French Expression 6 - " Avoir tort " - to be wrong "

French Expression 6 " avoir tort " - to be wrong

Today's expression is " avoir tort "  It means to be wrong. It is opposite of the expression " avoir raison "

The word " tort" (m)  itself means " error " or wrong. Those who do Law will know that they have to study a subject. known as " law of torts ". " Tort" means an actionable civil wrong. When the municipal corporation leaves a road with a wide hole uncovered and you get hurt, you may sue the corporation for a civil wrong . Let us use this expression now.

Vous  avez tort en invitant ce professeur à faire un discours . À mon avis, il ne peux pas de tout communiquer avec clarté .

You are wrong in inviting this professor to speak. He can not at all communicate with clarity.

Do you know the saying ,

" Les absent ont toujours tort "

Those who are absent are always wrong .

Boris Vian  says.

" Les prophètes ont toujours tort d'avoir raison".

Prophets are always wrong in being right .

Jean Giraudoux  in a play,

"Je suis toujours contre moi quand les autres ont tort."

I am always  furious against myself when others are wrong. ( a literal translation )

C'est tout !

Happy learning !

T. K. Jayaraman
25/07/2015
Bangalore 

French Expression 5 " avoir raison " - to be right

French Expression - 5


" avoir raison " is the expression which means to be right

 Martin ,  multipliez 17 par 7 .
 109,monsieur  
 Tu n'as pas raison , Martin.
 La réponse correcte , c'est 119.

Martin ,multiply 17 by 7.
It is 109 , sir.
You are not correct , Martin.
The correct answer is 119.

Les indiens sont multilingues.
Indians are multilingual .

Vous avez raison
You are right.

Hope you understood the use of this French expression.

T.K. Jayaraman
24/07/2015
Bangalore.

French Expression 4 " avoir chaud "

French Expression 4 " avoir chaud "

In this expression , the word " chaud " is an adverb. The expression is equivalent to saying in English " to feel warm " . It is used when you feel warm because of weather conditions.

Aujourd'hui, j'ai chaud ici.

Today I feel warm here.

Je veux sortir de cette chambre. J'ai chaud.

I want to get out of this room. I feel warm.

You already know that while talking about weather, for the question,

"Quel temps fait-il ?" , a possible reply would be , " il fait chaud ". It means , " it is warm ".

When an object has a higher temperature , we say,

C'est  chaud .  It is hot. ( Chaud is adjective but used in masculine in expression with C 'est)

In all the other expressions, " chaud " is an adverb and it is invariable. When " chaud" is an adjective

it has two forms , " chaud, chaude" depending on the noun which it qualifies , masculine  or feminine

singular.

Be careful about the expression , " Elle est chaude " . When " Elle " refers to a person, it has

it has a sexual connotation . ( she is horny ).

The expression " avoir eu chaud " is idiomatically used to mean " to have a narrow escape "

Hier, la famille Vincent a eu chaud dans l'autoroute 7.

Yesterday , the Vincent family had a narrow escape in highway 7,

Hope it is clear.

T.K.Jayaraman
24/07/2015
Bangalore

French Expression 4 - avoir envie de - to want, to feel like

French Expression 4

" avoir envie de "

1.  The most common use of this expression will be when you like to express your desire to do something. In that case the structure of the phrase will be:

Avoir envie de + infinitive form of the relevant verb - to feel like doing something

Go through the following examples

J'ai envie de prendre du thé .

I feel like having tea.


Elle a envie d'aller au cinéma .

She wants to go to cinema.

As-tu envie de dormir ? Tu baîlles ?

Do you feel like sleeping ? You are yawning ?

2. The expression can be followed by a noun. When you desire an object, you may use this expression.

Avoir envie de + quelque chose - to desire/ want something

J'ai envie d'une cravate noire.

I want a black tie.


3. Be careful while using this expression. After the preposition "de" ,if you put the name of a person / stressed pronoun , it will have a sexual connotation .

Avoir envie de + quelqu'un

To desire somebody ( sexually)

Elle a envie de lui .

She wants him.

Hope you understood the use of this common expression.

Happy learning.

T.K. Jayaraman
24/07/2015
Bangalore

French Expression 3 - être amoureux / amoureuse de qqn- to be in lové with somebody

French expression 3- être amoureux / amoureuse de qqn - to be in love with somebody

English language uses the phrase " to fall in love ". Some learners of French language have a tendency to say " tomber en amour " , a sort of literal translation. This is not the

correct way of putting it in French. What is acceptable to French are the following expressions.

"  être amoureux de / amoureuse de quelqu'un "

    "To be in love with somebody "

    " tomber amoureux / amoureuse de quelqu'un "

     " to fall in love with somebody "

Mathilde est amoureuse de Martin .

Mathilde is in love with Martin.

Jean est amoureux de Carla.

John is in love with Carla.

Mathilde est tombée amoureuse de Martin.

Mathilde fell in love with Martin.

Jean est tombé  amoureux de Carla.

John fell in love with Carla.

You know why amourux and amoureuse are used though the meaning is the same. These words are adjectives and they have to be in agreement with the gender and number of the nouns which they qualify .

The idea of this note is that while using French language  one should avoid " anglicisme ".

T. K. Jayaraman
23/07/2015
Bangalore

FRENCH EXPRESSION 2 AVOIR BESOIN DE - TO BE IN NEED OF

FRENCH EXPRESSION 2

AVOIR BESOIN DE - TO BE IN NEED OF


A very useful French expression which you can use in everyday life. Whenever you are in need of something or somebody , this expression is handy. A necessity can be expressed by employing this expression. Remember that after the preposition " de " ,  a noun or pronoun follows. This noun or pronoun will be the thing / person which / of whom you are in need .The following examples illustrate the use of this expression.

1.  - " Pierre , est- ce que tu as besoin de l'argent ?"

     -   " Non Papa , j'en ai assez maintenant "

         Peter , do you need money ?

          No dad, I have enough of it.

2.   J' ai besoin d' une voiture .

      I need a car.

3.   Elle a besoin de son père pour lui conseiller dans son projet.

      She needs her father to advise her on her project .


4. Vous avez besoin d'un régime équilibré.

    You need a balanced diet.

5.  Pour apprendre, on a besoin d'un esprit ouvert.

     To learn , one needs  an open mind.

      Happy learning !

      T. K. Jayaraman

       23/07/2015

       Bangalore 

French Expression 1 - Avoir faim-to be hungry

This post is meant for all beginners who are interested in learning French. I take up one expression in each post. The series will continue.

The expression for today is " avoir faim ".

This expression means " to be hungry " . Please remember that we should not translate word by word from French to English and vice versa . While using the above expression , conjugate the verb " avoir " according to the subject of the sentences which you are constructing. Study the following examples.

1. Tu ne manges pas ? Tu n'as pas faim ?

    You are not eating ?  Are you not hungry ?

2. J'ai faim. Je veux manger.

     I am hungry. I want to eat.

3. Les enfants ont faim. Il faut préparer vite le petit- déjeuner .

    Children are hungry.

4. Quand j'ai faim, je ne peux pas dormir.

    When I am hungry ,I can not sleep.

5. Cet homme a toujours faim.

    This man is always hungry.

T.K. Jayaraman
23/07/2015
Bangalore