6.12 At the bank — Epoché
What you will be able to do Open a bank account, with the identity and address documents a French bank asks for. Withdraw cash, find a cash machine, and ask for your balance. Pay by card, in cash and by bank transfer, and understand le RIB , the slip that carries your account details. Report a lost card or a stolen wallet, and ask about fees. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Je dois retirer un peu de liquide à la banque. [1] I have to withdraw some cash from the bank. Je n'ai pas d'argent liquide. Est-ce que je peux faire un chèque ? [2] I haven't got any cash. Can I write a cheque? Je n'ai ni carte de crédit ni compte bancaire. [3] I don't have a credit card or a bank account. Je ne peux pas retirer de l'argent de la banque aujourd'hui. [4] I can't get my money out of the bank today. J'aimerais ouvrir un compte d'épargne. [5] I'd like to open a savings account. Nous devons déterminer si nous avons assez d'argent pour faire ça. [6] We have to figure out whether we have enough money to do that. Avez-vous reçu le chèque ? [7] Did you get the check? Prerequisites : 6.11 — this lesson follows 6.11 Conversation . You need numbers and money from 5.5 Vocabulary and the conditional for requests from 4.15 Grammar : je voudrais , j'aimerais . A French bank account is the key to everything else: the rent is paid from it, the salary is paid into it, and the electricity company, the telephone company and the tax office all want its details. Opening one is usually the first administrative task of a new resident, and it brings its own vocabulary, from le compte courant to le RIB . This lesson covers the bank counter and the cash machine in four exchanges built from corpus sentences. Who is speaking to whom At the bank you say vous to everyone, and your adviser, le conseiller or la conseillère , says vous to you. French banks assign each customer a named adviser, and you will often deal with the same person for years; the relationship stays formal even so. Requests are made with the conditional, je voudrais or j'aimerais , which is the normal politeness of any service counter. The cash machine, of course, says vous as well. Banking in France The current account. Le compte courant is the everyday account; le compte d'épargne is a savings account. Opening a current account requires a proof of identity and a proof of address, un justificatif de domicile , usually a recent bill. The RIB. Le RIB , relevé d'identité bancaire , is a slip with your account number, in the international IBAN format, and your name. Landlords, employers and utility companies ask for it, and you can download it from your online banking. Cards and cash. The usual card is a debit card, still often called la carte bleue after an old brand. Cash machines are les distributeurs ; banks also use the abbreviation le DAB , distributeur automatique de billets . Cheques are still used in France, far more than in Britain. Exchange one — opening an account Je voudrais ouvrir un compte courant. [8] I would like to open a checking account. Puis-je voir une pièce d'identité ? [9] Can I see some ID? Voici mon passeport. [10] This is my passport. Créez un compte d'épargne. [11] Create a savings account. Un compte courant is the American checking account of the gloss, the British current account . The adviser's last line is a suggestion in the imperative: banks like to sell a savings account with the current one. L'épargne , savings , comes from épargner , to save money, and also to spare someone. Exchange two — cash J'aimerais retirer de l'argent. [12] I'd like to withdraw money. Où est le distributeur ? [13] Where is the bank machine? J'ai oublié mon code PIN. [14] I've forgotten my PIN. Je voudrais déterminer mon solde bancaire. [15] I'd like to find out my bank balance. J'aimerais changer de l'argent. [16] I'd like to change some money. Retirer de l'argent is to withdraw money; the same verb also means to take off a piece of clothing, as in retirer sa veste . Le code PIN is often just le code . Le solde is the balance of an account; in the plural, les soldes are the sales in shops, which is a different word in practice. Déterminer mon solde is stiff; at the counter people more often say je voudrais connaître mon solde . Exchange three — paying Je paye par carte de crédit. [17] I pay by credit card. Je paie en espèces. [18] I am paying with cash. J'ai signé le chèque. [19] I signed the cheque. Nous effectuerons le paiement par virement bancaire. [20] We will make the payment by bank transfer. The ways of paying take par or en : par carte and par chèque , but en espèces or en liquide . A bank transfer is un virement ; for regular payments like rent, you set up un virement permanent , a standing order. Je paye and je paie are both correct spellings, as you saw with essayer . Exchange four — problems and fees J'ai perdu ma carte de crédit. [21] I've lost my credit card. On m'a volé mon portefeuille. [22] Someone stole my wallet. Sans frais. [23] No charge. D'autres frais peuvent s'appliquer. [24] Other fees may apply. If your card is lost or stolen, you call the bank's emergency line at once to stop it: faire opposition is the technical term. On m'a volé mon portefeuille is the active construction with on that 4.20 Grammar recommended for English passives: my wallet has been stolen . Les frais are fees or charges; sans frais is free of charge . New words Six words of the bank. Word Meaning Notes la banque fr bank Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs A river bank is la rive . La banque est-elle ouverte ? [25] Is the bank open? le distributeur fr cash machine; vending machine Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Any dispensing machine; for cash, also le DAB . Le distributeur est hors service. [26] The vending machine is out of order. le solde fr balance Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs Plural les sold