French · Beginner (A1) · Chapter 10 of 12
Likes and dislikes
J'aime, je n'aime pas
Say what you love, like and hate in French, make sentences negative with ne… pas, and agree with moi aussi and moi non plus.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Say what you like and dislike
- Make a sentence negative with ne… pas
- Agree and disagree with moi aussi and moi non plus
Listen
Chloé and Mehdi, two friends in Strasbourg, decide where to eat tonight. As friends, they use tu. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Mehdi
On va au restaurant ce soir ?
Shall we go to a restaurant tonight?
Chloé
Oui, bonne idée. Tu aimes la cuisine japonaise ?
Yes, good idea. Do you like Japanese food?
Mehdi
Non, je n'aime pas beaucoup le poisson.
No, I don't like fish very much.
Chloé
Et la cuisine italienne ? Moi, j'adore les pizzas.
And Italian food? I love pizza.
Mehdi
Moi aussi. Mais je déteste les champignons.
Me too. But I hate mushrooms.
Chloé
Pas de problème. Il y a une pizzeria près de la cathédrale.
No problem. There's a pizzeria near the cathedral.
Mehdi
Parfait. Je préfère manger tôt : dix-neuf heures, ça te va ?
Perfect. I prefer to eat early: 7 pm, does that suit you?
Chloé
Oui, ça me va. À ce soir.
Yes, that suits me. See you tonight.
Understand
Saying what you like
After , , and , use , , l' or , because you're talking about something in general: (cheese in general). Don't use here: means “some” (chapter 8).
You can also add a verb in the infinitive: changes its accent like : , but .
You know from chapter 1: it's the everyday word for “we”. Remember that it takes the same verb form as and : , .
| French | English |
|---|---|
| I love | |
| I like | |
| I quite like | |
| I don't like | |
| I hate |
- J'adore les pizzas.I love pizza.
- Tu aimes la cuisine japonaise ?Do you like Japanese food?
Saying no: ne… pas
To make a sentence negative, put before the verb and after it: becomes . Before a vowel, becomes n': .
After a negative, , , , and all become (d' before a vowel): becomes . But , and don't change: . After , nothing changes either:
In relaxed speech, people often drop : You'll hear it everywhere, but always write .
- Je ne travaille pas le samedi.I don't work on Saturdays.
- Je n'aime pas les champignons.I don't like mushrooms.
- Je ne mange pas de poisson.I don't eat fish.
Me too, me neither
To agree, say after a positive sentence and after a negative one. To disagree with a negative sentence, say . on its own means “me”, and French often adds it for emphasis:
is a stress pronoun. The others are (you), (him), (her), (us), (you) and or (them): , You also use them after words like and : , (at their place).
| Your friend says | You agree | You disagree |
|---|---|---|
| (Me too.) | (Not me.) | |
| (Me neither.) | (I do.) |
More in the grammar: Articles: le, la, les, un, une, des, du · Negation: ne… pas and friends · Subject pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles
New words
- onwe (in conversation) · takes the form of the verb:
- ce soirtonight, this evening
- bonne idéegood idea
- aimerto like, to love
- la cuisinefood, cooking (a country's cuisine) · also means kitchen (chapter 6)
- beaucoupa lot, very much
- le poissonfish
- adorerto love
- moi aussime too
- détesterto hate
- le champignonmushroom
- pas de problèmeno problem
- préférerto prefer ·
- mangerto eat
Practise
1.Your friend says You don't like it either. What do you say?
2.Make the sentence negative.
I don't like mushrooms.
3.Complete the sentence: “I don't eat fish.”
I don't eat fish.
4.How do you say “I like cheese” (cheese in general)?
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.I don't like fish very much.
6.Match the French with the English.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
J'adore la cuisine italienne.
I love Italian food.
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.