I remember once getting to the counter in the post office and having a sudden panic over whether it was un timbre or une timbre, so I asked for deux timbres pour l'europe SVP, on the basis that the second one was bound to come in handy one day. But you can't stockpile baguettes, they don't keep well

PS to answer the question, are you sure that rather than correcting you, they're not simply repeating the number to check that they've heard right and you didn't say "deux"? It is definitely "une baguette"...

 

it's definitely une baguette....all the words that end with -ette are feminine

 

...but there must be an exception? There is always an exception!

DejW

 

How fun. Yes, of course, it is a feminine noun and the grammar must agree. And my enunciation is often barbaric when under such pressures.

But is it possible I am being instructed to request "one" (un baguette) versus "a" (une baguette)?

Since I'm trying to lose a few lbs by going easy on the breads and pastries, I've recently requested... "demi-baguette s'il vous plait." Avoids the problem entirely... unless I want to two demi-baguettes.

 

But is it possible I am being instructed to request "one" (un baguette) versus "a" (une baguette)?

I still think they are just repeating the number. As you do in a shop, to make sure you heard correctly and you're not giving the customer one when they asked for three. If you said "deux" they would probably repeat "Deux?" - but it would be less confusing because "deux" does not vary.

Of course, one would still ask for "une demi-baguette"... literally "a half-stick" instead of "half a stick"

 

There is something about the way we anglo-saxons say "un" that French people interpret as "deux" for some reason. I think it confuses them if you use the masculine form of the number one for a noun that should take feminine. But I've had shop keepers hear "2" when I've said "un." "Une" doesn't cause that problem.
Cheers,
Bev

 

The way people "hear" can be funny. What is really funny is that in English - my name is Karen. Over the phone - many, many people think I am saying Sharon. Now a hard K does not sound like a sh in any way, but it happens quite often. I also think we may be in panic mode when ordering/speaking and speak softly or mumble.

 

"One" baguette and "a" baguette are the same: une baguette.

 

In a similar vein, has anyone else had trouble indicating with your fingers "how many?" The conventions are different between the French and the US (I suspect the UK, too).

Do you indicate "1" by holding up your "pointer finger" or your thumb? Or "2" by giving the "two finger salute" or by holding up your thumb and pointer finger? I've seen that go awry any number of times in the shops.
Cheers,
Bev

 

I simply don't do it - it's too fraught (even between anglophone countries), especially if you've lived in a multicultural country like Australia where you would take an enormous risk of offending someone.

 

Oh, today we were playing a "Christmas word game" at a little Christmas party for our English language group. One of the ladies there (French) fancies herself quite the English expert - but we got to the word "mistletoe" which she insisted was pronounced "missle-too." Someone finally asked, "toe, like 'orteil?'"

And it's going to be a LONG 5 years if Fillon is elected - because the French insist on calling his (Welsh) wife "penn-a-loap" (her name is Penelope). All the news sources here insist that the newspaper in the UK is "ze gwardian" rather than the Guardian.
Cheers,
Bev

 

the French insist on calling his (Welsh) wife "penn-a-loap" (her name is Penelope).

Do you know I read that, and I thought Well that's right isn't it, what's Bev on about? how else can you pronounce Penelope?
Then got my brain back in gear. It's been a long day.
Then I thought, she needs to chum up to the media and get herself known as Penny, it would be easier... and then I thought - oh no no no, poor lass, you can't call her Péni ...

 

Honestly, when it comes to things like this and I don't know the gender of the noun, I just ask the shopkeeper or the boulanger/boucher/etc. They are always nice to me about it, and don't seem to care that I sometimes lose track.

On the une/un baguette front, of course, it's une. But, there was a man on the radio recently who was saying he never knew if it was une or un (he was American), so he just resorted to always asking for deux baguette because he didn't want to embarrass himself. It was pretty funny listening to him recount the story

 

to dejw, yes always exceptions, squelette

 

So what is the proper "one" in France? Pointer finger or thumb?

 

It may vary by region (as does everything else here), but I've seen the pointer finger taken as "2" any time the thumb is not firmly wrapped around the remaining fingers. So I suspect using the thumb is "safer."
Cheers,
Bev

 

When learning French at school, we never pronounced the "e" in une, rouge etc. Since living here I've learned that you do pronounce the "e" at the end of some words, so une = un-ugh, rouge = roug-ugh. Does this apply to all French words which end with an e and is it just in the area where I live?

 

It depends. (Hm, how many times have we heard that response?)

The e may be pronounced for emphasis, or in poetry or songs. But normally the e at the end of the word serves to affect the pronunciation of the letters around it (for example, whether you make the elision with the next word or not) especially when you need/want to clarify the gender of the word or the noun to which the adjective refers.
Cheers,
Bev

 

I took a tour in Paris once and the tour guide put a "ugh" sound wherever the English word ended in a silent e and other places. Drove me crazy for hours! Now I kinda understand why - she must be from a region that pronounces and lengthens the final silent e.

 

Not necessarily -- it depends on the way French divides syllables, especially consonant clusters. In a word like "communism" English will insert a schwa (the "uh" sound) between the "s" and the "m" because English phonological evolution tends towards words ending in consonant sounds -- French will place the schwa after the "m" instead.

 

Got it. And thanks EverHopeful for the tip regarding the number 1/indef article usage... that helps explains things.

From now I'll march proudly to my boulangerie and order "une baguette bien cuit, svp" with utmost confidence.

 

And just to put the icing on the cake (joke - cake - bread shop )
"une baguette bien cuite SVP"
Baguette=feminine, so the adjective also should be feminine, so basically the difference is that you sound the "t" at the end, "kweet" (or "kweet-ugh" if you live near EH). Which maybe you would have done anyway. (As opposed to "un pain bien cuit", "pain" is masculine so no "e" on cuit so you would pronounce it "kwee" without the "t".)

 

I read somewhere that, for non-French speaking individuals: "indeed it is possible to learn French... only the first 10 years are difficult."

Think I'll watch, Les Vacances de Mr. Bean" again.

 

Oh, I've lost count of the times when I've had something similar happen - with my French husband, his family, the local shopkeepers, doctors, dentist, etc. etc. They seemingly can't make any sense of what I just said, and after I try to explain, they say, "oh, you mean [whatever I thought I had said]." When I later asked DH what he thought I had said, he always replies, "oh, I can't remember, but it wasn't [exact same thing I thought I had said]."

Some things just aren't worth worrying about....
Cheers,
Bev

 

Oh, I've lost count of the times when I've had something similar happen - with my French husband, his family, the local shopkeepers, doctors, dentist, etc. etc. They seemingly can't make any sense of what I just said, and after I try to explain, they say, "oh, you mean [whatever I thought I had said]." When I later asked DH what he thought I had said, he always replies, "oh, I can't remember, but it wasn't [exact same thing I thought I had said]."

Some things just aren't worth worrying about....
Cheers,
Bev