Choosing a Movie with Friends | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. Quel film devrions-nous regarder ?

   Which movie should we watch?

   Quel

   which

   film

   film; movie

   devrions-nous

   should we

   regarder

   watch

   More detail

   Quel means “which” here and is a question determiner: it comes before the noun being selected and agrees with that noun. Since film is masculine singular, the form is quel. Compare quelle with a feminine singular noun, as in Quelle série ? (“Which series?”). The plural forms are quels and quelles. film is the noun “film” or “movie.” Its plural is films; the spelling of the singular noun does not change for grammatical gender because the noun itself is masculine. Example: un film intéressant means “an interesting movie.” devrions-nous is the inverted question form of nous devrions: the conditional form of devoir (“must,” “have to,” or “should”) for nous (“we”), followed by the subject pronoun. In this sentence, the conditional presents a suggestion for joint decision-making, matching “should we.” Compare Nous devrions regarder ce film (“We should watch this movie”) with the question Devrions-nous regarder ce film ? (“Should we watch this movie?”). The hyphen marks the inversion between the verb and subject pronoun. regarder is the infinitive “to watch” or “to look at.” After devoir, the following verb is used in the infinitive: Nous devrions regarder means “We should watch.” The infinitive stays regarder rather than taking a personal ending because devoir carries the person and conditional marking. Example: Je dois regarder le film means “I have to watch the movie.” Together, Quel film asks which movie is being considered, and devrions-nous regarder asks what the speaker and the other person should watch. The complete utterance is therefore “Which movie should we watch?”

2. Je veux quelque chose de léger, peut-être une comédie.

   I want something light, maybe a comedy.

   veux

   want

   quelque chose

   something

   léger

   light

   peut-être

   maybe

   comédie

   comedy

   More detail

   veux is the first-person singular present form of vouloir, “to want.” The subject Je makes this form mean “I want”; with another subject, the form changes: je veux but nous voulons. Example: Je veux partir. — “I want to leave.” quelque chose is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something.” It refers to an unspecified thing, rather than naming the thing. In quelque chose de léger, the following description is introduced by de. Example: Je cherche quelque chose de simple. — “I’m looking for something simple.” léger means “light” here, describing the unspecified thing. In this construction, quelque chose is grammatically masculine singular, so the adjective appears as masculine singular léger; the feminine singular form is légère, as in une histoire légère (“a light story”). Here “light” is compatible with the intended meaning of a light, non-heavy type of film or entertainment. peut-être means “maybe” or “perhaps.” It marks une comédie as a possibility, not as a firm choice. Example: Peut-être demain. — “Maybe tomorrow.” comédie is a feminine noun meaning “comedy.” Its usual singular indefinite phrase is une comédie; the article une agrees with the noun’s grammatical gender and singular form. Example: C’est une comédie. — “It is a comedy.” Together, Je veux quelque chose de léger means “I want something light.” The construction quelque chose de + adjective specifies a quality of an unspecified thing. peut-être une comédie then adds a possible option: “maybe a comedy.” The complete utterance is therefore: “I want something light, maybe a comedy.”

3. Ce film a de très bonnes critiques et des sous-titres clairs.

   This film has strong reviews and clear subtitles.

   Ce

   this

   film

   film

   a

   has

   très

   very

   bonnes

   good

   critiques

   reviews

   sous-titres

   subtitles

   clairs

   clear

   More detail

   Ce means “this” here and is the masculine singular demonstrative determiner used with film. Its form agrees with the noun it determines: ce film (“this film”), while cette is used with a feminine singular noun and ces with plural nouns. The exact referent is the film being discussed. film is a masculine singular noun meaning “film” or “movie.” In a reusable pattern, a demonstrative determiner comes before the noun: ce film = “this film.” a is the third-person singular present form of avoir (“to have”): avoir → il/elle/on a. Here ce film is the subject, so a expresses that the film has the qualities or features stated afterward. Do not confuse it with the preposition à, which is written with an accent. très means “very” and intensifies the adjective that follows. It does not itself change for number or gender: très bon and très bonnes both use très. bonnes means “good” here and describes critiques. Its base form is bon; bonnes is feminine plural, agreeing with the feminine plural noun critiques. The useful agreement chain is bon (masculine singular), bonne (feminine singular), bons (masculine plural), bonnes (feminine plural). For example, une bonne idée means “a good idea,” while de bonnes idées means “good ideas.” critiques is the plural noun “reviews” in this sentence. The singular is critique, and the plural adds -s: une critique → des critiques. Although critique can also be an adjective in other sentences, the determiner and the meaning here show that it is a noun. sous-titres means “subtitles.” It is a plural compound noun written with a hyphen; its singular is sous-titre. The article des before it marks an indefinite plural noun phrase, without by itself specifying a particular number. clairs means “clear” here and describes sous-titres. Its base form is clair; clairs is masculine plural, matching the masculine plural noun sous-titres. The agreement pattern is clair (masculine singular), claire (feminine singular), clairs (masculine plural), claires (feminine plural). For example, des explications claires means “clear explanations.” Together, Ce film a de très bonnes critiques says “This film has very good reviews,” and des sous-titres clairs adds “clear subtitles.” The complete utterance means: “This film has strong reviews and clear subtitles.” The adjective très bonnes intensifies the positive assessment of the reviews, while clairs describes the subtitles.

4. Pouvons-nous regarder la bande-annonce avant de choisir ?

   Can we watch the trailer before we choose?

   Pouvons-nous

   Can we

   regarder

   watch

   bande-annonce

   trailer

   avant de

   before

   choisir

   choose

   More detail

   Pouvons-nous means “Can we?” here. It is the inverted question form of nous pouvons: pouvoir is the verb “to be able to/can,” and pouvons is its present-tense first-person plural form. In a question, the subject pronoun follows the verb and is joined with a hyphen: Pouvons-nous regarder...? The form expresses a request about whether “we” are able to or may do something; it does not itself identify who else is included in nous. regarder means “to watch” in this sentence. It is the infinitive of the regular -er verb regarder. After a conjugated form of pouvoir, the following verb remains in the infinitive: Nous pouvons regarder un film — “We can watch a film.” bande-annonce means “trailer.” It is a feminine compound noun, so the full noun phrase here is la bande-annonce. The hyphenated form is the noun as used in French; bande and annonce are not separate translations of the whole expression in this context. Example: La bande-annonce est courte. — “The trailer is short.” avant de introduces an action that happens earlier than another action when it is followed by an infinitive. Here it connects the earlier action of watching with the later action of choosing: avant de choisir — “before choosing.” With a finite clause, French uses avant que instead, followed by a subject and a conjugated verb; the infinitive pattern in this sentence is the compact reusable form. choisir means “to choose.” It is the infinitive of a regular -ir verb. After avant de, the infinitive names the action without adding a separate subject: avant de choisir means “before choosing.” Example: Nous devons choisir maintenant. — “We must choose now.” Together, Pouvons-nous regarder la bande-annonce asks whether the participants can watch the trailer, and avant de choisir places that action before the still-relevant choice. The complete meaning is: “Can we watch the trailer before we choose?”

5. La bande-annonce devrait nous aider à décider.

   The trailer should help us decide.

   bande-annonce

   trailer

   devrait

   should

   nous

   us

   aider

   help

   décider

   decide

   More detail

   bande-annonce means “trailer” here. It is a feminine singular noun, as shown by la. The compound refers to a promotional preview of a film or similar work. Example: La bande-annonce est courte. — “The trailer is short.” devrait is the third-person singular conditional form of devoir. Here it expresses “should” or an expected helpful result, not a firm obligation. The form is singular because its subject is La bande-annonce. A useful contrast is doit (“must” / “has to”) versus devrait (“should”). nous is an object pronoun meaning “us” in this sentence. It refers to the people who will decide, as confirmed by the fixed translation. In French, an unstressed object pronoun normally comes before the conjugated verb or infinitive group it belongs to: Il nous aide. — “He helps us.” aider is the infinitive “to help.” With devrait, the infinitive follows the conjugated modal verb: devrait aider, “should help.” French commonly uses the pattern aider quelqu’un à faire quelque chose, meaning “to help someone do something”; here, nous is the person helped and à décider gives the action. décider is the infinitive “to decide.” The preposition à before it belongs to the construction aider ... à + infinitive; it is not part of the infinitive itself. Example: Cela m’aide à comprendre. — “That helps me understand.” Together, La bande-annonce is the subject, devrait aider says that it is expected to help, nous identifies the people helped, and à décider names the action. The complete meaning is: “The trailer should help us decide.”

6. L’histoire a l’air amusante, mais pas trop difficile.

   The story looks fun but not too difficult.

   L’histoire

   the story

   a l’air

   looks / seems

   amusante

   fun / amusing

   mais

   but

   pas trop

   not too

   difficile

   difficult

   More detail

   L’histoire means “the story.” histoire is a feminine singular noun, and la becomes l’ before the vowel sound at the start of histoire: la histoire is not used. The definite article presents the story as identifiable in the situation. a l’air is the third-person singular present form of avoir (il/elle a) in the reusable expression avoir l’air de + noun or avoir l’air + adjective, meaning “to seem” or “to look.” Here it combines with the adjective that follows. Example: Ce film a l’air intéressant. — “This film looks interesting.” amusante means “fun” or “amusing” here. It is the feminine singular form of amusant; the adjective agrees with the feminine singular noun histoire. The masculine singular form is amusant, as in un film amusant — “an amusing film.” mais introduces a contrast and means “but.” It connects the positive impression amusante with the limitation that follows. pas trop means “not too” in the construction ne ... pas trop + adjective. The first part of the negation, ne, is omitted in this sentence’s informal spoken-style wording, while pas trop appears before difficile. This phrase does not mean “not at all”; pas trop difficile limits the degree of difficulty. difficile means “difficult.” In this sentence it describes l’histoire through avoir l’air. The singular adjective difficile has the same form for masculine and feminine; its plural form is difficiles. Example: La tâche est difficile. — “The task is difficult.” Together, L’histoire a l’air amusante says “The story looks fun,” and mais pas trop difficile adds the contrast “but not too difficult.” The complete utterance therefore means: “The story looks fun but not too difficult.”

7. Alors, choisissons ce film.

   Then let's choose this film.

   Alors

   then

   choisissons

   let’s choose

   ce

   this

   film

   film

   More detail

   Alors means “then” here and links the suggestion to what was just discussed. It can also introduce a conclusion or transition in other contexts, but in this utterance it marks the next step. choisissons comes from choisir (“to choose”). It is the first-person plural present form used imperatively: French uses this form for “let’s choose,” addressing the speaker and at least one other person together. Compare choisis (“choose,” addressed to one informal person) and choisissez (“choose,” addressed to one formal person or multiple people). ce is the masculine singular demonstrative determiner, meaning “this” before a masculine singular noun. Here it agrees with film, rather than expressing a number by itself. Other forms include cette before a feminine singular noun and ces before plural nouns; before a vowel sound, masculine singular ce commonly becomes cet, as in cet ouvrage (“this work”). film is a masculine singular noun meaning “film” or “movie.” Its plural is films. The determiner ce identifies the film being selected as the intended singular masculine item. Together, choisissons ce film forms the suggestion “let’s choose this film,” and Alors presents it as the next step: “Then let’s choose this film.”

8. Prenons quelque chose à grignoter avant que ça commence.

   Let's get a snack before it starts.

   Prenons

   let’s get

   quelque chose

   something

   à grignoter

   to nibble on

   avant que

   before

   ça

   it

   commence

   starts

   More detail

   Prenons is the first-person plural form of prendre (“to take/get”). In this sentence it is an exhortative imperative: prenons ... means “let’s get ...”. The same written form can also be the present-tense “we take,” so the surrounding suggestion determines the use. Example: Prenons le train. — “Let’s take the train.” quelque chose is an indefinite pronoun meaning “something.” It refers to an unspecified thing, not to a stated number of things. It can be followed by a description: quelque chose de chaud — “something hot.” à grignoter contains the preposition à and the infinitive grignoter, “to nibble” or “to snack.” After quelque chose, this infinitive describes the intended use of the unspecified thing: quelque chose à grignoter means “something to snack on.” The infinitive remains unchanged rather than agreeing with quelque chose. avant que means “before” when it introduces a clause with a subject and a verb. French normally uses the subjunctive after this conjunction. Here commence is the third-person singular present subjunctive of commencer; it has the same spelling as the third-person singular present indicative form. Example: Pars avant qu’il arrive. — “Leave before he arrives.” ça is an informal demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” or “it.” Here, with the fixed translation, it refers to the event understood from the situation, without the sentence naming that event. Ça is invariant: it does not itself change form for gender or number, but it normally triggers third-person singular verb agreement. commence comes from commencer, “to begin/start.” In this sentence it means “starts” and is the third-person singular form selected with ça. The infinitive is commencer; a useful present-tense contrast is je commence — “I start” versus ça commence — “it starts.” Together, Prenons quelque chose à grignoter forms the suggestion “Let’s get something to snack on.” avant que ça commence adds the time limit “before it starts,” giving the complete meaning: “Let’s get a snack before it starts.”