This is a fun and comical vintage French TV commercial for Nescafé Cappuccino. The commercial plays perpetual stereotypes of the Italian man. This is a wonderful commercial for learning basic verbs. I highlight and translate all the verbs of interest.
text and translation
- Man: Mama mia, j’arrive!
Mama mia, I’m coming! - Lady: Monsieur.
Sir. - Man: Angelo.
Angelo. - Lady: Je crois que votre voiture est garée sur mon parking.
I think your car is parked in my spot. - Man: Attendez une minute. Asseyez-vous.
Wait one minute. Sit down. - Lady: Je n’ai pas le temps.
I don’t have the time. - Man: Allons juste un instant. Regardez-vous. Prenez un sachet. Vous ajoutez un peu d’eau chaude.
Let’s go, just one moment. Look, take a picket. You add some hot water. - Lady: Oui.
Yes. - Man: Vour tournez, regardez cette mousse! Voilà! Nescafé Cappuccino!
You turn. Look at this mousse! There! Nescafé Cappuccino! - Lady: Merci.
Thank you. - Man: Mais je vous en prie.
You’re welcome. - Lady: Et en ce qui concerne votre voiture?
And regarding your car? - Man: Mais je n’ai pas de voiture.
But I don’t have a car. - Narrator: Nescafé Cappuccino, la douceur à l’italienne.
Nescafé Cappuccino, Italian-style comfort.
vocabulary and grammar of interest
- arriver – means to arrive. J’arrive also translates to I’m coming!
- Je crois que – means I believe that. From the verb croire, to believe. Je pense que, from the verb penser means I think that.
- Asseyez-vous – from the verb s’assoir, to sit. This can also be written assoyez-vous.
- un sachet – sachet translates to small packet. Sachet also means tea bag.
- ajoutez – from ajouter, to add.
- eau chaude – normally we associate the word chaud (hot) with the weather – il fait chaud (it’s hot out). Here chaud takes an -e as an adjective since eau (water) is feminine.
- je vous en prie – polite way of saying de rien, your welcome.
- ce qui concerne – means concerning or regarding.
- je n’ai pas de voiture – great example of the “pas de” rule. Je n’ai pas une voiture would be wrong. You must say “je n’ai pas de + noun”. This lesson on indefinite articles covers this rule.
