Let’s talk garbage! While it’s not something on everyone’s mind around the dinner table, it bears thinking about. France’s environmental concerns are real, and responsible citizens are looking for ways to safely and responsibly dispose of their garbage and unwanted goods. So, let’s embark on this dirty subject and look at some interesting vocabulary surrounding garbage and its disposal.
Let’s start with les ordures (garbage/trash/rubbish) and les détritus (scraps). In the video below, the speaker explains that seagulls are avid consumers of both:
Bah, c'est des oiseaux basiques qui volent au-dessus de l'eau et qui souvent uivent ne serait-ce que les détritus et les ordures.
Anyway, they're just regular birds that fly above the water and that often go after anything, even if it's just scraps and garbage.
Captions 24-25, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 1
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Détritus can sometimes mean “litter,” as there is no specific term for that type of waste:
On peut voir sur cette plage qui est très propre, elle est équipée comme il faut pour tout ce qui est détritus.
We can see on this beach, which is very clean, it's set up the way it should be for everything concerning litter.
Captions 26-27, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 2
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Though it mainly refers to garbage, ordure can also be used as an insult:
T'es vraiment la dernière des ordures.
You're really the worst scumbag ever.
Caption 59, Le Jour où tout a basculé À l'audience - Arnaque en couple ? - Part 3
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The best way to deal with détritus and (non-human) ordures is to dispose of it in poubelles (garbage cans):
On a des belles poubelles qui sont vertes, une très bonne initiative d'ailleurs.
We have some nice green garbage cans, a very good initiative by the way.
Caption 28, Jean-Marc La plage - Part 2
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The contents of the poubelles will end up in a déchetterie/déchèterie (waste collection center):
On dispose des objets dans une déchetterie.
Items are disposed of in a waste collection center.
Responsible citizens showing genuine concern for the planet may wonder what to do with their organic waste, such as old Christmas trees, which les ordures ménagères (household waste collection) won’t accept:
Nombreux sont ceux qui ne savent jamais quoi faire de leur sapin après Noël puisque les ordures ménagères n'en veulent pas toujours.
There are many who never know what to do with their fir trees after Christmas since household waste collections don't always want them.
Captions 14-15, TV Tours Une seconde vie pour vos sapins de Noël?
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Unfortunately, many Christmas trees end up being dumped illegally in des décharges sauvages (illegal dumps):
Un petit peu partout, euh... des décharges un petit peu sauvages.
A little bit all over, uh... dumping that is somewhat uncontrolled.
Caption 18, TV Tours Une seconde vie pour vos sapins de Noël?
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In Brittany, some people turn their déchets (waste) into “gold” by starting une filière de compostage (a composting stream):
Certaines tentent même de valoriser ces déchets dans une filière de compostage.
Some are even trying to capitalize on this waste in a composting stream.
Caption 33, Le Journal Marée verte en Bretagne
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In addition, French people are becoming more and more creative at finding ingenious solutions to reduce mounting waste by setting up des ressourceries (upcycling centers):
Aujourd'hui, c'est l'inauguration de la ressourcerie du vingtième arrondissement
Today is the inauguration of the upcycling center of the twentieth arrondissement
Captions 2-3, Actu Vingtième Le bleu dans les yeux, recyclerie de Belleville
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Others try to extend the life of their devices by repairing them:
On est censé faire réparer des objets qui ont quelques problèmes.
We're supposed to bring items that have some problems for repair.
Caption 2, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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Repairing objects instead of les jeter (throwing them away) prevents faire du gâchis (creating waste):
C'est important d'essayer de conserver les objets le plus longtemps possible au lieu de faire du gâchis.
It's important to try to keep objects for as long as possible instead of creating waste.
Captions 6-7, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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C'est d'inciter les gens à dépanner eux-mêmes, à chercher avant de jeter.
It's to incite people to fix things themselves, to try before throwing away.
Captions 47-48, Actus Quartier Repair Café
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Not only is it best to avoid throwing away manufactured goods, it’s also important to avoid gaspillage (squandering/wasting) natural resources such as water:
On va construire et opérer des usines de nourriture partout à travers le monde, et cela sans utiliser aucun produit de pesticide et aucun gaspillage d'eau.
We're going to build and operate food factories all over the world, and this without using any pesticide product or any wasting of water.
Captions 20-21, Agriculture verticale TerraSphere
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And what should we do with les eaux usées (waste water)? Clean it of course!
Mais on peut lui demander des tas d'autres choses, comme nettoyer les eaux usées, manger les déchets.
But we can request loads of other things from it, such as cleaning waste water, eating waste.
Captions 20-22, Il était une fois: Notre Terre 25. Technologies - Part 7
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So il n’y a pas de temps à perdre (there is no time to waste)! Now that you have expanded your vocabulary surrounding waste—déchets, gaspillage, ordures, eaux usées, gâchis—and are more aware of solutions such as déchetteries, ressourceries, and compostage, you will be better equipped to follow our Yabla videos on the subject, and maybe…help save the planet.
In our previous lesson on present participles, we discussed how they can be used as verbs or as adjectives. In this lesson, we’ll focus on present participles used as verbs, known as le gérondif.
Basically, the gérondif is the construction "en + present participle," as in en faisant (while doing). Like all present participles used as verbs, present participles in the gérondif don’t take agreement.
In addition, the gérondif construction "en + present particple" never changes in French, but it will translate differently in English depending on context and function.
The gérondif usually indicates simultaneity and causation, and can be translated as "while x-ing," "by x-ing," or "as x."
When the gérondif is used to emphasize two actions taking place at about the same time, it usually translates as "while x-ing," as in en attendant (while waiting):
Bon... en attendant que notre pâte lève, on s'attaque au bredele?
Good... while waiting for our dough to rise, shall we tackle the bredele?
Caption 35, Alsace 20 - Grain de Sel: le Lycée hôtelier Alexandre Dumas
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En attendant can also be used on its own as an idiomatic expression ("in the meantime/meanwhile"):
En attendant, les communes doivent payer des ramassages quotidiens
In the meantime, towns must pay for daily collection
Caption 31, Le Journal - Marée verte en Bretagne
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The construction "en + present participle" can also be equivalent to "as + verb" in English when indicating simultaneity:
Mais... en partant, elle m'a donné son numéro de téléphone.
But... as she left, she gave me her phone number.
Captions 35-36, Extr@ - Ep. 6 - Le jour du loto - Part 3
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To further emphasize simultaneity between two actions or to indicate opposing actions in French, you can use the construction "tout en + present participle" (all while x-ing), as in tout en parlant (all while speaking). This construction is especially useful when you're talking about multitasking:
Je joue sur mon téléphone et parle avec mes amis tout en regardant la télé.
I play on my phone and talk to my friends, all while watching TV.
The gérondif can also indicate a means to achieve something, equivalent to the construction "by x-ing" in English:
Parents, veuillez surveiller bien vos enfants en leur apprenant à respecter les animaux.
Parents, please supervise your children well by teaching them to respect the animals.
Caption 12, Voyage en France - Chantilly - Part 3
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The gérondif can also describe the way an action is performed:
Est-elle rentrée en chantant?
Did she come in singing?
Caption 58, Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 3
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Here, the translation is straightforward. En chantant simply means "singing."
However, when that sentence is put in the negative form, you must use the infinitive and not the present participle. As Patricia explains in her video, en chantant (singing) becomes sans chanter (without singing). The preposition sans (without) must be followed by the infinitive:
Non, elle est rentrée sans chanter.
No, she came in without singing [she didn't come in singing].
Caption 59, Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 3
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The present participle is much more prevalent in English, whereas French favors the infinitive instead. In English you can follow a conjugated verb by an infinitive or a present participle. In French, it’s preferable to use the infinitive. For example, when talking about something you like doing or like to do, you cannot say j’aime faisant (I like doing). You have to say j’aime faire (I like to do):
J’aime faire des dessins.
I like drawing./I like to draw.
Similarly, when a person witnesses someone doing something, it’s better to use the infinitive after a conjugated verb:
Je les ai vues chanter.
I saw them sing./I saw them singing.
Another word of caution: the present participle is never used to form a progressive tense, simply because there is no such tense in French. You must use the present indicative instead. For example, "I am thinking" (present progressive) and "I think" (present indicative) both translate as je pense.
The construction je suis pensant, the literal translation of "I am thinking," simply does not exist! The only option is the present indicative: je pense (I think).
If you really want to emphasize an action in progress in French, you can use the expression être en train de (to be in the process/in the middle of):
On est en train de réchauffer la pâte en fin de compte.
We are in the process of warming up the dough in the end.
Caption 12, Cap 24 Alessandro di Sarno se met au point de croix
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To sum up, French uses the infinitive in many instances where English uses the present participle, and the gérondif construction "en + present participle" can take various forms in English.
There you have it for present participles! En passant (incidentally), we hope this lesson will be useful to you!
You may have heard that most of the time, an adjective in French is placed after the noun. But not always. How are we supposed to know? We find plenty of clues and start to gain an intuitive understanding when we watch authentic French videos. Let's have a look at a few instances when the adjective almost always follows the noun it modifies: color or shape, and origin/nationality, ethnicity, or religion.
Let's have a look at shapes and colors first. In English we say "square meter," but in French, the adjective carré (square) follows the noun mètre (meter). This is evident in our video about "green tides" in Brittany:
Mètre carré par mètre carré.
Square meter by square meter.
Caption 3, Le Journal - Marée verte en Bretagne
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Colors follow the same pattern. Listen to master chef Daniel Boulud describing what goes into his extremely high-end hamburgers:
Un pavé de bœuf braisé au vin rouge, avec du foie gras dedans...
A slab of beef braised in red wine, with some foie gras inside...
Caption 10, Le Journal - Un hamburger très cher!
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Like most Frenchmen, M. Boulud loves his vin rouge (red wine). Note that he puts the color "red," rouge, after the noun "wine," vin, not the other way around.
Similarly, Ina-Ich, the lovely chanteuse parisienne (Parisian singer) d'origine vietnamienne (of Vietnamese origin) places the color kaki (khaki) after the noun habits (dress/clothes), in her song "Âme armée" (Armed Soul).
En habits kakis, plus rien n'a de prix
In khaki dress, nothing more has any value
Caption 15, Ina-Ich - Âme armée
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Notice that when we describe Ina-Ich, we say that she is a chanteuse parisienne and not a parisienne chanteuse; we say that she is d'origine vietnamienne and not de vietnamienne origine; and French web sites proclaim that she sings rock français (French rock) and not français rock. Why? Because another instance when adjectives pretty much always come after the noun in French is when the adjective is indicating origin, nationality, or ethnicity. That is why we find parisienne (Parisian) following chanteuse (singer), vietnamienne (Vietnamese) following origine (origin), and français (French) following rock.
We hear this in our "Farm Stand" video from Montreal, Quebec, when François, the proud farmer, describes for us his finest organic vegetables:
Ici, c'est le choux chinois.
Here, this is Chinese cabbage.
Caption 15, Farmer François - Le stand de légumes
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Here again we find an adjective that describes origin/nationality, chinois (Chinese) coming after, not before, the noun it modifies, choux (cabbage).
In Le Journal's segment about last year's hotly contested Parisian Book Fair, the Salon du Livre, we hear an adjective describing ethnicity (arabe/Arab) and one describing religion (musulman/Muslim):
L'Egypte, pays arabe et musulman,
Egypt, an Arab and Muslim country,
pourrait bien être à son tour l'invitée d'honneur du Salon du Livre.
could well be the next guest of honor of the Book Fair.
Captions 19-20, Le Journal - Salon du livre
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(In a similar vein, you'll see the same placement, after the noun, for an adjective describing an official function: for example, une rencontre ministérielle, "a cabinet meeting.")
So there we have it: color, shape, origin, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and official function—a few of the types of adjectives that almost always come after the noun in French. Keep your ears open while watching Daniel Boulud making his infamous burger, farmer François talking up his organic vegetables, Ina-Ich singing Âme armée, and all the other videos on Yabla French and you'll notice the rule is nearly universal!
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