PREMIÉRE LEÇON—FIRST LESSON

Madame Roberts (la mére)

Madame Roberts (la pére)

The Roberts and Lesage Families

These are the people whose adventures in Paris and in the country, at home and in public, through the myriad incidents of daily life in France, you will follow during the present Course.

The families consist of:

Mr. Roberts (English) and his wife (French); her father and mother, M. and Mme Georges Lesage; her children Charles and Madeleine; the Paul Lesages and their children, Georges and Lucie.

They are nice people, and we hope you will like them.

Madeleine (la fille)

Charles (la fils)

Monsieur Roberts est le père. Mme Roberts est la mère. Charles est le
m's-y[??] ro-bairts ay le pair, mah-dahm ro-bairts ay lah mair. shahrl ay le
Mr. Roberts is the father. Mrs. Roberts is the mother. Charles is the

fils de Monsieur et de Madame Roberts. Madeleine est la fille de Monsieur
fees de m's-y[??] ay de mah-dahm ro-bairts. mahd-lain ay lah feey de m's-y[??]
son of Mr. and (of) Mrs. Roberts. Madeleine is the daughter of Mr.

et de Madame Roberts. Monsieur et Madame Roberts sont les parents
ay de mah-dahm ro-bairts. m's-y[??] ay mah-dahm ro-bairts soN lay pah-raN
and (of) Mrs. Roberts. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are the parents

de Charles et de Madeleine. Charles et Madeleine sont les enfants de Monsieur et
de shahrl ay de mahd-lain. shahrl et mahd-lain soN lay-zaN-faN de m's-y[??] ay
of Charles and (of) Madeleine. Charles and Madeleine are the children of Mr. and

de Madame Roberts. Monsieur Georges Lesage est le père de Madame
de mah-dahm ro-bairts. m's-y[??] zhorzh le-sahzh ay le pair de mah-dahm
(of) Mrs. Roberts. M. Georges Lesage is the father of Mrs.

Mme Paul Lesage (la tante)

Paul Lesage (l'oncle)

Monsieur Lesage (le grandécre)

Madame Lesage (la grand'mére)

Roberts. Il est le grand-père de Charles et de Madeleine. Madame Lesage
ro-bairts. ee-lay le graN-pair de shahrl ay de mahd-lain. mah-dahm le-sahzh
Roberts. He is the grandfather of Charles and (of) Madeleine. Mme Lesage

est leur grand'mère. Monsieur Paul Lesage est le frère de Mme Roberts.
ay lr graN-mair. m's-y[??] pol le-sahzh ay le frair de mah-dahm ro-bairts.
is their grandmother. M. Paul Lesage is the brother of Mrs. Roberts.

Il est l'oncle de Charles et de Madeleine. Mme Paul Lesage est leur tante.
ee-lay loNkl de shahrl ay de mahd-lain. mah-dahm pol le-sahzh ay l[??]r taNt.
He is the uncle of Charles and (of) Madeleine. Mme Paul Lesage is their aunt.

Monsieur et Madame Paul Lesage sont les parents de Georges et de Lucie
m's-y[??] ay mah-dahm pol le-sahzh soN lay pah-raN de zhorzh ay de Ièè-see
M. and Mme Paul Lesage are the parents of Georges and (of) Lucie

Lesage. Georges est le frère de Lucie. Ils sont le
le-sahzh. zhorzh ay le frair de léè-see. eel soN le
Lesage. Georges is the brother of Lucie. They are the

cousin et la cousine de Charles et de Madeleine. Madeleine est la
koo-ziN ay lah koo-zeen de shahrl ay de mahd-lain. mahd-lain ay lah
(masculine and feminine) cousins of Charles and (of) Madeleine. Madeleine is the

s?ur de Charles. Monsieur et Madame Roberts sont grands. Madame Roberts
s[??]r de shahrl. m's-y[??] ay mah-dahm ro-bairts soN graN. mah-dahm ro-bairts
sister of Charles. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are tall. Mrs. Roberts

et Mademoiselle Lesage sont grandes.
ay mahd-mwah-zail le-sahzh soN graNd.
and Mlle Lesage are tall.

Monsieur et Madame Roberts sont blonds.
m's-y[??] ay mah-dahm ro-bairts soN bloN.
Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are fair.

Madame Roberts et Madeleine sont
mah-dahm ro-bairts ay mahd-lain soN
Mrs. Roberts and Madeleine are

blondes. Charles et Madeleine
bloNd. shahrl ay mahd-lain
fair. Charles and Madeleine

sont-ils petits? Oui, ils sont petits.
soN-teel p'tee ? ee eel soN p'tee.
are they small? Yes, they are small.

Lucie (la cousine)

Georg (le cousine)

HOW TO TRANSLATE "THEY"

There are two French words for the English "they": ils the plural of il (he), and elles of elle (she). Use Us for masculines and elles for feminines. When referring to both masculines and feminines, ils is used.

Examples:—

le père (the father) ii (he).
les pères (the fathers) lis (they).
la mère (the mother) elle (she).

ils sont grands
eel soN graN
they (masc.) are tall

ils sont petits
eel soN p'tee
they (masc.) are small

elles sont grandes
ail soN graNd
they (fem.) are tall

elles sont petites
ail soN p'teet
they (fem.) are small

les mères (the mothers) elles (they).

les parents (the parents) Us (they).

les enfants (the children), Us when referring to boys or boys and girls.

elles (they) when referring to women or girls only.

In the plural both nouns and adjectives add s; this s is silent. Le petit garçon (the little boy). Les petits garçons (the little boys). La petite fille (the little girl). Lei petites filles (the little girls).

Monsieur Roberts est Anglais. Madame Vanderbilt est Américaine.
m's-y[??] ro-bairts ay-taN-glai. mah-dahm vaN-dair-beelt ay-tah-may-ree-kain.
Mr. Roberts is English. Mrs. Vanderbilt is American.

Madame Roberts est Anglaise. M. Ivanovich est-il Russe?
mah-dahm ro-bairts ay-taN-glaiz. m's-y[??] ee-vaN-noh-veesh ay-teel r[??]s?
Mrs. Roberts is English. M. Ivanovich is he Russian?

Monsieur Lesage est Français. Madame Ivanovich est-elle Russe?
m's-y[??] le-sahzh ay fraN-sai. mah-dahm ee-vaN-noh-veesh ay-tail r[??]s?
M. Lesage is French. Mme. Ivanovich is she Russian?

Madame Lesage est Française. Monsieur Soong est-il Chinois?
mah-dahm le-sahzh ay fraN-saiz m's-y[??] soong ay-tee1 shee-nwah?
Mme. Lesage is French. Mr. Soong is he Chinese?

Monsieur Vanderbilt est Américain. Madame Soong est-elle Chinoise?
m's-y[??] VaN-dair-beelt ay-tah-may-ree-kiN.mah-dahm soong ay-tail shee-nwahz?
Mr. Vanderbilt is American. Mrs. Soong is she Chinese?

Madame Roberts et Madeleine sont-elles Françaises ou Anglaises?
mah-dahm ro-bairts ay mahd-lain soN-tail fraN-saiz oo aN-glaiz?
Mrs. Roberts and Madeleine are they French or English?

All the above are the feminine plural versions of the adjectives meaning English, etc.

LA CATHÉDRALE DE NOTRE-DAME

Cette belle étude photographique montre la rose vitrée de la nef centrale, les contreforts et les tours encore inachevées de la Cathédrale de Paris.

N'est-elle pas jolie? Il n'est pas riche
nay-tail pah zho-lee? eel nay pah reesh
Isn't she pretty? He is not rich

HOW TO TRANSLATE "NOT"

(1) Not is expressed by two words ne and pas. Before a vowel ne becomes n' e.g., il n'est pas riche=he is not rich. Note the position of the two words.

Adjectives ending in -e

(2) When an adjective ends in e without any accent sign in the masculine, the feminine remains the same: Il est riche=he is rich; elle est riche=she is rich.

MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN

MORE ABOUT THE ROBERTS FAMILY

(Sentences using adjectives are given on pages 19 and 20)

Monsieur Roberts est-il riche? Non, il n'est pas riche. Il est très
m's-y[??] ro-bairts ay-teel reesh? noN eel nay pah reesh. eel ay trayMr.
Roberts is he rich? No, he is not rich. He is very

intelligent et Madame Roberts est très charmante. Charles et
ziN-tai-lee-zhaN ay mah-dahm ro-bairts ay tray shahr-maNt. shahrl ay
intelligent and Mrs. Roberts is very charming. Charles and

Madeleine sont-ils intelligents? Madeleine est intelligente, mais Charles
mahd-lain soN-teel iN-tai-lee-zhaN? mahd-lain ay-tiN-tai-lee-zhaNt mai shahrl
Madeleine are they intelligent? Madeleine is intelligent, but Charles

n'est pas très intelligent. Mais il est beau et charmant. Madame
nay pah trai-ziN-tai-lee-zhaN. mai ee-lay boh ay shahr-maN mah-dahm
is not very intelligent. But he is good-looking and charming. Mrs.

Roberts et Mademoiselle Lesage sont-elles petites? Non, monsieur,
ro-bairts ay mahd-mwa-zail le-sahzh soN-tail p'teet ? noN, m's-y[??],
Roberts and Mile. Lesage are they small? No, sir,

elles sont grandes. Elles sont aussi toutes les deux intelligentes.
ail soN graNd. ail soN-toh-see toot lay d[??]-ziN-tai-lee-zhaNt.
they are tall. They are also both (lit. "all the two") intelligent.