French Family Names

Chere Maman, cher Papa,

Nous devons partir apres-demain. Elle etait un tres agreeable vacances ici, mais vous nous manquez.

Dear Mom and Dad,

We have to leave the day after tomorrow. It has been a very nice vacation, but we miss you.

In French, we say "I miss you" differently than in English. The person being missed is actually the subject of the sentence. It therefore becomes "You are missing to me." Because of this, you have to pay attention to the ending of the verb. "Vous me manquez " "Ma famille me manque" "Mes amis me manquent".

Let's meet some of the members of the family.

Voici ma famille This is my family.
J'aimerais vous presenter ma famille. I'd like you to meet my family.
Voici Mon pere This is my father.
Ma mere habite a Paris. My mother lives in Paris
Ma soeur est a l'universite. My sister is at the university.
Mon frere travail a Deauville. My brother works at Deauville.
Mon mari est medicin. My husband is a doctor.
Ma femme visite sa mere. My wife is visiting her mother.

Try forming sentences of your own for the family:

Mon fils My son
Ma fille My daughter
Ma tante My aunt
Mon oncle My uncle
Mes cousins My cousins
Ma niece My niece
Mon neveu My nephew
Mon grand pere My grandfather
Ma grand mere My grandmother
Mon petit-fils My grandson
Ma petite-fille My granddaughter

Voici ma souer. Elle s'appelle Janine. This is my sister. Her name is Janine.

Introduce the other members of your family:
Il s'appelle, ils s'appellent, elles s'appellent...: His name is, their name is, their name (feminine) is...

And some more information about them:

Il a quarante ans. He is forty.
Elles a seize ans. She is sixteen
J'ai vingt ans. I am twenty

Mon frere, qui a quarante ans.
Ma souer, elle qui a seize ans.
C'est moi qui a vingt ans.

Quel age avez vous? How old are you?
Quel age as-tu? How old are you?
Quel age a-t-il? How old is he?

Qui ou que?

Qui: who, which, that represents people or objects. It acts as the subject of the verb.

Une firme qui fabrique des ordinateurs. A company that makes computers.
C'est moi qui part. It is I who is leaving.

Qui is always followed by a verb, sometimes preceded by an indirect pronoun:
C'est toi qui lui as donne les clefs. It's you who gave her the keys.

Que: which, that whom represents people or objects, but it acts as the direct object of the sentence.

Le voyage que je vais faire est un voyage organize. The trip I am going to take is an organized trip.
Regards, c'est le type que j'ai vu hier. Look, it's the guy I saw yesterday.

Now we can practice putting activities together for the people we know.

What Did We Learn?

1. I miss my family and my friends.
2. My mother misses me very much (beaucoup).
3. Here is my sister and my brother.
4. My nephew's name is John; my niece's name is Sarah.
5. I am twenty; my cousins are both (les deux) twenty-one.
6. My father is a salesman (vendeur) and travels a lot. I miss him.
7. Both of my grandparents are still alive (sont toujours vivants).
8. My mother is going to take a walk.
9. My daughter is going to college next year.
10. How old is your daughter?