An employee advised his co-worker that he was going on supper break by saying a French equivalent of “I’m going for supper.” Can you guess how he said it?
The employee used a first-person present tense conjugation of s’en aller (to go), followed by the verb souper (to eat supper, to have supper). In other words, to say to go for supper, he used the expression s’en aller souper.
One way s’en aller conjugates is as je m’en vais, giving us je m’en vais souper — but that’s not what he said. Another way it conjugates is as je m’en vas, where vas rhymes with pas. The conjugation je m’en vas is a colloquial form and contracts in spoken language to j’m’en vas, giving us j’m’en vas souper. This still isn’t quite what the employee said, though.
Here, finally, is what he said:
M’en vas souper.
I’m going for supper.
M’en vas is a reduction of the conjugation je m’en vas, where the pronoun je is no longer present.
Hi, I have been reading through your blog for a few months now and it has been great! I like that you post so often but it also makes it hard to catch up and read through your past 1000 posts! I am wondering if you can help me. I am specifically looking for some ‘Canadian French 101’ classes. Like what I learned in grade school. I want to go over the basics again but I am still confused about what the differences are between European French and Canadian French. If I get a ‘French 101’ booklet or web posting am I missing out on specific Canadian French words, phrases, and usage? Or would any French basics book be fine? Also do you have specific entries on your blog about basic French? It’s starting to come back to me from when I was in Grade 7 and 8! Thank you.
If you want to go over the basics of French, you needn’t worry about the distinctions between the different varieties of the language. Take any French class or use any French book. But what you can start doing straight away in addition to that is supplementing what you learn in class or from your books with authentic resources from Québec — television, radio, newspaper, etc., and contact with francophones, if possible. I suggest lots of audio so that the sounds of the language become familiar to you early on. (Watch television or listen to the radio.) As for catching up on the first 1000 posts, I’ve put together a guide for purchase; it’s a very condensed version of the first 1000 posts:
https://offqc.com/2015/05/20/1000-quebecois-french-1000-examples-of-use-945/
Thank you. I was worried about learning the ‘wrong french’. Your blog is the only place I trust. I feel better now knowing that I can use any resource. I try to listen to as much french as possible. But unfortunately no one speaks french where I am from. I am limited to one french t.v. channel and the odd french radio program on CBC. I do have a growing collection of music though. Are there any podcasts that you would recommend?
In the very early stages of French, you can use any resources. The early stages are when you’ll be learning about basic vocab, how to conjugate verbs, etc., and this is common to all varieties of French. Once you get past the basics though, you’ll want to shift towards Québécois materials — ideally, these will be genuine materials that francophones themselves use: TV, radio, websites, etc. Do your best to start incorporating “real” stuff as early as possible (alongside the learning materials) so that it doesn’t come as a huge shock later on. Have you checked out radio stations online?
Hey Grey, to start learning some quebecois french I recommend watching TV shows online from tou.tv
Good shows to watch are:
-Les Parent
-Les pêcheurs
-L’épicerie
The good news is that you can activate the subtitles and the latest seasons of those shows are FREE. I started watching them and at first i didnt understand anything! But with time you start getting used to it as Felix said.
Keep on doing an amazing job with your blog. Lâche pas!
Thanks, Steven! Those are good suggestions. I always like to recommend Les Parent too. The French used is what you’d hear in regular conversations. As you said, you’ll develop an ear for it if you stick with it long enough. Try listening both with and without the subtitles…
I am André the Jean-Pierre brother. I will like too say that to the others anglophone in QUÉBEC, Canada and any part in this world.
When you learn any langue, it’s a door, a window open on those people who speaking this language. On the way, the manner from how is live. It is very huge, enormous. It’s also a manner of respect and the politeness. It is good for your own culture. We live together, Anglo and Franco. And, why not, to be friends 🙂 Like my friend from the Cree. She live in Nort west territories. Look, “yo hablo también español” et le français aussi 🙂 qui est ma langue maternelle. So, I speak: français español and English. Well, my english is not so bad, mercy to my dictionary anglais/français de Larousse in my IPhone 5s. Thank you very much and to finish, I invit you to do your best and… Bienvenue au Québec 😇
I know this is an old post, but it’s a great little nugget. My father, who grew up in Springfield Mass. only speaking Quebecois, always says “M’en va dehors” when he goes out to sit in his yard. I saw this post when it was first posted, and meant to comment, because for me, it was an aha! moment. He said it again 10 minutes ago, so I’m commenting now with a smile.