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Asking people to do things in French?

Hallo,

Have got to write some extension french work for a boy I work with (who's in far too low a set because of his other learning difficulties, but is consequently having nothing to do for lessons at a time) but I speak about as much French as he does hehe. Well maybe slightly more, but basically I'd appreciate some help.

Basically I'm trying to work out (with no French books or anything to help me!) how to ask people to do something. Obviously I can look up "will you / would you / can you?" but you can guarantee that whichever one I pick will be the one that people do literally :wink:

(e.g. are you physically capable of, or would you hypothetically)

So would I say Pouvez-vous, Pèlerez-vous, Pèleriez-vous or none of the above? Reasons would be especially useful!

Reply 1

Da Bachtopus

12

I don't even know what the second one means, isn't it "to peel"!? Just ask "pouvez-vouz" or "est-ce que vous pouvez" + infinitive.

Reply 2

Happiness

1

Ok... I'm not sure where you got "pelerez vous" from, but peler means to peel, so you wouldn't use that one when asking people to do things (generally) :smile:

There are a few ways of asking people to do things in French. You got one of them. "Pouvez-vous"/"peux-tu" translates to "Can you..". You could also make it even more polite by using the conditional form, i.e. "pourriez-vous" or "pourrais-tu" (though that level of formality in tu form sounds a bit odd to me?).

I'd say that way is the safest way to ask people to do things that will work in most situations. Alternatively there's the construction "Est-ce que tu peux / vous pouvez", which is basically the same thing.

So, for example:

Peux-tu me passer le pain, s'il te plait? (can you pass me the bread, please)
Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plait? (could you help me, please?)
Est-ce que tu peux me l'expliquer encore une fois? (can you explain it to me one more time?)

Finally... there's always the imperative form, for example "Remplissez ce formulaire, s'il vous plait" (fill out this form, please). This is more likely to cause offence, and like in english you often need to "soften" requests for people to do things, and can't just use the imperative.

The endings for the imperative form of regular verbs are:

er (e.g. parler)
(tu) parle
(vous) parlez

ir (e.g. choisir)
(tu) choisis
(vous) choisissez

re (e.g. rendre)
(tu) rends
(vous) rendez

Reply 3

Chardin

Happiness

Ok... I'm not sure where you got "pelerez vous" from, but peler means to peel, so you wouldn't use that one when asking people to do things (generally) :smile:

There are a few ways of asking people to do things in French. You got one of them. "Pouvez-vous"/"peux-tu" translates to "Can you..". You could also make it even more polite by using the conditional form, i.e. "pourriez-vous" or "pourrais-tu" (though that level of formality in tu form sounds a bit odd to me?).

I'd say that way is the safest way to ask people to do things that will work in most situations. Alternatively there's the construction "Est-ce que tu peux / vous pouvez", which is basically the same thing.

So, for example:

Peux-tu me passer le pain, s'il te plait? (can you pass me the bread, please)
Pourriez-vous m'aider, s'il vous plait? (could you help me, please?)
Est-ce que tu peux me l'expliquer encore une fois? (can you explain it to me one more time?)

Finally... there's always the imperative form, for example "Remplissez ce formulaire, s'il vous plait" (fill out this form, please). This is more likely to cause offence, and like in english you often need to "soften" requests for people to do things, and can't just use the imperative.

The endings for the imperative form of regular verbs are:

er (e.g. parler)
(tu) parle
(vous) parlez

ir (e.g. choisir)
(tu) choisis
(vous) choisissez

re (e.g. rendre)
(tu) rends
(vous) rendez

Brilliant sums up wat i think of ur answer :rolleyes:

Reply 4

Cirsium

OP

19

Hehe ah yeah sorry the point was it was asking people to do things in a shop, so if peel somehow got left in there it's because i'd tried to pen out would you peel that for me and then copied it directly. Sadly I never quite got this before the lesson, but it's such a good response it can have some +ve rep anyway :biggrin:

Reply 5

Profesh

20

I asked someone to kiss me in French, once. Six months on, and my breath still smells of l'ail.

Reply 6

Taemon

12

Profesh

I asked someone to kiss me in French, once. Six months on, and my breath still smells of l'ail.

I'd be careful with asking people to kiss you in French if I were you...baiser's an easy verb to go wrong with... :s-smilie:

Reply 7

Anatheme

18

Just don't use "baiser" as a verb, really. You can use it as a noun, but avoid the verb, it got really nasty.

Reply 8

Gooner

14

Anatheme

Just don't use "baiser" as a verb, really. You can use it as a noun, but avoid the verb, it got really nasty.

My teacher once made me say "kiss me" in French. I sat there and said "but...what if I go wrong?" and she and the French assistant looked at each other and laughed. In the end, I HAD to do it. Goes without saying...I screwed up :p:

Reply 9

Anatheme

18

Gooner

My teacher once made me say "kiss me" in French. I sat there and said "but...what if I go wrong?" and she and the French assistant looked at each other and laughed. In the end, I HAD to do it. Goes without saying...I screwed up :p:

That's was mean of them :p:

Reply 10

Gooner

14

Marion: Yep...I apparently went red, and everybody else was like "what's wrong with you?" They still don't understand to this day... :sad:

wes

embrasse-moi is safer :p:

I never thought of that one :p:

Reply 11

Fillette

14

Well, you could start the sentence with "est-ce que" to make it clear that you are asking a question/favour...so "est-ce que vous pouvez faire...."

Reply 12

54201

Gooner

Marion: Yep...I apparently went red, and everybody else was like "what's wrong with you?" They still don't understand to this day... :sad:

I never thought of that one :p:

Est-ce que tu peux me l'expliquer! Je ne comprends pas!

Reply 13

Gooner

14

diamondgeezer

Est-ce que tu peux me l'expliquer! Je ne comprends pas!

Well, used wrongly, baisser/baiser (i'm unsure of the verb :p:

), it can mean to erm...well **** them :p:

In a sexual sort of way... :ninja:

Reply 14

Fillette

14

diamondgeezer

Est-ce que tu peux me l'expliquer! Je ne comprends pas!

Rhymes with muck :wink:

Famous french hardcore art/porn film called Baise-Moi, which my cousin somehow thought suitable for me to watch when I was 13, scarred me for life :no:

Asking people to do things in French?

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