Hey everyone, it's Damon
and it's not Jo
because Jo is in New York right now and I am in Paris
Fortunately
So, this channel is American
but we speak many languages
one of these languages is French
when we do succeed speaking it
We hear a lot of things about the French language
that it's a beautiful language
that it sounds really romantic
but I think that it's a...
what's the word again?
unbearable!
and a pain in the ass for the people who are learning to speak French
The French language is pretty hard
for someone who is not too smart
I'm joking
Even after 10 years of studying it
there are still things that annoy me
Here are these things
The "Passé Composé"
Did you know that there are 17 verbs
that go with "être" (to be) in the "Passé Composé"
So you can't say: "J'ai arrivé, j'ai allé " (I arrived, I went)
because these verbs have to be used with "être"(to be)
So you have to say: "Je suis allé"
"Je suis arrivé"
"Je suis mort" (I am dead)
after studying the French language
Here are the 17 verbs that I learned from a song
Arriver, aller, venu, passer
devenu, revenu, rentrer, entrer
descendu, retourner, rester, monter
sortir, partir, tomber, né, mort
If you have a verb in the "Passé Composé" used with "être" (to be)
you need to add the E's and the S's
depending on whether the subject(s)you are talking about
feminine or plural subjects
for the pronunciation, nothing changes
unless there is a consonant at the end
like: "Je suis mort, je suis morte"
and then there are verbs in the "Passé Composé"
that we use with both the auxiliaries
"J'ai passé l'examen"
"Je suis passé devant la bibliothèque"
and that's not even the end of it!
and these verbs that need to be used with one of the auxiliaries only
need to be used this way not only in the past but also when making hypothesis
like for example
"Si je serais allé à la fête.." (If I had gone to the party)
" je serais encore bourré dans cette vidéo" (I would still be drunk in this video)
We just used "être" (to be) instead of "avoir" (to have)
but we're not talking about the past here, but about a hypothesis
So this thing with the past and the 17 verbs
that are used with "être" (to be) is so annoying
There are way too many rules
and it takes a long time to learn
The numbers 70, 80 and 90
don't exist in French
I talk about this all the time on this channel
If you really look at the word "soixante-dix"
it's not a word, it's a math problem
"soixante-dix": 60 + 10 = 70
"quatre-vingt": 4 x 20 = 80
"quatre-vingt-neuf": 4 x 20 + 9 = 89
So for us, when we see that, we see a multiplication
not a number
but you, that have been studying it since you were young
don't even know that it's actually an addition
you don't even notice that you have to multiply numbers
because it's just the number you've learned
ah yeah, yeah and after all that there's the pronunciation
but you have words that are almost impossible to pronounce
Yesterday night, I was on Des Martyrs Street
right next to Montmartre
I passed by a cemetery where there were a lot of dead people (morts)
maybe because of a murder (meurtre)
See, I don't understand how a language that beautiful
that romantic and so like...
ok no, let's not exaggerate too much
so smooth can also include sounds like that:
I really want to know who said
Ah we won't say meurtre, we'll say meuRTRe
no, no, no, Montmartre
Montmartre
Words with R's, words with U's
and then there are words with R's and U's
Serrurerie, fourrure
So I can get by pretty well here Paris in French
and I can say whatever I want, I can express myself
but from the moment they say a word with R's or U's
I'm done, I'm just another American here
Dumb American
On, under, over, underneath
If "sous" means under and "sur" means over, on top
that means "au-dessous" is underneath and "au-dessus" is on top
and then there's "déçu"
I am disappointed in your French Damon
I always mix them up I don't know why
"retourner" I thought it was return
"rentrer" to go back and "revenir" to come back
So um, should be pretty simple right?
but apparently, when I use it, I always have a hard time
maybe you have already noticed that in our videos
and if you didn't, maybe that's because you are not subscribed
and if you are not subscribed, you need to subscribe
Freaking reflexive verbs
I go to Paris, I come back every year (années? ans?)
"ans" and "années"?! Oh my god
When there is a direct object that you put in the beginning of a sentence
before the verb, you need to add an E or ES or an S
For example, you would say: "J'ai mangé une pomme" (I ate an apple)
but, you would say: " La pomme que j'ai mangée" (the apple that I ate)
you're gonna add an E at the end
but sometimes, it changes the pronunciation
Ah yeah, "J'écris beaucoup de lettres" (I write a lot of letters)
"Les lettres que j'ai écrites.." (the letters I wrote)
you need to add ES because the order changed, it's not "J'ai écrit" anymore
You need to know "lettre" (letter) is feminine
and that now it's the letters, so it's feminine plural
You need to know the "Passé composé" for "J'ai écrit" (I wrote)
"Écrire" (to write) is an irregular verb
You need to add the ES
and you need to do all of that in a millisecond
because if not, you're done. The waiter is going to talk to you in English
"Ah if you want I can switch to English"
Bitch
Ah, but you remember what I've said before
You need to add E's and S's but only if it's used with "être" (to be)
Now, it's a sentence with "avoir" (to have)
"Les lettres que j'ai écrites" (The letters I wrote)
"j'ai écrites" is used with "avoir" (to have)
The rule changes sometimes
so we're gonna add E's and S's to the verb "avoir" (to have) too
but in some other case
I am leaving, I am leaving France, I am done with the French language
and my tongue is broken too saying all of this
"Je veux du lait"
after studying French for 10 years I don't even know
what that means
Is it I want milk or I want some milk?
In French I guess it doesn't matter
I am talking about the same milk but in some cases it changes from "du" to "de"
You say: "Il n'y a pas de lait" when saying there is no milk
because it's a negative construction apparently
and I can't remember what I was gonna say with all of that
ok next!
I am talking to a friend who is on holidays
and he's gonna come back to Paris
"rentrer à Paris, retourner à Paris" ???
and I want to tell him when you're back here, let's go get a coffee
"Quand tu seras ici, on prendra un café"
"Quand tu seras ici, on prend un café"
"Quand tu es ici, on prend un café"
"Quand tu es ici, on prendra un café"???
I give up!
and to continue with the things that annoy me in French
Good, well, bad, badly
"bien" is normally an adverb so it goes with the verbs
"Tu chantes bien" (You sing well)
"Je danse bien" (I dance well)
but sometimes, you use it with nouns too
"Ah, il était bien le film?" (Ah the movie was good)
Isn't it "Il était bon le film"?
The movie is good
"Ah ouais, le musée il est bien?" (Ah yeah, the museum is good?)
Shouldn't it be "est bon" instead?
It's an adjective with a noun
It's a good museum
"bien" is an adverb, well that what I thought
but if we talk about food, you are gonna say "bon"
"Ah c'est bon le plat" (Ah this meal is good)
"L'hamburger, c'est bon non?" (The hamburger is good right?)
Why did it just change to "bon" now?
and just to add to this, there is this other thing
that is kind of connected
"C'est beau la ville non?" (The city is beautiful, isn't it?)
No, because "ville" (city) is "belle"(beautiful- feminine)
so I don't understand why you just said "C'est beau la ville"
when it should be "c'est belle la ville" (feminine form)
ok, so the french language is not that hard to learn
I don't think
It's true that even after studying it for 10 years
there are a lot of little things like that I still have difficulty to pronounce
I have a hard time understanding, why they did that
and I also know English is like the worst language
Jo has her own little difficulties in French
Normally, we've got the same ones
I'm talking as if she was there, she's in New York right now ok?
We'll see you in the next French Friday!
Actually, we'll see you Sunday and Tuesday because we
make videos, 3 videos per week
I need to go edit
Kisses
Ciao, ciao!
but sometimes it changes the proun... wow
yeah, pronuncia...
but sometimes it changes the pronunciat...ion
sometimes it changes the pronunciation
because, because what...?
It's been almost 10 years that I speak French?!
Wow! and my French is still like this?