2.12 Talking about You and Me (Part 3)
Language & Culture Lessons
We've got more to say on the subject of you and me. Let Claire and Paul be your guide as we uncover the words to refer to
“this one” and “that one.”
We'll also sort out the whens and whys when using “my”, “your” and “their” to distinguish what’s what. Principles of
gender and plurals do apply, so stick close and in no time you'll know how to get what you want!
Language Lesson
Talking about You and Me
When we talk about ownership as in “my”, “your” and “their”, or when we mentally point to something as in “this
one” and “that one”, principles of gender and plurals apply, as you saw in the previous Lesson.
In Part 3 of Talking about You and Me, you can review the essential principles of gender and plural nouns and
adjectives so far.
By looking at nouns classified as masculine, feminine and plural, you will be able to recognize patterns. Remember to
pay attention to the written words, as well as to how the spoken words sound, as you listen to the audio tracks.
Once you begin to understand these patterns with nouns, you will find a major door to the French language has been
unlocked.
Gender and Plural Summary
You have already worked out genders when it comes to saying “the”, “some”, “a”, or “several”. Now we can add “this”,
“that”, “my”, “your”, “their” as follows.
Patterns that Apply to Masculine Nouns
Le train
The train
Un train
A train
Mon train
My train
Ton train
Your train (familiar)
Son train
His/Her train
Leur train
Their train
Ce train
This/That train
Celui-là
That one (there - masculine)
Celui-ci
This one (here - masculine)
Ce train, celui-là
This train, that one
Patterns that Apply to Feminine Nouns
La chaise
The chair
Une chaise
A chair
Ma chaise
My chair
Ta chaise
Your chair (familiar)
Sa chaise
His/Her chair
Leur chaise
Their chair
Cette chaise
This/That chair
Celle-là
That one (there - feminine)
Celle-ci
This one (here - feminine)
Ma chaise, celle-là
My chair, that one
Patterns that Apply to Masculine and Feminine Plurals
Les chaises
The chairs
Les arbres
The trees
Mes arbres
My trees
Tes chaises
Your chairs (familiar)
Ses chaises
His/Her chairs
Leurs chaises
Their chairs
Des arbres
Several trees
Ces arbres
These/Those trees
Ceux-là
These/Those ones (there - masculine)
Ceux-ci
These/Those ones (here - masculine)
Ces chaises
These/Those chairs
Celles-là
These/Those ones (there - feminine)
Celles-ci
These/Those ones (here - feminine)
Ces chaises, celles-là
These chairs, these ones
Putting It All Together!
So far we’ve covered lots of information about defining ownership with possessive adjectives, and mentally pointing
to things with demonstrative adjectives. You have studied the gender and plurals of both types of adjectives. Let’s put
it all together inside a sentence that has to have a who or what part, an action part, and a descriptive part. A sentence
can have more than one of any of those elements. Let’s take the sentence, « Ma pomme est verte ».
● The first descriptive bit
● The who or what bit
● The action bit
● The second descriptive bit
my
apple
is
green
ma
pomme
est
verte
For Example
Ma jupe est noire.
My skirt is black.
Son pain est frais.
Her bread is fresh.
Mon train est en retard.
My train is late.
Vos arbres sont grands.
Your trees are tall.
Leurs robes sont sales.
Their dresses are dirty.
Cet arbre est en fleur.
This tree is in bloom.
Notre train est ici.
Our train is here.
Nos enfants sont sages.
Our children are wise.
Sa pomme est sucrée.
His apple is sweet.
Son pain est frais
Her bread is fresh
HOT TIP
Notice that when describing a feminine noun, such as “an apple”, « une pomme », that belongs to a man, the adjective
(in this case « sucrée ») agrees with the noun, « pomme », by being in the feminine form, because « pomme » is a
feminine noun.
Action Replay
When you are talking about ownership, or indicating which object or objects you are referring to, you will see that
there are clear patterns in the adjectives you use. These patterns are formed by differences in the gender, quantity
and position of the things being talked about.
Culture
Autoroutes
The French « autoroutes » (highways) cover more than 11,000 kilometres of France. It's one of the most effective
highway systems in the world, and makes travel within France safer and more efficient for everyone.
Generally autoroutes have a user-pays toll to cover maintenance costs. This toll varies, depending on how long you
stay on the autoroute for, how new the road is, and how difficult it was to build the road. For example, it costs
around 38 euro to drive 315km from Paris to Dijon using autoroutes; while it costs 35 euro to drive just 24 km from
Chamonix to Courmayeur in Italy using the Mont Blanc tunnel.
autoroutes
French driving is interesting to say the least! Particularly on highways, drivers will be pushy if you are not driving in
the 'correct' way. Always stay in the right hand lane unless you're passing someone otherwise the noisy horns of
other drivers will let you know that they're unimpressed with your lane-blocking tactics.
Drive to the speed limit – 130km/h in fine weather, and 110km/h in wet conditions. Recently French police have really
cracked down on speedometers, dishing out large fines to those caught exceeding the speed limit. Don't forget that
even tourists can be forced to pay speeding tickets! Safe driving...
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