Check out the text on this sign in a Montréal street promoting a beer:
Pas besoin d’avoir 56 sortes de verres, est bonne direct dans bouteille.
No need for 56 kinds of glasses, it’s good straight from the bottle.
Hmm. Aren’t there are few words missing in the French text?
Why does it say est bonne instead of elle est bonne? Where’s the subject?
And why does it say dans bouteille instead of dans la bouteille? Where did the la go?
Did they run out of room on the sign? No, it’s got nothing to do with that.
The authors have chosen to use an informal style of French here. It sounds the way someone might say it in a real conversation.
elle est bonne
‘est bonne (informal usage)
dans la bouteille
dans’ bouteille (informal usage)
What’s going on in those informal versions? Contractions, that’s what!
When elle and est come together, you’ll notice they sometimes contract to ‘est. It sounds like è.
Similarly, when dans and la come together, you’ll notice they tend to contract to dans’.
T’es dans’ marde!
[tu es dans la marde]
You’re screwed now!
Y m’a ri dans’ face.
[il m'a ri dans la face]
He laughed in my face.
‘Est don’ ben belle.
[elle est donc bien belle]
She’s so pretty.
There’s one more bit of text down at the bottom of the sign:
La bière sérieuse qui se prend pas au sérieux.
A serious beer that doesn’t take itself seriously.
