Keeping Valuables Safe in a Crowded Market | Learn French in English

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Use Keeping Valuables Safe in a Crowded Market to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

Ce marché est plus bondé que je ne le pensais.

suh mar-SHAY eh ploo bohn-DAY kuh zhuh nuh luh pahn-SAY This market is more crowded than I expected.

Garde tes objets de valeur dans la poche avant.

gard tay zohb-ZHAY duh vah-LUR dahn lah posh ah-VAHN Keep your valuables in the front pocket.

Est-ce que je dois fermer complètement la fermeture éclair de mon sac ?

ess kuh zhuh dwah fair-MAY kohm-playt-MAHN lah fair-muh-TUR ay-KLAIR duh mohn sak Should I zip my bag completely?

Ferme complètement ton sac et tiens-le devant toi.

fairm kohm-playt-MAHN tohn sak ay tyan-luh duh-VAHN twah Zip it fully and hold it in front of you.

Mon téléphone est dans la poche intérieure.

mohn tay-lay-FOHN eh dahn lah posh an-tay-ree-UR My phone is in the inside pocket.

C'est plus sûr que la poche extérieure.

say ploo SYUR kuh lah posh ex-tay-ree-UR That is safer than the outside pocket.

Je ferai attention pendant que nous marchons.

zhuh fuh-RAY ah-tahn-SYOHN pahn-DAHN kuh noo mar-SHOHN I will be careful while we walk.

Reste près de moi pour que nous ne soyons pas séparés.

rest pray duh mwah poor kuh noo nuh swah-YOHN pah say-pah-RAY Stay close so we do not get separated.

Word by Word

Ce Ce means “this” in Ce marché and points to the market being discussed. It comes directly before the noun marché. A useful reuse pattern is a demonstrative word before a noun to identify something specific.

marché Marché means “market” in Ce marché. Here it names the crowded place where the speakers are walking. It can be used for a place where people buy and sell goods.

est Est means “is” in Ce marché est plus bondé. It is the form of être used with the subject Ce. It links the market with the description that follows.

plus Plus means “more” in plus bondé que je ne le pensais. Together with plus bondé que, it makes a comparison: the market is more crowded than expected. A reusable pattern is plus followed by a description and que for a comparison.

bondé Bondé means “crowded” in Ce marché est plus bondé. It describes the market as full of people. In plus bondé, the full expression means “more crowded,” because plus adds the comparative meaning.

que In plus bondé que je ne le pensais, que introduces the second part of the comparison and means “than.” In pour que nous ne soyons pas séparés, que is part of a purpose expression meaning “so that.” Its meaning depends on the construction around it.

je Je means “I” in que je ne le pensais. It identifies the speaker as the person who had the thought. It is placed before the verb form pensais.

ne In que je ne le pensais, ne appears in the comparison clause before pensais. Here it belongs to the comparative expression and does not change the intended meaning to “than I did not think.” It is part of the exact form used to express what the speaker expected.

le Le means “it” in je ne le pensais and refers back to the market. Here it is an object pronoun, not the article meaning “the.” It allows the speaker to avoid repeating marché.

pensais Pensais means “thought” in je ne le pensais. It is a past form of penser used for what the speaker had expected about the market. With le, penser refers back to something already mentioned.

Garde Garde means “keep” in Garde tes objets de valeur dans la poche avant. It is a direct instruction to the person being addressed. The form is used to tell one person to keep something in a particular place.

tes Tes means “your” in tes objets de valeur. It shows that the valuables belong to the person being addressed and comes before the plural noun objets. It identifies ownership of several things.

objets Objets means “objects” or “belongings” in objets de valeur. The full expression objets de valeur means “valuables,” while objets names the individual things. It is plural here because the instruction concerns more than one belonging.

de In objets de valeur, de links objets with valeur and contributes the idea “of.” The full expression means “valuables,” not simply “objects of value” as separate instructions. This kind of link can describe what characterizes a thing.

valeur Valeur means “value” inside objets de valeur. It specifies that the objects are valuable. The complete expression is used for belongings that should be protected.

dans Dans means “in” in dans la poche avant. It shows that the valuables should be located inside the front pocket. A common reuse is dans followed by a place or container.

la La means “the” in la poche avant. It identifies a specific pocket known from the situation. It comes before the noun poche.

poche Poche means “pocket” in la poche avant. It names the part of the bag where the valuables should be kept. It can be combined with a description of the pocket’s position, as in poche avant.

avant Avant means “front” in poche avant. It identifies the pocket located at the front of the bag. In this expression, it specifies which pocket the speaker means.

Est-ce que Est-ce que introduces the yes-or-no question Est-ce que je dois fermer complètement la fermeture éclair de mon sac ? Est-ce starts the fixed question structure, and que completes it before the subject je; together they turn the following statement into a question. This is a common way to ask for confirmation or advice.

dois Dois means “should” or “must” in je dois fermer. It is the form of devoir used with the subject je and asks whether closing the zipper is necessary or advisable. Devoir is commonly followed by an infinitive such as fermer.

fermer Fermer means “to close” in je dois fermer complètement. It is the infinitive that follows dois and names the action being considered. The pattern devoir plus an infinitive expresses what someone should or must do.

complètement Complètement means “completely” in fermer complètement la fermeture éclair. It shows that the zipper should be closed all the way. It can be placed with an action to describe that the action is done fully.

fermeture éclair Fermeture éclair means “zipper” in la fermeture éclair de mon sac. Fermeture names a closure, and éclair identifies this particular type of closure; together they refer to the zipper on the bag. This expression is used for the fastening that opens and closes a bag or piece of clothing.

mon Mon means “my” in mon sac and mon téléphone. It shows that the bag and phone belong to the speaker. It comes before the noun it describes.

sac Sac means “bag” in de mon sac and ton sac. It names the item whose zipper is being closed and which should be held in front. It can be used with a possessive word to identify whose bag it is.

Ferme Ferme means “close” in Ferme complètement ton sac. It is a direct instruction to one person to close the bag fully. The action is repeated in the next instruction through the idea of holding the closed bag in front.

ton Ton means “your” in ton sac. It shows that the bag belongs to the person being addressed. It comes before the noun sac.

et Et means “and” in Ferme complètement ton sac et tiens-le devant toi. It joins the instruction to close the bag with the instruction to hold it. It can connect two actions in one sentence.

tiens-le Tiens-le means “hold it” in tiens-le devant toi. The form tiens gives the instruction to hold, and le refers to ton sac; together they tell the listener to hold the bag in front of them. A hyphen connects the command with the attached object pronoun.

devant Devant means “in front of” in devant toi. It describes the position where the bag should be held. The common pattern devant followed by a person or thing expresses location in front of that person or thing.

toi Toi means “you” in devant toi. It refers to the person being addressed and follows devant in this position expression. It is used here to say that the bag should be in front of the listener.

téléphone Téléphone means “phone” in Mon téléphone est dans la poche intérieure. It names the valuable item that is inside the inner pocket. It can be used with a possessive word to say whose phone it is.

intérieure Intérieure means “inside” or “inner” in la poche intérieure. It specifies that the pocket is on the inside of the bag. It describes which pocket contains the phone.

C'est C'est means “that is” or “it is” in C'est plus sûr que la poche extérieure. It is the contracted form of ce and est and introduces an assessment of the inside pocket. It is commonly used to identify or describe something.

sûr Sûr contributes the meaning “safe” in C'est plus sûr. The full expression plus sûr means “safer,” because plus creates the comparison. Here the comparison is completed by que la poche extérieure.

extérieure Extérieure means “outside” or “outer” in la poche extérieure. It identifies the pocket on the outside of the bag. The full expression contrasts this pocket with la poche intérieure.

ferai Ferai means “will do” in Je ferai attention. It is the future form of faire used with the subject je. In the expression ferai attention, the full meaning is “will be careful” or “will pay attention.”

attention Attention means “care” or “attention” in Je ferai attention. The full expression faire attention means “to be careful” or “to pay attention,” so the meaning comes from the construction as a whole. It is useful when promising to act carefully.

pendant Pendant means “during” or “while” in pendant que nous marchons. Together with que, it introduces an activity happening at the same time as another action. It is useful for connecting an action with the time when it takes place.

nous Nous means “we” in nous marchons and nous ne soyons pas séparés. It refers to both speakers together and acts as the subject of the verbs in these clauses. It is used when the speaker includes themself and another person.

marchons Marchons means “walk” in nous marchons. It is the form of marcher used with the subject nous and describes the speakers walking together. It can follow a time expression such as pendant que.

Reste Reste means “stay” in Reste près de moi. It is a direct instruction to one person to remain nearby. The instruction is connected to the purpose of avoiding separation.

près Près means “near” or “close” in près de moi. It describes staying at a short distance from the speaker. The common pattern près de is followed by the person or place that someone is near.

moi Moi means “me” in près de moi. It refers to the speaker after the preposition de. The expression près de moi means “near me,” telling the listener where to stay.

pour Pour means “so that” in pour que nous ne soyons pas séparés. Together with que, it introduces the purpose of staying close. This construction explains the reason for the instruction that comes before it.

soyons Soyons means “be” in pour que nous ne soyons pas séparés. It is the form of être used with nous after pour que. It describes the state the speakers want to avoid: being separated.

pas Pas means “not” in nous ne soyons pas séparés. It is the second part of the negation ne ... pas and makes the clause mean that the speakers do not become separated. It works together with ne rather than carrying the complete negation alone.

séparés Séparés means “separated” in nous ne soyons pas séparés. It describes the speakers as no longer being together. In this sentence, the complete expression means that they should stay together while walking.

Grammar Points

pendant que + indicatif

Pendant que nous marchons, reste près de moi.

pahn-DAHN kuh noo mar-SHOHN, rest pray duh mwah

While we walk, stay near me.

Pendant que introduces a simultaneous action and is followed by a verb in the indicative mood.

French Vocabulary

avant adj

ah-VAHN front

la poche avant

complètement adv

kohm-playt-MAHN completely

Ferme complètement ton sac.

Ferme verb

fairm close; zip

Ferme complètement ton sac.

fermer verb

fair-MAY to close

je dois fermer complètement la fermeture éclair

fermeture éclair noun

fair-muh-TUR ay-KLAIR zipper

la fermeture éclair de mon sac

Garde verb

gard keep

Garde tes objets de valeur dans la poche avant.

marché noun

mar-SHAY market

Ce marché est plus bondé.

objets de valeur phrase

ohb-ZHAY duh vah-LUR valuables

Garde tes objets de valeur dans la poche avant.

plus bondé adj

ploo bohn-DAY more crowded

Ce marché est plus bondé que je ne le pensais.

poche noun

posh pocket

dans la poche avant

sac noun

sak bag

ton sac

tiens verb

tyan hold

tiens-le devant toi

Quiz

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

completely

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complètement

keep

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Garde

market

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marché

to close

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fermer