Making

Acquaintances

MASTER THESE SKILLS

• Using reflexive verbs to introduce yourself

• Choosing the correct reflexive verb

• Discussing your origins

• Using possessives to speak about

family and friends

In this chapter you’ll learn how to carry on

a basic, introductory conversation in French

in which you can offer greetings, discuss

your health, and speak about your origins

and family members, using reflexive verbs

properly as needed.

GREETINGS AND GOOD-BYES

When traveling in a foreign country, if you want to converse with a

person whom you don’t know at all, a formal approach is de rigueur

(mandatory). It is considered quite a faux pas (mistake) to address someone

informally

if

a

strong

friendship

or

relationship

has

not

been

established.

Be

sure

to

start

and

end

your

conversations

correctly

by

using

the

greetings

and

good-byes

below.

As a sign of respect, older French women are generally referred to and

addressed as madame, regardless of their marital status. When in doubt,

use madame. Mademoiselle is reserved for younger women.

Formal Greetings and Good-Byes

ENGLISH FRENCH

Hello. Bonjour.

Good evening. Bonsoir.

Mr. Monsieur

Mrs. Madame

Miss (Ms.) Mademoiselle

What’s your name? Comment vous appelez-vous?

My name is . . . Je m’appelle . . .

I’m happy to meet you. Je suis heureux(se) de faire

votre connaissance.

I’d like you to meet . . . Je vous présente . . .

How are you? Comment allez-vous?

Very well. Très bien.

Not bad. Pas mal.

So-so. Comme ci comme ça.

Good-bye. Au revoir.

Good night. Bonne nuit.

Informal Greetings and Good-Byes

ENGLISH FRENCH

Hi. Salut.

What’s your name? Tu t’appelles comment?

My name is . . . Je m’appelle . . .

Pleased to meet you. Enchanté(e).

I’d like you to meet . . . Je te présente . . .

Bye. Salut.

How are you? Ça va?

Fine. Ça va.

What’s new? Quoi de neuf?

Nothing. Rien.

See you soon. À bientôt.

See you later. À tout à l’heure.

See you tomorrow. À demain.

NOTE

Bonsoir is used after sunset as a greeting. Bonne nuit is what you would

say to someone who is about to retire for the night.

REFLEXIVE VERBS

A reflexive verb indicates that the action is performed by the subject

upon itself. The reflexive verb has a reflexive pronoun as its object. Thus,

the subject and the pronoun object refer to the same person or thing:

Je m’appelle Jean. (I call myself John. [My name is John.]) A reflexive

verb can be identified by the se that is placed before the infinitive.

In many instances you can use the same verb, without the reflexive

pronoun, to perform the action upon or for someone else. The verb then

is no longer reflexive.

Je m’appelle Marie. My name is Marie. (I call myself Marie.)

J’appelle Marie. I call Marie.

Some verbs that are generally not reflexive may be made reflexive by

adding the reflexive pronoun: Je regarde la télévision. (I watch television.)

Je

me

regarde.

(I

watch/look

at

myself.)

The verb se sentir (to feel) will prove useful when discussing your

health. Se sentir does not follow the rules for the conjugation of regular

-ir verbs and is considered irregular. Note the reflexive pronouns that are

used with each subject, and their placement immediately before the conjugated

verb. All reflexive verbs must be preceded by these pronouns,

which are directly tied to their subjects. The table below shows how to

conjugate the reflexive verb se sentir:

se sentir

je me sens I feel

tu te sens you feel

il, elle, on se sent he, she, one feels

nous nous sentons we feel

vous vous sentez you feel

ils, elles se sentent they feel

To answer the question, Comment vous sentez-vous?/Comment te sens-tu?

or Comment allez-vous?/Comment vas-tu? (How are you?), you can

respond with the following phrases:

I feel well. Je me sens bien.

I feel bad. Je me sens mal.

I feel better. Je me sens mieux.

I feel worse. Je me sens pire.

Some verbs are usually or always used reflexively. The table below provides

a

list

of

the

most

common

reflexive

verbs.

Verbs

with

an

asterisk

(*)

all have spelling changes in the present tense and must be conjugated

accordingly.

Refer back to Chapter 22:00 for the rules for these shoe

verbs.

Common Reflexive Verbs

s’arrêter de to stop

s’attendre à to expect

se baigner to bathe, swim

se battre to fight

se blesser to hurt oneself

se coucher to go to bed

se demander to wonder

se dépêcher to hurry

se déshabiller to undress

s’endormir to go to sleep

se fâcher to get angry

s’habiller to dress

s’impatienter to become impatient

*s’inquiéter to worry

se laver to wash

*se lever to get up

se mettre à to begin

s’occuper de to take care of

se passer de to do without

se présenter to introduce oneself

*se promener to take a walk

*se rappeler to recall

se rejoindre to meet

se reposer to rest

se réunir to meet

se réveiller to wake up

se servir de to use

se tromper to make a mistake

se trouver to be situated

Choosing the Correct Reflexive Verb

Some verbs in French have special meanings when used reflexively. So be

careful to choose the verb you want to use:

BASIC MEANING REFLEXIVE MEANING

attendre to wait for s’attendre à to expect

battre to beat se battre to fight

demander to ask se demander to wonder

occuper to occupy s’occuper de to take care of

passer to spend time, pass se passer de to do without

servir to serve se servir de to use

tromper to deceive se tromper to make a mistake

Some reflexive verbs are used idiomatically in certain expressions, which

means there is no logical grammatical explanation for the construction

of these phrases.

Idiomatic Reflexive Verbs

se brosser les dents to brush one’s teeth

se casser la jambe to break one’s leg

s’en aller to go away

se faire des amis to make friends

se mettre en colère to get angry

se rendre compte de to realize

The table below shows the verbs that are always used reflexively in

French, but not necessarily in English:

French Verbs That Are Always Reflexive

s’efforcer de to strive to

s’empresser de to hasten to

s’en aller to leave, go away

se fier à to trust

se méfier de to distrust

se moquer de to make fun of

se soucier de to care about

se souvenir de to remember

Reflexive verbs in the plural may express reciprocal action corresponding

to

“each

other”

or

“one

another”

in

English:

Nous

nous

écrivons.

(We

write

to

each

other.)

Use l’un(e) l’autre (each other) or les un(e)s les autres (one another) to

be specific:

Ils se regardent. They look at themselves (each other).

Ils se regardent l’un l’autre. They look at each other.

Ils se regardent les uns les autres. They look at one another.

Reflexive Verbs in Compound Tenses

In compound tenses, reflexive verbs use être as their helping verb.

The reflexive pronoun remains before the conjugated form of être:

Elle s’est lavée. She washed herself.

Elle s’était lavée. She had washed herself.

Elle se sera lavée. She will have washed herself.

Elle se serait lavée. She would have washed herself.

When the reflexive pronoun represents a direct object (e.g., Whom did

she wash? Herself.), the past participle agrees with the reflexive pronoun:

Elle s’est lavée. (She washed herself.)

When the reflexive pronoun represents an indirect object (e.g., For

whom did she wash something? For herself.), the past participle shows

no agreement: Elle s’est lavé les mains. (She washed her hands.)

Note that the possesssive adjective, in this case her, is expressed by the

definite article les because the possessor is clear. The reflexive pronoun is

the obvious indicator of possession.

Reflexive Verbs with Infinitives

When a subject is followed by two verbs, the reflexive pronoun goes

before the verb (the infinitive) to which its meaning is linked: Je vais me

sentir mieux. (I’m going to feel better.)

ORIGINS

It is only natural when you meet someone new to inquire about that

person’s origins or to speak about your own. To formally ask a person

where he or she is from, use: D’où êtes-vous? (Where are you from?). To

be informal, ask: Tu es d’où? (Where are you from?)

In order to speak correctly about coming from, living in, or traveling

to a country, city, state, or province, you should learn the following

prepositions:

PREPOSITION MEANING USED WITH NAMES OF

à to, in cities

au to, in masculine singular countries

aux to, in masculine plural countries

en to, in feminine countries, continents,

NOTE

islands, states, provinces, and

masculine singular countries

beginning with a vowel

de from cities, feminine countries, continents,

islands, states, provinces

du from masculine singular countries

des from masculine plural countries

Je vais à Paris, au Portugal, en I’m going to Paris, Portugual,

Espagne, et aux États-Unis. Spain, and the United States.

Je suis de Dallas. Il est du I am from Dallas. He is from Mexico.

Mexique. Elle est des États-Unis. She is from the United States.

1. Dans (to, in) and de (from) + definite article (le, la, l’, les) are used with

modified geographical names: dans le Dakota du Sud (in/to South

Dakota), de l’Europe du Nord (from Northern Europe).

2. Haïti and Israël do not use definite articles: en Haïti (to, in Haiti), d’Haïti

(from Haiti); en Israël (to, in Israel), d’Israël (from Israel).

Names of countries and continents:

Masculine Countries

Brazil le Brésil Japan le Japon

Canada le Canada Mexico le Mexique

Denmark le Danemark Morocco le Maroc

Haiti Haïti Netherlands les Pays-Bas

Iran l’Iran Portugal le Portugal

Iraq l’Irak United States les États-Unisl

Israel Israël Zaire le Zaïre

Feminine Countries

Algeria l’Algérie India l’Inde

Austria l’Autriche Italy l’Italie

Belgium la Belgique Norway la Norvège

China la Chine Poland la Pologne

Egypt l’Égypte Russia la Russie

England l’Angleterre Scotland l’Écosse

France la France Spain l’Espagne

Germany l’Allemagne Sweden la Suède

Greece la Grèce Switzerland la Suisse

Hungary la Hongrie

Continents

Africa l’Afrique Europe l’Europe

Antarctica l’Antarctique North America l’Amérique du Nord

Asia l’Asie South America l’Amérique du Sud

Australia l’Australie

NOTE

Generally, geographical names are feminine if they end in -e, with the

exception of le Cambodge, le Mexique, le Zaïre, and l’Antarctique.

Now you can answer these questions:

D’oú êtes-vous? (Where are you from?) Je suis du Canada. Je suis des

États-Unis. Je suis de France.

Tu vas où? (Where are you going?) Je vais au Canada. Je vais aux

État-Unis. Je vais en France.

Tu habites où? (Where do you live?) J’habite à Paris.

NATIONALITIES

Quelle est votre nationalité? (What’s your nationality?) To answer this

question, you need to know how to use adjectives of nationality.

Many nationalities have similar endings. The table below gives these

endings and the common nationalities with each:

-AIS(E) -IEN(NE) -AIN(E) -OIS(E) -E -C

anglais autrichien marocain chinois belge turc, f. turque

écossais brésilien mexicain suédois russe grec, f. grecque

français canadien roumain hongrois suisse

irlandais égyptien

japonais haïtien

polonais indien

portugais italien

norvégien

Adjectives of nationality are not capitalized as they are in English, unless

they refer to a specific person: Elle est française. (She is French.) La

Française parle. (The Frenchwoman is speaking.)

THE FAMILY

When speaking in a foreign language, after you’ve introduced yourself, it

often becomes necessary to introduce or refer to members of your family.

The table below gives you the names of all the members you need to know:

Males

boyfriend petit ami grandfather grand-père

brother frère husband mari

brother-in-law beau-frère nephew neveu

child enfant son fils

cousin cousin son-in-law gendre

father père uncle oncle

father-in-law, beau-père

stepfather

Females

aunt tante cousin cousine

child enfant daughter fille

daughter-in-law belle-fille niece nièce

girlfriend petite amie sister soeur

grandmother grand-mère sister-in-law belle-soeur

mother mère wife femme

mother-in-law, belle-mère

stepmother

SHOWING POSSESSION

In order to speak about those you hold near and dear, it is necessary to

show possession, that is, to express that a person is somehow connected

to you. When introducing or referring to members of your family, use the

preposition de (of) or the possessive adjectives.

Using De

English speakers use -’s or -s’ after a noun to show possession: for example,

Marie’s father. Because French has no -’s to show possession, a

reverse construction is used: le père de Marie (the father of Marie). The

preposition de (of) is used to express relationship and possession. De is

repeated before each noun and becomes d’ before a vowel. C’est le père

de Marie et d’Henri. (He’s Marie’s and Henry’s father.)

If the possessor is referred to by a common name such as “the boy”

(He’s the boy’s father.) or “the girls” (She’s the girls’ mother.), then de contracts

with

the

definite

article

le

and les to express “of the”: de + le = du;

de + les = des.

C’est le père du garçon. He’s the boy’s father.

C’est la mère des filles. She the girls’ mother.

Some other French expressions of relationship that use de are:

a friend of mine, one of my friends un(e) de mes ami(e)s

a nephew of his, one of his nephews un de ses neveux

a neighbor (f.) of theirs, one of une de leurs voisin(e)s

their neighbors

Using Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives, like other French adjectives, agree with the nouns

they modify (the person or thing that is possessed) and not with the subject

(the

person

possessing

them)

and,

therefore,

serve

as

noun

markers.

The

following

summarizes

the

use

of

possessive

adjectives:

• The possessive adjectives used before masculine singular nouns or

feminine singular nouns beginning with a vowel are: mon (my),

ton (your familiar), son (his, her), notre (our), votre (your polite),

and leur (their).

• The possessive adjectives used before feminine singular nouns

beginning with a consonant are: ma (my), ta (your familiar),

sa (his, her), notre (our), votre (your polite), and leur (their).

• The possessive adjectives used before all plural nouns are: mes (my),

tes (your familiar), ses (his, her), nos (our), vos (your polite), and

leurs (their).

When you use a possessive adjective, make note of the following:

• Son and sa both mean “his” or “her” because the possessive adjec-

tive agrees with the noun it modifies, and not with the subject.

Therefore, “his mother” = sa mère because sa agrees with the word

mother, which is feminine. Sa mère can also mean “her mother.”

Likewise, “her father” = son père because son agrees with the word

père, which is masculine. Son père can also mean “his father.”

When you hear sa mère or son père, you will know whether sa

or son means “his” or “her” by the context of the conversation.

• Possessive adjectives are used before each noun: sa soeur et son frère

(her sister and brother), mon frère et leurs cousins (my brother and

their cousins).

• The forms mon, ton, and son are used instead of ma, ta, and sa

before a feminine singular noun beginning with a vowel or vowel

sound: mon amie (my friend).

• With parts of the body, the possessive adjective is usually replaced

with the definite article if the possessor is clear: Elle se brosse les

dents. (She brushes her teeth.) Il lève la main. (He raises his hand.)

You may now introduce someone using possessive adjectives: Je vous (te)

présente mon fils et sa femme. (I’d like you to meet my son and his wife.)

Possessive Pronouns

A possessive pronoun replaces a possessive adjective + noun: Voici ma

valise. Où est la vôtre? (Here is my suitcase. Where is yours?) The pronouns

below

agree

in

number

and

gender

with

the

nouns

they

replace:

SINGULAR PLURAL

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine

mine le mien la mienne les miens les miennes

yours le tien la tienne les tiens les tiennes

his/hers le sien la sienne les siens les siennes

ours le nôtre la nôtre les nôtres les nôtres

yours le vôtre la vôtre les vôtres les vôtres

theirs le leur la leur les leurs les leurs

NOTE

Because the possessive pronoun agrees with the item possessed and not

the possessor, the only way to distinguish between his and hers is to follow

the conversation carefully.

Using Être À

The idiom être à is usually used to show possession of a thing. Conjugate

être so that it agrees with the subject pronoun. The preposition à contracts

with the definite article le

and les before a noun: à + le = au; à + les

= aux.

Ce livre est à Jean. This is John’s book.

Ce livre est au garçon. This is the boy’s book.

Ce livre est aux garçons. This is the boys’ book.

TIME’S UP!

By using the phrases presented at the beginning of this chapter and by

using the correct possessive adjective, followed by the noun expressing

the person whom you would like to introduce, you can have a very simple

introductory conversation in French. Do the following without looking back:

1. Greet someone.

2. State that you are pleased to meet the person.

3. Give your name.

4. State your health.

5. Tell where you are from.

6. Tell where you live.

7. Give your nationality.

8. Name a country you are going to.

9. Introduce a family member.

10. Say good-bye.