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A great little travel companion to help you discover and appreciate Canadian French!

www.ulyssesguides.com

Canadian FrenCh For Better travel

Hundreds of colourful expressions, with their meanings in standard French and English / History and basics of French in Québec and Canada / Phonetic transcriptions to help you speak and understand Canadian French / Full index in Canadian French and English / Sidebars on Québécois culture and linguistic particularities /

ISBN 978-2-89665-018-7(digital version)

C anad i anFrenChFor Better travel

PC_Canadian-French-FBT(9657).indd 1 2011-03-30 15:40:39

KEY WORDS AND PHRASESBonjour Bonjour/Au revoir Hello/Goodbye

Bonswêr Bonsoir Good evening

Bienvenue Je vous en prie/De rien You’re welcome

Pardon? Vous dites? Excuse me? (to ask someone to repeat themselves)

S’cusez/S’cusez-mwé Excusez-moi Excuse me (to pass or interrupt someone)

t’suite/tsu suite tout de suite right now/right away

asteure maintenant/ now/ de nos jours these days

à matin ce matin this morning

à swèr ce soir tonight/this evening

chu/ch’ je suis I am

mwé moi me

twé toi you

nous autres/nouzô’te nous us/we

vous autres/vouzô’te vous you (plural)

eux autres/euzô’te ils, elles them

Ch’sé pâs./Ch’é pâs. Je ne sais pas. I don’t know.

t’sé/t’sé, lâ tu sais you know

LE québécOiS, cé L’fONNE à’ mORt!(see p. 135)

www.ulyssesguides.com

1 Introduction

2 Vive la Différence!

3 Basic Québécois Words and Expressions

4 Daily Life

5 Outdoors

6 Creature Comforts

7 Human Relations

8 Index

PC_Canadian-French-FBT(9657).indd 2 2011-03-30 15:38:35

Canadian FrenChFor Better travel

Contents

1 introdUCtion A Bit of History 6Québécois French 6Acadian French 8

The Rest of Canada 9Ontario 9The Prairies and Western Canada 10The North 11

2 vive la diFFérenCe!

Chameleon Vowels 13

A Menagerie of Consonants 15The Buzzing T and D 15The Rolling R 15The Fleeing L 15That Noisy Silent T 16

Sounds Familiar… 16

When Grammar and Syntax Become One 18Double you 18No means no 19Any questions? 19Other unusual constructions to watch out for 19Boy or girl? 19

How To Use This Guide 20

3 BasiC QUéBéCois Words and expressions

Everyday Expressions 23Où - Où ç’que (Where) 26Quoi - Qu’essé/Qu’ess (What) 28Comment/Combien - Comment-ç’que (How/How much) 29Quand - Quand cé/Quant’ess (When) 30Est-ce/N’est-ce pas - Ç’tsu (Is it/Isn’t it) 31Je, tu, il/elle… (I, You, He/She…) 33

Numbers 34

Weights and Measures 35

Other Curious Words and Expressions 36

Cursing 42

Those Deceptive Faux Amis 46

Unknown Words 57

A Few Regional Expressions from Outside Québec 58

Acadia 58The Prairies 60

Contents

5 oUtdoors Outdoor Activities 89

Sports 91Hockey 92

Fauna 93

6 CreatUre ComForts

Lodging and the Home 95The Bedroom 101The Bathroom 102The Kitchen 104Cleaning Up 106

Eating In and Out 109Food and Drink 112Québécois Cuisine 116

Shopping 119Stationery 120Hardware 121Grooming 122Miscellaneous Items 122Clothing and Accessories 125

7 hUman relations

Generalities 129

Going Out 134

Getting Intimate 138

Working 142

The Family 146

Feelings 147

Behaviours and Attitudes 150

8 index French Canadian Words 159

English words 173

4 dailY liFe Transportation 63The Car 64Finding Your Way Around 76

Health 77

Money 78

Mail and Telecommunications 82

Electricity 84

The Weather 85

AcknowledgementsWe acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities. We would also like to thank the Government of Québec – Tax credit for book publishing – Administered by SODEC.

Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and Library and Archives Canada cataloguing in publication Main entry under title: Canadian French for better travel 3rd ed. (Travel phrasebook) Translation of: Le québécois pour mieux voyager. Includes index. For English-speaking travellers. Text in French and English. ISBN 978-2-89464-965-7 1. French language - Provincialisme - Québec (Province). 2. French language - Conversation and phrase books - English. PC3645.Q8Q4213 2011 447’.9714 C2010-942314-3

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including photocopying, without the written permission of the publisher.

© April 2011, Ulysses Travel Guides All rights reserved Printed in Canada ISBN 978-2-89464-965-7 (Printed Version) ISBN 978-2-89665-018-7 (Digital Version)

Author Pierre Corbeil

Translation and Adaptation Cindy Garayt Matthew McLauchlin

Editor Pierre Ledoux

Copy Editing Pierre Daveluy Matthew McLauchlin

Graphic Design Bryan-K. Lamonde, Atelier Louis-Charles Lasnier

Layout Pascal Biet

Photo Credits © iStockphoto.com / Roger Asbury (cover page), © Dreamstime.com/Electro76 (p. 12), © Dreamstime.com/Fer737ng (p. 22), © Pascal Biet (p. 62 and 94), © Dreamstime.com/Reinhardt (p. 88), © iStockphoto.com/technotr (p. 128), © Shutterstock.com/Kenneth V. Pilon (p. 158).

This work was produced under the direction of Olivier Gougeon and Claude Morneau.

1

5Canadian French for Better Travel

introdUCtion

Part of what makes travelling fun is getting to hear, speak and learn different languages. Granted, Canada’s two official languages, French and English, are not the most exotic of tongues, but the country’s rich tapestry of traditions and landscapes has made them unique in their own way.

It goes without saying that French, like all languages, has its own share of nuances and subtleties, not to mention regional variations. These will become more obvious to you as you listen to locals, no matter what province you find yourself in: Québec, the largest French-speaking territory on the globe; Manitoba, home of a strong Franco-Manitoban population; the Maritimes, land of the proud Acadian people, descendants of the first French-speaking settlers in North America; or any other province in the country.

This guide to Canadian French is primarily aimed at English-speakers with some knowledge of French. Although we do touch on the history and typical expressions of Canada’s other francophone regions, this guide mainly focuses on the French spoken in the province of Québec. Indeed, this province is the cradle of the French language in Canada and is home to some six million French speakers.

Some schools of thought have attempted to relegate Québécois French to the status of unnatural by-product, or “poor cousin,” of the mother tongue, that is, the French that is spoken in France. But unnatural it is not: Québécois French is its own entity, with its own vocabulary and phonetics. Nor is it some sort of unsophisticated, back-woods patois or uneducated slang; in Québec, distinctly Québécois features can be found at all levels of language, from friendly chats to boardrooms and debates in the National Assembly. That said, you might be surprised to

1 Introduction

6 Canadian French for Better Travel

see that everyday Québécois, whether it is in the workplace, the tourism industry or the media, does not differ that much from “standard” French. To hear the major differences, better to turn to Québécois films, songs and literature, as these forms of artistic expression in recent decades sought to assert the province’s unique linguistic identity. You also may or may not be familiar with the term joual (a derivative of cheval, meaning “horse”), which designates an inarticulate type, or slang, of Québécois French; this word is still occasionally used but no longer refers to the language in its entirety.

A BIT OF HISTORy

Québécois French

French colonization of Québec dates back to the early 17th century. Contrary to popular belief, the first settlers of New France were not idle, illiterate peasants but rather (for the most part) educated artisans and labourers from urban regions such as Poitou and Normandy. This is actually quite remarkable since the illiteracy rate in France in those days was approximately 80%. In addition, the settlers were accustomed to middle-class society and were familiar with “central” French — the language of administration — even though they spoke their own regional dialects, of which there were thousands scattered throughout the French countryside.

In the early days of the settlement, “a wide array of regional languages and French dialects coexisted. Those that differed from French to the point of hindering communication were doomed to extinction, while those that resembled it enough to make communication possible were maintained by their speakers” (R. Mougeon and É. Beniak, Les origines du français québécois, Presses de l’Université Laval, 1994; our translation). Norman dialects had the most marked impact on Québécois French; they are the source of several Canadian terms and expressions.

Furthermore, the very nature of the colony, whose development required constant social and commercial interactions between settlers

1Introduction

7A Bit of History

originating from different regions of France, soon resulted in an unusual cohesion and convergence of language. Consequently, it wasn’t long before Québec had a strongly unified language that was much less variable than it was in the motherland. This standardization, which occurred in the late 17th century, apparently followed the lines of conventional French, which was spoken by the colony’s elite but also, and perhaps especially, by most women who had settled in the New World. These women educated their children in French and therefore played a key role in establishing the language.

Still, a number of terms and pronunciations fiercely resisted the systematic move toward to normalized French. Gradually, additional regionalisms appeared throughout the entire territory and survive to this day. Obviously, as soon as a diverse French population began to develop miles away from the old country, confronting realities and requirements that were very different from its past experience, its language headed in a new direction. In addition, since quick and efficient means of communication would not be created for another two centuries, the decisions and choices made on one side of the ocean took quite a while to reach the other.

neW World, old lanGUaGe

* Many of the words that the Québécois (and other francophones around the world) use every day but that are unknown in France are in fact survivals: as Québécois evolved separately from the French of France, it kept alive words that have since become archaic in the mother country. Some examples are écarter instead of perdre or égarer (to lose), dispendieux instead of cher (expensive), peignure instead of coiffure (hairstyle), or rapport à instead of à cause de or parce que (because). *

1 Introduction

8 A Bit of History

Other factors explain certain fundamental divergences in the 18th and 19th centuries between Québécois French and “central” French, particularly in terms of grammatical constructions. Early New France had very few schools and little access to the written word, since books were rare, as were other printed text (notices, signs, etc.) in the rural areas where most settlers lived. As a result, many “intuitive” constructions, much like the ones that emanate from the mouths of children, spread freely and, in some places, left an indelible mark.

We cannot ignore the contribution of Aboriginal peoples who, having inhabited the country well before the French, had already named many places, animals, plants and foods. The English, who wasted no time following the French to the Canadian territory, also left a legacy that is still quite evident in Québécois French. In fact, the conquest of New France by Britain in 1759 severed Québec’s ties to France and to European French so dramatically that French Canada did not directly take part in the evolution of European French for nearly two centuries. During this time, the French language in Canada lived side by side with English, borrowing from its commercial and technical vocabulary. Today, the province’s eight million inhabitants are surrounded by some 300 million English speakers living in the United States and the rest of Canada. With its rich past and proud people, this resilient language is a true survivor.

Acadian French

Acadian French is the variety of French that is spoken in Canada’s Atlantic provinces. It differs not only from “standard” French but also from all other dialects spoken in Canada, which all resemble Québécois.

The first Acadian settlers travelled from all corners of France but were mostly from the country’s western region. Today, nearly half of all Acadians can trace their roots to that area, which is why there are major differences between Québécois and Acadian French; indeed, less than a third of all Québécois came from western France.

Several factors influenced the development of Acadian French. In 1710, the British seized Acadia from the French, renamed it Nova Scotia and founded Halifax in 1749. A few years later, Governor Charles Lawrence ordered what he believed to be a preventive measure: the deportation

1Introduction

9The Rest of Canada

of Acadians he suspected were still faithful to France and therefore posed a threat of rebellion. Three quarters of the population were deported and the rest fled. Upon their return several years later, they became geographically isolated, lacked linguistic rights and were surrounded by hostile English speakers, but they were able to prevent assimilation by forming French-speaking enclaves throughout the Atlantic provinces. The distance between these small communities, however, and their minority situation in a sea of anglophones, created many differences within Acadian French itself. It is interesting to note that these dialectical varieties do not correspond to provincial borders or city limits but rather to generations and socio-economic realities.

The province of New Brunswick boasts several regional dialects. In the northern region, the proximity of Québec has resulted in a strong influence of Québécois French and the use of English terms is rather limited. In the south, however, the situation is different: it is said that the French spoken here is the most representative of Acadian French. It is composed of two dialects: the first is traditional and the second, known as chiac, is spoken by younger Acadians. Chiac is the result of close contact with the anglophone community, especially in the urban setting of Moncton, and combines French, English and “old French.” More than anywhere else in Acadia, switching from French to English and vice versa while conversing is quite common here.

Unlike the Québécois, Acadians do not have the legal power to protect their language. It is subjected to four different provincial jurisdictions (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and, to a lesser extent, Newfoundland and Labrador), even though the majority of the Acadian community, some 250,000 inhabitants, lives in New Brunswick, which is officially bilingual. Today, French speakers represent over 20% of the total Atlantic population; in New Brunswick, that number rises to 34%.

THE REST OF CANADA

Ontario

The French presence in Ontario dates back some 350 years, to the establishment of Catholic missions in 1649 and 1742. Around 1880,

1 Introduction

10 The Rest of Canada

francophones settled in the heart of the province, then in the northern regions in the early 20th century. Over the last 40 years, Ontario’s francophone community has been enriched by the arrival of francophones from Europe, the West Indies, Asia and Africa.

Today, Ontario’s francophone community numbers 542,000, representing 5% of the province’s population. Although French speakers are scattered throughout Ontario, the eastern part of the province is where most have chosen to live. Ontario has over 350 French elementary and secondary schools, two bilingual universities, two bilingual university colleges and three francophone community colleges.

The Prairies and Western Canada

French-Canadian “Voyageurs” from Lower Canada came to this region in the 18th century, having followed the route mapped by the explorer La Vérendrye. Many of them married Aboriginal women, and their children became known as the Metis. French continued to be the language of the Roman Catholic clergy after its arrival at the Red River Colony in 1818, and its capital, St. Boniface (now part of the city of Winnipeg), is still the francophone hub of Manitoba. Several decades later, francophones arrived from Québec and New England, as well as France, Belgium and Switzerland. Although they are small, the French-speaking communities of these provinces are alive and well, boasting French-speaking associations, community centres, schools, businesses, television and radio stations, and newspapers.

Manitoba’s francophones represent less than 5% of the provincial population. The official status of the French language in Manitoba was re-established in 1979 and Franco-Manitoban school governance was won in 1993.

In Saskatchewan, the Fransaskois community is scattered north of Saskatoon and south of Regina. In 1968, francophones’ rights to education in French were recognized, and in 1993, they were given authority to administer their own schools.

For its part, Alberta’s francophones number approximately 60,000 and are scattered throughout the entire province. The French fur-traders

1Introduction

11The Rest of Canada

and missionaries were the first to settle parts of Northern Alberta and towns like Rivière-qui-Barre, St-Paul and St-Albert are a testament to the French presence. Here, there are 20 French-language schools and several bilingual college and university programs.

In 1793, six French-Canadians travelled with Alexander Mackenzie to British Columbia and francophones settled permanently, eventually outnumbering anglophones. However, the gold rush at the end of the 19th century brought so many immigrants that they became a minority. In 1909, the small francophone community of Maillardville was founded, but it was only in 1996 that Franco-Columbians officially formed a French-language school board.

The North

As they did in the West and North, francophones came to the Yukon Territory with the fur trade and the Catholic missions. Today, the population of the Yukon barely exceeds 31,000 people, about 4% of whom speak French.

There was a French presence as early as 1665 in the present-day Northwest Territories, as Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médart Chouart dit Des Groseillers, were responsible for founding the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1670. The first non-Aboriginal person to reach Great Slave Lake was Laurent Leroux, a francophone. In 1786, he established the Fort Resolution trading post and, in 1789, he and other francophones accompanied Alexander Mackenzie on their Mackenzie River expedition.

The 19th century brought European missions; francophones made up half the population, the other half being Aboriginal peoples. Francophones here, who number about 1,000 and are known as Franco-Ténois, must fight to preserve their culture. In 1984, the Government of the Northwest Territories passed legislation conferring official language status on eight languages, including French.

In 1999, the eastern 60% of the Northwest Territories officially became the territory of Nunavut, “our land” in Inuktitut. This new Canadian territory counts a French-speaking population of approximately 800 people.

2

13Chameleon Vowels

vive la diFFérenCe!

To familiarize you with the particularities of spoken Québécois, this section describes some of the major differences between standard French and Québec French. You could say it is a kind of pronunciation guide, but because you won’t necessarily have to produce these sounds to be understood by locals, it is more of a “listening” guide.

Note, however, that the vast majority of Québec residents don’t just speak a thick dialect that’s incomprehensible to outsiders. Most of them can actually switch from impeccable international French to a regional, more familiar dialect with great ease. As a result, what you will most often hear in the streets, stores and homes will be a “standard” French punctuated by words and expressions that are typical of the area you’re visiting.

CHAMELEON VOWELS

Some of the most distinctive, though subtle, Québec sounds are the lax vowels that, in certain circumstances, replace the tensed vowels used in international French: [i], [u], and [ou]. For example:

[i] tends to sound more like the “i” in English “fit”, instead of “ee” as in “fee”: pic sounds more like “pick” than “peak,” crime sounds more like “crim” than “cream,” ligne sounds more like “ling” than “leeng.”

[u] almost sounds like [œ]: jœpe instead of jupe, pœce instead of puce, Lœc instead of Luc.

[ou] ends up sounding like the “u” in English “put”, instead of “oo” as in “hoot”: examples are soupe, foule, or pousse.

2 Vive la Différence!

14 Chameleon Vowels

[a] is often moved back in the mouth at the end of a word, sounding more like the “a” in “father” or the “o” in “bottle.” This sound is indicated by [â]: Canadâ, tabâ.

Also at the end of the word, the sound [è] (like the “e” in “bed”) will often sound like [a]: jama instead of jamais, parfa instead of parfait, bala instead of ballet or balai. This pronunciation can also take place within a word: marci instead of merci.

Another strong difference between European French and Québécois French is the latter’s clear distinction between long and short vowels: pâte and patte; fête and faites; jeûne and jeune; paume and pomme. In fact, this insistence on long vowels is often exaggerated in familiar speak: laouche instead of lâche, paousse instead of passe, naége instead of neige. This also happens in the presence of [r], which elongates a simple, short vowel: taourd instead of tard, riviaére instead of rivière and encaoure instead of encore.

Another sound that is really transformed in familiar Québec French is [oi]. It can become [è]: drète instead of droite, frète instead of froid; [wé]: bwé instead of boit, mwé instead of moi; [wè]: bwèter instead of boiter; [wê]: débwêter instead of déboîter; [wâ]: bwâ instead of bois; or [waê]: bwaête instead of boîte.

Also, if you’re familiar with the common French of France, you’ll notice that these days the nasals – an, in, on, and un – are getting closer and closer together; in fact, it’s been years since brin and brun were pronounced differently in France. But these vowels are still sharply distinguished in Québec. In fact, some linguists estimate that Québécois has one of the largest vowel inventories of any language or dialect in the world.

Finally, vowels tend to combine with one another (such as the common bein, which sounds like “bain,” instead of bien) or completely disappear in certain constructions, when even their surrounding consonants evaporate. As a result, you will often hear, especially when listening to a fast speaker, such contractions as à’ maison instead of à la maison (in this guide, the apostrophe indicates an elongated sound), and sa’ rue instead of sur la rue. You will also hear things like y’ â dit instead of il

2Vive la Différence!

15A Menagerie of Consonants

lui a dit, twé’ zommes instead of tous les hommes, or c’ta inque une blague instead of c’était rien qu’une blague.

A MENAGERIE OF CONSONANTS

The Buzzing T and D

Hearing locals conversing, you may get the odd feeling that you’re standing in the middle of a busy beehive. You will soon discover that this is due to two buzzing consonants: [t] and [d].

Indeed, while these two letters are pronounced more sharply in Europe, in Québécois French they are transformed: [t] becomes [ts] and [d] becomes [dz] before the vowels [i], [u] and [y]. Consequently, you will hear familiar words such as petit, peinture, direct, and type become petsi, peintsure, dzirect and tsype.

The Rolling R

The letter [r] can be pronounced in a dozen different ways and is so versatile that it can actually sound different in the mouth of the same speaker, even within a single sentence or word. Indeed, Montréal’s inhabitants are still famous for their rolling [r] (which sounds like Spanish), even though the Québécois standard is gradually opting for the more guttural [r] (which sounds like German). Other Québécois usually pronounce this letter a bit more “dryly” than Montréalers.

In addition, those whospeak a more familiar form of Québécois will often pronounce the initial [r] of a word as though it were preceded by the letter [e]: ercule instead of recule, ergarde instead of regarde.

The Fleeing L

The pronouns il(s) and elle(s) are treated in a most unique way in Québec French: they actually lose their consonants and can even be completely transformed.

2 Vive la Différence!

16 A Menagerie of Consonants

Therefore, don’t be surprised to hear y instead of il and ils (y pârt demain); y’â instead of il a (y’â l’intention de venir); and y’ont or y zont instead of ils ont (y’ont été bons, y zont été bonnes).

The elle, for its part, either turns into à (à pârt demain, à l’a l’intention de venir) or è (è bonne, è zont été bonnes).

And as though that weren’t complicated enough, the pronoun can also disappear entirely: sont bons instead of ils sont bons, faut faire ça instead of il faut faire ça. The same thing often happens to the articles la and les, and the prepositions à, dans and sur: j’suis dans’ maison instead of je suis dans la maison; j’ai d’l’eau dins yeux instead of j’ai de l’eau dans les yeux; mets çâ sa’ tab’ instead of mets ça sur la table.

In the same vein, you may hear the [l], and even the [r] and [t], fall silent within a word. Here are some examples of this phenomenon: què’que or even quèk instead of quelque (Voulez-vous quèk chose?); quéqu’un instead of quelqu’un; mette instead of mettre (Veux-tsu mette çâ lâ?); r’gade or even ga’ instead of regarde (Ga’ comme y’é beau!); and dwaêt’ instead of doit être.

That Noisy Silent T

A traditional habit of Québécois French-speakers is to pronounce the final [t] of certain words in which it should be silent. This is especially common in the more familiar dialect: litte instead of lit; nuitte instead of nuit; boutte instead of bout. When this consonant is added, the word’s vowel becomes lax, as discussed above, so that lit sounds like English “lit” instead of “lee,” and bout rhymes with “foot,” not “foo.”

SOUNDS FAMILIAR…

Another characteristic of Québécois French is its strong use of English, as it is peppered with borrowed words and expressions. So much so, in fact, that many of these words have been Gallicised as the years have gone by, and even people who have no knowledge of English use them freely. We’ve listed just a few examples on the facing page. For

2Vive la Différence!

17Sounds Familiar...

a seleCtion oF enGlish Words that have Been adopted BY QUéBéCois FrenCh

anyway bill bitch boss bullshit business cheap coat cool cute date deal dull fudge full (very) fun game goal gravy grilled cheese heavy hot chicken

joke kick kit napkin nerd overtime package party pizza all-dressed rough safe sharp speech spray spring steady stock straight stuff tight tune

waiter/waitress wiper cygne (sink) foqué (fucked) pèn’tré (pantry) smatte (smart) tinque (tank) toune (tune) twisté (twisted) ca’tcher (to catch) clairer (to clear) clî’ner (to clean) dî’ler (to deal) djôker (to joke) domper (to dump) fitter (to fit) flocher (to flush)

krou’zer (to cruise) ma’tcher (to match) mou’ver (to move) scâ’rer (to score) splitter (to split) spotter (to spot) swîtcher (to switch) tchèker (to check) tchopper (to chop) tripper/ badtripper (to trip/ have a bad trip) troster (to trust)

2 Vive la Différence!

18 Sounds Familiar...

example, if you own or rent a car here, don’t be surprised by the amount of English you will hear in garages and dealerships: bréïke (brake), bréïker (to brake), bomm’pœrr (bumper), char (car), clotche (clutch), fla’shœrr (flasher), pékope (pick-up), troc (truck), vanne (van)… the list goes on and on.

Some English words are used in a sense that differs from their original English meaning. For example, full isn’t used as the opposite of “empty” (plein) but as an intensifier, meaning “very” or “really”; un chum is usually a boyfriend or lover, not just a friend; and un nowhere is an aimless road trip.

On the other hand, in some cases where people in France use a borrowed expression (parking, pressing, weekend), Québec speakers may use a French term instead (stationnement, nettoyage à sec, fin de semaine). This is especially true for new technologies, where a French word may be proposed and adopted in Québec long before France, such as courriel instead of e-mail or mail; in some cases these words have even made it across the Atlantic and been adopted in France.

WHEN GRAMMAR AND SyNTAx BECOME ONE

Double you

Tsu m’aimes-tsu?, Tsu veux-tsu?, Tsu y penses-tsu?… it seems as though we want to make sure you know we’re speaking to you! But this probably isn’t originally the pronoun tu, but a deformation of the ending -t-il used to mark a question (as in l’aime-t-il, “does he like it?”). Linguists believe that tu or ti used this way may date back as far as the old Norman dialect. Indeed, it isn’t just used in the second person singular, but in all kinds of yes-or-no questions, resulting in such constructions as: y parle-tsu? instead of parle-t-il?, ça s’peut-tsu? instead of cela se peut-il? and ch’peux-tsu instead of puis-je? or est-ce que je peux?

KEY WORDS AND PHRASESBonjour Bonjour/Au revoir Hello/Goodbye

Bonswêr Bonsoir Good evening

Bienvenue Je vous en prie/De rien You’re welcome

Pardon? Vous dites? Excuse me? (to ask someone to repeat themselves)

S’cusez/S’cusez-mwé Excusez-moi Excuse me (to pass or interrupt someone)

t’suite/tsu suite tout de suite right now/right away

asteure maintenant/ now/ de nos jours these days

à matin ce matin this morning

à swèr ce soir tonight/this evening

chu/ch’ je suis I am

mwé moi me

twé toi you

nous autres/nouzô’te nous us/we

vous autres/vouzô’te vous you (plural)

eux autres/euzô’te ils, elles them

Ch’sé pâs./Ch’é pâs. Je ne sais pas. I don’t know.

t’sé/t’sé, lâ tu sais you know

CANADiAN FRENCH, Cé l’FONNE à’ mORt!(see p. 135)

www.ulyssesguides.com

1 Introduction

2 Vive la Différence!

3 Basic Québécois Words and Expressions

4 Daily Life

5 Outdoors

6 Creature Comforts

7 Human Relations

8 Index

PC_Canadian-French-FBT(9657).indd 2 2011-03-30 16:48:36

Cana

dian

Fre

nCh

Trav

el

Ph

ra

seb

oo

kA great little travel companion to help you discover and appreciate Canadian French!

www.ulyssesguides.com

Canadian FrenCh For Better travel

Hundreds of colourful expressions, with their meanings in standard French and English / History and basics of French in Québec and Canada / Phonetic transcriptions to help you speak and understand Canadian French / Full index in Canadian French and English / Sidebars on Québécois culture and linguistic particularities /

ISBN 978-2-89665-018-7(digital version)

C anad i anFrenChFor Better travel

PC_Canadian-French-FBT(9657).indd 1 2011-03-30 15:40:39