Chapter 9 of 16 · Explore the French path
Verbs and stories · Chapter 9 of 16
Work out who is speaking
French marks speech with « » and puts the doing word before the speaker. Learn the three verbs that carry a conversation, and the small words that hold a longer sentence together.
≈ 3 min of reading · Practise at your own pace
What’s in this chapter
- French quotation marks are « » — pointed, with a space inside them.
- After a quotation the doing word comes first and the speaker second: dit le renard.
- In longer conversations the marks disappear and each new speaker starts on a line beginning with a dash.
- French cannot drop que
kuh “that” where English drops “that”.
Saying, asking, answering
These three verbs carry most of the speech in a story. Recognise them and you know who spoke and how.
| Dictionary shape | he or she — | English |
|---|---|---|
| dire | il dit | to say |
| demander | il demande | to ask |
| répondre | il répond | to answer |
“Hello,” dit
« Bonjour », dit le renard.
boh(n)-zhoor, dee luh ruh-nar
The doing word comes before the speaker — English storytelling does this too. The comma sits outside the marks, a space inside them.
Small words that join a story together
These join one part of a sentence to the next. Knowing them lets you follow a longer sentence in one go.
| French | English |
|---|---|
| et | and |
| mais | but |
| parce que | because |
| très | very |
| un jour | one day |
I think that the fox is in the forest.
Je pense que le renard est dans la forêt.
zhuh pah(n)s kuh luh ruh-nar eh dah(n) lah foh-reh
English can drop “that”; French cannot. A que
Who spoke, and why
- « Bonjour », dit la souris.
The doing word comes before the speaker.
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“boh(n)-zhoor, dee lah soo-ree.” — “Hello,” says the mouse. - Je vais dans la forêt, parce que j'ai faim.
because · I have hunger
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“zhuh veh dah(n) lah foh-reh, par-suh kuh zhay fa(n).” — I am going into the forest, because I am hungry. - Je pense que l'oiseau est dans l'arbre.
One word here has no English match.
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“zhuh pah(n)s kuh lwah-zoh eh dah(n) lar-bruh.” — I think the bird is in the tree.