French A1.16 Listening Practice: Ask About A City
Listen to a A1 French dialogue about ask about a city, with audio, transcript, and grammar notes for language learning.
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Level
A1.16
Audio
Segmented audio
Transcript
22 segments
A short French listening chapter with transcript.
Unit 4: reuse il y a in a city question so the learner can ask about a real place.
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1. Hélène · Teacher
Welcome to today's podcast! Today, we are learning how to ask about what there is in a city using French.
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2. Alain · Native Speaker 1
Qu'est-ce qu'il y a à Paris ?
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3. Mathieu · Native Speaker 2
Il y a un grand parc.
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4. Alain · Native Speaker 1
Est-ce qu'il y a un café ?
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5. Mathieu · Native Speaker 2
Oui, il y a un café.
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6. Alain · Native Speaker 1
Très bien, j'adore Paris !
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7. Hélène · Teacher
Let's break down the first sentence: 'Qu'est-ce qu'il y a à Paris?'. It means 'What is there in Paris?'. The phrase 'qu'est-ce qu'il y a' means 'what is there'.
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8. Étienne · Student
Do we always use 'à' before city names?
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9. Hélène · Teacher
Yes, in French you put 'à' before cities to mean 'in' or 'to'.
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10. Hélène · Teacher
The second sentence is: 'Il y a un grand parc.', which means 'There is a big park.' You use 'il y a' to say 'there is' or 'there are'.
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11. Étienne · Student
Does 'il y a' work for plural things too?
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12. Hélène · Teacher
Yes, 'il y a' works for both singular and plural objects.
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13. Hélène · Teacher
Next, we hear: 'Est-ce qu'il y a un café?'. This means 'Is there a cafe?'. Adding 'est-ce que' turns a statement into a yes-or-no question.
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14. Étienne · Student
So 'est-ce que' just goes at the beginning of the sentence?
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15. Hélène · Teacher
Exactly, put 'est-ce que' at the front to ask a simple yes-or-no question.
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16. Hélène · Teacher
The fourth sentence is: 'Oui, il y a un café.', which means 'Yes, there is a cafe.'
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17. Étienne · Student
Is 'il y a' used to answer both types of questions?
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18. Hélène · Teacher
Yes, 'il y a' is the main way to state what exists in both answers.
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19. Hélène · Teacher
Finally: 'Très bien, j'adore Paris!', meaning 'Very good, I love Paris!'. The verb 'j'adore' means 'I love'.
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20. Étienne · Student
Why is it 'j'adore' instead of 'je adore'?
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21. Hélène · Teacher
'Je' shortens to 'j' apostrophe before a vowel like 'a'.
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22. Hélène · Teacher
Great job! Keep practicing 'qu'est-ce qu'il y a' to ask about any city.
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