Se déplacer en ville
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Name a small set of essential places and transportation expressions in a town or city.
- Ask how to reach a place using simple, direct questions.
- Give basic directions using motion verbs such as aller, prendre, continuer, tourner, and traverser.
- Give instructions using the imperative, mainly in the vous form, with limited tu use.
- Use the pronoun y in controlled sentences to refer to a place already named.
- Sequence directions using d'abord, puis/ensuite, and enfin.
- Recognize the previously consolidated liaison and elision patterns as they appear in direction-related phrases.
- Recycle vocabulary and grammar from Units I and II while communicating about a new domain.
Communication Scenario
Léa has just moved to a new neighborhood, and today she needs help finding her way around: reaching the train station and locating the nearest pharmacy. Along the way, she asks a stranger for directions. This chapter opens Unit III, Dans la communauté, by giving you the tools to ask for, understand, and give simple directions in French.
- Learn a focused set of transportation and place vocabulary connected to getting around a town.
- Ask direct questions about location and direction.
- Give instructions using the imperative.
- Use y in controlled sentences to talk about a place without repeating its name.
Core Vocabulary
The following items are organized by status. Learn the productive items for active use in speaking and writing; the remaining items are for recognition only.
| French | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| la gare | the train station | feminine |
| l'arrêt de bus (m.) | the bus stop | elision; masculine; plural les arrêts de bus |
| la pharmacie | the pharmacy | feminine |
| le musée | the museum | masculine |
| la place | the (town) square | feminine; not a general-purpose word for "place" |
| le carrefour | the intersection | masculine |
| le pont | the bridge | masculine |
| la rue | the street | feminine |
| l'hôpital (m.) | the hospital | h muet; elision occurs: l'hôpital; plural les hôpitaux |
| French | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| à pied | on foot | fixed expression |
| en bus | by bus | fixed expression |
| en métro | by subway | fixed expression |
| en voiture | by car | fixed expression |
Learn these transportation expressions as complete phrases rather than applying a general rule. French also has expressions such as à vélo (by bike) and à cheval (on horseback) that do not follow one predictable pattern; these two appear here only as receptive awareness, not as required production.
| French | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| à gauche | to the left | fixed expression |
| à droite | to the right | fixed expression |
| tout droit | straight ahead | fixed expression |
| près d'ici | near here | recycled from Chapter 6 |
| loin d'ici | far from here | recycled from Chapter 6 |
| d'abord | first | sequencing word |
| puis / ensuite | then / next | near-synonyms; either is acceptable |
| enfin | finally | sequencing word |
| Infinitive | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| aller | to go | irregular; recycled from Chapter 3 |
| venir | to come | irregular |
| prendre | to take | irregular; used with transportation and streets |
| continuer | to continue | regular -er verb |
| tourner | to turn | regular -er verb |
| traverser | to cross | regular -er verb |
Receptivese trouver (pronominal verb, "to be located") appears receptively in this chapter's reading: La gare se trouve près d'ici. It is not required for independent production. These direction verbs are productive here in the present tense and the imperative. Past-tense forms of these verbs are introduced in Chapters 16 and 17.
FormulaicVas-y ("go ahead" / "go there") and Allons-y ("let's go") are fixed expressions in this chapter; learn them as whole phrases rather than as an analyzed grammatical pattern.
Pronunciation Focus
This chapter recycles the French r, already active since Chapter 1, in several high-frequency direction verbs: tournez, traversez, prenez, and près. The French r is produced toward the back of the mouth, unlike the English r. Practice it slowly in these direction verbs before speeding up.
This chapter also recycles two already-consolidated connected-speech patterns:
- Liaison — a normally silent final consonant is pronounced before a following vowel sound, in an authorized grammatical environment. Examples: les arrêts, un arrêt.
- Enchaînement — a final consonant that is already pronounced in isolation moves smoothly into the next vowel-initial word. Examples: avec elle, une grande avenue.
Liaison depends on a silent consonant becoming audible; enchaînement depends on a consonant that was already audible simply linking forward. This chapter does not introduce any new liaison or enchaînement environment beyond what earlier chapters have already consolidated, and it does not treat optional verb liaison as automatic.
Language Focus: Motion, Directions, and the Imperative
Purpose: ask for and give simple directions, using motion verbs, the imperative, and the pronoun y.
11.1 Asking for directions
Questions about location and direction use direct question forms you already know: où and est-ce que. To ask how to get somewhere, French commonly uses pour aller à... followed by the destination.
- Pour aller à la gare, s'il vous plaît ? How do I get to the train station, please?
- Où est la pharmacie ? Where is the pharmacy?
- Il y a un arrêt de bus près d'ici ? Is there a bus stop near here?
11.2 Aller and venir
Aller describes movement away from the current reference point, toward a destination. Venir describes movement toward the speaker, the listener, or another point already established in the conversation. Both verbs can be followed by a destination; the difference is about perspective, not about whether a destination is mentioned. Origin — where someone is coming from — is expressed with de, not by the choice of verb alone.
- Je vais à la gare. I am going to the train station. (movement away from here)
- Tu viens chez moi ce soir ? Are you coming to my place tonight? (movement toward the speaker)
- Elle vient de Marseille. She comes from Marseille. (origin, expressed with de)
11.3 The imperative for instructions
The imperative gives instructions directly, without a subject pronoun. For regular -er verbs, the tu form drops the final written -s from the present-tense form. The vous form is identical to the present-tense vous form. This chapter prioritizes the vous imperative, since asking a stranger for directions normally calls for vous; the tu form appears only where the relationship is clearly informal.
- Tournez à gauche. (vous) Turn left.
- Tourne à gauche. (tu) Turn left. tourner → tu tournes → tourne (no -s)
- Continuez tout droit. Puis, traversez le pont. Continue straight ahead. Then, cross the bridge.
- Ne tournez pas ici. Don't turn here.
11.4 Introducing the pronoun y
This chapter develops y only before a finite (conjugated) verb, such as j'y vais or vous y allez. Placing y before an infinitive, or combining it with another pronoun such as en, is not part of this chapter. Before y, the imperative of aller keeps its final -s: vas-y, not va-y. Use y only where it naturally replaces a place you have already named — not in every sentence.
Model Dialogue: Pour aller à la gare ?
Context: Léa, new to the neighborhood, stops a passerby to ask for directions to the train station.
Notice how y replaces à l'arrêt de bus, the most recently named place, and how d'abord and ensuite order the woman's first two instructions.
Listening Practice
If no audio recording is available, ask a partner, instructor, or text-to-speech tool to read the lines below aloud, or read them aloud to yourself slowly.
- What is the first instruction the speaker gives?
- What should the listener do at the intersection?
- What is located next to the pharmacy?
Speaking Practice
Pratique contrôlée — Controlled practice: give one instruction
Using the vous imperative, give one true instruction for how to get from your home to a nearby place, using one motion verb.
Échange guidé — Guided short exchange
With a partner, use the fictional route from the Reading Practice section to act out one short exchange:
- Learner A asks for directions to the museum: Pour aller au musée, s'il vous plaît ?
- Learner B gives three or four ordered directions, using d'abord, puis/ensuite, and enfin.
- Learner A asks one confirmation or distance question, such as C'est loin ?
- Learner B answers briefly, using y naturally if the museum has already been named.
- Both close politely with merci / de rien.
Notes and the fictional route are allowed as support.
Pratique individuelle — Solo alternative
Using the fictional route from the Reading Practice section, record yourself giving four short directions from the station to the museum.
Reading Practice
Fictional route — for practice onlyLe quartier de Léa — Léa's neighborhood
Voici la description du quartier de Léa. La gare se trouve près de la place. Pour aller au musée : d'abord, depuis la gare, tournez à droite. Ensuite, continuez tout droit dans la rue Victor-Hugo. Puis, traversez le pont. Enfin, tournez à gauche : le musée est en face de la pharmacie. C'est à environ dix minutes à pied.
This route is fictional and created for practice; it does not describe a real city.
Tâche de lecture — Reading task:
- Where is the train station located, according to the passage?
- What is the first instruction for reaching the museum?
- What is across from the museum?
- About how long does the walk take?
Writing Workshop
Using the fictional route from the Reading Practice section, write four to six short sentences explaining how to go from the train station to the museum.
- Open politely. Begin with a short greeting or opening phrase, such as Bonjour. Pour aller au musée, c'est facile.
- Give three or four ordered instructions. Use d'abord, puis/ensuite, and enfin with the vous imperative.
- Include one distance or time expression. For example, C'est à dix minutes à pied.
- Include one natural use of y. Refer back to the museum once it has already been named.
- Read your route aloud once. Listen for the French r in your direction verbs.
Modèle — Model:
Liste de révision — Editing checklist:
- The route includes a greeting or opening.
- The route includes three or four ordered instructions with sequencing words.
- One distance or time expression appears.
- y appears once, naturally, referring to the museum after it has already been named.
- Accents, apostrophes, and punctuation are accurate throughout.
- No vocabulary or grammar from outside Chapters 1–11 has been used.
Culture and Communication
In many French-speaking communities, addressing a stranger to ask for directions typically opens with a polite formula such as excusez-moi, followed by madame or monsieur, before the question itself. Skipping this opening can come across as abrupt, even when the underlying request is simple. In an exchange like this, vous may address one unfamiliar adult politely, or more than one person; the surrounding context tells you which meaning applies.
Public transportation options vary across the Francophone world: some cities rely heavily on le métro, others mainly on le bus, and rural areas may have limited public transportation. This variation is receptive awareness only; the productive standard for this chapter remains the vocabulary presented above.
Common Mistakes
Error: Writing tournes à gauche as an instruction.
Correction: The tu imperative of regular -er verbs drops the final -s: tourne à gauche. This applies only to the imperative, not to the ordinary present tense.
Error: Writing je vais y instead of the correct word order.
Correction: The pronoun y comes directly before the conjugated verb: j'y vais. Do not place it after the verb, as English word order might suggest.
Error: Writing va-y as the instruction "go ahead."
Correction: Before y, the tu imperative of aller keeps its final -s: vas-y. Learn this as a fixed formula.
Chapter Review
Partie A — Compréhension (Comprehension)
1. Return to the Model Dialogue, and answer these short questions.
- What are the first two instructions the woman gives Léa to reach the train station?
- Where is the bus stop located?
Partie B — Écriture (Writing)
1. Rewrite this instruction using the tu imperative: Vous tournez à droite.
2. Complete the sentence with y: Tu vas à la pharmacie ? — Oui, ______ vais maintenant.
3. Complete the fixed formula: Allons au musée ! ______ !
Partie C — Lecture (Reading)
1. Return to "Le quartier de Léa," and list, in order, the four instructions for reaching the museum from the station.
Partie D — Oral (Speaking)
1. With a partner, act out the guided short exchange from the Speaking Practice section using the fictional route. Answers will vary; see the Speaking Practice section for the required steps.
Partie E — Révision cumulative (Cumulative Review)
1. Ask a partner where they are from, using previously taught language: Vous venez d'où ? or D'où venez-vous ? Answers will vary.
Practical Performance Task
Chapter 11 Practical Check — Getting Around Town
Se déplacer en ville : Asking For and Giving Directions
A visitor is at the train station and wants to reach the museum, using the fictional route from the Reading Practice section.
- Ask or respond to one direction question. Pour aller au musée, s'il vous plaît ?
- Give four ordered directions. Use the vous imperative and sequencing words.
- State one approximate time using à pied. For example, C'est à dix minutes à pied.
- Use y once, naturally. Replace the museum with y after it has already been named.
- Write four to six short sentences describing the same route, following the Writing Workshop checklist.
| Criterion | What is assessed |
|---|---|
| Clarity of route | The four instructions form a clear, logically ordered route. |
| Core vocabulary and time expression | The learner correctly names places and produces the required time-and-transport expression à dix minutes à pied (or an equivalent). |
| Imperative accuracy | The learner uses accurate vous imperative forms. |
| Controlled use of y | The learner places y correctly before the conjugated verb, referring naturally to the museum. |
| Pronunciation | The learner produces an intelligible French r and applies previously consolidated liaison and elision. |
| Polite interaction | The exchange opens and closes politely and stays within Chapters 1–11 grammar. |
This task assesses only material introduced through Chapter 11 and continues to recycle Units I and II. It does not require advice, ability, necessity, subordinate clauses, or unsupported spontaneous problem-solving. It prioritizes vous because the scenario involves a visitor addressing a stranger.
Answer Key
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- Continue straight ahead to the intersection; turn left.
- The bus stop is in front of the pharmacy.
Writing
- Tourne à droite.
- Oui, j'y vais maintenant.
- Allons-y !
Listening
- Take the street in front of you.
- Turn right.
- The hospital is located next to the pharmacy.
Reading
- The train station is near the square.
- From the station, turn right.
- The pharmacy is across from the museum.
- About ten minutes on foot.
Chapter Review — Partie C
- Turn right.
- Continue straight ahead in rue Victor-Hugo.
- Cross the bridge.
- Turn left.
Chapter Review — Parties D and E
Answers will vary. For Partie D, confirm that both learners complete all five steps of the guided exchange listed in the Speaking Practice section. For Partie E, any grammatically accurate response naming a real or invented city or region is acceptable.
Looking Ahead
Ce que vous savez déjà faire — What you can do now
You can name a focused set of transportation methods and places, ask for and give simple directions using motion verbs and the imperative, sequence instructions, and refer back to a place using y in controlled sentences. This opens Unit III: Dans la communauté.