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Lesson 194 of 240

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Rainy Sunday indoors in French

Sunday rain on rue des Tilleuls keeps Sam off the street. Café des Tilleuls is dry, lamps on, and Odile is already pouring.

Gaspard sits next to the empty window table with a café crème he still has not finished.

By the end, you'll stay in, say you have nothing planned, start a long story, lose the thread, and promise the rest later.

The postcard stays on the wall. Nobody explains it today.

By the end of this lesson

Stay in on a rainy Sunday and follow a story that stops halfway.

  • Il pleut trop, on reste au chaud.It's raining too hard; we're staying somewhere warm.
  • De toute façon, je n'ai rien de prévu.I've got nothing on anyway.
  • C'est une longue histoire.It's a long story.
  • Je te raconte la première fois ?Shall I tell you about the first time?
  • Attends, où est-ce que j'en étais ?Wait, where was I?
  • Je te raconterai la suite.I'll tell you the rest later.

Scene — rain on the glass

Rain hits the terrace hard. Sam shakes his coat at the door. Odile looks up from the zinc counter and nods him toward a table.

Gaspard already occupies two chairs by the window table. The blank brass sign still sits on that table. His croissant is half gone. The café crème is not.

Rain pounds the empty terrace as Sam shakes off the wet in the doorway, Odile looks up from the zinc counter and nods toward a table, and Gaspard already sits with another chair pulled in beside a half-eaten croissant and an untouched café crème.

Learn — stay in and tell a story

Six lines cover a wet Sunday indoors, a free day, a long story, the first time, a lost thread, and a later promise.

  1. Odile looks up from the zinc counter and nods Sam toward a table, keeping him inside out of the hard rain.

    Il pleut trop, on reste au chaud.

    It's raining too hard; we're staying somewhere warm.

    When to use it: Use this when heavy rain keeps you indoors with someone.

    On here means we, the people in the room, not people in general.

    Say it: The p in trop is silent.

  2. Sam comes through the doorway with an open-handed shrug, free for the morning while rain sheets the terrace behind him.

    De toute façon, je n'ai rien de prévu.

    I've got nothing on anyway.

    When to use it: Use this when you had no plans, so staying in is easy.

    N'ai keeps ne, with the e dropped before ai.

    Say it: The e of ne drops, so you hear n'ai as one beat.

  3. Over Sam's shoulder, Gaspard leans in from the chairs by the window and starts a long story beside a half-eaten croissant, leaving the window table empty.

    C'est une longue histoire.

    It's a long story.

    When to use it: Use this when the answer is a story, not a short fact.

    Une goes with histoire because that noun is feminine.

    Say it: The t in C'est links into une.

  4. Gaspard's palm turns up over the table beside the half-eaten croissant and full café crème, inviting the story of the first time.

    Je te raconte la première fois ?

    Shall I tell you about the first time?

    When to use it: Offer this when you want to start a story for a friend.

    Te is for a friend. A new person at the counter would get vous.

    Say it: The last s in fois is silent.

  5. Gaspard pauses mid-gesture and looks toward the rain and the unfinished café crème, having lost the place in the story.

    Attends, où est-ce que j'en étais ?

    Wait, where was I?

    When to use it: Use this when you lose the thread in the middle of a story.

    J'en étais means the point you had reached in the story.

    Say it: In est-ce, the s sounds like s.

  6. From above, Gaspard holds a flat pausing palm while Sam watches from the other chair and Odile looks on from the counter, the rest of the story left for later.

    Je te raconterai la suite.

    I'll tell you the rest later.

    When to use it: Promise this when you stop a story and will finish it later.

    Raconterai points to later, not to the part you tell now.

Story — he loses the thread

Watch a wet Sunday at the café. Gaspard starts a story and then loses it.

The highlighted words are the lines you just learned. Turn on Show English if you need it.

  1. The terrace is empty. Rain hits the glass. Odile looks up from the counter.
  2. OdileBonjour.Hello.
  3. She waits until she hears it back.
  4. SamBonjour.Hello.
  5. OdileC'est dimanche.It's Sunday.
  6. SamIl pleut.It's raining.
  7. OdileIl pleut trop, on reste au chaud.It's raining too hard; we're staying somewhere warm.
  8. SamDe toute façon, je n'ai rien de prévu.I've got nothing on anyway.
  9. Sam sits with Gaspard on two chairs. The window table stays empty, blank brass sign still standing.
  10. GaspardBon, ça tombe bien.Well, that works out.
  11. SamPourquoi ?Why?
  12. GaspardC'est une longue histoire.It's a long story.
  13. GaspardJe te raconte la première fois ?Shall I tell you about the first time?
  14. SamOui, vas-y.Yes, go ahead.
  15. GaspardLa première fois, je suis venu un dimanche comme ça.The first time, I came on a Sunday like this.
  16. GaspardAlors, j'étais à la porte, et...So, I was at the door, and...
  17. GaspardAttends, où est-ce que j'en étais ?Wait, where was I?
  18. He looks at the unfinished café crème. He does not drink. He does not move to the window table.
  19. SamOn peut y revenir plus tard.We can come back to it later.
  20. GaspardJe te raconterai la suite.I'll tell you the rest later.
  21. OdilePrends ton temps, mon grand.Take your time, dear.

Practice — a wet Sunday

Ten short rounds wait here. You will listen, fill a gap, swap a word, and build a line.

They stay small, so the round moves fast.

0 of 10 done

  1. What did you hear?

  2. True or false?

    This line means you are staying somewhere warm.

  3. What do you say?

    Odile asks what you had planned today. You had a free day anyway.

  4. Fill the gap

    Wait, where was I?

    Attends, où est-ce que ____ étais ?

  5. What does it mean?

    C'est une longue histoire.

  6. Swap the word

    You stop the story and promise a friend the rest later.

    Je te ____ la suite.

  7. Build the line

    Shall I tell you about the first time?

     ?

    Tap the words in order.

  8. Pick the reply

    Gaspard says:

    Attends, où est-ce que j'en étais ?

    Wait, where was I?

    And you reply with:

  9. What do you say?

    Odile names the day. It is a quiet wet Sunday at the café.

  10. Match the pairs

    French

    C'est une longue histoire.Drop the English here
    Je te raconte la première fois ?Drop the English here
    Je te raconterai la suite.Drop the English here

    English

    Drag an English line onto its French, or tap one and then the other.

Say it — promise the rest

Now you're Sam on a rainy Sunday at the café. When it's your turn, tap the microphone and speak the line.

Tap play first if you want to hear the line. Your recording stays on your device.

  1. OdileIl pleut encore.It's still raining.
  2. Sam (you)The rain is too heavy. Stay somewhere warm.

    Il pleut trop, on reste au chaud.

    It's raining too hard; we're staying somewhere warm.

0 of 7 said

Recap — what you can say now

FrenchEnglish
Il pleut trop, on reste au chaud.It's raining too hard; we're staying somewhere warm.
De toute façon, je n'ai rien de prévu.I've got nothing on anyway.
C'est une longue histoire.It's a long story.
Je te raconte la première fois ?Shall I tell you about the first time?
Attends, où est-ce que j'en étais ?Wait, where was I?
Je te raconterai la suite.I'll tell you the rest later.
Next: lesson 195Cooking at home

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Keep practicing with Yak Cards

Want to keep this rainy-Sunday talk handy? Grab the Yak Cards for this lesson and review them anywhere.

A quick round with the Yak Cards each day keeps your indoor lines ready for the next wet Sunday.

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