Tuesday, 3 February 2015

FRENCH NOTE 30 CONNAÎTRE

FRENCH NOTE 30

Connaître


" Connaître "  also means " to know".  But how to use this verb in French ?

1.You can identify somebody ,something,recognize or having learnt their names as to who they are or what they are .

Je connais cet homme assis sur le banc.

I know that man seated on the bench.

Tu connais le nom de cette fleur ?

You know the name of this flower ?

Non,  je vais demande au jardiner.

No  , I shall ask the gardener.

2. Having learnt how somebody , an animal , a group,behaves , you can anticipate
their reactions / their feelings .

Je connais cet homme. Il se fâche très vite.

I know that man.  He gets angry very quickly .

Les herpétologistes connaissent le comportement de serpents.

Herpetologists  know the behavior of serpents.

3. You have interacted with a person , talked to him/her, visit him /her. You know him /her

personally.

Est- ce que tu sais  Kumar?

Do you know Kumar ?

Non, c'est la première fois que j'entends ce nom.

No this is the first time that I hear this  name.

Mon oncle se vante toujours qu'il connaît  Amitab Bachan bien.

My uncle  boasts always that he knows well Amitab Bachan.



4. You have visited a place. You know many things about that place. You know how to reach there.

Tu connais  Coimbatore ?

You know Coimbatore ?

En fait, j'y suis né.

In fact, I was born there.


5. You know the existence of somebody , something and can tell about it.


Jean connais tous les plombiers dans le voisinage .


John  knows all the plumbers in the neighborhood .

6.  You have learnt some branch of knowledge. You know a technique . You have learnt some language .

Vous connaissez l'anglais ?

You know English ?


7. You know all about the working of a machine or apparatus.

Pierre , vous connaissez bien cette machine. Montrez- moi comment elle marche.

Peter, you know well this machine. Show me how it works .

8. Something about an idea or law / rules which affect us.

Son ambition  ne connaît  aucune limite.

His ambition has no limit.

Cette règle ne connaît aucune exception .

This  rule has no exception.

9. You have experienced joy, success, abundance, poverty , pain etc


Elle avait connu la pauvreté pendant son enfance.

She had experienced poverty during her childhood

Amelie Nothomb a connu un succès énorme comme romancière .

Amelie Nothomb had enormous success as a novelist.

Now are you clear about the use of " connaître "?

10. S'y connaître  en = to be an expert in

Mon frère s'y connais en ordinateurs .

My brother is an expert in computers.

Please note thé following

1. " Connaître  is always followed by a noun .

2. Unlike the case of " savoir " , " connaître " is never followed by a subordinate clause.

There are several idiomatic expressions involving these two verbs which I can deal with later.

For the time being, what I covered is more than sufficient .I am sure you would appreciate the different shades of meaning of these two verbs.

Observe the conversations of French people in internet , films, chat etc and note under what circumstances they use this verb.

Happy learning !

Sayee Jayaraman

16/14/2014
4/02/2015


PS. Sometimes the keyboard types what I did not intend. In other words errors creep in. You are welcome to point out . I shall stand corrected. However , I try my best to avoid errors.




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