Lesson 5.02 De quelle couleur est-ce?

Read and study the following vocabulary words. Use the audio controls to hear the pronunciation and try saying the words aloud. If you find it difficult to pronounce a certain word, be sure to write down a pronunciation note. Example: des ciseaux (see-zoh).

Des fournitures scolaires
un cahier	une calculatrice	des ciseaux
un classeur	un crayon	des crayons
des devoirs	un dictionnaire	du papier
une gomme	un livre	un portable
une règle	un sac à dos	un stylo

Read and study the following vocabulary words. Use the audio controls to hear the pronunciation and try saying the words aloud. If you find it difficult to pronounce a certain word, be sure to write down a pronunciation note. Example: rose (rohz).

Des couleurs
De quelle couleur est-ce?	blanc / blanche	bleu	brun
gris	jaune	noir	orange
rose	rouge	vert	violet / violette

Notes

• Most adjectives, including colors, are placed after the nouns they describe.
• To make most colors feminine, add the letter e. If the color ends in an e, such as rouge, there is no need to add an extra e.
• To make most colors plural, add the letter s. If the color ends in an s, such as gris, there is no need to add an extra s.
• Blanc and violet have special feminine forms: blanche and violette
• Orange is invariable, which means it never changes. You will not add an extra e or an s.

Here are some examples:

• un stylo rouge = a red pen
• une gomme rose = a pink eraser
• des ciseaux noirs = some black scissors
• des crayons jaunes = some yellow pencils

Do you remember what an irregular verb is? An irregular verb does not follow a pattern, nor does it use the regular verb endings. So far, you have learned the irregular verbs aller and être. The third irregular verb you will learn is avoir (to have). Read, study, and listen to the six forms of the verb avoir.

Six Forms of the Verb avoir
j'ai	I have		nous avons	we have
tu as	you have		vous avez	you have
il, elle, on a	he, she, one has		ils, elles ont	they have

Here are some examples:

• J'ai le livre de Nadia. = I have Nadia's book.
• Est-ce que tu as un crayon? = Do you have a pencil?
• Elle a un classeur rose. = She has a pink binder.
• Nous n'avons pas de chaussettes jaunes. = We don't have any yellow socks.
• Est-ce que vous avez une robe verte? = Do you have a green dress?
• Ils ont les cahiers gris de Paul. = They have Paul's gray notebooks.

As you have learned, most adjectives are placed after the nouns they describe; however, there are a few exceptions. The adjectives listed below are placed before the noun. An easy way to remember these adjectives is to think of them as BANGS adjectives. They describe beauty, age, number, goodness, and size.

BANGS Adjectives
Beauty	beau	joli
Age	jeune	vieux	nouveau (new)
Number	all numbers
Goodness	gentil	bon (good)	mauvais
Size	petit	grand	long

Notes

1. The adjectives listed above are shown in the masculine singular form; however, placing BANGS adjectives before the noun applies to all forms of the words - masculine, feminine, singular, and plural.

Here are some examples:

un beau musée = a beautiful museum	un nouveau parc = a new park
une belle femme = a beautiful woman	une nouvelle voiture = a new car

2. If the noun is masculine, singular, and begins with a vowel, the following changes are made: beau becomes bel / vieux becomes vieil / nouveau becomes nouvel.

Listen to the pronunciation of each example below.

• un nouvel ami = a new friend
  
• un vieil homme = an old man
  
• un bel imperméable = a beautiful raincoat
  

3. For plural nouns, the indefinite article des becomes de before a BANGS adjective.

Here are some examples:

• de petites maisons = some small houses
• de jeunes femmes = some young women

What is at the end of the Champs-Élysées?

At the end of the Champs-Elysees sits L'Arc de Triomphe. It is one of the most well-known monuments in Paris. It was commissioned by the Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. He wanted a triumphal arch, resembling those of ancient Rome, to pay tribute to his military victories during the Napoleonic Wars. He also wanted the arch to be a symbol of the power of France. Inside the arch, the names of 558 French generals have been inscribed on the walls. The underlined names represent the generals who died in battle.

Napoleon died in 1821, and the arch was completed in 1836. While Napoleon never saw its completion, his funeral procession did travel under the arch in 1840. If you want to know why his funeral procession took place nineteen years after his death, you must read the last culture section in this unit (Lesson 5.04). When Victor Hugo, author of Notre-Dame de Paris, died in 1885, his body lay in state beneath the Arc de Triomphe, as people came to pay their respects.

Today, the Arc de Triomphe memorializes all those who have fought for France. It is situated at the center of twelve converging avenues at what is called La Place de l'Etoile. Etoile means star in French. Looking down from the top of the Arc, you can see all the avenues that radiate away from the arch, and they resemble a large star. The Arc measures 162 feet tall, which is as tall as a sixteen story building.

The Tricolore, another name for the French flag, flies under the Arc de Triomphe on national holidays, as well as when heads of state are visiting from other countries.

References

"Arc De Triomphe Paris - Paris Attractions - Arc De Triomphe." Arc De Triomphe Paris - Paris Attractions - Arc De Triomphe. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 July 2014.

"Napoleon Bonaparte." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 06 July 2014.

"Napoleon Bonaparte." Napoleon : Bonaparte : Biography : Career : Life Story : Emperor of France : Soldier. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 July 2014.