French language and who need a beginner’s module, either as a prerequisite for the
next module, FRC1502, or as an extra subject in another curriculum, or for acquiring
basic verbal, communicative skills for personal or professional purposes.

Whether you plan to progress to postgraduate studies or wish to acquire only a feel
for the French language and culture, you will be guided and assessed by a group of
lecturers who are there to help you with your studies and to answer your questions.
Do not hesitate to contact the lecturers when there is a problem or doubt concerning
your work or you simply need some motivation.

At Unisa w e a r e a ware of the difficulties experienced by learners when study-

ing a foreign language through distance education. You may feel as if you have no
direct contact with the lecturers, and that it is difficult to communicate in another
language in a print-based course. We know that it is a major obstacle, but we
can assure you that every year many students do graduate in French at Unisa, and
can communicate in French. We are proud of the fruits of our teaching,  but especially
of the hard work put in by our learners. This is why we compiled this study guide,
so that it may help you tackle the textbook, the grammar book and the activity
book, and plan your studies.

The guide will focus on the INFO-Langue section of each unit with the aim of
elucidating the grammatical aspects that are usually problematic as well as to give
examples and exercises that illustrate the grammar points at hand. Please note that
the French Experience activity book should be used to consolidate the use and func-
tions of such grammatical aspects mentioned here.

In this guide you will also find an outline of the teaching/learning approach adopted
for this module.

THE COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH

There are many ways of learning a language: by means of books and a dictionary,
through private tuition, by registering at a school or a university, or by going to a
country where that particular language is spoken. Each of these options requires
different objectives, and therefore makes use of different pedagogies.

The tuition provided by Unisa is based on the communicative approach, aimed at

presenting the learner with the language in its variety of registers and uses in all
four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, while trying not to separate
language and culture, thus giving a good insight into the culture of the language.
The learner is taught how to acquire skills for communicating in French not only
by learning the language itself, but also by being shown how to use it in a social
context.

FRC1501/1(v)
PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY GUIDE

The principles on which the communicative approach is based

To speak a language is to communicate, so learning a foreign language is to learn
to communicate with a different means, in a new environment. To achieve this, the
following skills are required:

•• Linguistic skills: Grammar and linguistics are essential when learning a language:
any neglect in this area will sooner or later hamper any progress that may be
made in the language. Grammar and linguistics will also help you understand the
mechanisms of the language.
•• Sociolinguistic skills: The aim is to make the learner aware that the use of the
foreign language is regulated by different social rules. Indeed, if the learner does
not know these social rules, t hey will use the rules that are a p p l i c a b l e
in t h e i r own community, which may not necessarily be appropriate in
the community in which the foreign language is spoken.
•• Discursive skills: The learner should know that a language has different levels
or registers: we do not speak in the same way as we write, we do not address
strangers in the same way as we address relatives or friends, we do not use
the same type of language when writing a postcard or a business letter. This is
why, when learning a language, you need to be aware of the vocabulary you use,
and you need to understand the scope of that vocabulary.

The learning process through the communicative approach

The communicative approach does not offer a linear progression in the sense that
it does not go from easy to difficult. It is a completely different approach, and we
could say that its progression is in the shape of a spiral: the level of difficulty will
be more or less the same, depending on the level of study (the first, second or third
year of study at Unisa), but what you will be able to understand from each text and
what you will therefore be able to reproduce will become wider. The aim will be
to attain key skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing. In other words, you
will constantly be building on what you studied previously. This may be compared
to a child learning to understand and speak their mother tongue: the level of the
language they will hear every day will not change, but their level of understanding
will increase. Learning a foreign language should work in the same way, but as the
learner can already master at least one language, the process may be accelerated.

Also, a learner will make mistakes, and making mistakes may be considered a way of
learning. It is a way for the learner to check their ideas about the general mechanism
of the language, and to reassess them. Learning a language is not a passive act. It does
not consist of mastering lists of vocabulary or grammar rules: what we wish a learner
to achieve is autonomy, and this will be accomplished through a personal reflection
on how the language works.

Evaluation also furthers improvement. The learner can assess the progress made
since the last evaluation, and can also assess where t h e y stand compared to the
learning objectives. This is why we highly recommend that you send in your assign-
ments for evaluation. The corrected assignments will help you see mistakes you may
otherwise not have identified, and we shall do our best to give you thorough feedback.

The study of authentic materials also provides the learner with strategies for ap-
proaching a text, and is a strategy that may be used for any text the learner may
find beyond the scope of study, for instance on the Internet, on the radio, and in
newspapers – thus allowing the learner to gain more autonomy.

(vi)
 Purpose of this study guide

In conclusion, the learning obtained through the communicative approach brings

the learner into as close a contact with reality as possible according to their level
of studies, and teaches not only a know-how-to-do (savoir faire), but also a know-
how-to-be (savoir être).

THE COURSE MENU AND OUTCOMES

The course menu is set out in the The French Experience 1 textbook by BBC. It is in line
with the purpose of this module in that it tackles everyday topics and teaches you
how to deal with them in French.

The purpose of the FRC1501 module is to help you develop right from the beginning
the four language skills – listening, speaking, reading, and writing – in a lively com-
municative w ay while at the same time introducing you to contemporary France
and the French-speaking world. Your aim is to demonstrate that you can understand
and make yourself understood in French, using the language to access and process
information in an effective manner.

Your work will be assessed in accordance with the following criteria: You need to
be able to
•• use your understanding of the language to maintain coherence when reading
both simple (containing one verb only) and complex (containing two or more
verbs) sentences
•• use recognisable features of the French language and understand its structure
of discourse to construct meaning from the texts
•• use grammar with sufficient accuracy and fluency to allow communication,
and to convey the meaning that was intended
•• use words in an accurate manner, according to standard dictionary definitions
•• consult the prescribed books with confidence and accuracy

The course menu may be found on pages 8 and 9 of your textbook. Each study unit
is divided into different sections. The study units tackle everyday topics, and each
section progressively takes you to the many aspects of each topic.

The course menu s e t s o u t the objectives that need to be reached in each

section. Reading through it, you will realise how much you will learn this semester.

Although you may find some topics more appealing than others, you should cover
every single one of them, as they all contain some grammar points which are essential.

Now that you know what is expected of you and what you will learn this se-
mester, let us proceed with the book and the studies!

Quick overview of the books for the course

BBC The French Experience 1
•• the textbook
•• the activity book
•• the grammar book
The above three books are essential for your studies. Buy them as soon as pos-
sible, because the semester is very short, and there is much to be done!

FRC1501/1(vii)
PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY GUIDE

The textbook has close links with the activity book.

The grammar book is for general reference to French grammar, and may be
consulted throughout your studies of the French language.

The textbook: BBC The French Experience 1

Read the introduction (pp 4–7) of the book which contains a description of how the
textbook is organised. This may help you in planning your studies.

Since the textbook is designed for independent learners, it is very clear and
self-explanatory:
•• All the exercises are meant to give you practise, and the answers to them may
be found at the end of the book, on pages 222 to 231 (red-bordered pages).
Obviously, you should first complete the exercise before looking at the answers.
Do not cheat. The activity book offers some more practise and has direct links
with the textbook.
•• Each study unit contains a section called Info Langue, which gives you a brief
overview of the grammar tackled in that particular study unit. Numbers in bold
print refer to the Grammar Summary at the end of the textbook, pages 232 to 246
(yellow-bordered pages). Do not forget that the BBC French grammar book serves
as an easy reference, being in pocket format and having a clear, bilingual index.
•• After listening to the recordings of each section (dialogues or exercises), you
may refer to the transcripts on pages 248 to 269 (blue-bordered pages), and work
through the new vocabulary and phrases.
•• At the end of the textbook you will find a glossary of all the words used in the
study units. Work through the list as a first reference, but try using a bilingual
dictionary early on. After each noun in the glossary you will find either the letter
(m) or (f), those indicate that the noun is masculine (m), feminine (f), and (pl) if
the noun has an irregular plural. In French, nouns are either feminine or masculine,
and there is no rule according to which one may determine the gender, so it is
very important to learn the gender together with the noun, because the gender
will be needed for agreement with adjectives and past participles.

Example: a chair > une chaise (f) a blue chair > une chaise bleue
a book > un livre (m) a blue book > un livre bleu
Other words are followed by (e), (ne) or (se), denoting the feminine
forms of the words (nouns or adjectives).
Example: employer > l’employeur/l’employeuse (m/f)
(the first of which is the masculine form, (for a male employer), and
the second the feminine one (for a female employer)

The activity book

In the introduction on page 1, you will find clear instructions on how to use the
activity book.
The instructions for the exercises are in French: familiarise yourself with them, as
later on in your studies all the instructions for the assignments and the exami-
nations will be in French only.
Remember! Do the exercises before checking the answers.

(viii)
 Purpose of this study guide

We advise you not to write in your activity book, as you may find it useful to work
through the book during your revisions and redo some of the exercises. Write
down the reference of the exercise in a separate book and complete the exercise. If,
for instance, it is an exercise where you have to fill in the missing word(s), in each
instance copy the whole sentence, which will enable you to practise your spelling,
and at the same time practise the pattern of the sentence.
On pages 63 to 65 there is a general revision test which you should complete just
before beginning your revisions: the test will indicate which areas may need more
attention when preparing for the examination.

The grammar book

Read the introduction on page 3 where it is explained how to use the grammar book.
The grammar book is for quick reference and also for learning a grammar point.
Before embarking on this course, check your knowledge of the grammatical
terms given on pages 9 to 17. Even though the communicative approach (see pp
vii–x) does not put great emphasis on grammar, you still need to know the basic
terms involved. You will not get very far in your study of the language if grammar
is a problem for you. You need to be able to name “a spade a spade”. Learning a
foreign language is also an excellent way to rediscover English.

You can buy or order these books from Armstrong Booksellers, Juta’s bookshop,
Van Schaick’s, Amazon, Protea bookshop and Kalahari. The prices vary form one
bookshop to the next. However, they are approximately as follows:
The French Experience 1 R280.00
The French Experience 1 Activity book R180.00
The BBC French grammar R120.00

ISSUES TO NOTE
•• The use of translation applications like Google translate
We have experienced serious problems from students who deliberately make use
of such applications to translate work that they have done in English. Firstly, this
practice is a violation of the rules and regulations regarding plagiarism at Unisa.
Secondly, these applications translate word for word and the lecturers can easily spot
the problem. Thirdly, a student will and can never learn a new language by using
such applications. Lastly, any student found to engage in such malpractice will be
penalised and the assignment will not be marked, and the student will be subjected
to disciplinary action by the university.

•• Francophones doing the work for local students

Lecturers are disappointed by this unforgivable behaviour from dishonest students.
We are quite aware of fraudsters who complete the assignments for our students for
a fee. We have since taken drastic steps in dealing with the said students. Anyone
implicated in this type of behaviour will be disqualified from the module and will
forfeit their registration fees and will not be admitted to the examination.

•• Prescribed books
Most leading bookshops keep all the prescribed books in stock. However, at times
their supplies are very limited. We suggest that you also explore online book sellers
like [Link], [Link] and Kalahari.

FRC1501/1(ix)
 UNITÉ 0
1 D’INTRODUCTION
BIENVENU(E)(S)!

Pages 10 to 13 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Greet in French.
•• Spell the name in French.
•• Ask basic questions.
•• Count up to 20 and understand the numbers in French.

0.1 Salutation (Greetings) (page 10)

a. In any language, greetings are very basic and should be mastered from the
very beginning. In French, like in many languages, greetings are grouped
into two categories: (i)  different greeting for different times of the day, and
(ii)  reetings for familiar and unfamiliar people.
b. Bonjour/Bonsoir
We use bonjour to greet any person in the morning and during the day. From
late afternoon until we go to sleep, we use bonsoir. We may add the title Monsieur,
Madame or Mademoiselle.
•• Bonjour/Bonsoir Madame
•• Bonjour/Bonsoir Monsieur
•• Bonjour/Bonsoir Mademoiselle
When we know the name of the person, we can add the name after bonjour:
•• Bonjour/Bonsoir Mandla
•• Bonjour/Bonsoir Madame Nkosi
•• Bonjour/Bonsoir Sandra
c. Salut
We make use of salut when greeting friends and people we know very well.
This greeting can be used any time of the day.
Caution! We never use salut to greet people in authority.

d. Enchanté(e)
Enchanté(e) is the equivalent of “Pleased to meet you”. This expression can be
used at any time when you greet a person you have just met for the first time.

FRC1501/11


Note that there is an (e) which is used to indicate that the person who says
enchantée is a female. Check this example, Paul and Amanda are greeting each
other and have just met:
Paul: Bonjour mademoiselle.
Amanda: Bonjour monsieur.
Paul: Je m’appelle Paul, et vous?
Amanda : Enchantée, Paul, je m’appelle Amanda.
Paul : Enchanté.

e. Au revoir/Salut/Ciao/Bonne nuit/Bonne journée/Bonne soirée

After we have conversations we usually say our goodbyes.
•• Parting with the person – Au revoir
•• Parting with a friend/someone very familiar – Salut/Ciao
•• Parting to go to bed – Bonne nuit
•• Good wishes for the day further – Bonne journée
•• Good wishes for the evening – Bonne soirée

0.2 Simple expressions (page 12)

a. Excusez-moi; pardon; s’il vous plaît
These expressions have various functions. These expressions can be used to
call on a person’s attention when you need help or to ask for something. They
can also be used to ask for pardon.
•• S’il vous plaît also means “please”.
0.3 Gender (page 12)
In French, common nouns have gender. In other words, there are nouns that are
masculine and others that are feminine. At this stage, we need to introduce articles.

0.3.1 Indefinite/Definite articles

Indefinite Definite Noun

un (m) l’ ; le (m) Homme, monsieur

une (f ) l’ ; la (f ) Femme, eau
des (pl.) les (pl.) Tables, écureuils

The table above lists the articles each with a noun as an example. Each common
noun should be used with an article. The article indicates the gender of the noun. In
the table we have indicated the gender of the article with (m) masculine, (f) feminine
and (p) plural. Note that plural is not a gender but refers to the number.

See pages 26–27 of the BBC French grammar and page 232 of the BBC French
Experience 1 for further information on articles.

2
 D’introduction bienvenu(e)(s)!

0.4 Numbers (page 13)

Listen to the CD for the pronunciation of numbers from 0 to 20.

Example:

A young man and a young lady are meeting and greeting each other on campus.
They are of the same age group. Their greetings are of an informal manner. Follow
the dialogue below.

La mademoiselle : Salut !
Le monsieur : Salut !
La mademoiselle : Comment ça va?
Le monsieur : Ça va bien. Et toi?
La mademoiselle : Oui, ça va! Comment t’appelles-tu?
Le monsieur : Je m’appelle Marc, et toi?
La mademoiselle : Moi, je m’appelle Marie. D’où viens-tu Marc?
Le monsieur : Je viens du Canada. Je suis canadien, et toi?
La mademoiselle : Moi, je viens des États-Unis, je suis américaine! Où habites-tu?
Le monsieur : J’habite à Québec, et toi?
La mademoiselle : J’habite à l’université Laval, je suis étudiante, j’étudie le français.
Toi, qu’est-ce que tu fais?
Le monsieur : Je suis photographe, je travaille pour un journal.
La mademoiselle : Ça me fait plaisir de te rencontrer, Marc!
Le monsieur : Moi aussi, Marie! Au revoir.
La mademoiselle : Au revoir et à la prochaine!

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Complete the activities on pages 2–3 of the Activity book.

EXERCISE 2
Write a short dialogue where you greet and introduce yourself to someone your age
using the informal manner.

FRC1501/13
 UNITÉ 1
2 PRÉSENTATIONS

Pages 14 to 23 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Conjugate the verbs: être, avoir, habiter and appeler.

•• Introduce yourself by giving your name, age, occupation, country of origin,
and your nationality.

1.1 Conjugation
It is very important for you to understand how the grammar of French functions.
Like in English, all verbs have infinitive and conjugated forms. Below are four verbs
in both forms. Study the table carefully.

Infinitive form Conjugated form – Present tense

Etre Je suis
Tu es
Il/Elle/On est
Nous sommes
Vous êtes
Ils/Elles sont

Avoir J’ai
Tu as
Il/Elle/On a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/Elles ont

Habiter J’habite
Tu habites
Il/Elle/On habite
Nous habitons
Vous habitez
Ils/Elles habitent

4
 Présentations

S’appeler Je m’appelle
Tu t’appelles
Il/Elle/On s’appelle
Nous nous appelons
Vous vous appelez
Ils/Elles s’appellent

Note:
a. Je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous and ils/elles are personal pronouns representing dif-
ferent persons. For example:

Pronoun Person

Je First person singular

Tu Second person singular

Il/elle/on Third person singular (masculine, feminine and

neutral)

Nous First person plural

Vous Second person plural

Ils/elles Third person plural (masculine/feminine)

b. Notice that the form of the verb changes for each person ( je, tu, il/elle/on, nous,
vous and ils/elles).
c. The suffix (ending) of the conjugated verb is different from one person to
the next.
d. Check the conjugation of the verb s’appeler. Notice that the “s” in the infinitive
form has changed from one person to the other.

NB: Refer to the BBC French grammar book, pages 164–181, and the BBC French
Experience 1, pages 238–244, for the conjugation of verbs.

1.2 Age
In French we say how old we are by using the verb avoir (to have). This is very im-
portant to note. Examples:

•• Sandile a 22 ans.
•• J’ai 35 ans.
Refer to page 138 of the BBC French grammar.

FRC1501/15


1.3 Occupation
a. We refer to what we do, our occupation, by making use of the verb etre (to be).
b. Occupation and gender: In French, as we have indicated earlier, common
nouns have gender. Since names of occupations are common nouns, they
also have gender.
c. The name of the occupation takes the gender of the agent (the person who
exercises the occupation/profession). See the table below.

Masculine Feminine

L’étudiant L’étudiante

L’avocat L’avocate

L’infirmier L’infirmière

L’enseignant L’enseignante

Le coiffeur La coiffeuse

NB: We have used (l’) for all nouns that begin with a vowel. This is a general
rule in the French language.
Rule: When the definite articles for singular (la and le) precede a noun begin-
ning with (h) or a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), the vowel of the article (a or e)
falls away and is replaced with an apostrophe.
d. There are always exceptions to the rule. Some occupations are the same for
both male and female agents. For example:
−−médecin
−−docteur
−−professeur
See page 32 of the BBC French grammar for more information on occupations.

1.4 Country of origin

a. Country names
All countries of the world have French names. Much as country names are
proper nouns, in French each country has a gender. Remember that gender is
indicated in the article. Only definite articles are used for country names since
they refer to particular countries. See the table below for examples.

Gender Country Preposition Nationality

name

Male Female

La France en français française

Le Mozambique au mozabicain mozambicaine

6
 Présentations

Les Etats-Unis aux américain américaine

La Colombie en colombien colombienne

L’ Afrique du en sud-africain sud-africaine

sud

La Namibie en namibien namibienne

Le Lesotho au sotho sotho

L’ Angola en angolais angolaise

L’ Angleterre en anglais anglaise

Le Mexique au mexicain mexicaine

La Chine en chinois chinoise

NB:  The names of countries always begin with a capital letter.

b. Prepositions used for countries

There are three prepositions used when locating countries (au, aux and en).
Notice the examples in the table above. Au is used for masculine singular
country names. Aux is used for plural names of countries whereas en is used
for female country names.
c. Citizenship (nationality)
Citizenship has everything to do with the status of a person in a particular
country. Most of the time it is the country of origin of the person. As you may
have noticed in the table, that the gender of the person is always taken into
account when referring to their nationality. Study the spelling of the names
and citizenships.

Some examples:
•• Thierry est français. Il habite en France.
•• Alice et Pierre habitent aux États-Unis. Ils sont américains.
•• Les Mexicains sont au Brésil pour la coupe du monde de foot.
Please refer to pages 30–31 of the BBC French grammar to learn more about coun-
tries and how to refer to them.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1

Complete the exercises on pages 4–5 in the Activity book.

EXERCISE 2

Write down the occupation/profession in the spaces provided.

FRC1501/17


a. François travaille à l’université. Ses étudiants apprennent le français.

Il est …………….
b. Annick travaille dans un bureau. Elle répond au téléphone et elle utilise un
ordinateur. Elle est …………….
c. Franck aime les voitures. Il travaille dans un garage. Il est ……………
d. Sa passion : les ordinateurs. Pascal est ………………………

EXERCISE 3
Choose the correct preposition and complete the sentences.

(à; au; aux, en)

a. Paul habite ………… Brésil.

b. Ces femmes habitent ………. États-Unis.
c. Madame Dupuis va ………… France.

8
 UNITÉ 2
3 LA FAMILLE

Pages 24 to 35 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Converse about their marital status

•• Talk about and describe their family.
•• Count up to 100.

2.1 Marital status

By now you can introduce yourself, say how old you are, talk about your nationality
and your occupation. In this unit, we will continue with family matters.
a. In order to describe one’s marital status, we make use of adjectives such as
célibataire; marié(e); séparé(e); divorcé(e); veuf/veuve, etc.
b. To indicate one’s marital status, we make use of the verb être.

Examples: Je suis célibataire.

Elle est mariée.
Sipho et Emma sont mariés.
Madame Dupuis est veuve.

2.2 The family

•• le père/mari
•• la mère/femme
•• le fils/frère
•• la fille/sœur         Les enfants
•• le bébé
FRC1501/19


Example:

Membres de la famille

Monsieur Roux est

−−le mari de madame Roux.
−−le père de Marie et de Jean.
−−le beau-père de Marc et Lucie.
−−le grand-père de Laurent, Léa, Pierre et Lise.
Madame Roux est
−−la femme de monsieur Roux.
−−la mère de Marie et de Jean.
−−la belle-mère de Marc et Lucie.
−−la grand-mère de Laurent, Léa, Pierre et Lise.
Marie est
−−la fille de monsieur et madame Roux.
−−la sœur de Jean.
−−la femme de Marc.
−−la mère de Laurent et de Léa.
−−la belle-sœur de Lucie.
−−la tante de Pierre et Lise.
Jean est

−−le fils de monsieur et madame Roux.

−−le frère de Marie.
−−le mari de Lucie.
−−le père de Pierre et Lise.
−−le beau-frère de Marc.
−−l’oncle de Laurent et Léa.
Marc est
−−le mari de Marie.
−−le père de Laurent et de Léa.
−−le beau-fils ou le gendre de monsieur et madame
Roux.
−−le beau-frère de Jean et Lucie.
−−l’oncle de Pierre et Lise.
Lucie est

−−la femme de Jean.

−−la mère de Pierre et Lise.
−−la belle-fille ou la bru de monsieur et madame Roux.
−−la belle-sœur de Marie et de Marc.
−−la tante de Laurent et Léa.

10
 L a famille

Laurent est

−−le fils de Marie et de Marc.

−−le frère de Léa.
−−le petit-fils de monsieur et madame Roux.
−−le cousin de Pierre et de Lise.
−−le neveu de Jean et Lucie.

Léa est

−−la fille de Marie et de Marc.

−−la sœur de Laurent.
−−la petite-fille de monsieur et madame Roux.
−−la cousine de Pierre et de Lise.
−−la nièce de Jean et Lucie.
Pierre est

−−le fils de Jean et de Lucie.

−−le frère de Lise.
−−le petit-fils de monsieur et madame Roux.
−−le cousin de Laurent et de Léa.
−−le neveu de Marie et Marc.
Lise est

−−la fille de Jean et de Lucie.

−−la sœur de Pierre.
−−la petite-fille de monsieur et madame Roux.
−−la cousine de Laurent et de Léa.
−−la nièce de Marie et Marc.

2.3 Possession
Possessive adjectives are used to describe ownership. In French, unlike in English,
the possessive adjectives also indicate gender (feminine/masculine) and number
(singular/plural). The possessive adjective indicates the gender and number of the
possession and not the possessor.

Pronoms personnels Pronoms possessifs

Féminin Masculin Pluriel
Je ma mon mes
Tu Ta tu tes
Il/elle Sa son ses
Nous notre notre nos
Vous votre votre vos
Ils/elles leur leur leurs

FRC1501/111


See pages 48–50 in the BBC French grammar book for more information on “pro-
noms possessifs”. Also refer to pages 233–234 in BBC French Experience 1.

2.4 Numbers up to 100

20 – vingt
21 – vingt-et-un
22 – vingt-deux
23 – vingt-trois
30 – trente
31 – trente-et-un
40 – quarante
42 – quarante-et-un
60 – soixante
70 – soixante-dix
71 – soixante et onze
71 – soixante-douze
79 – soixante-dix-neuf
80 – quatre-vingts
81 – quatre-vingt-un
82 – quatre-vingt-deux
89 – quatre-vingt-neuf
90 – quatre-vingt-dix
91 – quatre-vingt-onze
92 – quatre-vingt-douze
99 – quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
100 – cent

See number on pages 138–139 in the BBC French grammar book.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Complete the exercise of unit 2 on pages 6–7 in the Activity book.

EXERCISE 2
Follow the example of the family above to complete the following sentences.
a. Lorette est la femme de ....................
b. Paul est le .................... de Cindy.
c. Luc est le .................... de Philippe.
d. Cindy est la .................... de Luc.
e. Denise a pour bru ....................
f. Christian est le .................... de Paul.
g. Théo et Julien sont ....................

12
 L a famille

EXERCISE 3
Choose the correct word to complete the sentences.
(mon; ma; ta; ton; sa; son; mes; tes; ses)
a. J’ai un cahier .................... cahier est rouge.
b. Lucille a une trousse verte .................... trousse est verte.
c. Pierre, tu as un très joli crayon .................... crayon est très joli.
d. J’ai une règle grise .................... règle est grise.
e. Le réveil de Jean-Luc est marron .................... réveil est marron.
f. Amélie, tu as une petite table blanche ..................... petite table est blanche.
g. J’ai des crayons de toutes les couleurs .................... crayons sont de toutes les
couleurs.
h. Benjamin a trois livres rouges ................... livres sont rouges.
i. Marie, tu as deux dictionnaires gris .................... dictionnaires sont gris.
j. J’ai un père, il a les yeux verts .................... père a les yeux verts.
k. J’ai une sœur, elle a dix-huit ans .................... sœur a dix-huit ans.
l. Isabelle, tu as un grand frère .................... frère est plus âgé que toi.

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UNITÉ 3
4 LES PROFESSIONS

Pages 36 to 45 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Talk about your place of work.

•• Say the time.
•• Say the days of the week.

3.1 Verbs
In French there are three groups of verbs. See the table below.

1er groupe 2ème groupe 3ème groupe

Habiter (to live/stay) Finir (to finish) Prendre (to take)
J’habite Je finis Je prends
Tu habites Tu finis Tu prends
Il/elle/on habite Il/elle/on finit Il/elle/on prend
Nous habitons Nous finissons Nous prenons
Vous habitez Vous finissez Vous prenez
Ils/Elles habitent Ils/elles finissent Ils/elles prennent
Appeler (to call) Choisir (to choose) Dire (to say)
J’appelle Je choisis Je dis
Tu appelles Tu choisis Tu dis
Il/Elle/on appelle Il/elle/on choisit Il/elle/on dit
Nous appelons Nous choisissons Nous disons
Vous appelez Vous choisissez Vous dites
Ils/Elles appellent Ils/elles choisissent Ils/elles disent
Travailler (to work) Naître (to be born)
Je travaille Je nais
Tu travailles Tu nais
Il/elle/on travaille Il/elle/on naît
Nous travaillons Nous naissons
Vous travaillez Vous naissez
Ils/elles travaillent Ils/elles naissent

14
 Les professions

Commencer (to begin/ Voir (to see)

start)
Je commence Je vois
Tu commences Tu vois
Il/elle/on commence Il/elle/on voit
Nous commençons Nous voyons
Vous commencez Vous voyez
Ils/elles commencent Ils/elles voient
Manger (to eat) Vouloir (to want)
Je mange Je veux
Tu manges Tu veux
Il/elle/on mange Il/elle/on veut
Nous mangeons Nous voulons
Vous mangez Vous voulez
Ils/elles mangent Ils/elles veulent
Parler (to speak/talk) Partir (to leave/go)
Je parle Je pars
Tu parles Tu pars
Il/elle/on parle Il/elle/on part
Nous parlons Nous partons
Vous parlez Vous partez
Ils/elles parlent Ils/elles partent

a. It is important to note that the three groups of verbs require a lot of practise
to master the changes that occur from one group to the next and from one
verb to the other. I suggest that you keep a notebook for the conjugation of
verbs. Especially because, as the tenses change, more variations come into play.
b. Group 1 verbs
This is the simplest group of the three. All verbs in this group end with “er”
in the infinitive form. The only exception to this rule is the verb aller. You
will notice that the verb has very minimal changes in the conjugation. For the
person je, the verb drops the “r”. In the person tu, the verb drops the “r” and
takes an “s”. Then, the verb for il/elle/on remains the same as for the person
je. Moving to the plurals, the first person plural nous drops the “er” suffix and
takes on “ons” which is the suffix for all verbs in all groups in the present
tense. The person vous drops the “r” and adds a “z”. Lastly, the third person
plural ils/elles drops the “r” and takes up the “ent” suffix.
Groups 2 and 3
These groups are a bit more complex. Here you need to pay close attention to
the conjugation of these verbs.

3.2 The verb travailler

As you may have noticed, this verb belongs to the first group. Therefore, it is very
easy to conjugate once you have understood how the conjugation works.

FRC1501/115
 3.3 Time

a. In French, like in many other languages, time is counted in a 24-hour cycle,

i.e. 1 to 24 hours. There are many ways of asking for the time and as many
ways of telling time.
b. Asking for time
Quelle heure est-il?
Il est quelle heure?
Vous avez quelle heure?
(i) une heure – the hour is feminine
une minute – the minute is also feminine
une seconde – the second is feminine as well

(ii) Quelle is an interrogative. It is also in the feminine form since the object
of the sentence is feminine.
(iii) We use the verb être to ask for and tell the time.

c. Telling the time/giving time.

•• 03:10 Il est trois heures dix.
•• 20h30 Il est vingt heures trente/il est vingt heures et demie.
•• 16:45 Il est dix-sept heures moins le quart/il est dix-sept heures moins quinze.

3.4 Days of the week

dimanche
lundi
mardi
mercredi
jeudi
vendredi
samedi

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Go to the Activity book and complete all the exercises for unit 3.

EXERCISE 2
Look at the time on the images below and write down the time in words.

16
 Les professions

A B C D

E F G H

EXERCISE 3
Identify the group to which each verb belongs:

a. Nager
b. Finir
c. Chanter
d. Pouvoir
e. Venir
f. Prolonger
g. Partir
h. Attendre
i. Pleuvoir

FRC1501/117


UNITÉ 4
5 LA VILLE ET LA CAMPAGNE

Pages 46 to 55 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Give directions and distances.

•• Use adjectives to describe nouns.

4.1 Directions
To give direction, you need to know your compass, the destination, the point of
departure, street names, landmarks as well as verbs that show which actions one
needs to carry out to get to the destination. Below is a table with some useful vo-
cabulary for directions.

Street names Landmarks Verbs Distance Prepositions

Rue Dorp La gare Continuer à 50 mètres à droite►

Rue Marchal L’église Tourner à gauche◄
Rue Maseko Le marché Traverser tout droit
Rue Preller Le magasin Marcher après
Rue Visagie Le carrefour Chercher en face de
Rue Foche Le coin Passer à côté de
à
de

NB: When you write or say the street name, you begin with rue and then state the name.
The verb must be conjugated in accordance with the correct person.
When giving directions, we make use of the imperative mode of the verb.

4.2 Adjectives
a. An adjective is describing word. It qualifies the noun. Adjectives take the
number and gender of the noun(s) they describe. When the noun/pronoun
is feminine and singular, the adjective must also be feminine and singular.
b. When a noun/pronoun consists of both masculine and feminine, the mascu-
line form is always applied.
c. Adjectives assume a particular position in the sentence relative to the noun.
Some adjectives come before the noun, others come after the noun. There
are some that can be either before or after the noun.

18
 L a ville et la campagne

d. There are various types of adjectives. It is the type that determines the posi-
tion vis-à-vis the noun.

Adjectives: Adjectives: Rules

masculine feminine

petit (small) petite Usually, the feminine of the

grand (big/tall) grande adjective is formed by adding
joli (nice/lovely) jolie an -e at the end.

aimable (friendly) aimable Adjectives ending in -e do not

drôle (funny) drôle change for the feminine.
agréable (nice) agréable

vrai (true) vraie Adjectives ending in the vowels

parti (gone) partie i, u and ai take an -e for the
lu (read) lue feminine.

bon (good) bonne Adjectives ending in -on or -ien

ancien (former) ancienne double their final consonant for
the feminine.

cruel (cruel) cruelle Adjectives ending in -el, -ul or

nul (nonsense) nulle -eil double their final consonant
pareil (same) pareille for the feminine.

coquet coquette Adjectives ending in -et double

(coquet- tish) their consonant for the femi-
nine, except for
discret > discrète (discreet),
inquiet > inquiète (worried),
complet > complete

gris (grey) grise Adjectives ending in -s take an

-e for the feminine, except for
bas > basse (low),
épais > épaisse (thick),
which double their -s.

nerveux (nervous) nerveuse Adjectives ending in -x take -se

eureux (happy) eureuse for the feminine, except for
crieux (curious) curieuse dou x > douce (soft)
fau x > fausse (false)
rou x > rousse (red-haired).

léger (light) légère Adjectives ending in -er take the

ending -ère for the feminine.

neuf (new) neuve Adjectives ending in -f take the

sportif (sportive) portive ending -ve for the feminine.

franc (honest) franche Adjectives ending in -c take the

blanc (white) lanche ending -che for the feminine.

FRC1501/119


See page 233 in the BBC French Experience 1 and pages 36–39 for further study
on adjectives.
Examples: a. La princesse Maryne est très belle.
b. Ma grand-mère a les cheveux blancs, doux et bouclés.
c. La maison est rouge.
d. Les fleurs sont jolies.
e. La femme blonde est française.
More examples: un pantalon noir  → une chemise noire
un grand garçon  → une grande fille
un pays merveilleux  → une ville merveilleuse
un élève sérieux  → une élève sérieuse
un paquet léger  → une valise légère
un fruit amer  → une boisson amère
un beau chien  →  de beaux chiens
un livre nouveau  → des livres nouveaux
un exercice oral  →  des exercices oraux
un sourire amical  → des sourires amicaux

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1

Complete all activities for unit 4 in the Activity book, pages 11–13.

EXERCISE 2

Complete the sentence with the correct form of the adjective.

a. Les filles sont vraiment (intelligent).
b. Ces pantalons sont trop (grand).
c. Il y a des fleurs (blanc).
d. Louis a une veste (bleu).
e. Le garçon est (gentil).

EXERCISE 3

Write down the correct form of the adjective.

a. (petit): une fille ....................

b. (neuf): une voiture ....................
c. (fou): une .................... entreprise
d. (blanc): une feuille ....................
e. (coûteux): une erreur ....................
f. (agrégé): une personne ....................
g. (malheureux): une action ....................
h. (natif): une femme ....................
i. (profond): une blessure ....................
j. (saignant): une viande ....................

20
 UNITÉ 5
6 LES COURSES

Pages 60 to 69 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT
On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Make use of “le partitif” (page 62).

•• Report past activities – past tense (page 62).
•• Use the expression il y a.

5.1 “Le Partitif”

Since this unit deals with shopping for groceries and food in general, it is important
to master the quantities. “Le partitif” is the grammatical aspect that tackles speci-
fied and unspecified quantities of foodstuffs. Just a reminder of what we mentioned
earlier – all nouns are to be accompanied by an article (la, le, l’ and les).

a. Foods with definite articles

La viande – meat
Le lait – milk
Le pain – bread
L’eau – water
Le poisson – fish
La glace – ice cream
Les fruits – fruit
Les légumes – vegetables
Le beurre – butter
Les pâtes – pasta

b. Unspecified quantities
This is a quantity that cannot be quantified. In English, we say “some water” for
unspecified quantities. For this quantity, we introduce de in front of the article.
De + la viande = De la viande
De + le lait = Du lait
De + le pain = Du pain
De + l’eau = De l’eau
De + le poisson = Du poisson
De + la glace = De la glace
De + les fruits = Des fruits
De + les légumes = Des légumes
De + le beurre = Du beurre
De + les pâtes = Des pâtes

FRC1501/121


Note the following:

(i) De + le = du. In French, the preposition de and the article le following
each other in a sentence, are fused into du.

c. Specified quantities
Une tasse de thé a cup of tea
Une tranche de fromage a slice of cheese
Un kilo de pommes a kilogram of apples
Un verre d’eau a glass of water
Une boîte de tomates a can/tin of tomatoes
Une bouteille de jus a bottle of juice
Une douzaine d’œufs a dozen of eggs
Un paquet d’oranges a pocket of oranges

Note: When you use specified quantities, the article of the noun is left out.
Look at the list above again.
 efer to page 34 of the BBC French grammar book as well as page 232 of the
R
BBC French Experience 1.

5.2 “Le passé compose” (the past tense)

Whenever a tense is mentioned, we know that it has to do with verbs. In French,
there is more than one tense in the past. However, for this unit, we will concentrate
on the “passé compose”.

The “passé composé” expresses an action that has taken place in the past and which
has been completed.

a. The name of the tense is self-explanatory, a past composed of elements. The

tense consists of two elements. The first element is an auxiliary. An auxiliary
is a helping word. The second element of the tense is the past participle of the
verb that carries the action in the sentence.
Example: passé composé = auxiliary + past participle of the verb

b. The auxiliary can either be the verb être or the verb avoir. This means that the
two elements are both verbs. However, the forms of these verbs are different.
Example: être + past participle of the verb
avoir + past participle of the verb

The auxiliary être is used for transitive and reflexive verbs. The auxiliary avoir
is used for all other verbs.
c. The auxiliary must be conjugated in terms of the correct person of the subject.
Examples:
1. Je suis née en Afrique du Sud.
•• suis is the conjugated form of the auxiliary être. Note that the aux-
iliary is conjugated according to the person of the subject. In this
sentence, the subject is je, first person singular.
•• née is the past participle of the main verb naître of the sentence.

2. Pauline est arrivée aux Etats-Unis.

22
 Les courses

•• est is the conjugated form of the auxiliary être conjugated according

to the third person singular “Pauline”.
•• arrivée is the past participle of the main verb arriver.

3. Ils sont devenus artistes.

•• sont is the conjugated form of the auxiliary être conjugated according
to the third person plural ils.
•• devenus is the past participle of the main verb devenir.

d. Concord
Do you remember this word from your high school English class? Concord
refers to the agreement or harmony between words in the sentence. In French,
we refer to it as “l’accord”. When you conjugate the verb in the “passé composé”
making use of the auxiliary être, there should always be agreement between
the subject and the past participle.
Examples: Je suis née en Afrique du Sud.
Pauline est arrivée aux Etats-Unis.

The second (e) in the past participle is an addition to the past participle because
the latter must agree with the gender and number of the subject which in the
above examples is feminine.
Example: Ils sont devenus artistes.

The (s) in the past participle is an addition to the past participle because the
latter must agree with the gender and number of the subject, in the case above
the subject is plural.
e. The past participles
Refer to lesson 40.2 in the BBC French grammar on pages 122 to 124. For
further information on the “passé composé’, see page 240 in the BBC French
Experience 1.

5.3 The expression il y a

This expression is commonly used in the French language. It can be used for both
singular and plural, feminine and masculine nouns. It simply means “there is or
there are”.

Examples : Il y a deux filles dans la classe.

Il y a une table à côté de la chaise.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1

Below is a drawing of the goods on display in the shop window of a pâtisserie. De-
scribe what you can see in the window display of this pâtisserie:

FRC1501/123


Dans la vitrine, il y a des gâteaux au chocolat et … 1 … café. Il y a aussi des
babas … 2 … rhum et des éclairs … 3 … chocolat et … 4 … vanille. On peut
acheter des tartes … 5 … framboises, … 6 … fraises, … 7 … citron et … 8 …
meringue. Il y a de la glace … 9 … chocolat et … 10 … menthe.

EXERCISE 2
Go to page 253 of BBC French Experience 1 and read the transcript of the dialogue
again. Then write down all the articles denoting an unspecified quantity together
with their nouns that appear in the text.
Example: du pain, de la viande

Complete activités 1, 2 and 3.

EXERCISE 3
Now let us practise the above. In each instance below, match the subject with the
correct form of the past tense formed from the infinitive given:
Example: travailler/je
(1) The subject is je’.
(2) The correct form of the auxiliary avoir’ that agrees with je is ai’. Together,
they form j’ai.
(3) The past participle of the verb travailler  – the verb ends in -er, so the past
participle ends in -é: travaillé.

The past tense of the verb travailler that agrees with je is j’ai travaillé. Complete the rest
of this exercise. Then translate the sentences into English and check your answers.
(1) habiter/tu
(2) regarder/nous
(3) finir/il
(4) dépenser/elle
(5) vendre/je
Go to the activity book and do all the activities on pages 14 to 16.

24
 UNITÉ 6
7 TOUTES DIRECTIONS

Pages 70 to 79 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Ask for and understand directions and how to get there.

•• Use verbs related to directions.
•• Use the imperative mode of the verbs.

We have covered directions in unit 5. in this unit, we will turn our attention to ask-
ing for directions.

6.1   T here  are  several  ways  of  posing  questions in French. In this unit we will
con­cen­t rate on three ways.
a. Est-ce que. This interrogative is used in many instances for asking questions.
It can be equated to “is” or “are” in a question in English. Est-ce que needs
another interrogative such as:
qui – who
où – where
il y a  – there is/there are
que  – what
comment – how
pourquoi  – why
combien  – how many/how much
quand  – when

Examples:
a. Est-ce qu’il y a une poste ici?
b. Comment est-ce que je vais à la gare?
c. Est-ce que je tourne à gauche ou à droite?

b. Où. As you can see in the list above, où is an interrogative of location.

Example:
a. Où est l’église?
b. Où se trouve le marché?
c. Où est la pharmacie?

For further information on the interrogative form, refer to page 237 in BBC French
Experience 1.

FRC1501/125
 6.2   Verbs used for giving directions. Below is a table of such verbs with their
conjugation in the present tense.

Aller (to go) Continuer (to continue)

Je vais Je continue
Tu vas Tu continues
Il/elle/on va Il/elle/on continue
Nous allons Nous continuons
Vous allez Vous continuez
Ils/elles vont Ils/elles continuent

Tourner (to turn) Prendre (to take)

Je tourne Je prends
Tu tournes Tu prends
Il/elle/on tourne Il/elle/on prend
Nous tournons Nous prenons
Vous tournez Vous prenez
Ils/elles tournent Ils/elles prennent

Monter (to climb/to go up/to Descendre (to descend/to go

ascend) down)
Je monte Je descends
Tu montes Tu descends
Il/elle/on monte Il/elle/on descend
Nous montons Nous descendons
Vous montez Vous descendez
Ils/elles montent Ils/elles descendent

Traverser (to go across)

Je traverse
Tu traverses
Il/elle/on traverse
Nous traversons
Vous traversez
Ils/elles traversent

NB: The table above illustrates a combination of verbs in the first and the third
groups. The underlined verbs will be explained in the next section where we
will explain the use of the imperative mode of verbs.

Examples:
a. Allez tout droit et tournez à gauche.
b. Au coin, tourne à droite.
c. Traversons la rue Maréchal et continuons tout droit.

6.3 The imperative mode

When giving directions, we actually give instructions. These instructions are in the
form of verbs. As you may know, instructions can only be given to three persons,
i.e. the second person singular tu, the first person plural nous and the third person
plural ils/elles.

26
 Toutes directions

Look at the examples in point 2. You will notice that the imperative mode is the
same as the present tense, with only one exception.

Exception. When you give instructions in the second person singular tu the “s” at
the end of the conjugated form of the present tense falls away. Another exception
is that only the verb aller keeps the “s” in vas.

To consolidate the use of the imperative mode, see page 240 in BBC French Experi-
ence 1.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Complete all activities in the Activity book, pages 17 to 19.

EXERCISE 2
Write down the correct form of the verb in brackets.

a. (tourner) Vous .................... à droite.

b. (descendre) Nous .................... à la deuxième rue.
c. (monter) Ils .................... au troisième étage.
d. (traverser) Je ..................... la grande route.

EXERCISE 3
Use the verbs below to make sentences where you give directions.

a. Continuer
b. Traverser
c. Tourner
d. Descendre
e. Aller

EXERCISE 4
Complete the sentences with the correct form of the instruction.
a. Tu ne dois pas jouer sous la pluie .................... sous la pluie.
b. Vous devez prendre ces comprimés 3 fois par jour .................... ces comprimés
3 fois par jour .
c. Tu dois beurrer le moule .................... e moule.
d. Nous devons nous estimer heureux ..................... heureux.
e. Vous ne devez pas laisser ces produits à la portée des enfants .................... ces
produits à la portée des enfants.
f. Nous devons tous combattre l’analphabétisme .................... tous l’analphabétisme.
g. Tu dois mettre ton manteau ..................... ton manteau.
h. Vous devez vous brosser les dents .................... les dents.
i. Vous devez faire de ce monde un paradis .................... de ce monde un paradis.
j. Nous ne devons pas enfreindre la loi .................... la loi.

FRC1501/127


UNITÉ 7
8 À TOUTE VITESSE

Pages 80 to 91 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Make use of the interrogations quel and quelle.

•• Construct sentences in the negative form.

7.1 Quel and Quelle

Note that the spelling of these two words is different. Quel is masculine and quelle is
feminine. Both words have two functions in grammar.

a. As an exclamation for grandeur, beauty, surprise, etc.

Examples: Quelle belle femme!
Quelle horreur!
Quelle beauté!

b. As an interrogation (which).
Examples: Quelle couleur aimez-vous?
Quel bâtiment est plus beau?
Quels livres faut-il acheter?

NB: For more information on interrogations refer to pages 57–58 in BBC French

grammar as well as page 237 in BBC French Experience 1.

7.2 The negative form

A sentence is negative when it negates something. In French, the negative form
is composed of two elements. There are five forms of negation.
a. ne ………….. pas (not)
b. ne ………….. plus (not any more)
c. ne ………….. jamais (never)
d. ne ………….. rien (nothing)
e. ne ………….. personne (no one)

The verb that is negated is always placed in between the two elements of the negation.
This is true for the present and the imperfect tenses which have only one element.
In the case of tenses with more than one element, such as the passé compose and
the future proche.
Examples: (i) Sylvie n’est pas française.

28
 À toute vitesse

(ii) Ne tournez plus dans cette rue.

(iii) Je n’ai jamais vu de telle femme.

(iv) Les enfants n’ont rien mangé aujourd’hui.

(v) Il n’a vu personne.
(vi) Elles n’ont jamais vu de lions.

Important points to note:

•• The indefinite articles (un, une, des) in the sentence must always change to become
de when the sentence is in the negative form. See example (iii) above.
•• The negation ne … personne is an exception to the rule of putting only the auxiliary
of the “passé compose” in between the negation. In the case of ne … personne,
both the auxiliary and the past participle are placed in between the negation.

7.2.1 All types of sentences can be in the affirmative or negative form.

Type Affirmative form Negative form

Declarative Les étudiants passent un Les étudiants ne passent pas
examen. d’examen.
Interrogative Ce garagiste répare-t-il la Ce garagiste ne répare-t-il pas la
voiture? voiture?
Exclamative Cette femme travaille Cette femme ne travaille pas trop!
trop!
Imperative Donnez la main. Ne donnez pas la main.

7.2.2 The different meanings of the negation

The negation can express different meanings depending on the adverb of negation
employed.

Affirmative form Negative form

J’aime les fruits. Je n’aime pas les fruits.
J’aime beaucoup de fruits. Je n’aime aucun fruit.
Je mange encore des fruits. Je ne mange plus de fruits.
Je mange toujours des fruits. Je ne mange jamais de fruits.
Je vois quelque chose. Je ne vois rien.
Je vois quelqu’un. Je ne vois personne.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1

Complete all the activities on pages 20–22 in the Activity book.

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EXERCISE 2
Faites des réponses négatives:
a. Vous préparez un concours.......................................................................................
b. Tu remplis une fiche d’inscription. ..........................................................................
c. Elle obtient un diplôme. ...........................................................................................
d. Je donne un cours de français à 6 h.........................................................................
e. Ils ont des examens.....................................................................................................

EXERCISE 3
Mettez les phrases suivantes à la forme négative:
a. Sa blessure est déjà guérie..........................................................................................
b. Didier me bat toujours aux échecs. .........................................................................
c. Tu ranges ta chambre. ...............................................................................................
d. Je prends souvent l’autobus. .....................................................................................
e. Tiens! Il pleut encore! ................................................................................................
f. Vous connaissez cet hôtel. ........................................................................................
g. J’ai déjà mangé du caviar. ..........................................................................................
h. Nous mangeons souvent des fruits. ........................................................................

EXERCISE 4
RIEN et PERSONNE avec préposition.
a. À qui écris-tu?..............................................................................................................
b. Avec qui travailles-tu? ...............................................................................................
c. De quoi parlez-vous? .................................................................................................
d. En qui avez-vous confiance? ....................................................................................
e. Contre qui es-tu fâché? .............................................................................................
f. Pour qui chantez-vous? .............................................................................................
g. À quoi penses-tu?........................................................................................................

EXERCISE 5
Mettez le texte à la forme négative:
J’ai de la chance! J’ai des amis, des frères, des voisins! Mes parents sont encore là pour m’aider. Je
suis déjà marié, j’ai une femme et des enfants. Mon travail est intéressant, mes collègues sont très
aimables, j’ai souvent des vacances, et je gagne beaucoup d’argent! Je ris tout le temps, je sors souvent,
j’ai des distractions! J’ai une vie facile, je suis très heureux.

EXERCISE 6
Répondez à la forme négative:

•• Bonjour Madame Lefèvre et merci d’être là. Voilà, c’est au sujet de votre fille
Corinne. Son comportement a changé en classe. A-t-elle des problèmes à la
maison? Est-elle différente?
•• Non, elle ....................... a ....................... problèmes. Elle ....................... est .......................
différente.
•• Elle a des frères et des sœurs? Vit-elle encore avec son père?

30
 À toute vitesse

•• Non, elle ....................... a ....................... frère ....................... soeur. Elle .......................

vit ....................... chez son père.
•• Quelqu’un l’ennuie chez elle? Quelque chose la préoccupe?
•• Non, ....................... l’ennuie. ....................... la préoccupe.
•• Peut-être pleure-t-elle quelquefois? Elle est toujours triste? Cache-t-elle quelque
chose?
•• Non, elle ....................... pleure ....................... . Elle ....................... est .......................
triste. Elle ....................... cache ....................... . Je ne crois pas.
•• Est-ce qu’elle connaît quelqu’un?
•• Non, elle ....................... connaît ....................... .

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UNITÉ 8
9 LES HÔTELS ET LE CAMPING

Page 92–101 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Conjugate the verbs in the future tense.

•• Make use of the future tense in sentences.

The future tense

In French we have three tenses used to express an action still to come. In this unit
we will pay attention on the “futur simple” tense.
•• The “futur simple” is made up of the infinitive form of the verb plus suffixes
(ai; as; a; ons; ez and ont).
•• Notice that the suffixes are actually the conjugated form of the verb avoir in the
present tense.
•• Since we are dealing with verbs, we will tackle the verbs according to the three
groups of verbs.

8.1 First-group verbs

a. Just to remind you, the first group consists of verbs that end with “er” in the
infinitive form.
b. In this group we also have verbs that end with “yer”. For these verbs, the “y”
changes to “i” in the infinitive form.
c. In general, verbs that end in “eler” and “eter” in the infinitive form the “l”
and the “t” are doubled in the future tense.
d. The verbs peler and acheter also undergo a change when they are in the future
tense. The change takes place on the first “e” of the verb. This “e” gets an
accent “è”.

LE FUTUR SIMPLE

Travailler Habiter Continuer Monter

Je travaillerai J’habiterai Je continuerai Je monterai
Tu travailleras Tu habiteras Tu continueras Tu monteras
Il/elle/on travaillera Il/elle/on habitera Il/elle/on continuera Il/elle/on montera
Nous travaillerons Nous habiterons Nous continuerons Nous monterons
Vous travaillerez Vous habiterez Vous continuerez Vous monterez
Ils/elles travailleront Ils/elles habiteront Ils/elles Ils/elles monteront
 continueront

32
 Les hôtels et le camping

Payer (to pay) Essuyer (to wipe) Nettoyer (to clean) Appuyer (to press)
Je paierai J’essuierai Je nettoierai J’appuierai
Tu paieras Tu essuieras Tu nettoieras Tu appuieras
Il/elle/on paiera Il/elle/on essuiera Il/elle/on nettoiera Il/elle/on appuiera
Nous paierons Nous essuierons Nous nettoierons Nous appuierons
Vous paierez Vous essuierez Vous nettoierez Vous appuierez
Ils/elles paieront Ils/elles essuieront Ils/elles nettoieront Ils/elles appuieront

Appeler Jeter (to throw)

J’appellerai Je jetterai
Tu appelleras Tu jetteras
Il/elle/on appellera Il/elle/on jettera
Nous appellerons Nous jetterons
Vous appellerez Vous jetterez
Ils/elles appelleront Ils/elles jetteront

Peler (to peel) Acheter (to buy)

Je pèlerai J’achèterai
Tu pèleras Tu achèteras
Il/elle/on pèlera Il/elle/on achètera
Nous pèlerons Nous achèterons
Vous pèlerez Vous achèterez
Ils/elles pèleront Ils/elles achèteront

8.2 The second group

Obéir (to obey) Choisir

J’obéirai Je choisirai
Tu obéiras Tu choisiras
Il/elle/on obéira Il/elle/on choisira
Nous obéirons Nous choisirons
Vous obéirez Vous choisirez
Ils/elles obéiront Ils/elles choisiront

8.3 The third group

a. Most verbs in the third group form their future tense like the first and second
groups. However, there are many exceptions. We are going to consider the
exceptions in this section.
b. Verbs ending with “e” lose the “e” and this is replaced by a suffix.
c. Some verbs in this group ending with “ir” or “i” double the “r” and lose the “i”.
d. Certain verbs do not fall into any of the categories mentioned above. Study
the table below for verbs in the third group.

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Prendre (to take) Rire (to laugh)

Je prendrai Je rirai
Tu prendras Tu riras
Il/elle/on prendra Il/elle/on rira
Nous prendrons Nous rirons
Vous prendrez Vous rirez
Ils/elles prendront Ils/elles riront

Courir (to run) Mourir (to die)

Je courrai Je mourrai
Tu courras Tu mourras
Il/elle/on courra Il/elle/on mourra
Nous courrons Nous mourrons
Vous courrez Vous mourrez
Ils/elles courront Ils/elles mourront

Être (to be) Avoir (to have)

Je serai J’aurai
Tu seras Tu auras
Il/elle/on sera Il/elle/on aura
Nous serons Nous aurons
Vous serez Vous aurez
Ils/elles seront Ils/elles auront

Faire (to make/to do) Savoir (to know)

Je ferai Je saurai
Tu feras Tu sauras
Il/elle/on fera Il/elle/on saura
Nous ferons Nous saurons
Vous ferez Vous saurez
Ils/elles feront Ils/elles sauront

For more information, refer to lesson 35, pages 110–112 in BBC French grammar
and page 241 in BBC French Experience 1.

Examples:
a. Les enfants joueront dans le jardin.
b. Nous enverrons un message aux étudiants.
c. Il jettera le stylo sur le sol.
d. Dupont appellera son fils.
e. Elles achèteront des livres.
f. Vous obéirez les lois.
g. Les joueurs courront dans le terrain.
h. Tu seras contente.
i. J’aurai beaucoup de choses.
j. Vous irez à l’école demain.

34
 Les hôtels et le camping

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Complete the activities on pages 23–25 in the Activity book.

EXERCISE 2
1. Je (visiter) ..................... Paris cet été.
2. Les Lebrun (déménager) .............................. la semaine prochaine.
3. Nous (acheter) .............................. une nouvelle voiture en décembre.
4. Il (dîner) .............................. avec sa fiancée samedi soir.
5. Elle nous (présenter) .............................. ses parents dimanche.
6. Vous (arriver) .............................. à quelle heure?
7. L’avion (décoller) .............................. à 13h25.
8. Tu me (téléphoner) .............................. quand?
9. Ils (changer) .............................. de vêtements avant la cérémonie.
10. Vous (demander) .............................. des renseignements en arrivant.
11. Nous (finir) .............................. à quelle heure?
12. Elle (partir) .............................. au Maroc avec des amis.
13. Demain, je (ouvrir) .............................. la porte à 8h30.
14. Ils (finir) .............................. les travaux dans un mois.
15. Je (dormir) .............................. dans des hôtels cinq étoiles.
16. Tu (sortir) .............................. dimanche?
17. Qu’est-ce que vous lui (offrir) .............................. pour son anniversaire?
18. Nous (choisir) .............................. la plus belle robe pour ton mariage.
19. Ils (ouvrir) .............................. la lettre en arrivant à Paris.
20. Demain, elle (dormir) .............................. chez sa sœur.

EXERCISE 3
Conjugate these verbs in the “futur simple”.

Verbes du 1er groupe

•• en ~er : aimer, cacher, dîner et laisser
•• en ~er : laver, trouver, donner et parler
•• en ~ier : colorier, confier, copier et crier
•• en ~ayer : balayer, payer, essayer et rayer
•• en ~cer : placer, avancer, forcer et lancer
•• en ~ger : manger, arranger, corriger et diriger
•• en ~eler et en ~eter : acheter, geler, celer et voleter
•• en ~ecer, ~emer, ~eper, ~erer, ~eser, ~ever, ~evrer : achever, crever, peser
et semer
•• en ~ébrer, ~écer, ~écher, ~écrer, ~éder, etc … : aérer, céder, préférer et répéter

Verbes du 2ème groupe

Verbes en ~ir : applaudir, nourrir, finir et réussir

Verbes du 3ème groupe de conjugaison similaire

•• attendre, entendre, rendre et vendre
•• cuire, conduire, traduire et construire

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•• tordre, mordre, perdre et rompre

•• pondre, fondre, tondre et répondre

Verbes divers (à conjuguer à la 2ème personne du singulier et à la

1ère personne du pluriel)
•• appeler, finir, répondre et prévoir
•• habiter, manger, obéir et prendre
•• aimer, choisir, plaire et boire
•• acheter, agir, battre et rendre
•• parler, tomber, bondir et rire

36
 UNITÉ 9
10 LES INTÉRIEURS

Pages 106–115 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Describe the place where you live.

•• Construct the imperfect tense.
•• Use different types of pronouns.

9.1 Place relating to your home

Everyone of us has a place where we live. There are different types of places or
homes. We are going to look at the vocabulary related to this topic.

Places to stay at Pieces of furniture Other

Une maison – a house Une table Une porte – a door
Un appartement – an Une chaise – a chair Une fenêtre – a
appartment/a flat Un placard – a cup- window
Un bâtiment – a building  board Un mur – a wall
Un immeuble – a block of Un lit – a bed Le sol – the floor
flats Un canapé – a sofa Une lampe – a lamp
Une chambre – a room Un four – an oven La vaisselle  – crockery
Un studio – a bachelor’s flat Une cuisinière – a
Un hôtel – a hotel  cooker/stove
Une pièce – a room Un fauteuil – an
 armchair
Rooms in a house or
apartment
Une cuisine – a kitchen
Une salle des bains – a bath-
 room
Un salon – a lounge
Une salle à manger – dining
 room
Une chambre à coucher – a
 bedroom
Un WC – a rest-room

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9.1.1 A description of where you live

J’habite dans une maison. Cette maison a six pièces. Il y a une cuisine, deux chambres à
coucher, un salon, une salle à manger et une salle des bains. Puis, dans la cuisine, il y a des
placards, une cuisinière avec un four, de la vaisselle, une table et quatre chaises. Ensuite, dans
le salon, il y a des fauteuils, une télévision et un poste radio. Dans les chambres, il y a des
placards et des lits. Enfin, dans la salle des bains, il y a une baignoire, une douche et le WC.

For further lessons on the home, check the Language Summary number 14 in BBC
French Experience 1 and pages 39 and 74–76 in BBC French grammar.

9.2 The imperfect tense

a. This tense in known as “l’imparfait”. This tense expresses an event or action
that has already taken place at the time it is reported but this fact or action
could repeat itself.
b. This tense can also be used to describe a scene or the landscape.
c. The “imparfait” is constructed by taking the present tense of the second person
plural (nous) of any verb. Remove the suffix (ons). Then add the suffixes (ais,
ais, ait, ions, iez, aient) to the stem.
Example:
Verb (monter)–nous montons: – je mont + ais
– tu mont + ais
– il/elle mont + ait
– nous mont + ions
– vous mont + iez
– ils/elles mont + aient

Les 1er groupe 2 e groupe 3 e groupe

terminaisons

je/j’ -ais aimais finissais mettais

tu -ais aimais finissais mettais

il/elle/on -ait aimait finissait mettait

nous -ions aimions finissions mettions

vous -iez aimiez finissiez mettiez

ils/elles -aient aimaient finissaient mettaient

NB:  See pages 102–105 in the BBC French grammar book as well as the Language
Summary on pages 98–101 in BBC French Experience 1.

38
 Les intérieurs

9.3 Types of pronouns (Les pronoms)

Sujet COD COI Accentué

(complement (complement
d’objet d’object
direct) indirect)
Je Me Me Moi
Pronoms
Tu Te Te Toi
personnels
Il/elle/on Le Lui/en/y Lui/Elle
Nous Nous Nous Nous
Vous Vous Vous Vous
Ils/ells Leur Leur Eux/Elles

Singulier Pluriel
Féminin Masculin Féminin Masculin
Pronoms
ce; c’; ça ce; c’; ça celles ceux
démonstratifs
cela; ceci; cela; ceci; celles-ci ceux-là
celle celui celles-là
celle-ci celui-ci

Pronoms possessifs
Pronoms
Singulier Pluriel
personnels
Féminin Masculin Féminin Masculin
Je La mienne Le mien Les miennes Les miens
Tu La tienne Le tien Les tiennes Les tiens
Il/elle La sienne Le sien Les siennes Les siens
Nous La nôtre Le nôtre Les nôtres Les nôtres
Vous La vôtre Le vôtre Les vôtres Les vôtres
Ils/elles La leur Le leur Les leurs Les leurs

Pronoms de lieu
En; y

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1

Complete all the activities on pages 26–29 in the BBC French grammar.

EXERCISE 2

Describe the place where you live in one paragraph. Do this in French.

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EXERCISE 3
1. Maryline (jouer) .................... avec son frère pendant que leurs parents re-
gardaient la télévision.
2. Nous (aller) .................... à la mer chaque matin avec le club de plongée.
3. Je (revenir) .................... chaque jour en autobus.
4. Vous (être) .................... au bord des larmes en apprenant la nouvelle.
5. Tu (attendre) .................... cette promotion avec impatience.
6. Le jardin (paraître) .................... plus beau qu’avant.
7. Le téléphone (sonner) .................... toutes les cinq minutes.
8. Mon chien (faire) .................... des trous dans le sable et je riais.
9. Mes parents (s’arrêter) .................... toujours à mi-chemin pour se reposer.
10. Mon professeur de maths m’ (appeler) .................... par mon prénom.

EXERCISE 4
Identify the function of the words in brackets in the sentences below, i.e. pronom com-
plément du nom; pronom démonstratif; COD; COI; pronom personnel accentué;
pronom sujet; pronom possessif.

1. Cette année, je (me) suis abonné à plusieurs spectacles.

2. Mon père pense que je ne suis pas en âge de comprendre (ce) qui se passe.
3. Je n’ai pas hésité une seconde et je (leur) ai loué ma maison.
4. Tous les jours (je) prends le métro.
5. Le moment que je préfère est (celui) où nous chantons tous ensemble à Noël.
6. Nous aimons les livres surtout (ceux) qui racontent des histoires.
7. Les mots difficiles sont regroupés dans un lexique, ce qui (en) facilite
la compréhension.
8. Cette photo (me) servira pour mon exposé.
9. Pouvez-vous me prêter vos crayons, j’ai oublié les (miens)?
10. (Moi), je suis vraiment heureuse depuis que j’ai quitté la ville!

40
 UNITÉ 10
11 LES LOISIRS

Pages 116–125 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Talk about leisure and sports.

•• Express what you like or dislike.
•• Make use of the pronouns en and y.

10.1 Verbs faire, jouer and pratiquer

a. When we talk about what we do for leisure or sports, we make use of these
three verbs. It is therefore important to be able to conjugate them in the cor-
rect person and tense when using them in a sentence.
b. We have already conjugated the verb faire in the present, future and past tense.
The verbs jouer and pratiquer are verbs of the first group. It should be easy to
conjugate them since we have covered this group extensively.

10.2 Les articles contractés: du, de la, de l’, des, au, à la,
aux
These are called “les articles contractés” because they consist of a preposition plus
an article.

Examples: préposition + article = article contracté

de + le = du
Le vélo = Je fais du vélo.
La g ymnastique = Elle fait de la g ymnastique.
Nous jouons du piano.
Ils jouent au foot.

10.3   T here are things that people like doing and things that they do not like. To
express your likes and dislikes, you can make use of verbs and adverbs to express
the degree of your likes or dislikes and the negative form.
a. Verbs
•• Aimer (to like/love)
•• Adorer (to adore)
•• Détester (to dislike)
•• Haïr (to hate)
FRC1501/141


b. Adverbs
•• Bien (well)
•• Beaucoup (a lot)
•• Moins (less)
c. The negative form
•• Je n’aime pas.
•• Il ne déteste pas.

10.4 Le pronom personnel complément y et en

As we know, pronouns replace nouns and help us to avoid repetition. These two
pronouns have specific functions in grammar.

a. y replaces objects, abstract notions and places. For y to replace an object, an

abstract notion or a place, it has to be preceded by a preposition.
Examples:
Il pense à sa voiture. (object)
•  Il y pense.
Nous allons chez le médecin. (place)
•  Nous y allons.
Elles réfléchissent à leur avenir. (abstract notion)
•  Elles y réfléchissent.

NB:  The prepositions in red indicate the object that the action refers to.
For further study on the pronoun y, see page 73 in BBC French grammar.
b. en replaces a noun phrase preceded by the preposition de.
Examples:
Elle parle souvent de son enfance.
•  Elle en parle souvent.
Pierre revient de Durban.
•  Pierre en revient.
c. The position of y and en in the sentence.
These pronouns always come before the conjugated verb in the sentence.
For further study on the pronoun y, see pages 70–72 in BBC French grammar.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Complete the exercises for this unit in the activity book, pages 29–31.

EXERCISE 2
Fill in the correct pronoun in the space provided.

42
 Les loisirs

1. Tu veux aller au super marché? Oui on .................... va!

2. Veux-tu de la sauce? Oui j’ .................... veux bien.
3. Je ne suis jamais allée à Paris mais Laurent .................... habite.
4. Qui t’emmène en cours? C’est mon père qui .................... emmène tous les
matins.
5. Je peux me rendre à mon travail en bus, il .................... a deux qui s’arrêtent
devant l’entreprise.
6. Je voudrais avoir une voiture, si vous saviez comme j’ .................... rêve!
7. As-tu parlé à ton professeur de tes difficultés? Oui, je .................... ai parlé.
8. Ce manteau est à Lucien, il .................... appartient.
9. As-tu déjà réfléchi à ton choix de profession? Oui, j’ .................... pense
depuis longtemps.
10. Demain je vais chez le pédicure. J’ .................... vais tous les mois.

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UNITÉ 11
12 BON APPETIT

Pages 126 to 135 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Make use of the definite and indefinite articles.

•• Put sentences in the negative form.

11.1 Look at Language Summary number 55. For more information, see your BBC
French grammar book, chapitre 21, pages 61 to 64. But for information relating
directly to the Info Langue of this chapitre, see chapitre 10.1, page 35.
La négation avec avoir

Definite articles and negation (le, la, les > pas le, pas la, pas les)
J’ai la photo de Géraldine. > Je n’ai pas la photo de Gérald.
J’ai l’adresse de Sophie. > Je n’’ai pas l’adresse de Marc.
J’ai le numéro de téléphone de Marion. > Je n’ai pas le numéro de téléphone d’Arnaud.
J’ai les clés de Léonard. > Je n’ai pas les clés d’Amélie.

In French the definite article does not change in negative sentences with the verb
avoir!

This is the same as in English:

I have the grammar book you were talking about. > I do not have the gram-
mar book you were talking about.

Indefinite articles and negation (un, une, des > pas de)

J’ai un chien. > Je n’ai pas de chien.
J’ai une télévision. > Je n’ai pas de télévision.
J’ai des enfants. > Je n’ai pas d’enfants.

In French the indefinite articles all change into de in negative sentences with avoir,
and you need not worry about the gender or the number of the noun.

Take special note of this rule, because in English the indefinite article does not
change in negative sentences with avoir:
I have a dog. > I do not have a dog.

44
 Bon appetit

Example:
Dans le contexte de la leçon
Serveuse: Bonjour monsieur, qu’est-ce que vous désirez?
Client: Bonjour, je voudrais une bière pression.
Serveuse: Oui monsieur, qu’est-ce que vous prenez pour manger?
Client: Vous avez des sandwichs au jambon-tomate?
Serveuse: Non, nous n’avons pas de sandwichs.
Client: Il vous reste des quiches?
Serveuse: Non, je suis désolée monsieur, nous n’avons plus de quiches.
Client: Vous n’avez pas de croque-monsieur?
Serveuse: Si, il nous en reste, vous en voulez?
Client: Oui, s’il vous plaît.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Complete the activities on pages 38–41 in the Activity book.

EXERCISE 2
After completing all the exercises in this unit, read the text below about French
eating habits. Are there any similarities or differences with regard to your culture?
Can you speak about the eating habits of your culture in French?

Culture française
Manger est très important pour les Français. La nourriture fait vraiment partie
de la culture et de la tradition française, c’est pourquoi la plupart des familles
aiment respecter des horaires réguliers pour manger.
Le matin, les Français mangent un petit déjeuner rapide: du café ou du chocolat
au lait avec des tartines ou bien des céréales et un yaourt.
A midi, le repas est important et peut sembler copieux pour les étrangers. Pour
ceux qui travaillent, des cantines scolaires ou des réfectoires au travail offrent
des repas composés d’une entrée, d’un plat de résistance chaud, de fromage et
d’un dessert pour une somme très raisonnable. C’est le déjeuner.
Au retour de l’école, vers 16h30, les enfants prennent ce qui s’appelle «le goûter».
Il est généralement composé de tartines ou de biscuits.
Le soir, le dîner se prend aux environs de 19h et réunit toute la famille. Les
Français aiment se retrouver à table en famille le soir pour discuter de leur
journée.
Les Français n›aiment pas avoir recours aux «fast food», et ils «grignotent»
(nibble, have snacks) rarement comparés aux Anglo-saxons.

Check the outcomes for this particular study unit on page 133 in the textbook – have
you reached them all? Do you perhaps need to revise before doing the exercises in
the activity book?

FRC1501/145


The last few study units have been about leisure activities, food, holidays, etc., but
the next one, Unité 12, will be about things which are not as pleasant – yet you may
find these to be very useful when in a French-speaking country. We are going to
talk about health next.

46
 UNITÉ 12
13 LA FORME ET LA SANTÉ

Pages 136 to 145 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Say where it hurts.

•• Say how you feel.
•• List the body parts.
•• Make use of the imperative form.

This study unit is about health. Within this context you will learn about the im-
perative mood, which is a mood used for giving not only orders, but also advice.

The vocabulary concerning this topic will come in handy when reading articles in
the newspaper about social matters, but this is on another level of studies which
you will reach before long. This is the last study unit before Etape 3.

Look at Mot à Mot on page 136 and study the vocabulary.

Then increase your vocabulary by doing the following word search (make sure
you know the gender and meaning of each word to increase the usefulness of
this exercise):

Le corps humain

FRC1501/147


V O O H G M R U G S F V M F K B M Y Q W
M Z A O C U X B E T K T K I O C T Q F W
M O R O E L N L E D U O C U C U I S S E
J G L O K M L E M A L U C V T G N I F G
E W C L A I R T P R F H Z O M D M I E C
T N E I E T P R G K E Q D N S L W J M N
Q D N R N T Z E P I H W C U F B A U Z L
E B O E I N W E Y L O F Q D Q Q V S S Z
S G V D E I P G N F P D C H E V I L L E
T G A T A K G B X G K O V E D P I E A Y
O T U S V V L D V D V Z L L E Y B X L E
M U J O I R V X E J M B W U N E E F L U
A W L R X V G S E R V È L A T B J U A O
C Q D U U L I C J R A H W P S M K Q X C
H L B P V U P P H T Ê T E É E A X R I M
S M P R I G M Y G E O Q L C G J F C D H
S U U H D T N Q B N V D V S R Z Q M Z I
W T R F S D O M R H Q E B E Y X W F U W
U M C O N F D V A W X B U Y S Y N C B X
D H D P E T C L S A G X G X C T O J Z W

BOUCHE, BRAS, CHEVEUX, JAMBE, CHEVILLE, LÈVRES, CŒUR,

MAIN, COU, MOLLET, COUDE, NEZ, CUISSE, OREILLES, DENTS,
PIED, DOIGT, TÊTE, DOS, VENTRE, ÉPAULE, ESTOMAC, VISAGE,
GORGE, YEUX

•• Look at the list of words you need to find in the grid, and then look up the words
in a dictionary in order to find the gender of the words.
•• Now, with each word you found, point to the part of your body that is described
by the word. (Do not forget to use the correct article.)

You may think that this is a childish activity, but remember you may have a more
visual memory and that associating the words with the visual aspect will help you
memorise the vocabulary easier.

The word search will also help you pay attention to the spelling.

12.1   The French for “pain” or “ache” is mal. If you wish to say that you are in pain,
you can say: J’ai mal (literally: “I have pain”).
To say exactly where the pain is, add à followed by the particular part of the body
and its article, but remember that one says: J’ai mal au pied.

Examples:
the arm > le bras (masculine) > J’ai mal au bras.
the throat > la gorge (feminine) > J’ai mal à la gorge.
the eyes > les yeux (plural) > J’ai mal aux yeux.
the ear > l’oreille > J’ai mal à l’oreille.
(word beginning with a vowel)

48
 L a forme et la santé

Look at Language Summary number 45 at the back of BBC French Experience,

which is about il faut and il ne faut pas. This expression is generally used to express
obligation, i.e. if you would like to express the need to do something. So, for example,
to express the need to bake a cake, you would say: Il faut faire un gâteau.

Language Summary number 46 contains a very brief summary of the imperative

mood. See your BBC French Grammar book (ch 41) for more details.

NB:  41.2.1 The imperative of reflexive verbs:

Se dépêcher (to hurry) > Dépêche-toi! Dépêchez-vous!

12.2   This is how one forms the imperative mood:

Take the infinitive of the verb – for example, travailler.

Conjugate the verb in the present tense:

•• Je travaille
•• Tu travailles
•• Il/elle/on travaille
•• Nous travaillons
•• Vous travaillez
•• Ils/elles travaillent
Only tu, nous and vous (it does not exist with je or il ) can take the imperative form:
•• Tu travailles
•• Nous travaillons
•• Vous travaillez
Now drop the pronoun:
•• Travaille! (drop the -s with -er verbs only)
•• Travaillons!
•• Travaillez!
Remember that some verbs do not end in -er, so revise your conjugations. Other
verbs are also irregular and you will need to learn their new stems. Some of these
irregular and frequently used verbs are être and avoir.

Être > sois (tu) > soyez (nous) > soyez (vous)
Avoir > aie (tu) > ayons (nous) > ayez (vous)

12.3 Le comparatif
Look at Language Summary number 27 and the section on the “superlatif” below,
and then complete the exercises on the worksheet entitled “Manger sainement”
(see below). The worksheet has an evolutive approach which will help you use the
“comparative” and then the “superlative”.

12.4 Le superlatif
Now look at Language Summary number 29, and for more information see chapter
16 in your BBC French grammar book. To form the superlative you simply use le,

FRC1501/149


la or les followed by plus or moins. Of course you need to pay attention to the gender
and number of the noun defined:
•• For a masculine singular noun, use le: C’est le médecin le plus compétent de la ville.
•• For a feminine singular noun, use la: C’est l’histoire la plus intéressante du livre.
•• For a feminine or masculine plural noun, use les: Ce sont les amis les plus sympas du
monde.

Watch out for any irregularities!

SELF-ASSESSMENT
Now complete the exercise that follows.

EXERCISE 1

Un ami vous demande des conseils car il ne va pas bien du tout. Il est fatigué et
déprimé, tout est négatif. Mettez à l’impératif les expressions suivantes.
A friend of yours asks you for advice because he is not feeling well at all. He is tired and depressed,
and sees everything in a negative light. Change the sentences that follow into the imperative mode.

Example: Prendre des vitamines: Prends des vitamines!

1. Partir en vacances:
2. Profiter de la vie:
3. Faire du sport:
4. Aller chez le psychiatre:
5. Avoir confiance en l’avenir:
6. Se reposer:
7. Avoir du courage:
8. Arrêter de boire de l’alcool:
9. Aller en discothèque:
10. Aller à la montagne:

EXERCISE 2

Maintenant c’est votre patron qui ne va pas bien. Donnez-lui les mêmes conseils.
(Ici, vous utiliserez la forme formelle)
Now it is your boss who is not feeling well. Give him or her the same advice. (Use the formal way
of addressing someone.)

EXERCISE 3

MANGER SAINEMENT

I.  Trouve les bons conseils pour Julien, Adrien et Stéphane:

(Give some good advice to Julien, Adrien and Stéphane.)

1. Julien:  Au petit déjeuner, je mange des biscuits et je bois du café. A midi, je

mange des frites et des pâtes. Au dîner, je bois du coca et je mange une pizza.

50
 L a forme et la santé

2. Adrien:  Au petit déjeuner, je mange des céréales et je bois du thé. A midi

je mange des pâtes avec du jambon, et au dîner, je mange des pâtes avec
du fromage et des légumes.
3. Stéphane:  Aupetit déjeuner, je mange des céréales et je bois un coca. A midi
je mange de la salade et du jambon et je bois un coca. Au dîner, je mange
du fromage et un yaourt.

A. Il boit trop de coca. Il faut boire plus d’eau! ..................................................................

B. Il mange trop de frites et de pâtes. Il faut manger plus de légumes verts! .........................
C. Il mange trop de pâtes. Il faut manger plus de produits laitiers! ......................................

EXERCISE 4
Remplis les trous avec les mots donnés ci-dessous puis traduis la phrase en anglais:

(Fill in the gaps with the words provided below, then translate the sentence into
English.)

Example: 
Je mange trop de chocolat, il faut manger plus de fruits. Je ne mange
pas assez de fruits.
I eat too much chocolate, you/one must eat more fruits. I do not eat enough fruits.

1. Je mange trop de frites, il faut manger plus de ................................................

.................................................................................................................................
2. Je ......................... trop de ........................ il ........................ manger plus de fruits.
.................................................................................................................................
3. ......................... bois trop de café, ......................... faut ......................... plus d’eau.
.................................................................................................................................
4. Je bois trop ......................... ......................... , il faut boire plus ......................... lait.
.................................................................................................................................
5. Je mange ........................ de biscuits, il faut manger ........................ de ........................
.................................................................................................................................

il trop légumes de Coca

Sucreries Fruits faut mange
de je plus boire

Now it is time to do a general revision, because you have just reached Unité Etape 3!

EXERCISE 5
Go to pages 35–37 of the Activity book and complete all the activities.

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UNITÉ 13
14 AU TRAVAIL

Pages 150–159 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Understand the two future tenses.

•• Conjugate verbs in the immediate future tense.
•• Conjugate verbs in the future tense.

We dealt with the topic of work in Unité 3, so quickly revise it. Unité 13 builds
on what you learnt before; and do not forget to use the vocabulary or grammar
you learnt in Unité 3.
Explaining what your job entails; making comparisons.
This chapter contains mostly revision, but also new vocabulary. You know how
to go about it!

13.1 The immediate future tense

One can use the present tense to express the future, but as is shown in the ques-
tion, Qu’est-ce que tu fais demain?, demain is a time indicator which tells you about
the period in time of the question.

Read chapter 35.3.1 on page 112 in your BBC French grammar book.

In French there are three future tenses which may be used more or less interchange-
ably in the spoken language. The future tense dealt with in this second paragraph
of your textbook is called “le futur proche” (the near future), emphasising the idea that
the action will occur soon.
Example: Demain je vais aller à la bibliothèque.
Le week-end prochain nous allons commencer nos révisions pour les examens.

Read chapter 35.3.2 on page 112 in your BBC French grammar book.

How to form the futur proche:

Pronoun The verb “aller” (to A verb describing

go), in the present what you will do, in
tense the infinitive form
Je vais aller, parler
Tu vas finir

52
 Au travail

il/elle/on va camper, travailler

Nous allons acheter, lire
vous allez dormir
ils/elles vont regarder, etc.

In order to use the futur proche correctly, you need to know the verb “to go”
(aller) in the present tense and after that you may use any verb in the dictionary.
It is quite an easy tense, with no irregularities (wonderful, is it not?).

Examples:

•• L’année prochaine je vais aller au Canada.

•• Dans trois mois, tu vas passer tes examens. (Note: “passer” = “sit”, and not “pass”)
•• La semaine prochaine, elle va travailler à Paris pour un stage.
•• Le mois prochain, nous allons camper en Auvergne.

13.2 The future tense

How to form the futur simple

Read the third paragraph of Info Langue, but skip the fourth one – rather con-
sult your BBC French grammar book and study chapters 35.1 and 35.2 on pages
110 to 112.

In summary:
Because there is always an “r” in the infinitive, the “r” sound is characteristic of
the futur simple. The converse, however, is not true: an “r” sound in the conjuga-
tion of a verb does not necessarily signify that it is the futur simple.

For regular verbs, find a stem which ends in r:

For -er verbs you will leave the verb in the infinitive (manger > manger)
For -re verbs you will drop the “e” ( prendre > prendr)
For -ir verbs you will also use the infinitive ( finir > finir)

Je -ai Vous -ez

Tu Verb -as Ils/elles -ont
ending in
Il/elle/on -r -a
Nous -ons

You may remember that this topic was discussed in Unité 8 on page 94 in your
textbook. So this is mostly a matter of revision: make sure that you reinforce and
expand your previous knowledge of this matter.
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SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Voici une liste d’activités prévues pour des touristes qui visitent l’Europe. Ils sont
à Paris pour deux jours et doivent voir le plus de choses possible. C’est le premier
matin à Paris et le guide touristique explique aux visiteurs ce qu’ils vont faire. La
bonne nouvelle est que VOUS êtes le guide touristique!

Here is a list of activities planned for tourists visiting Europe. They are in Paris for
two days and must see as many things as possible. It is their first morning in Paris,
and the tour guide is explaining to the visitors what they are going to do. The good
news is that YOU are the tour guide!

Example:
Nous allons visiter la tour Eiffel, nous allons monter au troisième étage et
nous allons admirer la vue.
If you are confident enough, you may try to change the pronouns (and therefore the
form of the verb!), add as many linking words as possible (d’abord, ensuite, après, etc.),
and also expand the sentences. Remember, you are the tour guide, so try to make it
sound as interesting as you can.
This exercise is of use only if you know the conjugation of aller by heart.

Jeudi 18 juillet

•• Visiter la tour Eiffel (monter au troisième étage et admirer la vue).

•• Marcher sur le Champ de Mars.
•• Prendre le métro.
•• Manger au restaurant «Chez Maurice».
•• Faire des courses dans le Marais/voir la Place des Vosges (visiter la maison de
Victor Hugo).
•• Le soir, visiter le quartier de Montmartre.
•• Manger au restaurant «Le Chat Noir», Place du Tertre.
•• Regarder les peintres sur la place.

Vendredi 19 juillet
•• Petit-déjeuner à 8 heures.
•• Visiter l’Opéra.

EXERCISE 2
Look at the text below treating the same topic as Culturoscope in your textbook and
rewrite it in the “futur simple”.

Do you feel as though you will never be able to do this exercise? Do it in the fol-
lowing order:
•• Read the text.
•• Underline the verbs (we will help you).
•• Identify the infinitives of these verbs.
•• Consult the list on page 111 of your BBC French grammar book to see which
of those underlined verbs have an irregular conjugation in the futur simple.
•• Apply the rules and add the correct ending for the subject concerned.

54
 Au travail

Le Bac est l’examen de fin de scolarité des Français. Deux ans avant l’examen (à l’âge
de 16 ans environ) les écoliers doivent choisir une filière. Il y a le Bac Général ou le
Bac Technique. Le Bac Général est le plus courant et offre trois possibilités. Chaque
filière comporte les matières suivantes : le français, les mathématiques, la philosophie,
deux langues étrangères, la biologie, la physique et la chimie, le sport, l’histoire et la
géographie. Les étudiants peuvent aussi choisir des options spécifiques comme l’art,
le théâtre, le latin, le grec ou le sport.

La filière économie (ES): les écoliers étudient l’économie en plus des autres matières,
mais ont moins d’heures de matières scientifiques et littéraires.

La filière littéraire (L): les écoliers ont plus d’heures de philosophie, de français,
de langues étrangères et d’histoire géographie et ont moins d’heures de matières
scientifiques.

La filière scientifique (S): les écoliers apprennent plus de mathématiques et de sci-

ences et ont moins d’heures de matières littéraires.

Les écoliers travaillent beaucoup, mais à la fin de leurs études scolaires ils ont une
bonne culture générale.

EXERCISE 3
Do all exercises on pages 38–41 in the Activity book.

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UNITÉ 14
15 PLAIRE ET SEDUIRE

Pages 160–169 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Ask for help in a shop.

•• Express your choice.
•• Buy clothes.
•• Describe a person’s character.
•• Write a thank-you card.

Shopping will obviously form part of your holidays in a French-speaking country

because you may not only wish to bring your friends souvenirs, but also need to
buy people who invited you a present or you might just wish to buy French clothes
or perfume, wine, etc.

14.1 Demonstrative pronouns

Look at Language Summary number 21 and chapter 18.2.1 on pages 51 and 52 in
your BBC French grammar book.

14.2 Direct- and indirect-object pronouns

Pay particular attention to the use of “me” in the sentences – see Language Sum-
mary number 19 on page 235, and read chapter 23 on pages 67 to 69 in your BBC
French grammar book.

Before you begin, you need to know what is meant by direct and indirect objects.
See page 13 in your BBC French grammar book under the heading “objet”.

A direct object is the answer one gets when asking the question “What?”.

Example: He says hello.  >  Il dit bonjour.

What does he say? Hello – that is the direct object.

Qu’est-ce qu’il dit ? Bonjour – l’objet direct.
An indirect object is the answer one gets when asking, for instance, the question, “To
whom?”, “To what?”, “With what?”, etc. It is a question containing a preposition:

Example: He talks to his friend. > Il parle à son ami.

56
 Plaire et seduire

To whom does he talk? To his friend – indirect object.

A qui parle-t-il? A son ami – l’objet indirect.

Once you know this, you can identify direct- or indirect-object pronouns as words
used instead of a direct or indirect object, bearing in mind that a pronoun replaces
a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence.

As far as direct and indirect object pronouns are concerned, you need to know the
following:

(i) In French these pronouns are placed before the verb in the sentence, whereas
in English they are placed after the verb.
Examples:
I say it. > Je le dis. (direct object pronoun)
I talk to him. > Je lui parle. (indirect object pronoun)

(ii) What is an indirect-object pronoun in English may be a direct-object pronoun

in French, and vice versa. You therefore need to start learning verbs together
with the preposition in order to know whether it is a direct- or an indirect-
object complement.
Examples:
a. To speak to someone  >  parler à quelqu’un (in this case, in both languages
the verb is followed by an indirect object complement).
Je parle à Marie > I speak to Marie.
Je lui parle > I speak to her.
b. To phone someone > téléphoner à quelqu’un (In English, the verb is fol-
lowed by a direct object complement, whereas in French it is followed
by an indirect object complement.)
Je téléphone à Gérard pour inviter Gérard à mon anniversaire. > I am
phoning Gérard to invite Gérard to my birthday party.
Je lui téléphone pour l’inviter à mon anniversaire. > I am phoning him to invite
him to my birthday party.

•• Les pronoms objet direct sont: le/la/les/l’

•• Les pronoms objet indirect sont: lui/leur (notice how there is no difference in
gender for indirect pronouns)
•• Les autres pronoms: y/en

L’ordre des pronoms dans une phrase (the order of pronouns)

You might want to use more than one pronoun in a sentence. There is a specific
order in a sentence that pronouns need to follow.

In the sentence
Michelle donne les clefs à Pierre.

we observe two different objects.

(i) the direct object: les clefs
(ii) and the indirect object: à Pierre

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The correct way to use the pronouns in this sentence will render the following
reformulation:
Michelle les lui donne.

The general order for pronouns is as follows:

Personal pronouns – Direct object pronouns – Indirect object pronouns –
other pronouns
Me/te/se/nous/vous  – le/la/les/l’  – lui/leur  - y/en

When you use pronouns with combined tenses such as the passé composé (see unité
16) remember to put the pronoun before the auxiliary verb:
J’ai fait mon travail > je l’ai fait.

Also remember that you need to ensure concordance of the past participle of the
passé composé if you use direct-object pronouns only:
J’ai mangé la tarte > Je l’ai mangée (we add the -e because of the feminine noun la tarte)
J’ai fait mes devoirs > Je les ai faits (we add the -s because of the plural noun les devoirs)
J’ai acheté les fleurs > Je les ai achetées (we add the -es because of the feminine plural
noun les tartes)

Remember this only happens with direct object pronouns. With indirect object
pronouns there is no change:
J’ai parlé à John > Je lui ai parlé
J’ai parlé à Marie > Je lui ai parlé

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Remplissez les trous avec le bon pronom disjoint (disjunctive pronoun).

A : Veux-tu te marier avec .................... , Jacqueline?

B : Voyons, tu exagères, Frédéric.
A : .................... et moi ensemble, ce n’est peut-être pas idéal  …
B : .................... , tu flirtes toujours.
A : Et si je ne flirtais qu’avec  .................... ?
B : Restons bons amis, Frédéric. C’est plus sage.
A : Georges, j’ai peur de ma femme.
B : Peur d’ .................... ? Tu blagues! Elle est si petite!
A : Mais elle est plus forte que .................... .
(à voix basse) Sais-tu qu’elle est haltérophile (weightlifter)?
B : (Regard d’étonnement)
A : Regarde mon bras. Tu ne vois pas les bleus? Quand elle se met en colère contre .................... ,
elle me bat (battre – to beat).

EXERCISE 2
Remplacez les mots soulignés par le pronom d’objet direct ou indirect qui convient.

In the sentences below, replace the underlined words with the correct direct- or
indirect- object pronoun:

58
 Plaire et seduire

Example: Je regarde souvent la télévision souvent. Je la regarde souvent.

(The underlined words form a direct-object complement because the verb is not fol-
lowed by à. Also, it is a feminine singular noun, so it is replaced by la. The la needs
to be placed in front of the verb.)

Take note of the gender and number of the nouns you need to replace! A vous de jouer!

1. Je ne comprends pas cet exercice.

2. Je n’ai jamais lu les romans d’Emile Zola.
3. J’ai demandé à mon professeur de m’expliquer la leçon.
4. J’ai donné rendez-vous à Stéphanie à midi, devant la gare.
5. Il n›a pas regardé les informations ce matin.
6. Je n’ai pas encore écrit à mes parents.
7. Vous parlez à vos enfants.
8. Nous voyons la mer!
9. Nous avons acheté le gâteau.
10. Ils ont mon livre.

EXERCISE 3
Complete the exercises on pages 42–45 in the Activity book.

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UNITÉ 15
16 PAR TOUS LES TEMPS

Pages 170 to 177 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Talk about the weather.

•• Understand weather reports.
•• Talk about the sports you play or might have played in the past.
•• Understand winter sport brochures and talk about sporting equipment.

15.1 The weather

If you are talking about what the weather is like now, you need to use the present
tense:
Il fait chaud, il y a de l’orage, c’est un temps ensoleillé. Il fait 26° (degrés).

If you are talking about the weather in general, during a particular season or in a
particular country, you also need to use the present tense:
En Bretagne, en automne, il pleut et il y a du vent. Il fait souvent gris, mais il ne fait pas
trop froid, la température est d’environ 13°.

If you are talking about the weather during your recent holidays, you will use the
imperfect tense:
Je suis allé(e) en vacances dans le sud de la France l’été dernier, il faisait très chaud, il y
avait souvent des orages dans la soirée et il pleuvait pendant la nuit. La température était
d’environ 28° pendant la journée.

If you are talking about a weather forecast, you need to use the future tense:
Demain, dans le nord-est de la France, il fera froid, il y aura du brouillard le matin et il
neigera en fin d’après-midi. La température à Reims sera de 1° dans la journée.

15.2   Before looking at the Language Summary or any grammar book, try to see
how a sentence is constructed:
  
Si + verb in the .................... tense, verb in the .................... tense (or ....................
tense).

In order to write a correct sentence expressing a hypothesis in the future, you will
need the following:

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 Par tous les temps

Si  + verb in the present tense, verb in the future tense (or verb in the
present tense).
Example: Si j’ai des vacances cet été, j’irai à Marseille.
The part of the sentence introduced by si is never expressed in the future tense.

If the sentence expresses a general idea or advice, the second part of the sentence
will be either in the present tense or in the imperative.

Example: Si on n’étudie pas, on trouve les cours difficiles.

Si tu vas au cinéma, ne rentre pas trop tard.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Conjuguez les verbes entre parenthèses au temps correct.

In the sentences below, write down the right form of the verb in brackets in the
right tense (remember that many verbs in the future tense are irregular, so check
the tables of verbs on pp 243–244):

1. Si j’ai le temps, je (manger) au restaurant.

2. Si tu es là demain soir, nous (aller) au cinéma.
3. S’il pleut ce week-end, ils (faire) des crêpes.
4. S’il (neiger), nous (pouvoir) faire du ski.
5. Si tu (vouloir), nous (pouvoir) aller au concert dimanche prochain.

EXERCISE 2
Que ferez-vous si … . Imaginez.
Example: aller en vacances en France (Paris/le sud de la France/la Corse)
S i je vais en vacances en France, j’irai à Paris, je visiterai le sud de la
France et j’irai en Corse.

1. aller au bord de la mer (faire du bateau/nager/pêcher)

2. faire du shopping (acheter un pantalon/des magazines/prendre un café à
une terrasse)
3. partir en voyage (Canada/Australie/Angleterre)
4. avoir le temps (lire un livre/regarder la télé/faire du sport)
5. pleuvoir (rester à la maison/aller chez ami/louer une vidéo)

EXERCISE 3
Complete the activities on pages 46–48 in the Activity book.

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UNITÉ 16
17 VOYAGES

Pages 178–185 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Talk about your past holidays.

•• Talk about your future plans.

16.1 The past perfect tense

In your book, you are referred to Language Summary number 48, but you also need
to look at Language Summary number 47. We have already dealt with the passé composé.
It will be a good idea at this stage to go through your notes in Unité 5 to revise this.

• Révisions du passé composé

Remember that for the passé composé you need the following three things:

•• a subject
•• an auxiliary verb: the form of avoir or être that agrees with the subject
•• the past participle of the particular verb
1  2   3
Je suis arrivé(e) en France.
J’ ai pris l’avion.

• Être ou avoir?
Comment former le passé composé?

Remember that except for a few select verbs and all reflexive verbs, all French verbs
use avoir as an auxiliary verb.

An easy way to remember which verbs use être is to remember the mnemonic DR
& MRS P VAN DER TRAMP.

These verbs are thus:

D(escendre) R(ester) M(onter) R(evenir) S(ortir) P(asser) V(enir) A(ller) N(aître) D(evenir)
E(ntrer) R(etourner) T(omber) R(entrer) A(rriver) M(ourir) P(artir)

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 Voyages

Refer to the previous study units, your verb lists and dictionaries to learn the past
participles of verbs. You will notice that certain verbs are regular and forming their
past participles is quite easy, i.e. the past participle of -er verbs are normally formed
by taking away the -er and adding -é.

At this stage go back to unit 14 and revise the usage of the passé composé with direct
object pronouns.

16.2 The future tense

Remember that there are two types of future tense in French, both interchangeable,
which means that you can use either the one or the other. You need to know that the
j’irai form has a higher language register than je vais aller (they both mean “I shall go”).

Note that the first part of the sentence is in the present tense, and that the second
parts are in the infinitive. Look at Language Summary number 43 and chapter 39
on pages 118 and 119 in your BBC French grammar book.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
Below, change the verbs given in the infinitive into the perfect tense. Proceed as in
the example.

Beware though! If you use être and are a woman you may need to add an “e” to the
past participle!

Bonjour à tous,
Mes vacances étaient géniales! Je .................... (partir) en France. Je ....................
(prendre) l’avion de Johannesburg et je .................... (arriver) à Paris le matin du
14 juillet. C’était impressionnant de voir les défilés sur les Champs Elysées et
ensuite les feux d’artifice. Mais j’étais fatigué(e), alors je .................... (se coucher)
à vingt-deux heures. Paris est une belle ville et je .................... (visiter) beaucoup
de musées magnifiques. Je .................... (préférer) le musée du Louvre, c’était
fascinant! Même si Paris est une belle ville, je .................... (devoir) poursuivre
mon voyage et je .................... (aller) dans le sud de la France. Il faisait très chaud
et il y avait des orages tous les soirs. Je .................... (prendre) le train pour aller à
Nice et je .................... (rencontrer) mon cousin à la gare. Nous .................... (man-
ger) dans un bon restaurant sur le port et nous  .................... (se promener) dans
les rues de la ville. Je .................... (acheter) une belle chemise bleue pour l’été.
Je .................... (adorer) Nice et mon cousin et mon oncle et ma tante ....................
(être) heureux de me revoir. Je .................... (rentrer) début août, et à Prétoria
il faisait très froid!
Bisous à tous, à très bientôt au Cap!

Exercice 2

Complete the exercises on pages 49–51 in the Activity book.

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UNITÉ 17
18 LES LANGUES ET LE TRAVAIL

Pages 190 to 197 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Talk in more depth about work and work-related topics.

•• Talk about short work experiences (summer jobs and internships).

This study unit is an extension of the topics of work and languages. You will notice
no new grammar is introduced as from this Unité. It comprises topics all related to
work and requires you to do some revision. Therefore please revise Unités 1 and 13
before continuing.

After having done the required revision, start at the beginning of this Unité and
work through it chronologically by doing all the activities.

Please be diligent in your work as you do the exercises in this Unité as they will help
you to build vocabulary and feel more at ease with the language.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
For your revision, complete all the exercises on pages 52–54 in the Activity book.

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 UNITÉ 18
19 VACANCES

Pages 198 to 206 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Talk in more depth about holidays, especially in the countryside and at the
coast.
•• Talk about different types of holiday accommodation.

In order to make the most of this study unit, revise the following study units:
•• Unité 4, on the topic of town and countryside
•• Unité 8, on the topic of hotel and campsite bookings
•• Unité 9, on the topic of accommodation, and likes and dislikes
•• Unité 10, on the topic of hobbies and leisure activities
Study the vocabulary and the grammar, and if you feel that it has been a while since
you studied Unité 15, revise that study unit as well – not only for the tenses, but
also for the vocabulary.

After having done the required revision, start at the beginning of this Unité and
work through it chronologically by doing all the activities.

Please be diligent in your work as you complete the exercises in this Unité. They will
help you to build vocabulary and to feel more at ease with the language.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
For revision, complete all the exercises on pages 55–57 in the Activity book.

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UNITÉ 19
20 CULTURE: SEJOUR A PARIS

Pages 206 to 213 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Identify cultural aspects which are particular to Paris.

•• Broaden your general knowledge on language usage and cultural matters.

Pages 206 à 213

The following topics will be dealt with in Unité 19:
•• le logement provisoire
•• au restaurant
•• les visites culturelles
•• les courses
Therefore before starting this Unité, revise the following study units:
•• Unité 3: les horaires
•• Unité 5: les courses
•• Unité 11: au restaurant
•• Unité 14: le shopping
After having done your revision, start at the beginning of this Unité and work through
it chronologically by doing all the activities.

Please work through the exercises diligently in this Unité as they will help you to
build vocabulary and to feel more at ease with the language.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1
For your revision, complete all the exercises on pages 58–60 in the Activity book.

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 UNITÉ 20
21 LES FRANCOPHONES

Pages 214 to 221 (BBC French Experience 1)

OUTCOMES OF THIS UNIT

On completion of this study unit, you will be able to do the following:

•• Understand the term francophone.

This is the last study unit of the course and your last chance to practise for the
examination.

Many people consider French an “endangered” language, especially as it used to be

the language used by diplomats to communicate with each other before being re-
placed by English. This is why being a “francophone” conveys a sense of identity, a
kind of pride of keeping the francophone culture alive, even though French-speaking
countries display a vast variety of cultures.

To read more on what it means to be francophone and about l’Organisation Internationale

de la Francophonie you can consult the following webpage: [Link]
org/

Before studying the different chapitres, please revise Unité 1 about introducing yourself
and nationalities, and also Unité 15, particularly with regard to the weather forecast.

SELF-ASSESSMENT

EXERCISE 1

For revision, complete all the exercises on pages 61–65 in the Activity book.

PRÉPARATIONS POUR L’EXAMEN

The last five study units have helped you understand the printed text, and the
questions you asked have helped you revise the work you have done. If you
have been serious about your work and honest with yourself when evaluating
your work, and if you have obtained good marks, you have completed 90% of
your revision for the examination; and it should not take you too long to finish,
so that you will be able to relax a little. Cramming for the examination is not
a good way to prepare for the exams. You will not be able to cope confidently
with the work and your lack of application to your studies will definitely be
noticed if not in this examination, then at the latest in the modules to come.

Now you need to revise and pay attention to the following:

FRC1501/167


Your vocabulary book, and remember to recite the words both in French and
in English; check the spelling.

All the tenses you have learnt: le passé composé, l’imparfait, le présent, le futur
simple and le futur proche, and know how and when to use them.

The prepositions, for example: j’habite en Afrique du Sud; je vais au restaurant.

The grammar rules you have summarised and if you are not sure of them, you
need to revise them in the book or the study guide, and do some of the exercises
again to ensure that you can really apply these rules with confidence.

Do not try to do too much work in one session – rather do several short ses-
sions of one hour at time than one long session.

Take frequent short breaks – go for a walk, exercise, play with your pet, make
yourself some tea and drink enough water throughout the day.

It is better to master most of the grammar rules, tenses and vocabulary than
to have just a superficial knowledge of everything.

Find ways to relax the night before the examination – a good night’s sleep is
probably best. Even if you have not had time to revise a chapitre or two, rather
go to bed. If you are tired on the day of the examination you may get confused
and thus overlook some basic mistakes.

Remember all Unités are equally important and you need to revise all of them!

Do not forget that an e-mail or a visit to your lecturer can help you solve your
problems, so do not hesitate to contact the French Section when you feel con-
fused or need help.

Bonne chance!

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