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ARTICLES

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EXERCISE For each sentence, identify the time word, the main clause, and the subordinate clause. Then, translate the sentence. 1.Je te verrai demain quand jarriverai. 2.Je partirai ds que tu seras prt. 3.Sandra rentrerai avant que la pluie commence tomber. 4.Le tlphone sonnera pendant qu'il prendra son bain.

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ANSWERS 1.I will see you tomorrow when I arrive. Time Word: quand Main Clause: Je te verrai demain. Subordinate Clause: Quand jarriverai. 2.I will leave as soon as you are ready. Time Word: ds que Main Clause: Je partirai Subordinate Clause: Ds que tu seras prt 3.Sandra will return before the rain begins to fall. Time Word: avant que Main Clause: Sandra rentrerai Subordinate Clause: Avant que la pluie commence tomber. 4.The telephone will ring while he is taking (takes) his bath. Time Word: pendant que Main Clause: Le tlphone sonnera Subordinate Cluase: Pendant quil prendra son bain.

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NOTE ON MAIN AND SUBORDINATE CLAUSES Understanding these parts of the sentence will help you know what tense to use while translating the future. The main clause is the principal action of the sentence. It could be a sentence by itself. Ex. Je te verrai demain quand jarriverai. The subordinate clause is dependent on the main clause and begins with a conjunction. It cannot be a complete sentence by itself. Ex. Je te verrai demain quand jarriverai. In an English sentence in the future, the main clause will be in the future while the subordinate clause will be in the present. Ex. I will see you tomorrow when I arrive.

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QUIZ NEXT WEEK We will have a quiz in this course next week on Wednesday, November 12. This quiz will be graded and will cover the concepts of translation we have discussed so far. I will distribute a study guide for you tomorrow at the copy center and on the course website. We will spend next Tuesday doing review. Note that you absolutely cannot talk during this quiz and you cannot use a dictionary. I will provide a glossary and you can ask me questions. If you break these rules, you will receive a 0. If you do not come to class on Wednesday, you will also receive a 0, unless you can provide a documented excuse of an emergency nature.

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ARTICLES Articles in English are a form of adjective that indicate the way in which a noun is being referred to. There are two types of articles indefinite and definite The definite article the indicates a particular instance of the noun. The indefinite articles a and an indicate an unspecified noun.

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FRENCH ARTICLES Articles work in a similar fashion in French, though there are masculine, feminine, and plural variants. Definite articles: Le, la, les Indefinite articles: un, une, des French also has partitive articles, which do not exist in English: du, de la

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SIMPLE TRANSLATION In some respects, translating French articles is easy. The definite articles le, la, and les all correspond to the English the. Le chat est petit.Les chats sont petits. The cat is little.The cats are little. Along similar lines, the indefinite articles un and une correspond to the English a and an (though not directly). Jai vu une femme.Donne-moi un exemple.Jai achet un livre. I saw a woman.Give me an example.I bought a book.

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DIFFICULTIES PLURALS AND PARTITIVES Things get more complicated when dealing with the articles du, de la, and des, which do not exist as articles in English. When they express quantity as partitives, these articles can be translated to the English adjective some. Je veux du lait.Jai mang des pommes. I want some milk.I ate some apples. However, when des is used as a plural indefinite article and speaks of something in general, no article is used at all in translation. Ces hommes sont des travailleurs. Those men are workers. NOT: Those men are some workers.

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NUMBER OF ARTICLES In general, the difficulty is usually that French uses many more articles than English, both indefinite and definite. As a result, in translation, one frequently must decide whether to omit an article or whether to use its approximate English translation. There are some rules that can help with making this decision.

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GENERALIZATIONS AND ABSTRACTIONS In French, generalizations and abstractions are frequently presented with the definite article, while in English the article is almost always omitted. These are normally either singular nouns that are uncountable or plural nouns that are countable but are used in the general rather than specific sense. La plupart des hommes confondent le bonheur avec ses moyens. Most men confuse happiness with its means. Les arbres jouent un rle majeur dans le fonctionnement cologique terrestre. Trees play a major role in terrestrial ecological functioning.

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BODY PARTS AND COUNTRIES/LANGUAGES In English, body parts belonging to somebody are described with possessive adjectives rather than articles. Il se brosse les dents. He is brushing (brushes) his teeth. Names of countries or regions or languages spoken also tend not to include an article, with the exception of countries with plural names La France France Lallemand German BUT: Les Etats-Unis The United States

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POSSESSION In French, something particular possesed by a proper noun is usually expressed using the definite article. However, in English, no article will be used. Rather, the s typical of English possession is used. Le livre de Robert Roberts book Les usines dAngleterre Englands factories (though the factories of England could also work here).

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EXERCISE TRANSLATE THIS PARAGRAPH NOTE: This is a history. Think about differences in tense between English and French when translating a history Le point commun entre tous ces peuples c'est leurs croyances spirituelles. Animistes, les Amrindiens croient aux forces de la nature comme la pluie, le vent, le soleil et vnrent un dieu crateur qu'ils nomment le Grand Esprit. La danse et l'usage du tabac est trs courant dans les rites sacrs. En Alaska, les Amrindiens sont nomades car l'agriculture n'est gure possible dans ces rgions au sol gel une grande partie de l'anne. Ils chassent le caribou en utilisant des raquettes pour avancer dans la neige, naviguent sur les rivires avec des canos et rcoltent le sirop d'rable. La plupart des tribus appartiennent la famille des Algonquins.