Tips for learning French?

[CobaltAK]

Title's vague as hell, but yeah. I'm attempting to learn French for a certain cause :^)

Anyways, I'm having some trouble with "particles" (I guess you could say?).

What is the difference between "tu" and "vous"? When would I use one or the other?
Also, is there a rule for suffixes or stuff on a word? For example, to say that I like something in French is something like "Je aime le chat," but there's other forms of "aime," such as aimes, aimons, aimez, so on and so forth. Is there a rule or a pattern for these?

ty m8s, kobalt

[bloodfox]

Lol just use google transla- Oh that does no benefit. Here is what my friend says about it: ( He is abit rusty in french) He says vous means you, your etc. That is all I can do to help. Oh what the hell, I probably did not help at all

[CommieBuffalo]

I don't speak French but I believe it might follow the t-v rule most other latin languages use. To boot, that means a language has two different forms of the second-person reference, a formal one starting with v and a informal one starting with t. An example would be the Portuguese Tu/Você, although today tu is little used and você has adquired a very informal usage(it is actually a contraction of "vosmecê", which was formal as heck). English had a similar one with the thou-you, and the French tu-vouz must be the equivalent, as noted by kmaj.

I'm no expert and am talking out of what I can remember, so if anyone spotted errors please point them out, I hate feeding other people disinformation when I'm trying to help.

[Zekamalikyd]

An example would be the Portuguese Tu/Você, although today tu is little used and você has adquired a very informal usage(it is actually a contraction of "vosmecê", which was formal as heck).

Tu is still used a lot in PT-PT, and você isn't really used at all, as it is considered rude.


anyway
if a verb after je starts in a vowel, je turns to j'
example: Je aime -> J'aime
and you'll probably wanna use "Je t'aime" means "I love you" too
;)
k

and now is the time i would recall the french lessons i had and tell you how to form the other verb tenses and forms but i never payed any fucking attention in class so yea

[bloodfox]

An example would be the Portuguese Tu/Você, although today tu is little used and você has adquired a very informal usage(it is actually a contraction of "vosmecê", which was formal as heck).

Tu is still used a lot in PT-PT, and você isn't really used at all, as it is considered rude.


anyway
if a verb after je starts in a vowel, je turns to j'
example: Je aime -> J'aime
and you'll probably wanna use "Je t'aime" means "I love you" too
;)
k

and now is the time i would recall the french lessons i had and tell you how to form the other verb tenses and forms but i never payed any fucking attention in class so yea

Hm. Seems like you got good grades...

[Zekamalikyd]

i did actually, finished all the years i had french with 4/5

[CommieBuffalo]

An example would be the Portuguese Tu/Você, although today tu is little used and você has adquired a very informal usage(it is actually a contraction of "vosmecê", which was formal as heck).

Tu is still used a lot in PT-PT, and você isn't really used at all, as it is considered rude.

Ah well, here in Brazil tu is not used very frequently, except in the South. I thought it might've been used different in Portugal but didn't know it was that much different.

[Ballistic]

Verbs in French change endings when conjugated.

Example:

Present Tense
1st Person Singular: j'aime (I like)
2nd Person SIngular: tu aimes (you like)
3rd Person Singular: il aime (he/she/it likes)

1st Person Plural: nous aimons (we like)
2nd Person Plural: vous aimez (you like)
3rd Person Plural ils aiment (they like)

Then there are also future tense and past tense etc. ...

For more reference: http://french.about.com/od/verb_conjuga ... /aimer.htm

[MushieWarden]

You should probably talk to Skynet. iirc he spoke French on mumble

[Conduit]

I KNOW GREAT FRENCH
JE TOU ES MANGE LE FORMAGE
JE SUIS OUI OUI DANS LE EIFFEL TOWER, GRAAANDE.
SEPERATION~
VIVA LA FRANCAIS

[RO0Ki3]

I suggest do the Free Trial of Rosetta Stone,and if you like it just buy it for 30 bucks.

[Pedroh]

google.

[Fring]

Je ne sais pas si tu parle assez bien français pour me comprendre, mais si tu as des questions concernant le français passe me voir sur l'IRC Animus, j'y suis souvent. Pour te répondre, tu dois dire "vous" quand tu parle à plusieurs personnes ou quand tu t'adresse à quelqu'un d'important, ton professeur de classe etc... Tu dois utiliser "tu" quand tu t'adresse à une personne, en général un ami ou une connaissance. Exemple ;" Maman, peut-tu me passer le pain s'il te plaît" avec tu et avec vous : "Monsieur le président, pourriez-vous me passer le pain s'il vous plaît ?".

J'espère que je t'aurai bien aider et si tu as réussi à me comprendre sans traduire c'est que ton niveau de français et relativement élevé. Bonne chance pour la suite.

Fring.