French for Kids

Buy THE EVERYTHING KIDS' LEARNING FRENCH BOOK

At the Zoo — Au zoo by Dawn-Michelle Baude, Ph.D.

There are so many interesting animals at the zoo! The zoos in France are a lot like the ones you've been to, except they're a little smaller. A little zoo in France even has a special name. It's called une ménagerie, and it is usually attached to a circus.

But the animals you see in French zoos are the same ones you go to see in other countries. Here's a list of some familiar ones:

<tgroup cols="2"> <colspec align="left" colname="col1" colnum="1" colsep="0" colwidth="50%"/> <colspec align="left" colname="col2" colnum="2" colsep="0" colwidth="50%"/> <thead> <tr> <td><p><B>English</B></p></td> <td><p><B>French</B></p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>a zebra</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>un zèbre</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>a giraffe</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>une girafe</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>an elephant</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>un éléphant</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>an ostrich</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>une autruche</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>a tiger</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>un tigre</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>a bear</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>un ours</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>a snake</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>un serpent</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>a crocodile</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>un crocodile</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <div class="npsb"> <h2> TRY THIS <emphasis>Essaie ceci</emphasis></h2> <p><B>Learn Your Animals — <emphasis>Apprends tes animaux</emphasis></B></p> <p>Here is a game to play to learn your animals. Write all the animal names in French on index cards and put them in a stack. Then draw a picture of each animal on a different card and put the pictures in another stack. Shuffle the cards and try to match the word with the picture!</p> </div> <h2>The Past Tense — <emphasis>Les temps du passé</emphasis></h2> <p>You remember how in previous chapter, we learned to use <emphasis>le futur proche</emphasis> (“the near future”) and <emphasis>le passé recent</emphasis> (“the recent past”)?</p> <p>To say “I see the lion” in French, you use the conjugation map for the present tense and write, <emphasis>Je vois le lion</emphasis>. If you want to say, “I just saw a lion” (a little while ago), you use <emphasis>le passé récent</emphasis> and write, <emphasis>Je viens de voir un lion</emphasis>. And if you're going to see a lion, you use <emphasis>le futur proche</emphasis> and say or write, <emphasis>Je vais voir le lion</emphasis>.</p> <p>But what if you saw the lion? Not “today” (<emphasis>aujourd'hui</emphasis>), but “yesterday” (<emphasis>hier</emphasis>)? You need to say, <emphasis>J'ai vu le lion</emphasis>.</p> <p>For an action in the past, you often use <emphasis>le passé composé</emphasis>. If you saw something yesterday at the zoo, you use the formula like this: subject + conjugated <emphasis>avoir</emphasis> + past verb (past participle)+ name of animal. So, to say, “She saw a lion” you use <emphasis>elle + a + vu + un lion</emphasis> = <emphasis>Elle a vu un lion</emphasis>. Or, if you want to remind a group of people that they saw a lion, you use <emphasis>Vous + avez + vu + un lion</emphasis> = <emphasis>Vous avez vu un lion</emphasis>.</p> <div class="npsb"> <tip> <h2>IMPORTANT TIPS <emphasis>TRUCS IMPORTANTS</emphasis><inlinemediaobject><imageobject><imagedata fileref="!.jpg" format="JPG"/></imageobject></inlinemediaobject></h2> <p>French has more ways to speak about the past than English does. You have “I walked,” “I was walking,” “I had walked,” and “I had been walking.” That means English has four tenses, or four ways, to speak of an action in the past. French has six! All the more to lreasonearn your French verbs slowly, one at a time.</p> </tip> </div> <h2>You Saw It Yesterday! — <emphasis>Vous l'avez vu hier!</emphasis></h2> <p>Change the following present tense sentences to past tense using <emphasis>le passé composé</emphasis> formula. If you can't remember your conjugation map for <emphasis>avoir</emphasis>, look back through this chapter. Write the entire past tense sentence in the blank:</p> <div class="npmo"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/kids-french/line5.jpg"> </div> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>Je vois un zèbre</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Nous voyons une girafe</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Elles voient un éléphant</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Il voit une autruche</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Tu vois un tigre</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Il voit un ours</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Ils voient un serpent</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>Nous voyons un crocodile</emphasis>.</p> <p>.</p></li> </ul> <div class="npsb"> <h2>Sketch at the Zoo</h2> <p>The Etch-a-Sketch® was invented by Arthur Granjean from France in 1960. Can you finish sketching these animals?</p> <div class="npmo"> <img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/kids-french/p112-001.jpg"> </div> </div>  <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/at-the-river-au-bord-de-la-rivire.htm" title="At the River — Au bord de la rivière">At the River — Au bord de la rivière</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/on-the-farm-a-la-ferme.htm" title="On the Farm — A la ferme">On the Farm — A la ferme</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/at-the-zoo-au-zoo.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> At the Zoo — Au zoo - French for Kids </a></li> <li><a href="http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/pasttenses.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> French Past Tenses - Passé composé vs Imperfect - Passé... </a></li> <li><a href="http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/pastparticiple.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> French Past Participle - Participe passé </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/on-the-farm-a-la-ferme.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> On the Farm — A la ferme - French for Kids </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/french-verbs/conjugating-french-verbs/simple-tenses.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Simple Tenses - French Verbs </a></li> </ul></div> <div id="sec"><div class="n5">Read More Let's Go Outdoors — Allons dehors</div><ul><ul class="col1"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/in-the-garden-dans-le-jardin.htm">In the Garden — Dans le jardin</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/trees-and-flowers-arbres-et-fleurs.htm">Trees and Flowers — Arbres et fleurs</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/at-the-beach-a-la-plage.htm">At the Beach — A la plage</a></li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/at-the-river-au-bord-de-la-rivire.htm">At the River — Au bord de la rivière</a></li> <li class="btO">At the Zoo — Au zoo</li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/on-the-farm-a-la-ferme.htm">On the Farm — A la ferme</a></li> </ul></ul></div> </div> <script>if(zSbL<1)zSbL=3;zSB(2);zSbL=0</script> </div> <div id="widgets"><script type="text/javascript">if(z336>0){w('<div id="adB">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,280,'1','bb',3);w('</div>')}if(z155>0){w('<div id="adP">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,155,'1','ps',4);w('</div>')}</script> <div id="pg" class="pane"><div class="n3">Shopping</div><div class="cntnr"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/kids-french/Cover.jpg"></a><h4><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book">THE EVERYTHING KIDS' LEARNING FRENCH BOOK</a></h4><p><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book">By Dawn-Michelle Baude, Ph.D.</a></p><div id="fp"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book">Buy This Book</a></div></div></div> <div id="toc" class="pane"><div class="n3">French for Kids Sections</div><ul><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-get-started-allons-y/">Let's Get Started! — Allons-y!</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/">Time and Dates — L'heure et les dates</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/all-about-me-tout-sur-moi/">All About Me — Tout sur moi</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/social-life-la-vie-sociale/">Social Life — La vie sociale</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/what-should-we-do-quest-ce-quon-va-faire/">What Should We do? — Qu'est-ce qu'on va faire?</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/im-hungry-jai-faim/">I'm Hungry! — J'ai faim!</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/going-to-town-aller-en-ville/">Going to Town — Aller en ville</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/">Let's Go Outdoors — Allons dehors</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/getting-along-bien-sentendre/">Getting Along — Bien s'entendre</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/appendix-a-english-french-dictionary/">English-French Dictionary</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/appendix-b-glossary/">Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/appendix-c-puzzle-answers/">Puzzle Answers</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/appendix-d-exercise-answers/">Exercise Answers</a></li> </ul></div></div> <script type="text/javascript">zCi();validateForms();</script> <div id="abf" style="padding-right:0"><ol class="crumbtrail"><li class="home"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/">Home</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/">French for Kids</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-go-outdoors-allons-dehors/">Let's Go Outdoors — Allons dehors</a></li><li>At the Zoo — Au zoo</li></ol></div> <div id="aboutinfo" class="hlist"><div id="morefrom"><h6>Visit other About.com sites:</h6><ul><li><a href="http://caloriecount.about.com/" rel="nofollow">Calorie Count</a></li><li class="last"><a href="http://www.allexperts.com/" rel="nofollow">Allexperts.com</a></li></ul></div> <ul id="siteinfo"><li><a href="http://spiderbites.about.com/sitemap.htm">SiteMap</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/hc.htm" rel="nofollow">Help</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/mprivacy.htm" rel="nofollow">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/mprivacy.htm#adchoices" rel="nofollow">Your Ad Choices</a></li><li class="last"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/pform.htm" rel="nofollow">Contact Us</a></li></ul> <ul id="companyinfo"><li class="last"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/ " rel="nofollow">Buy Books</a></li></ul><div id="disclaimer"> </div></div></div> <script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript">(function(){var po=document.createElement('script');po.type='text/javascript';po.async=true;po.src='https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js';var s=document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(po,s)})();</script> </body></html>