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Lesson

6

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Discussing your interests

aimer + infinitive

�� © Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved.

Lesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006Level: beginner.

• aimer + infinitif• apprécier [négocier, multiplier, nier, etc]• s’intéresser, se passionner (pour)• au, à la, aux• faire [+ activities]• reflexive “–er” verbs• lundi, le lundi

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e Hello once again, and welcome to Learn French by Podcast. My name is Hugh Nagle and here with me is Amélie Verdier. Welcome back, Amélie!

Bonjour!

Today, Amélie?…Nous allons parler des loisirs.

“Leisure-time activities”. Our likes and dislikes, I suppose you could say. So, what are your interests? Quels sont tes centres d’intérêt?

Eh bien, j’aime la lecture. Je pense qu’il est important de lire. Cela permet d’apprendre de nouvelles choses tout en se détendant.

Now, just in case our listeners didn’t catch all that first time ‘round, let’s hear it again…

Bien sûr! Bon, alors… j’aime la lecture. Je pense qu’il est […]

And one final time…J’aime la lecture. […]

Now, today we’ll be looking at some verbs which are central to talking about what interests us – as well as the things that do quite the opposite! Right at the start, you said…

J’aime la lecture.

Now that verb is easy. It’s a regular –er verb. That is, its infinitive�ends in –er. Let’s just make one point about pronunciation: it sounds like “em”, not “aim”. How will we say “He�likes�surfing…”?

Il aime surfer.

Or, “They�like�hiking in the mountains…”?Ils aiment les randonnées en montagne.

Note that the plural form of the verb sounds exactly the same as the singular.

Now, let’s make one further point. We can put a second verb – in its infinitive form – directly afterwards to form all sorts of combinations. For example: “Jane likes to swim”…

Jane aime nager.

Or, “Jacques likes to tell jokes!”…Jacques aime plaisanter.

Or, “Adrienne and Zoë like to sing”…Adrienne et Zoë aiment chanter.

Remember!

aimer + infinitiveWe can create a wide range of possibilities with aimer, followed by the infinitive of another verb:• j’aime surfer• elle aime lire• nous aimons visiter des monuments• ils aiment aller au cinéma.

aimerj’aimetu aimesil / elle / on aimenous aimonsvous aimezils / elles aiment

apprécier, (négocier, multiplier, nier)

© Plus Publications, 2006. All rights reserved. �

Dia

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eLesson 06: Friday, June 23rd, 2006Level: beginner.


Note that, in each of these examples, the verb following aimer�– nager, plaisanter, chanter – is in the�infinitive.

Tell us more about your leisure-time activities. Parle-nous davantage de tes loisirs…

J’apprécie également la musique, notamment les chanteurs de musique traditionnelle française comme Edith Piaf. J’aime écouter de la musique mais aussi chanter ! Au début, mes parents n’aimaient pas trop parce que je chantais comme une casserole !

Let’s hear that once again…J’apprécie également la musique […]

Now, you said “J’apprécie la musique”. Let’s talk for a moment about that verb apprécier�– a regular –er verb. Other verbs like négocier, multiplier, nier – are conjugated in the same way as apprécier. Let’s hear a few examples. How do we say – about two businessmen, for example – “They are negociating…”?

Ils négocient.

How do we say “He is negociating…”?Il négocie.

How would we say – talking about students doing arithmetic, for example – “They�are�multiplying�numbers…”?

Les élèves multiplient des chiffres.

How would we say – talking about the woman who is doing some calculations – “She�is�multiplying�two numbers…”?

Elle multiplie deux chiffres.

Talking about my parents, how would I say “They�appreciate�– they like – classical music…”?

Ils apprécient la musique classique.

And finally, how would we say that “He denies the facts…”?

Il nie les faits.

So, in summary, it’s important to remember that, in�the�present�tense,�at�least,�the��rd�person�singular�and�plural�forms�are�pronounced�the�same, and the final “e” is silent, once again.

On another point, you said that, initially, you weren’t a very good singer! You had an interesting expression…

Oui. Je chantais comme une casserole!

“… comme une casserole” – that’s funny! Normally of course, “une casserole” refers to a saucepan.

Watch it!

two forms of the Present in English, but only one in French:

remember that, in French, there’s just one version of the Present tense. The following English sentences:

1. “They negociate…” [in general]

and…

2. “They are negociating…” [right now]

are both rendered by:

“Ils négocient…” in French.

So, to reiterate: there’s just one Present tense in French.

Remember!

“Je chantais…”: Here’s an example of the Imperfect tense, used when you want to say that you used to do something, e.g. I used to be a lousy singer!

s’intéresser à, se passionner pour




Dia

logu

e Ok. Let’s move on. You have other interests, too…Oui. Je m’intéresse aussi à la peinture. J’adore visiter des expositions à Paris ou bien des musées comme le Louvre ou le musée d’Orsay ! Je peins dès que j’ai un moment de libre !

Je me passionne également pour le jardinage, mais on ne peut pas dire que j’ai la main verte !

Let’s hear this again…Je m’intéresse aussi à la peinture […]

And one final time…Je m’intéresse aussi à la peinture […]

Now, let’s look at two expressions you used: Je�m’intéresse… and Je�me�passionne�(pour). These verbs are known as reflexive�verbs. In the first person, we can hear the�reflexive�pronoun,�“me”: je�m’intéresse. It was the same in the case of the expression Je�m’appelle…, although we didn’t mention it before.

We really should remember these verbs: let’s take a few examples to imprint them in our brains! How about: “I’m�interested�in�sport”?

Je m’intéresse au sport.

“I’m�interested�in�painting…”?Je m’intéresse à la peinture.

“I’m�very�interested�in�the cinema…”Je m’intéresse beaucoup au cinéma.

“He’s�fascinated�with�computers and gadgets…”?Il se passionne pour l’informatique et les gadgets.

“They’re�fascinated�with�gardening…”Ils se passionnent pour le jardinage.

Ok, Amélie. Let’s talk a little more about your interests. Est-ce que tu t’intéresses au sport ?

Je ne m’intéresse pas trop au sport, mais mon petit ami adore ça ! Je pense que le foot, c’est sa grande passion ! En ce moment, il regarde tous les matchs de la Coupe du Monde de Football à la télé. On dirait un légume devant la télévision ! Moi, je n’aime pas du tout regarder des joueurs courir derrière un ballon, ça ne m’intéresse pas du tout ! C’est à mourir d’ennui !

There are quite a few interesting expressions there. Let’s hear that again…

Je ne m’intéresse pas trop au sport […]

And one final time…Je ne m’intéresse pas trop au sport […]

expression

avoir la main verteliterally, “to have a green hand”, that is “to have green fingers” (i.e. to be a good gardener)

expressions..

“On dirait (un légume)…”That is, “You’d say [he was a] couch potato…”. (In other words, one would describe him as a couch potato.)

“C’est à mourir d’ennui!”That is, “It’s deadly boring!”

au, à la, aux

ballon (m) balle (f)


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Now, you said that you were “… not too interested”. How did you say that, again?…

Je ne m’intéresse pas trop au sport.

So, “I’m not too interested in reading…”, would be?…Je ne m’intéresse pas trop à la lecture.

Now, we have “… au�sport” but “… à�la lecture”. Let’s remember that this happens because of the gender – masculine or feminine – of the activity that we’re discussing. If we’re talking about something masculine – le�cinéma�or le�sport, for example – we’ll have…

Je ne m’intéresse pas au sport.

On the other hand, if it’s a feminine activity – la�lecture, for example – it will be…

Je ne m’intéresse pas à la lecture.

Finally, if we have a�plural�noun�– des�activités�sportives, for example – we’ll have “aux”…

Il s’intéresse aux activités sportives.

Now, we mentioned the World Cup. There’s an interesting point here, too. The round object that the footballers kick around the field is called…

le ballon.

On the other hand, in Wimbledon, the tennis players strike…

la balle.

In French, you have a different word for “ball” in each of these sports.

Moving on a little, you said before that your sister was keen on sport. Tu nous as dit que ta sœur était sportive. Quel genre de sport fait-elle ?

Alors, oui, en effet, ma sœur est très sportive. Elle fait beaucoup de sport. Elle aime beaucoup, enfin, elle adore faire de l’escalade. Elle s’entraîne trois fois par semaine : le lundi, le mercredi et le vendredi Elle apprécie également la marche à pied. Elle fait souvent des randonnées avec maman le dimanche.

Let’s hear that one more time…Ma sœur est très sportive. […]

And one final time…Ma sœur est très sportive. […]

Note!

enfin…Elle aime beaucoup, enfin, elle adore …

= She really likes, in fact, she loves …

Note!

Remember the word order in the case of “reflexive” verbs used in the negative:

Je ne m’intéresse pas…

The reflexive me – or m’, where it meets a vowel – remains “stuck” to the verb (intéresser, in this case). The ne and pas then come before and after this combination.

faire [+ activities]

“reflexive” verbs

lundi, le lundi Remember!

lundi ......................... Mondaymardi ........................ Tuesdaymercredi ................... Wednesdayjeudi ......................... Thursdayvendredi ................... Fridaysamedi...................... Saturdaydimanche ................. Sunday

In French, the days of the week are spelled with a small letter when they appear within a sentence.




Dia

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e There’s a key verb here: it’s the verb faire which is essential when talking about all sorts of activities. “To�take�part�in�a lot of sport…” is…

faire beaucoup de sport.

“To�do�–�or�participate�in – judo…” is:faire du judo.

“To�go climbing”?…faire de l’escalade.

Let’s try a few concrete examples: “I go climbing…”:Je fais de l’escalade.

“We go climbing”:Nous faisons de l’escalade.

“They go hiking on Sundays.”Ils font des randonnées le dimanche.

So, let’s be sure to remember the conjugation of the verb faire. Don’t forget, it’s all there for you in the PDF Guide which accompanies this lesson.

Now, we’ve already met “Elle s’appelle…” and “Elle s’intéresse…”. Once again, we meet another of these reflexive verbs here: “elle�s’entraîne…” – “she trains”. Now, Amélie, remind us of what “I train…” would be:

Je m’entraîne…

“We train…”Nous nous entraînons…

The second “nous” here refers to ourselves. It’s a reflexive verb because we are training “ourselves”, one might say. Once again, you’ll find the full conjugation of this reflexive verb in the PDF Guide.

Now, in French, “… on Sundays” or “… on Mondays” is simple, right? We simply say:

le lundi.

That is, we put the definite article “le” before the day of the week. Without the article, we’ll be talking about a specific Monday, for example:

Lundi, je vais chez Marie.

… which means: “On�Monday, [that is, next Monday] I’m going to Marie’s.”

verbfaire [= to do, to make, to take part in [sport]]

je faistu faisil / elle / on faitnous faisonsvous faitesils / elles font

verbs’entraîner [to train]

je m’entraînetu t’entraînesil / elle / on s’entraînenous nous entraînonsvous vous entraînezils s’entraînent


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Ok, Amélie, once again, there’s a lot of material to digest in this lesson. To our listeners, don’t forget to download our accompanying PDF Guide from our website at www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com.

Finally, if you’re enjoying our podcasts, why not send us some feedback? To do that, you can click the link on the last page of our PDF Guide or visit our website. We look forward to hearing from you.

So, Amélie, until next time!A la prochaine!

If you understood our lesson, then you should be ready for…

1. We like reading.

2. They like going to the cinema.

3. Hélène is not interested in sport.

4. Jack and Jim are fascinated with information technology [l’informatique].

5. They go climbing on Saturdays.

6. He trains twice a week.

7. We train often.

8. She doesn’t train.

See the answers at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htm

Now

it’s

your

turn

…

Any questions?…

Submit them to us at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/question.htm

Any comments?…

Submit them to us at http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/feedback.htm

Vocab extra!• apprendre ............. to learn• aussi ...................... also, too• avec ....................... with• bien, eh ~ ............. well…• bien, ou ~ ............. or indeed• chiffre (m) ............. number• chose (f) ................ thing• comme .................. like, as• courir ..................... to run• début, au ~ ........... at the beginning• derrière ................. behind, after• dès que.................. as soon as• détendre, se ~ ...... to relax• également ............. also, too• ennui (m) .............. boredom• exposition (f) ........ exhibition• fois (f) ................... time, occasion• grand .................... big• jardinage (m) ........ gardening• joueur (m) ............. player• libre, de ~ ............. free• loisir (m)................ hobby• maman.................. mum, mom• marche, ~ à pied ... walking• moment, en ce ~ .. at the moment• mourir ................... to die• musée (m) ............. museum• notamment ........... notably, mainly• nouveau, nouvelle . new [adj.]• parce que .............. because• penser ................... to think• permettre .............. to allow• randonnée (f) ........ hike• semaine (f) ........... week• souvent ................. often

http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htm

http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/question.htm

http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/feedback.htm

http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/answers.htm

http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/question.htm

http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com/FTEW_pages/feedback.htm

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