About This Lesson
Use Changing Picnic Plans to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.
Dialogue
A
La météo peut changer nos plans.
lah may-tay-OH puh shahn-ZHAY noh plahn The weather may change our plans.
B
Le pique-nique pourrait être difficile s'il pleut.
luh peek-NEEK poo-RAY EH-truh dee-fee-SEEL seel PLUH The picnic could be difficult if it rains.
A
Est-ce qu'on devrait annuler ou prévoir quelque chose à l'intérieur ?
ess-kuh OHN duh-VRAY ah-nyoo-LAY oo pray-VWAR kel-kuh SHOHZ ah lan-tay-ree-UR Should we cancel or plan something indoors instead?
B
Restons flexibles et retrouvons-nous à l'intérieur.
reh-STOHN flek-SEEBL ay ruh-troo-VOHN-NOO ah lan-tay-ree-UR Let's stay flexible and meet inside.
A
Ça semble mieux que de se faire mouiller dehors.
sah SAHMBL myuh kuh duh suh fair moo-YAY duh-OR That sounds better than getting wet outside.
B
On peut quand même déjeuner ensemble près d'ici.
OHN puh kahn MAYM day-zhuh-NAY ahn-SAHMBL preh dee-SEE We can still have lunch together nearby.
A
Je vais envoyer un message aux autres pour leur parler du changement.
zhuh vay ahn-vwah-YAY uhn meh-SAHZH oh ZOH-truh poor lur par-LAY dew shahnzh-MAHN I will message the others about the change.
B
Ça aide tout le monde à s'organiser, surtout si le temps change.
sah ED too luh MOHND ah sohrr-gah-nee-ZAY, soo-TOO see luh tahn SHAHNZH That helps everyone plan, especially with the weather changing.Word by Word
La
La means “the” in La météo, referring to the weather. It is the feminine singular form of the definite article and comes before a feminine singular noun.
météo
Météo means “weather” in La météo. This noun is used for weather conditions when discussing plans or outdoor activities.
peut
Peut means “may” or “can” in La météo peut changer nos plans, expressing a possibility. It is a form of pouvoir used with the subject La météo, followed here by the infinitive changer.
changer
Changer means “to change” in La météo peut changer nos plans. After peut, it stays in the infinitive and takes nos plans as its object.
nos
Nos means “our” in nos plans, showing that the plans belong to the speakers. It comes directly before the plural noun plans.
plans
Plans means “plans” in nos plans. It is the plural form of plan and refers here to the arrangements for the picnic.
Le
Le means “the” in Le pique-nique. It is the masculine singular definite article placed before the noun pique-nique.
pique-nique
Pique-nique means “picnic” in Le pique-nique. It is a fixed compound in which pique and nique are joined; the whole expression supplies the meaning rather than two separate meanings added together.
pourrait
Pourrait means “could” or “might” in Le pique-nique pourrait être difficile, expressing a possible result. It is a form of pouvoir used before the infinitive être.
être
Être means “to be” in pourrait être difficile, linking the picnic with the description difficile. After pourrait, it appears in the infinitive.
difficile
Difficile means “difficult” in Le pique-nique pourrait être difficile. It describes the picnic after être and can be used after être to describe a situation or activity.
s'il
S'il means “if it” in s'il pleut. It is the written combination of si and il, introducing the condition that it rains.
pleut
Pleut means “rains” in s'il pleut, describing the weather condition. It is the form of pleuvoir used in the impersonal expression il pleut.
Est-ce
Est-ce is the question opener in Est-ce qu'on devrait annuler ou prévoir quelque chose à l'intérieur ? Est and ce combine to form this opener, which turns the following clause into a question.
qu'on
Qu'on connects the question opener to the subject and verb in Est-ce qu'on devrait. It combines que with on, introducing what the speakers should do.
devrait
Devrait means “should” in Est-ce qu'on devrait annuler ou prévoir quelque chose à l'intérieur ? It is a form of devoir used to ask about a recommended action, followed here by an infinitive.
annuler
Annuler means “to cancel” in devrait annuler. It is one of the two possible actions in the question and remains in the infinitive after devrait.
ou
Ou means “or” in annuler ou prévoir. It links the two alternatives being considered.
prévoir
Prévoir means “to plan” or “arrange” in devrait ... prévoir quelque chose à l'intérieur. It remains in the infinitive after devrait and is followed by the thing being arranged.
quelque
Quelque contributes the meaning “some” in quelque chose, the expression for “something.” It comes before chose and forms this expression together with it.
chose
Chose means “thing” in quelque chose, which as a whole means “something.” The expression quelque chose can be followed here by the location à l'intérieur.
à
À means “in” in à l'intérieur, indicating the location of the planned activity. It is used before the noun phrase l'intérieur in this location expression.
l'intérieur
L'intérieur means “indoors” or “inside” in à l'intérieur. The expression à l'intérieur is used for an indoor location, especially as an alternative to being outside.
Restons
Restons means “let’s stay” in Restons flexibles. It is the nous command form of rester and is used here to suggest a shared course of action.
flexibles
Flexibles means “flexible” in Restons flexibles, describing the speakers’ approach to changing plans. It is the plural form of flexible and agrees with the implied nous.
et
Et means “and” in Restons flexibles et retrouvons-nous. It links the suggestion to stay flexible with the suggestion to meet up inside.
retrouvons
Retrouvons means “let’s meet up” in retrouvons-nous. It is the nous command form of retrouver and is completed by nous in this reciprocal expression.
nous
Nous means “each other” in retrouvons-nous, showing that the speakers will meet one another. In this command construction, it follows the verb with a hyphen.
Ça
Ça means “that” or “it” in Ça semble mieux, referring to the proposed indoor plan. It is the subject of semble and points back to the suggestion just made.
semble
Semble means “seems” or “sounds” in Ça semble mieux. It is a form of sembler and is followed by mieux to give an evaluation of the plan.
mieux
Mieux means “better” in Ça semble mieux que de se faire mouiller dehors. It is the comparative form related to bien and is used here to compare the indoor plan with getting wet outside.
que
Que means “than” in mieux que de se faire mouiller dehors. The construction mieux que introduces the alternative used for comparison.
de
De introduces the infinitive construction de se faire mouiller after mieux que. Together, mieux que de se faire mouiller compares the plan with the experience of getting wet.
se
Se is the reflexive marker in se faire mouiller. It is part of the whole expression se faire mouiller, which means “to get wet” in this context.
faire
Faire contributes to the construction se faire mouiller, meaning “to get wet” here rather than simply “to do” or “to make.” The infinitive mouiller completes this construction.
mouiller
Mouiller means “to wet” in se faire mouiller. In the whole expression se faire mouiller, it describes the speakers becoming wet because of the rain.
dehors
Dehors means “outside” in se faire mouiller dehors. It gives the location and contrasts with the indoor option.
On
On means “we” in On peut quand même déjeuner ensemble près d'ici. In everyday French, it commonly refers to the speaker and other people in the conversation and serves as the subject of peut.
quand
Quand contributes to the expression quand même, which means “still” or “even so” in On peut quand même déjeuner ensemble. Here it does not introduce a time question; its meaning comes from the whole expression.
même
Même contributes to quand même, meaning that the speakers can do something despite the changed plan. The complete expression quand même is used before the verb phrase here.
déjeuner
Déjeuner means “to have lunch” in peut quand même déjeuner ensemble. It remains in the infinitive after peut and is followed by ensemble to show that the speakers will lunch together.
ensemble
Ensemble means “together” in déjeuner ensemble. It indicates that the people will have lunch as a group and commonly follows the activity it describes.
près
Près means “near” in près d'ici. It expresses proximity and is completed by d'ici, identifying the reference point.
d'ici
D'ici means “from here” and contributes “nearby” in près d'ici. It is the contracted form of de and ici and completes the location expression près d'ici.
Je
Je means “I” in Je vais envoyer un message. It is the subject of the speaker’s planned action.
vais
Vais means “am going to” in Je vais envoyer un message, forming a near-future construction with envoyer. It is a form of aller followed by an infinitive.
envoyer
Envoyer means “to send” in Je vais envoyer un message. It remains in the infinitive after vais and takes un message as its direct object.
un
Un means “a” in un message, introducing one unspecified message. It is placed before the singular noun message.
message
Message means “message” in envoyer un message. The phrase envoyer un message is used when telling someone that you will send written information.
aux
Aux means “to the” in envoyer un message aux autres. It is the contraction of à and les and introduces the people who will receive the message.
autres
Autres means “others” in aux autres, referring to the other people involved in the plans. It is used after the article les contained in aux.
pour
Pour means “in order to” in pour leur parler du changement, introducing the purpose of sending the message. It is followed here by the infinitive parler.
leur
Leur means “to them” in leur parler du changement. It is an indirect object pronoun placed before parler and refers to the other people.
parler
Parler means “to talk” in pour leur parler du changement. The reusable pattern parler de quelque chose introduces the topic being discussed; here the topic is du changement.
du
Du means “about the” in parler du changement. It is the contraction of de and le, used because parler de introduces the topic.
changement
Changement means “change” in parler du changement. It refers specifically to the change in the picnic plan caused by the weather.
aide
Aide means “helps” in Ça aide tout le monde à s'organiser. It is a form of aider, with Ça as the subject, and is followed by the person helped and an infinitive phrase.
tout
Tout contributes to the expression tout le monde, which means “everyone” in Ça aide tout le monde à s'organiser. Together with le monde, it refers to all the people involved.
monde
Monde contributes to tout le monde, the expression meaning “everyone” here. In this expression, monde refers to people rather than to the physical world.
s'organiser
S'organiser means “to organize themselves” or “make arrangements” in aide tout le monde à s'organiser. The reflexive marker s' shows that the people organize their own plans, and the infinitive follows à.
surtout
Surtout means “especially” in surtout si le temps change. It highlights the weather-related condition as the most important reason for planning ahead.
si
Si means “if” in si le temps change. It introduces the condition under which the planning becomes especially helpful.
temps
Temps means “weather” in le temps change, referring to the weather in this dialogue. The expression le temps is commonly used when discussing changing weather conditions.
change
Change means “changes” in si le temps change. It is a form of changer used with le temps as the subject and describes a change in the weather.
Grammar Points
Restons + adjectif
Restons flexibles quand même.
reh-STOHN flek-SEEBL kahn MAYMLet's stay flexible nevertheless.
La forme en -ons sert à proposer une action commune, comme « let's » en anglais.
Verbe pronominal à l'impératif : verbe-nous
Retrouvons-nous près d'ici.
ruh-troo-VOHN-NOO preh dee-SEELet's meet nearby.
À l'impératif, le pronom nous se place après le verbe et s'y rattache avec un trait d'union.
French Vocabulary
à l'intérieur
adv
ah lan-tay-ree-UR
indoors; inside
annuler
verb
ah-nyoo-LAY
to cancel
changer
verb
shahn-ZHAY
to change
difficile
adj
dee-fee-SEEL
difficult
flexibles
adj
flek-SEEBL
flexible
météo
noun
meh-tay-OH
weather
pique-nique
noun
peek-NEEK
picnic
plans
noun
plahn
plans
pleut
verb
PLUH
it rains
prévoir
verb
pray-VWAR
to plan; to arrange
quelque chose
pron
kel-kuh SHOHZ
something
Restons
verb
reh-STOHN
let's stay
Quiz
Word Order
Arrange the words in the correct order.
The weather may change our plans.
Show Answer
La météo peut changer nos plans.Let's stay flexible and meet inside.
Show Answer
Restons flexibles et retrouvons-nous à l'intérieur.Spelling
Tap the letters to spell the word.
weather
Show Answer
météoto change
Show Answer
changerplans
Show Answer
plansit rains