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Le saviez-vous?
Beginner
142 Videos

Patricia has a wealth of knowledge about French grammar, vocabulary, literature, culture, history, and more, which she shares with us in her series Le saviez-vous? (Did You Know?)

101 Episodes
Videos
Pages: 1 of 1 
─ Videos: 1-77 of 77 Totaling 4 hours 41 minutes

Le saviez-vous? - La poésie de Victor Hugo

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

Victor Hugo is best known for his novels The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, but he also wrote numerous poems. In this video, Patricia reads an excerpt from his poem "À l'Arc de Triomphe," in which he pays tribute to the city of Paris.

Le saviez-vous? - "Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux" de Louis Aragon

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

Patricia recites Louis Aragon's heartbreaking poem "Il n'y a pas d'amour heureux" (There Is No Happy Love), which has been set to music by a number of famous singers. You can listen to Françoise Hardy's version here.

Le saviez-vous? - Louis Aragon

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

In this video, you will learn about the famous poet, novelist, and journalist Louis Aragon, who lived in the twentieth century. Many of his poems were set to music by famous French singers such as Georges Brassens, Léo Férré, and Jean Ferrat.

Le saviez-vous? - La couleur blanche et ses expressions - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

Patricia takes us on a "white journey in the French language" by explaining some common French expressions using the word blanc/blanche (white).

Le saviez-vous? - La couleur blanche et ses expressions - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

Patricia tells us a fun story peppered with expressions involving the word blanc/blanche (white). You might recognize some of them from English, such as hisser le drapeau blanc (to raise the white flag), but others are a bit more difficult to decipher.

Le saviez-vous? - La couleur noire et ses expressions

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

Patricia is in a dark mood.... Learn some expressions using the word noir (dark, black) and express your dark feelings in French!

Le saviez-vous? - Les expressions à ne pas prendre au pied de la lettre - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

In the second installment on French expressions not to be taken literally, Patricia discusses the phrase se faire l'avocat du diable (to play devil's advocate).

Le saviez-vous? - Les expressions à ne pas prendre au pied de la lettre - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

Some expressions are not be taken literally, as they would not make a lot of sense. For example, vider son sac—literally, "to empty one's bag"—actually means something entirely different. Find out the real meaning of vider son sac and its origin in this video!

Le saviez-vous? - Les homonymes

Difficulty: difficulty - Intermediate Intermediate

France

In this lesson, you will learn the difference between homonyms, homophones, and homographs illustrated with amusing examples. Challenge yourself by repeating the words that sound the same and see if you can spell them correctly. Good luck!

Le saviez-vous? - Le dernier duel à l'épée pour l'honneur en France

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In centuries past, when a person's honor was offended, he would challenge the culprit to a duel. The last duel in France took place as recently as 1967, between two respected politicians!

Le saviez-vous? - D'où vient le poisson d'avril?

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explores the origin of the poisson d'avril (April Fools') tradition. There are numerous theories about this, some of them contradictory.

Le saviez-vous? - La tradition du poisson d'avril

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

The first of April is the day of hoaxes, pranks, and jokes. In France, the tradition is to hang paper fish on people's backs and shout, "Poisson d'avril!" (April Fish!).

Le saviez-vous? - Les expressions du poulailler

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Why do we get "hen flesh" (chair de poule) when it's "duck cold" (froid de canard)? Learn more about these and other poultry-related expressions in this video.

Le saviez-vous? - Les expressions inspirées de la musique - Part 4

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

To conclude her series on musical expressions, Patricia will sing your praises for having learned and practiced everything she taught you.

Le saviez-vous? - Les expressions inspirées de la musique - Part 3

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia breaks down some more musical expressions, such as c'est la même musique, c'est du pipeau, violon d'Ingres, and si ça te chante.

Le saviez-vous? - Les expressions inspirées de la musique - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

En avant la musique! (Let's get on with it!) Patricia continues her lesson on various musical expressions used in everyday language.

Le saviez-vous? - Les expressions inspirées de la musique - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Tune in to Patricia's lesson on musical expressions and idioms in French. You'll hear plenty of interesting phrases that are worth noting.

Le saviez-vous? - Le rouge et ses expressions - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Red alert! There are even more French expressions using the word rouge. Patricia explains several of them in this video.

Le saviez-vous? - Le rouge et ses expressions - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

There are many expressions in French linked to the color red, several of which have direct equivalents in English. Discover a few of them with Patricia.

Le saviez-vous? - Utilisation de "encore" et "toujours" - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia lists a few more usages of encore (still, again) and gives an overview of toujours (still, always). To learn more about these words, check out our written lesson on them.

Le saviez-vous? - Utilisation de "encore" et "toujours" - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this video, you will learn the various meanings of encore, which Patricia will illustrate with several examples.

Le saviez-vous? - "Ne plus", forme négative de "encore" et "toujours"

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this video you will learn how to use the adverbs encore and toujours and how their meanings overlap. Encore and toujours can both mean "still," and share a common negative form: ne plus (no longer).

Le saviez-vous? - Comment dire qu'on n'aime pas?

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia will teach you how to say that you don't like something in tactful ways and in more direct ways. There are many interesting expressions to convey dislike, even disgust, but you might want to save some of them for private conversations.

Le saviez-vous? - Comment dire qu'on aime?

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Using her favorite fruits as examples, Patricia demonstrates some different ways of saying you "like" or "love" something in French.

Le saviez-vous? - Les bénéfices de la dictée

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explains the multiple benefits of dictation exercises. Having fallen out of favor in recent years, dictation is making a comeback after the French Ministry of Education realized that language skills were deteriorating. Why not take full advantage of Yabla's Scribe game to improve those skills?

Le saviez-vous? - L'histoire de la dictée - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explains the importance of dictation exercises for learning French. Now an essential teaching tool in the classroom, dictation was originally a pastime for French nobility. The author Prosper Mérimée created a dictation exercise for Empress Eugénie that stumped even the brightest intellectuals. Think you can beat them? Try it yourself here.

Le saviez-vous? - L'histoire de la dictée - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

It took two hundred years to standardize French spelling before it could be taught in schools using a method called la dictée (dictation), in which a student writes out the words he or she hears. As a matter of fact, this is the exact same principle behind Yabla's Scribe game!

Le saviez-vous? - "Jamais", forme négative de "déjà"

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explains the difference between ne pas encore (not yet) and jamais (never), the two negative forms of déjà (already, ever). Ne pas encore applies to actions that are limited in time, while jamais applies to actions that aren't.

Le saviez-vous? - "Ne pas encore", forme négative de "déjà"

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explains the use of déjà and ne pas encore in French. Déjà means "yet" or "already," depending on context. In the negative, déjà becomes ne pas encore (not yet).

Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 4

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia concludes her lesson on negation with a discussion of phrases using sans (without), double negation, and negation in the imperative mood.

Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 3

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In part three of this series on negation, Patricia demonstrates the use of adverbs of frequency in the affirmative and in the negative form. Some changes are required with some adverbs.

Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In the second part of this series on negation, you will learn the negative forms rien ne... (nothing), ne... aucun(e) (not any), and ne... nulle part (nowhere). We hope you will be feeling more positive about these negatives!

Le saviez-vous? - Les différentes négations - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In the first part of this series on negation, you will learn how to use the formula ne... ni... ni (neither... nor... nor) to construct a negative sentence in French.

Le saviez-vous? - "Non plus", forme négative de "aussi" - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In the second part of this lesson on ne plus and aussi, you will learn another meaning of aussi. In addition to "also," it can mean "therefore" or "so."

Le saviez-vous? - L'élision - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In part two of her lesson on elisions, Patricia will help you navigate the rules of elisions with multiple examples. They're an essential part of French speech that will no longer be a mystery!

Le saviez-vous? - "Non plus", forme négative de "aussi" - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explains the use of aussi (also) and non plus (neither). Non plus is the negative form of aussi.

Le saviez-vous? - Conjugaison des verbes du 2ème groupe au futur simple

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia takes a glimpse into the future by showing you how to conjugate verbs of the second group (ending in -ir) in the future tense.

Le saviez-vous? - Conjugaison des verbes du 2ème groupe au passé simple

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia teaches us how to conjugate second-group (-ir) verbs in the passé simple, or historical past. Unlike the more common passé composé, this tense is mainly used in literary works and in historical accounts.

Le saviez-vous? - Les verbes du 2ème groupe les plus utilisés

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explains how to conjugate second-group verbs in the present indicative. Regular verbs ending in -ir all follow the same conjugation rules.

Le saviez-vous? - Conjugaison du verbe finir au présent

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this video, you will learn how to conjugate the verb finir (to finish) in the present tense. This verb is used as a reference for all second-group verbs, which end in -ir.

Le saviez-vous? - Les verbes du 2ème groupe

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this video, you will learn to recognize the difference between first- and second-group verbs. First-group verbs end in -er in the infinitive and second-group verbs end in -ir. The verbs in each group have the same endings in each tense, which makes it a lot easier to learn how to conjugate them.

Le saviez-vous? - Le mode subjonctif

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this video, you will learn when to use the subjunctive mood in all kinds of everyday situations. Whenever you express a doubt, an uncertainty, or a wish, the subjunctive mood is usually required.

Le saviez-vous? - Le mode du conditionnel

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia explains the conditional mood in the past and present tense.

Le saviez-vous? - Conjugaison au futur simple de l’indicatif

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Let's talk about the future with Patricia. She will show you how to conjugate verbs in the simple future of the indicative.

Le saviez-vous? - Exception dans les verbes du 1er groupe au passé composé

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this lesson, Patricia discusses some exceptions to first-group verbs in the passé composé, those that require the auxiliary verb être (to be) instead of avoir (to have). Don't worry, Patricia will conjugate them for you and illustrate them with a few examples.

Le saviez-vous? - Conjugaison des verbes du 1er groupe au passé composé de l’indicatif

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia demonstrates how to conjugate first-group verbs (ending in -er) in the passé composé of the indicative. She uses examples from daily life to illustrate her explanation.

Le saviez-vous? - Les 8 temps du mode de l'indicatif - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this video, Patricia introduces the four compound tenses of the indicative with a few examples.

Le saviez-vous? - Le vocabulaire du corps

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

If you are interested in learning the names of parts of the body in French, this lesson is for you! You will also learn some interesting expressions like prendre son pied, which translates as "to hold one's foot," but actually means "to have a good time."

Le saviez-vous? - Les 8 temps du mode de l'indicatif - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In this video, Patricia introduces the eight tenses of the indicative mood. She compares the four simple tenses of the indicative, which require only one verb, with the four compound tenses, which are made up of two verbs.

Le saviez-vous? - Le vocabulaire de la tête

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia focuses on the thinking, listening, and seeing part of the body, the head. She'll teach you a lot of useful vocabulary for various parts of the head, as well as some fun expressions.

Le saviez-vous? - Le mode indicatif, c'est quoi?

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia introduces the indicative mood, which includes the most common tenses: past, present, and future.

Le saviez-vous? - Les élections présidentielles - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

In part two of this series, you will learn about the political climate during the 2017 French presidential elections. You will also learn the prerequisites for being able to vote in France.

Le saviez-vous? - Les élections présidentielles - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

Patricia takes the opportunity to explain how the French presidential elections work. The vote happens in two stages. In the first round, voters choose from several candidates, and in the second round, they pick the president from the top two scoring candidates of the first round.

Le saviez-vous? - La conjugaison au présent, au passé et au futur

Difficulty: difficulty - Beginner Beginner

France

This video will give you an introduction to one of the most important aspects of French grammar: conjugating verbs in the present, past, and future tenses. It's full of fun and practical examples that will help you master conjugation!

Le saviez-vous? - Les chiffres et les nombres - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In part two of her lesson on numbers, Patricia counts from 41 to 100 in French. Be prepared to do some arithmetic!

Le saviez-vous? - Les chiffres et les nombres - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia explains the basic principles of French numbers and their usage, and shares a few grammatical points.

Le saviez-vous? - Le E muet - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Knowing when to pronounce and when not to pronounce the letter E is key to speaking French like a native. Among other places, E usually isn't pronounced when it's between two consonants (and doesn't have an accent mark).

Le saviez-vous? - Le E muet - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

E is a tricky vowel in French: sometimes it's pronounced, sometimes it's not. As Patricia explains, it's usually silent at the end of a word, and often silent in the middle of a word.

Le saviez-vous? - La prononciation des voyelles et groupes de voyelles - Part 3

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia concludes her series on vowels and vowel groups with a discussion of the vowels O and U. She also mentions a French word that contains all five vowels, but none of them are individually pronounced. Can you guess what it is?

Le saviez-vous? - La prononciation des voyelles et groupes de voyelles - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In this video, you will learn how to pronounce some vowel combinations with the letter E (ei, eu, eau) as well as the differences between é, è, and ê.

Le saviez-vous? - La prononciation des voyelles et groupes de voyelles - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In this lesson, Patricia will show you how to pronounce the six French vowels and the vowel combinations ai, an, au, ain, and aim.

Le saviez-vous? - La liaison - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In part two of her lesson, Patricia will explain in-depth which words require a liaison. Some liaisons are compulsory while some are optional or omitted.

Le saviez-vous? - La liaison - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia will teach you how to form liaisons (not the dangerous kind!) in French. These occur when you connect the final consonant of one word with the beginning vowel or silent H of the next word and pronounce them as one. Listen closely to Patricia, who will demonstrate a range of examples.

Le saviez-vous? - L'élision - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia will show you how to create an "elision" in French, which is when you omit certain vowels and replace them with an apostrophe (similar to saying "it's" instead of "it is" in English).

Le saviez-vous? - La négation - Part 4

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In the last episode of this series on negation in a sentence, you will learn how to use the adverb of negation ne pas (not) when it's followed by an infinitive and by an indefinite article.

Le saviez-vous? - La négation - Part 3

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia continues her lesson on negation. In part three, you will learn where to place ne pas (not) in a sentence with a conjugated verb and a verb in the infinitive.

Le saviez-vous? - La négation - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia demonstrates negation with compound tenses. Negation in French involves two words, ne and pas, which have to be placed in just the right order. Find out how it's done in this video!

Le saviez-vous? - La négation - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia will teach you how to say "no" in French. It's not just a matter of saying non! Find out how to use ne pas (do not) in the right way.

Le saviez-vous? - Conjugaison des verbes du 1er groupe au présent

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Learn how to recognize first-group verbs (ending in "er") and learn their ending patterns so you can conjugate them.

Le saviez-vous? - Les verbes du 1er groupe les plus utilisés - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia introduces some more first-group verbs, which all end in -er, by creating little stories featuring them. Try creating some of your own!

Le saviez-vous? - Les verbes du 1er groupe les plus utilisés - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia goes over some of the most commonly used verbs of the first group (ending in -er). Once you learn them, try creating a story out of them!

Le saviez-vous? - Les verbes du 1er groupe

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

What are first-group verbs? In this video, Patricia will introduce you to the nearly 3000 verbs belonging to this category. Don't be daunted by that number—these verbs are the simplest to use!

Le saviez-vous? - Les pronoms possessifs - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Make this final lesson on possessive pronouns yours! Listen and watch carefully to master all the nuances in sounds and spelling.

Le saviez-vous? - Les pronoms possessifs - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In this video, Patricia introduces possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his/hers, etc.). Be sure to check out her previous videos on possessive adjectives to gain a better understanding.

Le saviez-vous? - Les adjectifs et les pronoms possessifs en exemple

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

Patricia demonstrates how to use possessive adjectives and pronouns... using bananas!

Le saviez-vous? - Les adjectifs possessifs - Part 2

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In the second part of Patricia's video on possessive adjectives, you will learn the plural adjectives and what to do when a noun starts with a vowel.

Le saviez-vous? - Les adjectifs possessifs - Part 1

Difficulty: difficulty - Newbie Newbie

France

In her introduction to possessive adjectives, Patricia will teach you how to say "my," "your," and "his/her" in French using some simple props.

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