8/17/2023 0 Comments Quitter frenchThe Scottish origins of la chanson explain why most anglophones have trouble understanding les paroles, but translating the title from Scots to English makes the odd name easier to understand: La chanson quickly spread around l’Écosse (Scotland) and the rest of le monde anglophone (the English speaking world), and in the course of a few hundred years Auld Lang Syne became the traditional New Year’s Eve song it is today. ![]() Les paroles were written in Scots and set to une ballade écossaise (a Scottish ballad). ![]() It’s interesting to note that while les anglophones know the song and can sing along to it, most do not understand les paroles (the lyrics), because la chanson is not actually en anglais!Īuld Lang Syne was originally written in 1788 by le poète écossais (the Scottish poet), Robert Burns. ![]() How to use sortir as a noun Why does sortir have two auxiliary verbs in the past tense?įirst things first: As if French verb conjugation isn’t tricky enough, why the heck do you have to choose between être and avoir as an auxiliary verb for sortir?Įssentially, the French wanted to employ the same verb to indicate a living creature or conscious object (like a robot!) leaving or emerging from somewhere, or someone taking or letting it out.La chanson du réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre (The New Year’s Eve song), Auld Lang Syne, is one that all anglophones know. So, even though it may seem complicated, the goal of having two different auxiliary verbs is ultimately, clarity! Être + sortir The auxiliary used with sortir in the past tense just helps differentiate its meaning. Être and the past participle of sortir basically means “took oneself out”.įor example, Elle est sortie de la maison hantée en hurlant. (She left the haunted house, screaming.) Or Quand le tigre est sorti de sa caverne, le zoo était fermé. Too bad for the visitors who were hoping to see him!) Dommage pour les visiteurs qui espéraient le voir ! (When the tiger came out of his cave, the zoo was closed. You may think I made a mistake with those example sentences – is it sortie or sorti? Unfortunately for those of us engaged in the struggle that is learning French verbs - but fortunately for me, who could get fired if I make too many mistakes - both of those sentences are correct. In most cases, when être is an auxiliary, the verb and the subject must agree. So, if the subject is masculine, the participle is sorti. If the subject is feminine, that becomes sortie. If the subject is plural, you have to make that agree, too. (We got out of school early today.)Īnd let’s take it up a notch -if everyone/everything in a group is feminine, then you have to add an e and an s! Like so: Nous sommes sorties de l’école tôt aujourd’hui.įor example, Nous sommes sortis de l’école tôt aujourd’hui. (We (girls) got out of school early today.). Keep in mind that when I say “ feminine” and “masculine”, I’m not just talking about people. For example, maybe the school I mentioned above is a school for dogs, or maybe a school for magical objects. (Geraldine and Brigitte let out the dog.) That last example sounds a bit odd, but in potentially confusing cases like this, why not get a little creative? Avoir + sortirĪ voir and the past participle of sortir means “took something/someone out.”įor example, Tu as sorti les valises hier soir ? (Did you get out the suitcases last night?), or Geraldine et Brigitte ont sorti le chien. ![]() You can see that in the second example above – if sortir had to agree with the subject, it would take on an e and an s! How to conjugate sortir Good news! When avoir is the auxiliary, you don’t have to agree the subject and the participle. Now that we’ve got that down, let’s move onto how to conjugate sortir.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |