French Level 1
Unit 1: Leçon 3
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Nationalities:
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In this leçon you will be learning the correct way to present nationalities. Check out the following dialog excerpt:
 Track 5
2. Non, je ne suis pas françaises.
Je suis canadienne.
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1. Tu es française?
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What is Luc trying to find out about Victoire? You guessed it! Whether or not she is French. Is she French? No, she is Canadian. Now this all seems simple enough, however, check out the next part of the conversation:
Track 6
1. Et, Luc.
Tu es canadien, français, ou américain?
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2. Je suis américain!
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Victoire is also interested in Luc's nationality. However, notice when making reference to Luc, the spelling and the sounds of the words "française" and "canadienne" change to "français" and "canadien". Why is this, you ask? Because most French adjectives have what are known as feminine and masculine forms. Check out the chart below:
Track 7
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LES NATIONALITÉS
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(well, three anyway!)
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MASCULINE
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FEMININE
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américain
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américaine
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canadien
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canadienne
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français
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française
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How do we know which of these forms to use? As far as nationalities go, this part is simple (thank goodness, right?). When you are making reference to a female, (or a female is making reference to herself) the feminine form of the word is used. Likewise when reference is being made to a male, either by himself or someone else, the masculine form is used.
One more important item: Nationalities are are not capitalized in written French.
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