Canceling a picnic because of strong wind | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: Before a planned picnic, two adults decide to meet indoors because strong wind would make eating outside difficult..

EN → FR / Level: A2

About This Lesson

Use Canceling a picnic because of strong wind to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Le vent est beaucoup plus fort qu'hier.

luh vahn eh boh-KOO ploo for kee-YAIR. The wind is much stronger than yesterday.
B

Un pique-nique ne serait peut-être pas agréable aujourd'hui.

uhn peek-NEEK nuh suh-RAY puh-TEHTR pah ah-gray-AH-bluh oh-zhoor-DWEE. A picnic might not be comfortable today.
A

La couverture continuerait à s'envoler.

lah koo-vehr-TOOR kohn-tee-nyoo-uh-RAY ah sahn-voh-LAY. The blanket would keep blowing away.
B

En plus, manger dehors pourrait être difficile.

ahn PLOO, mahn-ZHAY duh-OR poo-RAY EHTR dee-fee-SEEL. Also, eating outside could be difficult.
A

Est-ce qu'on devrait annuler et se retrouver à l'intérieur à la place ?

ess-kohn duh-VRAY ah-nyoo-LAY ay suh ruh-troo-VAY ah lan-tay-ree-UHR ah lah PLAHS? Should we cancel and meet indoors instead?
B

Ce serait plus sûr et plus facile.

suh suh-RAY ploo SOOR ay ploo fah-SEEL. That would be safer and easier.
A

Je vais prévenir tout le monde dans le groupe de discussion.

zhuh vay pray-vuh-NEER too luh MOND dahn luh GROOP duh dee-skoo-SYOHN. Let me tell everyone in the group chat.
B

Un café près du parc serait un bon choix.

uhn kah-FAY pray doo PARK suh-RAY uhn bohn SHWAH. A cafe near the park would be a good choice.

Word by Word

Le Le means “the” before vent, referring to the wind in the sentence. It comes before the noun it determines, as in le vent.
vent Vent means “wind” here, the weather condition being discussed. It is used as the subject in le vent est beaucoup plus fort.
est Est links le vent with its description beaucoup plus fort, meaning “is.” A useful pattern is a subject followed by est and a description, as in le vent est fort.
beaucoup Beaucoup intensifies the comparison in beaucoup plus fort, meaning “much” stronger. It can be placed before plus to strengthen a comparison.
plus Plus marks the comparative idea in beaucoup plus fort, meaning “more” or “stronger.” A reusable comparison pattern is plus + description + que + reference.
fort Fort describes the wind as strong in le vent est beaucoup plus fort qu'hier. It can be used after être to describe the strength or intensity of something.
qu' Qu' introduces the point of comparison in plus fort qu'hier, meaning “than yesterday.” It is the shortened form of que before hier in this expression; plus ... que ... is a reusable comparison pattern.
hier Hier places the comparison on the previous day, meaning “yesterday.” It is used as a time reference in plus fort qu'hier.
Un Un means “a” or “an” before pique-nique, presenting one picnic as the topic. The reusable pattern is un + noun, as in un pique-nique.
pique-nique Pique-nique means “picnic” in un pique-nique. It names the outdoor plan that may not be pleasant today and can follow un when introducing one picnic.
ne Ne contributes the first part of the negation in ne serait peut-être pas agréable. It works with pas around the verb in the pattern ne + verb + pas.
serait Serait expresses a hypothetical assessment in un pique-nique ne serait peut-être pas agréable, meaning “would be.” It is used with a description such as agréable to say how something might be.
peut-être Peut-être means “maybe” or “perhaps” and makes the assessment less certain in ne serait peut-être pas agréable. It can be placed after a conjugated verb to add uncertainty.
pas Pas contributes the second part of the negation in ne serait peut-être pas agréable, meaning “not.” The reusable negative pattern is ne + verb + pas.
agréable Agréable describes the picnic experience as pleasant or comfortable in ne serait peut-être pas agréable. It can follow être to describe whether an activity or situation is pleasant.
aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui means “today” and specifies when the picnic would not be pleasant. It can be placed at the end of a sentence to give the time.
La La means “the” before couverture, referring to the specific blanket in the situation. It comes directly before the noun it determines, as in la couverture.
couverture Couverture means “blanket” and is the thing that would keep blowing away. It is used as the subject in la couverture continuerait à s'envoler.
continuerait Continuerait expresses that the blanket would keep doing something in the imagined windy situation. It is a form of continuer used with à and an infinitive, as in continuerait à s'envoler.
à À links continuerait to the following infinitive in continuerait à s'envoler. The reusable pattern is continuer à + infinitive for continuing an action.
s' S' is the shortened form of se before the vowel in s'envoler. Together with envoler, it forms the pronominal expression s'envoler, describing something flying or being blown away.
envoler Envoler supplies the flying-away action in s'envoler, which means “fly away” or “be blown away” in this context. It appears as an infinitive after à in continuerait à s'envoler.
En En contributes to the addition phrase en plus, meaning “also” or “in addition.” A reusable pattern is en plus followed by another reason or point.
manger Manger is the infinitive meaning “to eat,” used in manger dehors to express the activity of eating outside. An infinitive can be followed by a place expression, as in manger dehors.
dehors Dehors means “outside” and specifies where the eating would happen in manger dehors. It commonly follows the verb when indicating that an activity takes place outdoors.
pourrait Pourrait expresses possibility in manger dehors pourrait être difficile, meaning “could” or “might.” It is followed here by être, giving the reusable pattern pourrait + infinitive.
être Être means “to be” in pourrait être difficile and links the possible activity with its description. It follows pourrait in the pattern pourrait être + description.
difficile Difficile describes eating outside as difficult in manger dehors pourrait être difficile. It can follow être to describe how an activity or situation would be.
Est-ce que Est-ce que introduces a yes-or-no question. In this dialogue it appears before on as Est-ce qu'on, where que is shortened to qu' before on; Est-ce provides the question pattern and que connects it to the clause.
on On means “we” here, referring to the two people deciding what to do. It is used before the verb in on devrait annuler and is a common spoken way to say “we.”
devrait Devrait expresses a suggestion or recommendation, meaning “should” in on devrait annuler. It is followed by an infinitive in the pattern devrait + action.
annuler Annuler means “to cancel” and names the proposed action after devrait. It appears in devrait annuler, where a modal-like verb is followed by an infinitive.
et Et joins the two proposed actions annuler and se retrouver, meaning “and.” A reusable pattern is one infinitive + et + another infinitive.
se Se is the reflexive or reciprocal pronoun in se retrouver, showing that the people meet one another. It comes before the verb in this pronominal expression.
retrouver Retrouver means “meet up” in se retrouver à l'intérieur. With se, it describes the two people meeting each other at an indoor location.
l' L' means “the” before the vowel in l'intérieur. It is the shortened form of the definite article before a vowel, as in à l'intérieur.
intérieur Intérieur means “inside” or “indoors” in à l'intérieur. The reusable location expression is à l'intérieur, used to say that someone meets or stays indoors.
place Place contributes to the expression à la place, which means “instead” here. The full expression à la place is used to propose one option instead of another.
Ce Ce refers to the suggested plan to cancel the picnic and meet indoors, meaning “that” or “it” in Ce serait plus sûr et plus facile. It can be used as the subject before serait and a description.
sûr Sûr describes the indoor option as safer in plus sûr. With plus, it expresses a comparison, and it can follow être to describe how safe something is.
facile Facile describes the indoor option as easier in plus facile. With plus, it expresses a comparison, and it can follow être to describe the difficulty of an action or choice.
Je Je means “I” and is the subject of Je vais prévenir. It commonly comes before the verb to state who will carry out the action.
vais Vais means “am going to” in Je vais prévenir and comes from aller. The reusable near-future pattern is subject + vais or another form of aller + infinitive.
prévenir Prévenir means “to tell” or “to inform” in Je vais prévenir tout le monde. It is used before the person or group being informed, as in prévenir tout le monde.
tout le monde Tout le monde means “everyone” as a whole expression in prévenir tout le monde. Tout contributes “all,” le is the definite article, and monde contributes the people considered collectively; the expression can follow a verb such as prévenir.
dans Dans means “in” and locates the message in the group chat in dans le groupe de discussion. It commonly comes before a place, container, or group where something is located.
groupe Groupe means “group” in groupe de discussion. The pattern groupe de + noun specifies what kind of group it is.
de De links groupe with discussion in groupe de discussion, meaning “of” and specifying the group’s type. A reusable pattern is noun + de + noun.
discussion Discussion means “discussion” or “chat” in groupe de discussion. Together with groupe de, it identifies the group chat where the message will be sent.
café Café means “cafe” and is the proposed indoor meeting place. It can follow un when introducing a cafe, as in un café près du parc.
près Près expresses proximity in près du parc, meaning “near.” It is commonly used with de before the place that serves as the reference point.
du Du means “of the” in près du parc and is the contracted form of de + le. It appears between près and the place being used as the reference point.
parc Parc means “park” in près du parc, the place near the proposed cafe. It follows du in this location expression.
bon Bon describes the choice as good in un bon choix. It comes before the noun here, in the reusable pattern un bon + noun.
choix Choix means “choice” in un bon choix and names the proposed cafe as a suitable option. It can be described by an adjective placed before it, as in bon choix.

Grammar Points

Le conditionnel présent : continuerait, devrait

Le vent continuerait à s'envoler.

luh vahn kohn-tee-nyoo-uh-RAY ah sahn-voh-LAY.

The wind would continue to blow away.

The conditional expresses a hypothetical result or a softened suggestion. The ending -rait appears in continuerait and devrait.

Le comparatif : plus + adjectif

À l'intérieur, c'est plus sûr et plus facile.

ah lan-tay-ree-UHR, say ploo SOOR ay ploo fah-SEEL.

Indoors, it is safer and easier.

Use plus before an adjective to compare qualities: plus sûr means “safer” and plus facile means “easier”.

French Vocabulary

agréable adj
ah-gray-AH-bluh comfortable; pleasant

Un pique-nique ne serait peut-être pas agréable aujourd'hui.

continuer verb
kohn-tee-nyoo-AY to continue continuerait

La couverture continuerait à s'envoler.

couverture noun
koo-vehr-TOOR blanket La couverture

La couverture continuerait à s'envoler.

dehors adv
duh-OR outside

En plus, manger dehors pourrait être difficile.

difficile adj
dee-fee-SEEL difficult

En plus, manger dehors pourrait être difficile.

en plus adv
ahn PLOO also; moreover

En plus, manger dehors pourrait être difficile.

fort adj
FOR strong

Le vent est beaucoup plus fort qu'hier.

hier adv
yee-AIR yesterday

Le vent est beaucoup plus fort qu'hier.

manger verb
mahn-ZHAY to eat

En plus, manger dehors pourrait être difficile.

pique-nique noun
peek-NEEK picnic

Un pique-nique ne serait peut-être pas agréable aujourd'hui.

s'envoler verb
sahn-voh-LAY to blow away; to fly away

La couverture continuerait à s'envoler.

vent noun
vahn wind Le vent

Le vent est beaucoup plus fort qu'hier.

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

The blanket would keep blowing away.

Show AnswerLa couverture continuerait à s'envoler.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to continue

Show Answercontinuerait

strong

Show Answerfort

comfortable; pleasant

Show Answeragréable

yesterday

Show Answerhier