French Royal Canin TV Commercial

By • June 9, 2020

Fun French TV commercial for Royal Canin dog food from the 1980s. Lots of interesting grammar usage here including usage of the infinitive mood, savoir vs. connaître and well as indirect object pronouns. Oh, by the day, the dog in the commercial is very cool!

text and translation

  • Respecter un chien, c’est connaître sa vraie nature.
    Respecting a dog is to know his true nature.
  • Savoir qu’il a besoin d’exercise, de liberté, et d’équilibre.
    To know that he needs exercise, freedom and balance.
  • Avec Royal Canin, vous donnez votre chien une alimentation complète et adaptée qui lui fournit toutes les protéines et vitamines necessaires à sa vitalité.
    With Royal Canin, you give your dog a complete and suitable diet, that gives him all the protein and vitamins necessary for his vitality.
  • Royal Canin, le vrai respect du chien.
    Royal Canin, real respect for dogs.

vocabulary and grammar of interest

  • Respecter un chien – This is a usage of the infinitive mood, starting a sentence with an infinitive. This would translate to respecting in English.
  • connaître sa vraie nature – Using connaitre here as opposed to savoir because connaître means to know in the sense of being familiar with or understanding on a deep level.
  • Savoir qu’il a besoin – Using savoir here here because it’s followed by que. You cannot follow connaître by que. Here’s a complete lesson on savoir vs connaître.
  • une alimentation – Translates to diet, nutrition, eating and drinking.
  • adapté (adj) – Translates to suitable, fitting or appropriate.
  • qui lui fournit – Using lui here shows that fournir is indirect and therefore followed by à. Fournir quelque chose à quelqu’un. Here’s a full lesson on indirect object pronouns.
  • le respect – Cut the pronunciation short on the e and pronounce it “ay”. Le resp-ay. The same goes for the word l’aspect.

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David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.