FRENCH NOTE 54 ALL ABOUT SI CLAUSES

FRENCH NOTE 54.   " USE OF SI"



 It would be very useful to use the French word " SI" which means " IF " in English , in different ways. You should know that " SI" means " Yes " also. While answering negative questions affirmatively , French people use ' si" instead of " oui" . But we are not concerned with that here. " si" has another meaning . It dénotes intensity  Here we are concerned only with its meaning as " IF". Ok ?

1.   Si + Present + Future.

The above construction is very simple . It is also quite useful. In these sentences ,there are two clauses . The first clause starts with " si" giving a hypothetical situation . The second clause tells what happens with a given condition or hypothesis .


Si je suis riche, j'achèterai une belle maison.

If I am rich , I will buy a beautiful house.

Si ma cousine vient chez moi, je l'emmènerai  au cinéma .

If my cousin comes to my place,  I will take her out to a film.

Si tu travaille tous les jours, tu gagneras des bonnes notes.

If you study everyday , you will get good marks.

Si vous me donnez ₹10000, je vendrai mon ordinateur.

If you give me ₹ 10000, I will sell this computer.

Remaŕk :  In colloquial French , even the second clause can be in the present tense.


2.Si+ présent + impératif

1.  Si vous voulez parler à mon père , venez ce dimanche .

If you want to talk to my father, come this Sunday .

2.  Si vous voulez cette voiture, donnez- moi ₹ 300000,

If you want this car, give me ₹ 300000.

3.  Si + imparfait + conditionnel présent

If one thing happens , some other thing may happen . When you want to express such an eventuality , you can use the above construction .

Si mon père avait de l'argent , il m'achèterait   une voiture.

If my father had money, he would get me a car.


Si j'étais fort en maths, je m'inscrirais au cours d'informatique .

If I were strong in maths, I would join the computer course.


S'il ne pleuvait pas , je sortirais avec vous.

If there were no rain, I would go out with you.

Remarks : though we use " imparfait " ,the sense  of these clauses is that of future.

4. SI + plus que parfait ( indicatif) + conditionnel passé

If in the past one thing had happened, another thing would have happened. But the first thing did not happen. So the second thing also did not happen. To express such an eventuality, we can use the above construction . This is an imaginary past situation.

Si Martin n'avait pas pris le vol 121, il n'aurait pas perdu sa vie.

If Martin had not taken flight 121, he would not have lost his life.


Si vous aviez suivi mon conseil, vous n'auriez pas regretté votre décision .

If you had followed my advice, you would not have regretted your decision.


Si je n'avais pas été malade, je serais allé(e) à Chennai .

If I had not been ill, I would have gone to Chennai.



Remember , you can put the si clause in the second position . That would not change the meaning. Hope these constructions are clear to you now.

Happy learning !


ATTENTION


If learners send me by email few sentences which they construct, I will do corrections and send them back. If there are any inadvertent errors in this note, point out pl. I am doing several things and am likely to commit some errors.

Sayee Jayaraman

27/02/2015

FRENCH NOTE 53 " Y "

FRENCH NOTE 53.  " Y"


As I posted notes on " en" , I thought I should not ignore the ubiquitous " y" of the French language. It looks so innocent and lonely, but we should learn its correct usage. " y" is indeed very frequently used both in spoken and written French.
1. " y " means " there " . But it may mean other things also. Hence this post. In your elementary French course, you were bombarded with sentences containing the expression,"il y a " . What does it mean ? It indicates the existence of anything ,persons,matter,ideas etc.In short EXISTENCE.
Il y a un arbre devant ma maison.
There is a tree before my house.
Il y a des arbres près de ma maison.
There are trees near my house.

So,il y a = there is or there are
Hope you got it.
Il n' y a pas d' arbres près de ma maison.
There are no trees near my house.
Il n' y a pas de pain .
There is no bread.
Il n' y a pas d' eau chez moi.
There is no water in my place.
Note that in negative constructions ,
the nouns are always preceded by de or d' and not by du, des, de la etc.
Y a-t-il quelqu'un ?
Is there any one?
Note the hyphens and also " t" introduced for euphony.
So,
Il ya de l'espoir ? N'est-ce pas?
There is some hope. Isn't it ?
2. " y" is an indirect object pronoun that precedes the verb.It usually replaces an inanimate object ( thing or idea ) . The object is indirect because in the noun form it is preceded by a preposition , usually ," à" . But there may be other prepositions also. Now study these examples.
Elle va à Chandigarh
Elle y va.
She goes to Chandigarh .
She goes there.
So in this context,
Y = there = à Chandigarh .
Nous habitons la France.
Nous y habitons .
We live in France.
We live there.
In this context,
Y = there= la France
Mon stylo est sur la table.
Mon stylo y est.
My pen is on the table.
My pen is there.
In this context,
Y=there=sur la table.
Got it?
Les enfants jouent dans le jardin.
Les enfants y jouent.
Children play in the garden.
Children play there.
In this context,
Y = there = dans un jardin
Please note that the noun in these cases are preceded by à,sur and dans. It is not necessary that it should be always à. Moreover , in one example, " la France " was not preceded by any preposition , as the verb " habiter" is used transitively.
3. Many French verbs take indirect objects through the preposition ,"à". All the nouns introduced by ,"à" can be replaced by , " y" except living beings. Study the following examples.
Je réponds à ta lettre.
J'y réponds .
I am replying to your letter.
I am replying to it.
In this context,
Y=to it = à ta lettre.
Suppose you say,
Je réponds à ma mère .
Je lui réponds .
In this context, as the indirect object is a person , we replace it with " lui" and not y. Please understand this clearly.
Lui = to him,to her =à ma mère . But this rule is not followed in respect of verbs like penser,croire,se fier,
S'intéresser à etc. On this I shall explain in the subsequent post.For the time being , study the following examples.
Elle a renoncé à son voyage.
Elle y a renoncé .
Vous n'avez pas répondu à ma question .
Vous n'y avez pas répondu .
Elle essaie de réussir à ses examens difficiles.
Elle essaie d'y réussir .
Why did I give the above examples ?
Please note carefully the position of " y" in each case. When you have a composite tense like passé composé, " y" sits before the auxiliary verb.
Again when " y" is replacing the indirect object of the verb in the infinitive form , it is put before the infinitive. So you should be very careful to know to which verb the indirect object belongs when there are several verbs. By practice , you will understand better.
4. The verb " penser"
I told you " y" is used normally for things and ideas.
But this verb penser is an exception.
Observe
Pensez-vous à votre mère ?
Oui, j'y pense.
French is a tricky language like English. Plethora of rules and plethora of exceptions. Learn gradually.
Even French nationals commit several mistakes. I am not touching several expressions involving " y" .That is reserved for another occasion .
IMPORTANT ADVICE
There are several verbs of the following form
Verb + à + nom
Kindly make a list. Use them in your sentences and replace the indirect object with ," y". If you do it,
you are sure to master these verbs and usage of " y". You can face your students with more confidence and it will enable you to improve your written French. After several years of schooling , students are not able to write few sentences without mistakes. That should not be.
Voilà c'est tout pour aujourd'hui .
A bientôt
Sayee Jayaraman
25/02/2015

FRENCH NOTE 52 " DANS " " EN" PREPOSITIONS

FRENCH NOTE 52 " DANS" " EN"


One learner requested me to write on , " dans" and also to distinguish it from " en ". Hence this post.
1. First let me take up " dans". The basic meaning of dans is " in ", inside an enclosed space or a container.
Mes vêtements sont dans la boîte .
My clothes are in the box.
So when you want to say that something is in a container, you can use " dans"
2. " dans" is used to indicate in how much time in future an action will be performed.
Dans quelque jours, mon père ira en France.
In few days, my father will go to France.
In other words , his going to France will take place after few days from now.
Dans une minute, je t'appellerai.
In a minute, I shall call you.
Dans deux mois, on fêtera le Noël .
In two months, we will celebrate Christmas .
3. " dans " indicates a precise location
Elle s'assoit dans la cour.
She is sitting in the courtyard .
Les enfants jouent dans le jardin.
Children play in the garden.
4. " dans " is used in a figurative sense to denote the mental/ physical condition .
Les habitants de Dharavi vivent dans la misère .
The people of Dharavi live in misery.
Le peuple de Jérusalem vit toujours dans la peur.
5. " dans " takes the meaning of " from" in certain usages.
Je bois dans une verre.
I drink from a glass.
Je prends mes livres dans cette boîte .
I take my books from this box.
6. " dans" also means " around " to indicate an approximation.
Cette chaise pèse dans les 10 kilos.
This chair weighs around 10 kilos.
Cette montre coûte dans les 100 euros.
This watch costs around 100 euros.
7. " dans" means through in certain circumstances
Elle court dans l' herbe.
She is running through the grass.
8. Dans may mean " during " in certain usages.
Dans les années soixantes,la mode étais différente.
During sixties, the fashion was different.
9. Quite a few French verbs are followed by , " dans". I am listing them.
Entrer dans une salle -enter a room
Fouiller dans les poches -to look through the pockets
Lire dans le journal - to read in the newspaper
Partir dans 10 minutes - to leave in 10minutes
Partir dans les montagnes - to leave to the hills
Regarder dans la boîte - to look in the box
Important point
Kindly note that " dans" always follows a noun which is preceded by an article , demonstrative adjective or possessive adjective unlike " en".
Difference in usage between " dans" and " en "
" en" expresses the length of time an action takes.
Kumar a résolu ce problème en 5 minutes.
Kumar solved this problem in 10 minutes.
This means Kumar had taken 10 minutes to solve the problem. In this case " dans" will not be used in French.
Pierre a compris ce leçon en 5 minutes tandis que les autres élèves se sont confondus.
Peter understood this lesson in 5 minutes while the other students got confused.
In other words Peter took only 5 minutes to understand the lesson.
Now you should see point 2 above where I have explained the use of " dans ".
Note that when " dans " is used for time ,the verb will be either in futur or present tense.
When " en " is used for time , the verb will be either in past or present tense. Not a hard and fast rule.
Another important point is when " en " is followed by a noun , generally, you will not find any article before it. You can see my post on " en ".
But this is not the case when " dans " is followed by a noun. I explained it already above.
Remember while translating from French to English and vice versa , there is no strict one to one correspondence. A French word will be translated in several ways depending on the context. Each language has got its own peculiarities, idiosyncrasies , genius and what not. Attaining mastery is a painstaking job.
On dit que c'est une tâche de longue haleine .
Please leave your comments.
Thank you.
À bientôt !
Sayee Jayaraman
25/02/2015

FRENCH NOTE 51 VERB+DE+INFINITIVE OF ANOTHER VERB

FRENCH NOTE 51

Let us continue the pattern , “verb+de+infinitive of another verb“

1. promettre à qqn de faire qqch -to promise somebody to do something

Je promets de vous donner un cadeau, si vous obtenez des bonnes notes dans votre examen.

I promise to give you a gift, if you get good marks in the examination.

Elle sera très contente, si vous lui promettez d’assister au mariage de sa fille.

She will be very happy , if you promise her to attend her daughter’s wedding.

2.proposer à qqn de faire qqch - to propose to someone to do something

Mon ami me propose de prêter de l’argent sans aucun intêret.

My friend offers me to lend money without any interest.

Pierre lui a proposè d’investir de l’argent dans ses affaires comme partenaire.

Peter proposed to him to invest money in his business as a partener.

3.refuser de faire qqch -to refuse to do something

Je refuse de soudoyer des fonctionnaires pour obtenir une faveur.

I refuse to bribe officers for getting any favour.

Le peuple de Tunisie refuse de soumettre à la volontè d’un dictateur.

The people of Tunisia refuse to submit to the will of a dictator.

4.rêver de faire qqch - to dream of doing something

Martin rêve de devenir un pilote.

Martin dreams of becoming a pilot.

Gandhi rêvait de faire l’Inde un pays libre des conflits religieux.

Gandhi dreamt of making India a country without religious conflicts’

5.risquer de faire qqch - to risk in doing something

Si vous jouez à la bourse, vous risquerez de perdre de l’argent;

If you gamble in stocks, you risk of losing your money.

That is all for now.

Happy Learning!

Sayee Jayaraman
24/02/2015

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FRENCH NOTE 50. VERB + DE + INFINITIVE OF ANOTHER VERB

FRENCH NOTE 50

VERB + DE + INFINITIVE OF ANOTHER  VERB

Let us continue the above pattern for five more verbs.

1. ORDONNER À QQN DE FAIRE QQCH - to order someone to do something

Le père ordonne aux enfants de se taire.

Father orders children to keep quiet.

Le patron nous ordonne de travailler ce dimanche .

The boss orders us to work on this Sunday.


2. OUBLIER DE FAIRE QQCH - to forget to do something .

Hier , j'ai oublié de prendre des médicaments .

Yesterday , I forgot to take medicines .

Elle oublie toujours de tenir sa promesse .

She forgets always to keep her promise.


3.PERMETTRE À QQN DE FAIRE QQCH - to permit someone to do something

Le règlement de la bibliothèque nous permet de retenir des livres empruntés pour deux semaines.

The library rule permits us to retain borrowed books for two weeks only.


Le gouvernement ne nous permet pas d' acheter des terrain dans quelques états de notre pays.

The government does not permit us to buy land in some states of our country.


4. PERSUADER  QQN DE FAIRE QQCH - to persuade someone to do something

Le vendeur me persuade d'acheter beaucoup de choses.

The salesman persuades me to buy a lot of things.


Je n'aime jamais persuader  quelqu'un de faire quelque chose contre son gré .

I never like to persuade someone to do something against his/ her will.


5. PRIER  QQN DE FAIRE QQCH - to request someone to do something


Je vous prie de ne pas violer le secret.

I request you not to reveal the secret.

Nous prions le professeur de nous permettre d'utiliser la calculatrice pendant l'examen .

We request the teacher to permit us to use the calculator during the examination.

That is all for now.

Kindly point out errors , if any .

Happy learning .

Sayee Jayaraman
24/02/2015

FRENCH NOTE 49 VERB + DE + INFINITIVE OF ANOTHER VERB

FRENCH NOTE 49

VERB +DE + INFINITIVE OF  ANOTHER VERB

In this note, I am taking up five more verbs which are followed by " de" and the infinitive of another verb.

1.ESSAYER DE FAIRE QQCH-to   try to do something

Mes élèves essaient de parler francais.

My students try to speak French.


Même si une tâche est difficile , il faut essayer de la faire.

Even if a task is difficult , one should try to do it.


2. ÉVITER DE FAIRE QQCH - to avoid doing something


Après sa crise cardiaque, Pierre évite de conduire la voiture.

After his heart attack, Peter avoids driving car.

Les hommes de politique savent éviter des questions embarrassantes .

Politicians know how to avoid inconvenient questions.


3. INTERDIRE  À QQN DE FAIRE QQCH -  to forbid someone to do something

Le médecin lui interdire de boire l'alcool .

The doctor forbade him to drink alcohol.

Le règlement nous interdit de fumer.

The rule forbids us from smoking.
According to rules, smoking is prohibited.


4. MENACER QQN  DE FAIRE QQCH - to threaten someone to do something

Ce voyou menace Martin de tuer , s'il ne lui donnera pas d'argent.

That rogue threatens to kill Martin, if he does not give him money.

La pluie nous  menace de gâter la soirée dans le jardin.

Rain threatens to spoil our evening party in the garden.

5. OFFRIR À QQN DE  FAIRE QQCH - to offer someone to do something

Elle a  offert de m'enseigner le français .

She offered  to teach me French .

Mon oncle a offert de m'emmener au cinéma ce weekend.

My uncle offered to take me out to cinema this weekend.


That is all for now. We will continue in subsequent notes.

Happy learning.

Sayee Jayaraman
23/02/2015

FRENCH NOTE 48 VERB +DE + INFINITIVE OF ANOTHER VERB

FRENCH NOTE 48

VERB +DE +INFINITIVE OF ANOTHER VERB

In this post , let us take up five more verbs which follow the above pattern.

1. DÉCIDER  DE FAIRE QQCH-  to decide to do something


Après sa retraite, Pierre a décidé de s'installer à Marseille .

After his retirement, Peter decided to settle in Marseille.


On a décidé d'aller en France ,cet été .

We have decided to go to France this summer.


2.DEFENDRE À QQN DE FAIRE QQCH - to forbid somebody to do so ethi b


Le médecin lui a défendu de fumer.

The doctor forbade him to smoke.

Il est défendu de parler dans la bibliothèque .

It is forbidden to talk in the library.

Le professeur a défendu aux  élèves d' utiliser des portables dans la classe.

The teacher forbade the students from using their mobile phones in the class.

3. DEMANDER À QQN DE FAIRE QQCH - to ask/ request somebody to do something

Elle demande à son père de lui donner de l'argent .

She requests her father to give her some money.

Mon ami m'a demandé d'aller au cinéma avec lui ce soir.

My friend requested me to go to cinema with him this evening.


4. DIRE À QQN DE FAIRE QQCH - to tell somebody to do something

Le  prime ministre a dit aux ministres de réduire ses voyages étrangers.

The prime minister told his ministers to reduce their foreign travels.

Le médecin lui a dit de ne pas boire de l'alcool .

The doctor told him not to drink alcohol.

5. EMPÊCHER QQN DE FAIRE QQCH-  to prevent somebody from doing something

Le gouvernement américain a empêché Narendra Modi de visiter les États - Unis , il y a dix ans.

The American Government prevented Narendra Modi from visiting USA , ten years back.


That is for this note.

Happy Learning !

Sayee Jayaraman
22/02/2015