GRAMMAR

⭐ The Focus of This Lesson Is Telling Where You Are Located With Your Friends Using the Verb être ("to be").

Vous êtes où ?

"Where are you?"

Meeting friends in the Park Buttes Chaumont can only be a good time! This park is one of the steepest green spaces among the 426 gardens of Paris, and it is the largest one. It offers exotic vegetation featuring an Anglo-Chinese garden and unusual places, such as the rock hill in the middle of its lake on which a small temple is mounted, a waterfall, and a cave accessible by two bridges.

In the dialogue, Rob, Sarah, and Jules are already at the premises and are waiting for Giulia to arrive in the Park Buttes Chaumont. Giulia, who is on her way there, wants to make sure exactly where they are by calling Jules and asking Vous êtes où ? ("Where are you?")

⭐Greeting a Caller on the Phone

Jules picks up the phone and greets the yet unknown caller with the word Allô. We only use this vocabulary term when we answer a telephone. The call initiator will then present himself or herself by using c'est, meaning "it's," and saying:

C'est + Last Name and/or First Name

For Example:

- C'est Marie. (It's Marie)

- C'est Monsieur Dupont. (It's Mr. Dupont) 

- C'est Richard Marlin. (It's Richard Marlin) 

Note: If you add à l'appareil, meaning literally "on the device" (or more commonly, "on the phone") to the phrase presented above, your presentation over the phone will sound slightly more formal, as in C'est Madame Dupont à l'appareil ("It is Mrs. Dupont on the phone.").

To ask where your interlocutor and friends are, use an open question with the question word où ("where") along with the verb être ("to be") conjugated with the pronoun vous ("you") referring to several persons, as it is the second person plural form. You can formulate the question in various ways, placing the question word où ("where") in front or at the end of the question.

For Example:

1. Vous êtes où ? "Where are you?"
2. Où vous êtes ? "Where are you?"

🔷 Language Note

We can also use the pronoun vous ("you") to refer to one interlocutor only in formal situations until the person requests that you use tu when addressing him or her.

⭐ Telling Someone Your Location

Rob answers his cell phone and tells the caller where he and his friends are.

To tell your location and include one or more persons and yourself in a sentence, use the pronoun nous ("we") with the appropriate conjugated verb form from the infinitive verb être ("to be"), followed by the preposition à or its derivative and the location as follows:

 💠 Nous sommes+à la+feminine place. 

💠 Nous sommes+au+masculine place.

💠 Nous sommes+à l'+place starting with a vowel.

💠 Nous sommes+aux+plural place.

For Example:

1. Nous sommes à la piscine.

"We are at the swimming pool."

2. Nous sommes au parc floral de Paris.

"We are at the Paris floral park."

3. Nous sommes à l'épicerie.

"We are at the grocery store."

4. Nous sommes aux jardins des Serres d'Auteuil.

"We are at the Auteuil greenhouse gardens."

⭐ Speaking About Others

After Giulia makes sure she knows her friends' location, she checks whether the other people she will meet are already at the scheduled get together. In the dialogue, Rob and Giulia refer to them with the pronoun ils ("they") in the question and statement: Jules et Sarah, ils sont là ? Oui, ils sont là. ("Are Jules and Sarah there? Yes they are here.")

To speak of other people to your interlocutor, choose among the two third person plural pronouns, either:

1. ils ("they") for a group of men or men and women
2. elles ("they") to designate a group of women only.

Add to one of the pronouns the conjugated form sont ("are") of the être verb, meaning "to be," and the adverb of location là to state that the persons talked about are next to or near the person stating the phrase: ils sont là or elles sont là.

Ils/elles + sont là.

For Example:

1. Les invités ? Ils sont là.
2. "The guests? They are here."
3. Les chanteuses, elles sont là.
4. "The singers, they are here."

🔷 Language Note: The Various Meanings of là

In the dialogue, we translate the adverb là as "here" and "there." The adverb là refers to the location where the person speaking is or a location more or less further away than the speaker.

⭐ Language Sum Up: Verb être ("to be") Conjugation and Usage

1. First person plural

nous sommes

"we are"

2. Second person plural

vous êtes

"you are"

3. Third person plural: men or men and women

ils sont

"they are"

4. Third person plural: women only

elles sont

"they are"

🔷 Usage of the Verb être ("to be")

The verb être has many uses. Among the most common uses are stating someone's job, identity, location, quality, or state.

- Elles sont étudiantes.

"They are students."

- C'est Gilles.

"It is Gilles."

- Nous sommes ici.

"We are here."

- Je suis tolérante.

"I'm tolerant."

- Vous êtes amis.

"You are friends."

➖ Cultural Insights ➖

What to Pack in Your Picnic Basket in France!

A typical French picnic!

Going outdoors for a picnic is something French people usually do in the summer. A tablecloth on the grass, resting on a bench in a public park, or on a promenade facing the beach, are some perfect places to enjoy the sunny and warm weather of summer and have a picnic. Families or couples gather to enjoy the blue sky and take with them an ice chest or woven basket garnished with sandwiches, soda, juices, fruits, and vegetables.

A typical French picnic usually includes sandwiches made of fresh baguette. The classic one is le sandwich jambon beurre, ("ham and butter sandwich") dressed with butter on one bread slice and Dijon mustard on the other, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, a thin layer of cheese (usually Swiss or sliced brie) if you choose to, several slices of ham, and gherkins small pickles cut extra fine lengthwise. Some may choose to have sliced onions as well.

Another sandwich is l'américain ("the American"), which includes two lengthwise cut pieces of French baguette, cooked ground meat, French fries along with ketchup and mayonnaise. Other versions exist. So don't be surprised to see un sandwitch américain with sliced ham and melted cheese or another version that is more successful for kids with two slices of American bread, mayonnaise, and crushed potato chips!

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