Anyone speak French? I need brief help on some homework.

[Samwich]

The assignment should be pretty easy:

C'est vrai ou ce n'est pas vrai? Repondez avec Oui ou Si aux questions un utilisant venir de.

Easy enough, right? Except that Oui means Yes and Si means either If or Yes. How do I decide which one to use? What's the difference? I looked in my book until I was ready to shred it.

A sample question:

1. C'est vrai, tu as lu le journal?

My answer: Oui, je viens de lire le journal. OR Si, je viens de lire le journal.


Obviously, I'm fucking up. Sorry to plague the board with useless shit like this, but I have a test in a couple hours and this will be on it, and none of the 20 people i just asked speak french. Thanks a lot guys.

[NippleHighPow]

I just got back from Verbier, Switzerland and could barely order a sandwich, apparently my 3 years of French 4 years ago wasn't up to par...sorry, but good luck!

[bigtrubs]

um, I believe the question is "Is it true, that you read the journal?" And you answered that you are going to read the journal, I think.

You need to answer in the past tense, such as "Oui, j'ai lu le journal." (Yes, I read the journal or newspaper or whatever it is)

[Mechmaster]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language:

Modern French has two words for "yes", oui and si; the latter is used to contradict negative statements or respond to negative questions

[snowsprite]

You'd say "Oui, je viens de lire..." etc meaning "yes, I just finished reading"

Si means "if I just read the book" so like "Si je viens de lire le journal je n'ai besoin de demander cette question."


Sprite

The assignment should be pretty easy:

C'est vrai ou ce n'est pas vrai? Repondez avec Oui ou Si aux questions un utilisant venir de.

Easy enough, right? Except that Oui means Yes and Si means either If or Yes. How do I decide which one to use? What's the difference? I looked in my book until I was ready to shred it.

A sample question:

1. C'est vrai, tu as lu le journal?

My answer: Oui, je viens de lire le journal. OR Si, je viens de lire le journal.


Obviously, I'm fucking up. Sorry to plague the board with useless shit like this, but I have a test in a couple hours and this will be on it, and none of the 20 people i just asked speak french. Thanks a lot guys.

[Samwich]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language:

Modern French has two words for "yes", oui and si; the latter is used to contradict negative statements or respond to negative questions

THANK YOU. Now it makes sense. I've been banging my head against the wall on this one.

bigtrubs: venir de means 'to have just' when followed by an infinitive as snowsprite said.


Thanks everyone, much appreciated.

[72Twenty]

wee wee.

[Beaver]

If you're doing French homework for a Canadian french class, remember that Canadian french is archaic so the modern "si" will not be used.

[Viva]

Sorry to plague the board with useless shit like this,

Clearly, you weren't around last week.

[72Twenty]

Clearly, you weren't around last week.

I wonder what adventure he had this past weekend.

[bigtrubs]

Ahhhh haha. doesn't help that I haven't done French for the past three years. eep.

[Rontele]

French is english for being a pussy.

[irul&ublo]

If you're doing French homework for a Canadian french class, remember that Canadian french is archaic so the modern "si" will not be used.

How do you say "eh" in Canadian French?

[Samwich]

If you're doing French homework for a Canadian french class, remember that Canadian french is archaic so the modern "si" will not be used.

thanks, it's a french class in canada, but we're learning french from france, not from canada. But my teacher is from the French Republic of Congo, so anything goes.

I understand her better when she speaks nothing but french... her accent is THICK.

[TeleAl]

Oui means yes.
Si means if.
Si also means yes, but yes when it is contrary to the point being made, or the question being asked.

For example,
You're not skiing in Verbier tomorrow, are you?
Si, j'y vais.

Another example,
2+2 does not equal 4.
Si, 2+2 equals 4.

Bon courage!

Edit = just read the other replies.
"Venir de + infinitive" is a good one to know.

And I just learned how to say,
It's worth it = C'est vaut le peine.
Took me about 4 years of asking to find that one.

[greg]

[PROFESSEUR]ca vaut la peine à demander a teleal si on doit repondre avec si ou bien oui. par contre, cela ne vaut pas la peine de lui consulter si on ne dirait pas plutot "ca vaut la peine" que "c'est vaut la peine".[/PROFESSEUR]

[TeleAl]

[PROFESSEUR]ca vaut la peine à demander a teleal si on doit repondre avec si ou bien oui. par contre, cela ne vaut pas la peine de lui consulter si on ne dirait pas plutot "ca vaut la peine" que "c'est vaut la peine".[/PROFESSEUR]

The person that told me about "c'est vaut la peine" spelled it out for me,
and is a native French speaker (albeit Swiss Romande).

She picked me up hitch hiking up the mountain yesterday,
after I skied the day in Verbier, and when I began to write it out,
she spelled it out for me. Looking for paper in her car, I used my lift pass



Was she wrong??? Please tell.
This phrase has eluded me since I began asking about it some 4 years ago.

[snowsprite]

Guys, it is LA peine...because trouble is a feminine word. Ask my husband!

Sprite

[snowsprite]

Since we are on a language related topic, my Arabic language CDs are here. It's called "Behind the Wheel Arabic" and my goal is to listen to it all day at work. Chinese & Russian CDs are on the way too!

I have seven more years left in this cube...let's see how much I can absorb in that time period. At some point, I'll register for actual university classes (in Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and I suppose an advanced French & Spanish class to brush up on those).

I'd like to go to work as a translator after this gig here is over. Total change of career pour moi.

Sprite

[snowsprite]

What guys???
A suisse-romande wrote this.

Oui, mais je parle avec Tele Al et les garcons ici!

Sprite

[greg]

The person that told me about "c'est vaut la peine" spelled it out
Was she wrong??? Please tell.
This phrase has eluded me since I began asking about it some 4 years ago.

Ok now that might get me into trouble, since neither english nor french is my native language. and I learned french only by using it, never took any lessons.
to resolve this riddle click here and then there..

so, as I see it, this might be her way of making sure that you come back at her as soon as you found out... women sometimes speak in riddles.

[bklyn]

Respondez s’il vous plait.
Voules-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?
Vous le voulez, n'est pas?

[greg]

at least trayc doesn't!

[72Twenty]

le blah blah, bla-bluh.

[rugbydave]

C'est vaut le peine is all kinds of bad grammar. C'est is the abreviation for cela est not to mention that peine is feminine and that the 'le' should therefore be a 'la'. That's my wisdom from 10 years of french school... haha