Module 1: La Famille

Lesson 1:00 La Tour Eiffel

Fun Facts:

The Eiffel Tower:

- was designed by .

- was built for the held in the year .

- is a tribute to .

- was only supposed to stand for years, but it quickly became a tourist attraction even though Parisians thought it was an eyesore!

- is feet tall and gets painted every years with 3 different colors.

Lesson 1:01 Les Adjectifs

Every noun in French has a gender. Nouns are either or . All adjectives will with the noun they are describing.

- If your noun is masculine and singular, you don’t add anything to the adjective. ex: Il est grand.

-If your noun is feminine and singular, you simply add Eto the adjective.ex: Elle estgrande.

- If your noun is masculine and plural, you simply add Sto the adjective.ex: Ilssontgrands.

- If your noun is feminine and plural, you simply add ESto the adjective.ex: Ellessontgrandes.

Adjectives that end in "s" in the masculine singular do not change in the masculine plural.

  • Ex: Ilestfrançais./ Ilssontfrançais.

Adjectives that end in "e" in the masculine singular, you do not add another “e” in the feminine form.

  • Ex: Ilest riche. / Elle est riche.

**Keep in mind that, generally, when you make an adjective plural, no pronunciation difference is made (the “s” is not pronounced.

**All adjectives go AFTER the noun unless it is describing BAGS (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size).

Some adjectives do not follow this simple spelling change pattern.

Adjectives ending in: / Masculine Singular / Feminine Singular / Masculine Plural / Feminine Plural
-eux / généreux / généreuse / généreux / généreuses
-if / sportif / sportive / sportifs / sportives
-al / original / originale / originaux / originales
-il / gentil / gentille / gentils / gentilles

Être:

"Être" is the infinitive of the French verb meaning to be.

In English, an infinitive is a verb with "to" in front. Example: I am going to be there at noon.

In French it is the form of the verb given in the dictionary.

Je suis (I am) / Nous______(We are)
Tues (You are) / Vous ______(You go)
Il ______(He is)
Elle ______(She is)
On ______(It is) / Ils ______(They are - masculine or mixed)
Elles ______(They are - feminine)

**The "s" in the forms "es" and "est" is almost never pronounced.

** The final "t" of "est" and "sont" is frequently pronounced before a vowel sound. The final consonants of the other forms may also be pronounced in front of vowel sounds.

Imperative Commands (to tell someone how to act – “be”)

Sois! (tu form)ex: sois poli(e) = bepolite

Soyons! (nous form)ex: Soyons aimables = Let’sbenice

Soyez!(vous form)ex: Ne soyezpastimide = Don’t be shy

Lesson1.02 La Famille

Des Adjectives:

Most adjectives go AFTER the noun, but adjectives that describe BAGS go the noun.

BAGS stands for:2 adjectives that go with each:

B*beau,

A*vieux,

Gbon,

Sgrand,

*irregular spelling pattern (see below)

Fill in the chart with the missing adjectives:

Masculine singular / Masculine singular before a vowel / Masculine plural / Feminine singular / Feminine plural
beau / bel / ______/ ______/ belles
______/ vieil / ______/ vieille / ______
bon / bon / bons / ______/ ______
petit / ______/ petits / ______/ ______

Possessive Adjectives:

These are adjectives you will use to say what belongs to yourself or others.

**The adjective you choose depends on the noun, not who it belongs to!!

Masculine singular noun /
Feminine noun beginning with a vowel. / Feminine singular noun / Plural noun (masc/fem)
My / mon / ma / mes
Your (singular) / ton / ta / tes
His/Her / son / sa / ses
Our / notre / notre / nos
Your (formal or plural) / votre / votre / vos
Their / leur / leur / leurs

ex: Elle est mon amie.C’est notre maison.Vous avez vos crayons?

Lesson1.03 La Martinique

Fun Facts:

La Martinique wasdiscovered and named by in .

The took over the island in .

Today the people of Martinique are citizens.

The official languageis, but whenwalkingaround the islandyouwillhear spoken. Creoleis a combination of French and dialect.

Martinique cuisine includesa lot of and shellfish.

The symbol of Carnivalis.

A Carnival style music calledisverypopular in Martinique.

Les Verbes:

You shouldbefamiliarwith 3 types of REGULAR verbs: -er, -ir, -re.

You cannot always leave a verb in its infinitive form. Sentences like “I to play soccer” and “He to eat pizza” don’t make sense! You have to conjugate the verb, or give a different form of the verb so that it makes sense (I play soccer and He eats pizza).

-er verbs:

The most common type of regular verbs are –er verbs. Someexamples are: jouer, écouter, regarder, adorer, chanter, etc.

For –er verbs, it’s simple!! Just follow these steps:

  1. Start by crossing off the –er at the end of the verb. ex: regarder
  2. You are left with a stem (regard)
  3. Add the following endings to the remaining stem:

Je - e / Nous - ons
Tu - es / Vous - ez
Il/elle/on - e / Ils/elles - ent

**remember to drop the E on je when followed by a vowel or vowel sound (ex. j’adore, j’habite)

Je regarde / Nous regardons
Turegardes / Vousregardez
Il/elle/on regarde / Ils/ellesregardent

Ex:

-ir verbs:

The 2nd largest group of regular verbs is –ir verbs. Some examples are: finir, maigrir, grossir, rougir.

Just like for –er verbs, it’s simple to conjugate –ir verbs!! Just follow these steps:

  1. Start by crossing off the –ir at the end of the verb. ex:finir
  2. You are left with a stem (fin)
  3. Add the following endings to the remaining stem:

Je - is / Nous - issons
Tu - is / Vous - issez
Il/elle/on - it / Ils/elles - issent

**remember to drop the E on je when followed by a vowel or vowel sound (ex. j’adore, j’habite)

Je finis / Nous finissons
Tu finis / Vous finissez
Il/elle/on finit / Ils/elles finissent

Ex:

-re verbs:

This is the smallest group of regular verbs. Someexamples are: vendre, répondre, attendre.

It’s just as simple for –re verbs as it is for –er and –ir verbs!! Just followthesesteps:

  1. Start by crossing off the –re at the end of the verb. ex:vendre
  2. You are left with a stem (vend)
  3. Add the following endings to the remaining stem:

Je - s / Nous - ons
Tu - s / Vous - ez
Il/elle/on - / Ils/elles - ent

Did you notice?The il/elle/on form? You don’t add anything to the stem!

Je vends / Nous vendons
Tu vends / Vous vendez
Il/elle/on vend / Ils/elles vendent

Ex:

Irregular Verbs:

Someverbs do not followaregular pattern and they have to belearnedseparately. You already know some of these.

Être, Aller, Avoir and Faire are all irregularverbs. Theyare calledirregularverbsbecausetheirpresent-tenseforms do not follow a patternlike –er, -ir and –reverbs do.

Être = to be

Je suis / Nous sommes
Tu es / Vousêtes
Il/elle/on est / Ils/ellessont

Aller = to go

Je vais / Nous allons
Tu vas / Vousallez
Il/elle/on va / Ils/ellesvont

Avoir = to have

J’ai / Nous avons
Tu as / Vousavez
Il/elle/on a / Ils/ellesont

Faire = to do / to make

Je fais / Nous faisons
Tu fais / Vousfaites
Il/elle/on fait / Ils/ellesfont

Lesson1.04 La Pronunciation

Pleasespend time in the lessonpracticing the consonant, vowel and specialsounds.

A good basic pronunciationrule to rememberisthat no final are pronounced. The exception to thisruleisthat the letters , , and are generallypronounced at the end of a word.

Lesson1.05 La France

Fun Facts:

The north of France includestworegions: and .

La Picardie islocatedbetween Paris and . It has been a place for battles and invasions duringboth .

La Picardie isfamous for the writerwhowroteTwentyThousandLeaguesunder the Sea and John Calvin, whocreated the religion during the .

In La Picardie, thereis an amusement parkcalled. You willfind the famous cartoon characters and

Le Nord Pas de Calais is an regionthatwasdestroyedduringbothwars.

Lesson1.06 Leçon À et De

Prepostion à:

The preposition à can be the equivalent of , , , or in English.

Rememberthatàmaycontract to form a new word»

When à is followed by le, it changes to .

When à is followed by la, it stays .

When à is followed by l’, it stays .

When à is followed by les, it changes to .

Prepostion de:

The preposition de canmean or . De isalsoused to show possession.

De mayalsocontract to form a new word:

When de is followed by le, it changes to .

When de is followed by la, it stays .

When de is followed by l’, it stays .

When de is followed by les, it changes to .

Did you know?

In the negative, all forms of de (du, de la, de l’ and des) revert back to de after pas.

ex: J’achète du riz. Je n’achète pas deriz.

Module Review for DBA:

  • Here are the topics to review for your exam and DBA.

01.00

  • La Tour Eiffel

01.01

  • lesson vocabulary
  • numbers to 70
  • adjectives
  • être

01.02

  • family vocabulary
  • irregular adjectives
  • possessive adjectives

01.03

  • La Martinique
  • regular present tense verbs
  • For extra practice with regular present tense verbs, visit theFrançaisInteractif's Verb Practiceat the University of Texas website.

01.04

  • French pronunciation

01.05

  • Northern France
  • review questions

01.06

  • the prepositions à and de

01.07

  • lesson vocabulary
  • listening comprehension