Borrowing a Phone Charger | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: In daily life, one adult borrows a phone charger and cable from another person's bag and agrees to return everything..

EN → FR / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Borrowing a Phone Charger to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Je peux emprunter ton chargeur de téléphone ?

zhuh puh ahn-pruhn-TAY tohn shah-ZHER duh tay-lay-FOHN? Can I borrow your phone charger?
B

Il est dans la poche intérieure de mon sac.

eel eh dahn lah posh an-tay-ree-YEHR duh mohn sak. It's in the inside pocket of my bag.
A

Le câble est avec le chargeur ?

luh KAH-bl eh ah-VEK luh shah-ZHER? Is the cable with it?
B

Le câble est dans le petit étui.

luh KAH-bl eh dahn luh puh-TEE ay-TWEE. The cable is in the small case.
A

J'ai trouvé les deux.

zhay troo-VAY lay DUH. I found both.
B

Remets le câble dans l'étui, s'il te plaît.

ruh-MEH luh KAH-bl dahn lay-TWEE, seel tuh PLAY. Please put the cable back in the case.
A

Je vais tout rendre avant de partir.

zhuh vay TOO rahn-DRUH ah-VAHN duh par-TEER. I'll return everything before I leave.
B

Ça me va.

sah muh VAH. That works for me.

Word by Word

Je Je means “I” here, as the speaker asks for permission in Je peux emprunter ton chargeur de téléphone ?. Use Je before a verb when saying what you do or want to do.
peux In Je peux emprunter ton chargeur de téléphone ?, peux expresses “can” or “may” when asking permission. It is the je form of pouvoir here; reuse Je peux + an infinitive to ask whether you may do something.
emprunter Emprunter means “to borrow” here, referring to using another person’s phone charger and returning it later. It follows peux in Je peux emprunter ton chargeur de téléphone ?; reuse emprunter + an item.
ton Ton means “your” in ton chargeur de téléphone, referring to the other person’s charger. It comes before the noun it describes; reuse ton + a noun when addressing one person informally.
chargeur Chargeur means “charger” here, specifically the phone charger being borrowed. In chargeur de téléphone, de téléphone identifies what the charger is for; reuse chargeur de + an item or purpose.
de In chargeur de téléphone, de links chargeur with téléphone and identifies the type or purpose of the charger. Reuse de + a noun to connect one thing with another related thing.
téléphone Téléphone means “phone” in chargeur de téléphone. The phrase chargeur de téléphone refers to a phone charger; reuse téléphone after de when identifying something related to a phone.
Il Il means “it” here and refers to the charger in Il est dans la poche intérieure de mon sac. Use Il est + a location to say where this masculine-noun item is.
est Est means “is” here and locates the charger in Il est dans la poche intérieure de mon sac. It is a form of être; reuse a subject + est + a place or description.
dans Dans means “in” here and introduces the place containing the charger. In Il est dans la poche intérieure de mon sac, it is followed by the location; reuse être dans + a place or container.
la La means “the” before the feminine noun poche in la poche intérieure. Reuse la before a feminine singular noun when referring to a specific thing.
poche Poche means “pocket” in la poche intérieure, the place where the charger is kept. Reuse poche with a describing word such as poche intérieure or with a location phrase.
intérieure Intérieure means “inside” or “interior” here and describes the pocket in la poche intérieure. It is the form used with poche; reuse poche intérieure to identify an inside pocket.
mon Mon means “my” in mon sac, referring to the speaker’s bag. It comes before sac; reuse mon + a noun when referring to something belonging to the speaker.
sac Sac means “bag” in mon sac, the bag containing the charger. Reuse dans mon sac to say that something is in the speaker’s bag.
Le Le means “the” before a masculine singular noun. It appears as sentence-initial Le in Le câble est dans le petit étui and as lowercase le in le chargeur; reuse le + a specific masculine singular noun.
câble Câble means “cable” here, referring to the cable that goes with the charger. Reuse le câble est dans + a place to say where the cable is.
avec Avec means “with” here, as in Le câble est avec le chargeur ?, asking whether the cable is together with the charger. Reuse être avec + a person or thing when asking or saying that two things are together.
petit Petit means “small” in le petit étui and describes the case containing the cable. It comes before the noun here; reuse petit + a noun to describe a small item.
étui Étui means “case” here, specifically the small case containing the cable. Reuse dans l'étui when saying that something is inside the case.
J'ai J'ai means “I have” in J'ai trouvé les deux, where it begins the expression meaning “I found both.” It combines je with ai, the first-person form of avoir; reuse J'ai + a completed action such as J'ai trouvé + an object.
trouvé Trouvé means “found” in J'ai trouvé les deux, referring to locating both the charger and the cable. It is the form of trouver used with J'ai; reuse J'ai trouvé + the thing you located.
les Les means “the” in les deux and refers to the two items together, the charger and the cable. In les deux, it helps express “both”; reuse les before a plural noun or les deux when referring to two known items.
Remets Remets means “put back” in Remets le câble dans l'étui, s'il te plaît. It is a direct request to one person; reuse Remets + an object + dans + the place where it should go.
l'étui L'étui means “the case” in Remets le câble dans l'étui, s'il te plaît. The l' form is used before étui; reuse dans l'étui to say that something should be put in the case.
s'il te plaît S'il te plaît means “please” in Remets le câble dans l'étui, s'il te plaît and makes the request more polite. In this expression, s'il is contracted from si + il, te refers to the person addressed, and plaît is the form of plaire used in the expression; use s'il te plaît with a request to one person.
vais Vais expresses “am going to” or “will” in Je vais tout rendre avant de partir, where the speaker promises a future action. It is the je form of aller; reuse Je vais + an infinitive for an intention or planned action.
tout Tout means “everything” in Je vais tout rendre, referring to the charger and cable together. It comes before rendre in this construction; reuse Je vais tout + an infinitive when referring to all relevant items.
rendre Rendre means “to return” in Je vais tout rendre avant de partir, referring to giving the borrowed items back. It follows vais; reuse rendre + an object when returning something to its owner.
avant Avant means “before” in avant de partir and introduces the time limit for returning everything. Reuse avant de + an infinitive to say that one action happens before another.
partir Partir means “to leave” in avant de partir. It follows de in the pattern avant de partir; reuse avant de + an infinitive when describing something that happens before leaving or before another action.
Ça Ça means “that” or “it” in Ça me va and refers to the proposed arrangement. In this expression, it is the subject of the response; reuse Ça me va to say that an arrangement suits you.
me Me means “to me” or “for me” in Ça me va, identifying the person for whom the arrangement works. Reuse the complete pattern Ça me va when accepting or approving a suggestion.
va Va means “works,” “is okay,” or “suits” in Ça me va. It is a form of aller used in this expression; reuse Ça me va to say that a proposed plan is acceptable to you.

Grammar Points

avant de + infinitif

avant de partir

ah-VAHN duh par-TEER

before leaving

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

Remets ... s'il te plaît

Remets ça s'il te plaît.

ruh-MEH sah seel tuh PLAY

Put that back, please.

Remets is the informal singular imperative of remettre; s'il te plaît softens the request.

French Vocabulary

avec prep
ah-VEK with

with the charger

câble noun
KAH-bl cable

The cable

chargeur noun
shah-ZHER charger

your phone charger

dans prep
dahn in

in the inside pocket

emprunter verb
ahn-pruhn-TAY to borrow

Can I borrow your phone charger?

étui noun
ay-TWEE case

the small case

intérieure adj
an-tay-ree-YEHR inside; inner

inside pocket

petit adj
puh-TEE small

small case

poche noun
posh pocket

inside pocket

sac noun
sak bag

my bag

téléphone noun
tay-lay-FOHN phone

phone charger

trouver verb
troo-VAY to find trouvé

I found both.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I found both.

Show AnswerJ'ai trouvé les deux.

That works for me.

Show AnswerÇa me va.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

charger

Show Answerchargeur

pocket

Show Answerpoche

in

Show Answerdans

inside; inner

Show Answerintérieure