grammar french

7/29/2019 Grammar French

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Indicatif prsent deSappeler, Comprendre, Parler


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Sappelerto call oneself

Je mappelle I call myself

Tu tappelles You call yourself (informal)

Il sappelle He calls himself

Elle sappelle She calls herself

Nous nous appelons We call ourselves

Vous vous appelez You call yourself (formal)Ils sappellent They call themselves (mas.)

Elles sappellent They call themselves (fem.)


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Comprendreto understand

Je comprends I understand, am understandingTu comprends You understand (informal)Il comprend He understands

Elle comprend She understands

Nous comprenons We understand

Vous comprenez you understand (formal)Ils comprennent They understand (mas.)Elles comprennent They understand (fem.)


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Parlerto speak

Je parle I speak, I am speaking, I do speakTu parles You speak

Il parle He speaks

Elle parle She speaks

Nous parlons We speak

Vous parlez You speakIls parlent They speak (mas.)

Elles parlent They speak (fem.)


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La Ngationthe negation

Basic Negation

Ne ... pas is placed around the conjugated

verb to negate an affirmative sentence inFrench.

Note that the ne changes to n' before averb beginning with a vowel.

a, e, i, o, u, h, & y(h & Y are semi vowels)


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La Ngationthe negation

For example

Je comprends franais.Je ne comprends pas franais.

Je parle franais.Je ne parle pas franais.

Il est franais.Il nest pas franais.


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Les Articlesthe articles

Les articles dfinis

1. The is Le before a masculine singular nounbeginning with a consonant.

2. The is La before a feminine singular nounbeginning with a consonant.

3. The is Les before a masculine and feminineplural noun beginning with a consonant or a vowel

or a semi vowel.4. Both Le and La are shortened to L before asingular noun beginning with a vowel or semivowel.


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MASCULIN FMININ

Le garon La fille

Le livre La tableLhomme La femme

Ltudiant L tudiante

Les garons, Les filles, Les livres, Les tables,Les hommes, Les femmes, Les tudiants,Les tudiantes.


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Les articles indfinis

1. Un, a, an is used before a singular

masculine noun.

2. Une, a, an is used before a singularfiminine noun.

3. Des, some is used before a pluralmasculine and feminine noun.


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MASCULIN FMININ

Un garon Une fille

Un livre Une tableUn homme Une femme

Un tudiant Une tudiante

Des garons, Des filles, Des livres, Destables, Des hommes, Des femmes, Destudiants, Des tudiantes.


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Indicatif prsent de Avoirto have

Jai I have, am having, do haveTu as You haveIl a He has, It has (mas.)

Elle a She has, It has (fem.)

Nous avons We have

Vous avez You haveIls ont They have (mas.)Elles ont They have (fem.)


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Indicatif prsent deConnatreto know

Je connais I know, am knowing, do knowTu connais You knowIl connat He knows

Elle connat She knows

Nous connaissons We know

Vous connaissez You knowIls connaissent They know (m)Elles connaissent They know (f)


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treto be

Je suis I amTu es You areIl est He / It is

Elle est She/It is

Nous sommes We are

Vous tes You areIls sont They are (m)Elles sont They are (f)


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NOUN GENDER

All nouns in French have a gender,either masculine or feminine. It is veryimportant to learn a noun's genderalong with the noun itself because

articles (a, the) and adjectives changedepending on the gender of the nounthey precede or follow.

Notice that the masculine words arepreceded by le and feminine words arepreceded by la both of which mean the.


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NOUN GENDER

Ending is usually

-age masculine Exceptions: une cage, une image, unenage, une page, une plage,

une rage

-eau masculine Exceptions: l'eau, la peau

-e feminine Exceptions: un lyce, un muse

-ion feminine Exceptions: un avion, un bastion,billion, un million, un lion,

un scion

-t feminine Exceptions: un comit, un invit


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NOUN GENDER

If the word ends with consonant then its usually considered tobe masculine.

There are exceptions. The words faim (hunger), dent (tooth),main (hand) and soif (thirst) end in consonants yet they are

feminine la faim, la dent, la main, la soif.If the word ends with vowel E then its usually considered tobe feminine. But there are exceptions to it also.

Naturally words like la mre, la fille and la soeur that refer to

females are feminine while words like le pre, le fils and lefrre that refer to males are masculine.

Days of the week are all masculine in gender.

For the most part, you must memorize the gender


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PLURALIZING NOUNS

Even though in English the word the does notbecome plural, la and le both become leswhen pluralized. To make a noun plural, youusually add an -s (which is not pronounced).

But there are some exceptions:If a noun already ends in an -s, -x & -z addnothing: le fils les fils, la voix les voix, le nezlez nez.

If a noun ends in eu, -au add an x: loiseaules oiseaux, le jeu les jeux.If a noun ends in -al or -ail, change it to aux:le cheval les chevaux horse(s)

Exceptions: un il (eye) des yeux (eyes).


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Some irregular plurals

le ciel the sky les cieux the heavens

loeil the eye les yeux the eyes

MadameMadam, Mrs. Ms. MesdamesMadamsMademoiselleMiss MesdemoisellesMisses

Monsieur Sir, Mr. Messieurs Sirs

le bonhomme the fellow les bonshommes thefellows


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Conjugation of ER verbs

In present ER group of verbs areconjugated by adding the followingendings. We replace the root ER andput the endings with the stem.

RegarderDonnerDemander

Endingse, es, e, ons, ez, ent


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POSER UNE QUESTION

In spoken French, questions are oftenformed simply by raising your voice toindicate that the sentence is a question.There is no change in sentence form.

Vous tes libre?Are you free?/Youre free?

There are several other ways to ask aquestion in French:


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Questions with pronoun subjects:

There are two ways of asking a questionwith a pronoun subject:

a. Place the pronoun after the verb:

Parlez-vous franais? Do you speakFrench?

b. Place est-ce que (is it that) before thesentence:

Est-ce que je parle trop vite?Am Italking too fast?Est-ce que vous parlez franais? Do youspeak French?


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Questions with noun subjects:

When a question begins with a noun, thepronoun is repeated after the verb. Theletter t is inserted between the subjectpronoun and the verb in the 3rd person

singular form when the verb ends with aneand after the verb a (has).

Votre frre parle-t-il franais? Does yourbrother speak French?

Votre sur a-t-elle quitt la maison?Has your sister left the house?


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Questions introduced by interrogativewords:

The common interrogative words are:Combien how many/how muchQuand when

Comment howO wherePourquoi why

Que whatQui who/whomQuel / Quelle what / which


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Questions introduced by interrogativewords:

a. In questions which begin with an interrogativeword, the order is usually interrogative word + verb+ pronoun subject:Comment allez-vous payer? How are you going to pay?Que dsirez-vous? What would you like?

b. However, in everyday, informal speech, Frenchspeakers will often simply place the question wordat the end of the sentence and raise their voice toindicate that it is a question.

Vous allez o? Where are you going?c. A question word can also be used with est-ceque:Comment est-ce que vous allez payer? How are you goingto pay?


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ADJECTIFS POSSESSIFS, AU SINGULIER

MASCULIN FEMININ

(a) mon pre my father ma mre my motherton pre your father ta mre your mother

son pre his, her father sa mre his, her mother

(b) notre pre et notre mreour father and our mother

votre pre et votre mreyour father and your motherleur pre et leur mretheir father and their mother


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1. Before masculine nouns in the singular, we usemon, ton, son, notre, votre, leur.2. Before feminine nouns in the singular wegenerally use ma, ta, sa, notre, votre, leur.

Jaime mon pre et ma mre. I love my father and(my) mother.

Il aime son pre et sa mre. He loves his father and

(his) mother.Elle aime son pre et sa mre. She loves her fatherand (her) mother.

La famille aime son chien. The family likes its dog.


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1. In French, the possessive adjectiveagrees with the noun that comesimmediately after it, that is, with whatis possessed. In English, on contrary,

the possessive agrees with thepossessor.

2. The possessive adjective in Frenchmust be repeated before each noun.

3. Son and Sa mean his, her, or its.


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ADJECTIFS POSSESSIFS, AU PLURIEL

MASCULIN ET FEMININ

Mes my Nos our

Tes your Vos yourSes his, her Leurs their

In the plural, the possessive adjectivehas the same form before nouns ofeither gender.


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ADJECTIFS POSSESSIFS, AU PLURIEL

REMARQUEZ

Mon, Ton, Son

Hlne est mon amie. Helene is my friend.Hlne est son amie. Helen is his (or her) friend.Jaime son histoire. I like his (or her) story.

Mon, ton, son, are used instead of ma, ta, sabefore feminine nouns beginning with a vowel.


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Savoir-to know

Je sais I know, am knowing, do knowTu sais You know

Il sait He knows

Elle sait She knows

Nous savons We know

Vous savez You knowIls savent They know (m)

Elles savent They know (f)


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Attention!!!!!!!!!

Connatre is used when you know people or places, savoir isused when you know facts. When savoir is followed by aninfinitive it means to know how.Je connais ton frre. I know your brother.

Je sais que ton frre s'appelle Jean. I know that yourbrother is named John.

Connaissez-vous Paris? Do you know (Are youfamiliar with) Paris?

Oui, nous connaissons Paris. Yes, we know (arefamiliar with) Paris.

Ils savent nager. They know how to swim.


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Faireto do, to make

Je fais I do, am doingTu fais You do

Il fait He does

Elle fait She does

Nous faisons We do

Vous faites You doIls font They do (m)

Elles font They do (f)Faire is used in expressions of weather (il fait beau) and many other

idiomatic expressions.


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES

Adjectives agree with the nouns theymodify in gender and number; thatis, they are masculine if the noun is

masculine, plural if the noun isplural, etc.:

Marie et sa sur sont grandes. Marieand her sister are tall.Pierre est grand. Pierre is tall.


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES

The following adjectives have two forms for themasculine singular:

un beau livre a beautiful book

un bel arbre a beautiful tree

une belle femme a beautiful woman

MASCULIN FMININ

Before a

consonant

Before a vowel or

mute h

Beau Bel Belle beautiful,handsome

Nouveau Nouvel Nouvelle new

Vieux Vieil Vieille old


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES

The feminine of adjectives is normally formed by adding e to themasculine singular:

un petit garon a little boy

une petite fille a little girl

a. If the masculine singular already ends in e, the adjective has thesame form in the feminine:

un jeune homme a young man

une jeune femme a young woman

b. Adjectives ending iner in the masculine singular change the e to and then adde:

Masculine Feminine

tranger trangre foreign


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES

c. Most adjectives ending in eux in the masculine singularchange this ending toeuse:

Masculine Feminine

heureux heureuse happy

srieux srieuse seriousd. In some adjectives double the final consonant of the masculine

singular form and adde:

Masculine Feminine

bon bonne good

ancien ancienne former, ancient

gentil gentille nice

gros grosse fat


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES

e.Adjectives ending in -eau in the masculine singular change the -auto -lle:

Masculine Feminine

beau belle beautiful

nouveau nouvelle newf.There are also a number of irregular feminines:

Masculine Feminine

actif active active

blanc blanche whitedoux douce sweet, gentle, soft

faux fausse false

long longue long

vieux vieille old


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES PLURAL

The plural of adjectives is regularly formed by adding s to thesingular:

A. But if the adjective ends ins orx in the masculine singular, themasculine plural stays the same:

un mauvais garon a bad boy

deux mauvais garons two bad boys

Singular Plural

Masculine un petit garon a little

boy

deux petits garons two little

boys

Feminine une petite fille a littlegirl

deux petites filles two little

girls


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES PLURAL

B. Adjectives ending in -au add -x:un nouveau livre a new book

des nouveaux livres new books

C. Adjectives ending in -al change to -aux:un homme loyal a loyal man

des hommes loyaux loyal men

An adjective that modifies nouns of different gender is in the

masculine plural:

Marie et Jean sont petits. Marie and Jean are little.


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES POSITION

Adjectives usually follow the noun:

une leon facilean easy lesson

un homme intressantan interesting man

une ide excellente

an excellent idea

Adjectives ofcolour and nationalityalways follow their nouns.

Les chats gris The grey cats.


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ADJECTIFSADJECTIVES POSITION

There are some common adjectives, however, that usuallyprecede the nouns they modify. These are often known as theBAGS adjectives because they are the adjectives that dealwith Beauty, Age, Good (and Bad), and Size.

Beau Beautiful Joli PrettyBon Good Long Long

Court Short Mauvais Bad

Gentil Nice, pleasant Nouveau New

Gros Big, fat Petit Small, little

Jeune Young Vieux Old


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ADJECTIFS DMONSTRATIFS

The various forms of the Demonstrative Adjective

Masculin

SINGULIER PLURIEL

Ce livre this (that)

book

Ces livres these (those)

books

Cet enfant this (that)

child

Ces enfants these (those)

children

Cet homme this (that)

man

Ces hommes these (those)

men

Fminin Cette femme this (that)woman

Ces femmes these (those)

women


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ADJECTIFS DMONSTRATIFS

1. This, that before a noun is expressed in French as follows:

Ce before a masculine noun beginning with a consonant.

Cet before a masculine noun beginning with a vowel or silent h.

Cette before any feminine noun.

The plural ofce, cet, cette before any noun is Ces, these, those.

2. Ce garon et cette fille. This boy and girl.

Ces chiens et ces chats. Those dogs and cats.

The demonstrative adjective is repeated before each noun.


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PRONOMS PERSONNELS DISJOINTS

SINGULIER PLURIELMoi,I, me Nous, we, us

Toi,you Vous,you

Lui, he, him Eux, they, them (masculine)

Elle,she, her Elles, they, them (feminine)

The above forms are called disjunctive or emphatic because theymay be used apart from the verb.

After prepositions:Ils vont avec nous. They go with us.

Nous nallons pas sans eux. We do not go without them.

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