Sunday, December 29, 2019

Where Is the Mistake in Parlez-Vous Français

Whats wrong with the French phrase  Parlez-vous Franà §ais?  Thats an easy one: It contains a spelling error. It should be written: Parlez-vous franà §ais? with a lowercase f in franà §ais.  Heres why.   The French word franà §ais has three English equivalents: two nouns (French the language and French the nationality or person) and French the adjective. All three forms are capitalized in English. Language Names Are Lowercased in French In French, however, franà §ais is only capitalized when it is used as a noun identifying a nationality, such as the following: Les Franà §ais aiment le vin (The French like wine). When franà §ais is used as an adjective or refers to the language, however, the f is lowercase, not  capitalized: Jaime le vin franà §ais (I like French wine). Many beginning French students make this mistake, as do many  Francophones  who speak English well.  They capitalize  franà §ais,  espagnol, and the like, whether the word is a noun, adjective, or language because nationalities and languages are always capitalized in English. Likewise, the names of all languages  are lowercase, as with langlais,  le  portugais,  le  chinois,  larabe,  lallemand,  le  japonais,  le russe, etc. For French nationalities, the proper  noun  and adjective are spelled exactly the same, but the proper noun is capitalized, while the adjective is not capitalized.  Thus, in French we write:   un type amà ©ricain (adjective) an American guyBUT  un Amà ©ricain  (noun identifying  nationality) an American  Elle aime la cuisine espagnole. (adjective)   She likes Spanish food/cuisine.BUT  Elle sest marià ©e avec un Espagnol.  (noun identifying  nationality) She married a Spaniard.Jai vu un animal mignon australien. (adjective)   I saw a cute Australian animal.  BUT  Jai vu un Australien.  (noun identifying nationality)  Ã‚  I saw an Australian. Correct Usage and Their Meanings Un Franà §ais a FrenchmanUne Franà §aise a French womanLes Franà §ais the French people, the French OR FrenchmenLes Franà §aises French womanLe Franà §ais naime pas...   The average Frenchman  or  French person doesnt like ...Le franà §ais the French languageparler franà §ais to speak Frenchen bon franà §ais  Ã‚  in proper Frenchle  franà §ais  courant   fluent FrenchIl parle franà §ais couramment. He speaks French fluently.à   la franà §aise French or French-style; (in) the French wayTerritoire franà §ais des Afars et des Issas   French Territory of Afars and Issasle franà §ais  seconde langue   French as a second languageun  leà §on de  franà §ais   a French lessonun cours de  franà §ais   a French courseune  faute de  franà §ais   a grammatical mistake in Frenchà ©corcher le  franà §ais   to speak terrible Frenchchez les  Franà §ais   among the Frenchfaire du  franà §ais (...en samusant, ...en maternelle, etc)  Ã‚  to do French or the French way (...in having fun, ...in nursery school, etc.)le  mal  franà §ais   main issues of French society, problems of France

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