As you like it

Here are two phrases we revised this week:

   Without doing something = sans + infinitive

Examples:
without speaking                    =   sans parler
without eating                       =   sans manger
without drinking                     =   sans boire
without doing the washing up =   sans faire la vaisselle

If you remember, this phrase is repeated to great effect in the Jacques Prévert poem, Déjeuner du Matin.

Sans, meaning 'without' is an archaic English word most famously used in the 'All the world's a stage' soliloquy from Shakespeare's 'As you like it'.

"Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste sans, everything"

(William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II Scene VII)

N.B. Words in dark red are hyperlinks and if you click on them you will be taken to the relevant internet page. 

 
Before doing something = avant de + infinitive

Examples:

before reading    =   avant de lire

before speaking  =   avant de parler

before going out =   avant de sortir

When you use reflexive verbs, remember to change the reflexive pronoun e.g.me, te, se, etc.) to match the subject eg. je, tu, il, elle etc.

Examples:

avant de me coucher, j'ai regardé la télé 

before going to bed, I watched t.v. 

avant de te coiffer, tu as cherché le miroir

before doing your hair, you looked for the mirror

avant de se lever, il a regarde son réveil 

before getting up, he looked at his alarm clock

Je suis allé au travail sans me changer

I went to work without getting changed

Tu t'es couché sans te brosser les dents

You went to bed without brushing your teeth

Elle est sorti sans se maquiller

She went out without putting on her make up