2005 - Section III – (a)
(initial version)
C’est mon anniversaire et il y a un boum. Tu viens ?
C’est samedi a huit heures a ma maison.
Il y a des amis l’école.
C’est finit a onze heures.
GRAMMAIRE - VOCABULAIRE - EXERCICES
( mistakes are highlighted )
C’est mon anniversaire et il y a 1 - un boum. 2 - Tu viens ?
3 - C’est 4 - Samedi 5 - a huit heures 6 - a ma maison.
7 - Il y a 8 - des amis l’école.
9 - C’est finit 5 - a onze heures.
CORRECTIONS :
1 - ‘ boum ‘ is FEMININE : une boum
You could also use a more modern word : une fête
‘ il y a une boum ‘ is correct but
‘ J’organise une fête pour mon anniversaire ‘ is even better…
2 - ‘ Tu viens ? ‘ is correct but here are some better versions.
Look !
A - ‘ Tu veux venir ? ‘ [ do you want to come ? ]
To invite someone the verb VOULOIR ( to want ) is easy to use.
You ask them if they want to do something.
VOULOIR + infinitive
je veux nous voulons
tu veux vous voulez
il veut ils veulent
An INFINITIVE is the verb before you conjugate it.
To walk : is an infinitive - I walk : is not an infinitive
Marcher : is an infinitive - Je marche : is not an infinitive
Example :
Tu veux aller à la plage ?
Exercise :
Ask your friend if he/she wants to…
a) - go to the cinema ( aller au cinéma )
b) - come to your house next summer ( venir chez moi l’été prochain )
c) - play football ( jouer au foot )
d) - come to your birthday party ( venir à la fête pour mon anniversaire )
e) - watch TV ( regarder la télé )
f) – come to Ireland at Easter ? ( venir en Irlande à Pâques )
or …
B - ‘ Est-ce que tu veux venir ? ‘ [ do you want to come ? ]
EST-CE QUE… / EST-CE QU’… does not mean much by itself but is a sort of magic formula that turns a statement into a question as soon as you place it at the beginning of the sentence.
Example : Il est malade. [ He is sick ]
Est-ce qu’il est malade ? [ Is he sick ? ]
Exercise : Turn these statements into questions.
- – Elle est française.
- - Il parle allemand.
- – On va au cinéma.
- - Tu veux aller à la piscine.
- – Ils ont beaucoup de devoirs à faire.
3 - ‘ C’est… ‘ is to describe something using the present tense.
( C’est grand / C’est intéressant [ It’s big / It’s interesting ] )
Here is what you should say :
‘ La fête est samedi… ‘
‘ La fête a lieu samedi… ‘ AVOIR LIEU means to take place
4 – The days of the week in French do NOT take capital letters :
lundi - mardi – mercredi – jeudi – vendredi – samedi – dimanche
Be careful not to forget any part of the message.
You need to specify that it is in the evening : ‘ samedi soir ‘
It is very easy to say the moments of the day in French.
You say the days of the week and put the moment of the day just after it.
matin [ morning ]
après-midi [ afternoon ]
soir [ evening ]
Examples :
lundi matin - mardi après midi - mercredi soir
Exercise : translate
Tuesday evening - Sunday morning - Thursday afternoon -
5 - ‘ à huit heures ‘ for the time [ at eight o’clock ]
a : without an accent is the verb AVOIR ( il / elle/ on a)
à : with an accent is a preposition ( à huit heures )
6 – To say [ at home ] - [ in my house ] you say :
‘ à la maison ‘ or ‘ chez moi ‘
You say ‘ chez ‘ in front of a person.
Example :
Chez Marc - Chez le dentiste - Chez toi -
Exercise : translate
- – Sophie’s house
- – Jim’s house
- – the doctor’s
7 – You need to use the PAST TENSE here : ‘ you invited ‘
‘ Jai invité ‘ : PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
8 - ‘ des copains de l’école / des amis de l’école ‘
9 – You are expected to use the FUTURE TENSE here : ‘ will end ‘
‘ la fête finira ‘ - ‘ la fête sera finie ‘ FUTUR SIMPLE
‘ la fête va finir ‘ FUTUR PROCHE
ATTENTION !!! The TENSES are very important.
Look carefully at the notes.
The three tenses are expected :
- PRESENT TENSE
- PAST TENSE
- FUTURE TENSE
Make sure that you spot them and are able to use them in French.
HOMEWORK :
1 - check your mistakes ( make sure that you understand what is wrong )
2 - learn the rules
3 - do the exercises
4 - do the note again ( without the mistakes…)
5 - write the following notes in French
A -
• say that you have gone to the dentist
• invite a friend to go to the cinema on Sunday afternoon.
• tell him/her that the film will start at 2.00 p.m.
B –
• say that there is a party at a Peter’s house on Friday evening
• ask your friend if he wants to come along
• tell your friend that the party will end at 10.00p.m.
Bon courage !
