Clé France

Spring is still a few weeks away

but at least up here in the hémisphère nord (northern hemisphere) and in the end of un janvier froid et gris (a cold and grey January), I know we can all use a little taste of spring to get us through.

En plus (And), so I got to thinking about all the colours of un arc-en-ciel (lit. an arc in the sky or a rainbow).

Les couleurs de l’arc-en-ciel sont (The colours of the rainbow are)

rouge / red

orange / orange

jaune / yellow

vert / green

bleu / blue

indigo / indigo

violet / violet (or purple)

Noir et Blanc (black and white) are not – scientifically speaking – colours, but they’re certainly useful words to know.

As are:

marron / brown

gris / grey

rose / pink

Les couleurs peuvent être (Colours can be)

clair / light

foncé / dark

vif / bright

pâle / pale

It is important to remember that colours are also adjectives. Most, like other adjectives in French, need to agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify, but it would be too easy if they all did! As is often the case, there are exceptions.

As a general rule:

Simple colours must agree:

(une voiture grise / a grey car; des livres rouges / red books; une souris verte / a green mouse)

Compound colours do not agree:

(des chaussures bleu pâle / light blue shoes; des crayons jaune citron / lemon yellow pencils)

Colours that are also nouns, do not agree:

(une chemise marron / a brown shirt; des chaises orange / orange chairs)!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes

We’ve all got them. We’re made of them. We use them all the time. In fact, you’re using some of them to read this post!

I’d argue that it’s safe to say you learn the body parts in a traditional French classroom within the first few weeks. They’re very useful words, especially when you’re just starting to talk about yourself in a foreign language.

Even still, you generally only learn a few of them. When I first travelled to France, I’d already learned how to say head and arm, but you never know what word you may need in everyday conversation. I remember learning the word for ankle (la cheville) when I went ice skating with some friends – I was complaining about ankle pain but didn’t know the word for the body part causing me the agony. Once they taught me, I knew I’d remember the word forever because it was now linked to that event.  

Over the years, I learned more words, but I also learned how to say what these body parts do.

So are you sitting comfortably?

For today’s post, I thought I’d introduce the body parts and list the verbs for the actions they do.

That way, you can match the two words together.

la tête – head

hocher – to nod/shake

tourner – to turn

les oreilles (f) – ears

écouter – to listen to

entendre – to listen to

écouter aux portes [familiar] – to listen at the door

tendre l’oreille – to listen carefully/keep your ears open

l’œil (m) – eye; les yeux – eyes

le sourcil – eyebrow

le cil – eyelash

voir – to see

regarder – to watch

observer – to observe

mater – to check out [informal]

cligner – to blink

faire un clin d’œil – to wink

fixer – to stare at someone

scruter – to examine

le nez – nose

respirer (par le nez) – to breathe (through your nose)

avoir le nez qui coule – to have a runny nose

se moucher – to blow your nose

la bouche – mouth

les lèvres – lips

les dents (f) – teeth

la langue – tongue

manger – to eat

mâcher/mastiquer – to chew

ronger – to gnaw

embrasser – to kiss

lecher – to lick

parler – to talk

bavarder – to chat

respirer (par la bouche) – to breathe (through your mouth)

cracher – to spit

siroter – to sip

la gorge – throat

avaler – to swallow

racler la gorge – to clear your throat

le cou – neck

se tordre – to twist/wring/knot

se dévisser le cou – to gawk at/stare at something

tordre le cou à quelqu’un – to strangle someone

la poitrine – chest

tousser – to cough

gonfler la poitrine [expression] – to be proud of yourself

les épaules (f) – shoulders

housser – to shrug

la main – hand

les doigts – fingers

le poignet – wrist

le coude – elbow

faire craquer les doigts – to crack your knuckles

montrer du droigt – to point at

claquer les doits – to snap

faire un doigt d’honneur – to give someone the finger/flip the bird

grater – to scratch

tenir – to hold

toucher – to touch

applaudir – to applaud/clap

serrer (les mains) – to shake hands

frotter – to rub

giffler – to slap

donner un coup de poing à quelqu’un – to punch someone

tendre la main – to hold your hand out

tendre les bras à quelqu’un – to welcome somebody with open arms

l’estomac – stomach

digérer – to digest

gargouiller – to growl

les jambes (f) – legs

les genoux (m) – knees

les pieds (m) – feet

les orteils (m) – toes

tenir debout – to stand

marcher – to walk

courir – to run

donner un coup de pied à quelqu’un – to kick someone

enjamber – to step over

Bonne Chance!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Question: Hi Alex, we are planning a viewing trip with you guys soon, as you know, it will be our first property viewing trip to France gulp! do you have any French phrases / terminology we could use so we don't appear to daft to 'the French'?

thanks Judith C.

Answer:

Traveling can be difficult when you combine la fatigue à cause du décalage horaire (jetlag) with a language barrier. Before you ever leave though, making sure all your travel arrangements are in order can prove to be quite difficult as well.

Preparing a trip can take a long time. You might know where you want to go and how you want to get there, but sometimes you just do not have le temps to put it all together!

The first step in la réservation d’un vol (reserving a flight) is looking at votre emploi du temps (your schedule) to see when you can prendre l’avion (take a flight). It can be hard to figure out how to arrange everything when you’re looking at un vol de nuit (a red eye flight) and un décalage horaire (a time difference).

Finding la meilleure relation qualité/prix (the best value for the money) can be hard, especially if there’s un vol at a good price, but it doesn’t fit into votre emploi du temps chargé (your busy schedule)!

While you might not be able to change votre emploi du temps chargé, you can choose your seat, côté couloir ou côté hublot (aisle or window), and le repas (the meal). Airplane food may not be the best, but you can let them know if you want un repas végétarien (a vegetarian meal) in advance.

After spending the time to réserver le vol the next big step is to faire vos valises (pack your bags). Fitting everything you need in une valise (a suitcase) can be the hardest part of la préparation. After stuffing everything into une valise you have to then make sure it meets the requirements of la compagnie aérienne (the airline).

The requirements for le bagage en soute (checked luggage) and le bagage en cabine (carry-on luggage) can change between les compagnie aériennes, but the information is usually easy to find on le site web de la compagnie aérienne (the airline’s website).

After everything is packed all that’s left is getting up at the right time. Once you’re at l’aéroport, it’s best to see if le vol est rétardé (the flight is delayed). If le vol est à l’heure (the flight is on time), the last hurdle is making it through la contrôle de sûreté (the security check) after vous avez enregistré vos bagages (you have checked in your luggage)!

There may be some things out of your control at l’aéroport, but at least you can make sure la réservation is ready and les valises sont faites in advance!

ALSO here’s a list of vocabulary that will help you in France during a viewing trip, although our agents speak English:

Vocabulaire:

Immobilier - Estate Agency

les pièces — rooms (the French don’t use the number of bedrooms as a reference for the capacity of an apartment or house, but rather they count based on the number of habitable rooms, excluding bathrooms and the kitchen)

le loyer — rent

location — rental

la surface — the square footage; area

la maison — house

l’appartement — apartment

le terrain — land

le prêt immobilier — real estate loan, or mortgage

l’impôt immobilier — real estate tax

l’agent immobilier — real estate agent

l’agence immobilier — real estate agency

louer — to rent

acheter — to buy

le bâtiment — the building

le bailleur — the landlord

le bail — the lease

charges (non) comprises — charges (not) included

commission (non) comprise — commission (not) included

le dépôt de garantie — security deposit

meublé — furnished

le propriétaire — the owner

Hope these few words help a little?

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

I have always been astounded, when walking into a French bookstore, at the amount of international literature (both translated and untranslated) featured on its bookshelves. This is not so much the case in other countries where the book shop shelves are filled with mainly books published within that country, so book lovers can miss wonderful books from other countries; including from France.

So, here is a list of French books that have achieved both public and critical acclaim this past year in France. You may have heard of some of them already, and some may be completely new to you. Most of these books are not yet available in an English translation, however, they most likely will be soon.

It’s also worth it to keep a look out for past books by these authors, which are more likely to have already been translated, if you are interested in reading them in English.

Repose-toi sur moi par Serge Joncort (Flammarion)

Two characters who seem to have little in common share the main plot of this story: Ludovic, a young widower who works in finance, and Aurore, a mother who feels pressure to keep up with her husband. They live in the same building and often meet to talk in the courtyard. But what will come of their meetings? Read the French review here.

La Cheffe, roman d’une cuisinière par Marie Ndiaye (Gallimard)

From the publisher’s website: Le narrateur raconte la vie et la carrière de la Cheffe, une cuisinière qui a connu une période de gloire, dont il a longtemps été l’assistant – et l’amoureux sans retour. Au centre du récit, la cuisine est vécue comme une aventure spirituelle. Non que le plaisir et le corps en soient absents, au contraire : ils sont les instruments d’un voyage vers un au-delà – la Cheffe allant toujours plus loin dans sa quête d’épure.

“The narrator tells the story of the life and career of The Chef, a cook who has had a very successful career, as his past assistant–and former lover. In this book, the kitchen is depicted as a place of spiritual adventure. It’s not that it is a place that is absent of pleasure or sexuality, in fact, quite the opposite: They are the instruments of a journey to the beyond–The Chef always going farther in his quest for refinement.”

Ce qu’il faut de terre à l’homme par Martin Veyron (Dargaud)

Based on Leo Tolstoy’s short story, “How Much Land Does a Man Need?”, this graphic novel by Martin Veyron tells the story of the Siberian peasant Pacôme whose ambition for more land for him and his family begins an ambition that cannot be sated… Learn more here.

Bonne lecture!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Idioms (les idiotismes, m.) are expressions that don’t necessarily make sense literally, but have a well known meaning to native speakers. In order to be able to understand a language’s idioms, therefore, you can’t just know the exact definition of a word but you must also understand the social and cultural meaning behind that word.

It is also nearly impossible to perfectly translate.

Here are some common idiotismes that you may come across in French:

Appeler un chat un chat

Literal meaning: “To call a cat a cat”

Actual meaning: In English, we would use another idiomatic expression “calling a spade a spade.” This means that you call something out for what you see it as.

Example: “Je l’ai vu! Il faut appeler un chat un chat.” (I saw it! I’m just telling it as it is.)

Avoir la gueule de bois

Literal meaning: “To have a mouth of wood”

Actual meaning: This just means to have a hangover.

Example: Je suis sortie hier soir et je me suis levée ce matin avec une gueule de bois grave. (I went out last night and I woke up this morning with a serious hangover.)

Être à l’ouest

Literal meaning: “To be in the west”

Actual meaning: To be out of it or to be crazy/out of touch with reality.

Example: Il est complètement à l’ouest, ce mec! (This guy is totally out of it!)

Avoir un poil dans la main

Literal meaning: “To have a hair in the hand”

Actual meaning: To be very lazy, in fact so lazy that they watched a hair grow in the palm of their hand!

Example: Il dort tous les jours jusqu’à midi. Il a vraiment un poil dans la main. (He sleeps every day until noon. He’s really lazy!)

Donner un coup de main

Literal meaning: “To give a a hit of the hand”

Actual meaning: To give a helping hand. This idiom can be especially confusing because, to someone who is not native, it can sound almost threatening, although all it means is to help someone out!

Example: Elle est tellement gentille. Elle me donne toujours un coup de main sans que je demande. (She is so nice. She always helps me out even without asking).

Bonne Chance!

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.