Words to Know

Using Possessive Adjectives to Introduce Your Family Members

Family is at the center of French life. No matter where you go, one of the topics of conversation is about family. People may ask you whether you have brothers and sisters, grandparents, cousins, children, and so on.

Therefore, you’re going to talk about your family, which you can do very easily with these words for your immediate family:

le mari (luh mah-ree) (husband)

la femme (lah fahm) (wife)

le père (luh pehr) (father)

la mère (lah mehr) (mother)

les parents (ley pah-rahN) (parents)

le fils (luh fees) (son)

la fille (lah feey) (daughter)

les enfants (ley-zahN-fahN) (children)

le frère (luh frehr) (brother)

la soeur (lah suhr) (sister)

Of course, many families go beyond immediate family members to include the extended family. When you talk about aunts, uncles, grandparents, and others beyond mom and dad and brother and sister, use these words:

www.ATIBOOK.ir

les grands-parents (ley grahN-pah-rahN) (grandparents)

le grand-père (luh grahN-pehr) (grandfather)

la grand-mère (lah grahN-mehr) (grandmother)

les petits-enfants (ley puh-tee-zahN-fahN) (grandchildren)

le neveu (luh nuh-vuh) (nephew)

la nièce (lah nyehs) (niece)

le cousin/la cousine (luh kooh-zaN/lah kooh-zeen) (cousin)

l’oncle (m) (lohN-kluh) (uncle)

la tante (lah tahNt) (aunt)

When you talk about your family members, you undoubtedly have to use possessive adjectives, like my, our, your, and so on. For example, when you say “My brother lives in Boston, and my grandparents in Vermont,” or “Our house is near the school,” you’re using possessive adjectives.

You use possessive adjectives the same way in French as you do in English. Here’s an important difference, however. In French, because nouns have a gender, the possessive adjectives change to agree with the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun, just as the articles le/la/les (luh/lah/ley) (the) do (refer to Chapter 2 for more on agreement). Because the possessive adjective agrees with the noun and not with the person, there is no difference between the French words for his and her. Table 5-2 lists the possessive adjectives.

In English, you can refer to a whole family by making the last name plural: the Millers or the Whites, for example. In French, however, you can’t add a s to a proper name. So Monsieur et Madame Texier (muh-syuh ey mah-dahm tehksyey) (Mr. and Mrs. Texier) are Les Texier (ley tehk-syey).

www.ATIBOOK.ir

Here are some examples using the masculine, singular noun le frère:

mon/ton/son frère (mohN/tohN/sohN frehr) (my/your/his, her brother)

notre/votre/leur frère (nohh-truh/vohh-truh/luhr frehr) (our/your/ their brother)

These examples use the feminine, singular noun la soeur:

ma/ta/sa soeur (mah/tah/sah suhr) (my/your/his, her sister)

notre/votre/leur soeur (nohh-truh/vohh-truh/luhr suhr) (our/your/ their sister)

Finally, here are some examples using the plural noun les grands-parents:

mes/tes/ses grands-parents (mey/tey/sey grahN-pah-rahN) (my/your/ his, her grandparents)

nos/vos/leurs grands-parents (noh/voh/luhr grahN-pah-rahN) (our/your/ their grandparents)

Although you should remember that you use mon (mohN) for the masculine version of my and ma (mah) for the feminine, there is an exception: When

a feminine singular noun begins with a vowel or a mute h, you use the masculine singular possessive adjective mon, ton, or son. Take the masculine singular word ami (ah-mee) (friend) and the feminine singular amie (ah-mee) (friend), for example. To say my friend, regardless whether that friend is male or female, you use mon for both the masculine and the feminine form — mon ami and mon amie — because the word amie starts with a vowel.

Whenever a word starts with a vowel or a mute h in French, an alarm should go off in your head, alerting you that funny things may be happening. This is one of them. (Check out Chapters 2 and 3 for more on nouns that start with a vowel or mute h.)

www.ATIBOOK.ir

Using the illustration, first identify the rooms (A, B, C, D) and then the items (1, 2, and 3) that are pointed out in each room.

A._____________1) _____________ 2)______________

B._____________1) _____________ 2)______________

C._____________1) _____________ 2)______________ 3)______________

D._____________1) _____________ 2)______________ 3)______________

www.ATIBOOK.ir

Part II

French in Action

www.ATIBOOK.ir

In this part . . .

We present French in the context of daily life. We show you how to ask key questions, keep up in

casual conversations, order in a French restaurant, request assistance and identify items you want while shopping, ask for directions, make plans for nights out, communicate with coworkers, and much, much more. Along the way, you’ll discover some key grammatical constructions that enable you to express yourself, share your likes and dislikes, make comparisons, and talk about the weather, your profession, and your hobbies.

www.ATIBOOK.ir