Context:
Yet another lesson to familiarize ourselves with elements commonly found in a typical classroom setting. After studying the French nouns of many different objects one can easily find in class, I would like now to discuss school disciplines. After finishing this lesson, each one of you should be able to look at his/her class schedule and translate almost all subjects into French. You think you can do this? OK, let’s not waste any more time.
Goals:
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
Chapter 2 –> Lesson 4:
Level of difficulty: Easy
For this lesson, you will definitely need to learn how to conjugate the verb avoir, otherwise how will be able to say “I have an English class at 8 o’clock” ?
| AVOIR (to have) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| j’ | ai | I have |
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| tu | as | you have (familiar, singular only) |
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| il/elle/on | a | he/she/it/ one has |
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| nous | avons | we have |
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| vous | avez | you have (formal or plural) |
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| ils/elles | ont | they have (people or things) |
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How to ask questions with avoir?
Very simple. There are two methods: the inversion method and what I call the “est-ce que” method. Here, we will use the inversion method, which simply consists in inverting the position of the verb and the subject. So if you have a sentence like this one (affirmative form): “Tu as cours cet après-midi” (You have class this afternoon) and you would like to turn this affirmative sentence into an interrogation, simply invert TU AS into AS-TU and follow with the rest of the sentence: “As-tu cours cet après-midi ?” (Do you have class this afternoon ?)
For more on this subject, you can download this PDF file explaining the French interrogative form in more details: 
The Interrogative Form
| SCHOOL SUBJECTS | EXAMPLES | |
|---|---|---|
 |
la géographie Geography
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Elle a un cours de géographie ce matin. She has a Geography class this morning.
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 |
l’histoire History
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As-tu un cours d’histoire ce semestre? Do you have a history class this semester?
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 |
l’informatique Computer science
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L’informatique est un sujet passionnant. Computer science is an exciting subject.
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 |
la géométrie Geometry
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Cette étudiante déteste la géométrie. This (female) student hates geometry.
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 |
les mathématiques Mathematics
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Je pense que les mathématiques sont très difficiles. I think that mathematics are very difficult.
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 |
le commerce Commerce
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Nous avons un cours de commerce à 13 heures. We have a commerce class at 1 P.M.
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 |
l’anglais English (language)
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Marie a un cours d’anglais ce semestre Mary has an English class this semester.
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 |
le français French (language)
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Le français est ma langue préférée. French is my favorite language.
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 |
l’italien Italian (language)
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J’ai un cours d’italien à huit heures. I have an Italian class at 8 o’clock.
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 |
l’allemand German(language)
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Mme Durand sait parler l’allemand. Mrs. Durand can speak German.
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 |
la gymnastique Gymnastics (exercises)
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Karen fait de la gymnastique dans le parc. Karen does gymnastics (exercises) in the park.
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 |
le journalisme Journalism
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Michel apprend le journalisme dans cette école. Michel is learning journalism in this school.
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 |
la psychologie Psychology
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Anne est étudiante en psychologie. Anne is a psychology major student.
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 |
la sociologie Sociology
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J’aime beaucoup la psychologie. I like Sociology very much.
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 |
le théâtre. Theater
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La comédie est un genre de théâtre. Comedy is a form of theater.
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 |
la physique. Physics
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Einstein était un génie de la physique. Einstein was a genius in physics.
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 |
la biologie. Biology
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Vous avez un cours de biologie à 11 heures. You have a biology class at 11 o’clock.
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 |
la musique. Music
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Chris adore la musique classique. Chris loves classical music.
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 |
la philosophie. Philosophy
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La philosophie est utile. Philosophy is useful.
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 |
la gestion. Management
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Avons-nous un cours de gestion cet après-midi? Do we have management class this afternoon?
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 |
le dessin. Drawing
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Le dessin stimule la créativité chez les enfants. Drawing stimulates creativity in children.
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 |
la danse. Dance
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La danse est bonne pour la santé. Dance is good for your health.
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 |
la publicité. Advertising
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Sandra ne s’intéresse pas à la publicité. Sandra isn’t interested in advertising
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 |
la chimie. Chemistry
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Elle a un cours de chimie ce semestre. She has a chemistry class this semester
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[...] School Subjects in French [...]
[...] School Subjects in French [...]
SALUT,
IM NEW IN THESE WEBSITE AND IT REALLY CATCHED MY INTEREST TO LEARN FRENCH…
BUT IF ITS POSSIBLE CAN YOU PROVIDE US A FRENCH LESSON WHERE THERE IS THE PRESNT,PAST AND FUTURE TENSES OF VERBS ALL IN ONE PAGE? I’VE BEEN LEARNING FRENCH BY MYSELF COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO BUT UNTILL NOW IM STILL CONFUSED OF WHICH VERB I WILL USE WHEN IT IS IN PAST AND FUTURE TENSE.. I HOPE YOU CAN GIVE ME A SOLUTION TO MY PETITE PROB.
MERCI BEAUCOUP..
Salut Cristina,
Having a French verb-conjugator tool on this website has been one of my projects, and I have actually completed a few verbs conjugated in all tenses but didn\’t place any links because i wanted to finish them all. Unfortunately, a very busy schedule is keeping from finishing this project, but I will eventually someday. Here is a link to the verb \”parler\” http://frenchtasticpeople.com/french-verbs-audio-…
Bonjour! Moi aussi, i just got registered into this wonderful and fantastic website – “FRENCHTASTICPEOPLE.COM”. I must comment that it is indeed frenchTASTIC to be part of this. Pr. Herman, je vous remercie beaucoup. But really i am wondering if you could help me by sending the accessible links to ALL your past lessons here so far to the e-mail address i registered in this website. Hope there’s a way you can get the e-maill address without my writing it out here. I’d very much appreciate if you do help me, i want to keep abreast of ALL your lessons so far. S’il vous plait,do keep the good work going.
Merci beaucoup et Dieu vous benisse!!!
La belle,
You will find the links to all past lessons under the “Youtube Downloads” menu on top of the page. Merci de votre intérêt!
fabulous greetings d’ecosse
Bonjour de Minneapolis, aux États-Unis.
your process makes great understanding
Bonjour professeur,
One of the examples in the school subjects section has a printing error where “psychologie” has been substituted for “sociologie” – as reproduced here:
la sociologie Sociology J’aime beaucoup la psychologie. I like Sociology very much.
merci, kaiying