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_uc

Canadian vs European French (self.maydaylapprendre)

submitted 1 year ago by _uc to c/maydaylapprendre

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Learning French in Europe I got told my accent was Parisian when in Montreal(I think they meant European, not ‘good’. but I’ll take it over English lol).

I’m curious about how Canadian French / European French view each others language, and how that compares to American / British English

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[–] fresh 4 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Not a native speaker, but Quebecois, especially spoken, can involve pretty deep differences in grammar and syntax. Much more than the difference between British and American English.

Example:

Contractions: "M'va le mettre s'a table." = "Je vais le mettre sur la table."

Shortenings: "J'avais plus de nourriture faque chui allé à l'épicerie." = "J'avais plus de nourriture donc je suis allé au marché."

Question particle: "Il veut-tu quelque chose à manger?" = "Veut-il quelque chose à manger?"

I think it's closer to African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or Scots. Most people who speak AAVE/Scots can code switch to standard British or American English, but not vice versa. Some people even seem to hold similar class and discriminatory connotations, unfortunately.

[–] FeatherConstrictor 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hey not to be too particular but shouldn't

"J'avais plus de nourriture donc je suis allé au marché."

Be "Je n'avais plus de nourriture donc je suis allé au marché"?

[–] fresh 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Technically yes, but in spoken french the "ne" is often elided. "Je l'ai pas lu" is perfectly normal spoken French.

To disambiguate between "ne plus" and "plus", the "s" at the end isn't pronounced in the negative, and is pronounced in the positive.

[–] FeatherConstrictor 1 points 1 year ago

Wow I had no idea :) been french immersion since I was in preschool, but these are the things you usually only learn by immersing yourself in spoken language with native speakers. Thanks for the tip!