• Home
  • OffQc
  • About
  • Start
  • Off-quoi?
  • Listen to Québécois French

OffQc | Québécois French Guide

For lovers of French + diehard fans of all things québécois!

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« 6 ways to express surprise like the Québécois (#1149)
3 underused expressions to add to your spoken French (#1151) »

5 random examples of French heard in Montréal (#1150)

29 July 2016 by OffQc

1. AMÈNE DES NAPKINS!

In a fast food restaurant, one friend told another to bring serviettes on his way back to the table. Amène des napkins means bring some napkins.

You’ll frequently hear amener quelque chose in spoken language, so it’s important to learn. Amène une chaise. Bring a chair. Amène un cabaret. Bring a tray.

Napkin is a feminine noun, heard in informal language. It’s pronounced as in English, but with the stress on the second syllable rather than the first. With the plural napkins, the final s isn’t pronounced.

2. VOTRE NOM POUR LA FACTURE?

In some fast food restaurants, you’ll be asked what your name is when you place your order. Your name gets printed out on the receipt; rather than be called by number when your order is ready, you’ll be called by name.

Votre nom pour la facture? literally means (what is) your name for the receipt? Facture is the usual word for receipt in spoken language. Reçu is also possible and immediately understood by all, but it’s not usually the first word used spontaneously in conversation.

A bill is also called a facture, even in a restaurant. On peut-tu avoir la facture? Can we have the bill? Continue to number 3 below to understand what the tu in this question means.

3. C’EST-TU COMME ÇA QUE ÇA MARCHE?

In this question, the tu placed after the verb serves the same function as est-ce que would at the beginning: est-ce que c’est comme ça que ça marche? This tu creates a yes-no question, and it’s used very frequently in spoken language. This question, then, means is that how it works?, does it work like this?, etc.

In number 2, you read on peut-tu avoir la facture? The tu after the verb in this question serves the same purpose of asking a yes-no question.

This tu doesn’t mean you. In a question like tu m’aimes-tu? (do you love me?), only the first tu means you. The second one, placed after the verb, creates the yes-no question.

4. J’AI MES CLÉS À MOI

Person A asked person B whose keys he had on him: those of person A or B. Person B replied that he had his own keys on him: j’ai mes clés à moi.

With à moi, you can insist that something is yours. Mes clés à moi, my keys (and not yours or anybody else’s). Ça, c’est mon livre à moi, pas à toi. That’s my book, not yours.

5. ÇA VOUS TENTE-TU?

The expression ça m’tente (and variations on it) is used frequently in spoken language. Ça m’tente means I want to. The negation is ça m’tente pas. The ça m’ part (from ça me) sounds like the name Sam, where me loses its vowel and the remaining m’ is pronounced as though it were on the end of ça.

Ça vous tente means you want to. Using the informal tu described in number 3, this can be turned into a yes-no question: ça vous tente-tu? Remember, only vous means you here. We can translate ça vous tente-tu? as d’ya guys wanna?, d’yaz wanna?, etc.

___

Learn how words contract in spoken Québécois French (with audio): read Contracted French

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Posted in Entries #1101-1150 | Tagged amener, facture, français québécois, napkin, Québécois French, tenter |

  • Books

    The OffQc bookshop is always open. See all titles here.

    Contracted French Put an end to not understanding spoken French by learning the most important contractions used in speech

    C’est what? Overview of common features of spoken Québécois French; pave the way for further independent study

    1000 Learn or review a large amount of everyday words and expressions used in Québécois French in condensed form

  • Follow OffQc by email. It's free. Enter your email address in the box below.

    Join 1,535 other followers

  • Read a random entry
    OffQc bookshop
    OffQc on Twitter
    OffQc on Pinterest
    • Listen to Québécois French: Almost 100 videos + transcripts
  • Number

    • Entries #1151-1200
    • Entries #1101-1150
    • Entries #1051-1100
    • Entries #1001-1050
    • Entries #951-1000
    • Entries #901-950
    • Entries #851-900
    • Entries #801-850
    • Entries #751-800
    • Entries #701-750
    • Entries #651-700
    • Entries #601-650
    • Entries #551-600
    • Entries #501-550
    • Entries #451-500
    • Entries #401-450
    • Entries #351-400
    • Entries #301-350
    • Entries #251-300
    • Entries #201-250
    • Entries #151-200
    • Entries #101-150
    • Entries #51-100
    • Entries #1-50
  • Month

    • June 2017
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.