save me.

HibyPrime · #1 09-14-2006, 09:26 PM

Ok, this question has been buggine me long enough - I can't find the answer anywhere. aFrenchie, please help me

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 · #2 09-14-2006, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HibyPrime

Ok, this question has been buggine me long enough - I can't find the answer anywhere. aFrenchie, please help me

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 · #3 09-14-2006, 09:34 PM

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 · #4 09-14-2006, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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

HibyPrime · #5 09-14-2006, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NANAKI

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

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

NANAKI · #6 09-14-2006, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HibyPrime

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 · #7 09-14-2006, 10:29 PM

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 · #8 09-14-2006, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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!

really I find it quite easy to learn

garçoncanadien · #9 09-14-2006, 11:30 PM

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 · #10 09-15-2006, 06:57 AM

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.