Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Lon or On Euphony in French Pronunciation
Lon or On Euphony in French Pronunciation On is the French impersonal subject pronoun, and normally shouldnt be preceded by l neither the direct object definite article In Old French, on was the subject case for the noun homme, so lon at this time meant les hommes. When the subject case disappeared in French, on stuck around as a pronoun, and retained the ability to take the definite article. Lon is much more common in written French than in spoken, because it is a formal, elegant construction, and writing tends to be more formal than speech. Today, this l is simply considered a euphonic consonant and is used in the following situations: 1. After certain monosyllabic words that end in a vowel sound, like et, ou, oà ¹, qui,quoi, and si, to avoid a hiatus. Sais-tu si lon a demandà ©Ã‚ ?  (avoid si on)  Do you know if someone asked?...et lon a dit la verità ©.      (avoid et on)  ...and they told the truth. 2. After que, lorsque, and puisque, to avoid the contraction quon (sounds like con), especially if the next word begins with the sound con. Lorsque lon est arrivà ©... (avoid lorsquon)  When we arrived...Il faut que lon comprenne. (avoid quoncomprenne)  Its necessary for everyone to understand. 3. At the beginning of a sentence or clause. This usage of lon is not a question of euphony, but rather a holdover from là ©poque classique and is thus very formal. Lon ne sait jamais.  One never knows.   Lorsque je suis arrivà ©, lon ma dit bonjour.  When I arrived, everyone said hello. Note: For the purposes of euphony, on is used instead of lon After dont (le livre dont on a parlà ©)In front of words that begin with l (je sais oà ¹ on lit)
Monday, March 2, 2020
Comme Is a Star of French Idiomatic Expressions
Comme Is a Star of French Idiomatic Expressions The French word comme means like, as or since and is used in a large number of idiomatic expressions. Learn how to say soaking wet, knee-high to a grasshopper, so-so and more with this list of French expressions that use comme. Other cultures have found French expressions useful and have assimilated them into their languages. Comme ci, comme à §a, for instance, is used in English and several other languages to mean so-so, fair, or just okay. The word comme, one of the most common and versatile in French, can be a conjunction, adverb, or part of an adverbial phrase. Like the French conjunctions parce que, car and puisque, comme is commonly used to draw conclusions or otherwise relate a cause or explanation with a result or conclusion. For example, Comme je lis le plus vite, jai dà ©j fini means Since I read the fastest, Ive already finished. Common French Expressions Using Comme arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupeto be completely irrelevant chanter comme une casseroleto be a lousy singercomme cela/à §a(just) like that; that way; (informal) great, terrificcomme ci, comme à §aso-so; faircomme dhabitudeas usualcomme il fautproperly; respectablycomme il vous plairaas you wishcomme les autresordinary; everydaycomme on ditas they say; how its saidcomme par hasardcoincidentally; as if by chancecomme qui dirait(informal) as you might say; what you might think is/wascomme quoito the effect that; which goes to show thatcomme sias if; as though(adjectif) comme toutso (adjective); as (adjective) as can be comme tout le mondenormally; like everyone elsehaut comme trois pommesknee-high to a grasshopperjuste commejust / right asparler le franà §ais comme une vache espagnoleto speak French very badlytrempà © comme une soupeto be soaking wet
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