2.9.2 Au musée
In our example, the museum had four floors. Au rez-de-chaussée (ground floor) means literally ‘at the same level as the carriageway’. Some buildings will also have a rez-de-jardin when the rear of the building is lower than the front and level with the garden. If the building only had two floors, we could say ‘upstairs’ and ‘downstairs’.
Activité 46
Listen to Extract 67 again and say the questions out loud at the same time as the recorded voice. Remember to vary your pitch.
Reécoutez l'extrait.
Transcript: Audio 29b
Posez les questions au robot.
Answer
Check your answers against the audio and in the transcript.
Making liaisons with words beginning with ‘h’
You may have noticed the pronunciation of the words en haut at the end of Extract 67. The letter ‘h’ plays a special role in the pronunciation of French words. Sometimes it is sounded and sometimes not. For example a word like heure is treated as though it actually began with the letters ‘eu’ pronounced as [ŒR]. Consequently in combinations like trois heures, deux hommes etc., the last consonant of the first word is sounded – in this case as [z] – to link it to the second word and make a liaison (see Making Liasons).