INTERMEDIATE. LESSON #35. SUR LE BATEAU
- Tu as déjà pris le bateau, Victor ?- Non, jamais.
- Et toi, Marie ?
- Oui. Quand même. Je suis allée en Angleterre en ferry plusieurs fois mais je n’étais jamais montée sur un voilier avant.
- J’avais réservé les billets à l’avance, je voulais vous faire une surprise. Ca change un peu de la plage. Le capitaine nous
propose de pêcher, ça vous intéresse ? - J’espère que tu ne m’en voudras pas mais je n’aime pas la pêche.
- Je comprends parfaitement mais peux-tu m’expliquer pourquoi ?
- Un traumatisme d’enfance. J’avais reçu en cadeau un poisson, un jour. J’avais laissé l’aquarium trop près de la fenêtre, en été. Le soleil tapait pas mal et… je m’en suis beaucoup voulu et il m’est impossible de faire du mal à un poisson maintenant.
- Mais tu manges du poisson ?
- Ah oui. J’adore ça !
TRANSLATION
- Have you already be on a boat, Victor ?
- No, never.
- What about you, Marie ?
- Yes, of course, I have. I have taken the ferry many times to go to England but I have never been on a sailboat before today.
- I had reserved the tickets in advance, I wanted it to be a surprise. It’s a change from the beach. The captain proposes that we go fishing. Are you intested ?
- I hope you will forgive me but I don’t like fishing.
- I totally understand but could you explain me why ?
- A trauma from childhood. I had received a fish as a gift, once. I had let the fish tank close by the window, one summer. The sun was beating down that day and… I blamed myself a lot and now I really can’t do any harm to a fish.
- But you still eat fish ?
- Oh yes. I love fish !
- Have you already be on a boat, Victor ?
- No, never.
- What about you, Marie ?
- Yes, of course, I have. I have taken the ferry many times to go to England but I have never been on a sailboat before today.
- I had reserved the tickets in advance, I wanted it to be a surprise. It’s a change from the beach. The captain proposes that we go fishing. Are you intested ?
- I hope you will forgive me but I don’t like fishing.
- I totally understand but could you explain me why ?
- A trauma from childhood. I had received a fish as a gift, once. I had let the fish tank close by the window, one summer. The sun was beating down that day and… I blamed myself a lot and now I really can’t do any harm to a fish.
- But you still eat fish ?
- Oh yes. I love fish !
|
Bateau (masc.) : boat, ship. Voilier (masc.) : sailboat. Billet (masc.) : ticket. Pêcher : to fish, to go fishing. Pêche (fém.) : fishing. Traumatisme (masc.) : trauma. Enfance (fém.) : childhood. Aquarium (masc.) : fish tank, aquarium. S’en vouloir : to blame oneself. Faire du mal : to do harm, to hurt. |
|
You surely have noticed that we used a new tense in that lesson.
J’ avais réservé, j’avais reçu, j’avais laissé.
We call it le plus-que-parfait. In English we would call it the past perfect or the pluperfect. As you can see, it’s really easy to conjugate : you put the auxiliary verb (être or avoir) at the imparfait then you add the past participle of the main verb. |
|
Translate in English : 1. Tu avais laissé ton téléphone à la maison. 2. Nous avions écrit pour réserver une maison au bord de la mer. 3. Elles avaient aimé ça. 4. Il avait aidé à ranger la pièce. Translate in French : 1. They had come. 2. She had phoned. 3. I had said « no ». 4. You had had. Écrire : to write. Ranger : to tidy, to tidy up. Answers |
|
|