Master These Infamous French Verbs (Pragmatic Guide for English Speakers)
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 24. 05. 2024
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Yet again good video, always hitting the subjects us intermediate/advanced struggle with or need clarifying
I'm suprised you didn't mention the root verbs. Mener means "to guide or lead" and thus naturally refers to people or animals. Porter means "to carry or wear" and so generally refers to inanimate objects. (Native speaker)
You added it for us ;)
I'm from Brittany, and people like my parents, whose mother tongue is Breton, are generally very confused about the use of all these French verbs. Indeed, the equivalent system in Breton is very different and uses only two verbs and prepositions. To say "emporte-le", it's common to hear in Brittany, among people of this generation, and even among younger people who don't speak Breton: "envoie-le avec toi" (send it with you), which is the literal translation of the Breton: "kas anezhañ ganit".
Just thinking.. many of us know the term pret-a-porter for fashion, so it can become a reference for 'porter', 'emporter' , 'apporter'' i.e inanimate objects.
1. Yes, its grammatically correct. 2. Yes, its ok to use in everyday french because amener can be used as a catch all. 3. Tu dois rapporter mon stylo demain
Love your way of teaching.
Kudos Alex that was quite the chunky lesson to explain and you did it brilliantly!
So chunky!
Alex, would you consider doing a video on how to make small talk with the french? The rules are so different. Would love some guidance.
What do you mean by "the rules", Lisa?
â@FrenchinPlainSight Hi!! In America, we include topics like what we do for a living, where family lives....personal stuff. We avoid politics and religion as subjects for polite conversation. But in France, it seems that politics and religion are subjects that are okay for small talk but personal stuff is taboo. So maybe an example of a few easy conversations and the topics you would cover (at a party or in an office) would be helpful to many. It would to me, as a total introvert in ANY language!đ I need all the help I can get!
@@lisaahmari7199 I'll have a think, but that's not my area of expertise so don't expect anything on that! Generally I am just myself and if it's not flowing with the person, then I just move on.
Very good video. Thanks
Top !! Merci, Alex
Merci je prends tes vidĂ©os pour des rappels pour moi qui suis français d'outre-mer car mĂȘme les français font l'erreur. J'ai toujours appris " tu portes un objet" et "tu mĂšnes une personne ou un animal" .
This was a really really helpful video!
Glad it was helpful!
thats handy , amener sound like dutch 'neem mee' in a strange verlan kind of way :)
well explained!
This was a really good video! I've been speaking French for like 25 years, and I still hesitate with these sometimes. It's exactly as you say - I learned the rules but that's not always what you hear. So I'm never sure if I should go for grammatically correct or what people actually say. I'm pretty sure I hear "emmener" used to take inanimate objects with you as well, such as "j'emmĂšne deux paires de sandales dans ma valise".
merci beaucoup pour votre video. J'apprends beaucoup avec vous
really useful many thanks
You are welcome
Great explanation đđđ
Glad you liked it!
Thank you
You're welcome
Merc Alex. TrĂšs utile et clair comme dâhab.
De rien Debra :)
I like to think of 'prendre' as altogether separate, and then think of 'apporter/ammener' and 'emporter/emmener' as 'bring' and 'take' respectively. E.g., "Sure, I can bring a snack with me tomorrow" (aporter). "I might have to take my umbrella tomorrow if the weather doesn't improve" (emporter).
This can be summed up by focusing on whether the item/person 'belongs' at the destination or the origin. I'm not sure if this is 100% correct, and there are some situations in which the 'belonging' is unclear, but in general this works for me. Great video, thank you!
Thanks for your "take". Whatever helps you to feel somewhat confident in USING these things is the most important thing. The nuances start to click into place over years of paying attention and not stressing out about it.
Good job.
Super! great explanation. Trying to take/bring/retake it all in/away/with me/back - mais ne pas utiliser pas prendre!
In primary school the boys would frighten the girls by saying "I'll take you to the kasbah". We didn't know what it meant - but assumed it was a bad thing. Egalement et apparamment - "take" is bad en francais aussi. Parfait, je m'en souviendrai.
Don't say - take les enfants a la piscine = c'est paedo ..... amener amener amener
As a native speaker, I think I didnât know that « remmener » even existed đ
Thanks for confirming. I had NEVER thought about it but then I thought "there's a 'r' verb for the others, why not this?" Clearly, l'Académie Française has given up at this point. "Oh, let them use 'ramener'."
@@FrenchinPlainSight As a native speaker, "ramener quelqu'un chez lui/elle" after a party is more often used. For exemple "je te ramĂšne ?" or "oui, je le/la ramĂšne chez lui/elle". But it happened several times that I say to a friend (or a friend asked me) "je te remmĂšne ?" because I was already the one who drove him/her to the party.
I really appreciate your videos. Interesting how you slip in an example of similar words in English that can be confusing. At t=84 you say "and you want to know what to bring or take to the event." In this context bring = take. But they are not always equal.
Thank you helping me improve my French.
Thanks for your comment, Albert. Indeed, things like "bring" and "take" not always being equal is why it's taken me many years to make this video. Many learners like to know "what a verb means in English" but "bring" and "take" don't tell the full story with these!
Thank you. Another useful video. I like the MEN tip as that will actually work. But just to clarify I am right in thinking if all else fails and you use amener for whatever it will be ok? đ€
In my opinion, for people who are intermediate and just want to keep improving their fluidity without being blocked by grammar, yes you can use amener and ramener for a lot of cases. There will be some sticklers who disagree but this is my honest opinion from 9 years of French life as a foreigner.
You won't get killed, in other words đ
Thank you. Yes we had French teachers last year who were a couple. He was French and she was English. They had a debate about these words and I remember him saying at the end of the day it doesnât really matter what you say, especially in the case of amener and emmener as they sound so similar anyway đ
Even in everyday speech, I don't think I ever heard anybody use "amener" instead of "emporter".
If you go somewhere and you bring food, you'll use "apporter" and nobody should frown if you use "amener", but you won't use it at the end of the party if you take back some of the leftovers.
Super helpful! I was a bit confused by referring to the meanings as âgrammarâ - I was expecting some actual grammar after all those warnings! - but other than that, great!
What would you consider grammar if not the explanations of the usage? Genuine question. Perhaps I have confused the word with something else for all these years :D
@@FrenchinPlainSight oh i dont claim to be an expert! it just confused me. For me grammar = syntax = structure of how language works, whereas meaning = semantics = what words actually mean. (so for me, the whole video was about meaning /- no less useful for that!).
@@tobywardman2950 i agree, too. đ it's more about semantic and vocabulary, then grammar rules. but i'm just French, not an expert.
Du coup is an utterance that deserves more coverage. Parisian slang or not?
I learned that the word "Rendre" is used for returning objects (either loaned or bought) to their original location or to the original owner. Would "Rapporter" be used for any object that isn't loaned or bought then? What's the difference?
I would use « rendre » if I keep it for some time and « rapporter » if itâs right away.
Fun fact : I havenât heard it recently, it might be outmoded but when I was young (80âs), when someone lent you something, they might say « Il sâappelle ârevientâ » ou « elle sâappelle ârevientâ » meaning « donât forget to give it back ».
it's difrunt TU or FROM -THAN-
-like- AS we du as cildrin.
Great explanation. I heard that amener has the notion of leaving the person at the destination. Eg j'amÚne mes enfants à l'école. For emmener there is the notion that you stay with the person. Eg you may ask: ca te dérange si j'emmene un ami au cinéma ce soir?
But are you not mixing up take (amener) and bring (emmener)? Certainly in English the meaning is different between 'I'm taing my children to school' and 'if I bring a friend to the movie', a distinction that is unrelated to any notion of leaving the person at the destination.
Yes I have found that notion in explanations but I find it inconsistent in real use, so I didn't include it. What I am certain of is that the focus on "A" verbs is on the destination.
It's a complete guide...for now. We're 99% of the way there.
I used to say amener = take and emmener = bring, but that mapping falls apart when you say things like "I'm taking my kids to Disneyland." but you're staying with them, so you'd use "emmener". Emmener and amener can mean either bring or take, depending on the sentence.
@@FrenchinPlainSight Yes, I agree that is the main take away, but as usual with the french language there are some twists. đ
@@briandriscoll1480 Sorry, I am not a native english speaker. What is the distinction between bring and take here?
If there are any French lawyers out there, are pets considered property as is the English tradition.
Per your rules, everyday speech would suggest emmener with some pets but in legal contexts as well?
Why do you talk about property here? I only mentioned that "living things" is the criteria for "amener/emmener". :)
@@FrenchinPlainSight "I took the (diseased /unregistered) dog to the vets to be put down".
I only ask given what one of the French students said in our Tort class a month back, that emmener cannot be used, properly. Not that I know much about French.
(The essential point being pets in particular dogs are treated as property first, then living things, in English Law, and so one presumes French Law by default.)
Fantastic! Merci Alex!
You can only amener/ramener/emmener someone - that has a HAND (MAIN). Amener a thing is incorrect. Amener is not catch all at all. Amener for human beings, apporter for things.
!. No because 'apporter' is used for inanimate objects. 2. No, because 'amener' is used for living things. 3. No,because 'ramener' should follow the same rle as 'amener' i.e. use for living things.
If you think French is already difficult, don't try to learn German... We have:
bringen (to bring), tragen (to carry), nehmen (to take), mitbringen, mitnehmen, wegbringen, wegnehmen, wegtragen, fortbringen, forttragen, hinbringen, hintragen.... XD
Câest pourtant simple : si câest vivant câest -mener, si câest inanimĂ©, câest porter.
Seems to me that the choice between j'apporte/j'amene mon chien depends on the size of the dog! While the j'amene/j'emmene choice depends on whether you'll be leaving the dog there.
Have you heard "J'apporte mon chien". As far as I know, you cannot use "apporter" for living things.
"Amener" and "emmener" have notions of "leaving them there" and "staying with at the destination" but the rule that's more concrete is " 'A' verbs focus on the destination and 'E' verbs the origin."
question 1: yes, the sentence is grammatically correct ; question 2: no, it's not grammatically correct. The correct sentence would be: "J'apporte du fromage". ; question 3: the correct sentence would be "Tu dois rapporter mon stylo demain". Are these answers correct?
Ah the first quiz contender !
1. J'amÚne mon chien chez le véto (Living thing = amener)
2. You're right it's not grammatically correct, but I asked if it's correct in everyday French, i.e. has usage in everyday life made "amener" correct here. The answer is yes.
3. Yes, correct!
@@FrenchinPlainSight Could "remporter" also work (instead of rapporter)f for #3?
Be careful if you say "je les ai emmené à Paris" that could potentially imply that you also stayed with them during their trip and then maybe went back together
oui "je les ai ammené à Paris" you really don't have that implication at all and its more that you just dropped them off there and went about your day
Thank you :)
If it's a trip with your grandkids, you more than likely stayed with them
@@FrenchinPlainSight Shouldn't there be an "s" at the end of the verb, ie, "Je les ai ammenés à Paris" or am I confused?
@@Grey_Ocean2023 You're right. Good eye. Advanced rule, that.