Friday, October 15, 2010

Appendix B

Hard as it may seem, words have to be classified according to their gender. Here are some of the words that may be encountered:
                Le Quartier:
Masculin
Féminin
Café
Place (plaza)
Square
Banque (bank)
Centre-ville
Église (church)
Théâtre
Mairie (city hall)
Restaurant
Rue (road)
Marché (market)
Pâtisserie (bakery)
Supermarché
Cathédrale
Cinéma
Porte
Musée
Gare (station)
Jardin
Plage (beach)
Cimetiére
Ville
Bois

Basilique

Parc (park)

Monument

Boulevard

Hôtel

Pays (country)



                La reservation
Masculin
Féminin
Prix (price)
Chambre (room)
Petit déjeuner (breakfast)
Salle de bains (bathroom
Déjeuner (lunch)
Carte d’adherent (membership card)
Dîner
Cuisine
Climatiseur (airconditioner)
Personne


                Bonne soirée!

Comment demander d’information à la reception

Have you ever watched the movie “Home Alone”? Imagine the difficulty they encountered while staying in a French apartment/hotel and asking for information using a dictionary. It would be very bothersome if someone would travel to a country without prior knowledge requesting information. This is what we discussed three weeks ago in French class – how to request for information from a receptionist.
                First, we use our favourite greeting: Bonjour (bonsoir, if it is already evening). Then, we add a question for reservation: “je voudrais une chambre pour mardi. C’est possible?” which means “I would like a room for Tuesday. Is it possible/ok?”
                Notice that the word “une” indicates that “chambre” is feminine and is a quantifier for that word, meaning it can be replaced by numbers such as “deux” or “trois.”
                The next few questions may vary in order depending on the responses of both parties:
Vous avez une chambre avec salle de bains?
Does your room have a bathroom?
Quel est le prix?
What is the price?
Vous acceptez les chiens?
Do you accept dogs?
C’est loin de la gare?
Is it far from the station?
Est-ce que le déjeuner est inclus dans le prix?
Is lunch included in the price?


                Notice that the last question used a different form, by adding the words “est-ce que,” which may literally mean “is it what.” Odd as it may seem, it is sometimes added to ask a question. But it may also be omitted, resulting to the form of the example: “Le déjeuner est inclus dans le prix?” Now, this sentence will still have the same meaning. The only difference is the way it is stated verbally – the former having a lower intonation “descendente” or stated as a declarative sentence while the later having a higher intonation “montante” or as an interrogative statement. Furthermore, such questions are always answered by yes or no - “oui o non.”
                Finally, we end it with our well-known appreciative word/s: “Merci, meric beaucoup!”

Hey what’s more fun than being able to use prepositions! Sadly, there is no simpler technique than to familiarize and memorize. But, what you can use is to connect or associate two prepositions like “sous” and “sur” are “under” and “over” respectively. Notice that both started with the letter “s” and nearly sound alike with “sur” ending in “r” which comes over “s” or the ending letter of “sous.” Here are some of what I learned in French class:
Devant
Front
Derrière
Back
Dans
In
Sous
Below
Sur
Above
À cote de
Beside
Près de
Near to
Loin de
Far from
En face de
Facing


                Take for example the location of UP School of Economics. It is beside College of Business Administration and facing Sunken Garden.  Then, we would state it as “À cote d’école Business Administration et en face du jardin Sunken.”
But, wait there’s more! This time it’s about directions:
Tourner à droite
Turn to the right
Tourner à gauche
Turn to the left
Prendre
Take
Montre
Upward
Descendre
Downward
Traverser
Across
Aller toujour
Continue straight

               
As you may have observed, “tourner” would mean “to turn” followed by the direction “droite” and “gauche.” The three words – prendre, montre, and descendre – would indicate an upward or downward bound or either.
                In addition, both prendre and descendre have irregular conjugations:
Je
Prends
Descends
Tu
Prends
Descends
Il/elle
Prend
Descend
Nous
Prenons
Descendons
Vous
Prenez
Descendez
Ils/elles
Prennent
Descendent

               
Et toi, où est votre maison dans la ville et suivez les itineraries sur le plan, s’il vous plait^^