Speaking Quietly in a Library | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: In a library, one person politely asks another to lower their voice so people nearby can study..

EN → FR / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Speaking Quietly in a Library to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Pouvez-vous parler un peu moins fort ici ?

poo-vay-VOO par-LAY uhn puh mwan FORR ee-SEE Could you speak a little more quietly here?
B

Je ne savais pas que je parlais si fort.

zhuh nuh sah-VAY pah kuh zhuh par-LAY see FORR I didn't realize I was speaking so loudly.
A

Les gens étudient à la table voisine.

lay ZHAHN ay-tu-DEE ah lah TAH-bluh vwah-ZEEN People are studying at the next table.
B

Je vais baisser la voix.

zhuh vay beh-SAY lah VWAH I will lower my voice.
A

Ce sera plus facile pour tout le monde de se concentrer.

suh suh-RAH ploo fah-SEEL poor too luh MOND duh suh kon-sahn-TRAY It will make it easier for everyone to focus.
B

Je peux m'asseoir plus près, et nous pourrons parler moins fort.

zhuh puh mah-SWAHR ploo PRAY ay noo poor-ROHN par-LAY mwan FORR I can sit closer so we do not have to talk loudly.
A

Alors, nous pouvons continuer à travailler sans déranger personne.

ah-LOR noo poo-VOHN kon-tee-NWEE-AY ah trah-vah-YAY sahn day-rahn-ZHAY pair-SON Then we can keep working without bothering anyone.
B

Je parlerai moins fort à partir de maintenant.

zhuh par-luh-RAY mwan FORR ah par-TEER duh man-tuh-NAHN I will keep it down from now on.

Word by Word

Pouvez Pouvez means can or could in the polite request Pouvez-vous parler un peu moins fort ici ? It is a form of pouvoir used before an infinitive; a reusable pattern is Pouvez-vous + an infinitive.
vous vous means you when addressing one person politely or more than one person. In Pouvez-vous, it is the subject placed after the verb to form the polite question.
parler parler means to speak or talk in Pouvez-vous parler. It is an infinitive after Pouvez; use parler with a volume expression such as moins fort.
un un contributes a in un peu, the phrase used for a small amount. Together, un peu means a little and can soften the size or degree of what follows.
peu peu means little in un peu. Here, un peu makes the requested change small; reuse un peu before an expression describing an amount or degree.
moins moins means less in parler un peu moins fort, so it asks for reduced speaking volume. A reliable pattern is parler moins followed by a word describing volume; here the expression is moins fort.
fort fort describes high speaking volume in si fort and moins fort; with parler, it means loudly or loud in this context. The dialogue shows how it can describe volume in parler moins fort and parlais si fort.
ici ici means here, locating the request at the place where the speakers are. It commonly appears in a short statement to identify the current place.
Je Je means I and is the subject pronoun used in Je ne savais pas, Je vais baisser la voix, Je peux m'asseoir plus près, and Je parlerai moins fort. Reuse Je + a conjugated verb to state your own action or state.
ne ne is the first part of the negation in Je ne savais pas. It works together with pas around the verb; in this dialogue, the whole ne ... pas means did not know.
savais savais means knew or realized in Je ne savais pas que je parlais si fort. It is a form of savoir and is followed here by que to introduce the information the speaker did not know.
pas pas completes ne in Je ne savais pas, making the clause negative. Learn ne ... pas as a reusable pattern around a conjugated verb; here it means did not know.
que que means that in Je ne savais pas que je parlais si fort. It links savais to the information je parlais si fort; a clause introduced by que can state what someone knows or does not know.
parlais parlais means was speaking in Je ne savais pas que je parlais si fort. It is a form of parler used for the speaker's ongoing speaking in the situation, and que introduces this clause.
si si means so in parlais si fort, intensifying the description of the speaking volume. Reuse si before a describing word or expression when indicating a high degree.
Les Les means the before the plural group in Les gens étudient à la table voisine. Reuse les before a plural noun phrase when referring to specific people or things.
gens gens means people in Les gens étudient à la table voisine. It is the group doing the studying; reuse gens when referring to people generally.
étudient étudient means are studying in Les gens étudient à la table voisine. It is a form of étudier and follows Les gens as the verb; reuse a subject plus étudier when talking about study activity.
à à means at in à la table voisine, locating the people at the neighboring table. The same form also introduces the infinitive in continuer à travailler and appears in à partir de maintenant, so it is best learned with each surrounding expression.
la la means the before table in à la table voisine. It is the singular article used with this noun phrase; reuse la before a singular noun.
table table means table in à la table voisine. Together with à and la, it identifies where people are studying; reuse table when naming a table as a place.
voisine voisine means neighboring or next in à la table voisine, specifying the table next to the speakers. It describes table in this noun phrase and helps identify which table is meant.
vais vais means am going to in Je vais baisser la voix. It is a form of aller followed by an infinitive, expressing an intended or imminent action; reuse Je vais + an infinitive for a planned action.
baisser baisser means lower in Je vais baisser la voix. It is the infinitive after vais, and baisser la voix is the complete expression for lowering one's voice; reuse baisser with something whose level or volume changes.
voix voix means voice in baisser la voix. In this dialogue, baisser la voix means to reduce speaking volume; reuse la voix when referring to someone's voice.
Ce Ce is the subject form in Ce sera plus facile pour tout le monde de se concentrer, referring to the situation just described. It appears before sera; reuse Ce sera + a describing word to describe a future situation.
sera sera means will be in Ce sera plus facile pour tout le monde de se concentrer. It is a form of être used after Ce to describe a future result; reuse Ce sera with a describing word.
plus plus means more in plus facile, making the meaning easier rather than simply easy. Reuse plus before a describing word to express a higher degree.
facile facile means easy in plus facile. With plus, it describes the result as easier for everyone to focus; reuse facile after être when describing something as easy.
pour pour means for in plus facile pour tout le monde. It identifies the people who benefit from the easier situation; reuse pour + a person or group to show who something is for.
tout le monde tout le monde means everyone in plus facile pour tout le monde de se concentrer. Tout contributes all or whole, le contributes the, and monde means world; together, this expression refers to all people. Reuse pour tout le monde when saying something is for everyone.
de de appears before se concentrer in plus facile pour tout le monde de se concentrer, completing the pattern meaning easier to focus. It also appears inside à partir de maintenant, where it connects the starting point with maintenant; learn each use with its surrounding expression.
se se is the reflexive part of se concentrer in plus facile pour tout le monde de se concentrer. Together, se concentrer means to focus or concentrate, with the subject directing attention toward the activity.
concentrer concentrer contributes the idea of focusing in se concentrer. The full expression de se concentrer means to focus here, and it follows facile in plus facile pour tout le monde de se concentrer; reuse se concentrer for the act of focusing.
peux peux means can in Je peux m'asseoir plus près. It is a form of pouvoir followed by an infinitive, expressing ability or possibility; reuse Je peux + an infinitive.
m'asseoir m'asseoir means to sit in Je peux m'asseoir plus près. It is the first-person form of the infinitive s'asseoir, with m' referring to the speaker; reuse Je peux m'asseoir with a place or distance expression.
près près means near or close in plus près, meaning closer here. It is modified by plus to compare distance; a reusable pattern is près de + a place or person.
et et means and, joining the proposal to sit closer with the resulting ability to speak less loudly. It commonly links two words, phrases, or clauses.
nous nous means we in nous pourrons and nous pouvons. It is the subject of the shared action; reuse nous + a conjugated verb for an action involving the speaker and others.
pourrons pourrons means will be able to in nous pourrons parler moins fort. It is a future form of pouvoir followed by parler, expressing a future possibility or ability; reuse nous pourrons + an infinitive.
Alors Alors means then in Alors, nous pouvons continuer à travailler, marking the consequence of the previous suggestion. It can introduce what happens next in a conversation.
pouvons pouvons means can or are able to in nous pouvons continuer à travailler. It is a form of pouvoir followed by an infinitive; reuse nous pouvons + an infinitive for a current possibility or ability.
continuer continuer means continue or keep doing in continuer à travailler. Here it is followed by à travailler, so the whole phrase means keep working; reuse continuer à + an infinitive.
travailler travailler means work in continuer à travailler. It is the infinitive after continuer à and names the activity that continues; reuse travailler when referring to doing one's work.
sans sans means without in sans déranger personne. It is followed here by an infinitive, expressing that one action happens without causing another effect; reuse sans + an infinitive.
déranger déranger means bother or disturb in sans déranger personne. It is the infinitive after sans and names the unwanted effect on other people; reuse sans déranger when describing how to avoid disturbance.
personne personne means anyone in sans déranger personne. After sans, it refers to no person being bothered in the meaning of the whole phrase; reuse sans + a verb + personne to say that nobody is affected.
parlerai parlerai means will speak in Je parlerai moins fort, where it expresses the speaker's promise to speak more quietly. It is a future form of parler; reuse Je parlerai with a manner or volume expression.
à partir de maintenant à partir de maintenant means from now on in Je parlerai moins fort à partir de maintenant. À marks the starting point, partir contributes the idea of starting, de links that point with maintenant, and maintenant means now. Reuse this time expression to state when a new habit begins, often at the end of a sentence.

Grammar Points

Pouvez-vous + infinitif ?

Pouvez-vous parler moins fort ?

poo-vay-VOO par-LAY mwan FORR

Can you speak more quietly?

French questions can use inversion: the verb comes before the subject pronoun, linked with a hyphen.

sans + infinitif

sans déranger personne

sahn day-rahn-ZHAY pair-SON

without bothering anyone

After sans, use the infinitive. Personne can mean “anyone” in a negative expression.

French Vocabulary

baisser la voix phrase
beh-SAY lah VWAH to lower one's voice

Je vais baisser la voix.

étudier verb
ay-tu-DYAY to study étudient

Les gens étudient à la table voisine.

gens noun
ZHAHN people

Les gens étudient à la table voisine.

ici adv
ee-SEE here

Pouvez-vous parler un peu moins fort ici ?

moins fort phrase
mwan FORR more quietly; less loudly

Pouvez-vous parler un peu moins fort ici ?

parler verb
par-LAY to speak

Pouvez-vous parler un peu moins fort ici ?

pouvoir verb
poo-VWAHR can; to be able to Pouvez-vous

Pouvez-vous parler un peu moins fort ici ?

savoir verb
sah-VWAHR to know savais

Je ne savais pas que je parlais si fort.

si adv
SEE so

Je ne savais pas que je parlais si fort.

table noun
TAH-bluh table

Les gens étudient à la table voisine.

voisin adj
vwah-ZAN nearby; neighboring voisine

Les gens étudient à la table voisine.

voix noun
VWAH voice

Je vais baisser la voix.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I will lower my voice.

Show AnswerJe vais baisser la voix.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

table

Show Answertable

to know

Show Answersavais

to speak

Show Answerparler

people

Show Answergens