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INTONATION
Definition:
Intonation refers to the pitch of someone's voice. The last syllable of each rhythmic group inside the sentence is pronounced at a higher pitch than the rest of the sentence, while the final rhythmic group's final syllable is pronounced at a lower pitch. The only exception to this is questions: in this case, the last rhythmic group's final syllable is also at a high pitch.
In French, intonation and accent are a property of the phrase, rather than the word.
Discussions of French intonation commonly assume that there is an obligatory rising accent assigned to final full syllable of a phrase (For Example: "un enfant SAGE" - 'a good child') and an optional early rise that occurs somewhere before the late rise (For Example: "un ENfnat SAGE"). A number of factors have been observed to influence the appearance of the early rise, including number of syllables in the phrase, rhythmic context, morphological status, and segmental characteristics of a word’s first syllable.
Basic French Phrases:
| Oui. |
Yes. |
| Non. |
No. |
| S'il vous plaît. |
Please. |
| Merci. |
Thank you. |
| Je vous en prie. |
You're welcome. |
| Excusez-moi. |
Excuse me. |
| Je suis désolé(e). |
I'm sorry. |
| Bonjour. |
Good morning. |
| Bonsoir. |
Good evening. |
| Bonne nuit. |
Good night. |
French Phrases for Meeting and Greeting
Parlez-vous anglais?
Do you speak English?
Est-ce qu'il y a quelqu'un qui parle anglais?
Does anyone here speak English?
Excusez mon français.
Excuse my poor French.
Je ne parle qu'un petit peu de français.
I only speak a little French.
Comment vous appelez-vous?
What is your name?
Je m'appelle Carlos.
My name is Carlos.
Voici Florence.
This is Florence.
Comment allez-vous?
How are you?
Est-ce que tout va bien?
How have you been?
Je vais bien, merci.
I'm fine, thank you.
Je suis très heureux de vous rencontrer.
I am very glad to meet you.
J'ai été très heureux de faire votre connaissance.
It was nice meeting you.
Je ne comprends pas.
I don't understand.
Qu'avez-vous dit?
What did you say?
Pouvez-vous parler plus lentement?
Could you speak more slowly?
Je comprends parfaitement bien.
I understand perfectly.
Back to:
 French Grammar
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