Asking for a Simple Library Book | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: In a library, one person asks a librarian to recommend a simple book for language learners and checks how to borrow it..

EN → FR / Level: A2

About This Lesson

Use Asking for a Simple Library Book to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Pouvez-vous me recommander un livre pour les personnes qui apprennent une langue ?

poo-VAY voo muh ruh-koh-mahn-DAY uhn LEE-vruh poor lay pair-SONN kee ah-PRENN oon LAHNG Could you recommend a book for language learners?
B

Vous cherchez des histoires faciles ou des articles courts ?

voo shair-SHAY day zee-STWAHR fah-SEEL oo day zar-TEEKL koor Are you looking for easy stories or short articles?
A

Je veux des histoires courtes avec des mots simples.

zhuh VUH day zee-STWAHR koort ah-VEH day moh SAHNPL I want short stories with simple words.
B

Ce livre contient des histoires faciles à comprendre et des images utiles.

suh LEE-vruh kohn-TYEN day zee-STWAHR fah-ZEEL ah kohn-PRAHNDR ay day zee-MAHZH oo-TEEL This book has easy-to-understand stories and helpful pictures.
A

Est-ce que je peux l'emporter chez moi aujourd'hui ?

ess-kuh zhuh PUH lahn-por-TAY shay MWAH oh-zhoor-DWEE Can I take it home today?
B

Montrez votre carte de bibliothèque au bureau, s'il vous plaît.

mohn-TRAY votr KAHRT duh bee-blee-oh-TEK oh beew-ROH, seel voo PLEH Please show your library card at the desk.
A

Je vais l'emprunter maintenant.

zhuh VEH lahn-PREUN-TAY meh-tuh-NAHN I will check it out now.
B

Revenez pour une autre recommandation après l'avoir fini.

ruh-vuh-NAY poor oon OHTR ruh-koh-mahn-dah-SYOHN ah-PRAY lah-VWAHR fee-NEE Come back for another recommendation after you finish it.

Word by Word

Pouvez In ‘Pouvez-vous’, ‘Pouvez’ expresses ability in a polite request: ‘can you’. It is used with ‘vous’ in the question pattern ‘Pouvez-vous me recommander un livre ?’.
vous Here ‘vous’ means ‘you’ and identifies the person being addressed in the polite question ‘Pouvez-vous me recommander un livre ?’. It is also used as the subject in ‘Vous cherchez des histoires faciles’.
me In ‘me recommander un livre’, ‘me’ means ‘to me’ and identifies the person receiving the recommendation. It is placed before the infinitive ‘recommander’ in this construction.
recommander ‘Recommander’ means ‘to recommend’ in the request for a suitable book. It follows ‘Pouvez-vous’ in the reusable pattern ‘Pouvez-vous me recommander un livre ?’.
un ‘Un’ means ‘a’ before the singular noun ‘livre’, referring to one book without identifying a particular book beforehand. The pattern ‘un livre’ is useful when asking for one book.
livre ‘Livre’ means ‘book’, the item the speaker wants recommended and borrowed. It appears in ‘un livre pour les personnes qui apprennent une langue’.
pour Here ‘pour’ means ‘for’ and introduces the intended users of the book: ‘pour les personnes qui apprennent une langue’. It commonly links an item with the people or purpose it is intended for.
les ‘Les’ means ‘the’ before the plural noun ‘personnes’, referring to the group of people who are learning a language. It appears in the phrase ‘les personnes qui apprennent une langue’.
personnes ‘Personnes’ means ‘people’ in the description of language learners. It is followed by ‘qui apprennent une langue’, which specifies which people are meant.
qui ‘Qui’ means ‘who’ or ‘that’ and introduces the information ‘qui apprennent une langue’ about the people. In this sentence, it links ‘les personnes’ with the action they perform.
apprennent ‘Apprennent’ means ‘learn’ in ‘les personnes qui apprennent une langue’. It is a form of apprendre used with the plural subject ‘les personnes’ and combines with the language being learned.
une ‘Une’ means ‘a’ before the feminine singular noun ‘langue’, referring to one language. The phrase ‘une langue’ identifies what the people are learning.
langue ‘Langue’ means ‘language’ in ‘apprennent une langue’. It is the object of the learning action, so the phrase specifies what is being learned.
cherchez ‘Cherchez’ means ‘are looking for’ in the librarian’s question about the learner’s preferred reading material. It is used with ‘vous’ in ‘Vous cherchez des histoires faciles ou des articles courts ?’.
des ‘Des’ introduces plural items without specifying exactly which ones in ‘des histoires faciles’ and ‘des articles courts’. It is placed before plural nouns when asking which kinds of materials someone wants.
histoires ‘Histoires’ means ‘stories’ in the question about easy reading material and in ‘des histoires courtes’. It refers to narrative texts the learner may choose from the library.
faciles ‘Faciles’ means ‘easy’ when it describes ‘histoires’. In ‘des histoires faciles’, it tells the listener that the stories should be easy for the learner to read or understand.
ou ‘Ou’ means ‘or’ and presents two alternatives: ‘des histoires faciles’ or ‘des articles courts’. It is used to connect choices in a question.
articles ‘Articles’ means ‘articles’, referring to short written texts offered as an alternative to stories. It appears in ‘des articles courts’.
courts ‘Courts’ means ‘short’ and describes the plural noun ‘articles’ in ‘des articles courts’. It specifies the desired length of the articles.
Je ‘Je’ means ‘I’ and marks the speaker as the subject of ‘veux’ in ‘Je veux des histoires courtes’. It is used before a verb to state the speaker’s preference or intention.
veux ‘Veux’ means ‘want’ in ‘Je veux des histoires courtes avec des mots simples’. It is a form of vouloir used with ‘Je’ to state what the speaker wants.
courtes ‘Courtes’ means ‘short’ and describes ‘histoires’ in ‘des histoires courtes’. Its form matches the feminine plural noun it describes.
avec ‘Avec’ means ‘with’ and introduces the feature the desired stories should have: ‘avec des mots simples’. It commonly links something with an accompanying feature or element.
mots ‘Mots’ means ‘words’ in ‘avec des mots simples’. It identifies the language elements that should be simple in the stories.
simples ‘Simples’ means ‘simple’ and describes ‘mots’ in ‘des mots simples’. It tells the listener what kind of words the learner wants to encounter.
Ce In ‘Ce livre contient’, ‘Ce’ means ‘this’ and points to the particular book being recommended. It appears directly before the masculine singular noun ‘livre’.
contient ‘Contient’ means ‘contains’ in ‘Ce livre contient des histoires faciles à comprendre’. It is used with ‘Ce livre’ to describe what the book has inside.
à In ‘faciles à comprendre’, ‘à’ links the adjective ‘faciles’ with the action ‘comprendre’, giving the meaning ‘easy to understand’. This pattern describes something by saying how easy or difficult an action is with it.
comprendre ‘Comprendre’ means ‘understand’ in ‘faciles à comprendre’. Together with ‘faciles à’, it describes stories that the learner can understand easily.
et ‘Et’ means ‘and’ and connects the two things contained in the book: ‘des histoires faciles à comprendre’ and ‘des images utiles’. It is used to join related items or descriptions.
images ‘Images’ means ‘pictures’ or ‘images’ in ‘des images utiles’. It refers to visual material included in the book to support the learner.
utiles ‘Utiles’ means ‘helpful’ or ‘useful’ and describes ‘images’ in ‘des images utiles’. It explains that the pictures provide help to the learner.
Est In the fixed question expression ‘Est-ce que’, ‘Est’ is the first part used to form a yes-or-no question. In ‘Est-ce que je peux l’emporter ?’, the expression introduces the speaker’s request for permission.
que In ‘Est-ce que’, ‘que’ completes the common expression used to introduce a yes-or-no question. Here it leads into ‘je peux l’emporter’, the action the speaker asks about.
peux ‘Peux’ means ‘can’ or ‘am able to’ in ‘Est-ce que je peux l’emporter chez moi aujourd’hui ?’. It is used with ‘je’ to ask whether the speaker has permission or ability to do something.
l'emporter ‘L’emporter’ means ‘take it away’ in the question about taking the book home. The ‘l’ refers to the book, and the infinitive follows ‘peux’ in ‘je peux l’emporter’.
chez ‘Chez’ means ‘to the home of’ or ‘at the home of’ and is used in ‘chez moi’ for the speaker’s home. It commonly appears before a stressed pronoun when referring to someone’s home.
moi ‘Moi’ means ‘me’ and identifies whose home is meant in ‘chez moi’. Together, ‘chez moi’ means ‘at my home’ or ‘to my home’.
aujourd'hui ‘Aujourd’hui’ means ‘today’ and specifies when the speaker wants to take the book home. It is a time expression that can be placed at the end of a question or statement.
Montrez ‘Montrez’ means ‘show’ in the polite instruction ‘Montrez votre carte de bibliothèque’. It is used to address the listener directly and request that they display something.
votre ‘Votre’ means ‘your’ before ‘carte’ in ‘votre carte de bibliothèque’. It identifies the card belonging to the person or people being addressed with ‘vous’.
carte ‘Carte’ means ‘card’ in ‘votre carte de bibliothèque’. It refers to the library card that must be shown at the desk.
de In ‘carte de bibliothèque’, ‘de’ links ‘carte’ with ‘bibliothèque’ and identifies the type or affiliation of the card. The phrase means ‘library card’.
bibliothèque ‘Bibliothèque’ means ‘library’ in ‘carte de bibliothèque’. It specifies that the card is associated with the library.
au ‘Au’ means ‘at the’ in ‘au bureau’. It is the contracted form used before the masculine singular noun ‘bureau’ in this location phrase.
bureau ‘Bureau’ means ‘desk’ in ‘au bureau’, the place where the learner should show the library card. In this dialogue, the library desk is the relevant location.
s'il vous plaît As a whole, ‘s’il vous plaît’ means ‘please’ and softens the instruction ‘Montrez votre carte de bibliothèque’. ‘S’il’ contributes ‘if it’, ‘vous’ refers to the person addressed, and ‘plaît’ contributes the idea of pleasing; together they form the polite expression.
vais ‘Vais’ means ‘am going to’ in ‘Je vais l’emprunter maintenant’, expressing an immediate future action. It is used with ‘je’ followed by an infinitive to state what the speaker intends to do.
l'emprunter ‘L’emprunter’ means ‘borrow it’ in ‘Je vais l’emprunter maintenant’. The ‘l’ refers to the book, and the infinitive follows ‘vais’ in the immediate-future construction.
maintenant ‘Maintenant’ means ‘now’ and tells the listener that the borrowing will happen immediately. It can be used to specify when an intended action is taking place.
Revenez ‘Revenez’ means ‘come back’ in the librarian’s invitation to return after finishing the book. It is a direct polite instruction addressed to the person using ‘vous’.
autre ‘Autre’ means ‘another’ in ‘une autre recommandation’, referring to a recommendation different from the current one. It commonly appears before a singular noun when introducing an additional item.
recommandation ‘Recommandation’ means ‘recommendation’ in ‘une autre recommandation’. It refers to the next book suggestion the librarian can provide.
après ‘Après’ means ‘after’ and introduces the time that must pass before the learner returns: ‘après l’avoir fini’. It is used to connect an action with a later time or event.
l'avoir In ‘après l’avoir fini’, ‘l’avoir’ contributes the meaning ‘to have finished it’ together with ‘fini’. The ‘l’ refers to the book, and the expression describes returning after completing it.
fini ‘Fini’ means ‘finished’ in ‘après l’avoir fini’, completing the expression that means ‘after you finish it’. It describes the completed reading of the book referred to by ‘l’.

Grammar Points

pouvoir + infinitif

Vous pouvez recommander un livre.

voo poo-VAY ruh-koh-mahn-DAY uhn LEEVR

You can recommend a book.

Après une forme de pouvoir, le verbe suivant reste à l’infinitif : pouvez recommander.

après + l’avoir + participe passé

Après l’avoir fini, revenez.

ah-PRAY lah-VWAHR fee-NEE, ruh-vuh-NAY

After finishing it, come back.

Après est suivi de l’infinitif passé pour exprimer une action déjà terminée.

French Vocabulary

apprennent verb
ah-PRENN learn

les personnes qui apprennent une langue

articles noun
ar-TEEKL articles

des articles courts

cherchez verb
shair-SHAY are looking for

Vous cherchez des histoires

courtes adj
KOORT short

des histoires courtes

faciles adj
fah-SEEL easy

des histoires faciles

histoires noun
ee-STWAHR stories

des histoires faciles

langue noun
LAHNG language

une langue

livre noun
LEEVR book

un livre

mots noun
MOH words

des mots simples

personnes noun
pair-SONN people

les personnes qui apprennent

pouvez verb
poo-VAY can Pouvez

Pouvez-vous me recommander...

recommander verb
ruh-koh-mahn-DAY to recommend

me recommander un livre

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I will check it out now.

Show AnswerJe vais l'emprunter maintenant.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

language

Show Answerlangue

learn

Show Answerapprennent

are looking for

Show Answercherchez

to recommend

Show Answerrecommander