Help in English

[maxro]

Zers, note addition to post above.

Max

 

[ZERS]

many hard to remember verbs.

Well the most difficult thing for NON ENGLISH people is to understand the differences, that are sometimes slight, generated by the "phrasal verbs".

Believe me, it's hard sometimes...

 

[SY]

And I won't mention the pronunciation "issues"

Unlike the wonderfully logical French pronunciations!

The rule is that everything in French is pronounced exactly the way it sounds.

You will learn how to simplify the telling of anecdotes by use of the phrase "was like" as a substitute for so many hard to remember verbs.

In Teenspeak, the verb "to say" is generally replaced by "to go" or "is all" or "is like."

Example:

"So he goes, 'wow, what are you wearing?' And I'm all, 'It's a totally awesome tank top.' And he's like, 'It's a good color.' "

 

[jan.didden]

[snip]The rule is that everything in French is pronounced exactly the way it sounds.[snip]

I had to read that twice before I realised it's the same in Dutch

Jan Didden

 

[francis varkey]

The rule is that everything in French is pronounced exactly the way it sounds.

Is there anything that's not pronounced the way it sounds?
I'd like to think that it's pronunciation which leads to sound

edit: except for the word pronunciation which is pronounced as pronounciation.

 

[EC8010]

'It's a totally awesome tank top.'

Another tip, if the word "awesome" is used, you know you are conversing with someone under thirty.

 

[SY]

Frances, it's a joke.

EC, we have an extremely popular cooking/travel show here hosted by a woman pushing 40 but who dresses and talks like a teenager. She can't cook, has a voice reminiscent of chalk squeaking on a blackboard, smirks and giggles incessantly, and uses "awesome" at least twice in every sentence. I've given up hope...

 

[francis varkey]

Frances, it's a joke.

SY, you've just changed my gender

 

[SY]

Sorry 'bout that, ma'am.

 

[francis varkey]

Sorry 'bout that, ma'am.

Way back (20 years or so) I met a beautiful French girl and her companion at a beach.
I just blurted out "comment avez vous", she corrected it to "allez vous".
Not to be outdone, I re-phrased it to"comment vous portez vous" to which her companion said "Actually, I do it".
I left in haste after a handshake and grin n nod.

 

[ZERS]

come on guys, French is very easy to learn

My comment on pronunciation was about the difference between US and UK guys.
I often watch CNN and NBC news, sometimes this is not the same english

 

[jan.didden]

come on guys, French is very easy to learn

My comment on pronunciation was about the difference between US and UK guys.
I often watch CNN and NBC news, sometimes this is not the same english

You mean CNN and BBC?
Often its not the same news either

I agree, French is easy. Just look at all those 2-yr old French kids that speak it fluently...

Jan Didden

 

[ZERS]

You mean CNN and BBC?

Oups ! Damned french keyboard

Often its not the same news either

Anyway, there is a TV program in france that compares how both french Channel 1 and Channel 2 news, deal the same headline. For example : "why such an unemployment rate in my France ?"

The news aren't definetly the same at all (sometimes...)

 

[jan.didden]

Oups ! Damned french keyboard



Anyway, there is a TV program in france that compares how both french Channel 1 and Channel 2 news, deal the same headline. For example : "why such an unemployment rate in my France ?"

The news aren't definetly the same at all (sometimes...)

Yeah. We had a headline in a Dutch paper yesterday saying: "NATO will not go to South Lebanon". That surprised me.

But reading the article it appeared that NATO's SecGen had said: "It is still too early to decide, we need more info on the type of mission, mandate etc, and we haven't been asked yet anyway" , which was a) Common sense and b) totally different from the headline. Pure misleading as far as I think.

Jan Didden

 

[SY]

My comment on pronunciation was about the difference between US and UK guys.

Funny thing about that. And a Lyonnais doesn't sound much like a Quebecois, either. While we're at it, what's up with those stupid French numbers? 97 is "four twenty ten seven." The Quebecois will sensibly say "nonante sept."

 

[AudioFreak]

97 is "four twenty ten seven."

Man that really goes back in time....

 

[ZERS]

Funny thing about that. And a Lyonnais doesn't sound much like a Quebecois, either. While we're at it, what's up with those stupid French numbers? 97 is "four twenty ten seven." The Quebecois will sensibly say "nonante sept."

Quebecois : I agree, they speak a better french than us. But this is a very old french...

French are often stupids, but not our numbers It would take too much time for me to explain you why "nonante sept" isn't correct (it clearly comes from switzerland), whereas "quatre vingt dix sept" is correct...

 

[EC8010]

Are Americans allowed to criticise numbers? How about the way you tell the time? We say, "Twenty past four," and, "A quarter to five," etc, but you're much more long-winded. And as for the month in front of the day in dates putting...

 

[ZERS]

please calm down otherwise I would start a discussion about US and UK silly metric systems ! :mdr:


Let's go back to english lessons for a dumb french :

I'm writing an agreement between my cie and a supplier, and I'd like to understand the difference between :

"Firm X commit to deliver several stuff...." and
"Firm X undertakes to deliver several stuff...."

Thanks

 

[SY]

EC, that's how I hear most Americans say it, more or less, although "half past" is less common than "thirty." I.e., it's ten thirty at the moment. Doesn't seem clumsy.

Zers, "stuff" is one of the class of nouns that lack a plural. Another example is "luggage." So for more than one item, we would say "some stuff." But that wasn't your question.

"Commit" means "I promise to do it." "Undertake" is a bit stuffy and formal, at least in American usage, but means "I'll try to do it."