French · Intermediate (B1) · Chapter 2 of 12
Opinions and reasons
Opinions et arguments
Give your opinion, agree and disagree politely, explain why with parce que, comme and donc, and meet the subjunctive after je ne pense pas que.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Give an opinion with je pense que, je trouve que, à mon avis
- Agree and disagree politely
- Give reasons and results with parce que, comme, donc
- Use the subjunctive after je ne pense pas que
Listen
In their flat in Toulouse, the flatmates Mathieu and Camille talk about buying a car together. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Mathieu
Camille, j'ai une idée : et si on achetait une voiture ensemble ?
Camille, I've got an idea: how about buying a car together?
Camille
Une voiture ? Franchement, je ne pense pas que ce soit une bonne idée.
A car? Honestly, I don't think it's a good idea.
Mathieu
Pourquoi ? Je trouve que c'est pratique, surtout le week-end.
Why? I think it's handy, especially at weekends.
Camille
Peut-être, mais on a le métro et le tram. Et comme on travaille tous les deux en centre-ville, on n'a pas besoin de voiture.
Maybe, but we have the metro and the tram. And since we both work in the city centre, we don't need a car.
Mathieu
D'accord, mais pour aller à la montagne ou à la mer, c'est plus simple.
OK, but for going to the mountains or the seaside, it's easier.
Camille
Tu as raison sur ce point. Mais une voiture, ça coûte cher : l'essence, l'assurance…
You're right about that. But a car is expensive: petrol, insurance…
Mathieu
Je ne crois pas que ce soit trop cher si on partage tout.
I don't think it's too expensive if we share everything.
Camille
Et il faut la garer. Dans la rue, il n'y a jamais de place.
And you have to park it. There's never a space in the street.
Mathieu
Bon… Alors, à ton avis, qu'est-ce qu'on fait ?
Well… So what do you think we should do?
Camille
À mon avis, on peut louer une voiture quand on part en week-end. C'est moins cher, et on n'a pas besoin de la garer.
In my opinion, we can hire a car when we go away for the weekend. It's cheaper, and we don't have to park it.
Mathieu
Tu as peut-être raison. Bon, d'accord, on essaie comme ça.
Maybe you're right. OK then, we'll try it that way.
Camille
Parfait. Alors samedi, on loue une voiture et on va dans les Pyrénées ?
Perfect. So on Saturday we hire a car and go to the Pyrenees?
Understand
Giving your opinion
To give an opinion, use , , (I believe) or (in my opinion). After a positive opinion, the verb is in its usual tense: To ask for an opinion, say or
To agree or disagree, use (to be right) and (to be wrong): French says “to have reason”, not “to be right”. (you're right about that) is a polite way to agree a little before you disagree.
| Agreeing | Disagreeing |
|---|---|
| (Not at all.) | |
| … | |
| … | (quite direct) |
Je ne pense pas que + subjunctive
After a negative opinion (, ), French uses a special verb form, the (subjunctive). It shows that the idea is not presented as a fact:
For most verbs, take the form of the present, remove -ent, and add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. The singular and forms often sound like the present: . The and forms look like the imparfait: .
A few common verbs are irregular: (), (), () and (). You'll meet more uses of the subjunctive in the next chapters.
| Subject | () | () | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (j') | ||||
| / / | ||||
| / |
Because, since, so
(because) answers and usually comes after the main idea: (since, as) gives a reason at the start of the sentence:
To give a result, use (so) or (that's why). In conversation, also means “so”.
- Je ne prends pas la voiture parce qu'il n'y a jamais de place.I don't take the car because there's never a space.
- Comme il pleut, on reste à la maison.Since it's raining, we're staying at home.
- Le tram est rapide, donc je le prends tous les jours.The tram is fast, so I take it every day.
- C'est moins cher. C'est pour ça que je loue une voiture.It's cheaper. That's why I hire a car.
More in the grammar: The subjunctive: que je sois, que tu fasses
New words
- franchementhonestly, frankly
- pratiquepractical, handy
- surtoutespecially, above all
- peut-êtremaybe, perhaps
- commesince, as · gives a reason at the start of a sentence
- tous les deux / toutes les deuxboth (of us, of them)
- la merthe sea, the seaside · : to or at the seaside
- avoir raisonto be right · : to be wrong
- l'essencepetrol · feminine
- l'assuranceinsurance · feminine
- partagerto share ·
- garerto park · : also a parking space
- à mon avisin my opinion · : what do you think?
- louerto hire, to rent
Practise
1.Which sentence is correct?
2.Complete with the subjunctive of .
I don't think it's a good idea.
3.Complete with or .
Since we work in the city centre, we don't need a car.
4.Your friend says something you agree with. What do you say?
5.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.In my opinion, it's too expensive.
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
À mon avis, c'est une bonne idée.
In my opinion, it's a good idea.
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.