Verb of the day / A bit of pronounciation

Your verb for today is Manger: to eat

Manger is a verb of the ER type. Its conjugation is fairly simple and follows the ER verb pattern, but with a slight exception! Due to the fact that it contains the letter g before the ER, it sometimes requires an extra e (which is not pronounced) when it lands in front of hard vowels such as a, u and o. 

 

But why??

The letter G can be pronounced two ways in French. It can be hard (like in gust!) or soft (like in gin, but without the d sound.) The way it goes depends on the letter following it. 

Soft Vowels	e	gémir, gèle, mangeais, neige
	i	gite, giraffe , girouette, gigantesque
	y	gynécologue, gyroscope
Hard Vowels	a	gamme, gamin, gant, gallop
	o	gomme, Congo, bingo,
	u	guérir, longue. guide *

*The u in those words is ONLY used to make the g hard, and is not pronounced. I think there must be a few words where the u is pronounced after a g, but I couldn’t come up with any…

Anyway, here is the verb Manger, conjugated for you, with the extra e’s highlighted.

Présent	Imparfait	Future simple
Today, I eat	Yesterday, I was eating	Tomorrow, I will eat
je mange tu manges il mange nous mangeons vous mangez ils mangent	je mangeais tu mangeais il mangeait nous mangions vous mangiez ils mangeaient	je mangerai tu mangeras il mangera nous mangerons vous mangerez ils mangeront

Your challenge:

1.      Think of a word with a g in it where it’s pronounced softly and a word where it is pronounced hard. Bonus points for having both g’s in the same word!

2.      Make a sentence describing what you are eating for lunch.

Les couleurs de l'arc-en-ciel

Today, I present to you a handy colour reference chart for your educational pleasure:

Type 1 Plain adjectives :  these take plural and gender  associations with the noun they describe. i.e. une chatte blanche, les pommes vertes, deux crayons noirs	blanc		white
	noir		black
	gris		grey
	bleu		blue
	rouge		red
	jaune		yellow
	vert		green
	beige		beige
	violet		violet
	brun		brown
Type 2 Colours named after things : these stay the same no matter what. i.e. des chats orange	orange		orange
	pêche		peach
	turquoise		turquoise
	marron		chestnut
	champagne		champagne
Type 3 Colours with modifiers : these stay the same no matter what. i.e. une pomme vert pâle	bleu marin		dark blue
	rouge vin		wine red
	jaune-orange		amber
	vert foncé		dark green
	vert pâle		light green

There are more colours, obviously, but this should get you started. 

You might be wondering: what’s with those types?

Well, as with most adjectives in French, you usually need to make sure they match the word they are applying to: a plural adjective for a plural noun, for example. 

For colours however, you get a freebie; only SOME of them have to match, the rest can stay the same! 

 

How do you know which ones? Well… you don’t. Use the chart. One day, they will all be memorised in your head. In the meantime... well don’t sweat it, we all make those mistakes. ;)

Here we are: gender and plural of colours: 

	masculin, singulier	féminin, singulier	masculin, pluriel	féminin, pluriel
Type 1 Plain adjectives :  these take plural and gender  associations with the noun they describe.	blanc	blanche	blancs	blanches
	noir	noire	noirs	noires
	gris	grise	gris	grises
	bleu	bleue	bleus	bleues
	rouge	rouge	rouges	rouges
	jaune	jaune	jaunes	jaunes
	vert	verte	verts	vertes
	beige	beige	beiges	beiges
	violet	violette	violets	violettes
	brun	brune	bruns	brunes
Type 2 Colours named after things : these stay the same no matter what	orange	x	x	x
	pêche	x	x	x
	turquoise	x	x	x
	marron	x	x	x
	champagne	x	x	x
Type 3 Colours with modifiers : these stay the same no matter what.	bleu marin	x	x	x
	rouge vin	x	x	x
	jaune-orange	x	x	x
	vert foncé	x	x	x
	vert pale	x	x	x

Here is a well known French nursery rhyme for your amusement:

Une poule grise

Il était une petite poule grise
Qui allait pondre dans l’église
Pondait un petit coco
Que l’enfant mangeait tout chaud

Il était une petite poule blanche
Qui allait pondre dans la grange
Pondait un petit coco
Que l’enfant mangeait tout chaud

Il était une petite poule noire
Qui allait pondre dans l’armoire
Pondait un petit coco
Que l’enfant mangeait tout chaud

Il était une petite poule brune
Qui allait pondre dans la lune
Pondait un petit coco
Que l’enfant mangeait tout chaud

Your challenge:

1. Of what type are the colours in the song?

2. Name some things you see and what colour they are. For example: "Le papier blanc."

Homonymes

Let’s look at a few common words that have the same sound but a different meaning. Using the wrong spelling of a word can turn a sentence from regular to relatively hilarious.

balai	(ba-lè)	broom
balet		balet

bas	(ba)	down/bottom. (en bas - downstairs, au bas de - at the bottom of), socks
bas/bat		conjugations of “battre” – to beat up.

sein	(s-in)	Breast (but only for women! Cannot be used for “chest”)
saint		Saint (like in Saint-James Church)
sain		sane

cent	(s-an)	a hundred
sans		without

cou	(c-ou)	neck
coup		hit
coût		cost

peau	(po)	skin
pot		pot (the cookware, not the drug)

port	(por)	port
porc		porc

teint	(t-in)	tint, dyed
thym		thyme

voie	(v-oi)	path. (voie ferrée – railroad)
voix		voice
vois/voit		conjugation of the verb “voir”  - to see

Here’s a few funny sentences for practice. Yes, I came up with these. I need more coffee.

J’ai apporté un balai au balet.

Il me bat parce que j’ai oublié mes bas en bas.

C’est sain de donner son sein pour un bébé saint.

J’ai cent biscuits sans chocolat.

J’ai reçu un coup dans le cou quand j’ai vu le coût de cet achat.

Le pot a brulé ma peau.

Il y a du bon porc au port.

Le thym a un beau teint vert, c’est comme si on l’avait teint.

Je vois que tu a perdu ta voix quand tu a hurlé vers cette voie ferrée.

Your challenge :

1.       Write one sentence using two homonymes of the same group. 

2.       Practice pronouncing these words remembering that they sound exactly the same.