About This Lesson
Use A Movie at Home to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
On regarde un film à la maison ?
ohn ruh-GAHRD uhn FEELM ah lah meh-ZOHN How about a movie at home?
B
Ça a l'air bien et facile.
sah ah LAIR byehn ay fah-SEEL That sounds nice and easy.
A
Choisissons un film court.
shwah-zee-SOHN uhn FEELM KOOR Let's choose a short movie.
B
Comme ça, on peut finir avant qu'il soit tard.
kohm sah ohn puh fee-NEER ah-VAHN keel swah TAHR Then we can finish before it gets late.
A
Je peux apporter des fruits.
zhuh puh ah-por-TAY day FRWEE I can bring some fruit.
B
Une petite collation serait bien.
ewn puh-TEET koh-lah-SYOHN suh-RAY byehn A light snack would be nice.
A
Est-ce que j'apporte aussi du thé ?
ess-kuh zhah-PORT oh-SEE dew TAY Should I bring tea too?
B
Du thé, ce serait bien aussi.
dew TAY, suh suh-RAY byehn oh-SEE Tea would be nice too.Word by Word
On
On means “we” here and suggests watching together. A common reusable pattern is On + verb for an activity proposed or done by a group.
regarde
Regarde means “watch” in the proposed activity On regarde un film à la maison ?. The pattern On regarde + object ? can be used to suggest watching something together.
un
Un presents film as one movie or a movie. The reusable pattern un + singular noun introduces one unspecified item.
film
Film means “movie” here. In film court, it names the thing being chosen, and it can be used after an article such as un film.
à
À means “at” in the location phrase à la maison. The pattern à + place expresses where an activity happens.
la
La means “the” before maison in à la maison. It helps form the fixed location phrase meaning “at home.”
maison
Maison means “house” or “home” in à la maison. Together with à la, it gives the location of the movie activity.
Ça
Ça refers to the movie-at-home idea and means “that” or “it” in Ça a l'air bien et facile. It is commonly used to refer to an idea, situation, or thing already under discussion.
a l'air
A l'air means “looks” or “seems” in Ça a l'air bien et facile. A supplies the “has” part and l'air refers to the look or appearance; together, the construction evaluates how something seems. A reusable pattern is avoir l'air + adjective.
bien
Bien means “nice” or “good” in Ça a l'air bien. It gives a positive evaluation of the plan, and it can follow a form of avoir l'air to describe how something seems.
et
Et means “and” and links the two positive descriptions bien and facile. It is reusable between words or descriptions that are being added together.
facile
Facile means “easy” here and describes the plan as simple to do. It can be used after a form of être or avoir l'air to describe whether something is easy.
Choisissons
Choisissons means “let’s choose” and proposes a joint decision about the movie. It is followed here by the thing being selected, un film court.
court
Court means “short” and describes the film’s length in un film court. In this phrase, it follows the noun and helps specify which movie to choose.
Comme
In the exact phrase Comme ça, Comme contributes to the meaning “that way” or “so.” The full phrase Comme ça introduces the result that follows: finishing before it gets late.
peut
Peut means “can” in on peut finir, expressing that the group is able or permitted to finish. A reliable pattern is peut + infinitive, as in peut finir.
finir
Finir means “finish” and names the activity the group can complete. After peut, it appears in the pattern peut finir; here it is linked to the time condition avant qu'il soit tard.
avant
Avant means “before” and introduces the time condition avant qu'il soit tard. It is reusable before a time expression or clause to show that one event happens earlier.
qu'il
Qu'il means “that it” and introduces the clause describing when it becomes late. It is a shortened form of que + il, as seen in avant qu'il soit tard.
soit
Soit supplies the “be” meaning in qu'il soit tard, completing the idea “before it is late.” Together with il and tard, it forms a clause about the time of day.
tard
Tard means “late” in qu'il soit tard. It describes the time condition that the friends want to avoid, and it commonly appears with a form of être to describe lateness.
Je
Je means “I” and identifies the speaker who can bring the fruit. The reusable pattern Je peux + infinitive expresses something the speaker can do.
peux
Peux means “can” in Je peux apporter des fruits. It is followed by the infinitive apporter, forming the pattern Je peux + infinitive for offering or stating an ability.
apporter
Apporter means “bring” and names the action of bringing fruit or tea to the movie. A reusable pattern is apporter + object, as in apporter des fruits.
des
Des means “some” before the plural food item fruits. The pattern des + plural noun introduces an unspecified amount or number of items.
fruits
Fruits means “fruit” here and names what the speaker can bring. It appears in the reusable food phrase des fruits, meaning some fruit.
Une
Une means “a” or “one” before collation and introduces one snack. The pattern une + singular noun presents one unspecified item.
petite
Petite means “small” and makes the snack sound modest in size in une petite collation. It comes before collation in this noun phrase and helps describe the suggested snack.
collation
Collation means “snack” and refers to the light food suggested for the movie. It can be used after une petite to form a phrase for one small snack.
serait
Serait means “would be” in Une petite collation serait bien. It presents the snack as a gentle or polite suggestion, and the pattern noun + serait + adjective gives an evaluation or suggestion.
Est-ce que
Est-ce que marks a question asking whether the speaker should bring tea. Est-ce contains the question-opening element and que introduces the following clause; together they form the question marker rather than a literal phrase meaning “is that” here.
j'apporte
J'apporte means “I bring” in the question Est-ce que j'apporte aussi du thé ?, where the context gives the sense “Should I bring...?” J' is the shortened form of je before apporte, and a reusable pattern is j'apporte + object.
aussi
Aussi means “also” or “too.” In j'apporte aussi du thé, it adds tea to what may be brought; in ce serait bien aussi, it adds agreement that tea would be nice as well.
du
Du presents thé as some or an amount of tea in du thé. It is used before a mass food or drink noun, following the reusable pattern du + food or drink.
thé
Thé means “tea” and names the drink being considered. In du thé, it refers to an amount of tea rather than one individual item.
ce
Ce refers back to the proposed tea in ce serait bien and means “that” or “it.” The pattern ce serait + adjective gives an evaluation of a suggestion, here meaning that it would be nice.
Grammar Points
avant que + subjonctif
avant que le film soit fini
ah-VAHN kuh luh FEELM swah fee-NEEbefore the movie is finished
After « avant que », French uses the subjunctive; « soit » is the subjunctive form of « être ».
avoir l'air + adjectif
Le film a l'air court.
luh FEELM ah LAIR KOORThe movie seems short.
« Avoir l'air » means “to seem”; it is followed by an adjective describing the subject.
French Vocabulary
avant que
conj
ah-VAHN kuh
before
avoir l'air
phrase
ah-VWAHR LAIR
to seem
a l'air
bien
adv
BYEHN
well; nicely
choisir
verb
shwah-ZEER
to choose
choisissons
court
adj
KOOR
short
être
verb
EH-tr
to be
soit
facile
adj
fah-SEEL
easy
film
noun
FEELM
movie
finir
verb
fee-NEER
to finish
maison
noun
meh-ZOHN
house
pouvoir
verb
poo-VWAHR
can; to be able to
peut
regarder
verb
ruh-gahr-DAY
to watch
regarde
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
That sounds nice and easy.
Show Answer
Ça a l'air bien et facile.Let's choose a short movie.
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Choisissons un film court.I can bring some fruit.
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Je peux apporter des fruits.Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
to watch
Show Answer
regardeshort
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courtmovie
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filmeasy