Common French Phrases

Common French Phrases To keep up a conversation in any foreign language, its important to familiarize yourself with common phrases and expressions. Odds are that theyll come up more often than not. In French, some of the most common phrases, like pas de problà ¨me (no problem) are similar if not identical to their English equivalent. These expressions are usually taught in class and tend to be relatively easy for students to grasp and recall. Not all common French phrases are simple. A good example of a more confusing expression is revenons   nos  moutons, which directly translates to lets get back to our sheep but actually means  lets get back to the subject at hand. Expressions like these are often used conversationally amongst native French speakers but are often neglected in classrooms. Whether youre planning your first trip to a French-speaking country or you just want to improve your speaking skills, here is a list of common phrases (both simple and more elaborate) that are essential to keep the conversation going.   Affirmatives and Agreements en effet:  indeed, thats rightpas de problà ¨me:  no problemtant mieux:  its just as well, even bettertout   fait:  absolutely, exactlybien  entendu:  of course, obviouslybien  sà »r:  of courseà §a  marche:  that worksà §a  mest  Ãƒ ©gal:  its all the same to me   Courtesies and Salutations la  và ´tre!:  cheers!  tes  souhaits:  bless youBon  anniversaire!:  Happy birthday!Bon  appà ©tit!:  Enjoy your meal!à §a va (?):  hows it going?, Im finede rien:  youre welcomegrà ¢ce :  thanks tosi ce nest pas indiscret:  if its not too personal a questionsi tu veux:  if you willtiens:  here you go, there you are Causality, Comparison, and Condition cause de:  because of, due to la fois:  at the same timeau fur et mesure:  as, whileau lieu de:  instead of, rather than​avoir lair (de):  to look (like)du coup:  as a result la  limite:  at most, in a pinch   la  rigueur:  or even, if need be   peine:  hardlyau  cas  oà ¹:  just in caseau fait:  by the wayvisvis (de):  facing, in relation to Debate and Discussion mon avis:  in my opinionah bon (?):  oh really? I seeau contraire:  on the contrary  dailleurs:  moreover, might I adda priori:  at first glance, in principleen  fait:  in factentendre dire  que:  to hear (it said) thatentendre  parler  de:  to hear (someone talk) aboutpar  contre:  whereas, on the other handpar  exemple:  for  example, such as; oh my, well really!revenons   nos  moutons:  lets get back to the subject at hand Duration and Time peu prà ¨s:  about, approximately, nearlydu jour  au  lendemain:  overnighten retard:  lateentre  chien  et loup:  at dusk, twilightfaire  le  pont:  to make it a long weekend  Ã‚  tout  Ã‚  lheure:  in a moment, a moment agotout   coup:  all of a suddentout de suite:  right away, immediately Exclamations and Expressions allons-y!:  lets go! la franà §aise:  in the French style or manner la une:  front page newsà §a alors:  how about that, my goodnesscestdire:  that is, i.e., I meancest  parti:  here we go, and were off  ce  nest  pas grave:  it doesnt matter, no problemdis  donc  / dites  donc:  wow, by the wayenfin:  well, I meanet  jen  passe:  and  thats not allet  patati  et  patata:  and  so on and so forthfais  gaffe:  watch out, be carefulfais  voir:  let me seefigure-toi:  guess what, get thisfin:  well, I mean  il y a  quelque  chose  qui  cloche:  somethings amissJarrive!:  Im on my way!je  taime:  I love youon  ne  sait  jamais:  you never know  Vive la  France!:  Long live France!plus à §a change...:  the more things change...mà ©tro,  boulot, dodo: the rat racetu  connais  la  musique:  you know the routinetu  mà ©tonnes:  tell me something I dont knowdu loup: speak of the devilvoil: there is, thats it Negatives and Disagreements à §a  ne  fait  rien:  never mind, it doesnt mattercest  pas  vrai!:  no way!  Jen  peux  plus:  I cant take (it)  anymore  Je  nen  reviens  pas:  I cant believe it  Je  ny  peux  rien:  Theres nothing I can do about it.  Je  ny  suis  pour  rien:  Its got nothing to do with menimporte  quoi:  whateveroh l l:  oh dear, oh nopas  du tout:  not at all  pas terrible:  not that great, nothing specialrien  Ã‚  voir:  nothing to do withtant  pis:  oh well, too bad, tough  tu  connais  la  musique:  you know the routinetu  mà ©tonnes:  tell me something I dont know Quantity/Amount de trop:  too much/manydu  tout:  not/none  at all  il y a:  there is, there are Questions nest-ce  pas?:  right? isnt that so?On y  va?:  Shall we go? Ready?tu te  rends  compte?:  can you imagine?ah bon?:  oh really?à §a va?:  hows it going?

How to Distill Ethanol or Grain Alcohol

How to Distill Ethanol or Grain Alcohol Ethanol is also called ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol. Its made from a fermented mixture of corn, yeast, sugar, and water. The resulting alcohol is 100 to 200 proof (200 proof is pure alcohol). In addition to use in the lab, ethanol is a popular fuel alternative and gasoline additive. Because it is flammable, ethanol can be prohibitively expensive to ship, so it may make sense to distill your own. Anyone can have a still, but be advised you may need to get a permit in order to make ethanol. Difficulty: Easy Time Required: 3 - 10 days, sometimes longer How-To Steps If you are starting with whole corn, you first need to convert the cornstarch into sugar by sprouting the corn. Place the corn in a container, cover it with warm water, and drape a cloth over the container to prevent contamination and conserve heat. Ideally, the container will have a slowly draining hole at the bottom. Add warm water from time to time as the liquid level falls. Maintain the setup ~3 days or until the corn has sprouts about 2 inches long.Allow the sprouted corn to dry. Then grind it into meal. Alternatively, start with cornmeal. Other grains can be prepared in much the same way (e.g. rye mash).Mash or mush is made by adding boiling water to the corn meal. The mash is kept warm to start the fermentation process. Yeast is added, if available (half pound yeast per 50 gallons of mash, for example), and sugar (variable recipe). With yeast, fermentation takes about 3 days. Without yeast, fermentation could require more than 10 days. The mash is ready to run once it stops bu bbling. The mash has been converted into carbonic acid and alcohol. It is called wash or beer or sour mash. The wash is placed into a cooker, which has a lid that is pasted shut so that it has a seal which can be blown off should internal pressure become too great. At the top of the cooker, there is a copper pipe or arm that projects to one side and tapers down from a 4-5 inch diameter to the same diameter as the worm (1 to 1-1/4 inch). The worm could be made by taking a 20 ft length of copper tubing, filling it with sand and stopping the ends, and then coiling it around a fence post.The sand prevents the tubing from kinking while being coiled. Once the worm is formed, the sand is flushed out of the tube. The worm is placed in a barrel and sealed to the end of the arm. The barrel is kept full of cold, running water, to condense the alcohol. Water runs in the top of the barrel and out an opening at the bottom. A fire is maintained under the cooker to vaporize the alcohol in the wash.The ethanol vaporizes at 173Â °F, which is the target temperature for the mixture. The spirit will rise to t he top of the cooker, enter the arm, and will be cooled to the condensation point in the worm. The resulting liquid is collected at the end of the worm, traditionally into glass jars. This fluid will be translucent, and about the color of dark beer. The very first liquid contains volatile oil contaminants in addition to alcohol. After that, liquid is collected. The containers of liquid collected from over the wash are called singlings. Liquid collected toward the end of this run is called low wine. Low wine can be collected and returned to the still to be cooked again. The initial collections are higher proof than those collected as the distillation progresses.The singlings tend to have impurities and require double-distillation, so once the low wine has been run to the point where a tablespoon or so thrown on a flame wont burn (too low proof), the heat is removed from the still and the cooker is cleaned out. The liquid remaining in the still, the backings or slop, can be recovered and poured over new grain (and sugar, water, and possibly malt) in a mash barrel for future distillations. Discard mash after no more than eight uses.The singlings are poured into the cooker and the still is returned to operation. The initial collecti ons can approach pure alcohol (200 proof), with the end collections, using the flash test on the flame, at about 10 proof. The desired proof depends on the application. The highest proof usually obtained from a still is 190 proof. For using alcohol as a fuel alternative, for example, addition purification with a sieve may be required to obtain 200 proof ethanol. Tips If you live in the United States, a permit may be required in order to legally distill ethanol.Stills traditionally were operated close to a water source, like a stream or river, because the cool water was used to condense the alcohol in the tubing (called the worm)Stills needed to have removable tops so that they wouldnt explode when pressure built up from heating the mash. What You Need 25 lb corn meal or 25 lb shelled whole corn100 lb sugar (sucrose)100 gallons water6 oz yeast