Interactive Audio

In my interactive audio section 1.4 Being Thirsty. the second line words = "Tu es Souffle" or are you thirsty are not able to be worked for some reason and all the other ones can? Why is this and is it a sign of things to come!

Hmm, The phrase in the audio is "Tu es essoufflé !" They say, "You're puffed out". I would say, "You are out of breath." However, Tu t'essouffles is the present form of the verb. It means you are running out of breath, but maybe still have some left. It's present tense as in happening now. -Jason --------- Note this is what I wrote before. It is wrong! Please do not use it except as an example for what Marie-Claire explains below. Using Tu es essoufflé(s), they have introduced Passé Composé and that is maybe a bit hard at this level in the program. Could be better curated material at this level I believe. This phrase means that it's done and past as in you have already run out of breath. In English, most people would say, "You're out of breath." They are trying to be funny and humorous by saying "You're puffed out".

Bonjour à tous! In this sentence "essoufflé" acts as an adjective and should be thought of as working exactly the same way as "désolé" should it be used in a sentences such as, "Je suis désolée." It is not the passé composé and this distinction must be made clear, least it confuse you later on when you do learn how to form this tense. As for the translation, it is simply a regional difference. It is commonly used in New Zealand, which is where this company is headquartered and was not used to be funny but was the most apt translation. I wouldn't get into the habit of breaking the sentences down into too small-a-pieces because many of them are often fixed expressions or sayings and as you get used to them you will find that you will naturally be able to play with them to fit your own context. Keep up the good work and I hope this helps, Marie-Claire

Hi Marie Claire, Yikes, you are right. Thank you, I didn't notice the adjective form, which certainly exists (and the lessons do not do a great job with this topic, you have to admit) but even so, I also didn't think about the list of verbs that take être - still not a habit for me. I'm not sure I understood Anthony's question either... A shame I can't even diagram a three word sentence (but I got 100 points for trying to answer the question ! yeah !) Sorry to highjack Anthony's question, but since we are on the topic, can you give me some examples of both forms so I can check my understanding or just correct me below: So, how would we write the casual form of the same phrase in passé composé? If "Tu es essoufflé!" is present tense with an adjective, how do you write that in passé composé? Verb: Tu as essoufflé ton corps en grimpant les six étages. You wore your body out by climbing six floors. Adjective: (antidote) C’était une voix d’homme, basse, doucereuse, un peu *essoufflée*. Hélène Vachon, le Piège de l’ombre, Québec Amérique Verb: (antidote) Même si ce mouvement d’accélération devrait *s’essouffler* un peu à l’horizon 2005, combiné au tassement attendu des gains de productivité du travail, il sonnerait la fin de la baisse des coûts unitaires du travail. Cairn Verb: http://goo.gl/BFYDZX ("he wore out the fish, taking 45 minutes to get him into the boat): Jonathan Ratté, un passionné de la pêche, n'a pas manqué son coup lors d'une récente randonnée sur le fleuve Saint-Laurent à la hauteur du secteur Grande-Ile. Pour la première fois de sa vie, le résidant de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield a attrapé au bout de sa ligne un impressionnant maskinongé de 9 kilos (22,5 livres). Il a *essoufflé* le poisson pendant 45 minutes avant de le faire monter enfin dans le bateau. Le maski était tellement gros qu'il n'entrait pas dans le vivier... Again, sorry I hijacked the conversation. Thank you so much, -Jason

Bonjour, Sure, let's take a quick look at your first example sentence: Tu as essoufflé ton corps en grimpant les six étages. I must say that from a grammatical point of view, there is nothing wrong with your sentence. However, we would be more inclined to say something along the lines of "Tu t'es essoufflé en grimpant les escaliers." In this case the verb becomes reflexive and as such we no longer need to include 'your body' (it would seem a little overkill). Often when we turn adjectives into verbs in French we make them reflexive. Then when we want to express this idea in the past you have to remember that all reflexive verbs use 'être' and not 'avoir'. I hope I have managed to somewhat clear this up for you. Keep up the good work! - Marie-Claire

Bonjour Marie-Claire, Merci bien! Oui, la phrase est très claire. Je vais corriger ma première réponse pour qu'elle soit claire aussi. @Anthony: I'm still not sure if I understood your question. Did we get it right for you?