FRENCH GRAMMAR: Indirect Object Pronouns

Indirect Object pronouns are often difficult to explain/understand as an English speaker.

In the image below featuring an androgynous "moi" I hope, if not to explain, then to illustrate the relationship between the indirect object pronoun "me" and "verb+à" constructions.

Sometimes in French a subject (elle) may wish to give/say something to (à) an object (moi)

The structure for saying and giving is:

Dire quelquechose à quelqu'un (to say something to someone)

Donner quelquechose à quelqu'un (to give something to someone)

...where quelquechose (something) is a direct object and quelqu'un (someone) is an indirect object

The à is a clue that the object that follows is indirect, as it forms a barrier between the verb and the object - allowing no direct relationship between the two to form.

...and the indirect object pronoun to represent "me" is ... "me"

...a lot of complicated grammar to explain a word that is the same in French as it is in English.

FRENCH IDIOMS: Pants and Wet Fingers

Please excuse the rather lewd-appearing post title - this post is actually an examination of English idiom "By the seat of one's pants".

Here we find yet another idiom that doesn't quite translate between French and English in the way one might expect, for there is no pantalon, and no culottes to be found in the French approximation.

...instead, we express it with a wet finger:

au doigt mouillé.

photo by ~Pawssou

The etymology behind the French idiom has actually shed some light for me on the problem of translating from one thing to the other:

They don't quite mean the same thing.

An action performed au doigt mouillé is one that is approximate; imprecise.

An action performed by the seat of one's pants is improvised; instinctive; intuitive.

The French idiom originates from the tradition of holding a moistened finger up to assess which way the wind is blowing - we can use this to tell us approximately in which direction the wind is blowing, but not precisely.

In a sense this could be seen as improvisation in the face of insufficient resources/tools, which is probably why au doigt mouillé is considered a reasonable translation of by the seat of one's pants.

all in all it is probably better to bring a more chaotic, less organised image to mind to help this one stick.  More like this:

artwork by  ~HooDooArt

A hand reaching through the water in an approximate, imprecise direction, resulting of the intuition and instinct of the person below the surface.

Language Tools - Memrise

Today I post my first ever review, of sorts, of a language learning tool:  a website by the name of Memrise

www.memrise.com

I was introduced to this site only a few days ago by a friend, a fellow language-learner, and I am already waxing lyrical about it's sheer inventiveness in using modern trends to allow the user to learn language in a fun, creative, goal-orientated and interactive manner.

In fact I think this may be the first language-learning method that I have come across to combine all four of these elements.

Websites of this kind are rare as it is, even rarer with the impending closure of my previous favourite, Wordchamp.  But Memrise has an extra trick up its sleeve: you learn through memes, or 'mem's.

Sometimes these can take the form of text:

other times they can be images:

But, crucially, you can pick them yourself from user-submitted suggestions.  This means that:

1. You can pick a memory aid that resonates with you personally

2. Through selecting that aid you will be forced to process the other alternatives and anchor the word much more firmly by default.

3. If you have a better idea you can submit you own, that may go on to help other users.

Innovative, fun, creative, interactive.

You are then tested on your understanding of the vocabulary by multiple choice:

and by text input:

You are graded, and advised which words/phrases need revision, and how often, so whilst being engaging Memrise also manages to retain the need for goals and rewards that keep the learner on track and pushes them to do more.

Quite simply and outstanding tool!  If you're learning a language, especially as a beginner, I urge you to sign up and check this out.

I will most likely be creating lessons and memes of my own for my "Language Through Song" project that was looking a little too wordy and difficult to digest as a series of simple text posts.

A big 

THANK YOU 

to James for pushing Memrise my way!

LANGUAGE THROUGH SONG - WARLOCK (DORO) (#2)

32-46 seconds

GERMAN:

Keine Macht

Wird uns jemals trennen
(Ich) werde wie ein Tier d'rum kampfen
Du lernst mich kennen

ENGLISH:

No power

Will ever part us

I will fight like an animal for this

You are getting to know me.

VOCABULARY:

die Macht – power

jemals – ever

wie – like

ein Tier – an animal

darum; d'rum – therefore, for that reason

GRAMMAR:

Negation

“Keine Macht”

Negation is usually expressed in German by placing “nicht” [nisht] after the verb:

Ich sehe (I see) [ish zay-uh]
>

Ich sehe nicht (I don't see) [ish zay-uh nisht]

In the source text example, however, we are negating a noun rather than a verb, to express the idea of there being none of that noun.

so...

die Macht (power)

becomes...

keine Macht (no power)

The 'kein' word replaces the usual article ('the' or 'a' word), as instead of having 'the power', now we have 'no power'

The Nominative Case

“Keine Macht”

German has four cases, we will look at just one in this instance – the nominative case.

The nominative case acts on the subject of a sentence, or the person/thing in the sentence that is 'doing' the verb.

e.g. The cat sits on the mat.

In this instance 'the cat' is the subject of the sentence, as it is doing the sitting.

'The mat' isn't doing anything. It is being sat on, so it is the object of the sentence – the person/thing that the verb is being done to.

The nominative case is also used for some sentence objects – usually those being subjected to the verbs 'sein' (to be) and 'werden' (to become)

The articles for the nominative case in German are as follows:

Definite Article: (the)

masculine – der

feminine – die

neutral – das

plural – die

Indefinite Article: (a)

masculine – ein

feminine – eine

neutral – ein

plural – eine

The source text example uses a 'kein-' word, rather than an article. To get the correct form of this for the nominative subject, simply add a 'k' to an indefinite article:

eine > keine

VERBS:

trennen – to separate; to part (future tense)

Ich werde trennen – I will separate [v-air-duh trenn-un]

du wirst trennen – you will separate (informal singular) [veer-st trenn-un]

er/sie/es/man wird trennen – he/she/it/one will separate [veer-t trenn-un]

ihr werdet trennen – you will separate (informal plural) [v-air-det trenn-un]

wir werden trennen – we will separate [v-air-dun trenn-un]

Sie werden trennen – you will separate (formal) [v-air-dun trenn-un]

sie werden trennen – they will separate [v-air-dun trenn-un]

kampfen – to fight (future tense)

Ich werde kampfen – I will fight [v-air-duh kamp-fen]

du wirst kampfen - you will fight (informal singular) [veer-st kamp-fen]

er/sie/es/man wird kampfen – he/she/it/one will fight [veer-t kamp-fen]

ihr werdet kampfen – you will fight (informal plural) [v-air-det kamp-fen]

wir werden kampfen – we will fight [v-air-dun kamp-fen]

Sie werden kampfen – you will fight (formal) [v-air-dun kamp-fen]

sie werden kampfen – they will fight [v-air-dun kamp-fen]

kennenlernen – to get to know; to meet (present tense)

Ich lerne kennen – I am get too know [lair-nuh kennen]

du lernst kennen – you are get to know (informal singular) [lair-n-st kennen]

er/sie/es/man lernt kennen – he/she/it/one is getting to know [lair-n-t kennen]

ihr lernt kennen – you are getting to know (informal plural) [lair-n-t kennen]

wir lernen kennen – we are getting to know [lair-nun kennen]

Sie lernen kennen – you are getting to know (formal) [lair-nun kennen]

sie lernen kennen – they are getting to know [lair-nun kennen]

(#1).(#2)

LANGUAGE THROUGH SONG - WARLOCK (DORO)

0-31 seconds

GERMAN:

Bleib' dir treu

Niemals auseinander geh'n

Werden immer zueinander steh'n

Für immer.

Doro has omitted quite a lot of words and sounds in these lyrics, probably to adhere to the songs rhythm/syllable count. Within the context of the song, this would not pose any issues to German speakers, but I add them below so that the lyrics may make more sense grammatically to a person learning German.

(added text in brackets)

(Ich) bleibe dir treu

(Wir werden) niemals auseinander gehen

(Wir) werden immer zueinander stehen

Für immer

ENGLISH:

I stay faithful to you

We will never part

We will always stay together

forever

VOCABULARY

treu – faithful; loyal; true

niemals – never

auseinander gehen – to leave one another; to part

zueinander – to each other; together
für – for

immer - always

für immer – for ever

GRAMMAR

TENSES:

The present tense

“(Ich) bleibe dir treu”

For those simply looking for a quick reference, present-tense conjugation tables for all of the verbs in these first few lines of the song can be found at the bottom of this post.

For those that wish to learn to form it, however, here are the rules for conjugating “regular” verbs (verbs that follow the standard pattern set out below):

1. remove the verb's infinitive ending (“en”) to reveal the verb stem.  The infinitive form of the verb is it's full form.  This would be the difference between "does" (conjugated/finite form) and "to do" (infinitive form) in English.

bleiben > bleib

2. add the relevant present tense ending, also shown in the verb tables at the end of this post:

Ich - “e” > bleibe

du - “st” > bleibst

er/sie/es/man - “t” > bleibt

ihr - “t” > bleibt*

wir/Sie/sie - “en” > bleiben*

*basically, all plural forms except for the informal plural form of “you” (ihr) keep the “en” ending.

The future tense/word order

“(Wir werden) niemals auseinander gehen”

“(Wir) werden immer zueinander stehen”

The formation of the future tense in German is really simple.

1. conjugate the verb “werden” (to become) in the present tense.

2. pair it with the relevant verb in the infinitive.

Ich gehe (I go) > Ich werde gehen (I will go)

In German, in most instances, the first verb will take a second-position place in a sentence, and will be conjugated. Any subsequent verbs will be in the infinitive form, and will be “booted” to the end of the sentence/clause:

(Wir) werden immer zueinander stehen

(Wir werden) niemals auseinander gehen

VERBS

bleiben – to stay (present tense)

ich bleibe – I stay [bl-eye-buh]

du bleibst – you stay (singular informal) [bl-eye-bst]

er/sie/es/man bleibt – he/she/it/one stays [bl-eye-bt]

ihr bleibt – you stay (plural informal) [bl-eye-bt]

wir bleiben – we stay [bl-eye-bun]

Sie bleiben – you stay (formal singular/plural) [bl-eye-bun]

sie bleiben – they stay [bl-eye-bun]

gehen – to go (present tense)

ich gehe – I go [gay-uh]
du gehst – you go (informal singular) [gay-st]

er/sie/es/man geht – he/she/it/one goes [gate]
ihr geht – you go (informal plural) [gate]

wir gehen – we go [gay-en]

Sie gehen – you go (formal singular/plural) [gay-en]

sie gehen – they go [gay-en]

werden – to become (present tense)

ich werde – I become [v-air-duh]

du wirst – you become (informal singular) [veer-st]

er/sie/es/man wird – he/she/it/one becomes [veert]

ihr werdet – you become (informal plural) [verdut]

wir werden – we become [verdun]

Sie werden – you become (formal singular/plural) [verdun]

sie werden – they become [verdun]

stehen – to stay (present tense)

ich stehe – I stay [shtay-uh]

du stehst – you stay (informal singular) [shtay-st]

er/sie/es/man steht – he/she/it/one stays [sht-ate]

ihr steht – you stay (informal plural) [sht-ate]

wir stehen – we stay [shtay-en]

Sie stehen – you stay (formal singular/plural) [shtay-en]

sie stehen – they stay [shtay-en]

(#1).(#2)

LANGUAGE THROUGH SONG - MIKA

For a full run-through of the song's vocabulary, I've set up a lesson on memrise:

you can get a basic account for free, and more lessons will be going up in the future!

For those of you not interested in having your language tools dictated to you, there are a few useful phrases and grammar points below.  If there are any other points you'd like clarification on, please do leave a comment!

VOCABULARY

elle dit = she says
elle me dit = she says to me

être fier = to be proud

danse! = dance! (singular, imperative)

c'est quoi ton problème = what is your problem?

c'est ta vie = it's your life

fais ce que tu veux! = do what you want! (singular, imperative)

nul = rubbish

pourquoi? = why?

ça (ne) va pas bien = I'm/it's not well

j'aime = I like

un truc = a thing

GRAMMAR

ADJECTIVES:

Adjective Placement

“une chanson contente ...

une chanson déprimante”

Unlike in English, French adjectives usually follow the noun they describe.

There are instances where adjectives precede nouns, and there are rules for these, but they are extremely loose and exceptions are numerous.

Happily, though, the placement of the adjective depends on the adjective itself, so if you see an adjective following a noun, it is an adjective that will always follow its noun. The same applies for noun-preceeding adjectives.

So content and déprimant are two to add to your “noun-following adjectives” list

Adjective Agreement

“une chanson contente ...

une chanson déprimante”

French nouns have genders, and French grammar is often called upon to represent this – so adjectives have to agree in gender with their noun.

The same applies for plural nouns.

In most cases this just means adding an ending to the default form (the singular, masculine form) of the adjective.

For feminine nouns, add an “e”

For plural nouns, add an “s”

For feminine plural nouns, add both (“es”)

The “une” before “chanson” indicates that this is a feminine noun, so we add an “e” in this instance to our adjectives: contente, déprimante

More agreement – "tout"

"une chanson que tout le monde aime".

This segment follows on nicely from adjective agreement.

The word “tout”, meaning all/everything, also needs to convey gender and number.

In the given example “tout le monde”, we are talking, figuratively, about everyone in the world.

The “le” in “le monde” shows us that this is a masculine, singular noun, so we use the “tout” form.

Here are the other forms:

tout – masculine singular

tous – masculine plural

toute – feminine singular

toutes – feminine plural