Politely clarifying a taxi route | Learn French in English

French lesson set in a contemporary Paris everyday setting: In a taxi, a passenger asks the driver why the route has changed and requests larger roads when possible..

EN → FR / Level: B1

About This Lesson

Use Politely clarifying a taxi route to practice French conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Excusez-moi, est-ce qu'on prend un autre itinéraire à cause des embouteillages ?

ehk-skew-ZAY mwah, ess-kuhn prahn uhn-NOTR tee-neh-RAYR ah kohz dayz ahn-boo-tay-YAHZH? Excuse me, are we taking a different route because of traffic?
B

La route devant nous est bloquée, donc je dois faire un détour.

lah ROOT duh-VAHN noo eh bloh-KAY, dohnk zhuh dwah fair uhn day-TOOR. The road ahead is blocked, so I need to take a detour.
A

Je demandais ça parce que je ne connais pas ce quartier.

zhuh duh-mahn-DAY sah parss kuh zhuh nuh koh-NAY pah suh kar-TYAY. I was asking because I don't recognize this area.
B

Cette route est un peu plus longue, mais elle devrait nous permettre d'avancer.

set ROOT eh tuhn puh ploo LOHNG, meh zhel duh-VRAY noo pair-METR dah-vahn-SAY. This way is a little longer, but it should keep us moving.
A

Pourrions-nous prendre des routes plus larges, si possible ?

poo-ree-OHN noo prahn-druh day ROOT ploo LARZH, see poh-SEE-bluh? Could we stay on larger roads if possible?
B

Je peux faire ça.

zhuh puh fair sah. I can do that.
B

Cela pourrait prendre quelques minutes de plus.

suh-LAH poo-RAY prahnd kelk mee-NOOT duh PLOO. It may add a few minutes.
B

Mais ce sera plus facile à suivre.

meh suh suh-RAH ploo fah-SEEL ah SWEET-vr. But it will be easier to follow.
A

Ça me va. Je ne suis pas pressé.

sah muh VAH. zhuh nuh swee pah pray-SAY. That works. I'm not in a hurry.
B

Je vais éviter les petites rues secondaires à partir d'ici.

zhuh vay ay-vee-TAY lay puh-TEET ree suh-gohn-DAIR ah par-TEER dee-SEE. I'll avoid the small side streets from here.
A

J'apprécie que vous m'expliquiez l'itinéraire.

zhah-pray-SEE kuh voo meks-plee-KAY lee-tee-neh-RAYR. I appreciate you explaining the route.
B

Je vous préviendrai si je dois encore le modifier.

zhuh voo pray-vee-ahn-DRAY see zhuh dwah zahn-KOR luh moh-dee-FYAY. I'll let you know if I need to change it again.

Word by Word

Excusez-moi Excusez-moi is the polite way to say “excuse me” when addressing the driver. In this expression, Excusez contributes the polite or plural form of “excuse,” and moi means “me.”
est-ce Est-ce is a question marker that turns the following clause into a yes-or-no question. In est-ce qu'on prend..., est and ce work together to introduce the question rather than adding a separate meaning of “is this.”
qu'on Qu'on means “that we” or, after est-ce, introduces the question of whether “we” are doing something. It is the form used before on in est-ce qu'on prend un autre itinéraire, where on refers to the passenger and driver together.
prend Prend means “takes” or “is taking” here, as in est-ce qu'on prend un autre itinéraire. It is a form of prendre, used with on in the question about the route.
un Un is the indefinite article meaning “a” in un autre itinéraire. Together, un autre itinéraire means “a different route” or “another route.”
autre Autre means “different” or “another” in un autre itinéraire. It comes before the noun here, and the phrase identifies a route different from the expected one.
itinéraire Itinéraire means “route” or “itinerary” in this taxi conversation. It is used for the planned route in un autre itinéraire and later in l'itinéraire.
à In à cause des embouteillages, à is part of the fixed expression meaning “because of.” The full expression à cause de introduces the reason for the changed route.
cause In à cause des embouteillages, cause is part of the expression “because of,” not a standalone reference to a cause. The noun embouteillages supplies the reason that follows this expression.
des Des is the plural article in des embouteillages, referring to traffic jams in general. It introduces the plural noun that completes à cause des embouteillages, meaning “because of traffic jams.”
embouteillages Embouteillages means “traffic jams” in the reason given for changing the route. It is the plural noun after à cause des and identifies the traffic problem.
La La is the definite article meaning “the” before route in La route devant nous. It introduces the particular road ahead that is blocked.
route Route means “road” or “route” in La route devant nous and Cette route. In the first phrase it is the road ahead; in the second it refers to the route being discussed.
devant Devant means “ahead” or “in front of” in devant nous. The full phrase devant nous locates the road in front of the passenger and driver.
nous Nous means “us” in devant nous, so devant nous means “ahead of us” or “in front of us.” Here it identifies the people who are in front of the blocked road.
est Est means “is” in La route devant nous est bloquée. It links the road to its condition, and it is a form of être.
bloquée Bloquée means “blocked” and describes the road in La route devant nous est bloquée. The form describes route as feminine, matching the noun in this sentence.
donc Donc means “so” or “therefore” and connects the blocked road with the driver’s necessary response. In donc je dois faire un détour, it introduces the consequence.
je Je means “I” in je dois faire un détour. It marks the driver as the person who needs to take the detour.
dois Dois means “must” or “need to” in je dois faire un détour. It is a form of devoir and is followed here by the infinitive phrase faire un détour.
faire In faire un détour, faire contributes the verb used in the expression for “take a detour.” The whole phrase faire un détour means to take or make a detour, and faire is followed by the noun phrase un détour here.
détour Détour means “detour” in faire un détour. The full phrase refers to taking an alternative route because the usual road is blocked.
demandais Demandais means “was asking” in Je demandais ça. It is a form of demander used to explain the reason for the passenger’s earlier question.
ça Ça means “that” or “it” in Je demandais ça, referring to the question or request just made. In Ça me va, the same form refers to the proposed arrangement and means that it works for the speaker.
parce Parce is part of the fixed expression parce que, meaning “because.” In Je demandais ça parce que..., parce introduces the reason and que completes the expression before the clause.
que Que completes parce que in Je demandais ça parce que je ne connais pas ce quartier. In this expression, parce que together introduces the reason for asking.
ne Ne is the first part of the standard written negation in je ne connais pas ce quartier. Together with pas, it makes the statement negative: the speaker does not know or recognize the area.
connais Connais means “know” or “recognize” in je ne connais pas ce quartier. It is a form of connaître and is negated by ne ... pas here.
pas Pas is the second part of the negation ne ... pas in je ne connais pas ce quartier. With ne, it makes the meaning “do not know” or “do not recognize.”
ce Ce means “this” in ce quartier and points to the particular neighborhood the speaker is currently in. It comes directly before the noun quartier.
quartier Quartier means “neighborhood” or “area” in ce quartier. The phrase ce quartier refers to the area around the taxi, which the passenger does not recognize.
Cette Cette means “this” before the feminine noun route in Cette route. It points to the route currently being discussed.
peu Peu means “a little” in un peu plus longue. The phrase un peu reduces the comparison, so the route is only slightly longer.
plus Plus means “more” in plus longue and helps form the comparison “longer.” The phrase un peu plus longue means “a little longer.”
longue Longue means “longer” in Cette route est un peu plus longue. It describes the route and completes the comparison introduced by plus.
mais Mais means “but” and contrasts the route being longer with the benefit that follows. In mais elle devrait nous permettre d'avancer, it introduces the positive consequence.
elle Elle means “it” here and refers back to Cette route. In elle devrait nous permettre d'avancer, it makes the route the subject of the expected benefit.
devrait Devrait means “should” in elle devrait nous permettre d'avancer, expressing an expectation rather than a firm guarantee. It is a form of devoir and is followed by the infinitive permettre.
permettre Permettre means “allow” or “enable” in elle devrait nous permettre d'avancer. The construction permettre à someone de do something expresses that one thing enables someone to carry out the action; here the phrase is nous permettre d'avancer.
d'avancer D'avancer means “to move forward” or “to keep moving” in nous permettre d'avancer. It completes permettre by naming the action that the route should enable.
Pourrions Pourrions means “could” in Pourrions-nous prendre des routes plus larges, si possible ? It is a polite form of pouvoir used to make a request rather than a direct instruction.
prendre Prendre means “take” or “use” in prendre des routes plus larges. The phrase asks to use wider roads, with des routes plus larges as the object.
routes Routes means “roads” or “routes” in des routes plus larges. It is the object of prendre and refers to the roads the taxi could use.
larges Larges means “wide” or “larger” in des routes plus larges. It describes the requested roads and completes the comparison with smaller side streets mentioned later.
si Si means “if” in si possible. The phrase si possible softens the request by making it conditional on what can actually be done.
possible Possible means “possible” in si possible. Together, si possible means “if possible,” a common way to make a request less demanding.
peux Peux means “can” in Je peux faire ça. It is a form of pouvoir and is followed by the infinitive faire.
Cela Cela means “that” or “it” in Cela pourrait prendre quelques minutes de plus. It refers to the proposed change of route and presents its possible effect.
pourrait Pourrait means “could” or “may” in Cela pourrait prendre quelques minutes de plus, expressing possibility. It is a form of pouvoir and is followed by prendre.
quelques Quelques means “a few” in quelques minutes de plus. It indicates a small, non-specific number of minutes.
minutes Minutes means “minutes” in quelques minutes de plus. It is the unit of time that may be added by the change of route.
de In quelques minutes de plus, de links minutes with plus in the expression meaning “a few minutes more.” The whole phrase refers to additional time, not to a separate possession relationship.
sera Sera means “will be” in ce sera plus facile à suivre. It is a future form of être and links the subject ce with the description plus facile à suivre.
facile Facile means “easy” in plus facile à suivre. The construction facile à suivre means “easy to follow,” with à suivre naming the action that is easy.
suivre Suivre means “follow” in facile à suivre. It describes the action of following the route, and the full phrase says that the route will be easier to follow.
me Me means “me” in Ça me va. In the expression Ça me va, it identifies the person for whom the arrangement works or is suitable.
va Va means “works” or “suits” in Ça me va, rather than simply describing physical movement. The fixed expression Ça me va means that something is acceptable to the speaker.
suis Suis means “am” in Je ne suis pas pressé. It is a form of être and links je with the description pressé, within the negative phrase ne ... pas.
pressé Pressé means “in a hurry” in Je ne suis pas pressé. With Je ne suis pas, it expresses that the speaker does not need to arrive quickly.
vais Vais means “am going to” in Je vais éviter les petites rues secondaires. It is a form of aller used with the infinitive éviter to express a planned action.
éviter Éviter means “avoid” in Je vais éviter les petites rues secondaires. It follows vais and takes les petites rues secondaires as the thing the driver will avoid.
les Les is the definite plural article in les petites rues secondaires. It introduces the particular group of small side streets that the driver plans to avoid.
petites Petites means “small” in les petites rues secondaires. It describes the streets and helps identify them as the smaller roads contrasted with larger roads.
rues Rues means “streets” in les petites rues secondaires. It is the object of éviter and refers to the side streets the driver will not use.
secondaires Secondaires means “side” or “secondary” in rues secondaires. Together, petites rues secondaires means “small side streets.”
partir Partir is part of à partir d'ici, meaning “starting from” or “from.” The full expression marks the point in time or place where the new plan begins.
d'ici D'ici means “from here” in à partir d'ici. It identifies the current location as the starting point for avoiding the side streets.
J'apprécie J'apprécie means “I appreciate” in J'apprécie que vous m'expliquiez l'itinéraire. It expresses gratitude and introduces the explanation that the speaker values.
vous Vous means “you” in que vous m'expliquiez l'itinéraire and refers politely to the driver. It is the person who explains the route to the speaker.
m'expliquiez M'expliquiez means “explain to me” in que vous m'expliquiez l'itinéraire. The m' represents “to me,” while expliquiez supplies the action of explaining, with l'itinéraire as what is explained.
l'itinéraire L'itinéraire means “the route” or “the itinerary” in m'expliquiez l'itinéraire. The l' is the shortened form of the definite article before itinéraire, and the phrase refers to the taxi route.
préviendrai Préviendrai means “will let you know” in Je vous préviendrai. It is a future form of prévenir and is used with vous to show who will be informed.
encore Encore means “again” in je dois encore le modifier. It shows that the route may need to be changed one more time after the current change.
le Le means “it” in le modifier and refers back to the route or itinerary. It is the object pronoun placed before modifier, so le modifier means “modify it.”
modifier Modifier means “change” or “modify” in le modifier. The phrase je dois encore le modifier means that the driver may need to change the route again.

Grammar Points

être + adjectif accordé

La route est bloquée.

lah ROOT eh bloh-KAY.

The road is blocked.

In French, adjectives agree with the noun in gender and number: route is feminine singular, so bloqué becomes bloquée.

permettre de + infinitif

Cet itinéraire permet d'avancer.

say tee-neh-RAYR pair-METR dah-vahn-SAY.

This route allows us to move forward.

After permettre, use de before the infinitive. Before a vowel, de contracts to d’.

French Vocabulary

à cause de prep
ah KOHZ duh because of
bloqué adj
bloh-KAY blocked bloquée
connaître verb
koh-NETR to know; to be familiar with connais
détour noun
day-TOOR detour
embouteillage noun
ahn-boo-tay-YAHZH traffic jam embouteillages
faire un détour phrase
fair uhn day-TOOR to take a detour
itinéraire noun
ee-tee-neh-RAYR route
long adj
LOHNG long longue
permettre verb
pair-METR to allow; to enable
prendre verb
PRAHNDR to take
quartier noun
kar-TYAY neighborhood; area
route noun
ROOT road

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I can do that.

Show AnswerJe peux faire ça.

I appreciate you explaining the route.

Show AnswerJ'apprécie que vous m'expliquiez l'itinéraire.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

to know; to be familiar with

Show Answerconnais

road

Show Answerroute

blocked

Show Answerbloquée

detour

Show Answerdétour