CoffeeBreakFrench.com
Lesson 5
Notes
In this edition:
talking about
your family
Voici mon frère et ma sœur
Talking about your family
Programme Notes
Welcome to Coffee Break French, the podcast aimed at independent learners of French. Our regular
podcasts will introduce you to the French language in easy steps. These programme notes will help you
get more out of each episode by explaining how words are written and giving you more information
about each phrase along with some bonus vocabulary where appropriate.
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Language Notes
Coffee Break French: Lesson 5
la sœur
sister
le frère
brother
la mère
mother
le père
father
mon
my
mon frère
my brother
mon père
my father
ma
my
ma sœur
my sister
ma mère
my mother
le mari
husband
mon mari
my husband
la femme
wife
ma femme
my wife
le fils
son
la fille
daughter
Note that the word sœur is
correctly spelled with the
contraction œ as opposed to
“oe”. However, it’s sometimes
difficult to type this, hence “oe”
being used optionally
used for masculine words
used for feminine words
Note that, despite the spelling,
the word femme is pronounced
as “famme”
In this word the “l” is silent, but
the “s” is pronounced! It sounds
something like “feess”
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Language Notes
l’enfant
child
les enfants
children
mes
my
used for plural in both masculine
and feminine
mes enfants
my children
The “s” of mes is normally silent,
but when the word which
follows it begins with a vowel,
the “s” is sounded, almost like a
“z”
voici ...
here is ...
used with masculine, feminine
and plural nouns
je te présente ...
I would like to introduce you to... informal version (te)
je vous présente ...
I would like to introduce you to... formal version (vous) OR plural
version, ie. introducing someone
to a group of people
il s’appelle ...
he is called ...
elle s’appelle ...
she is called ...
ils s’appellent ...
they are called ...
masculine plural*
elles s’appellent ...
they are called ...
feminine plural*
Spotlight
ils s’appellent...
WARNING: you may not like this! In French the word
ils is the masculine plural form, “they”, and elles is the
feminine plural form. However, if you’re talking about
a group of people which includes males and females
then you need to use the ils form. Even if there are
100 females and just one male!
Additional vocabulary
Coffee Break French: Lesson 5
oncle
uncle
tante
aunt
grand-père
grandfather
grand-mère
grandmother
cousin
cousin (m)
cousine
cousin (f)
ami
friend (m)
amie
friend (f)
copain
friend (m)
copine
friend (f)
compagnon
partner (m)
compagne
partner (f)
Note that to say “my friend”
using the word amie you have to
say mon amie, because ma amie
sounds funny to a French
person
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TRY OUT YOUR FRENCH
Coffee Break French listeners should be
aware that we’ve introduced the Radio
Lingua Network Forum where you can
practise your French skills and
communicate with other French learners.
The Forum also features discussion
areas for the other languages covered in
our podcasts. Visit the Radio Lingua site
on www.radiolingua.com and click on
“Discussion Forum” in the menu. Try out
your French, share your languagelearning stories and get to know fellow
learners. À bientôt!
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Coffee Break French: Lesson 5
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