Une randonnée (A Hike / An Outing) | Foreign Language

Giving and understanding directions is the focus of this topic: asking for a place, describing a route, and talking about distance and transport. The near future tense (futur proche), the verb aller (to go), and the range of question forms in French are the main grammatical tools needed for this.

Grammar

The Verb aller (to go)

Examples: Je vais au marché. (I am going to the market.) / Vous allez où ? (Where are you going?)

Note the compulsory contractions with à: aller au (to the, masculine), aller à la (to the, feminine), aller à l' (to the, before a vowel), aller aux (to the, plural).

Futur proche (Near Future)

Formation: subject + present tense of aller + verb in the infinitive

This is the equivalent of English "going to + verb" and is by far the most common way to talk about future plans in spoken French.

Examples:

• Je vais visiter Paris. — I am going to visit Paris.
• Nous allons faire une randonnée. — We are going to go hiking.
• Il ne va pas venir. — He is not going to come. (negation wraps around aller, not the infinitive: ne va pas venir)

Interrogations (Question Forms)

French has three main ways to ask a yes/no question, ranging from casual to formal:

For information questions, a question word is added:

Examples: Où est la gare ? (Where is the station?) / Comment allez-vous à l'école ? (How do you get to school?) / Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? (What are you doing?)

Questions in the Negative Form

Negative questions combine the ne...pas structure with a question form — most naturally with inversion or est-ce que.

• Est-ce que tu ne viens pas ? — Aren't you coming?
• Ne sais-tu pas où est la poste ? — Don't you know where the post office is?
• N'y a-t-il pas de bus ici ? — Isn't there a bus here?

Answering a negative question: French uses a special word, si (instead of oui), to contradict a negative question and say "yes, actually."

• — Tu ne viens pas ? — Si, je viens ! (— You're not coming? — Yes, I am coming!)

Vocabulary

Asking for and Giving Directions

Points of a Compass and Places in a City

Means of Transport

Parts of the Body (for describing tiredness/injury on a hike)

Sample Dialogue: Asking for Directions

Touriste : Excusez-moi, pour aller à la gare, s'il vous plaît ? (Excuse me, how do I get to the station, please?)

Passant : Alors, allez tout droit, puis tournez à gauche au carrefour. (So, go straight ahead, then turn left at the crossroads.)

Touriste : C'est loin d'ici ? (Is it far from here?)

Passant : Non, ce n'est pas loin. C'est à dix minutes à pied, en face de la banque. (No, it's not far. It's ten minutes on foot, opposite the bank.)

Touriste : Est-ce qu'il y a un bus aussi ? (Is there a bus as well?)

Passant : Oui, vous allez prendre le bus numéro douze. (Yes, you're going to take bus number twelve.)

Touriste : Merci beaucoup ! (Thank you very much!)

Task

1. Create a map of your city and describe it.

Voici la carte de ma ville. La gare est au nord. La banque est à côté de la gare. Le marché est au sud, en face de la pharmacie. Pour aller du marché à la gare, allez tout droit, puis tournez à droite au feu. C'est à quinze minutes à pied, ou cinq minutes en bus.

(Here is the map of my city. The station is to the north. The bank is next to the station. The market is to the south, opposite the pharmacy. To go from the market to the station, go straight ahead, then turn right at the traffic light. It's fifteen minutes on foot, or five minutes by bus.)