Here’s some random French I overheard today in Montréal while out.
All of these examples of French were said by a group of three women in their 60s in the seating area of a public space.
1. Y’a une place icitte.
There’s a place (to sit) here.
Y’a is an informal pronunciation of il y a. Icitte means ici and is often heard at the informal level of language.
2. Amène une chaise.
Bring a chair. Get a chair.
The verb amener is used here to tell someone to bring something. There’s another example of this below.
3. Qu’est-ce tu veux?
What d’you want?
Qu’est-ce sounds like kess. Dropping que here (qu’est-ce tu veux instead of qu’est-ce que tu veux) is an informal usage.
4. Amène-moi un biscuit.
Bring me a cookie.
Here’s another example of the verb amener. The woman who said this yelled it out to her friend who was ordering food.
5. A s’en vient.
She’s coming.
You’ll often hear elle pronounced informally as a, like the a in ma, ta or la. The verb s’en venir is frequently used: je m’en viens, I’m coming; tu t’en viens, you’re coming; y s’en vient, he’s coming; y s’en viennent, they’re coming.
One of the three women said this as her friend was coming back to their table after ordering food.
