Checking into a hotel

IN THIS LESSON: Monsieur Day arrives at small hotel and rents a room.

Study Dialogue:

Instructions

FIRST: Play the audio below while following along with the written dialogue. Try to repeat each sentence aloud in French after each line.
SECOND: Study the written dialogue until you learn the meaning of each sentence, paying close attention to any new vocabulary.
THIRD: Verify your knowledge of the material using the "Learn It" and "Hear It" sections below. Repeat these steps until you are able to correctly answer each of the prompts.

LE GERANT:

what que

to desire désirer

M. DAY:

vouloir to want

salle de bains (f) bathroom

chambre (f) bedroom

(je voudrais) (I would like)

LE GERANT:

seul alone

M. DAY:

quelques a few

pour for

jour (m) day

LE GERANT:

premier first

jolie pretty

étage (m) floor

Eh bien! in that case

avoir (nous avons) to have (we have)

M. DAY:

montrer to show

me me, to me

la it

LE GERANT:

y there

femme de chambre (f) chambermaid

conduire to drive, to lead

(They go upstairs)...

(ils montent)

monter to go up, to take up

LA FEMME DE CHAMBRE:

M. DAY:

tout à fait completely

remercier to thank

convenir (elle convient) to suit (it suits)

LA FEMME DE CHAMBRE:

bagages (m.pl) luggage

apporter (faire apporter) to bring (to have brought)

aller (je vais) to go (I am going)

M. DAY:

sept seven

réveiller to wake

parfait fine, perfect

demain tornorrow

Learn It:

Instructions

This section is designed to test how well you understand the material presented in the Study Dialogue. Try to enter the English translation for each phrase below without looking at the previous section (no peeking!). After you have entered your response, click "Show Answer" to see the correct phrase and compare your results.

Hear It:

Instructions

This section is designed to test your ability to recognize and understand what you hear on the audio. Click the playback icon to hear a phrase from the previous dialogue. Type what you hear, in French, into the input field below. Click "Show Answer" to see the correct phrase and compare your results. TIP: Be sure you have learned the meaning of all of the phrases in the dialogue using the "Learn It" section before completing this section.

Grammar Notes:

Cardinal Numbers

1. un, une
2. deux
3. trois
4. quatre
5. cinq
6. six
7. sept
8. huit
9. neuf
10. dix
11. onze
12. douze
13. treize
14. quatorze
15. quinze
16. seize
17. dix-sept
18. dix-huit
19. dix-neuf

Examples:

Il est une heure.
Réveillez-moi à sept heures.
Combien font deux et deux?

Note that some cardinal number noun-markers are pronounced in a different way according to what follows.

The verb avoir = to have

Avez-vous des nouvelles?
Nous avons une jolie chambre au premier étage.

The second most frequently occurring verb in French is avoir 'to have' .

Its forms in the present are:

j'ai	I have
il a (elle,on)	he has (she, one)
ils ont (elles)	they have
nous avons	we have
vous avez	you have

Negative forms:

je n'ai pas	I don't have
il n'a pas (elle, on)	he doesn't have (she, one)
ils n'ont pas (elles)	they don' t have
nous n'avons pas	we don ' t have
vous n'avez pas	you don' t have

Inverted forms:

ai-je?	have I?
a-t-il? (elle,on)	has he? (she,one)
ont-ils (elles)	have they?
avons-nous?	have we?
avez-vous?	have you?

Inverted, negative:

n'ai-je pas?	don't I have?
n'a-t-il pas? (elle, on)	doesn't he have? (she, one)
n'ont-ils pas? (elles)	don't they have?
n'avons-nous pas?	don't we have?
n'avez-vous pas?	don't you have?

The use of à, au, aux

The prepositions à, au and aux are generally used to mean 'to', 'at', or 'in'.

Pattern:

Voulez-vous aller au Café de Paris?
Nous avons une chambre au premier étage.
Au dernier guichet à gauche.

The preposition can take several forms:

Singular:

à la in front of feminine nouns beginning with a consonant:

Je vais à la gare. ~ l'm going to the station.

au in front of masculine nouns beginning with a consonant:

Il est au restaurant. ~ He is at the restaurant.

à l' in front of aIl nouns beginning with a vowel:

Il est à l'hôtel. ~ He is at the hotel.

Plural:
aux is used before aIl plural nouns:
Aux guichets deux et trois. ~ At ticket windows two and three.

Note that when au/aux are used, the definite article le/les is omitted. However, when a is used before la or l', the definite article is retained.

Au, à la, à l', aux can have a few different meanings in English, depending on the context:

1. to the
Allez-vous à la gare? ~ Are you going to the station?

2. at the
Je suis à l'hôtel. ~ l am at the hotel.

3. The verb 'to be' followed by the preposition à has also the meaning
'to belong to':

C'est à la soeur de Janine. ~ It belongs to Janine's sister

Additional Audio:

Instructions

Test your mastery of the dialogue by listening to the full conversation at normal speed.