Let's Start from the Basic

To ignite your interest in this language I'd like to share with you the basics.  As they say (and it's true); "we always start with the baby steps before we could really walk."

How can we start formulating a sentence without knowing the parts of speech?  In this post I'll be sharing with you the French personal, objective and possessive pronouns and the first group of French verbs.

In English, personal pronouns are (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they), while the objective pronouns are (me, you, him, her, it, us, you and them).  In French, the personal pronouns are: Je... (I), tu...(you -informal), il... (he), elle... (she), Nous... (we), vous... (you -formal and/or plural), ils... (they masculine), elles... (they feminine).

In the French language there are three groups of verbs; in the first group are the verbs ending in -er, in the second are the verbs ending in -ir and in the third are the verbs ending in -re.  Each verb group is conjugated differently.

Let's take for example the verb jouer (to play).  It ends in -er so therefore it belongs to the first group.  Verbs of the first group have the following endings when conjugated -e -es -e -ons -ez -ent meaning, if the subject is je the ending should be -e, if the subject is tu the ending should be -es, if it's ill or elle the ending should be -e, if it's nous the ending should be -ons, if it's vous the ending should be -ez and if it's ils or elles then the ending should be -ent.

Examples: je joue (I play), tu joues (you play), il joue (he plays), elle joue (she plays), nous jouons (we play), vous jouez (you play), ils jouent (they play), elles jouent (they play).

Have you noticed the endings?  So, remember that if a french verb ends in -er then they should have the following endings when conjugated -e -es -e -ons -ez -ent (unless it's an irregular verb).

Then let's talk about the objective pronouns.  These are the pronouns that act as the object of the sentence, they receive the action of the sentence.  They are as follows: moi (me), toi (you), lui (him, her, you (formal), nous (us), vous (you -formal and/or plural), leur (them):
Example: Donne moi le livre.  (Give me the book).

Lastly, the possessive pronouns.  These are the pronouns that tell us who owns something.  Here they are: mien (mine, masculine), mienne (mine, feminine), mes (mine, plural masc./fem.), tien/tienne (yours), son/sa (his, hers), notre/nos (ours), votre/vos (yours), ses (theirs).

If you have noticed, in the French language there is a formal and informal form of you (tu and vous).  You don't use the formal form when talking to someone from the family or to a friend unless you are a member of a noble family and on the contrary, you should AVOID using the informal form (tu) when talking to a stranger or to a professional encounter like your doctor, your lawyer etc.. because doing so is considered very impolite.  I  unfortunately have made these mistakes several times simply because it's very confusing to switch from tu to vous but as soon as I realize my mistake I do say my apologies right away.  It's just really awkward at times that's why we have to make conscious efforts in avoiding to do so.

About the pronunciations, as I have mentioned in my introductory post, the French language uses a heavy accent.  Pinabundak ug pinagahi kung sa binisaya pang pagkasulti that's why if you're a Bisaya then you really won't find it so difficult because we know how to do it, right? In the case of the pronouns, there are only two that requires a soft sound, the elle/elles and of course I've mispronounced them several times, what did you expect?!  Bisaya baya, pasensya!lol..  Kidding aside, here's my "informal" pronunciation tip:

• Je - /djo/ like the first syllable of the name Jovanni NOT djow
• Tu - you just have to say it as it is, remember the reading lesson in elementary ta te ti to tu? 
• il - again, say it as it is and be careful because when you say it with a soft sound it'll become elle
• elle - this is pronounced like the letter L in the alphabet and be careful because saying it with a hard accent will make it become the masculine il
• Nous - in Cebu there is this expression "hala nooo?" (we use it to utter worry or disbelief uppon hearing someone's unfortunate/unhappy experience), so to pronounce the pronoun nous you just have to say no in a Cebuano way ت
• Vous - it's like saying the first syllable of the word voodoo
• ils and elles - they are pronounced like il/elle, in French they don't like reading the last letters of their words ت
• moi - mwa
• toi - twa
• lui - Lwi
• leur - lor (note that the French R is weird, you know that sound when you gargle water?  That's how they say their R), so when you say leur /lor/ don't use the tip of your tongue like you usually do to produce the R sound, use the back of your tongue as if you're about to gargle.  I'm serious, don't laugh, that's really how you do it. ϡ
• mien - myang
• mienne - myen
• tien - tyang
• tienne - tyen
• son - song
• sa - sa
• notre - notr (apply the French R, say not and then after the T produce the "gargling" sound), don't be afraid to exaggerate, you'll get to practice and clear your throat at the same time..hahaha
• nos - no
• votre - just apply what you did with /notr/, it's the same technique
• ses - don't read the last letter, this is not the same ses that we use as pet names for our gay friends.  Remember your elementary reading lesson again, sa se si so su
• jouer - /djowe/
• joue - /djo/
• joues - /djo/
• jouons - /djowong/
• jouez - /djowe/
• jouent - /djo/

What have you noticed with how they pronounce their words (especially on the verb jouer)?  Like I've mentioned earlier, they don't like saying the last letter/s most of the time.

I'm gonna stop.  That's information overload already.  I hope you enjoyed our first French lesson.  Stay tuned for more! à la prochaine! (Til next time!)

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