Officers Ben Chartier and Nick Berrof from the TV series 19-2 are investigating. They’re talking to a security guard on the scene. The security guard isn’t cooperative. Officer Chartier asks the security guard what’s behind the locked doors of a storage room. The guard, who thinks the officers are wasting his time, doesn’t want to [...]
Archive for June, 2011
Ça va faire! (#226)
Posted in Entries #201-250, Quebec French on 30 June 2011 | Leave a Comment »
J’ai la chienne (#225)
Posted in Entries #201-250, Quebec French on 29 June 2011 | 2 Comments »
Brigitte is a school teacher in the TV series 30 vies. She’s talking to her colleague Gabrielle in the staffroom. Brigitte confides that she must get tested for cancer. She admits to Gabrielle that she’s scared about it. She says: J’ai tellement la chienne. I’m so scared. [Said by the character Brigitte in 30 vies, [...]
How to express disinterest when speaking informally in French (#224)
Posted in Entries #201-250, Quebec French on 28 June 2011 | 1 Comment »
Say this in French: “I don’t want to.” Je ne veux pas, right? Right. But don’t stop there! Here are two other common ways of showing disinterest that you must learn: Ça ne me tente pas. Je n’ai pas le goût. But you’re smart with informal French, so you know that speakers will often leave [...]
Asking questions in French: informal or not? (#223)
Posted in Entries #201-250, Quebec French on 27 June 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The level of formality that a speaker uses in French can be felt in the way questions are asked. Test your knowledge with this exercise. Part A In each of the pairs of questions below, pick out the informal form. D’où viens-tu? Tu viens d’où? Il est quelle heure? Quelle heure est-il? Quel temps fait-il? [...]
Pogner une heure de trafic (#222)
Posted in Entries #201-250, Quebec French on 23 June 2011 | 7 Comments »
While walking down rue Sainte-Catherine yesterday, I had to put up with a sound that I hate: flip flops. Really, I can’t stand the sound they make! As I walked down the street, a girl flip-flopped past me while talking into her cellphone. Part of what she said was this: Mais, d’après moi là, on [...]
