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Clarify a French question: which city do you mean?

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Practise French clarification phrases for a question about two cities. Ask which place and period the speaker means, then give a relevant short answer.

In short

Name the two possible places: Vous parlez de Nantes ou de Lyon ? If the time is unclear, ask Vous voulez dire maintenant ou quand j’étais enfant ? Answer after the other person identifies the place and period.

Yellow the idea to rememberBlue French to learn

Your role: Lina
PlaceTimeDetail you can use
LyonChildhoodYou went to a park with your father on Sundays.
NantesYour home for two yearsYou enjoy walking beside the river after work.
1

Two places have just been mentioned

The short follow-up leaves two possible references.

YouQuand j’étais enfant, j’habitais à Lyon. Maintenant, j’habite à Nantes.As a child, I lived in Lyon. Now I live in Nantes.
PartnerEt votre ville, vous l’aimez ?And your city, do you like it?
YouVous parlez de Nantes, où j’habite maintenant, ou de Lyon ?Do you mean Nantes, where I live now, or Lyon?
PartnerDe Nantes.Nantes.
YouOui, j’aime y vivre. Je peux me promener au bord de la rivière après le travail.Yes, I like living there. I can walk beside the river after work.
2

The partner chooses the childhood city

Use this branch when the reply points back to Lyon.

PartnerJe parle de Lyon, quand vous étiez enfant.I mean Lyon, when you were a child.
YouD’accord. Le dimanche, j’allais au parc avec mon père. J’aimais beaucoup ces promenades.All right. On Sundays I used to go to the park with my father. I really liked those walks.
3

Check the period or ask for repetition

Choose the question that fills the actual gap.

YouVous voulez dire maintenant ou quand j’étais enfant ?Do you mean now or when I was a child?
PartnerMaintenant, dans votre quartier à Nantes.Now, in your neighbourhood in Nantes.
YouPouvez-vous répéter la fin de la question, s’il vous plaît ?Could you repeat the end of the question, please?
PartnerJe vous demande ce que vous aimez dans votre quartier.I am asking what you like about your neighbourhood.

Four things Lina can describe

Y in j’aime y vivre means “there”: the city just identified. For a former routine, j’allais and j’aimais put the answer in the past. Asking which city and asking for repetition solve different problems: one identifies the subject, the other lets you hear the words again.

Question 1No account needed
Both cities have just been mentioned. Which question identifies the subject?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Vous parlez de Nantes ou de Lyon ?. Naming the two cities asks the speaker to identify the intended place.

Question 2No account needed
The partner says “Lyon, when you were a child”. Which answer fits?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Le dimanche, j’allais au parc avec mon père.. The childhood routine answers the clarified question about Lyon.

Question 3No account needed
What does the first partner reply “De Nantes” establish?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Which city the question concerns. The reply identifies the place; Lina then gives her own opinion.

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