French without Tears. A French Grammar

written by

Céline Maurouard & Michael O’Carroll.

The object of this French Grammar book is to ensure that the reader can learn to

speak French with a proper accent as they do in France. Being understood in

France depends on correct pronunciation, we achieve this by utilising phonetics

throughout the book. It will be an invaluable aid in Aural examinations. Learning

from the large number of examples included will avoid the embarrassment of

mispronunciation, give you confidence in your ability to converse and

communicate without hassle. So that you can fully appreciate verbs, adjectives,

pronouns etcetera we have included an assortment of examples. It is said that a

picture is worth a thousand words, we believe that the examples shown will

eliminate the difficulty of understanding the various parts of speech the reader will

have to master. The declensions of all verbs used in this Grammar are detailed in

the back of the book. Other titles on the same subject often include CDs as a

necessity to improve the spoken word, with our book such aids are superfluous.

Designed to help you speak French as they do in France

Good day Sir, Bonjour Monsieur. [bonjoor ms ure]

i

Contents.

1. Introduction..

3. Tenses. Alphabet.

4. Articles. Definite & Indefinite.

5. Numbers.

6. Seasons, Months, Days and Time.

8. Prepositions and Infinitive.

9. Vocabulary.

10. Practice first tests.

11. Negatives.

12. Adjectives.

13. Agreement of Adjectives.

15. Pronouns 16. “ Relative. 18. “ Object.

20. “ Y “ & “ En “

21. Use of “ On “. 22. Memories.

24. Use of Emporter & Emmener.

25. Bits and Pieces.

26. Declension of Regular Verbs in the Present Tense. 28. Reflexive Verbs. 29. Conjunctions. 31. Imperative. 32. Depuis & pendant. 33. Adverbs.

35. Present Participle. 36. Interrogative. 37. Le passé composé.

40. Imperfect

42. Future Tense.

44. Grammatical Denominations.

45 Prologue to Declensions.

46. Declensions.

All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited in whole

or in part by any means without written permission.

Published by : Animagic Limited.

Printed by : Walshe Print Ltd.

© Animagic Ltd. 1999.

1

French without Tears.

Introduction.

For those who would like to remember what they might have forgotten and, possibly, for those

who might like to forget what they do remember.

“ I am not able to speak French fluently but, I get by.“

Je ne peux pas parler le français courament mais, je me débrouille.” [Je nuh po pah parlay luh fraunsay cooramaun, may, je mu debroolya.” ]

The verb To be able, can Pouvoir [ puvwah ]

I can. je peux [je po] We can nous pouvons [noo poovon]

You can tu peux [too po] You (ye) can vous pouvez [voo poovay]

He/she can il/elle peut [il/el po] They can ils/elles peuvent [il/el puv]

The Negative “Not” is two words ne and pas. Ne comes immediately before

the conjugated verb and Pas after it. Therefore ;

I am not able, becomes Je ne peux pas [ je nuh po pa ]

In writing this book our aim is to encourage everyone to speak French without

hassle. Hence the title “French without Tears.” Grammar, pronunciation and accent are

essentials in any language but not necessarily in that order or in the beginning. Many of us

have had piano lessons, sadly, few of us have attained proficiency. We believe the scales

can be offputting and depressing to many, therefore we try to avoid that pitfall. Our first

sentence above indicates the method we have adopted. Where appropriate we portray the

book in this fashion, in English, French and phonetically, getting the reader to speak as

early as possible using and understanding the make-up of sentences. Words in French are

sounded evenly and distinctly. In English the emphasis in usually on one syllable or

another. Airport (Eng) - Aéroport (Fr) [air-o-por] and Important (Eng) - Important

(Fr) [om-por-ton]

By giving you a combination of Nouns, Verbs, Pronouns, Adverbs and

Adjectives we would expect you to be able to compose intelligent sentences thereby

encouraging you to persist.

2

French without Tears.

The expression “Parlez-vous français ?” [fraunsay] is known to most of us. “Do you

speak French?” The verb to speak “parler” [parlay] has tenses, present, past and future

on which we will concentrate for the moment. The present tense (as in the here and now )

I speak Je parle [je parl] We speak Nous parlons [noo parlon]

You speak Tu parles [too parl] You (ye) speak Vous parlez [voo parlay]

He speaks Il parle [il parl] They speak Ils parlent [il parl]

She speaks Elle parle [el parl] (feminine} Elles parlent [el parl]

In French the second person singular tu is used only when talking to children or relatives

or friends. In all other cases the formal vous is used. As in English you would say “you

speak” or ask “do you speak (speak you) in French you have “Vous parlez” and the

reverse “Parlez-vous”

Again as in English the personal pronoun is always the same.

I Je [je] We Nous [noo]

You Tu [too] You (ye) Vous [voo]

He Il [il] They Ils [il]

She Elle [el] They (fem) Elles [el]

I, the first person singular, becomes J’ before a verb beginning with a

vowel. For example with the verb “to have” “avoir” [avwah] would be declined as

J’ai not as Je ai. This is for the rhythm of the sentence and is very common in spoken

French.

Present Tense To have Avoir [avwah]

I have J’ai [jay] We have Nous avons [noos avon]

You have Tu as [too a] You (ye) have Vous avez [voos avay]

He has Il a [il a] They have Ils ont [ils on]

She has Elle a [el a] They(fem) have Elles ont. [els on]

Authors note. Throughout the rest of the book the declensions will be portrayed showing

the French version only.

Imperfect I had used when = habit, description of a scene

J’avais [javay] Nous avions [noos avion]

Tu avais [too avay] Vous aviez [voos aviay]

Il/elle avait [il/el avay] Ils/elles avaient [ils/els avay]

Future I will have

J’aurai [joray] Nous aurons [noos oron]

Tu auras [too ora] Vous aurez [voos oray]

Il/elle aura [il/el ora] Ils/elles auront [ils/els oron]

3

Present Tense (To be) Etre [etr]

I am

Je suis [je swee] Nous sommes [noo som]

Tu es [too ay] Vous êtes [voos et]

Il/elle est [il/el ay] Ils/elles sont [il/el son]

Imperfect

I was

J’étais [jetay] Nous étions [noos etyon]

Tu étais [too etay] Vous étiez [voos etiay]

Il/elle était [il/el etay] Ils/elles étaient [ils/els etay]

Future

I will be

Je serai [je seray] Nous serons [noos seron]

Tu seras [too sera] Vous serez [voo seray]

Il/elle sera [il/elle sera] Ils/elles seront [il/el seron]

-----------------------

The French Alphabet.

A (ah) H (ash) O (oh) V (vay)

B (bay) I (ee) P (pay) W (dooble-vay)

C (say) J (zhee) Q (ku) X (eeks)

D (day) K (kah) R (airr) Y (ee-grek)

E (er) L (el) S (ess) Z (zed)

F (ef) M (em) T (tay)

G (zhay) N (en) U (oo)

----------------------

Accents in French.

The acute on the letter e (é)

The grave on the letters a, e, and u (à)

The circumflex on vowels (ê)

The cedilla under the letter c (ç)

Their purpose :

1. To highlight the difference between two words having the same spelling without

the same meaning. e.g. la (the) and là (there) or sur (on) and sûr (sure).

.

2 To alter the sound of a letter. The acute é is pronounced ay whilst the grave è

is pronounced ai.

3. The c which has a cedilla underneath it is softened so that the word garçon

(boy) is pronounced garson for example.

4

Definite and Indefinite Articles :

All nouns and pronouns in French are either masculine or feminine. Some

nouns can be both. Some nouns retain the same gender whether they refer to men or

women. Articles “ the, a, some” must agree in gender and in quantity with the noun to

which they refer. It is best, when learning a noun, to learn the gender at the same time..

Generally speaking :

( a ) the majority of nouns ending in e , -ion or on are feminine but there are exceptions :

The lesson = la leçon [la lesson]. The generation = la génération. [generasee on]

The song = la chanson [shansohn] Names of one syllable ending in on. The tune = le

ton [tone]

( b ) all Seasons, metric measurements and names of trees are always masculine.

The spring = le printemps [pranton]. The meter = le mètre. [metr] The oak = le chêne.

[shen] (c) nouns ending in eau are masculine except Water = l’eau = [lo]

(feminine)

The castle = le château [shato]. The cake = le gâteau [gato].

“ The “

le ( masc. sing.) [le] le gâteau [gato] the cake.

la (fem. sing. ) [la] la valise [valeeze] the suitcase.

les (masc. & fem. plural) [lay] les chiens [lay she en] the dogs.

Most words beginning with “h” are expressed hour l’heure [ler]

The “h” is always silent. hospital. l’hôpital [lopital].

“ A”

un (masc. sing.) [un] un magasin a shop. [magazan]

une (fem. sing.) [oone] une lettre a letter. [letrr]

The Indefinite Articles “some or any”

du (masc. sing.) du pain some bread. [de pan]

de la (fem. sing.) de la glace some ice-cream. [glass]

des (masc.& fem. plur.) des journaux some newspapers. [joorno]

de l’ (masc or fem before a vowel or “h” de l’animal of the animal [de lanimal]

Some examples ; Remember that de le and de les become du and des [day]

I buy some bread J’achète du pain (masc.) [jashet de pan]

But :

I buy some milk. de le becomes du as it is masculine. J’achète du lait. [jashet] not

de le lait.

Similarly : à le and à les becomes au and aux. [o]

I go to the shop Je vais au magasin. [o magazan] not je vais à le magasin.

In English ‘some/any’ may be omitted but they must always be shown in French.

We have some bread. nous avons du pain [noos avon de pan]

I have the books on the table j’ai des livres sur la table [jay day livr soor la tabla]

5

Quantities;

Nouns that have no plural can cause problems.

Bread = du pain Flour = de la farine [fareen] Money = de l’argent [do larjon]

Used in a phrase, the phrase will retain it’s de or du whether or not the noun has a plural.

Example;

I like milk when I drink my coffee J’aime du lait quand je bois mon café.

[jem de lay kon je bwa mon cafay]

How much combien de [kombia de] Not much peu de [ po de]

As much autant de [autau de] Less of moins de [mwan do]

Too much trop de [tro de] Enough assez de [assay de] A lot beaucoup de [bocoo de]

Numbers.

0 zéro

1 un [un] 20 vingt [van]

2 deux [doh] 21 vingt-et-un [vantay-on]

3 trois [trwa] 22 vingt-deux [van doh]

4 quatre [catre] 23 vingt-trois [van trwa]

5 cinq [sank] 30 trente [tront]

6 six [cease] 40 quarante [caront]

7 sept [set] 50 cinquante [sankont]

8 huit [wheat] 60 soixante [swasont]

9 neuf [nuff] 70 soixante-dix

10 dix [deece] 71 soixante-et-onze

11 onze [onz] 72 soixante-douze

12 douze [dooz] 80 quatre-vingts

13 treize [trays] 90 quatre-vingt-dix

14 quatorze [cators] 91 quatre-vingt-onze

15 quinze [khans] 100 cent [son]

16 seize [says] 101 cent un

17 dix-sept [deeset] 110 cent dix

18 dix-huit [deeswheat] 120 cent vingt

19 dix-neuf [deesnuf] 150 cent-cinquante

200 deux-cents

550 cinq cents cinquante

1,250 mille deux cents cinquante

2,000 deux mille [de mill]

1,000,000 un million [mill eon]

6

The Seasons of the Year.

Spring le printemps [le pranton]

Summer l’été [laytay]

Autumn l’automne [lawton]

Winter l’hiver [leevair].

Months of the Year.

January janvier [jonveay] July juillet [julay]

February février [fevreay] August août [oot]

March mars [mars] September septembre [septombre]

April avril [avril] October octobre [octobr]

May mai [may] November novembre [novombr]

June juin [jooan] December. decembre [dessombr]

Days of the Week. Monday lundi [lundee]

Tuesday mardi [mardee]

Wednesday mercredi [mercrodee]

Thursday jeudi [jodee]

Friday vendredi [vondredee]

Saturday samedi [samedee]

Sunday. dimanche [deemonsh]

Time.

What time is it ? Quelle heure est-il. [kell air aytil]

It is six o’clock. Il est six heures. [il ay seece er]

It is half past six. Il est six heures et demie. [il ay seece ur ay demi]

It is (a) quarter past six. Il est six heures et quart. [il ay seece er ay quar]

It is (a) quarter to six. Il est six heures moins le quart. [il ay seece er

mwan lo car]

It is ten (minutes) past six. Il est six heures dix. [il ay seece er deece]

It is ten (minutes) to six. Il est six heures moins dix. [il ay seece er mwan

deece]

At ten in the morning A dix heures du matin [a deece er do matan]

At ten in the evening A dix heures du soir [a deece er do swar]

At three in the afternoon A trois heures de l’après- [a twas er de laprey-

midi midi]

(At) what time (will you come)? A quelle heure (viendrez-[a kell er(vee-endray voo)]

vous) ?

At two o’clock. A deux heures. [a dohs er]

Best Regards,

The French Without Tears Team