Planning a walk with friends | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: Before a walk, two friends choose where to meet, agree to send a message, and decide to bring water..

EN → FR / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Planning a walk with friends to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Faisons une promenade ensemble.

fuh-ZOHN ewn prohm-NAHD ahn-SAHM-bl Let's take a walk together.
B

Une petite promenade, c'est bien.

ewn puh-TEET prohm-NAHD, seh BYEHN A short walk sounds nice.
A

Où est-ce qu'on se retrouve ?

oo ess-kohn suh ruh-TROOV Where should we meet?
B

L'entrée du parc, ça me va.

lahn-TRAY dew PARK, sah muh VAH The park entrance works for me.
A

Je t'enverrai un message avant de partir.

zhuh tahn-vuh-RAY ewn meh-SAHZH ah-VAHN duh pahr-TEER I'll message you before I leave.
B

Ça m'aide à être là à l'heure.

sah MED ah EH-truh LAH ah LUHR That helps me be there on time.
A

Est-ce que je dois apporter de l'eau ?

ess-kuh zhuh DWAH ah-pawr-TAY duh LOH Should I bring water?
B

Apporte assez d'eau pour toi.

ah-PORT ah-SAY doh poor TWAH Bring enough for yourself.

Word by Word

Faisons Faisons means let’s take or do in Faisons une promenade ensemble, proposing a shared activity. It is the form of faire used for this suggestion. Reuse Faisons + noun when proposing something to do together.
une une introduces une promenade as one unspecified feminine noun, meaning a or one here. Its form matches the feminine noun promenade. Reuse une + feminine noun when introducing one thing.
promenade promenade means walk in une promenade. Together with faire, it names the walking activity proposed in the dialogue. Reuse une promenade when talking about this kind of outing.
ensemble ensemble means together in Faisons une promenade ensemble, showing that the speakers will do the activity with each other. It commonly comes after the activity or verb phrase. Reuse it when emphasizing a shared action.
petite petite describes the promenade as short or small in Une petite promenade. It is the feminine form used with the feminine noun promenade. Reuse petite + feminine noun to describe a small or short thing.
c'est c'est means it is or that is in c'est bien, presenting a positive assessment of the short walk. It is the contraction of ce and est. Reuse c'est + adjective for a simple assessment.
bien bien means nice or good in c'est bien, expressing approval of the suggested walk. It completes the positive assessment c'est bien. Use this expression when accepting or approving a suggestion.
Où Où means where and asks about the location in Où est-ce qu'on se retrouve ? It introduces the question about the meeting place. Reuse Où + question when asking for a location.
est-ce que est-ce que is the question marker in est-ce qu'on se retrouve ?, turning the sentence into a direct question. It contains est-ce followed by que; before on, que is elided to qu' in qu'on. Reuse this question pattern before the rest of a French question.
qu'on qu'on links the question marker to on in est-ce qu'on se retrouve ?, where on refers to the friends as we. The form comes from que before on, with the vowel elided. Reuse qu'on + verb when que is followed by on.
se se is the pronoun used with retrouve in se retrouve, forming the expression for meeting up. It is part of the reusable verb pattern se retrouver. Use se retrouver when people plan to meet each other.
retrouve retrouve is the verb form used in se retrouve for meet up in this dialogue. Its citation form is retrouver. Here, se retrouver is used to ask where the friends will meet.
L'entrée L'entrée means the entrance in L'entrée du parc. L' is the definite article before the vowel at the start of entrée. Reuse l'entrée de + place when identifying an entrance connected with a place.
du du means of the in L'entrée du parc, linking the entrance with the park. It is the contraction of de and le. Reuse noun + du + noun to express a connection with a masculine singular noun.
parc parc means park in L'entrée du parc. It identifies the place whose entrance the speakers choose. Reuse parc when naming this kind of outdoor meeting place.
ça ça refers to the suggested meeting place in ça me va. It appears as Ça at the beginning of the line and as ça after the comma; the capitalization changes with position, not meaning. In this construction, it is the thing being evaluated.
me me means to me in ça me va, identifying the speaker as the person for whom the arrangement works. The full expression ça me va means it works for me. Reuse ça me va when accepting a proposed option.
va va means works or suits in ça me va, saying that the proposed entrance is acceptable to the speaker. Its citation form is aller. Reuse ça me va to say that an arrangement suits you.
Je Je means I and identifies the speaker in Je t'enverrai un message. It is the subject of the action of sending. Reuse Je + verb when stating what you will do.
t'enverrai t'enverrai means will send you in t'enverrai un message. The initial t' is te, the person receiving the message, and enverrai is the form of envoyer used by the speaker; t' is elided before the vowel. Reuse envoyer un message à quelqu'un when talking about sending a message to someone.
un un introduces un message as one unspecified masculine noun, meaning a or one here. Its form matches the masculine noun message. Reuse un + masculine noun when introducing one thing.
message message means message in t'enverrai un message. It names the communication the speaker plans to send before leaving. Reuse envoyer un message when talking about sending someone a message.
avant avant means before and places one event earlier than another in avant de partir. Here it marks the time before the speaker leaves. Reuse avant de + infinitive to express before doing something.
de de introduces partir after avant in avant de partir. It creates the pattern avant de + infinitive, meaning before doing something. Reuse de in this pattern before an action.
partir partir means leave in avant de partir, naming the action that will happen after the message is sent. It is the infinitive used after de. Reuse avant de partir when referring to the time before leaving.
m'aide m'aide means helps me in Ça m'aide à être là. m' is me before the vowel of aide, and aide is the form of aider used here. Reuse ça m'aide à + infinitive when something makes an action easier.
à à links m'aide to the action être in m'aide à être, showing what the help makes possible. It also appears in à l'heure as part of the expression meaning on time. Reuse aider quelqu'un à + infinitive for help with an action.
être être means be in être là, describing being present at the meeting place. It is the infinitive following à after m'aide. Reuse être + place expression, as in être là.
là là means there in être là, identifying the place where the person should be. It completes the location phrase être là. Reuse être là when saying that someone is present at a place.
à l'heure à l'heure means on time as a whole expression in Ça m'aide à être là à l'heure. à contributes to the time expression, while l'heure names the relevant time; together they describe being present at the expected time. Reuse être là à l'heure when talking about arriving or being present on time.
dois dois expresses must or should in Est-ce que je dois apporter de l'eau ?, asking whether the speaker is expected to bring water. Its citation form is devoir, and it is followed here by the infinitive apporter. Reuse devoir + infinitive when asking or stating what someone needs to do.
apporter apporter means bring in dois apporter de l'eau, naming the action of bringing something to the relevant place. It is the infinitive after dois. Reuse apporter + object, as in apporter de l'eau.
l'eau l'eau means the water in apporter de l'eau. l' is the definite article before eau, and eau names the water. Reuse de l'eau after a verb when referring to water as the thing involved.
Apporte Apporte is a direct request to bring something in Apporte assez d'eau pour toi. It is the form of apporter used when addressing one person directly. Reuse Apporte + object when telling a friend what to bring.
assez assez means enough, indicating a sufficient quantity in assez d'eau. It commonly comes before de + noun to express enough of something; here the full pattern is assez d'eau. Use it when setting a sufficient amount for an activity.
d'eau d'eau identifies water as the quantity specified in assez d'eau. d' is de elided before eau. Reuse assez d'eau when specifying a sufficient amount of water.
pour pour introduces the person for whom the water is intended in pour toi, meaning for. It marks the recipient or beneficiary of something. Reuse pour + person or pronoun to show who something is intended for.
toi toi means you or yourself after pour in pour toi, showing that the water is intended for the person addressed. It is the pronoun form used after the preposition pour. Reuse pour toi when telling someone that something is for them.

Grammar Points

avant de + infinitif

Avant de partir, j'enverrai un message.

ah-VAHN duh pahr-TEER, zhahn-vuh-RAY ewn meh-SAHZH

Before leaving, I will send a message.

Use avant de followed by the infinitive to express an action that happens earlier.

-ai : futur simple à la première personne

J'enverrai un message.

zhahn-vuh-RAY ewn meh-SAHZH

I will send a message.

The ending -ai marks the simple future for je; envoyer becomes j'enverrai.

French Vocabulary

aller verb
ah-LAY to suit; to be okay va

L'entrée du parc, ça me va.

ensemble adv
ahn-SAHM-bl together

Faisons une promenade ensemble.

entrée noun
ahn-TRAY entrance

L'entrée du parc, ça me va.

envoyer verb
ahn-vwah-YAY to send enverrai

Je t'enverrai un message avant de partir.

faire verb
FEHR to do; to make Faisons

Faisons une promenade ensemble.

message noun
meh-SAHZH message

Je t'enverrai un message avant de partir.

on pron
OHN we; one

Où est-ce qu'on se retrouve ?

où adv
OO where

Où est-ce qu'on se retrouve ?

parc noun
PARK park

L'entrée du parc, ça me va.

petit adj
puh-TEE short; small petite

Une petite promenade, c'est bien.

promenade noun
prohm-NAHD walk

Faisons une promenade ensemble.

se retrouver verb
suh ruh-troo-VAY to meet up se retrouve

Où est-ce qu'on se retrouve ?

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

Let's take a walk together.

Show AnswerFaisons une promenade ensemble.

A short walk sounds nice.

Show AnswerUne petite promenade, c'est bien.

Where should we meet?

Show AnswerOù est-ce qu'on se retrouve ?

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

short; small

Show Answerpetite

to do; to make

Show AnswerFaisons

together

Show Answerensemble

entrance

Show Answerentrée