General Grammar - How It Works in French

FRENCH I

Grammar

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

General Grammar - How it works in French

Nouns

Verbs and verb conjugation

Adjectives

Articles

Unit 1 – It is nice to meet you!

Lesson 1.1 I can greet people, introduce myself, and spell

Lesson 1.2I can use dates and numbers 0-31

Lesson 1.3I can tell time and numbers 0-69

Lesson 1.4I can share my address, phone number, and age

Unit 2 – Who am I?

Lesson 2.1 I can describe the personality of myself and others

Lesson 2.2I can describe the appearance of myself and others

Unit 3 – What do you like to do?

Lesson 3.1 I can talk about my activities and preferences

Lesson 3.2I can talk about places I go

Lesson 3.3I can ask and answer questions

Unit 4 – My school life

Lesson 4.1 I can talk about school

Lesson 4.2I can talk about every day objects

Lesson 4.3I can describe every day objects

Unit 5 – Who am I?

Lesson 5.1 I can talk about my family and pets

Lesson 5.2I can talk about future activities

Unit 6 – Let’s go out to eat

Lesson 6.1 I can talk about food

Lesson 6.2I can order food in a restaurant

Unit 1 QuizletUnit 2 QuizletUnit 3 Quizlet

Unit 4 QuizletUnit 5 QuizletUnit 6 Quizlet

Grammar: Nouns

NOUNS

One of the eight parts of speech, a noun is commonly defined as "a person, place, or thing." If that seems vague, that’s because it is: nouns can be visible (water) or invisible (air), they can be concrete (books) or abstract (ideas). Some are commonplace (stones), some are rare (diamonds), and others are non-existent (unobtainium). Generally speaking, if you can use "a," "the," "some," or "this" in front of any stand-alone word, it’s a noun.

Gender

In French, all nouns have a gender. Stones and ideas are feminine, while books and diamonds are masculine. This can be hard to wrap your mind around, but it might help to think about gender in English, limited as it is. Girls and women are feminine, which is reflected grammatically in the use of "she" and "her," while boys and men are masculine: "he" and "his." The difference is that in French, grammatical gender has nothing to do with biological gender.

It is absolutely essential to learn the gender of a noun at the same time as you learn the noun. The best way to do this is by learning an article with every noun, rather than just the noun itself. Don’t make vocabulary lists like this:

livre – book

idée – idea

pierre – stone

diamant – diamond

But rather, like this:

un livre – book

une idée – idea

une pierre – stone

un diamant – diamond

That way, the article will be attached to the noun in your brain, and you won’t spend the next several years asking people (as those of us who did not learn genders and nouns together constantly do) "is ___ masculine or feminine?" Gender is an intrinsic part of French grammar – adjectives, certain pronouns, and even some verbs change to agree with the gender of the nouns they are used with, so by learning gender and nouns together, you’ll make all of these other aspects of French grammar that much easier.

Feminine Forms and Plurals

Some nouns referring to people and animals have different forms for masculine and feminine, and most nouns have different forms for singular and plural, which means there can be up to 4 forms of any given noun.

Feminine and/or plural endings are added to the default masculine singular form. For regular nouns, these endings are e for feminine and s for plural.

Par exemple…

un étudiant (student)

When the default form of the noun ends in s, x, or z, the singular and plural forms are the same.

Par exemple…

When the default form of the adjective ends in e, the masculine and feminine forms are the same.

Par exemple…

un artiste (artist)

A few nouns have completely different masculine and feminine equivalents.

Par exemple…

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

The subject of a verb is the person or thing, which performs the action of that verb:

Tom travaille.

Tom is working.

Mes parents habitent en Espagne.

My parents live in Spain.

La voiture ne veut pas démarrer.

The car won't start.

Subject pronouns replace this person or thing:

Il travaille.

He is working.

Ils habitent en Espagne.

They live in Spain.

Elle ne veut pas démarrer.

It won't start.

When studying French, you must understand subject pronouns before you can begin learning how to conjugate verbs, because the forms of verbs change for each subject pronoun.

Click below for detailed information about how to use each French subject pronoun:

Singular

1st person jeI

2nd persontuyou

3rd personilhe, itelleshe, itonone

Plural

1st personnouswe

2nd personvousyou

3rd personilsthey (m)ellesthey (f)

French subject pronoun: je = I

The first person singular French subject pronoun jeis used a lot like its English equivalent"I":

Je travaille tous les jours.

I work every day.

Je veux voir ce film.

I want to see this movie.

Je sais ce qui s'est passé.

I know what happened.

Notes

1. Unlike "I," je is only capitalizedat the beginning of a sentence.

Hier, je suis allé à la plage.

Yesterday, I went to the beach.

Non, je ne veux pas voir ce film.

No, I don't want to see this movie.

Dois-je commencer maintenant ?

Do I have to start now?

2. Je must contract to j' when followed by a vowel or muteh.

J'aime danser.

I like to dance.

Tu sais, j'ai le même problème.

You know, I have the same problem.

Oui, j'habite en France.

Yes, I live in France.

French subject pronouns: tu, vous = you

Lesson |

In English, the second person subject pronoun is always "you," no matter how many people you're talking to, and regardless of whether you know them. But French has two different words for "you": tu and vous.

The difference in meaning between these two words is very important* - you must understand when and why to use each of them. Otherwise, you may inadvertently insult someone by using the wrong "you."

Tu is the familiar "you," which demonstrates a certain closeness and informality. Use tu when speaking to one

1. friend
2. peer / colleague
3. relative
4. child
5. pet

Vous is the formal "you." It is used to show respect or maintain a certain distance or formality with someone. Use vous when speaking to

1. someone you don't know well
2. an older person
3. an authority figure
4. anyone to whom you wish to show respect

Vous is also the plural "you" - you have to use it when talking to more than one person, no matter how close you are.

Summary

• familiar and singular: tu
• familiar and plural: vous
• formal and singular: vous
• formal and plural: vous

Because the tu / vous distinction doesn't exist in English, beginning French students often have trouble with it. Some people follow the guideline of using whatever the other person uses with them. This can be misleading: someone in authority may use tu with you, but that certainly doesn't mean that you can respond in kind. You can try asking On peut se tutoyer?, but when in doubt, I tend to use vous. I'd rather show someone too much respect than not enough!

*There are even verbs to indicate which pronoun you're using:

tutoyer = to use tu

vouvoyer = to use vous

French subject pronouns: il, elle = he, she, it

The French third person singular subject pronouns il and elleare used just like their English equivalents "he" and "she" when talking about people:

Il aime skier.

He likes to ski.

Elle veut être médecin.

She wants to be a doctor.

In addition, both il and elle can also mean "it." In French, all nounsare either masculine or feminine, so to replace them, you use the subject pronouns corresponding to that gender.

Je vais au musée - il est ouvert jusqu'à 20h00.

I'm going to the museum - it's open until 8pm.

Où est la voiture? Elle est chez Jean.

Where's the car? It's at Jean's place.

Summary

1. Il can refer to a male, "he," as well a masculine noun, "it."
2. Elle can indicate a female, "she," or a feminine noun, "it."

French subject pronoun: on = one, we, you, they

On is the indefinite pronoun and literally means "one." It's often equivalent to the English passive voice.

On ne devrait pas poser cette question.

One shouldn't ask that question.

On demande : caissier.

Cashier wanted.

On ne dit pas ça.

That isn't said.

Ici on parle français.

French is spoken here.

In addition, on is an informal replacement for "we," "you," "they," "someone," or "people in general."

On va sortir ce soir.

We're going out tonight.

Alors les enfants, que veut-on faire?

OK kids, what do you want to do?

On dit que ce resto est bon.

They say that this restaurant is good.

On a trouvé mon portefeuille.

Someone found my wallet.

On est fou !

People are crazy!

On ne sait jamais

You never know

French subject pronoun: nous = we

The first person plural French subject pronoun nous is used exactly like "we" in English.

Nous allons en Égypte.

We're going to Egypt.

J'espère que nous arriverons à temps.

I hope we arrive in time.

Devons-nous travailler ensemble?

Do we have to work together?

Quand pouvons-nous commencer?

When can we begin?

French subject pronouns: ils, elles = they

French has two third person plural subject pronouns, ils and elles, and they both mean "they."

Ils is used for groups of men as well as mixed-gender groups.

Je ne vois pas mes frères. Sont-ils déjà partis?

I don't see my brothers. Did they already leave?

Paul et Anne viennent, mais ils sont en retard.

Paul and Anne are coming, but they're running late.

Ils is also used for groups of all masculine nouns and groups of mixed masculine-feminine nouns.

J'ai trouvé tes livres - ils sont sur la table.

I found your books - they're on the table.

Le stylo et la plume? Ils sont tombés par terre.

The pen and pencil? They fell on the floor.

Elles can be used only when every single person or thing you're referring to is female or feminine.

Où sont Annette et Marie? Elles arrivent.

Where are Annette and Marie? They're on their way.

J'ai acheté des pommes - elles sont dans la cuisine.

I bought some apples - they're in the kitchen.

Notes

Even when talking about a room full of a hundred women and one man, you have to useils.

Ils and elles are pronounced exactly like il and elle, respectively, except in a liaison.

Grammar: Verbs

VERBS

“Why, oh why do we have to conjugate verbs?” Almost every student I teach asks this question at some point. So if you feel like conjugating a verb is frustrating, unnecessary, redundant, etc., you are not alone! Regardless of your feelings about verb conjugation, it is one of THE most important concepts you MUST learn in order to communicate in French.

FIRST, let’s take a look at a French verb and what it really is. A verb is an action word and therefore communicates that something is happening (has happened, will happen, etc.). For our purposes today, the verb has two main forms: infinitive and conjugated.

In its infinitive state (not conjugated) a verb simply denotes an action, but no one is doing the action.

AIMER = to likeWho likes something? No one!

FINIR = to finishWho is finishing? No one!

VENDRE = to sellWho sells? No one!

In its conjugated state (changed from the infinitive) someone is doing the action.

J’AIME = I like, I do like, I am liking

TU FINIS = You finish, you do finish, you are finishing

ELLE VEND = She sells, she does sell, she is selling

So what changes between the infinitive and conjugated states?

AIMER – J’AIME : aimer changes its spelling to aime and j’ is added (not je because of the vowel)

FINIR – TU FINIS :finir changes its spelling to finis and tu is added

VENDRE – ELLE VEND :vendre changes its spelling to vend and elle is added

Those changes are what conjugation is all about! Without the changes we get this:

J’aimer = I to like

Tu finir = You to finish

Elle vendre = She to sell

Without conjugation, you will sound like the young child, who doesn’t quite have a grasp on the language:

I to like pizza! You to finish the game? She to sell ice cream.

So how do we get from the infinitive to the conjugated state? It’s easy!! Just follow the steps!

Step #1

Drop the ending.aimER = aim

finIR = fin

vendRE = vend

(-er, -ir, -re are the equivalent of “to” for us- TO like)

Step #2

Decide who is doing the action.

Je = INous = We

Tu = You (singular/informal)Vous = You (plural, formal)

Il = HeIls = They (males or males/females)

Elle = SheElles = They (all females)

On = One/people (one must eat more vegetables to be healthy)

Step #3

Add the NEW ending. Whenever you remove letters from the verb infinitive, you must add new letters to match the person doing the action. This will typically follow a pattern connected with the letters removed from the infinitive (the –ER, -IR, -RE).

For most –ER verbs, you will add the following:

Je + verb + ENous + verb + ONS

J’aimENous aimONS

Tu + verb + ESVous + verb + EZ

Tu aimESVous aimEZ

Il/Elle/On + verb + EIls/Elles + verb + ENT

Il aimEIls aimENT

For most –IR verbs, you will add the following:

Je + verb + ISNous + verb + ISSONS

Je finISNous finISSONS

Tu + verb + ISVous + verb + ISSEZ

Tu finISVous finISSEZ

Il/Elle/On + verb + ITIls/Elles + verb + ISSENT

Il finITIls finISSENT

For most –RE verbs, you will add the following:

Je + verb + SNous + verb + ONS

Je vendSNous vendONS

Tu + verb + SVous + verb + EZ

Tu vendSVous vendEZ

Il/Elle/On + verb + nothingIls/Elles + verb + ENT

Il vendIls vendENT

There you have it! Follow the steps! 1 – Drop the –ER, -IR, or –RE. 2 – Decide who is doing the action. 3 – Add the new letters.

What happens if you DON’T do the steps or miss match the patterns? Your sentences WON’T make sense!

*It is important to note that in English we have three different ways to say the same thing:

You sell / You are selling / You do sell - These essentially mean the same thing, but we

use them in different situations. Not so in French!

Tu vends = you sell / Tu vends = you are selling / Tu vends = you do sell

To say that something IS NOT happening, ne…pas is added around the verb.

I don’t like = Je n’aime pasWe aren’t finishing = Nous ne finissons pas

You don’t sell = Tu ne vends pasYou guys do not like = Vous n’aimez pas

She isn’t finishing = Elle ne finit pasThey aren’t selling = Ils ne vendent pas

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Grammar: Adjectives

ADJECTIVES

Part 1. FRENCH VS. ENGLISH ADJECTIVES

Adjectives are words which describe a subject and answer the question: what kind of..?

The main difference between English and French adjectives are:

1. The changes in form. English adjectives change only when used to compare (she is prettier than Claire) while French adjectives have to “agree” with the word they are describing according to its gender and quantity(il est joli, elle est jolie).
2. The placement in a sentence. French adjectives are usually placed AFTER the noun(the cat black), while English adjectives come BEFORE it(the black cat).

Part 2. HOW TO MAKE FRENCH ADJECTIVES “AGREE”

The basic rule in changing a masculine adjective into its feminine form is simply to add an -e to its ending. If it already ends with an -e, usually you do not need to add another one. (

A lot of adjectives that end in a consonant can be changed to feminine by doubling the consonant and adding an -e towards the end.

Some irregular masculine adjectives have another set of masculine forms which are used when describing words that begin with a vowel or an h.

To change an adjective into its plural form, the basic rule is to add an -s. But if it already ends in -s or -x, no additional suffix is needed.

For adjectives that end in -eau or -al, the plural form is -eaux or -aux.

A few adjectives never change their form no matter what kind of noun they are describing

Part 3. WHERE TO PLACE FRENCH ADJECTIVES IN A SENTENCE

There are four kinds of adjectives in French based on where they appear in a sentence:

Adjectives that come AFTER the subject they are describing – this is the most common case.

A small group of adjectives come BEFORE the subject.(BANGS[1] )

Multiple adjectives can be connected using et which means and in English.

Grammar: Articles

ARTICLES

One of the eight parts of speech, an article is a word that modifies a noun in a particular way, by stating whether the noun is specific, unspecific, or partial. French articles agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify, and there are three types:

Definite / Défini

The definite article indicates that the speaker is referring to either a specific noun or to a class of nouns in a general sense. The English definite article, the, has four equivalent forms in French, depending on the gender and number of the noun as well as what letter it begins with.