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.   Ã‚  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