French Made Simple Learn to speak and understand French quickly and easily

by HAZE, PAMELA ROSE

• ISBN13: 9780767918596
• ISBN10: 0767918592
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780307434159
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-05-16
• Publisher: Crown
• More Book Details

Summary

Learn to Speak French Quickly and Easily! An invaluable introduction to one of the most studied languages in America, FRENCH MADE SIMPLE is ideal for the student, business person, or tourist. Teaching the basics of grammar, vocabulary, and culture, it guides you step-by-step through the process of learning and conversing quickly. Refreshingly easy to understand,French Made Simpleincludes: Basics of grammar Modern vocabulary Helpful verb chart French-English Dictionary Reading exercises Economic information Common expressions Review quizzes Complete answer key Look for these Made Simple titles: Accounting Made Simple Arithmetic Made Simple Astronomy Made Simple Biology Made Simple Bookkeeping Made Simple Business Letters Made Simple Chemistry Made Simple Computer Science Made Simple Earth Science Made Simple English Made Simple German Made Simple Ingles Hecho Facil Investing Made Simple Italian Made Simple Keyboarding Made Simple Latin Made Simple Learning English Made Simple Mathematics Made Simple The Perfect Business Plan Made Simple Philosophy Made Simple Physics Made Simple Psychology Made Simple Sign Language Made Simple Spanish Made Simple Spelling Made Simple Statistics Made Simple Your Small Business Made Simple

Author Biography

PAMELA ROSE HAZE is an adjunct instructor at Kendall College in Chicago. She taught French in Chicago public schools and was the Assistant Dean of Adult Education at Harold Washington College.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
About This Book
Acknowledgments	x
Getting Acquainted with the French Language	1	(3)
French is no stranger
French and English vocabulary: similarities and differences in spelling, meaning, and pronunciation
French is spoken around the world
French Pronunciation	4	(11)
French vowel sounds in familiar words
Nasal vowel sounds
French consonants
Liaison
Elision
Stress in French words and sentences
Useful words and expressions for the traveler
Who Is Mr. Brown?	15	(9)
Members of the family
Rooms of the house
Gender of nouns
Plural of nouns
Definite and indefinite articles
Some common verbs
Why Is Mr. Brown Studying French?	24	(7)
Saying hello and good-bye in French
More useful vocabulary: professions, nationalities, languages
Common modifiers and verbs
Introduction to negative and interrogative forms
In Mr. Brown's Living Room	31	(13)
Furniture and objects in the living room
Some common prepositions
Using the contractions du, des, au, aux
Expressing possession in French with de or a
Revision 1 Review of Chapters 1--5	36	(8)
Verbs Are Important Too	44	(8)
Countries of Europe and North America
Infinitive form of verbs
Present tense of regular -er verbs, like parler, to speak
Interrogative and negative forms
Verbs like parler
Two verbs in a row
Mr. Brown's Family	52	(7)
French words that end in -tion and -sion
Correspondence between the French ending -ment and the English ending -ly
Present tense of etre, to be, avoir, to have, aller, to go
At Mr. Brown's Office	59	(6)
Adjectives of color, size, beauty, and other characteristics Agreement of adjectives
Position of adjectives
Position of adjectives
tout, all, every
quel, which, what
Mr. Brown Greets a Friend	65	(15)
Present tense of regular -re verbs like vendre, to sell
Three irregular -re verbs: prendre, to take, lire, to read, ecrire, to write
Revision 2 Review of Chapters 6--9	71	(9)
In the Dining Room	80	(7)
Table settings
French porcelain industry
Irregular verbs dire, to say, and voir, to see
Demonstrative adjective ce, this, that
Use of -ci and -la
Use of c'est, this is, it is, instead of il est or elle est
Numbers, Always Numbers	87	(6)
Basic mathematical terms
Numbers 0--69
Present tense of the verbs vouloir, to want, pouvoir, to be able
French Money, Past and Present	93	(6)
Vocabulary related to money
The Euro
Before the Euro: francs and centimes
Present tense of faire, to make, to do, croire, to believe, valoir, to be worth
Numbers in Everyday Life	99	(6)
Weights and measures
Present tense of savoir, to know (how), connaitre, to know, to be acquainted with
Possessive adjectives
What Time Is It?	105	(15)
Telling time
Buying tickets for the train and for the movies
Expressing praise and approval
Present tense of partir, to leave, sortir, to go out
Revision 3 Review of Chapters 10--14	112	(8)
The Movies	120	(6)
Words associated with films and movie theaters
Present tense of venir, to come
Direct object pronouns
Use of y, there
Some Dates in Modern French History	126	(6)
Months of the year
Present tense of regular -ir verbs, like finir, to finish
Other regular-ir verbs
Ordinal numbers
Telling the date
Questions About French Geography	132	(7)
Using adjectives and adverbs to compare geographical features of France and America
Present tense of mettre, to put
More expressions of comparison
Mr. Brown's Day	139	(6)
Meals
Foods
Present tense of reflexive verbs like se laver, to wash oneself
Imperative forms of reflexive verbs
Some reflexive French verbs that are not translated by reflexive verbs in English
Life in the Suburbs	145	(13)
Fruits and vegetables
Some idiomatic expressions
Using the partitive to express some or any
The partitive pronoun en, of it, of them
Revision 4 Review of Chapters 15--19	151	(7)
What Bad Weather!	158	(5)
Weather expressions
Direct and indirect object pronouns
Present tense of verbs like ouvrir, to open
The Climate in France	163	(6)
The four seasons
Present tense of devoir, to owe, to have to, recevoir, to receive
Variations of ne . . . pas
The Climate in France (Cont'd)	169	(5)
Common adverbs and prepositions
Demonstrative adjectives: ce, cette, ces and pronouns: celui, celle, ceux, celles, ceci, cela
Adding -ci or -la to indicate this one or that one
Good French Cooking	174	(13)
French specialties
French cooking terms adopted into English
Present tense of envoyer, to send
More prepositions
Disjunctive pronouns used with prepositions
Disjunctive pronouns used with a to indicate possession
Revision 5 Review of Chapters 20--23	180	(7)
The French People	187	(6)
Points of the compass
Words associated with smoking
Tradesmen and women
Reflexive verbs indicating reciprocal actions
Present participle: form and use
Art and Fashion	193	(5)
Venir de + infinitive: How to specify an action that has just taken place
Etre en train de: to specify an ongoing action
Examples of verbs with internal spelling changes: acheter, to buy, preferer, to prefer, appeler, to call
French Holidays	198	(5)
French names of holidays and associated expressions
Verbs like tenir, to hold, venir, to come
Spelling changes in verbs like commencer, to begin, manger, to eat
What Places do You Wish to Visit?	203	(12)
Future tense of regular verbs parler (-er), finir (-ir), vendre (-re)
Stems in common irregular verbs
Revision 6 Review of Chapters 24--27	209	(6)
Mr. Brown Writes a Letter to His Agent	215	(6)
Travel plans
Present tense of suivre, to follow, traduire, to translate
Additional verbs with irregular stems in the future tense
Depuis, il y a, since, for, pendant, during, in combination with expressions of date and time
Mr. Brown Receives a Letter	221	(7)
Words and phrases referring to the past
Salutations, closings of business letters
Le passe compose: how to form the past tense in French
Regular and irregular past participles
Mr. Picard's Final Words of Advice	228	(6)
``False friends'' or false cognates
More irregular past participles
Agreement of the past participle
Mr. Brown Leaves for France	234	(12)
Preparations for his flight
Even more irregular past participles
Use of past participles as adjectives
Revision 7 Review of Chapters 28--31	240	(6)
Practice Makes Perfect	246	(7)
From the airport to the city
Greetings, introductions, leavetakings
Verbs with the auxiliary etre in the passe compose
Agreement of the past participle with the subject of the verb
Mr. Brown Visits the Parmentier Family	253	(6)
A house and life of high style
Some professions
Passe compose of reflexive verbs
Present and past tenses of the verb s'asseoir, to sit down
Reflexive verbs found in the dialogues
A Lovely Stroll	259	(6)
Discovering Paris
Relative pronouns: qui, que, who, that, ce qui, what, lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles, which one(s), dont, whose, of which
Mont-Saint-Michel	265	(6)
Travelling to the site
Features of the village and the abbey
Vocabulary: parts of the body
Introduction to l'imparfait, the imperfect (past) tense
Puppet Show	271	(11)
Words and phrases describing feelings
Present and past tenses of rire, to laugh, vivre, to live
The past infinitive: how to form it, when to use it
Revision 8 Review of Chapters 32--36	276	(6)
Main Street	282	(6)
Shops and shopkeepers
Overview of object pronouns
Placement of object pronouns in a sentence
Order of object pronouns
A Trip to Chartres	288	(7)
Vocabulary associated with automobiles and driving
The past perfect, or pluperfect, tense
Rules for using possessive pronouns: le mien, mine, la notre, ours, etcet
Mr. Brown Buys a Lottery Ticket	295	(5)
Le conditionnel, the conditional, formation
Stems for the future tense are also used in the conditional
Mr. Brown Goes Away	300	(9)
Le conditionnel passe, the past conditional
Si clauses: pairing different tenses to express hypothetical situations
Revision 9 Review of Chapters 37--40	304	(5)
English-French Dictionary	309	(20)
Dictionnaire Francais-Anglais	329	(16)
Answer Key	345	(40)
Summary of Verb Conjugations	385