French Note 8 - " use of Quoi "

French note 8

Today I want to explain to you the use of " quoi "  as an interrogative pronoun. In other words, how to use " quoi " to ask questions in French.

" quoi " means " what " .

Remember that this is not used for persons . " quoi" will always indicate things or ideas. Never persons.

Except in certain idiomatic expressions, " quoi" is always preceded by a preposition.
The following examples will illustrate the use of " quoi" in asking questions.

Preposition +quoi

1. À quoi sert cet instrument ?

What is the use of this instrument ?

The verb employed here is " servir à "

Note that this verb is an indirect transitive verb as it is followed by the preposition "à".

" servir à " means " to be useful in "

2. De quoi parlez-vous?

What are you speaking about ?

The verb employed here is , " parler de"  which means " to speak about "

Note that this verb is an indirect transitive verb followed by the preposition ,à .

3.De quoi est-ce que vous avez besoin ?

Of what are you in need ?
What do you need ?

The verbal expression employed is , " avoir besoin de " which means " to be in need of ".

4.De quoi est-qu'il rêve ?

What is he dreaming about ?

The verb employed is , " rêver de" which means " to dream about "

5. De quoi souffert -il ?

From what does he suffer ?

The verb employed here is , " souffrir de" which means , " to suffer from "

6.Avec quoi est-ce que vous avez couvert de cet objet ?

With what have you covered this object ?

The verb employed is , " couvrir de " which means ," to cover with "

7. Sur quoi on peut mettre cette carafe ?

On what can we keep this jug ?

Where can we keep this jug ?

The relevant verb is , " mettre sur " which means , " to keep on "

Note that in all the above examples  the preposition which you use depends on the verb.

Suppose you want to ask the following questions,

About whom are you talking  ?

To whom are  you talking ?

Please don't use " quoi". Say in the following manner.

De qui est-ce que vous parlez ?

À qui est-ce que vous parlez ?

Hope you understood . There will be a separate note on the use of " quoi" as a relative pronoun , along with a preposition .

Happy learning !

Bonne journée !

Sayee Jayaraman

French Note 7 - use of " ce dont "

French Note 7

Now I am explaining the use of " ce dont ".

In English , we use phrases like , " about which " , " of which " etc.

Observe the following examples.( these sentences have been written differently at the end of this note to please  the English years )

1.  That of which I am in need , is here.

2.  No one can give me that of which I am in need.

3. That which my son is dreaming of, that is becoming a pilot.

4. I don't know anything about that of which she was suffering for long.

5. That which I make use of for learning French, that is my Ipad.

6. He is always punctual, about which I am happy.

7. Could you tell me that about which the professor spoke yesterday ?

8. That about which we can be proud of, what is it ?


Now using , " ce dont " , I am giving the French version of the above sentences.


1. Voici ce dont j'ai besoin.

2. Personne ne peut me donner ce dont j'ai besoin.

3. Ce dont mon fis rêve , c'est de devenir un pilote .

4. Je ne sais rien ce dont elle souffrait longtemps .

5. Ce dont je me sert pour apprendre le français , c'est mon Ipad.

6. Il est toujours ponctuel, ce dont je suis content.

7. Pourriez-vous me dire ce dont le prof a parlé hier ?

8. Ce dont on peut être fier , c'est quoi ?


Please note that " ce dont" is actually the complement of the verbs followed by " de " .

Kindly note that the following verbal expressions are involved

1. Avoir besoin de qqch - to be in need of something

2. Rêver de qqch - to dream of something

3. Souffrir de qqch - to suffer from something

4.se servir de qqch - to make use of something



5. Être content de qqch  - to be happy about something

6. Parler de qqch - to speak about something

7. Être fier de qqch - to be proud of something

I hope you understood the use of " ce dont ". Please try to use these structures.
Practice makes you perfect .

Happy learning !

Bonne nuit !

Sayee Jayaraman

7/1/2015

Important note

The English sentences have been constructed mainly to explain , " ce dont" . They may not sound well to your ears.  Don't think I have written bad English. I translated literally from French to English to make you understand. The English sentences can be rephrased to please the English ears.
1. What I need is here.
Here I find what I want
2.None can give me what I need.
3. My son's dream is to become a pilot.
4. No idea of what she was suffering from for so long.
5. I use my ipad for learning French .
6. I like his punctuality.
7. Tell me on what topic the professor spoke yesterday .
8.  What is that we can be proud of ?
Anything one can be proud of ?

Each language has its own genius . Remember it .

French Note 6 " How to use " Ce que"

French note 6

Now I am going to deal with use of  " ce que ".

Suppose you say , " I want a house " . It is a simple sentence.  You can convey the meaning of this sentence in another way.

What I want , it is a house .
Or
What I want is a house.

Je veux une maison.

Ce que je veux , c'est une maison.

So ," ce que"  is used as an object  of the verb , " veux ". Moreover, " ce que " which comes at the beginning of the sentence is used without an antecedent .( that means there is nothing before , " ce que" in the sentence.)


Take another sentence ,

Children don't like what their fathers bought .

How to express the above sentence in French ?

Les enfants n' aiment pas ce que leur père ont acheté .

Observe the following phrase

She got good marks in maths which her father wanted.

Elle a reçu de bonnes notes , ce que son père  a voulu.

In the above sentences, the antecedent of " ce que " itself is a sentence or a clause.

( Antecedent means something which precedes or comes before)

As in the case of " ce qui " , " ce que " is also used in the transformation of questions into
Indirect speech.

When the question is of the form , " qu'est -ce que " , we use "ce que"in indirect speech.

Observe the following examples

Elle me demande , " Qu'est -ce que vous voulez ? "

She asks me , " What  do you want ? "

Elle me demande ce que je veux.

She asks me what I want.

Pierre demande à Jean , " Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? "

Peter asks John , " What are you doing ? "

Pierre demande à Jean ce qu'il fait.

Peter asks John what he is doing .

Mon père me demande, " Qu'est -ce que tu as dit à votre prof.? "

My father asks me, " What did you tell your teacher ? "

Mon père me demande ce que j'ai dit à mon prof.

My father asks ma what I told my teacher.


I hope things are clear now.

Happy learning .

Bonne journée !

Sayee Jayaraman

4/01/2015
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French Note 5 - use of " ce qui "

French Note 5.

In this note I am going to explain the use of " ce qui " . In English we use  the following structures using " what" or "  which ".

1. What troubles me , it is his habit of telephoning me late in the night.

2. What I like , it is his punctuality.

The above sentences can be conveyed in French using " ce qui " .

1. Ce qui me gêne , c'est son habitude de me téléphoner trop tard pendant la nuit.

2. Ce qui me plait, c'est sa ponctualité .

In the above sentences, the structure , " ce qui " acts as subject .


Now  observe the following constructions,

Jean ne prononce pas correctement , ce qui m'énerve beaucoup .

John does not  pronounce correctly , which irritates me.

In the above sentence , the antecedent of " ce qui " is a sentence or a clause.


 While converting  questions to indirect speech we may have to use the structure , " ce  qui ".

Observe the following sentences,

Elle demande " Qu'est-ce qui fait ce bruit ?"

She asks , " What makes this noise ? "

When we transform the above into indirect speech , we say

Elle veut savoir ce qui fait ce bruit.

She wants to know what makes that noise.

Le prof demande, " Qu'est-ce qui accélère la croissance de l'économie ? "

The professor asks, " what accelerates the growth of economy? "

Le prof veut savoir ce qui accélère la croissance de l'économie .

The professor wants to know what accelerates the growth of economy.

Please note , " only for the question , " Qu'est-ce qui ..... ? " for which the answer is other

than a person you can use " ce qui " in indirect speech. Not otherwise.

For example, if the question is ,

Elle demande , " Qui est venu chez toi?"

You should transform that into indirect speech as below.

Elle me demande qui est venu chez moi.

Never use , ce qui in such cases.

Hope you understood .

Happy learning .

Bonne journée !

Sayee Jayaraman

03/01/2015
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French Note 4." C'est +(preposition)+que+subordinate clause

French note 4

Today I am preparing a note on the structure ,

" c'est ........que +  a subordinate clause

This structure  will be useful when you want to stress the complement of a verb. Observe the following sentences.


Je connais le président de cette société .

I know the president of this company.

C'est le président de cette société que je connais.

It is the president of this company whom I know.

In this case , "  le président "  is the direct object complement of verb , " Connais"  . It is emphasized or stressed by use of " c' est.


Elle aime Thomas.

She loves Thomas.

C'est Thomas qu'elle aime.

It is Thomas whom she loves.


Martin m'a donné tous ses livres.

Martin gave me all his books.

C'est à moi que Martin a donné tous ses  livres.

It is to me that Martin gave all his books.

In the above the indirect object complement " me " is stressed. Note the preposition , " à".and use of tonic pronom " moi".

C'est tous ses livres que Martin m'a donnés .

These are all his books that Martin gave me.

In the above, the direct object complement , " tous ses livres" is stressed.

Elle sort avec Gérard .

She goes out with Gerard.

C'est avec Gérard qu'elle sort.

It is with Gerard that she goes out.

Je compte sur ma sœur pour résoudre ce problème .

I count on my sister for resolving this problem.

C'est sur ma sœur que je compte pour résoudre ce problème .

It is on my sister that I count for resolving this problem.

Elle n'habite pas ici.

She does not live here.

Ce n'est pas ici qu'elle  habite.

It is not here that she lives.

In  the above, the complement of place " Ici " is stressed .

Je suis allé à Delhi la semaine dernière .

I went to Delhi last week.

C'est la semaine dernière que je suis allé à Delhi.

It is last week that I went to Delhi.

In the above, the complement of time, " la semaine dernière " is stressed.

Il leur vendra sa voiture.

He will sell his car to them.

C'est à eux qu'il vendra sa voiture.

It is to them that he will sell his car.

In thé above, the pronom objet indirect , " leur " is stressed. In that case , it should be written as , " à eux " . It means , " to them ".

Elle travaille dur pour vous.

She is working hard for you.

C'est pour vous qu'elle travaille dur.

It is for you that she is working hard.

Le père se met en colère parce qu'il ne veut pas reconnaître son tort.

The father gets angry because he does not want to accept his mistake.

C'est parce qu'il ne veut pas reconnaître son tort que le père se met en colère .

It is because that he does not want to accept his mistake, the father gets angry.

Vous devez préparer bien avant de vous présenter pour un examen .

You must prepare well before appearing for an examination .

C'est avant de vous présenter pour un examen, vous devez préparer bien.

It is before preparing for an examination that you must prepare well.

In the last two examples the entire subordinate clause of the original sentence is stressed.


Explanation

Please note in all the above examples , the first sentence is re-written using , " c'est " followed sometimes by a preposition and a complement of the verb and " que" which in turn is followed by a clause. These sentences emphasize  the complements which can be

1. Preposition + noun
2.adverbe
3. Preposition + pronoun
4. A proposition or a subordinate clause.

Hope you understood.

Practise by making as many sentences of your own as possible.

Happy learning !

Bonne journée

Sayee Jayaraman
01/01/2015

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French Note 3 " C'est + noun/ pronoun+qui+ subordinate clause

French note 3  " C'est + noun / pronoun + qui + statement / ( subordinate clause)


Using the structure " c'est +noun /pronoun+qui" followed by a statement.( subordinate clause)

The structure on which I am writing this note will be very useful while writing French when you want to emphasize the subject. It is very easy to understand.

I wrote this essay.
It is I/ me who wrote this essay.

He has to do this job.

It is him who has to do this job.


Margaret completed the project in time.

It is Margaret who completed the project in time.

These examples are sufficient for you to understand. Now let us see the French versions.


Not necessarily the same examples as above.


1. Je suis venu vous aider toujours dans vos circonstances difficiles.

I came to help you always in your difficult circumstances.

C'est moi qui suis venu vous aider toujours dans vos circonstances difficiles.

It is me who came to help you always in your difficult circumstances.

2.  Vous devez faire ce travail aujourd'hui .

You must do this work today.

C'est vous qui devez faire ce travail aujourd'hui .

It is you who must do this work today.

3. Henri Poincaré découvre le principe de relativité restreinte  avant Einstein .

Henri Poincaré discovers the principle of special relativity before Einstein .

C'est Henri Poincaré qui découvre le principe de relativité restreinte avant Einstein .

It is Henri Poincaré who discovers the principle of special relativity before Einstein .

4. Elles suggèrent qu'on aille au cinéma .

They ( fem) suggest that we go to cinema.


C'est elles qui suggèrent  qu'on aille au cinéma .

It is them who suggest that we go to cinema.

Note carefully the agreement of the verb with the noun /pronoun which precedes " qui",

I am sure you understood the note and will be in a position to construct sentences of this type.


Further you should note that when the above sentences are made with the structure,

" C'est +noun / pronoun +qui " followed by a statement/ subordinate clause  the role of the noun or pronoun

Is emphasized .  There is a difference between saying , " I did this work " and " It is I who


did this work " . Though both mean the same thing, in the second construction , emphasis

Is on the pronoun " me" . Same is the case in French also. Therefore, when you want to

emphasize or stress the role of the subject in the action , use the construction .

" C'est + noun / pronoun + qui " followed by a statement/ subordinate clause.Note that "


qui" is a relative pronoun equivalent to " who" in English .




Further note that in the fourth example , the clause which follows the verb.  " suggèrent "

is in the subjunctive mood ( present) of which there will be elaborate notes in future.


When you read French texts , identify this structure and understand it has been  used.

That is all for this note.

Happy learning !

Happy new year!

Je vous souhaite une bonne année !

T K Jayaraman

31/12/2014

Bangalore

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French Note 2 " Il est " vs C'est .

French Note 2.   Il est vs C'est

There are certain impersonal expressions which use, " Il est " . Observe the following .

1. Il est douteux que mon père  aille en France ce mois.
2.  Il est possible qu'un écrivain japonais gagne le prix Nobel l'année prochain.
3.  Il est difficile d'écrire en arabe.
4. Il est facile de parler anglais.

Note that the above sentences have two parts. The first part with " il est " with  a complement  followed by statements / infinitive of verbs which are the actual subjects of the sentences. Now the above sentences can be rewritten using ," c'est " in the following manner.

1. Que mon père aille en France ce mois,c'est douteux.
2. Qu'un écrivain gagne le prix Nobel  l'année prochaine, c'est possible.
3. Écrire en arab, c'est difficile .
4. Parler anglais, c'est facile.

Therefore the rule is:

Use " il est " when the subject proposition is at the end.

Use " c' est " when the subject proposition is in the beginning.

The following English version may help you.

1. It is doubtful that my father will go to France this month.
That my father will go to France , that is doubtful .

2. It is possible that a Japanese writer may win the Nobel prize next year.
That a Japanese writer may win the none prize, that is possible.

3. It is difficult to write in Arabic.
Writing in Arabic, that is difficult .

4. It is easy to speak English .

Speaking English, that is easy.

Hope the point made in this note is clear to you.

Sayee Jayaraman
30/12/2014

To be continued..

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French Note 1. " c'est"

French Note 1

Bonjour à tous et à toutes !

Je vous souhaite une bonne année !

Today  I am going to deal with the use of the expression, " C'est " in various ways.

Remember," C'est " is known as "présentatif" in French Grammar. It is very useful in introducing nouns, adjectives, pronouns, infinitive forms, adverbs or other statements.

Study the following sentences using " C'est ". In English you may say , " this is".

C'est un roman.   -This is a novel.
C'est mon père .  - This is my father.
C'est une maison.  -  This is a house.
C'est un résultat imprévu . -  This is an unexpected result.
C'est une grande découverte . - This is a great discovery.

In all the above examples, " C'est "  is followed by a noun , of course preceded by articles, adjectives etc.

Now go through the following examples

C'est facile. - This is easy.
C'est difficile . - This is difficult .
C'est génial .  - This is nice.
C'est sympa. - This is cool.
C'est super.  - This is super.

In the above examples, "C'est" is followed by adjectives.


Observe the following sentences.

C'est moi. - This is me.
C'est lui.   - This is him.
C'est elle.  - This is her.
C'est eux./ ce sont eux - It is them.

In the above examples, " C'est" is followed by pronouns. Remember they are , " pronom tonique or disjonctif ".  You can't say , " c' est Je ". When the pronoun is in plural we can use " ce sont ". But it is not obligatory.

Now observe the following examples.

Partir, c'est mourir. - Leaving , it is dying.
Vivre, c'est agir  -       Living, it is acting.

In the above examples, " C'est" is followed by an infinitive form of a verb.

C'est bien. This is good.
C'est pire. - This is worse.

In the above examples, " c'est "  is followed by an adverb.

C'est ce qui m'intéresse. This is what interests me.
C'est ce que je veux. This is what I want.
C'est ce dont on a besoin. This is what we are in need of.

In the above examples, " C'est " is followed by a statement  . Observe the use of " ce qui, ce que and ce dont".

When you read a French text or listen to French programmes,  observe how the expression , " C'est "  is used in each context.

To be continued.

T K Jayaraman
29/12/2014

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