save me.

[HibyPrime]

Ok, this question has been buggine me long enough - I can't find the answer anywhere. aFrenchie, please help me :D or anyone else with an answer for that matter.

As far as I know, you use contractions in french when you are using a personal pronoun infront of a word that starts with a vowel or a mute h.

If this is true, why do people say (and write) j'suis instead of je suis. Is it just becuase it is easier to say? or something else?

[NANAKI]

Ok, this question has been buggine me long enough - I can't find the answer anywhere. aFrenchie, please help me :D or anyone else with an answer for that matter.

As far as I know, you use contractions in french when you are using a personal pronoun infront of a word that starts with a vowel or a mute h.

If this is true, why do people say (and write) j'suis instead of je suis. Is it just becuase it is easier to say? or something else?

got me just starting to learn french

[HibyPrime]

I first heard it in amelie m'a dit (j'suis pas belle), and I really didn't understand why the contraction was made.

[NANAKI]

I first heard it in amelie m'a dit (j'suis pas belle), and I really didn't understand why the contraction was made.

yeah I've heard it to I'll ask my French teacher tommorow

[HibyPrime]

yeah I've heard it to I'll ask my French teacher tommorow

Thanks, and who knows? You may stump him/her!

[NANAKI]

Thanks, and who knows? You may stump him/her!

dout that she used to live in France been studing it for over thirty years

[aditya8617]

save me??? I thought you were in some real trouble like you were not liking Alizee any more and stuff. but glad you are not in deep trouble.

I have already given up on learning French, just couldn't grasp it! So save me!

[NANAKI]

save me??? I thought you were in some real trouble like you were not liking Alizee any more and stuff. but glad you are not in deep trouble.

I have already given up on learning French, just couldn't grasp it! So save me!

really I find it quite easy to learn

[garçoncanadien]

Haha, that kind of contraction is just used to sound cute. Also, when you speak French quickly, je suis truly sounds like j'suis anyway - so it is a way to make written French sound like spoken French.

It is NOT grammatically correct to do so - You would never find that in any formal piece of French writing.

other examples:

tite/p'tite = petite

kelkes unes = quelques unes

[garçoncanadien]

oh PS - that contraction is also a sly way to mash two words into one syllable, if you needed to make some lyrics match the music better, like in Farmer's case.

[aFrenchie]

As far as I know, you use contractions in french when you are using a personal pronoun infront of a word that starts with a vowel or a mute h.
In written French, only those contractions, i.e. before a vowel or a mute h, are correct.
Even though there are A LOT of other contractions in spoken mode, it's just wrong to write them if those cases.
For example "j'ai de la chance" ("I'm lucky") must always be written that way, while it's always pronounced "j'ai d'la chance".

Formal contractions:
http://french.about.com/library/pronunciation/bl-contractions.htm
Informal contractions:
http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/informal.htm

[HibyPrime]

Ah. So it is just slang then.

Well then thats a relief, I was questioning my sources on french learning for a while there.

[aFrenchie]

Ah. So it is just slang then.
No, no, I didn't say that.
It's just wrong to write those contractions, you won't find them in any book, magazine, etc (with some rare exceptions maybe). But using them in spoken mode is absolutely normal and even natural. In my example above, nobody will ever pronounce "de la". It would even sound weird if you didn't say "d'la" instead.

[HibyPrime]

No, no, I didn't say that.
It's just wrong to write those contractions, you won't find them in any book, magazine, etc (with some rare exceptions maybe). But using them in spoken mode is absolutely normal and even natural. In my example above, nobody will ever pronounce "de la". It would even sound weird if you didn't say "d'la" instead.

ehh.. still sounds like slang to me

It's like saying 'cause' for because, it is very rarley used in text, but it is said all the time.

[aFrenchie]

ehh.. still sounds like slang to me

It's like saying 'cause' for because, it is very rarley used in text, but it is said all the time.
Well, let's say that contractions in French are used as much as in English, but only in spoken mode, not in written mode. All those contractions are part of the language and aren't considered slang at all.

[HibyPrime]

Ohhh now I get it.. thanks :D

[riva2model64]

hello all,
I didn't want to make a new thread and thought this was an appropriate place to tell you all of my plea.

I waas looking at the Gourmandises single today, and I saw that it has 3 very fine Gourmandises remixes!!

It says that there are "3 neufs et d'occasion à partir de EUR 14,90" which I assume means that there are 3 new and used availabe at 14.90 euros. . .
see here, is the item. but when I click on the link that takes you to those items, there's nothing there! (http://www.amazon.fr/Gourmandises-Aliz%e9e/dp/B00005NIXM/sr=8-4/qid=1158418044/ref=sr_1_4/402-1693862-6315319?ie=UTF8&s=gateway)

does anyone know, where, how to buy the Gourmandises single?
plz!!

[Fisherman]

I didn't have the any problems. When I clicked on the button on the left it brought me to a listing for 2 new (1 for 15.99 Euro) and the used 1 for 14.90 Euro. When I clicked on the "buy now", it went into the shopping cart. I didn't complete the purchase, so I'll let you have 1st crack at it, though I'm thinking hard about it!

[riva2model64]

thanks Fisherman I love you.
yay! it's there now!!

[riva2model64]

I asked my friend who's in AP french to help me translate. but there one thing I can't get across, plz. help aFrenchie or christelle or whoever, plz!!

where it says shipping address, it says:
"Rue, voie, boîte postale, nom de société"
rue means street, I know my street, but what's voie? online translator says its "way". what is a "way"? perhaps I will leave blank and all will go well.

[riva2model64]

oh NO!!!
please no. . .
it says it can't ship to my location!

how can I get the Gourmandises single now. . .

[O Rly]

Know a guy who knows a guy?

[Moe]

hehe i bought the one that ships internationaly...don't hate me lol

[garçoncanadien]

I bought it off of amazon.com. Have you tried there?

[Moe]

I bought it off of amazon.com. Have you tried there?

i think he means the single not the album...right?

[O Rly]

Yeah, how can I get the Gourmandises single now. . . the single.

[garçoncanadien]

Ah my apologies to all. How about here?

http://gemm.com/q.cgi?rb=GOOGLEBASE&wild=GML813348049



Searching for that ASIN number on Google, I found only the following things:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=B00005NIXM

[Moe]

aha...thanks garçoncanadien i was thinking of getting another!!

[riva2model64]

oh sveet thanks garçoncanadien!!
I love you!!!

I haven't heard of this site before, but they've got the Gourmandises single in stock
the item is so inexpensive, only $15 usd?
I wonder where the money goes to, I hope much of it goes to the label, so Alizée can get a couple of dollars:)

thanks everyone, a lot

I'm sorry Moe I purchased it. . .
I love your avatar and sig

[General Patton]

oh NO!!!
please no. . .
it says it can't ship to my location!

how can I get the Gourmandises single now. . .

Well, just download it!
Why order it off of amazon, and have all these problems, when you can just download it for free?

[O Rly]

Well, just download it!
Why order it off of amazon, and have all these problems, when you can just download it for free?

He wants the CD itself. As a thing that would remind you of her, for a collection... just for yourself. It's completely different than just a song.

[General Patton]

He wants the CD itself. As a thing that would remind you of her, for a collection... just for yourself. It's completely different than just a song.
CDs are a thing of the past aready.... it didn't take long, in a few years, it will just be mp3s.

[HibyPrime]

CDs are a thing of the past aready.... it didn't take long, in a few years, it will just be mp3s.

Erm, ~1 billion CDs are sold yearly, it is going to take awhile for that to go away.

I say a billion because all mainstream american cds sell 1 million+ records (platinum). I am estimating throughout the world, from that figure, that CD sales are well over 1 billion. Assuming $15/CD that is $15 000 000 000 of gross sales.

But MP3's are on the rise, and they will probably overtake CDs at some point in the future (or a different encoding platform?)

[General Patton]

At the present moment there are so many mp3s being downloaded then CDs are being sold, it will take at lest...over three years.

[DJ_Greg]

At the present moment there are so many mp3s being downloaded then CDs are being sold, it will take at lest...over three years.

Of course there are more mp3s downloaded than CDs being sold. If you download a whole album (as opposed to buying it), that's ~12 mp3s/1 CD. A more reasonable comparison would be to divide the number of mp3s by the average number of songs per CD.

Still, just because mp3s are downloaded doesn't necessarily mean people aren't buying CDs. Many people (myself included) use download services as a means of previewing an album before buying it.

I'm not making an argument either way, I just like statistics to be used appropriately. :D

[General Patton]

Of course there are more mp3s downloaded than CDs being sold. If you download a whole album (as opposed to buying it), that's ~12 mp3s/1 CD. A more reasonable comparison would be to divide the number of mp3s by the average number of songs per CD.

Still, just because mp3s are downloaded doesn't necessarily mean people aren't buying CDs. Many people (myself included) use download services as a means of previewing an album before buying it.

I'm not making an argument either way, I just like statistics to be used appropriately. :D

Oh yea thanks Greg, I worded my statement wrong.

[DJ_Greg]

Oh yea thanks Greg, I worded my statement wrong.

Eh, don't worry about it. Sometimes I just like to nitpick.

[General Patton]

Eh, don't worry about it. Sometimes I just like to nitpick.

Yea I know :D :D

[Urb4n]

Off topic I know, but I wonder if Alizee downloads music.

[atra201]

yeah buying is better they should hAVe money for their work
but personnaly i will not buy any