Language….

[Widge]

If you do misgender a word in French, what's the worst that can happen then ?

Some can be obvious, for instance bread is masculin so le, otherwise it would be a rabbit

 

[Graydo]

I love it when she asks for some peanuts….. it sounds just like “ penis ”….

Ha ha,
could be embarrassing on the plane.

Graydo

 

[Graydo]

They say portugese is the hardest language to learn, my old French teacher said masculine or feminine was decided not by the object in question but by the person talking about it.
I dont speak Portugese.

Graydo

 

[meanders]

I'm obviously bi-lingual, English and rubbish.

In which case I am trilingual. Fluent in English, Double Dutch and Foul.

 

[Barriesimpson]

Apparently coc au van isn't sex in a camper

Who knew

But it can become that if the preparation of the dish was perfect and the wine exquisite.....

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[yodeli]

I was flummoxed as to the French for ‘you’ - ‘vous’and ‘tu’. I asked yodeli Frankie what the difference was. She said one was used when you had got to know someone well enough to be familiar.

My next question was - when do you know when the changeover occurs?

I think I remember Frankie saying that she had never felt able to call her mother in law by the informal ‘you’.

Now for me, that poses a problem. I am a mother in law (not really -Covid robbed us of the wedding), but if our Catie referred to me as ‘vous’ instead of ‘tu’ every time we met, I would feel hurt. Also if I referred to her as ‘tu’, would she feel affronted, being that she referred to me as ‘vous’.

It’s all so complicated - I think that’s why the preferred global language is English

Just in passing - who gets to decide if ‘new’ words are feminine or masculine?

‘Internet’ and ‘wifi’ are masculine - who decided that to be the case?

It’s all too complicated for me - but as long as we holiday in Beni we’ll be fine.

When we went to Corfu, I really tried to speak as much Greek as I could, only to be told by Tomas, the taverna owner ‘why you speak Greek - no need here - we all speak English’

Will say more on the mater in a future post. A tad busy right now!

 

[ChrisL]

Will say more on the mater in a future post. A tad busy right now!

Can you also explain why the difference in the verb following vous and tu, eg. Vous mangez, tu manges if you have the time please

 

[Just smiffy]

They say portugese is the hardest language to learn, my old French teacher said masculine or feminine was decided not by the object in question but by the person talking about it.
I dont speak Portugese.

Graydo

I thought English was…..

Portuguese just sound like Russian to me…

 

[yodeli]

Can you also explain why the difference in the verb following vous and tu, eg. Vous mangez, tu manges if you have the time please

Let's start straight away with the second point.
VOUS is also the plural of tu+tu+tu+tu, so we need to show the plural by changing the end of the verb. But indeed it would be complicated to have 2 different endings on the verb just because we use VOUS in 2 different situations. Still we have to show the difference between TU and VOUS. So TU is singular and VOUS will automaticaly be plural even if only one person.
Now with TU the verb takes an S ..... just like "he likeS" in English. To make it different from Je and il or Elle. I guess all languages have their particularities.
cliffanger If our Catie referred to me as ‘vous’ instead of ‘tu’ every time we met, I would feel hurt. Also if I referred to her as ‘tu’, would she feel affronted, being that she referred to me as ‘vous’.
Catie I supposed is much younger than you, yes? So you are perfectly entitled to say TU to her (generation thing!) And nowadays all the I.L. be it a son or daughter , a mother or fathersay TU to each other (se tutoyer, it's called ) so if she says VOUS to you (BTW she is French I assume???) just tell her "plus de vous, s'il te plait, on se tutoie maintenant" (put that sentence in google translate and press the little speaker to have the right pronunciation)and she will then have your permission to do so. She might never use TU if you don't allow her in the first place.
Just in passing - who gets to decide if ‘new’ words are feminine or masculine?
Quite often Scientists, but people do not always agree. IE Covid started to be masculine , decided by the population because equivalent of un mal and mal is masculine, but then scientists decided it was La Covid...Pah, no one liked it so... and as you might know.... especially in France "vox populi, vox Dei'
For Internet, it is more related to a signal = un signal. Take it that way, with a signal you get SOME internet , a bit like with flour you make some bread. "On a internet, on a du signal". I don't think Internet is really gendered by people using the word, but it is said to be masculine.... I never really use an article I just say "j'ai Internet" and that's all.

‘Internet’ and ‘wifi’ are masculine - who decided that to be the case?

Translation of Wi-Fi is "accès sans fil à l'internet" Accès is masculine , so there you are! Access without wire to Internet

 

[Just smiffy]

Hmmm…. It seems sign language has something going for it, will that make life easier….

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[L' Hobo]

Hmmm…. It seems sign language has something going for it, will that make life easier….

I was taught, Tu is familiar, vous is respect for age and authority.

So Tu , one would use with younger acquaintance/friends and family but wait until permission (of one kind of another )is given by strangers and older people/family.

Is that correct yodeli ?

PS, I would never say Tu to a strange policeman!

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

I was flummoxed as to the French for ‘you’ - ‘vous’and ‘tu’. I asked yodeli Frankie what the difference was. She said one was used when you had got to know someone well enough to be familiar.

My next question was - when do you know when the changeover occurs?

I think I remember Frankie saying that she had never felt able to call her mother in law by the informal ‘you’.

Now for me, that poses a problem. I am a mother in law (not really -Covid robbed us of the wedding), but if our Catie referred to me as ‘vous’ instead of ‘tu’ every time we met, I would feel hurt. Also if I referred to her as ‘tu’, would she feel affronted, being that she referred to me as ‘vous’.

It’s all so complicated - I think that’s why the preferred global language is English

Just in passing - who gets to decide if ‘new’ words are feminine or masculine?

‘Internet’ and ‘wifi’ are masculine - who decided that to be the case?

It’s all too complicated for me - but as long as we holiday in Beni we’ll be fine.

When we went to Corfu, I really tried to speak as much Greek as I could, only to be told by Tomas, the taverna owner ‘why you speak Greek - no need here - we all speak English’

I thought in Benidorm they spoke Spanish, not French

 

[cliffanger]

Let's start straight away with the second point.
VOUS is also the plural of tu+tu+tu+tu, so we need to show the plural by changing the end of the verb. But indeed it would be complicated to have 2 different endings on the verb just because we use VOUS in 2 different situations. Still we have to show the difference between TU and VOUS. So TU is singular and VOUS will automaticaly be plural even if only one person.
Now with TU the verb takes an S ..... just like "he likeS" in English. To make it different from Je and il or Elle. I guess all languages have their particularities.
cliffanger If our Catie referred to me as ‘vous’ instead of ‘tu’ every time we met, I would feel hurt. Also if I referred to her as ‘tu’, would she feel affronted, being that she referred to me as ‘vous’.
Catie I supposed is much younger than you, yes? So you are perfectly entitled to say TU to her (generation thing!) And nowadays all the I.L. be it a son or daughter , a mother or fathersay TU to each other (se tutoyer, it's called ) so if she says VOUS to you (BTW she is French I assume???) just tell her "plus de vous, s'il te plait, on se tutoie maintenant" (put that sentence in google translate and press the little speaker to have the right pronunciation)and she will then have your permission to do so. She might never use TU if you don't allow her in the first place.
Just in passing - who gets to decide if ‘new’ words are feminine or masculine?
Quite often Scientists, but people do not always agree. IE Covid started to be masculine , decided by the population because equivalent of un mal and mal is masculine, but then scientists decided it was La Covid...Pah, no one liked it so... and as you might know.... especially in France "vox populi, vox Dei'
For Internet, it is more related to a signal = un signal. Take it that way, with a signal you get SOME internet , a bit like with flour you make some bread. "On a internet, on a du signal". I don't think Internet is really gendered by people using the word, but it is said to be masculine.... I never really use an article I just say "j'ai Internet" and that's all.

‘Internet’ and ‘wifi’ are masculine - who decided that to be the case?

Translation of Wi-Fi is "accès sans fil à l'internet" Accès is masculine , so there you are! Access without wire to Internet

Oh My Goodness Frankie - thanks so much for taking the time to reply so fully!

Our Catie is English. I was talking hypothetically - ie, if we were French it would upset me if she called me by the formal ‘you’. You’ve made it so much clearer.

Your post was really interesting, and helpful.

Now I’m thinking - who’d be up for a Funster ‘Learn how to Speak Conversational French with the Fantastic Frankie’ Meet - I’d be first on the list!

Hope everything is going well for you, and you are getting out and about in your van xx

 

[yodeli]

I was taught, Tu is familiar, vous is respect for age and authority.

So Tu , one would use with younger acquaintance/friends and family but wait until permission (of one kind of another )is given by strangers and older people/family.

Is that correct yodeli ?

PS, I would never say Tu to a strange policeman!

Yep , correct!

 

[yodeli]

you are getting out and about in your van xx

Things don't always go the way you expect. I'm in Spain at the moment at a friend's place trying to forget about different problems .
I paid a visit to Janie and Bob (bobandjanie ) in Javea, and stayed 3 days or nearly and had a very good time there.
Max has had of course the chassis repaired , but had a major break down following the MOT which was OK. So had another repair, and stayed by the mechanic 4 nights and 5 days waiting for the part to arrive.
It now needs a balancing to be able to go back on the road which will be done when back to France at the end of the month..... Right now I only use the Kangoo. I cross my fingers that problems stop ...at least for a while!

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[Just smiffy]

Things don't always go the way you expect. I'm in Spain at the moment at a friend's place trying to forget about different problems .
I paid a visit to Janie and Bob (bobandjanie ) in Javea, and stayed 3 days or nearly and had a very good time there.
Max has had of course the chassis repaired , but had a major break down following the MOT which was OK. So had another repair, and stayed by the mechanic 4 nights and 5 days waiting for the part to arrive.
It now needs a balancing to be able to go back on the road which will be done when back to France at the end of the month..... Right now I only use the Kangoo. I cross my fingers that problems stop ...at least for a while!

It’s good that your still getting out and about…

 

[bobandjanie]

Things don't always go the way you expect. I'm in Spain at the moment at a friend's place trying to forget about different problems .
I paid a visit to Janie and Bob (bobandjanie ) in Javea, and stayed 3 days or nearly and had a very good time there.
Max has had of course the chassis repaired , but had a major break down following the MOT which was OK. So had another repair, and stayed by the mechanic 4 nights and 5 days waiting for the part to arrive.
It now needs a balancing to be able to go back on the road which will be done when back to France at the end of the month..... Right now I only use the Kangoo. I cross my fingers that problems stop ...at least for a while!

It was lovely having your company Frankie, shame you couldn't stay longer, we are looking forward to your next visit.
Bob Janie and Izzy.

 

[Just smiffy]

It was lovely having your company Frankie, shame you couldn't stay longer, we are looking forward to your next visit.
Bob Janie and Izzy.

I may be passing soon so be careful what you wish for…