Learn French

Classroom - French, Learn French / By Vaikundamoni

 French Articles

Articles are small words that you use only with nouns. They both present a noun and indicate the gender and number of a noun. French has definite, indefinite, and partitive articles. The following sections describe these three types of articles and identifies when and how you should use them in your French writing and speech. Definite articles indicate that the noun they’re presenting is specific. In English, the definite article is the. French has three different definite articles, which tell you that the noun is masculine, feminine, or plural. If the noun is singular, the article is le (for masculine nouns) or la (for feminine nouns). If the noun is plural, the article is les no matter what gender the noun is. If a singular noun begins with a vowel or mute h, the definite article le or la contracts to l’, as in l’ami (the friend) and l’homme (the man).

Indefinite articles refer to an unspecific noun. The English indefinite articles are a and an. French has three indefinite articles — un (for masculine nouns),une (for feminine nouns), and des (for masculine or feminine plural nouns). Which one you use depends on the noun’s gender and number. You use the indefinite article in basically the same way in French and English — to refer to an unspecific noun, as in J’ai acheté une voiture (I bought a car) or Je veux voir un film (I want to see a movie). Note that un and une can also mean one: J’ai un frère (I have one brother). Des is the plural indefinite article, which you use for two or more masculine and/or feminine nouns: J’ai des idées (I have some ideas). When you make a sentence with an indefinite article negative, the article changes to de, meaning (not) any.

• J’ai des questions. (I have some questions.)
• Je n’ai pas de questions. (I don’t have any questions.)

Partitive articles

Partitive articles are used with things that you take only part of. They don’t exist in English, so the best translation is the word some. There are, once again, three partitive articles, depending on whether the noun is masculine (du), feminine (de la), or plural (des). You use the partitive article with food, drink, and other uncountable things that you take or use only a part of, like air and money, as well as abstract things, such as intelligence and patience. If you do eat or use all of something, and if it is countable, then you need the definite or indefinite article. Compare the following:

• Je veux du gâteau. (I want some cake — just a piece or two.)
• Je veux le gâteau. (I want the cake — the whole one.)
• Je veux un gâteau. (I want a cake — for my birthday party.)

When a singular noun begins with a vowel or mute h, the partitive article du or de la contracts to de l’, as in de l’eau (some water) and de l’hélium (some helium). Partitive Articles Use the partitive article to expresses that you want part of a whole (some or any), to ask for an indefinite quantity (something that is not being counted). Before a noun, the partitive is generally expressed by de + the definite article. Note that de + le contract to become du and de + les contract to become des, as shown in Table 1. Note the following about the use of the partitive article: Although the partitive some or any may be omitted in English, it may not be omitted in French and must be repeated before each noun. Il prend des cèrèales et du lait. (He’s having cereal and milk.) In a negative sentence, the partitive some or any is expressed by de or d’ without the article. Je ne mange jamais de fruits. (I never eat any fruits.) Je n’ai pas d’amis. (I don’t have any friends.) Before a singular adjective preceding a singular noun, the partitive is expressed with or without the article. C’est de (du) bon gâteau. (That’s good cake.) Before a plural adjective preceding a plural noun, the partitive is expressed by de alone. Ce sont de bons èlèves. (They are good students.) Certain nouns and adverbs of quantity are followed by the partitive article de ( d’ before a vowel). The following nouns and adverbs of quantity are followed by de + definite article: la plupart (most) bien (a good many) la majoritè (the majority) la plus grande partie (the majority) La plupart des gens aiment ce film. (Most people like this movie.) The adjectives plusieurs (several) and quelques (some) modify the noun directly. J’adore plusieurs lègumes. (I like several vegetables.) Il achète quelques livres. (He is buying some books.) The partitive is not used with sans (without) and ne … ni … ni (neither … nor). Elle prendra du thè sans citron. (She’ll take tea without lemon.) Il ne boit ni cafè ni thè. (He doesn’t drink coffee or tea.)

Subject Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that is used to replace a noun (a person, place, thing, idea, or quality). Pronouns allow for fluidity by eliminating the need to constantly repeat the same noun in a sentence. A subject pronoun replaces a subject noun(the noun performing the action of the verb). Je Unlike the English pronoun “I,” the pronoun je is capitalized only when it begins a sentence. Je becomes j’ before a vowel or vowel sound ( y and unaspiratedh — meaning that no puff of air is emitted when producing the h sound):

• J’adore le français. (I love French.)
• Voilà où j’habite. (There’s where I live.)

Tu Tu is used to address one friend, relative, child, or pet and is referred to as the familiar form of “you.” The u from tu is never dropped for purposes of elision: Tu es mon meilleur ami. (You are my best friend.) Vous Vous is used in the singular to show respect to an older person or when speaking to a stranger or someone you do not know very well.Vous is the polite or formal form of “you:” Vous êtes un patron très respecté. (You are a very respected boss.) In addition, vous is always used when speaking to more than one person, regardless of the degree of familiarity. Il and elle Il (he) and elle (she) may refer to a person or to a thing (it):

• L’homme arrive. (The man arrives.) Il arrive. (He arrives.)
• Le colis arrive. (The package arrives.) Il arrive. (It arrives.)
• La dame arrive. (The lady arrives.) Elle arrive. (She arrives.)
• La lettre arrive. (The letter arrives.) Elle arrive. (It arrives.)

On On refers to an indefinite person: you, we, they, or people in general.On is often used in place of nous, such as in the following: on part(we’re leaving). Ils and elles Ils refers to more than one male or to a combined group of males and females, despite the number of each gender present. Elles refers only to a group of females.

• Anne et Luc partent. (Ann and Luke leave.) Ils partent. (They leave.)
• Anne et Marie partent. (Ann and Marie leave.) Elles partent. (They leave.)

Ce The pronoun ce (it, he, she, this, that, these, those), spelled c’ before a vowel, is most frequently used with the verb être (to be): c’est (it is) orce sont (they are). Ce replaces il, elle, ils, and elles as the subject of the sentence in the following constructions:

• Before a modified noun:C’est un bon avocat. (He’s a good lawyer.)

But, when unmodified, the following is correct: Il est avocat. (He’s a lawyer.)

• Before a name:C’est Jean. (It’s John.)
• Before a pronoun:C’est moi. (It is me.)
• Before a superlative:C’est le plus grand. (It’s the biggest.)
• In dates:C’est le dix mars.(It’s March 10th.)
• Before a masculine singular adjective that refers to a previously mentioned idea or action:Il est important. (He is important.) C’est évident. (That’s obvious).
• Before an adjective + à + infinitive (the form of any verb before it is conjugated): C’est bon à savoir. (That’s good to know.)

Use il in the following constructions:

• To express the hour of the day:Il est deux heures. (It’s 2 o’clock.)
• With an adjective + de + infinitive:Il est bon de manger. (It’s good to eat.)
• With an adjective before que: Il est important que je travaille. (It is important that I work.)

Using Object Pronouns

Object pronouns are used so that an object noun doesn’t have to be continuously repeated. This allows for a more free‐flowing conversational tone. When using object pronouns, make sure your conjugated verb agrees with the subject and not the object pronoun. Table 1 lists direct and indirect object pronouns. The forms me, te, se, nous, and vous are both direct, indirect object, and reflexive pronouns.

Direct object pronouns

Direct objects (which can be nouns or pronouns) answer the question as to whom or what the subject is acting upon. It may refer to people, places, things, or ideas. A direct object pronoun replaces a direct object noun and, unlike in English, is usually placed before the conjugated verb.

• Tu regardes le film. (You watch the movie.): Tu le regardes. (You watch it.)
• Je t’aime. (I love you.)
• Tu m’aimes. (You love me.)

Indirect object pronouns

Indirect objects (which can be nouns or pronouns) answer the question of to or for whom the subject is doing something. They refer only to people. An indirect object pronoun replaces an indirect object noun, and, unlike in English, is usually placed before the conjugated verb. As a clue, look for the preposition à (to, for), which may be in the form of au (the contraction of à + le) , à l’, à la, or aux (the contraction of à + les), followed by the name or reference to a person.

• Elle écrit à Jean. (She writes to John.): Elle lui écrit. (She writes to him.)
• Tu m’offres un sac à main. (You offer me a purse.)
• Je t’offre un sac à main. (I offer you a purse.)

Verbs that take an indirect object in English do not necessarily take an indirect object in French. The following verbs take a direct object in French:

• attendre (to wait for)
• chercher (to look for)
• écouter (to listen to)
• espérer (to hope for/to)
• faire venir (to call for)
• payer (to pay)

Verbs that take a direct object in English do not necessarily take a direct object in French. The following verbs take an indirect object in French because they are followed by à:

• convenir à (to suit)
• désobéir à (to disobey)
• faire honte à (to shame)
• faire mal à (to hurt)
• faire peur à (to frighten)
• obéir à (to obey)
• plaire à (to please)
• répondre à (to answer)
• ressembler à (to resemble)
• téléphoner à (to call)

The expression penser à (to think about) is followed by a stress pronoun; for example, Je pense à lui/elle. (I think about him/her). The following verbs require an indirect object because they are followed by à. Note the correct preposition to use before the infinitive of the verb.

• apprendre (teach) à quelqu’un à + infinitive
• enseigner (teach) à quelqu’un à + infinitive
• conseiller (advise) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• défendre (forbid) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• demander (ask) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• ordonner (order) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• pardonner (forgive) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• permettre (permit) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• promettre (promise) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• rappeler (remind) à quelqu’un de + infinitive
• reprocher (reproach) à quelqu’un de + infinitive

With the French verbs plaire (to please), falloir (to be necessary), and manquer (to miss), the French indirect object is the subject in the English sentence:

• Ce cadeau me plaît. (I like this gift. This gift is pleasing to me.)
• Il me faut un stylo. (I need a pen. A pen is necessary for me.)
• Tu me manques. (I miss you. I am missing to you.)

The adverbial pronoun (y) The adverbial pronoun y (pronounced ee) means “there” when the place has already been mentioned. Y can also mean “it,” “them,” “in it/them,” “to it/them,” or “on it/them.” Y usually replaces the preposition à + the noun object of the preposition, but it may also replace other prepositions of location or position, such as chez (at the house/business of) , dans (in) , en (in), sous (under), or sur (on) + noun:

• Je vais à Paris. (I’m going to Paris.) J’y vais. (I’m going there.)
• Il répond à la note. (He answers the note.) Il y répond. (He answers it.)
• Tu restes dans ton lit. (You stay in the hotel.) Tu y restes. (You stay in it.)

Y is used to replace de + noun only when de is part of a prepositional phrase showing location: L’hôtel est près de l’aéroport. (The hotel is near the airport.) L’hôtel y est. (The hotel is there.) Never use y to replace à + a person. Indirect object pronouns are used for this purpose: Je parle à Luc. (I speak to Luke.) Je lui parle. (I speak to him.) Sometimes y is used in French but is not translated into English: Il va au cinéma? (Is he going to the movies?) Oui, il y va. (Yes, he is.) The adverbial pronoun (en) The pronoun en refers to previously mentioned things or places. Enusually replaces de + noun and may mean some or any, of it/them, about it/them, from it/them, or from there:

• Je veux de la glace. (I want some ice cream.) J’en veux. (I want some [of it]).
• Tu ne bois pas de lait. (You don’t drink any milk.) Tu n’en bois pas. (You don’t drink any.)
• Il parle de l’examen. (He speaks about the test.) Il en parle. (He speaks about it.)
• Vous sortez du café. (You leave the cafe.) Vous en sortez. (You leave [from] it.)

En is always expressed in French even though it may have no Engish equivalent or is not expressed in English: As‐tu du temps? (Do you have any time?) Oui, j’en ai. (Yes, I do.) Note the following rules governing the use of en:

• En is used with idiomatic expressions requiringde.
  • J’ai besoin de film. (I need film.) J’en ai besoin. (I need some.)
• Enis used to replace a noun (de + noun) after a number or a noun or adverb of quantity.
  • Je prépare six gâteaux. (I’m preparing six cakes.) J’en prépare six. (I’m preparing six [of them].)
  • Tu bois une tasse de thé. (You drink a cup of tea.) Tu en bois. (You drink a cup [of it].)
• Enonly refers to people when de means some. In all other cases (when de + a noun mean “of” or “about” a person), a stress pronoun is used.
  • I have a lot of sons. (J’ai beaucoup de fils.) I have a lot of them. (J’en ai beaucoup.)

The position of object pronouns An object pronoun is placed before the verb to which its meaning is tied, usually before the conjugated verb. When a sentence contains two verbs, the object pronoun is placed before the infinitive:

• Je le demande. (I ask for it.) Je ne le demande pas. (I don’t ask for it.)
• Il va en boire. (He is going to drink some of it.) Il ne va pas en boire. (He isn’t going to drink some of it.)

In an affirmative command, an object pronoun is placed immediately after the verb and is joined to it by a hyphen. The familiar command forms of ‐ er verbs (regular and irregular — retain their final s before y and en to prevent the clash of two vowel sounds together. Put a liaison (linking) between the final consonant and y or en: Restes‐y!(Stay there!) But: N’y reste pas! (Don’t stay there!) In compound tenses, the object pronoun is placed before the conjugated helping verb: J’ai parlé à Nancy. (I spoke to Nancy.) Je lui ai parlé. (I spoke to her.)

Double object pronouns

The term double object pronouns refers to using more than one pronoun in a sentence at a time, as follows: The following examples show how double object pronouns are used before the conjugated verb, before the infinitive when there are two verbs, in the past tense, and in a negative command. Note the different order of the pronouns in the affirmative command:

• Before the conjugated verb:Elle me la donne. (She gives it to me.)
• Before the infinitive with two verbs:Vas‐tu m’en offrir? (Are you going to offer me any?)
• In the past tense:Tu le lui as écrit. (You wrote it to her.)
• In a negative command:Ne me le montrez pas. (Don’t show it to me.)

But note the difference in an affirmative command: Montrez‐le‐moi, s’il vous plaît. (Please show it to me.) In an affirmative command, m oi + en and toi + en become m’en andt’en respectively:

• Donne‐m’en, s’il te plaît. (Please give me some.)
• Va t’en. (Go away.)

Independent (Stress) Pronouns

Independent pronouns, listed in Table 1, may stand alone or follow a verb or a preposition. They are used to emphasize a fact and to highlight or replace nouns or pronouns. Independent pronouns are used as follows: To stress the subject: Moi, je suis vraiment indépendant. (Me, I’m really independent.) When the pronoun has no verb:Qui veut partir? (Who wants to leave?) Moi. (Me.) After prepositions to refer to a person or persons: Allons chez elle. (Let’s go to her house.) After c’est: C’est moi qui pars. (I’m leaving.) After the following verbs:

• avoir affaire à (to have dealings with)
• être à (to belong to)
• faire attention à (to pay attention to)
• penser à (to think about [of)])
• se fier à (to trust)
• s’intéresser à (to be interested in)
• Ceci est à moi. (This belongs to me.)

In compound subjects:

• Lui et moi allons au restaurant. (He and I are going to the restaurant.)
• Sylvie et toi dînez chez Marie. (Sylvia and you are dining at Marie’s.)

If moi is one of the stress pronouns in a compound subject, the subject pronoun nous is used in summary (someone + me = we) and the conjugated verb must agree with nous. If toi is one of the stress pronouns in a compound subject, the subject prounoun vous is used in summary (someone + you [singular] = you [plural]) and the conjugated verb must agree with the vous. Neither nous nor vous has to appear in the sentence. With ‐ même(s) to reinforce the subject: Je suis allé au concert moi‐même. (I went to the concert by myself.)

Relative Pronouns

A relative pronoun (“who,” “which,” or “that”) joins a main clause to a dependent clause. This pronoun introduces the dependent clause that describes someone or something mentioned in the main clause. The person or thing the pronoun refers to is called the antecedent. A relative clause may serve as a subject, a direct object, or an object of a preposition. Qui (subject) and que (direct object) Qui (“who,” “which,” “that”) is the subject of a relative clause (which means that it will be followed by a verb in the dependent clause). Qui may refer to people, things, or places and follows the format antecedent + subject + verb: C’estla femmequia gagné. (She’s the woman who won.) The verb of a relative clause introduced by qui is conjugated to agree with its antecedent: C’est moi qui choisis les bons cafés. (I am the one who chooses the good cafés.) Que (“whom,” “which,” or “that”) is the direct object of a relative clause (which means that it will be followed by a noun or pronoun). Although frequently omitted in English, the relative pronoun is always expressed in French. Que may refer to people or things and follows the format antecedent + direct object + pronoun: C’est l’homme que j’ adore. (He’s the man [that] I love.) Qui and lequel (objects of a preposition) Qui (meaning “whom”) is used as the object of a preposition referring to a person.

• Anne est la femme avec qui je travaille. (Anne is the woman with whom I am working.)

Lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles (“which” or “whom”) are used as the object of a preposition referring primarily to things. The form of lequel must agree with the antecedent. Select the proper form of lequel after consulting Table 1, for example, Voilà la piscine dans laquelle je nage. (There is the pool in which I swim.) Lequel and its forms contract with the prepositions à and de, as shown in Table 2: Some examples include the following:

• Ce sont les hommes auxquels elle pense. (Those are the men she is thinking about.)
• C’est la classe de laquelle je parlais. (That’s the class I was talking about.)

Ce qui and ce que The relative pronouns ce qui and ce que are used when no antecedent noun or pronoun is present:

• Ce quimeans “what” or “that which” and is the subject of a verb: Je me demande ce qui se passe. (I wonder what is happening.)
• Ce que means “what” (that which) and is the object of a verb: Tu sais ce que ça veut dire. (You know what that means.)

How to Conjugate ER Verbs in French

One thing English speakers who are learning French struggle with is learning how to conjugate all the different verbs. Most French verbs typically end in -er, -re, or -ir. The biggest group is verbs that end in -er. Verbs that fall into this group that follow the same conjugation pattern are called regular -er verbs. Once you know how to conjugate one regular -er verb, you know how to conjugate all regular -er verbs! Let’s take a look at the process.

Steps to Follow Conjugating Regular ER Verbs in the Present Tense

To conjugate any regular -er verb in the present tense, you will follow the steps outlined below. 1.) Take the infinitive form of the verb, and drop the -er off the end of the verb to get the verb stem. (For example, take the infinitive form of the verb parler, and remove the -er. You are left with the verb stemparl-.) 2.) Determine the subject pronoun you are conjugating the verb with, and add the appropriate ending from the chart below.

Subject Pronoun	Ending
Je	-e
Tu	-es
Il/Elle/On	-e
Nous	-ons
Vous	-ez
Ils/Elles	-ent

Practice Conjugating

Let’s now practice this conjugation pattern with some common regular -er verbs in French.

Parler (to speak)	Donner (to give)	Aimer (to like)
Je parle (pahrle)	Je donne (done)	J’aime* (ehm)
Tu parles (pahrle)	Tu donnes (done)	Tu aimes (ehm)
Il/Elle/On parle (pahrle)	Il/Elle/On donne (done)	Il/Elle/On aime (ehm)
Nous parlons (pahrl-ohn)	Nous donnons (done-ohn)	Nous aimons (ehm-ohn)
Vous parlez (pahrl-ay)	Vous donnez (done-ay)	Vous aimez (ehm-ay)
Ils/Elles parlent (pahrle)	Ils/Elles donnent (done)	Ils/Elles aiment (ehm)

How to Conjugate IR Verbs in French

Verbs and Conjugation

In French, verbs have a set of endings. We call this a conjugation. A verb like choisir (pronounced: shwah-zeer), meaning ‘to choose,’ is called an -IR verb. To conjugate the verb, we chop off the -IR at the end of the word and put on the correct ending. The ending for the verb corresponds to who is doing the verb. The person (or thing) doing the verb is called thesubject. In French, subjects are:

• je (pronounced: zhuh), meaning ‘I’
• tu (pronounced: tooh), meaning ‘you’ (singular, informal)
• il, elle (pronounced: eel, el), meaning ‘he’ or ‘she’
• nous (pronounced: nooh), meaning ‘we’
• vous (pronounced: vooh), meaning ‘you’ (plural, formal)
• ils, elles (pronounced: eel, el), meaning ‘they’

-IR Verb Endings

This chart shows the endings for -IR verbs in French:

je _____ -is	nous _____-issons
tu _____ -is	vous _____-issez
il / elle _____ -it	ils / elles _____-issent

To say ‘I choose,’ we use the verb chosir (meaning ‘to choose’) but take off the -ir. This leaves us with chois-. This first part of the verb, without an ending, is called the stem. We add an ending to the stem. For je (meaning ‘I’), the ending is -is. So ‘I choose’ is je choisis (pronounced: zhuh shwah-zee).

Pronunciation

The endings for je, tu, il and elle all sound like ‘ee.’

French	Pronunciation
je choisis	zhuh shwah-zee
tu choisis	tyooh shwah-zee
il / elle choisit	eel / el shwah-zee

Notice that the il and elle forms end with -it, while the je and tu forms end with -is. The written forms are different, but the pronunciation is exactly the same! The plural forms–we, you (all), they–sound slightly different. The ending -issons sounds like ‘ee-ssahn,’ -issezsounds like ‘ee-say’, and -issent sounds like ‘eess.’

French	Pronunciation
nous choisissons	nooh shwah-zee-ssahn
vous choisissez	vooh shwah-zee-say
ils / elles choisissent	eel / el shwah-zeess

Common -IR Verbs

French	Pronunciation	Meaning
Finir	fee-neer	to finish
Grandir	grahn-deer	to grow up
Réussir	ray-ooh-seer	to succeed
Réfléchir	ray-flay-sheer	to think about; to reflect
Maigrir	may-greer	to lose weight
Grossir	groh-seer	to gain weight

Finir

Let’s take the verb finir as an example. Imagine that Pierre wants to play video games. His mom says OK, but first ‘you finish the homework’–tu finis les devoirs (pronounced: tooh fee-nee lay dehv-wahr). Pierre’s a good student. He reminds his mom, ‘I always finish homework’–je finis toujours les devoirs(pronounced: zhuh fee-nee tooh-zhor lay dehv-war). Pierre’s brother Richard pipes up, ‘We always finish homework!’–nous finissons toujours les devoirs (pronounced: nooh fee-nee-sahn tooh-zhor lay dehv-wahr). Mom thinks, ‘That’s true, they always finish homework,’–ils finissent toujours les devoirs (pronounced: eel fee-neess tooh-zhor lay dehv-wahr).

How to Conjugate RE Verbs in French

In French, verbs have sets of endings. This lesson introduces you to the endings for verbs that end in -RE. You will learn several -RE verbs, such as ‘vendre’ (to sell), ‘perdre’ (to lose), and ‘attendre’ (to wait.)

Subjects And Verbs

In French, verbs have different endings for each subject (like ‘I’, ‘you,’ ‘we,’ etc). Let’s review some subject pronouns:

• je (pronounced: zhuh), meaning ‘I’
• tu (pronounced: tooh), meaning ‘you’ (singular)
• il / elle (pronounced: eel / el), meaning ‘he / she’
• nous (pronounced: nooh), meaning ‘we’
• vous (pronounced: vooh), meaning ‘you’ (plural or formal)
• ils / elles (pronounced: eel / el), meaning ‘they’

Conjugation

The pattern of endings for a verb is called a conjugation. A verb like vendre (pronounced: vahn-druh), meaning ‘to sell,’ is called an -RE verb. To conjugate the verb, we chop off the -RE at the end of the word. This leaves us with the stem (the beginning part of the word). We then put on the correct ending. For vendre, the stem isvend-. Let’s take a look at the for -RE endings for conjugation patterns:

Conjugation Pattern	-RE verbs
je _____ -s	nous _____ -ons
tu _____ -s	vous _____ -ez
il, elle _____	ils, elles _____ -ent

You’ll notice that the je and tu forms are exactly the same. They both end with s–however, the s is silent. The il /elle form is unusual, because there is no extra ending.

Pronunciation

Let’s look at the verb rendre, which means ‘to turn in’ (for example, to turn in homework).

• je rends (pronounced: zhuh rahn), meaning ‘I turn in’
• tu rends (pronounced: tooh rahn), meaning ‘you turn in’ (singular ‘you’)
• il / elle rend (pronounced: eel / el rahn), meaning ‘he / she turns in’
• nous rendons (pronounced: nooh rahn-dahn), meaning ‘we turn in’
• vous rendez (pronounced: vooh rahn-day), meaning ‘you turn in’ (plural or formal ‘you’)
• ils / elles rendent (pronounced: eel / el rahnd), meaning ‘they turn in’

Notes About Pronunciation

Let’s look at details regarding pronunciation for these conjugation patterns:

Singular: je, tu, il, elle

The je, tu, and il / elle forms all have the exact same pronunciation. Notice that the il / elle form of the verb does not have an s at the end.

Plural: nous, vous, ils, elles

Most final consonants in French are silent. For the nous form, the ending is -ons, with the s being silent. For thevous form, the -ez ending is pronounced ay. For the ils / elles form, the -ent ending is silent.

Vendre (To Sell)

Imagine that your French friend, Sandra, needs money. She might tell you Je vends la voiture (pronounced: zhuh vahn lah vwah-tuhr), meaning ‘I’m selling my car.’ Her kids, Pierre and Jacques, want to help by selling their toys, or les jouets (pronounced: lay zhooh-ay). The tell you Nous vendons les jouets. Later, you tell you neighbor what’s going on–elle vend la voiture (pronounced: ell vahn lah vwah-tuhr) and ils vendent les jouets (eel vahnd lay zhooh-ay). Notice that when Sandra says je vends or when you say elle vend, we don’t hear the ‘d’ sound. (The s in je vendsis also silent). But when we say ils vendent or elles vendent, we DO make a d sound at the end of the word. The -ent’ is silent–but because it’s there, we pronounce that d.

Perdre (To Lose)

We saw that rendre means ‘to turn in.’ This is what students do with homework, or les devoirs (pronounced: lay dehv-wahr.) Unfortunately, students sometimes also lose their homework! Perdre means ‘to lose.’ Imagine a group of friends who have different homework habits:

• Pierre: Je rends les devoirs. (pronounced: zhuh rahn lay dehv-wahr)
• Albert : Je perds les devoirs. (pronounced: zhuh pehr lay dehv-wahr)
• Pierre et Marie : Nous rendons les devoirs. (pronounced: nooh rahn-don lay dehv-wahr)
• Albert et Jacques : Nous perdons les devoirs. (pronounced: nooh pehr-don lay dehv-wahr)

Être Meaning

In almost every conversation you will need the French verb être. Être (pronounced: ay-tr, with a soft ‘r’ at the end) is used to indicate how things are. Literally meaning ‘to be’ être can be conjugated with the various French pronouns, paired with adjectives or used in numerous idiomatic expressions.

Conjugation

Each French pronoun requires a different conjugation of the verb être. This table shows you a pronoun, the correct conjugation of être, the English meaning of the conjugation, and the conjugation pronunciation.

Subject Pronoun	Être Conjugation	Pronunciation	English Meaning
je (I)	suis (am)	swee	I am
tu (you)	es (are)	ay	You are
il (he)	est (is)	ay	He is
elle (she)	est (is)	ay	She is
nous (we)	sommes (are)	sohm	We are
vous (you)	êtes(are)	eht	You are (formal) or You all are
ils (they)	sont (are)	sohn	They are
elles (they)	sont (are)	sohn	They are (feminine)

Conjugation Examples

Imagine you are talking about the nationalities of your friends and yourself. Study the above chart and following sentences and note how the verb être is conjugated and used with adjectives. In this case the adjective is the nationality American. Je suis Américain. I am American. Et toi? And you? Tu es américain? Are you American? Paul est Américain. Paul is American. Nous sommes Américains. We are Americans. Vous êtes Américains? Are you all Americans? Ils sont Américains. They are Americans. Julie et Diane, elles sont Américains aussi. Julie and Diane, they are Americans too.

Aller Conjugation

 Remember, aller is an irregular -er verb, and its conjugation in the present tense does not follow the typical conjugation pattern. In fact, you’ll notice that a lot of conjugations begin with a ‘V!’ It has irregular conjugations in some other tenses too, but you’ll learn about those later.

Present Tense Conjugation

Alright, let’s see this conjugation in chart form, and then we’ll make some sample sentences.

Pronoun	Verb
Je	Vais (pronounced Vai)
Tu	Vas (Pronounced Va)
Il/Elle/On	Va (Pronounced Va)
Nous	Allons (Pronounced Al-lon, but see the note below)
Vous	Allez (Pronounced Al-lay, but see the note below)
Ils/Elles	Vont (Pronounced vonh)

In French, if a word ends in ‘S’ or a ‘Z’ sound, and the next word begins with a vowel, you pronounce those two words together with a Z sound in between. Since nous and vous end with an ‘S,’ and allons and allez begin with a vowel, you will need to follow this rule. As a result, nous allons is pronounced ‘neuz-al-lon’ and vous allez is pronounced ‘veuz al-lay.’ Also, the French present tense encompasses both the ideas of ‘You go’ and ‘You are going.’ In other languages, these are two different forms, but in French, both are represented by the present tense. So let’s put aller to work. Remember in French that you almost always have to have a noun or pronoun in front of a verb. Here are some sample sentences with aller.

• Je vais a la banque. – I go to the bank.
• Tu vas. – You are going. (This is not a command, but a statement)
• Elle va a une école. – She goes to a school.
• Nous allons avec Marie. – We go with Marie.
• Vous allez. – You are going. (Again, not a command, but a statement)

Avoir in French: Conjugation & Meaning

While the verb may just mean ‘to have,’ avoir has many uses beyond that. In fact, without avoir, entire tenses of the French language would be impossible! In this lesson, we’re not only going to look at the forms of avoir in both present and perfect tenses, but we’re also going to look at examples of it in action. Finally, we’ll also learn more about just how useful avoir is throughout the French language.

Conjugation

First of all, let’s conjugate avoir in the present tense:

Pronoun and Verb	Pronunciation
J’ai	J’ay
Tu as	tu ah
Il a	Il ah
Nous avons	Newz-ah-vohn
Vous avez	Vewz-ah-vey
Ils ont	Ilz-onh

Now before we go any further, do you see how each of those pronunciations took into account the pronoun? This is an important part of French and makes sure that you sound educated. A lot of the time, you’ll use avoirwith a pronoun. However, sometimes you won’t. Therefore, here’s a pronunciation chart that separates those last three versions out:

Pronoun	Verb	Pronunciation
Nous	Avons	Ah-vohn
Vous	Avez	Ah-vey
Ils	Ont	Onh

That way, you can say Marie et moi avons without having to sound harsh by saying Marie et moi, nous avons. Both mean ‘Marie and I have’, but the first one is much more casual, and frankly not as forceful as the second one. The first example is just normal conversation, while the second one is very much the style you’d expect a mother to use when saying to go clean a room now.

French Verb Voir Conjugation

A Few Facts About the Verb Voir

Voir is an Irregular Verb.

In French, there are three groups of verbs. The verbs of the first and second groups are regular, which means they follow a pattern–a regular verb usually keeps the same radical followed by the conjugated endings. Once you know how to conjugate one verb of either of those groups, you can easily conjugate all of the other verbs belonging to that group. The verbs of the third group are irregular, which basically means that there’s no strict pattern that can help you figure out how they’re conjugated. They often have multiple radicals. They run wild and free! So you just need to learn them individually. Voir (pronounced vwahr) is one of these irregular verbs, and it means ‘to see.’

Voir is a Transitive Verb

This means that, just like the verb ‘to see’ in English, it can be followed by a direct object.

• Example: Je vois mon cousin aujourd’hui. (I am seeing my cousin today.)

Now… let’s see if we can tame those wild conjugations.

Voir in the Present Tense

In the present tense, voir has two radicals: voi- and voy-.

je	vois	(zhuh-vwah)
tu	vois	(tü-vwah)
il/elle/on	voi	(eel/ehl/on-vwah)
nous	voyons	(noo-vwah-yon)
vous	voyez	(voo-vwah-yay)
ils/elles	voient	(eel/ehl-vwah)

• Example: Du haut de la tour Eiffel, nous voyons tout Paris. (From the top of the Eiffel Tower, we see all of Paris)

Voir in the Imparfait

The imparfait, or imperfect, tense is simpler: Voir only has one radical, voy-, which is followed by the regularimparfait endings.

je	voyais	(zhuh-vwah-yay)
tu	voyais	(tü-vwah-yay)
il/elle/on	voyait	(eel/ehl/on-vwah-yay)
nous	voyions	(noo-vwah-yeeon)
vous	voyiez	(voo-vwah-yay)
ils/elles	voyaient	(eel/ehl-vwah-yay)

• Example: Quand nous étions petits, nous voyions notre grand-mère tous les dimanches. (When we were little, we saw our grandmother every Sunday.)

Note the distinction between the first-person plural in the present tense, nous voyons, and the first-person plural in the imperfect, nous voyions, Despite the different spellings, the pronunciation is basically the same (just a tiny bit more emphasis on the ee sound in the imparfait).

Voir in the Passé Composé

In the passé composé, voir is conjugated with the auxiliary avoir followed by the past participle vu.

j’	ai vu	(zheh-vü)
tu	as vu	(tü-ah-vü)
il/elle/on	a vu	(eel/ehl/on-ah-vü)
nous	avons vu	(noo-ah-von-vü)
vous	avez vu	(voo-ah-vay-vü)
ils/elles	ont vu	(eel/ehl-on-vü)

• Example: Hier, Sophie et Claire ont vu un tigre au zoo. (Yesterday, Sophie and Claire saw a tiger at the zoo.)

Voir in the Future Simple

In the future simple, voir takes on a completely different radical: ver-, which is followed by the regular future simple endings. This radical will come back later in the conditional.

je	verrai	(zhuh-vay-reh)
tu	verras	(tü-vay-rah)
il/elle/on	verra	(eel/ehl/on-vay-rah)
nous	verrons	(noo-vay-ron)
vous	verrez	(voo-vay-ray)
ils/elles	verront	(eel/ehl-vay-ron)

• Example: Vous verrez vos amis demain soir. (You will see your friends tomorrow.)

Faire in French: Conjugation & Meaning

Why is faire an important verb?

The verb faire (pronounced like the English word fair but with the French /r/ sound) is a great verb to have in your back pocket because it’s definitely a multi-tasker. Some interesting facts about this verb are: 1) most weather expressions in French use faire, for example to talk about what the weather is doing 2) many individual sports and activities use this verb, for example to express that you do a certain sport 3) used in math equations to mean equals in English 4) used in causative constructions where you have had something done to a person or thing, for example having your dog groomed 5) Numbers 1 and 2 on this list are the most important usages for beginners. It’s also used in many, many other expressions in French. Trust us, this is a high-frequency verb!

How to use it in sentences: the conjugations

The verb faire is considered to be an irregular verb, meaning that the conjugations used in order to create a subject-verb agreement do not follow typical patterns. So, break out the flash cards and commit this one to memory. The following examples of conjugations express how to use the verb to talk about activities and sports. Singular Forms: Je fais (fay) du sport = I do sports Fais-tu du yoga? = Do you do yoga? Il/Elle fait (fay) du ski nautique = He/She does/goes skiing Plural Forms: Nous faisons (fuh zahn) de la danse = We do dance Faites(fet)-vous du camping? = Do you do/go camping? Ils/Elles font (fohn) une promenade = They go for a walk Remember, many individual sports – ones that don’t require a team to play – as well as activities take this verb, and it can also translate into English as go instead of make or do.

Savoir Conjugation

Knowing how to say you know something or telling a friend, ‘I don’t know’ is pretty important in conversation, even French conversations. But to do that, first you have to learn how to conjugate the verb savior(pronounced: sah-vwahr), to know.

Subject Pronoun	Savoir Conjugation	Pronunciation	English Meaning
je (I)	sais	(say)	I know
tu (you)	sais	(say)	you know (singular)
il/elle (he/she)	sait	(say)	he/she knows
nous (we)	savons	(sah-vahn)	we know
vous (you)	savez	(sah-vay)	you know (plural)
ils/elles (they)	savent	(sahv)	they know

Now that we’ve got that down, let’s look at the different ways that savior is used in conversations.

To Know How

To express that someone knows how to do something, we use a form of the verb savoir plus a second verb. Let’s look at some examples using savoir plus the verb nager (pronounced: nah-zhay) to swim: Imagine that your French friend, Ariane, has come to visit. You want to go swimming, so you ask her, ‘Tu sais nager?’ meaning, ‘Do you know how to swim?’. She would answer ‘Je sais nager’ meaning ‘I know how to swim.’ Then, your friends Frank and Elizabeth arrive. You ask them ‘Vous savez nager?’ meaning ‘Do you (guys) know how to swim?’ They answer, ‘Nous savons nager’ meaning ‘We know how to swim.’ Notice how the sentences use different forms of the verb savoir, but the word nager never changes. Let’s look at some more examples:

• Je sais conduire (pronounced: zhuh say kon-dweer), meaning ‘I know how to drive.’
• Elle sait conduire (pronounced: el say kon-dweer), meaning ‘She knows how to drive.’
• Il sait danser (pronounced: eel say dahn-say), meaning ‘He knows how to dance.’
• Ils savent danser (pronounced: eel sahv dahn-say), meaning ‘They know how to dance.’

Vouloir Conjugation

Vouloir: To Want

Imagine that you get to spend a few weeks visiting France. What do you want to do? What do you want to eat? To express what you want, say je veux (pronounced: zhuh veuh), which means ‘I want.’ Whether you stay in a hotel or with French hosts, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to discuss what you want. For example, you might say: je veux visiter le Louvre (pronounced: zhuh veuh vee-see-tay luh loov-ruh). Perhaps your main goal is to learn French. You can explain that: je veux apprendre le français (pronounced: zhuh veuh ah-prahn-druh luh frahn-say).

Conjugating Vouloir

In English, we say ‘I want’ and ‘he wants.’ The verb is ‘want,’ but its form changes slightly depending on who is speaking. In French, verbs have different endings. Putting the right endings on a verb is called conjugating the verb. Notice the endings for the verb vouloir:

VOULOIR	(pronounced: vooh-lwahr) to want
je veux (zhuh veuh)	nous voulons (nooh vooh-lahn)
I want	we want
tu veux (tyooh veuh)	vous voulez (vooh vooh-lay)
you want (singular)	you want (plural)
il / elle veut (eel / el veuh)	ils / elles veulent (eel / el vuhl)
he / she wants	they want

Pronunciation Hints

Notice that the verb endings for je, tu, il and elle are all pronounced the same. The verb ending is the same for the je and tu forms. For il / elle , the ending changes. When you’re speaking, you can’t hear a difference. Another thing to keep in mind is that the je, tu, il / elle, and ils / elles forms all start with veu. This letter blend sounds like ‘euh.’ To pronounce it correctly, think about making the sound down in your throat, at the spot where you swallow. On the other hand, vouloir as well as voulons and voulez all begin with the sound vou. This letter blend rhymes with ‘ooh’ — as in Ooh là là! This sound is formed with your lips. Pucker up like you’re going to give someone a big kiss to make the ooh sound for French words like vouloir, voulons, voulez as well as vous and nous.

Examples With Vouloir

Imagine that two friends, Paul and Robert, are traveling together in France. As they discuss traveling from Paris to the city of Avignon, they might debate whether to prendre le train (pronounced: prahn-druh luh trahn) orlouer une voiture (pronounced: looh-ay oohn vwah-tyuhr). Paul might ask Robert: Tu veux louer une voiture? Robert might reply, Non, je veux prendre le train. Paul and Robert are staying with their friend Nathalie in Paris. They tell her about their plan: Nous voulons prendre le train. Nathalie might ask them, ‘Do you want to leave tomorrow?’ She would say Voulez-vous partir demain? (pronounced: vooh-lay vooh pahr-teer duh-mahn).

Feminine Adjectives in French

Let’s get personal. Do you have a girlfriend? How would you describe her to someone? Is she pretty? Is she short or tall? Or we could talk about your grandmother. Would you say she is funny? Is she strong or frail? In French, since these people are feminine, when you describe them, the adjectives must also be feminine! Did you know that in French, objects can also be feminine? For example, in French, cars are feminine! The word for car, la voiture, is a feminine word! So, now how would you describe your car? Is it fancy? Expensive? What color is it? All of these adjectives must be feminine when you are describing your car.

Examples of Adjectives

Add an ‘e’ at the end of most adjectives to create the feminine form. Some examples of masculine and feminine forms are:

• grand—grande (tall) – pronounced (grahn) and (grahnduh) with nasal ‘n’ sound
• joli—jolie (pretty) – pronounced (zhoh-lee)
• bleu—bleue (blue) – pronounced (bluh)
• fort —forte (strong) – pronounced (fohr) and (fohrtuh)
• marrant—marrante (funny) pronounced (marrahn) and (marrahn-tuh) with nasal ‘n’ sound
• fâché —fâchée (angry) pronounced (fah-shay)

When pronouncing these, we do not say the last consonant in the masculine form. When the feminine ‘e’ is added, we hear the last consonant. For example:fort is pronounced like (for), but forte is pronounced similar to (fort) in English. Some adjectives have a slight change in the last consonant before adding the feminine ‘e.’ For example, some adjectives ending in f go from f to ve.

• sportif—sportive (athletic) Pronounced- (sporteef) and (sporteev)
• créatif—créative (creative) Pronounced- (cray-ah-teef) and (cray-ah-teev)

Pronounce the’ ‘f or the ‘v’ as it is written. Some adjectives double the last consonant before adding the feminine ‘e.’ For example:

• mignon—mignonne (cute) – pronounced (meenyohn) with nasal ‘n,’ and (meenyunn)
• bon—bonne (good) – pronounced (boh-n) with nasal ‘n,’ and (bun)
• gentil—gentille (kind) – pronounced (zhahn-tee) and (zhahn-teeyuh) with nasal ‘n’

The double consonants are pronounced in the feminine form, but usually the single consonants in the masculine form are pronounced nasally or not at all. For instance, pronounce ‘bon’ like the word (bone) but with a nasal ‘n’ sound and ‘bonne’ similar to (buhnn).

Describing Your Car in French

Let’s try some sentences to describe your car!

• Ma voiture est bleue. (My car is blue.) Pronounced- (mah vwa-teeoor ay bluh)
• Elle est petite. (It is small.) Pronounced- (el ay puhteetuh).

How about your grandmother? Let’s try describing her:

• (My grandmother is funny, but my grandfather is also funny.)Ma grand-mère est marrante, mais mon grand-père est aussi marrant.

Pronounced-(mah gran-mayr ay marrantuh may mohn granpayr ay oh-see marran) Notice that the grandfather has the masculine adjective form, and the grandmother has the feminine form of the adjective.

French Possessive Adjectives

Working with Possessive Adjectives

In this lesson we’re going to learn how to use possessive adjectives in French. While it may first seem like there are a lot of them (15 compared to 7 in English), the good news is that they all work together in a big system. It’s important to learn these, and chances are that your teacher will want you to memorize them. Before we get started, there are a few quick rules to keep in mind:

• Possessive adjectives agree in number and gender with the words they modify.
• Since these adjectives are based on the speaker to determine their use, you don’t have to modify them to reflect the speaker.
• If a feminine word is being modified and starts with a vowel, use the masculine version of the adjective.
• Possessive adjectives always come before the word they modify.

First Person Pronouns

Let’s dig right in with the first person. Remember that the first person singular form, what we would call ‘I’, is ‘je’ (pronounced Juh) while the first person is ‘nous’ (pronounced Nu). Here are our possessive adjectives:

Pronoun	Masc.	Fem.	Plural
Je	Mon (Pronounced Moh)	Ma (Pronounced Ma)	Mes (Pronounced Meh)
Nous	Notre (Pronounced Not-rah)	Notre	Nos (Pronounced Noh)

Now let’s practice with those. If you are trying to say ‘my bag,’ you’d say mon sac, since ‘sac’ (pronounced sac) is a masculine singular work. Meanwhile, if you are talking about more than one bag that you happened to have ownership of, then it would be mes sacs. Let’s say that you actually shared those bags with your friends. In that case, if it were just the one bag you’d saynotre sac, while if you had more than one, it would be nos sacs. What if it wasn’t a sac? What if it was a suitcase, or une valise (pronounced va-leez)? What would you say then? Again, if it were yours, you’d say ma valise. If it were plural, it would change to ‘mes valises.’ If you and your friends owned the suitcases, the possessive adjective wouldn’t change.

Second Person Pronouns

Now let’s talk about someone else’s suitcases and bags. Let’s pretend that you were talking to me about my stuff. That would mean that you’d have to use the second person, or the ‘tu’ or ‘vous’ forms. Let’s start by looking at a table with the forms:

Pronoun	Masc.	Fem.	Plural
Tu	Ton (pronounced Toh)	Ta (Pronounced Ta)	Tes (Pronounced Teh)
Vous	Votre (pronounced vot-rah)	Votre	Vos (pronounced Voh)

Let’s try some of them. If you were to say ‘your bag’ to me, you’d say ton sac. Likewise, if you were commenting on multiple bags, you’d say tes sacs. However, if it was my suitcase you were referring to, it would be ta valise. What if you were addressing more than one person, or you were trying to show me a lot of respect? In that case, you’d use ‘votre’ adjectives. So you’d say votre sac or vos sacs. Also, just like ‘notre,’ there’s only one singular form, so even if it was my suitcase, you’d still say ‘votre valise.’

French Adjective Agreement: Rules & Practice

 The Regular French Adjective

When you speak French, you’ll need adjectives to add rich color to your speech. Would you prefer to taste a dessert, or would you prefer to taste a delicious, heavenly, luscious, mouthwatering, rich, dreamy, scrumptious dessert? Most people would choose the latter, even if they knew nothing else about the dessert being served. It’s all because of the words describing the dessert. These are adjectives, or simply put, describing words. Here are a few simple French adjectives. grand (tall) petit (short, little) joli (pretty) laid (ugly)

Adjectives and Gender

Let’s see if you can find a pattern at work. Imagine you meet two new friends when you visit Paris. You meet Lucas and his girlfriend, Anissa. Why don’t we use some adjectives we know to describe them? Lucas est grand. Il n’est pas petit. Il est joli. Il n’est pas laid. Anissa n’est pas grande. Elle est petite. Elle est jolie. Elle n’est pas laide. Do you see a difference between the way the adjectives are spelled when we describe Lucas and when we describe Anissa? It’s an extra e! We have to match up the adjective with the gender of the subject. When we are talking about Lucas, we don’t add an e. This is called the masculine or base form of the adjective. When we are talking about Anissa, we add the e. This is called the feminine form.

Nouns in French Have Genders!

Every object or thing in French has a gender, either masculine or feminine. You can memorize the gender when you learn a new word, or you can look it up in a reliable French dictionary. This can help when you need to decide whether or not to add that extra e when you’re using an adjective. Let’s try it out. Here’s a new noun. The word for fox, un renard, is masculine. Does it require an extra e if you use an adjective? Let’s test your guess. Le renard est intelligent. (The Fox is smart.) If you guessed no, then you were right! Because un renard is masculine, there is no extra e on the end of the base form of the adjective. Let’s try another new noun. The word for a turtle, une tortue, is feminine. Do you think it will require an extra e if you use an adjective? La tortue est lente. (The turtle is slow.) Because une tortue is feminine, then we must add on an extra e at the end of the adjective. What if there is already an ‘e’ in the base form of the adjective? You’ll find that there are quite a few French adjectives that have an e already in their basic, masculine form. It’s very important to look closely at the kind of e that ends the adjective. If it’s an accented e, then you must add an extra e in the feminine form. This is true with fatigué (tired) and désolé (sorry). You might say, ‘Il est fatigué; elle est fatiguée.’ (He is tired; she is tired.) As you can see in this example, we added an e in the feminine form, right after that accented e. Now, on the other hand, if you find an adjective that ends with just an e without an accent, then you do nothave to add another e in the feminine form: It’s already done for you. This is true with faible (weak) and jeune (young), for instance. You might say, ‘Il est jeune et elle est jeune.’ (He is young and she is young.) Notice we didn’t have to add an eto the feminine form in this example. It was already there! Here are some more regular adjectives you can work with and add to your growing vocabulary. fort (strong) faible (weak) amusant (funny) intéressant (interesting) méchant (mean) sympathique (nice) mauvais (bad) fatigué (tired) désolé (sorry) lent (slow) rapide (quick) sale (dirty) propre (clean) riche (rich) pauvre (poor) facile (easy) difficile (difficult) triste (sad) content (happy) jeune (young) agréable (agreeable, okay) désagréable (disagreeable, unpleasant)

Match it Up! Adjectives and Number

Just as French adjectives must be masculine or feminine according to the objects they describe, they also have to accurately match up to the number of objects they are describing. Don’t despair! This is easy to do. Let’s start with a good example. Here’s another new noun. We have here a group, or plural, with a masculine noun, designating the sheep. Let’s apply an adjective and see what it looks like. Let’s say that they are happy: They do look happy grazing together like that. Les moutons sont contents.

Interrogative Adjectives: Grammar Basics

Interrogative adjectives in French can be masculine (quel, quels) or feminine (quelle, quelles). Like all other adjectives, they must agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. Here is a quick reference chart:

Masculine	Feminine
quel (singular)	quelle (singular)
quels (plural)	quelles (plural)

Whether you’re using interrogative adjectives to modify a masculine or feminine noun, plural or singular,quel/quelle/quels/quelles is always pronounced ‘kell.’ Interrogative adjectives are often used in sentences where English would use the word ‘what,’ e.g. ‘What books do you like?,’ or Quels livres aimes-tu? (kell leevrö ehm-tü). In this example, livres is the noun. It’s plural and masculine, so we use the interrogative adjective quels. Here are a couple more examples: Tu aimes quels films? and Quel est ton groupe préféré? In the first example,films is a plural masculine noun, which corresponds with quels, while the noun in the second example, groupe, is singular and masculine, so it takes quel. Interrogative adjectives almost always come directly before the noun they are modifying, and they are typically used in the beginning of a sentence before the subject and verb (Quels livres aimes-tu?). But interrogative adjectives need not always come at the beginning of a sentence. They might come after the subject and verb (Tu aimes quels films?). Also, there is an exception to interrogative adjectives coming directly before the noun they modify: a sentence construction using the verb être, which follows the general format: interrogative adjective + conjugated form of être + noun (Quel est ton groupe préféré?). Note that lequel and laquelle, while often used in similar contexts, are interrogative pronouns, and are thus not covered in this lesson. Furthermore, although French exclamatory adjectives are identical to interrogative adjectives, they are used not to ask questions, but to express emotion, as in Quel bonheur! (What happiness!)

Asking What and Which

Interrogative adjectives be useful both in professional contexts, and in making small talk. In a meeting, for instance, you might be asked Quelles sont vos idées? (What are your ideas?) If comparing notes with friends, you might ask Quels livres faut-il acheter pour ton cours de français? (What books do you have to buy for your French course?) Here are some further examples of how you might use interrogative adjectives:

• Quelle écharpe penses-tu acheter? / What scarf are you thinking of buying?
• Quelles villes françaises pensez vous à visiter? / What French cities are you thinking of visiting?
• Vous préferez quelle cuisine? / What sort of cuisine do you prefer?
• Quel jardin est le plus beau? / What garden is the most beautiful?
• Quelle heure est-il? / What time is it?

French Adjectives: Placement & Examples

Describing People and Things

Sam and Liz are Americans living abroad in Angers, France, and they really want to be able to talk to their neighbors, describe their new neighbors, and talk about what goes on around them without being confusing. There are certain things Sam and Liz will need to remember about words that describe a noun or pronoun, oradjectives, to reach their goal. This includes understanding which adjectives do and don’t conform to normal placement principles.

Normal Placement

The normal or most common placement of adjectives in a French sentence is right behind the word it describes. For example: J’ai un vélo ‘bleu.‘ (I have a blue bike). Elles aiment la langue ‘anglaise.‘ (They like the English language.) Nous sommes vos voisins ‘américains.‘ (We are your American neighbors.) C’est un homme ‘sympa.‘ (He’s a nice man.) Nous avons des voisins ‘sincères.‘ (We have sincere neighbors.) This order is quite different from English as you can see in the translations, and Sam and Liz are going to have to make an extra effort to get this right if they want their French-speaking neighbors to understand them.

BANGS Adjectives

B – BeautyBANGS is an acronym that Sam and Liz can use to remember which adjectives don’t follow the rules. These are describing words that normally come before the noun (there are always exceptions). It stands for:

A – Age

N – Number

G – Goodness

S – Size

Examples of adjectives that fall in each category are as follows:

Beauty	beau/belle/beaux/belles	joli/jolie/jolis/jolies
Age	jeune/jeunes	viel/vieux/vieille/vieilles
Number	un/deux/trois/quatre/cinq
Goodness	bon/bonne/bons/bonnes	mauvais/mauvaise/mauvaises
Size	grand/grande/grands/grandes	petit/petite/petits/petites

Knowing this information, Sam and Liz are able to tell and ask their new neighbor, Monsieur LeClerc, lots of important things: Sam: Vous avez une ‘belle’ voiture! (You have a nice car!) Liz: Est-ce que c’est un ‘bon’ restaurant au coin? (Is the restaurant on the corner good?) M LeClerc: C’est un ‘petit’ restaurant, mais il est bon. (It’s a small restaurant, but it is good.) Sam: Nous avons ‘deux’ chiens. Et vous, vous avez des animaux? (We have two dogs, and do you have any animals?)

Special Adjectives

There are also some special adjectives that don’t follow the normal positioning or BANGS. Sam and Liz have to be really careful with this group of adjectives because this group can be used before or after the nouns they describe, but the meaning changes depending on where they are placed. Here are a few of these used to help out Sam and Liz in their new neighborhood: 1. ancien (old/former)

• Before a noun: C’est mon ancien voisin. (This is my former neighbor.)
• After a noun: C’est mon voisin ancien. (This is my ancient neighbor.)

2. cher (dear/expensive)

• Before a noun: Cher Sam, je t’aime. (Dear Sam, I love you.)
• After a noun: Cette voiture est chère. (This car is expensive.)

French Adverbials of Frequency

French Adverbs: Definition

While adjectives add information about nouns, adverbs are used to add meaning to a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole sentence. Contrary to French adjectives that agree in gender and number with the noun they relate to, French adverbs are invariable, which means they never change. Adverbs are divided into different categories determined by the type of information they provide. As you might have guessed, adverbs of frequency and time provide information on when, how often, or for long an action takes place.

Adverbs of Time

There are many French adverbs of time. To help you learn them, we will divide them into four different categories: adverbs of time past, time present, time future and adverbs about a specific moment in time relative to another moment (this will become clearer as we get there).

Adverbs of Time Past

Adverbs of time past indicate the event has taken place in the past, whether recently or a long time ago. Logically, they are usually used in sentences in the past tense. Here is a table listing some adverbs of time past from most recent to most ancient:

French adverb	Pronunciation	English translation
À l’instant	ah-lun-stan	just now
Récemment	ray-sah-man	recently
Tout à l’heure	too-tah-luhr	earlier
Hier	ee-ehr	yesterday
Avant-hier	ah-van-tee-ehr	the day before yesterday
Autrefois	o-truh-fwah	in the past, in the old days
Jadis	zhah-dees	in the old days

Examples:

Il est sorti à l’instant. He just walked out. Ils ont déménagé récemment. They recently moved away. Autrefois, j’avais les cheveux bruns. In the past, I used to have brown hair. Jadis, les enfants ne regardaient pas la télévision. In the old days, children did not watch television.

Adverbs of Time Present

French adverb	Pronunciation	English translation
Aujourd’hui	o-zhoor-düee	today
Maintenant	mun-tuh-nan	now
Tout de suite	too-duh-süeet	right now
Immédiatement	eem-may-deeah-tman	immediately
En ce moment	an-suh-mo-man	right now/currently
Actuellement	ak-tü-ehl-man	currently

Examples:

Aujourd’hui nous allons à la plage! Today we are going to the beach! Je dois préparer le dîner maintenant. I have to prepare dinner now. Rendez-moi mon argent tout de suite. Give me back my money right now.

Adverbs of Time Future

French adverb	Pronunciation	English translation
Tout à l’heure	too-tah-luhr	later
Bientôt	beeun-to	soon
Demain	duh-mun	tomorrow
Après-demain	ah-preh-duh-mun	the day after tomorrow
Dorénavant	do-ray-nah-van	from now on
Aussitôt	o-si-to	as soon as/right away

Note that tout à l’heure can either refer to an event that just happened, or an event that will happen very soon, and can either mean earlier today or later today.

What can an adverb modify?

The adverb can modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It can also relate to the whole sentence, telling you what the speaker is thinking or feeling. In other words, it can modify almost everything, except a noun(which is modified by an adjective)

• a verb: Je regarde (verb) souvent (adv) la télé.
• an adjective: Je suis vraiment (adv) touché (adj).
• Another adverb: Nous avons très (adv) bien (adv) mangé
• A whole sentence: Malheureusement (adv), je ne l’ai pas trouvé. (sentence)   

How to form a regular adverb from an adjective?

Although there are many adverbs that do not have the ending –ment, this ending is undoubtedly an important category of adverbs.  Let’s get through the general rules:

•  If the adjective ends with a vowel, add –ment to the adjective to form the adverb:

absolu                ==>       absolument poli                      ==>          poliment

• If the adjective ends with a consonant, change it to the feminine form (to get the “e” at the end) and then add -ment:

normal                ==>          normale       ==>         normalement éventuel             ==>         éventuelle     ==>      éventuellement

Days of the Week in French

First, let’s take a look at the days of the week:

English	French
Monday	lundi (pronounced: lun-dee)
Tuesday	mardi (pronounced like: Mardi Gras)
Wednesday	mercredi (pronounced: mer-cra-dee)
Thursday	jeudi (pronounced: ju-dee)
Friday	vendredi (pronounced: von-dra-dee)
Saturday	samedi (pronounced: sa-mey-dee)
Sunday	dimanche (pronounced: dee-man-sh)

Notice that they are not automatically capitalized like they are in English. That is a very important rule, so make sure you keep it in mind! Family

Let’s Talk about Family!

This lesson will give you the vocabulary to do just that. Let’s get started!

Family Trees

Imagine your own family tree. What would it look like?

Family Tree

The word for family in French is une famille, (oon fah-mee). It may help to imagine a French family to try out some new French vocabulary. While we look at the family imagined here, think of your own and see if any of the new words might apply. Start with Sandrine. She lives in Bordeaux, in southwest France, with her immediate family. C’est Sandrine! ‘This is Sandrine’.

Sandrine

She has two parents. The word for parents in French is very similar to our own: des parents, (day par-ahn).

Ses Parents

She has a mother, une mère, (oon mehr), and a father,un père, (uhn pehr). In French, you might also hear the familiar forms of these words, Maman, (Mah-mahn), and Papa, (Pah-pah). Her family has four children in it. The word in French for children is des enfants, (dayz ahn-fahn). Sandrine has two sisters. The word for sister is unesœur, (oon sör). She has one brother, un frère, (uhn frehr). He is the baby, le bébé, (luh bay-bay). When we say that Sandrine has two sisters and one brother, it also tells us that her parents have three daughters and one son. The word for daughter is une fille, (oon fee), and the word for son is un fils, (uhn fees). What about your family tree? How is it like Sandrine’s? How is it different? Let’s practice a tiny bit with this vocabulary, so you can see how you might apply it to yourself. To say, ‘I have children,’ you would say, J’ai des enfants. If you’d like to say, ‘I have a son and a daughter. I also have a sister and a brother,’ you might say, ‘J’ai un fils et une fille. J’ai aussi (also) une sœur et un frère.’ Notice the expression J’ai, (jay). It means ‘I have’. If you like to make it negative (to say you don’t have any), you’ll change it to je n’ai pas de, (juh nay pah duh) as in, Je n’ai pas de filles. ‘I don’t have any daughters’.

Extended Family

Let’s add some members to Sandrine’s family. Sandrine’s extended family lives further east, in the Burgundy region. Sandrine, like many of us, has grandparents. She’s their granddaughter. Let’s see that same idea in French: see if you can find the word for grandparents in the first sentence! Sandrine a des grand-parents. Sandrine est leur petite-fille. If you guessed that des grand-parents, (day grah-pah-rahn), was the French word for grandparents, you were right! She has a grandmother, une grand-mère, (oon grahn-mehr), and a grandfather, un grand-père, (uhn grahn-pehr). The word for granddaughter, as you can see it in the sentence above, is une petite-fille. For grandson, it’s unpetit-fils. And for grandchildren, it’s des petits-enfants, (day puh-teez ahn-fahn). Sandrine also has aunts, uncles, and cousins. Her favorite aunt is une tante, (oon tahnt), or Tata, in the familiar form, as we might say Auntie. Her closest uncle is un oncle, (uhn ohn-cl), or Tonton, in the most familiar form. A male cousin is un cousin, (uhn coo-zan), and a female cousin is une cousine, (oon coo-zeen).

Personality Traits in French

Has anyone ever tried to set you up on a blind date? How did your friend describe the potential soulmate? In addition to physical appearance, personality traits are descriptors you might want to know in a situation like this. If your friend told you the person is tall with brown hair, you would certainly want more details! Before you agree to meet, you might want to know if this friend-of-a-friend is a hard worker or lazy, and if the person is intelligent, nice, kind, pleasant, or creative, for example. Now let’s say you’re in France and a friend tries to set you up on a blind date. You’ll need to know some personality trait vocabulary in French. Let’s look at some basic personality trait adjectives in French:

Masculine	Plural Masculine	Feminine	Plural Feminine	English Translation
intelligent	intelligents (an tehl ee jahn)	intelligente	intelligentes (an tehl ee jahntuh)	intelligent
gentil	gentils (jahn tee)	gentille	gentilles (jahn teeyuh)	kind
avare	avares (ah vahr)	avare	avares (ah vahr)	stingy
sympathique	sympathiques (sam pah teek)	sympathique	sympathiques (sam pah teek)	nice/sympathetic
méchant	méchants (meh shahn)	méchante	méchantes (meh shahn tuh)	mean
créatif	créatifs (cray ah teef)	créative	créatives (cray ah teev)	creative
artistique	artistiques (ahr tee steek)	artistique	artistiques (ahr tee steek)	artistic
timide	timides (tee meed)	timide	timides (tee meed)	timid/ shy
sortant	sortants (sohr tahn)	sortante	sortantes (sohr tahntuh)	outgoing
branché	branchés (brahn shay)	branchée	branchées (brahn shay)	cool/connected
charmant	charmants (shahr mahn)	charmante	charmantes (shahr mahntuh)	charming
fidèle	fidèles (fee dehl)	fidèle	fidèles (fee dehl)	loyal
bavard	bavards (bah vahr)	bavarde	bavardes (bah vahr duh)	talkative
calme	calmes (cahl muh)	calme	calmes (cahlmuh)	quiet/ calm
organisé	organisés (ohr gah nee zay)	organisée	organisées (ohr gah nee zay)	organized
désorganisé	désorganisés (day zohr gah nee zay)	désorganisée	désorganisées (day zohr gah nee zay)	disorganized/messy
compréhensif	compréhensifs (cohm pray ahn seef)	compréhensive	compréhensives (cohm pray ahn seev)	understanding
bon	bons (bohn)	bonne	bonnes (buhnnuh)	good
mauvais	mauvais (moh vay)	mauvaise	mauvaises (moh vehz)	bad
paresseux	paresseux (pah reh suh)	paresseuse	paresseuses (pah reh suhz)	lazy
travailleur	travailleurs (trah vah ee uhr)	travailleuse	travailleuses (trah vah ee uhz)	hardworking

French Conjugations:

Er- Verb

1. ACCOMPAGNER : to accompany Je: accompagne Nous: accompagnons Tu: accompagnes Vous: accompagnez Il: accompagne Ils: accompagnent	2. AIDER : to help Je: aide Nous: aidons Tu: aides Vous: aidez Il: aide Ils: aident
3. AIMER : to like, love Je: aime Nous: aimons Tu: aimes Vous: aimez Il: aime Ils: aiment	4. APPORTER : to bring Je: apporte Nous: apportons Tu: apportes Vous: apportez Il: apporte Ils: apportent
5. CHANTER : to sing Je: chante Nous: chantons Tu: chantes Vous: chantez Il: chante Ils: chantent	6. COÛTER : to cost Je: coûte Nous: coûtons Tu: coûtes Vous: coûtez Il: coûte Ils: coûtent
7. DANSER : to dance Je: danse Nous: dansons Tu: danses Vous: dansez Il: danse Ils: dansent	8. FERMER : to close Je: ferme Nous: fermons Tu: fermes Vous: fermez Il: ferme Ils: ferment
9. JOUER : to play Je: joue Nous: jouons Tu: joues Vous: jouez Il: joue Ils: jouent	10. LAVER : to wash Je: lave Nous: lavons Tu: laves Vous: lavez Il: lave Ils: lavent
11. MARCHER : to walk, go Je: marche Nous: marchons Tu: marches Vous: marchez Il: marche Ils: marchent	12. MONTRER : to show Je: montre Nous: montrons Tu: montres Vous: montrez Il: montre Ils: montrent
13. OUBLIER : to forget Je: oublie Nous: oublions Tu: oublies Vous: oubliez Il: oublie Ils: oublient	14. PASSER : to pass Je: passe Nous: passons Tu: passes Vous: passez Il: passe Ils: passent
15. PENSER : to think Je: pense Nous: pensons Tu: penses Vous: pensez Il: pense Ils: pensent	16. PRÉPARER : to prepare Je: prépare Nous: préparons Tu: prépares Vous: préparez Il: prépare Ils: préparent
17. RACONTER : to relate, tell Je: raconte Nous: racontons Tu: racontes Vous: racontez Il: raconte Ils: racontent	18. ÉCOUTER : to listen (to) Je: écoute Nous: écoutons Tu: écoutes Vous: écoutez Il: écoute Ils: écoutent
19. ÉTUDIER : to study Je: étudie Nous: étudions Tu: étudies Vous: étudiez Il: étudie Ils: étudient

LE PRESENT: -ir verbs

1. AGIR : to act Je: agis Nous: agissons Tu: agis Vous: agissez Il: agit Ils: agissent	2. BÂTIR : to build Je: bâtis Nous: bâtissons Tu: bâtis Vous: bâtissez Il: bâtit Ils: bâtissent
3. CHOISIR : to choose Je: choisis Nous: choisissons Tu: choisis Vous: choisissez Il: choisit Ils: choisissent	4. DÉSOBÉIR : to disobey Je: désobéis Nous: désobéissons Tu: désobéis Vous: désobéissez Il: désobéit Ils: désobéissent
5. FINIR : to finish Je: finis Nous: finissons Tu: finis Vous: finissez Il: finit Ils: finissent	6. GUÉRIR : to cure Je: guéris Nous: guérissons Tu: guéris Vous: guérissez Il: guérit Ils: guérissent
7. NOURRIR : to feed Je: nourris Nous: nourrissons Tu: nourris Vous: nourrissez Il: nourrit Ils: nourrissent	8. OBÉIR : to obey Je: obéis Nous: obéissons Tu: obéis Vous: obéissez Il: obéit Ils: obéissent
9. PUNIR : to punish Je: punis Nous: punissons Tu: punis Vous: punissez Il: punit Ils: punissent	10. REMPLIR : to fill Je: remplis Nous: remplissons Tu: remplis Vous: remplissez Il: remplit Ils: remplissent
11. ROUGIR : to blush Je: rougis Nous: rougissons Tu: rougis Vous: rougissez Il: rougit Ils: rougissent	12. RÉFLÉCHIR : to think, reflect Je: réfléchis Nous: réfléchissons Tu: réfléchis Vous: réfléchissez Il: réfléchit Ils: réfléchissent
13. RÉUSSIR : to succeed Je: réussis Nous: réussissons Tu: réussis Vous: réussissez Il: réussit Ils: réussissent	14. SAISIR : to seize Je: saisis Nous: saisissons Tu: saisis Vous: saisissez Il: saisit Ils: saisissent

LE PRESENT: -re verbs

1. ATTENDRE : to wait (for) Je: attends Nous: attendons Tu: attends Vous: attendez Il: attend Ils: attendent	2. DESCENDRE : to go (come) down Je: descends Nous: descendons Tu: descends Vous: descendez Il: descend Ils: descendent
3. DÉFENDRE : to defend Je: défends Nous: défendons Tu: défends Vous: défendez Il: défend Ils: défendent	4. ENTENDRE : to hear Je: entends Nous: entendons Tu: entends Vous: entendez Il: entend Ils: entendent
5. INTERROMPRE : to interrupt Je: interromps Nous: interrompons Tu: interromps Vous: interrompez Il: interrompt Ils: interrompent	6. PERDRE : to lose Je: perds Nous: perdons Tu: perds Vous: perdez Il: perd Ils: perdent
7. RENDRE : to give back, return Je: rends Nous: rendons Tu: rends Vous: rendez Il: rend Ils: rendent	8. ROMPRE : to break Je: romps Nous: rompons Tu: romps Vous: rompez Il: rompt Ils: rompent
9. RÉPONDRE : to answer Je: réponds Nous: répondons Tu: réponds Vous: répondez Il: répond Ils: répondent	10. VENDRE : to sell Je: vends Nous: vendons Tu: vends Vous: vendez Il: vend Ils: vendent

LE PRESENT: irregular -ir verbs

1. DORMIR : to sleep Je: dors Nous: dormons Tu: dors Vous: dormez Il: dort Ils: dorment	2. ENDORMIR : to put to sleep Je: endors Nous: endormons Tu: endors Vous: endormez Il: endort Ils: endorment
3. MENTIR : to lie Je: mens Nous: mentons Tu: mens Vous: mentez Il: ment Ils: mentent	4. PARTIR : to go away Je: pars Nous: partons Tu: pars Vous: partez Il: part Ils: partent
5. SENTIR : to feel Je: sens Nous: sentons Tu: sens Vous: sentez Il: sent Ils: sentent	6. SERVIR : to serve Je: sers Nous: servons Tu: sers Vous: servez Il: sert Ils: servent
7. SORTIR : to go out Je: sors Nous: sortons Tu: sors Vous: sortez Il: sort Ils: sortent

LE PRESENT: irregular verbs

1. ALLER : to go Je: vais Nous: allons Tu: vas Vous: allez Il: va Ils: vont	2. ASSEOIR : to sit Je: assieds Nous: asseyons Tu: assieds Vous: asseyez Il: assied Ils: asseyent
3. AVOIR : to have Je: ai Nous: avons Tu: as Vous: avez Il: a Ils: ont	4. BATTRE : to beat Je: bats Nous: battons Tu: bats Vous: battez Il: bat Ils: battent
5. BOIRE : to drink Je: bois Nous: buvons Tu: bois Vous: buvez Il: boit Ils: boivent	6. CONDUIRE : to drive Je: conduis Nous: conduisons Tu: conduis Vous: conduisez Il: conduit Ils: conduisent
7. CONNAÎTRE : to be acquainted with Je: connais Nous: connaissons Tu: connais Vous: connaissez Il: connaît Ils: connaissent	8. COURIR : to run Je: cours Nous: courons Tu: cours Vous: courez Il: court Ils: courent
9. CRAINDRE : to fear Je: crains Nous: craignons Tu: crains Vous: craignez Il: craint Ils: craignent	10. CROIRE : to believe Je: crois Nous: croyons Tu: crois Vous: croyez Il: croit Ils: croient
11. DEVOIR : to have to Je: dois Nous: devons Tu: dois Vous: devez Il: doit Ils: doivent	12. DIRE : to say Je: dis Nous: disons Tu: dis Vous: dites Il: dit Ils: disent
13. FAIRE : to do Je: fais Nous: faisons Tu: fais Vous: faites Il: fait Ils: font	14. LIRE : to read Je: lis Nous: lisons Tu: lis Vous: lisez Il: lit Ils: lisent
15. METTRE : to put on Je: mets Nous: mettons Tu: mets Vous: mettez Il: met Ils: mettent	16. OUVRIR : to open Je: ouvre Nous: ouvrons Tu: ouvres Vous: ouvrez Il: ouvre Ils: ouvrent
17. PLAIRE : to please Je: plais Nous: plaisons Tu: plais Vous: plaisez Il: plaît Ils: plaisent	18. POUVOIR : to be able Je: peux Nous: pouvons Tu: peux Vous: pouvez Il: peut Ils: peuvent
19. PRENDRE : to take Je: prends Nous: prenons Tu: prends Vous: prenez Il: prend Ils: prennent	20. RECEVOIR : to receive Je: reçois Nous: recevons Tu: reçois Vous: recevez Il: reçoit Ils: reçoivent
21. RIRE : to laugh Je: ris Nous: rions Tu: ris Vous: riez Il: rit Ils: rient	22. SAVOIR : to know Je: sais Nous: savons Tu: sais Vous: savez Il: sait Ils: savent
23. SUIVRE : to follow Je: suis Nous: suivons Tu: suis Vous: suivez Il: suit Ils: suivent	24. TAIRE : to not tell Je: tais Nous: taisons Tu: tais Vous: taisez Il: tait Ils: taisent
25. TENIR : to hold Je: tiens Nous: tenons Tu: tiens Vous: tenez Il: tient Ils: tiennent	26. VALOIR : to be worth Je: vaux Nous: valons Tu: vaux Vous: valez Il: vaut Ils: valent
27. VENIR : to come Je: viens Nous: venons Tu: viens Vous: venez Il: vient Ils: viennent	28. VIVRE : to live Je: vis Nous: vivons Tu: vis Vous: vivez Il: vit Ils: vivent
29. VOIR : to see Je: vois Nous: voyons Tu: vois Vous: voyez Il: voit Ils: voient	30. VOULOIR : to want Je: veux Nous: voulons Tu: veux Vous: voulez Il: veut Ils: veulent
31. ÉCRIRE : to write Je: écris Nous: écrivons Tu: écris Vous: écrivez Il: écrit Ils: écrivent	32. ÊTRE : to be Je: suis Nous: sommes Tu: es Vous: êtes Il: est Ils: sont

Expressions of Quantity with Numbers or de

The French pronoun en replaces phrases that indicate quantities (of things or people). Quantities can be expressed with numbers, expressions, indefinite articles, and partitive articles:

• A number: J’ai trois chats. (I have three cats.)

• An expression + de: Il a beaucoup de CDs. (He has a lot of CDs.)

• An indefinite article: Nous avons une voiture bleue. (We have a blue car.)

• A partitive article: Ils ont de la chance. (They have some luck.)

The word de in an expression of quantity like un peu de (a little bit of) or just a number + noun is replaced by the pronoun en. But don’t lose track of that specific quantity when you are using the pronoun: Eating “a lot of chocolate” is not the same as eating “a little bit of chocolate”! How do you keep track of the quantity? That’s super easy: Just put the quantity you’re talking about at the end of the sentence, no matter where en is in the sentence. Here’s how to proceed:

1. Find the quantity phrase.

   For example, in Les athlètes ont beaucoup de médailles. (The athletes have a lot of medals.), the expression of quantity is beaucoup de médailles.

2. Remove the entire phrase: the expression of quantity (+ de) + noun.

   In this example, you’re left with Les athlètes ont.

3. Replace the phrase with the pronoun en and place the pronoun properly in the sentence — in this sentence, before the conjugated verb.

   In this case, you have Les athlètes en ont.

4. Add the expression of quantity (same one or a new one), without de, at the very end of the sentence.

   Here, you wind up with Les athlètes en ont beaucoup. (The athletes have a lot of them.)

Here are a few examples using different expressions of quantity of this type.

Je bois un verre de lait. (I drink a glass of milk.) → J’en bois un verre. (I drink a glass of it.)

Elle a un portable. (She has a cellphone.) → Elle en a un. (She has one [of them].)

Le champion a gagné neuf médailles. (The champion won nine medals.) → Le champion en a gagné neuf. (The champion won nine [of them].)

Note: The indefinite article un (a, an) counts as a specific quantity and has to be taken up as such in the new sentence with en. This fact also applies to the indefinite article une (a) but not to the indefinite article des (some). This construction is particularly useful when you are asked how many of something you have or want.

— Combien d’animaux est-ce que tu as chez toi? (How many pets do you have?)

— J’en ai trois: un chien, un chat et un poisson rouge. (I have three: a dog, a cat, and a goldfish.)

— Tu bois du lait le matin? (Do you drink any milk in the morning?)

— Oui, j’en bois un verre. (Yes, I drink a glass of it.)

Framing Questions in French Using Est-Ce Que

In French, you can ask a question in a couple of different ways. In English, when you ask a yes/no question in present tense, you typically begin with Do you, and the verb follows. (For example, Do you have a cat?) French has two primary ways of asking the same question:

• Add est-ce que at the beginning of a sentence.

• Use inversion, but it’s a bit more complex and usually reserved for written style/expression.

You can form a question by starting the sentence with the tag est-ce que and ending it with a question mark. Est-ce que doesn’t translate in English, but it’s the equivalent of Do you or Are you. Here are some examples:

Statement: Mes amis vont au cinéma. (My friends go to the movies.)

Question: Est-ce que mes amis vont au cinéma? (Are my friends going to the movies?)

Statement: Je peux sortir. (I can go out.)

Question: Est-ce que je peux sortir? (Can I go out?)

Statement: C’est facile (It’s easy.)

Question: Est-ce que c’est facile? (Is it easy?)

If est-ce que precedes a subject that begins with a vowel, it changes to est-ce qu’ as illustrated in the following example:

Est-ce qu’il pleut? (Is it raining?)

How to use of ‘VENIR DE + infinitive verb”

French Vocabulary

The expression ‘VENIR DE + infinitive verb’ expresses the notion of just did something.

• ‘VENIR DE’ may be in the present tense. It expresses the idea of ‘just did something’ or ‘just have done something’.
  • Je viens de manger => I just ate

pronoun	present	verb	English
je	viens de	manger	I just ate
tu	viens d’	acheter	you just bought
elle	vient de	parler	she just talked
il	vient d’	aller	he/it just went
on	vient de	boire	we just drank
nous	venons de	voir	we just saw
vous	venez de	vendre	you just sold
ils	viennent de	visiter	they just visited
elles	viennent de	travailler	they just worke

À – French Preposition

À is a very important French preposition, despite its tiny size. Its many different meanings and uses in French include all of the following:I. Location or destinationJ’habite à Paris – I live in ParisJe vais à Rome – I’m going to RomeJe suis à la banque – I’m at the bankII. Distance in time or spaceJ’habite à 10 mètres de lui – I live 10 meters from himIl est à 5 minutes de moi – He is 5 minutes from meIII. Point in timeNous arrivons à 5h00 – We arrive at 5:00Il est mort à 92 ans – He died at the age of 92 IV. Manner, style, or characteristic Il habite à la française – He lives in the French style un enfant aux yeux bleus – blue-eyed child / child with blue eyes fait à la main – made by hand aller à pied – to go on / by foot V. Possession un ami à moi – a friend of mine Ce livre est à Jean – This is Jean’s book VI. Measurement acheter au kilo – to buy by the kilogram payer à la semaine – to pay by the week VII. Purpose or use une tasse à thé – teacup / cup for tea un sac à dos – backpack / pack for the back VIII. In the Passive Infinitive À louer – for rent Je n’ai rien à lire – I have nothing to read.

Note: When followed by the definite articles le and les, à contracts with them into a single word:
				For example
	à + le	=	au	au magasin
	à + les	=	aux	aux maisons
But à does not contract with la or l’
	à + la	=	à la	à la banque
	à + l’	=	à l’	à l’hôpital
In addition, à does not contract with le and les when they are direct objects.

 

Conjugating Reflexive Verbs A reflexive verb infinitive is identified by its reflexive pronoun se, which is placed before the infinitive and that serves as a direct or indirect object pronoun. A reflexive verb shows that the subject is performing the action upon itself and, therefore, the subject and the reflexive pronoun refer to the same person or thing, as in je m’appelle (I call myself), which is translated to “My name is.” Some verbs must always be reflexive, whereas other verbs may be made reflexive by adding the correct object pronoun. The meaning of some verbs varies depending upon whether or not the verb is used reflexively. Reflexive verbs are always conjugated with the reflexive pronoun that agrees with the subject: me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself, herself, itself, themselves), nous (ourselves), and vous (yourself, yourselves). These pronouns generally precede the verb. Follow the rules for conjugating regular verbs, verbs with spelling changes, and irregular verbs, depending on of the tense, as shown in Table 1: Reflexive constructions have the following translations:

• Present tense: Je me lave. (I wash myself.)

• Imperfect tense:: Je me lavais. (I was washing [used to] myself.)

• Future tense: Je me laverai. (I will wash myself.)

• Conditional: Je me laverais. (I would wash myself.)

Consider the following most commonly used reflexive verbs. Those marked with asterisks have shoe verb spelling change within the infinitive.

• s’approcher de (approach)

• s’arrêter de (stop)

• se baigner (bathe, swim)

• se blesser (hurt oneself)

• se bronzer (tan)

• se brosser (brush)

• se brûler (burn oneself)

• se casser (break)

• se coiffer (do one’s hair)

• se coucher (go to bed)

• se couper (cut oneself)

• se demander (wonder)

• se dépêcher (hurry)

• se déshabiller (undress)

• se détendre (relax)

• s’endormir (go to sleep)

• se fâcher (get angry)

• s’habiller (dress)

• s’impatienter (become impatient)

• s’inquiéter de* (worry about)

• se laver (wash)

• se lever* (get up)

• se maquiller (apply make‐up)

• se mettre à (begin)

• s’occuper de (take care of)

• se peigner (comb)

• se présenter (introduce oneself)

• se promener* (take a walk)

• se rappeler* (recall)

• se raser (shave)

• se reposer (rest)

• se réunir (meet)

• se réveiller (wake up)

• se servir de (use)

• se tromper (make a mistake)

In addition, some French verbs are always reflexive despite the fact that in English they are not:

• s’écrier (exclaim, cry out)

• s’en aller (leave, go away)

• se fier à (trust)

• se méfier de (distrust)

• se moquer de (make fun of)

• se soucier de (care about)

• se souvenir de (remember)

When a subject is followed by two verbs (and keep in mind that when the first one is conjugated, the second must be in the infinitive, the reflexive pronoun precedes the infinitive, because its meaning is tied to that verb:

• Je vais me dépêcher. (I’m going to hurry.)

• Il ne va pas se raser. (He’s not going to shave.)

• Reflexive Verbs and Commands
• In a negative command, the reflexive pronoun directly precedes the verb: Ne te lève pas!(Don’t get up!)
• In an affirmative command, the reflexive pronoun follows the verb and is attached to it by a hyphen. In familiar commands, tebecomes toi after the verb: Lève‐toi! Levez‐vous! (Get up!)

Reflexive or Non‐Reflexive?

The meaning of certain verbs allows the use of the verb either as reflexive or non‐reflexive, depending upon whom the action is performed. Me, te, se, nous, and vous are also used as direct and indirect object pronouns when not used reflexively. Be sure, therefore, to pay attention to the meaning you wish to convey.

• Je me lave. (I wash myself.)

• Je lave la voiture. (I wash the car.)

• Je la lave. (I wash it.)

• Il se réveille. (He wakes [himself] up.)

• Il me réveille. (He wakes me up.)

Some verbs in French have different meanings when used reflexively, as shown in Table 1. Even verbs that are not generally used as reflexive verbs may be made reflexive by adding the reflexive pronoun:

• Je prépare le dîner. (I prepare dinner.)

• Je me prépare. (I prepare myself.)

Reflexive verbs may be used in the plural to express reciprocal action meaning “each other” or “one another:”

• Nous nous parlons. (We speak to each other.)

• Vous vous regardez. (You look at one another.)

Reflexive Verbs and Compound Tenses In compound tenses like the passé composé, reflexive verbs use êtreas their helping (auxiliary) verb. The reflexive pronoun remains before the conjugated helping form of être, as follows:

• Je me suis lavé(e). (I washed myself.)

• Tu t’es préparé(e). (You didn’t get ready.)

• Il s’est rasé. (He shaved.)

• Elle s’est couchée. (Didn’t she go to bed?)

• Nous nous sommes peigné(e)s. (We combed our hair.)

• Vous vous êtes coiffé(e)(s). (You didn’t do your hair.)

• Ils se sont impatientés. (They became impatient.)

• Elles se sont maquillées. (They put on their makeup.)

When the reflexive pronoun is used as a direct object, as in “Whom did they wash? Themselves! ” the past participle agrees with the reflexive pronoun: Ils se sont lavés. (They washed themselves.) When the reflexive pronoun is used as an indirect object (“To/for whom did they wash something? For themselves!”), the past participle shows no agreement: Ils se sont lavé la figure. (They washed their faces.) Even verbs that are not generally used as reflexive verbs may be made reflexive by adding the reflexive pronoun:

• Je prépare le dîner. (I prepare dinner.)

• Je me prépare. (I prepare myself.)

Reflexive verbs may be used in the plural to express reciprocal action meaning “each other” or “one another:”

• Nous nous parlons. (We speak to each other.)

• Vous vous regardez. (You look at one another.)

Passé Composé

The Passé Composé with Avoir

Using avoir as the helping verb is a logical choice in a tense that expresses an action that has occurred. Although English usage often omits the use of “have” when it is implied (You may say, “I lost my keys” and not, “I have lost my keys”), in French, you must always use the helping verb: J’ai perdu mes clefs. To form the passé composé of verbs using avoir, conjugate avoir in the present tense (j’ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont) and add the past participle of the verb expressing the action. Put the words together this way: subject + helping verb (usually avoir) + past participle. The passé composé, a compound past tense, is formed by combining two elements: when (the action has taken place and, therefore, requires the helping verb avoir) and what (the action that has happened and, therefore, requires the past participle of the regular or irregular verb showing the particular action). See Figure 1. Here are some examples of the passé composé. Elle a expliqué son problème. (She explained her problem.) Ils ont réussi. (They succeeded.) J’ai entendu les nouvelles. (I heard the news.) Forming the negative in the passé composé with avoir In a negative sentence in the passé composé, ne precedes the helping verb, and the negative word (pas, rien, jamais, and so on follows it: Je n’ai rien préparé. (I didn’t prepare anything.) Nous n’avons pas fini le travail. (We didn’t finish the work.) Il n’a jamais répondu à la lettre. (He never answered the letter.) Questions in the passé composé with avoir To form a question in the passé composé using inversion, invert the conjugated helping verb with the subject pronoun and add a hyphen. Then place the negative around the hyphenated helping verb and subject pronoun: As‐tu mangé? (Did you eat?) N’as‐tu rien mangé? (Didn’t you eat anything?) A‐t‐il attendu les autres? (Did he wait for the others?) N’a‐t‐il pas attendu? (Didn’t he wait for the others?) Regular verbs follow a prescribed set of rules for the formation of the past participle, whereas irregular verbs (discussed in the following section) must be memorized. Past participles of verbs conjugated with avoir agree in gender (masculine or feminine — add e) and number (singular or plural — add s) with a preceding direct object noun or pronoun: Le(s) film(s)? (The film[s]?) Je l'(les)ai aimé(s). (I liked it [them].) Quelle(s) robe(s) a‐t‐elle choisie(s)? (Which dress[es] did she choose?) Il nous a vus. (He saw us.)

The Passé Composé with Être

The passé composé of 17 verbs is formed by combining the present tense of être (je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont) and then adding the past participle of the verb showing the action. Most of these verbs express motion or a change of place, state, or condition (that is, going up, going down, going in, going out, or remaining). Dr. and Mrs. Vandertrampp live in the house in Figure , as illustrated in Table 1. Their name may help you memorize the 17 verbs using être. An asterisk (*) in Table 6 denotes an irregular past participle. Verbs whose helping verb is être must show agreement of their past participles in gender (masculine or feminine — add e) and number (singular or plural — add s) with the subject noun or pronoun, as shown in Table 2 : Remember the following rules when using être as a helping verb in the passé composé: Vous can be a singular or plural subject for both masculine and feminine subjects. Singular Plural Vous êtes entré. (You entered.) Vous êtes entrés. (You entered.) Vous êtes entrée. (You entered.) Vous êtes entrées. (You entered.) For a mixed group, always use the masculine form. Roger et Bernard sont revenus. (Roger and Bernard came back.) Louise et Mireille sont revenues. (Louise and Mireille came back.) Roger et Louise sont revenus. (Roger and Louise came back.) If the masculine past participle ends in an unpronounced consonant, pronounce the consonant for the feminine singular and plural forms: Il est mort. (He died.) Ils sont morts. (They died.) Elle est morte. (She died.) Elles sont mortes. (They died.) Forming the negative in the passé composé with être In the negative, put ne before the conjugated form of être and the negative word after it: Il n’est pas sorti. (He didn’t go out.) Elles ne sont pas encore arrivées. (They didn’t arrive yet.) Questions in the passé composé with être To form a question using inversion, invert the conjugated form of être with the subject pronoun and add a hyphen. The negatives surround the hyphenated verb and pronoun: Sont‐ils partis? (Did they leave?) Ne sont‐ils pas partis? (Didn’t they leave?)

Future Tense

The future tense expresses what the subject will do or is going to do in the future. It also describes what action will or is going to take place at a future time. Although the future tense is usually used for events taking place in the future, the present tense in French may be used to refer to an action that will take place very soon or to ask for future instructions.

• Il part tôt. (He will be leaving early.)

• Je prends le bus? (Shall I take the bus?)

In addition, you can express an imminent action in the near future by conjugating the verb aller (to go) in the present tense and adding the infinitive of the action the speaker will perform. Keep in mind that the irregular present tense of aller is je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, and ils vont.

• Il va aller loin. (He’s going to go far.)

• Ils vont jouer. (They are going to play.)

Otherwise, use the future tense in the following cases:

• To express what will happen: Je réussirai. (I will succeed.)
• After quand (when), lorsque (when), dès que (as soon as), andaussitôt que (as soon as), when referring to a future action, even if the present tense is used in English: Quand (Lorsque, Dès que, Aussitôt que) nous aurons beaucoup d’argent, nous irons en France. (When [As soon as] we have a lot of money, we will go to France.)

Future tense of regular verbs Form the future tense of regular verbs, as shown in Table 1, by adding the following endings (often referred to as avoir endings because they resemble the present conjugation of avoir) to the verb infinitive. Note the following about forming the future tense of regular verbs:

• ‐re verbs drop the final e before adding the appropriate future ending: vendre (to sell) becomes nous vendrons (we will sell)

• The e of the er infinitive stem of the future is not pronounced.

All verbs that require spelling changes form the future in the same way as regular verbs: infinitive + future ending (except the following): For verbs ending in ‐yer (except envoyer, which is irregular), change yto i in all forms of the future tense. Verbs ending in ‐ ayer may or may not make this change:

• j’emplo i erai, nous emplo i erons (I will use, we will use)

• je pa i erai or je pa y erai (I will pay)

For verbs ending in e + consonant + er (but not é + consonant + er), change the silent e before the infinitive ending to è in all forms of the future tense.

• tu ach èteras, vous ach èterez (you will buy)

With appeler and jeter, double the consonant in the future tense.

• nous appellerons (we will call)

• nous jetterons (we will throw)

Future tense of irregular verbs Irregular verbs in the future have future stems ending in ‐r or ‐rr. Add the future endings to these stems to get the correct future form, as shown in Table 2. Negating in the future tense To negate a sentence in the future, simply put ne and the negative word around the conjugated verb:

• Elles ne sortiront pas ce soir. (They will not go out this evening.)

• Il ne fumera jamais. (He will never smoke.)

Remember that pronouns remain before the conjugated verb: Je ne te téléphonerai pas. (I will not call you.) Questions in the future tense To form a question using inversion, reverse the order of the subject pronoun and the verb and join them with a hyphen:

• Irez‐vous en France cet été? (Will you go to France this summer?)

• Jouera‐t‐elle du piano? (Will she play the piano.)

The Conditional The conditional is not a tense because it does not refer to a time period. Instead, the conditional is a mood that expresses what a subject would do under certain circumstances. Use the conditional in the following situations:

• To express what would happen under certain conditions: Si j’avais le temps je voyagerais. (If I had the time, I would travel.)

• When “could” has the sense of “should be able to,” in which case you use the conditional of pouvoir: Il pourrait faire ceci. (He could [should be able to] do this.)

• To politely make a request or a demand: Je voudrais l’acheter. (I would like to buy it.)

The conditional uses the same stem as the future tense, but you then add the conditional endings, which are exactly the same as the imperfect endings, as shown in Table 1. For irregular verbs and verbs with spelling changes, you simply add conditional endings to the stems used for the future.

• acheter: nous achèterions (xxx)

• aller: j’irais (xxx)

• appeler: vous appelleriez (xxx)

• avoir: tu aurais (xxx)

• devoir: il devrait (xxx)]

• envoyer: j’enverrais (xxx)

• essayer: j’essaierais or j’essayerai (xxx)

• être: nous serions (xxx)

• faire: vous feriez (xxx)

• jeter: elle jetterait (xxx)

• pouvoir: ils pourraient (xxx)

• recevoir: je recevrais (xxx)

• savoir: on saurait (xxx)

• venir: nous viendrions (xxx)

• voir: vous verriez (xxx)

• vouloir: ils voudraient (xxx)

Irregularities in the future and conditional also occur in related verbs:

• nous mettrions (we would put); nous permettrions (we would permit)

• j’enverrais (I would send); je renverrais (I would send back)

Negating in the conditional To negate a sentence in the conditional, simply put ne and the negative word around the conjugated verb:

• Elle ne rirait pas. (She wouldn’t laugh.)

• Je ne pleurerais pas. (I wouldn’t cry.)

Remember that pronouns remain before the conjugated verb: Il ne vous punirait pas. (He wouldn’t punish you.) Questions in the conditional To form a question using inversion, reverse the order of the subject pronoun and the verb and join them with a hyphen:

• Voudriez‐vous aller en France? (Would you like to go to France?)

• J’aimerais partir. (I would like to leave.)

French Prepositions of Place – Countries, Cities, Regions Why do you say “Je vais en France” but “Je vais au Japon”? Like any inanimate object, continents, countries, and regions also have genders in French. The ending will usually tell you which is feminine or masculine and help you choose the correct French preposition of place. A – General Rule About French Prepositions of Places When the name of a region ends in an E, it’s usually feminine. La France, l’Angleterre, la Suisse, la Chine, l’Inde, la Californie, l’Asie

• To say you’re going TO it, use EN Je vais… en France, en Italie, en Afrique, en Floride…

• To say you’re there, use EN Je suis…  en France, en Italie, en Afrique, en Floride…

• To say you’re coming from it, use DE Je viens de France, d’Italie, d’Afrique, de Floride…

(There are many exceptions though, such as Le Mexique, Le Maine, Le Zimbabwe…) When the name of a region ends in any other vowel but E, or a consonant, it’s usually masculine. Le Canada, le Japon, le Portugal, le Burundi, le Luxembourg, le Texas

• To say you’re going TO it, use AU Je vais… au Niger, au Brésil, au Maroc, au Congo

• To say you’re there, use AU Je suis…  au Niger, au Brésil, au Maroc, au Congo

• To say you’re coming from it, use DU Je viens… du Niger, du Brésil, du Maroc, du Congo

When a masculine country starts with a vowel or an H, use the rules of the feminine countries L’Iran, l’Ouganda, Oman, Angola, Israël

• Je vais en Iran, je viens d’Angola, je suis en Israël

B – Particular Cases About French Prepositions of Places Unfortunately, there are too many exceptions to be listed… So be ready to face many particular cases. Here are some pointers 1 – Plural names A few names of regions are plural. Most plural regions end in an S, but not all regions ending in an S are plural (le Laos, L’Arkansas)… So with plural regions, here is the rule Les États-Unis, les Maldives, les Pays-Bas, Les Philippines…

• To say you’re going TO it, use AUX Je vais… aux États-Unis, aux Maldives

• To say you’re there, use AUX Je suis…   aux États-Unis, aux Maldives

• To say you’re coming from it, use DES Je viens… des États-Unis, des Maldives

Note the pronunciation of les États-Unis – there are 2 strong liaisons in Z, whether its introduced by les, aux or des = Zéta Zuni 2 – Cities Cities are usually not introduced by any article, and are usually feminine. Paris est belle (because here Paris refers to “la ville de Paris”).

• For most cities, to say you’re going TO it, use à Je vais… à Paris, à Tokyo, à New-York

• To say you’re IN it, use à Je suis… à Paris, à Tokyo, à New-York

• To say you’re coming from it, use DE Je viens… de Paris, de Tokyo, de New-York

But some cities include an article in their name – Le Havre, le Caire, La Paz, Les Andelys… For these, usually the article contracts with the à, becoming au, du etc… 3 – Islands Are messy business in French… !! Many don’t have any article, and will be introduced by à or de Je vais à Cuba, à Haïti, à Madagascar But some are masculine Je vais au Japon And some are feminine Je vais en Corse And other plural Je vais aux Maldives So it’s more like a case by case scenario… 4 – Regions and states These usually follow the general rules for gender. La Provence, Le Sussex, l’Oregon. Note that in the US, the states are masculine except: La Floride, La Californie, La Caroline du Sud, La Caroline du Nord, La Louisiane, la Georgie, la Virginie occidentale (West Virginia), la Virginie Orientale (Virginia), La Pennsylvanie. But watch out… Le Maine. For prepositions used with  regions and states, it’s very difficult to say there is a rule per se… We tend not to use à, but rather en, au, aux or dans le, dans la, dans les… It’s really a matter of custom, not grammar. Au Texas, dans le Maine, en Bourgogne, en Californie, dans la Creuse…. ]]>