Transcript
0:00So, we continue Introduction to French with a new student, welcome Ed.
0:05The word for what, in French, is que.
0:08Q-U-E, pronounced kuh.
0:11What was to eat, mangez, and you eat, tu
0:20manges, good.
0:24We have an ES ending, but we don't hear that, it's just like manger, but
0:29without the E ending.
0:31Tu manges.
0:32Are you eating?
0:35Tu manges, or?
0:40Manges-tu?
0:40Very good, manges-tu?
0:42We could make the inversion there, we have the option, it's slightly more
0:46informal, slightly more familiar to say, tu manges, then manges-tu?
0:52What are you eating?
0:56Que manges-tu?
0:57Very good, que manges-tu?
1:00So when we have a question word at the beginning, like que, the inversion that
1:06we make for the question, it's no longer optional, we need to do it.
1:10Que manges-tu?
1:12We couldn't say, que tu manges.
1:15I know, in French, is je sais, je sais, I know, je sais.
1:21This is spelt S-A-I-S, and it's related to sapien, in homo sapien, that's the
1:29knowing being, the wise being, the homo sapien.
1:32So I know, je sais.
1:34I don't know.
1:38Je ne sais pas.
1:39Je ne sais pas, very good.
1:41I know nothing.
1:45Je ne sais rien.
1:46Very good, je ne sais rien.
1:49Again, what was the word for what?
1:53Que.
1:54Que also means that, in the sense of, I know that you want to eat, so I think
2:00that it's okay.
2:02So how would you say that?
2:03I know that you want to eat.
2:06I know that you want to eat.
2:09Je sais que tu veux manger.
2:12Very good, je sais que tu veux manger.
2:18To come, in French, is venir, venir, to come.
2:23So again, the E is like, ve, venir.
2:27Much better, venir.
2:29And it ends I-R, like, finir, for example, to finish.
2:33And this, ven, of venir, is a very busy building block.
2:39We have it all over, it's what we have in souvenir, in avenue, revenue,
2:46convenient.
2:48Convenient is when things come together.
2:50Adventure, there you have the ven of venir.
2:53Again, convention, convent, intervene.
2:57So we have venir, to come.
3:00Venir.
3:00Very good.
3:01I know that you want to come.
3:03I know that you want to come.
3:06Je sais que tu veux venir.
3:11Je sais que tu veux venir.
3:15Very good.
3:16So que is that, in this sense of the word, no?
3:20I know that you want to come.
3:22And also the word for what.
3:25You know is, tu sais, you know.
3:29Tu sais.
3:30Do you know?
3:32C'est tu.
3:34C'est tu.
3:35Tu sais.
3:36Do you know it?
3:39Tu le sais.
3:40Good.
3:41Tu le sais, or le sais-tu.
3:44So this is what you would say as a complete sentence in French.
3:47If you were to say, do you know, as a complete sentence, you would say, do you
3:51know it?
3:52Tu le sais.
3:53What do you know?
3:56Que tu sais.
3:57Que sais-tu.
3:58Very good.
3:58Que sais-tu.
3:59Very good.
4:00So because we have the question word there, que, we need to make that
4:04inversion.
4:05Que sais-tu.
4:07But we've also seen how we can put the question word after the verb in French
4:12and avoid the inversion.
4:14We can say, you know what, rather than what do you know.
4:17But if we want to put what after to avoid that inversion, you know what, and be
4:24a bit more informal or a bit more familiar, the word for what is no longer que,
4:28but quoi.
4:29We use a different word for what.
4:31Quoi.
4:32Quoi.
4:32So if you want to say, you know what, tu sais quoi?
4:37Tu sais quoi?
4:39This may be because, as we saw, que also means that.
4:42And tu sais que may be misunderstood like, you know that?
4:48And we'd be waiting to hear what.
4:49So we use quoi when what comes after the verb.
4:53Tu sais quoi.
4:54And tu sais quoi is used a lot like, you know what?
4:58You know, when you have something surprising to say.
5:00It's used a lot like that in French.
5:02Tu sais quoi?
5:02You know what?
5:04This quoi is also what we have in the English French expression when we say it
5:08has a certain je ne sais quoi.
5:11It has a certain I don't know what, which is used in French too.
5:14Je ne sais quoi.
5:16Tell me again, what was to eat?
5:22Manger.
5:23I eat.
5:26Je mange.
5:27So we have in sound manger without the ending mange.
5:32But in writing m-a-n-g-e to make sure that we hear that final G.
5:37Je mange.
5:38He eats.
5:41Il mange.
5:43Spelled the same as je mange.
5:45You eat.
5:48Tu manges.
5:50This has an S on the end, but of course we don't hear it.
5:53Tu manges.
5:55What are you eating?
5:58Tu manges quoi?
6:00Or if you wanted to use que, how would it be?
6:05Que manges-tu?
6:06Que manges-tu?
6:07Very good.
6:09Quoi, quoi is also what you would use in exclamation rather than que.
6:15You would say quoi?
6:15What?
6:16So this form isn't only for when we have what on the end of the question.
6:20In fact, the word for why in French is built with quoi.
6:24Pourquoi?
6:25Literally for what.
6:27Pourquoi?
6:28For what.
6:29Why.
6:29And that's one word.
6:30Pourquoi?
6:31Pourquoi?
6:32Why don't you want to eat?
6:34Why don't you want to eat?
6:38Pourquoi tu ne veux pas manger?
6:41Very good.
6:42Pourquoi tu ne veux pas manger?
6:46And with pourquoi, we don't have to make an inversion anymore.
6:50You felt that because you said pourquoi tu ne veux.
6:53And this is probably because French decides that the question can be contained
6:58in that question phrase even though that's one word pourquoi.
7:01It literally means because of what, for what.
7:04And there the question is kind of contained in there.
7:07So even though we have that at the beginning, we don't need to make the
7:10inversion if we don't want to.
7:11Pourquoi tu ne veux pas manger?
7:14Or of course with the inversion pourquoi ne veux-tu pas manger?
7:20Why don't you want to eat anything?
7:25Pourquoi tu ne veux pas manger rien?
7:29No.
7:30Pourquoi tu ne veux rien manger?
7:33Good.
7:34So rien replaces pas.
7:36So our negation, our normal everyday negation is ne pas.
7:40But then we can have variations on that.
7:42So ne pas gives us don't or not.
7:45But then ne rien gives us not anything.
7:49Pourquoi tu ne veux rien manger?
7:53Very good.
Etymology
Etymology connections will appear here as they are discussed