Expressing a Specific Quantity In French

This is the second part of my lesson on French quantities. First, read about  du, de la and des, how to express  unspecific quantities in French,  so you follow the logical progression of this lesson. So now, lets take a look at specific quantities. 1 - Un, Une = One and the Numbers This one is quite easy. When you are talking about a whole item, use: un ( masculine word) to say one. Ex: Jai un fils (I have one son).une ( feminine word) to say one. Ex: jai une fille ( I have one daughter).a cardinal number, like deux, or 33678  Ex: jai deux filles (I have two daughters). Note that un and une are also indefinite articles in French, meaning a/ an in English.   2 - More Specific Quantities = Expressions of Quantity Are Followed by De or D ! This is the part that usually confuses students. I hear these  mistakes several times a day during my Skype lessons. Its definitely one of the most common French mistakes. Expressions of quantity are followed by de (or d), never du, de la, de l, or des. In English, you say I would like a little bit OF cake, not a little bit SOME cake dont you? Well, its exactly the same thing in French. So, in French, after an expression of quantity, we use â€Å"de† or â€Å"d† ( word starting with a vowel). Ex: Un verre de vin (a glass OF wine, NOT DU, you do not say â€Å"a glass some wine†)Ex: Une bouteille de champagne (a bottle of champagne)Ex: Une carafe d’eau (a pitcher of water – de becomes d’ vowel)Ex: Un litre de jus de pomme (a liter of apple juice)Ex: Une assiette de charcuterie (a plate of cold cuts)Ex: Un kilo de pommes de terre (a kilo of potatoes)Ex: Une botte de carottes (a bunch of carrots)Ex: Une barquette de fraises (a box of strawberries)Ex: Une part de tarte (a slice of pie). And do not forget all the adverbs of quantity, that also specify quantities : Ex: Un peu de fromage (a bit of cheese)Ex: Beaucoup de lait (a lot of milk).Ex: Quelques morceaux de lards (a few pieces of bacon). Note that in spoken French, this â€Å"de† is very much glided, so almost silent. OK, now that I made this very clear, I am going to confuse you even more†¦ bear  with me. You could say je voudrais un morceau du gà ¢teau au chocolat. Why? Because in these cases, you are running into another French grammar rule: the du here is not a partitive article, meaning some, but a contraction of the definite article with de, de le du.   It makes sense when you stay focusses on the context: Je voudrais du gà ¢teau some cake, I dont care how much.Je voudrais un morceau de gà ¢teau a piece of cake.Je voudrais un morceau du gà ¢teau au chocolat a piece of the chocolate cake, this specific one Im looking at right now, not the strawberry cake next to it, but that chocolate cake (Imagine Cookie Monster, it will help)†¦ BTW, you say un gà ¢teau AU chocolat because its made with chocolate and other ingredients, not just chocolate. The chocolate is a flavor, but there is also flour, sugar, butter. Youd say un pà ¢tà © de canard because its a way to prepare the duck. Remove the duck and youre left with only spices. But I digress...So now, for the last part of this lesson, lets see what happens when the quantity is zero, and with adjectives of quantities.

The People Of Dune By Robert O Reilly - 1923 Words

The people of Dune are lead by the hope that someone stronger than them will take on their challenges. The planet has begun its ecological transformation when it comes into the possession of Duke Leto Atreides. Paul Atreides, the son of the Duke, will become the leader of the Fremen. â€Å"The story tells of the Lisan al-Gaib, ‘the voice from the outer world,’ which will share the dreams of the Fremen and lead them to fulfillment† (O’Reilly). There is a legend among the Fremen that a savior will ensure the success of the transformation. It becomes a rumor that Paul is that messiah because he intuitively knows how to perform Fremen tasks, such as properly wearing a stillsuit. Then, Paul s mother makes it known that the Atreides will support the transformation, adding to the belief that Paul is their messiah. â€Å"Their strong, unconscious projection makes him even more special than he is† (O Reilly). Indeed, the Fremen want to believe that there is someone who can help them, someone who is capable of doing what they are unable to accomplish. â€Å"It was a story about [...] an outsider who went native and used religious fervor to fuel his own ambitions--in this case, to transform the ecology of the planet† (O Reilly). Then, Paul joins the Fremen in the desert, which intensifies the Fremen belief in him. Paul is an important figure for the Fremen, but not only the them. He is also essential to the sisterhood of the Bene Gesserit. The Bene Gesserit is made up of Reverend Mothers who have

Skinhead Subculture free essay sample

The Skinhead culture has a variety of subcultures within the culture itself due to the evolution and separation of different groups of skinheads. The Skinhead subculture originated in the mid to late sixties and was created by the working class community that had a strong fondness for fashion and music. The original Skinheads enjoyed listening to soul, ask, bluebell, and rocketed music. They were also highly influenced by the Jamaican Rude Boy subculture, Reggae, and Rationalisms.From this original subculture many there styles and forms of Skinhead subcultures sprouted from this. Regardless of most of them have similar styles to you and me, subtle differences separate the groups. Despite their similar styles they can have vastly diverse beliefs and values. I am going to focus on a particular group of Skinheads called SHARP which stands for Skinheads Against Racial prejudice. SHARP originated in New York in 1987 by Marcus Apaches to demonstrate that the skinhead subculture was not based on racist beliefs or political extremism. The SHARP subculture was spread to the I-J because of a sit by a member of the band The Oppressed who then began to support the SHARP morals to British skinheads. The SHARP subculture was then spread throughout Europe but took on a stance that was more founded upon the individual rather than the group as a whole. The core values and beliefs that the SHARP skinheads hold is a strong hatred for Nazism and Communism. They also embrace much value in the working class people, since they are from the working class community. But the main belief that unites all SHARP skinheads is the strong opposition to racism.The non-material culture that sakes the SHARP skinheads distinct form the mainstream culture is their strong beliefs in the anti-communism and anti-racist beliefs. The SHARPS have almost a extreme position against racism which makes them stand out in the fight against racism around the world. Some of the traditions or customs that the SHARP skinheads hold is the strong value in the working class people and members that are hard working. The symbols that certain versions of the SHARP skinheads wear proudly is a SHARP patch which distinguishes the anti- racist skinheads from racist skinheads.Also frequent gang wars between SHARP members and members of Nazi or racist skinheads are also a common way that the skinheads show their dominance and give themselves their own identity. The SHARP skinheads mores involve pride in being a working class citizen. There is often a difference between the amounts of hard work you do and how your status is in the SHARP group. There is a large quantity of pride held in this belief. Depending on the type or extremeness level of a particular SHARP group associating with other groups of skinheads is either acceptable or offensive.Also punk kids who might want to impersonate styles of even wear the same patch as the SHARPs is highly frowned upon. Mostly in Europe do the SHARP skinheads use the media to perpetuate their beliefs such as having interviews showed on major television channels and debates between different groups of skinheads or other social activists. SHARP skinheads can be very political and use T. V. , radio, and the internet to facilitate their beliefs and ideals. A typical member of the SHARP skinheads is apart of the working class as previously stated.They put a lot ride in their work and have a lot of satisfaction for doing it. They in general listen to a lot of anti-racist punk music, which is inspired by the SHARP movement such as The Oppressed and other varying punk bands and styles. They are also avid fighters, so it is regular for SHARP skinheads to get into many gang fights. This is also representative of the fight against racism as they fight groups that are pro-racism or are apart of the Neo-Nazi skinheads so they hold a lot of importance in these fights because they feel that they are literally fighting racism. Their appearance is very different of that of the mainstream culture but can often get caught up in the similar facade of different skinhead groups. There is very subtle differences between SHARP skinheads and other skinhead groups such as the width of the suspenders (the wider it is the more likely it is tattoo are racist skinhead). Also the way you wear your suspenders, such as on your shoulders or hanging down below the hips. The main identifier Of SHARP skinheads and other skinheads are the type of patches they were on their jackets which either has their name r the name of a band related to their group.With regard to the mainstream society view of SHARP skinheads most people have not even heard of this particular group. But when an average person hears the word skinhead they often think of the racist radicals or neo-Nazis. So SHARP skinheads often get caught up in this generalization despite the fact that they are very different. SHARP skinheads are very offended when they get caught up in the same cluster as the racist skinheads which happen more often than not. The SHARP skinheads are very unique group of the skinhead culture.It was particularly amazing to me the roots of the skinhead subculture and how it evolved and created sub-groups that were very different from each other and even fought with each other. Overall the skinhead culture reflects how societys groups have evolved into the variety of groups and cultures we have today which all originated from a similar group and culture. It just goes to show you how observing a recent part of history and groups can demonstrate to you how the world became the way it is now.

Khieng Ngoy Essays - Unidentified Flying Objects, Ufology

Khieng Ngoy Professor Lash Critical Thinking March 15, 1999 UFO PHENOMENONS Two brothers by the name of Jesse and John noticed an odd looking metallic structure down the hill near their house in Rogerville, Tennessee. When they turned around, a very tall slender humanoid-like being emitted a bright light from his stick and that's when he and his brother blacked out. When Jesse awoke, he found himself being carried through metal corridors, and then he was placed on a cold table. Although Jesse was able to observe the surroundings, he said he was also paralyzed (Confirmation). Do you believe this story to be true of false? This is just one of many astonishing stories that have been told. Since the words ?unidentified flying objects? were first used, there have been a few selected examples that can provide plausible proof for their existence. The history of UFOs and flying saucers surprisingly has been reported as early as 100 BC by Julius Obsequens. He was a 4th century Latin Poet who wrote, ?At sunset a circular object like a shield was seen to sweep across the sky from West to East? (Tracker 12). Strange sightings have been seen and written about but were never officially recorded as UFOs. In 1656, a Jesuit priest and scholar, Athanasius Kircher, wrote a book about two ?Angles? that accompanied him on an out-of-body travel to the moon, sun, and five planets (Fitzgerald 4). These are just a couple of examples of early phenomenon, but it was not until the middle of the 20th century that mankind finally had the technology to fly and create an Air Force. It was an Air Force department search team that reported a strange sighting over the mountain peaks near the northern Pacific. Kenneth Arnold, a businessman and a veteran pilot, saw nine objects flying around the peaks similar to saucer plates skipping across water. At the time of the sight, Kenneth Arnold was assisting the Air Force to search for a C-46 transport plane, which was reported to be missing. Reporters from all over the country received reports of the incident and consequently ran articles, which credited Arnold for the term ?flying saucers? (Hendry 12). This then created a domino effect with people throughout the country reporting to have seen UFOs. According to a 1978 Gallup Poll, 13 million Americans have encountered aerial objects that they could not identify (1). The complete book of UFOs stated that fifty percent of the American people think UFOs are real and that there are humanoid type beings like us that live on other plants in the universe (12). UFOs ?debunked? as identified flying objects (IFOs) like weather phenomenons, planets, stars, man-made aerial crafts, vivid imaginations, and if anything else hoaxes. The reason for the confusion between UFOs and IFOs is because scientists believe average people cannot tell the difference between the two or have the knowledge about astronomy. In the middle of the century, amidst the paranoia of the Cold War, people were frightful of spy-like air crafts and missiles from the other powering nations. Skeptics believe that this was the reason why it was known as the American ?quirk? (Hendry 7). Americans were searching and anticipating some sort of objects from the sky. This was about the same time our government began having secret test flights and nuclear bombings. If a person was at the right vicinity, some people did indeed witness unusual flying objects made by mankind for the government. Since the government wanted to conceal their project from the American people, common folks the refore could not conceive nor explain the strange technologies that the government tried to build. What people could not recognize were assumed as UFOs. From The UFO Handbook, most IFOs are just the stars and planets doing things in an unusual array of lights. Thirty-five percent of all IFO encounters are related to the illusions that stars and planets make under special circumstances. That is the reason why reported times are usually from dusk until dawn. Science contends that with the right angle of light source, and at a certain time of day, starlight can be refracted into a rapid sequence of colors. Astronomers claim that stars can be made to appear in motion due