By the end of this lesson you'll be able to say how you feel, ask someone what's wrong, and react when a friend gives you news.
Saying how you feel
Most of the time you'll use être with an adjective, and the adjective matches the person, as in the lesson on adjective agreement. You already know content and heureux from that lesson, and fatigué from the lesson on être. Here are some more.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| triste | TREEST | sadSame for masculine and feminine. Plural: tristes. |
| fâché / fâchée | fah-SHAY | annoyed, cross (masculine / feminine)Plural: fâchés / fâchées. |
| inquiet / inquiète | an-KYEH / an-KYET | worried (masculine / feminine)Plural: inquiets / inquiètes. |
| jaloux / jalouse | zhah-LOO / zhah-LOOZ | jealous (masculine / feminine)Plural: jaloux / jalouses. |
| fier / fière | fyehr | proud (masculine / feminine)Plural: fiers / fières. |
| déçu / déçue | day-SEW | disappointed (masculine / feminine)Plural: déçus / déçues. |
| surpris / surprise | sewr-PREE / sewr-PREEZ | surprised (masculine / feminine)Plural: surpris / surprises. |
| énervé / énervée | ay-nehr-VAY | irritated, on edge (masculine / feminine)Plural: énervés / énervées. |
| stressé / stressée | streh-SAY | stressed (masculine / feminine)Plural: stressés / stressées. |
| en colère | ahn koh-LEHR | angryNever changes. |
| de bonne humeur | duh bonn ew-MUHR | in a good moodNever changes. |
| de mauvaise humeur | duh moh-vehz ew-MUHR | in a bad moodNever changes. |
Look at how the feminine forms change, because some of them show up in the sound as well.
- No change. Triste already ends in -e, so it's the same for a man and a woman.
- Just -e. Fâchée, déçue, énervée and stressée look different but sound the same as their masculine forms.
- A new sound at the end. You can hear the last consonant of inquiète, but not of inquiet. The same goes for jalouse and surprise.
- A new accent. Inquiet becomes inquiète, and fier becomes fière. The accent is grave, and fier and fière sound the same.
- Never any change. En colère, de bonne humeur and de mauvaise humeur stay exactly as they are, whoever you're talking about.
Karim est très stressé au travail.
Karim is very stressed at work.
Ma sœur est déçue.
My sister is disappointed.
Nous sommes de bonne humeur ce matin.
We're in a good mood this morning.
How much?
Add très, trop or un peu before the adjective to say how strong a feeling is. They're from the lesson on adverbs, and they never change.
Elle est très fière de son fils.
She's very proud of her son.
Je suis un peu inquiet.
I'm a bit worried.
Being afraid
Fear uses avoir, not être. You met avoir peur in the lesson on the imperative. To say what you're afraid of, add de and a noun, and remember that de joins up with le and les.
J'ai peur des chiens.
I'm afraid of dogs.
Mon fils a peur du noir.
My son is afraid of the dark.
Three useful phrases
These are fixed patterns. Learn each one as a block.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ça me fait plaisir. | sah muh feh pleh-ZEER | That makes me happy. I'm pleased. |
| Je suis content de te voir. | zhuh swee kohn-tahn duh tuh VWAHR | I'm happy to see you.A woman says: Je suis contente de te voir. |
| Je suis désolé de… | zhuh swee day-zoh-LAY duh | I'm sorry to…, I'm sorry for…A woman writes désolée. Followed by an infinitive. |
Désolé came up in the lesson on writing a short message. With de and an infinitive, it says what you're sorry for.
Je suis désolée d'être en retard.
I'm sorry I'm late. (a woman speaking)
Merci pour les fleurs, ça me fait très plaisir !
Thank you for the flowers, I'm so pleased!
One new word from that last example:
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| une fleur | ewn FLUHR | a flower |
Asking how someone feels
If a friend looks a bit off, you have several ways of asking about it.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| Qu'est-ce que tu as ? | kes-kuh tew AH | What's the matter with you? |
| Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ? | kes-keel YAH | What's wrong? What's going on? |
| Ça ne va pas ? | sah nuh vah PAH | Is something wrong? Aren't you OK? |
Qu'est-ce que tu as ? is for someone you call tu, and it's about that person. Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ? is more general: it can mean "What's wrong?" or "What's happening?". You can also ask directly: Tu es de mauvaise humeur ? (Are you in a bad mood?).
Talking about yesterday's mood? Use j'étais, the form you know from the lesson on the imparfait: Hier, j'étais très fatigué (Yesterday I was very tired, a man speaking).
En français
- Ça ne va pas ? Qu'est-ce que tu as ? (Is something wrong? What's the matter?)
- Je suis stressée. J'ai un examen demain. (I'm stressed. I have an exam tomorrow.)
- Tu as peur ? (Are you scared?)
- Oui, un peu. Mais je suis contente de te voir. (Yes, a bit. But I'm happy to see you.)
- Moi aussi ! Ça me fait plaisir. (Me too! I'm so pleased.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on the imperative with pronouns shows you how to say things like Ne t'inquiète pas. Later on, the lesson on relationships and feelings goes further into how people get along.