Chapter 10 Correctly Using Often Misused Verbs in Daily Conversation In This Chapter ᮣ Knowing the verbs connaître and savoir ᮣ Identifying the differences between jouer à and jouer de ᮣ Forming expressions with avoir ᮣ Understanding how to use faire E very language has different ways of saying things and of expressing yourself that can’t be translated into another language word for word. French is no exception. For instance the phrases How are you doing? or How are you? are expressed in French not by the verbs faire (to do, to make) or être (to be), but by the verb aller (to go). To ask these questions in French, you say Comment allez-vous? or Comment vas-tu? In this chapter, I focus on some verbs that have the same meaning in English, but different usage in French. You want to make sure you use the right verb so that people know what you’re talking about. I also cover two common verbs: avoir (to have) and faire (to do, to make ) and how you can correctly utilize these verbs in your conversations. (You can also check out Chapter 23, which focuses on ten often-misused verbs.) Knowing the Difference between Connaître and Savoir French has two verbs that mean to know. One is connaître, and the other is savoir. Even though the English language translates them the same, the French language uses them in different circumstances. In this section, I show you how to use each verb. Both verbs are irregular. connaître ( to know ) je connais nous connaissons tu connais vous connaissez il/elle/on connaît ils/elles connaissent Je connais Aix-en-Provence. ( I know Aix-en-Provence. ) 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 109 savoir ( to know ) je sais nous savons tu sais vous savez il/elle/on sait ils/elles savent Nous savons la date de ton anniversaire. ( We know your birthday. ) So are you wondering what the differences are between the two verbs? Well, you use the two verbs with different types of information. For example, use connaître when you mean to know or to be acquainted with a person, a place, or a thing. Meanwhile, use savoir when you mean to know a fact, to know something by heart, or to know specific information, such as a telephone number, an address, or someone’s name. You can also use savoir with the clauses in Table 10-1. Table 10-1 Clauses That Use Savoir ( to know ) Common Clause Translation Example Translation savoir à quelle to know ( at ) Je sais à quelle I know ( at ) what time he is heure what time heure il va venir. going to come. savoir combien to know Je sais combien I know how much that how much ça coûte. costs. savoir comment to know how Je sais comment I know how to conjugate conjuguer connaître. connaître. savoir où to know where Je sais où est la I know where the class is. classe. savoir pourquoi to know why Je sais pourquoi I know why Henri is late. Henri est en retard. savoir quand to know when Je sais quand le I know when the train is train part. leaving. savoir que to know that Je sais que tu aimes I know that you like le chocolat. chocolate. savoir quel, quelle, to know which Je sais quelle heure I know what time it is. quels, quelles il est. savoir qui to know who Je sais qui est là. I know who is there. savoir si to know if Je sais si tu I know if you’re watching TV. regardes la télé. To say I know! or I don’t know, you simply say Je sais or Je ne sais pas. You can also follow savoir with an infinitive, but you can’t do that with connaître. In this way, savoir means to know how to do something. For example, Tu sais parler français means You know how to speak French, and Nous savons faire du ski means We know how to ski. 110 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 110 Which verb, connaître or savoir, do you use in the following sentences? Conjugate the verbs and translate the sentences. Q. Les enfants _________________ compter en français. A. Les enfants savent compter en français. (The children know how to count in French.) 1. Est-ce que tu _________________ New York? __________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Marie ne _________________ pas parler japonais. __________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Nous _________________ où il habite. __________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Ils ne _________________ pas la famille du professeur. __________________________________________________________________________________ 5. Vous _________________ conduire. __________________________________________________________________________________ Identifying What to Play Jouer is a regular -er verb that is used with different prepositions in order to convey either playing a sport or playing a musical instrument. More specifically, jouer à is used with sports and jouer de with instruments. If the sport or instrument is masculine, make the necessary contractions: à + le = au; de + le = du. See the following examples. Je joue au tennis. (I play tennis.) Je joue du piano. (I play the piano.) Check out Table 10-2 for playing other sports and games or playing other instruments. Table 10-2 The Different Ways to Play Jouer à ( + sports or games ) Jouer de ( + instruments ) Je joue au basket(ball). ( I play basketball. ) Je joue du saxophone. ( I play the saxophone. ) Je joue au foot. ( I play soccer. ) Je joue du violon. ( I play the violin. ) Je joue au volley. ( I play volleyball. ) Je joue de la batterie. ( I play the drums. ) Je joue au golf. ( I play golf. ) Je joue de la flûte. ( I play the flute. ) Je joue au hockey. ( I play hockey. ) Je joue de la guitare. ( I play the guitar. ) Je joue au bridge. ( I play bridge. ) Je joue de la trompette. ( I play the trumpet. ) (continued) 111 Chapter 10: Correctly Using Often Misused Verbs in Daily Conversation 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 111 Table 10-2 (continued) Jouer à ( + sports or games ) Jouer de ( + instruments ) Je joue aux cartes. ( I play cards. ) Je joue du violoncelle. ( I play the cello. ) Je joue aux dames. ( I play checkers. ) Je joue de la basse. ( I play bass. ) Je joue aux échecs. ( I play chess. ) Je joue de la clarinette. ( I play the clarinet. ) In the negative, the prepositions à, au, à la, à l’, and aux don’t change. However, du, de la, de l’, and des do change to de or d’ after the negative, such as Je ne joue pas de piano, which means I don’t play the piano. Now, it’s your turn. Conjugate the verb jouer (to play) and provide the correct prepo- sitions. Translate the following sentences. Q. Mon père _________________ (jouer) golf. A. Mon père joue au golf. My father plays golf. 6. Georges _________________ (jouer) violon. __________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Ils _________________ (ne pas jouer) batterie. __________________________________________________________________________________ 8. Je _________________ (jouer) échecs. __________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Mon frère _________________ (jouer) guitare. __________________________________________________________________________________ 10. Les enfants _________________ (jouer) basketball. __________________________________________________________________________________ Keeping Avoir and Faire in Line French has two very important verbs, avoir (to have) and faire (to do, to make), that are responsible for many sentence formations. From these two simple verbs you can form dozens of everyday expressions. This section looks at each verb, avoir and faire, and helps you with any questions you may have. I show you the correct conjugations (you can also find them in Chapter 4) as well as several common expressions formed with these two verbs. 112 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 112 Using avoir The verb avoir is very versatile in French and has several meanings in English. This verb is living proof that translating literally from one language to another doesn’t always work. Check out the conjugation in the present tense. avoir ( to have ) j’ai nous avons tu as vous avez il/elle/on a ils/elles ont Ils ont trois enfants. ( They have three children. ) In French, one isn’t a certain age, but has a certain age. Therefore, the question How old are you? is What age do you have? In French if someone asks you Quel âge as-tu/ avez-vous? (How old are you?), you respond as follows: J’ai (your age) ans. For exam- ple, J’ai vingt ans (I am 20 years old). Check out Table 10-3 for other important avoir expressions. Table 10-3 Important Avoir Expressions Avoir Expression Translation avoir faim to be hungry avoir soif to be thirsty avoir sommeil to be sleepy avoir tort (de) to be wrong avoir raison (de) to be right avoir chaud to be hot avoir froid to be cold avoir peur (de) to be afraid (of) avoir besoin de to need avoir envie de to want, to feel like avoir l’intention de to have the intention of avoir l’habitude de to be accustomed to, to be used to avoir l’occasion de to have the chance to, to have the opportunity to avoir de la chance to be lucky avoir honte (de) to be ashamed of avoir mal (à + a part of the body) to ache, to have pain in a part of the body 113 Chapter 10: Correctly Using Often Misused Verbs in Daily Conversation 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 113 You can use the expressions in Table 10-3 with the preposition de in parentheses alone or followed by an infinitive or a noun. For example, J’ai tort means I am wrong and J’ai tort de mentir means I am wrong to lie. When these expressions are followed by an infinitive, you must use the preposition de in front of the infinitive, as in the fol- lowing examples: J’ai l’occasion de voyager cet été. (I have the chance/the opportunity to travel this summer. ) Nous avons l’habitude de sortir le samedi soir. (We are used [accustomed] to going out Saturday evenings. ) Avoir besoin de and avoir envie de can be followed by an infinitive or a noun. In either case, the preposition de is necessary before the infinitive or the noun. Tu as besoin d’étudier. (You need to study.) J’ai envie de chanter. (I feel like singing.) J’ai envie de chocolat. (I feel like chocolate.) To make these expressions negative, add ne before the verb and pas or another nega- tive word after it. Je n’ai pas envie de chanter. (I don’t feel like singing.) You can also add adverbs to these sentences. Check out French For Dummies by Dodi- Katrin Schmidt, Michelle M. Williams, and Dominique Wenzel (Wiley) for more specific information about French grammar. The expression avoir mal is the only one from the list in Table 10-3 that’s followed by the preposition à. Conjugate the verb avoir in the present and add mal, the preposi- tion à, and the part of the body that’s hurting now. For example, if you have a back- ache, you say J’ai mal au dos. The preposition à is followed by the part of the body that is hurting along with the definite article. J’ai mal aux pieds. (My feet hurt.) J’ai mal à l’épaule. (My shoulder hurts.) Now translate some of these expressions into French. Q. He doesn’t feel like going out. A. Il n’a pas envie de sortir. 11. We are thirsty. __________________________________________________________________________________ 12. They are right. __________________________________________________________________________________ 13. You need to read. __________________________________________________________________________________ 114 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 114 14. Michael is lucky. __________________________________________________________________________________ 15. Her head hurts. __________________________________________________________________________________ Trying faire Another important verb used in many common expressions is faire (to do, to make). You need to know how to correctly use it because it’s very versatile and can be used to express playing both an instrument and a sport without switching prepositions. This section shows you how to conjugate it and then provides numerous expressions using this verb. faire ( to do, to make ) je fais nous faisons tu fais vous faites il/elle/on fait ils/elles font Il fait du tennis. ( He plays tennis. ) Table 10-4 shows many of the ways that you can use faire when talking about sports as well as instruments. When you use faire with sports and instruments, remember that it has the same meaning as the verb jouer à or de (to play). These two verbs are used interchangeably. However, remember to use the correct prepositions. Unlike jouer, faire is followed by the preposition de whether you’re talking about a sport or an instrument. Table 10-4 Using Faire with Sports and Instruments Faire Expression Translation faire de l’alpinisme to mountain climb faire de la planche à voile to windsurf faire de la voile to sail, sailing faire des randonnées to hike faire du baseball to play baseball faire du foot, football to play soccer faire du football américan to play football faire du karaté to do karate faire du ski to ski faire du tennis to play tennis (continued) 115 Chapter 10: Correctly Using Often Misused Verbs in Daily Conversation 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 115 Table 10-4 (continued) Faire Expression Translation faire du vélo to ride a bike faire du volley to play volleyball faire de la batterie to play the drums faire de la flûte to play the flute faire de la guitare to play the guitar faire de la trompette to play the trumpet faire du piano to play the piano faire du saxophone to play the saxophone faire du violon to play the violin In addition to sports and instruments, you can also use faire in other ways. Table 10-5 shows many common expressions that utilize faire. Table 10-5 Faire in Everyday Conversation Faire Expression Translation faire attention to pay attention faire la connaissance de to make someone’s acquaintance faire la cuisine to cook, to do the cooking faire la grasse matinée to sleep in late faire la lessive to do laundry faire la liste to make a list faire la queue to form a line, to wait in line faire la sieste to take a nap faire la vaisselle to do the dishes faire le marché to do the shopping faire le ménage to do the housework faire les courses to run errands, to do the shopping faire les devoirs to do the homework faire les provisions to do the grocery shopping faire les valises/bagages to pack faire un voyage to take a trip faire une promenade to take a walk/stroll 116 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 116 Translate the following sentences and correctly conjugate faire in the appropriate form. Remember that some may have more than one answer. (I provide the most common answer in the answer key.) Q. The baby is taking a nap. A. Le bébé fait la sieste. 16. My mother does the cooking. __________________________________________________________________________________ 17. The children do the dishes. __________________________________________________________________________________ 18. I play tennis. __________________________________________________________________________________ 19. We pay attention. __________________________________________________________________________________ 20. You sleep in late. __________________________________________________________________________________ 117 Chapter 10: Correctly Using Often Misused Verbs in Daily Conversation 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 117 118 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such Answer Key This section contains all the answers for the practice problems in this chapter. Compare your answers to the correct answers to see how you fared. a Est-ce que tu connais New York? Do you know New York? b Marie ne sait pas parler japonais. Marie doesn’t know how to speak Japanese. c Nous savons où il habite. We know where he lives. d Ils ne connaissent pas la famille du professeur. They don’t know the professor’s family. e Vous savez conduire. You know how to drive. f Georges joue du violon. Georges plays the violin. g Ils ne jouent pas de batterie. They don’t play the drums. h Je joue aux échecs. I play chess. i Mon frère joue de la guitare. My brother plays the guitar. j Les enfants jouent au basketball. The children play basketball. k Nous avons soif. l Ils ont raison. m Tu as besoin de lire. n Michael a de la chance. o Elle a mal à la tête. p Ma mère fait la cuisine. q Les enfants font la vaisselle. r Je fais du tennis. s Nous faisons attention. t Tu fais la grasse matinée. 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 118 . late. __________________________________________________________________________________ 117 Chapter 10: Correctly Using Often Misused Verbs in Daily Conversation 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 117 118 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such Answer. these two verbs. 112 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 112 Using avoir The verb avoir is very versatile in French and has. take a walk/stroll 116 Part II: Using Verbs Correctly with Questions, Commands, and Such 15_773883 ch10.qxp 8/2/06 1:30 PM Page 116 Translate the following sentences and correctly conjugate faire