Leçon II

Leçon II

 
Voilà, la deuxième partie de notre leçon de français «the second part of our French lesson»

So at this swanky French restaurant you’re in the midst of an intimate rendez-vous tête-à-tête^*, you’ve been swooshed by this gorgeous French person to this out of this world dinner where no expense is spared.

And surely you can’t possibly want to just practice what Lady Marmelade has taught millions of women (oh alright, men too! LOL) around the world. No, «voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir^#» does not mean your partner proposes to order couscous for the first plate.

Your date has gone through his/her French spiel, and you’re to respond:

Q: Comment tu vas?
A: Je vais bien (I’m going well)

Q: Comment ça va?    or    Ca va bien?
A: ça va bien,     ça va,    très bien (It goes well, very well)

You’re not feeling too well, a typical answer may be:
A:

1. je vais un peu mal (I’m not feeling too well)
2. je me sens un peu mal (idem)
3. comme-ci comme-ça (so so, not bad)
:: komsikomsa :: lit. means like this, like that

And after telling how you feel, it’d be good manner to ask your partner,
Et toi?             «how’s yourself?»
Et vous?         - idem

Without a shred of doubt, one needs to know subject pronouns in French. It's not so simple, so have a wide open mind and let the force be with you.

je « I »
tu « You, singular, informal ─ amongst mates, family members, to children »
il « He (person), It (masculine thing) »
elle « She (person, It (feminine thing) »
on « One, We, They »
nous « We »
vous « You, plural or You, singular, formal, respectful »
ils « They (persons or things ─ all masculin or masculine-feminine) »
elles « They (persons or things - all feminine) »

Note:
1. unlike the English subject pronoun, I, which must always be capitalised , the French equivalents are treated as such only at the beginning of a sentence.
2. those highlighted are grouped together, for our conjugation purpose.

Whoaaah - that looks complicated or what. Well, kind of.

So shuddup and let’s hear about moi.

  
être - to be

Je suis	Nous sommes
Tu es	Vous êtes
Il / elle / on est	Ils / elles sont

You're now, naturally, qualified to describe a number of things with être. You must get the above conjugation right as it's essential to say numerous things! 

Let the world know who you really are, what you aspire to be! Allez!

Je suis … «I am a(n)…»
remember, profession in French does not require an article :

fonctionnaire «a civil servant, male and female»
boulanger / boulangère «baker, male and female»
boucher / bouchère «butcher, male and female»
pâtissier / pâtissière «a pastry maker, male and female»
cuisinier / cuisinière «a cook, male and female»
serveur / serveuse «a waiting person»
caissier / caissière «checkout lad / chick – cashier person»
menusier / menuisière «a carpenter, male & female»
étudiant «a student, male»
étudiante «a student, female»
programmeur «programmer, male and female»
dentiste «dentist, male and female»
journaliste «a journalist»
musicien / musicienne «musician, male and female respectively»
electricien / electricienne «electrician, male and female respectively»
mécanicien / mécanicienne «mechanic, male and female respectively»
professeur «a teacher, male and female»

instituteur / institutrice «a primary school teacher, male and female»
enseignant / enseignante «a teacher, male and female»
ingenieur «an engineer, male and female»
agent de police «police officer, male and female»
employé / employée «in general, a worker, male and female respectively»
chanteur/ chanteuse «a singer, male and female respectively»
acteur / actress «actor, actress»
artiste «an artist, male and female»
directeur / directrice «a director, male and female»
chef d'une compagnie «a manager of a company»
banquier / banquière «a banker, male and female»
au chomage «unemployed»

Or you want to make it clear you work for one of those hotshot firms in town,

travailler – to work
Je travaille… «I work …»
─dans une banque «in a bank»
─pour l'Organisation des Nations Unies «for the United Nations»
─pour une société française «for a French company»
─dans une compagnie d’assurance «for an insurance company»

or the mightily versatile :
dans un bureau «work in an office»

And you wish to know what your partner’s job is,

─Qu’est-ce que tu fais dans la vie? (lit. what do you do in life, remember, tu is informal)  ::keske tu fe dañ la vi::
─Qu’est-ce que vous faites dans la vie? (vous is a formal term)
::keske vu fet dañ la vi::
─Quel est ton métier? (tu, informal term) lit. which is your job
─Quel est votre métier? (vous, formal term)
─Quelle est ta profession? (tu, informal term) lit. which is your profession
─Quelle est votre profession? (vous, formal term)

It may seem confusing why we have various formats for one questions, it’s to do with agreeing in genre (gender) of the noun, and the formal/ informal relationship between the interlocutors.

A la prochaine - until next time!
Au revoir

*tête-à-tête, means head to head, intimacy is definitely the name of the game.
#voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir, means would you like to sleep with me tonight. And because it employs «vous» it hints you've just met the person, an acquaintance, a stranger even. Thus, all in all, it's kind of a pick up line you'd hear at a bar, club, discoteque! You've been warned.