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French/Grammar/Adjectives

Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in

gender and plurality.

Regular formation

Spelling

Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:

Feminine: add an -e to the masculine formun garon intressant --> une fille intressante

un ami amusant --> une amie amusante

un camion lent --> une voiture lente

Plural: add an -s to the singular form

un garon intressant --> des garons intressants

une fille intressante --> des filles intressantes

Pronunciation

Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e. Most adjectives, such as those

above, are affected by this rule.

Masculine Pronuciation: intressan, amusan, len

Feminine Pronunciation: intressant, amusant, lent

Irregular formation

Irregular plural formation

Examples

MSing.

--> M.

Pl. Masc. Singular --> Masc. Plural Notes

No

change

-s -sun plafond bas

un gros porc

des plafonds bas

des gros porcs

-x -x

un homme

gnreux

un garon furieux

des hommes

gnreux

des garons furieux

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Add x

-eau -eaux un nouveau jeu des nouveaux jeux

-al -aux un vent hivernal des vents hivernaux

Exceptions:fatal (fatals),

final (finals) & naval

(navals)

Irregular feminine formation

Examples

Masc. --> Fem. Masculine --> Feminine Notes

No change -e -e

goste, populaire, sociable,

timide,

nergique, dynamique,

sympathique

* When the masc. form ends in an -e, there

is no change.

* The final consonant is pronounced on the

masc. form.

FinalConsonant

Doubled

-el -elle cruel cruelle

When an adjective has one of these endings,

the ending ofthe feminine form is doubled. There is no

change of

pronunciation when changing from -el to

-elle.

-il is pronounced "ee" (as in keen), while

-ille is similar, with a final yuh

(pronounced

like "ee" in keen with a "yuh" on the end:

IPA /ij/).

-on is pronounced oh(n)

and -onne is

pronounced ohn.-en is pronounced a

(n)and -enne is

pronounced ehn.

-os is pronounced ohand -osse is

pronounced ohs.

-as is pronounced ahand -asse is

pronounced ahs.

-il -ille gentil gentille

-on -onnebon

breton

bonne

bretonne

-en -enneancien

parisien

ancienne

parisienne

-os -osse gros grosse

-as -asse bas basse

-cchange

-c -cheblanc

franc

blanche

franche

-eur

change

-eur -euseaccrocheur

prometteur

accrocheuse

prometteuse-eux

change-eux -euse

furieux

gnreux

furieuse

gnreuse

-eux is pronounced ew(like dew) and -euse

is pronounced ews.

-g

change-g -gue long longue

-ifchange

-if -ivesportif

actif

sportive

active


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erchange

-er -retranger

cher

trangre

chre

-er is pronounced ayand -re is pronounced

ehr, though exceptions such as "cher" exist

in which both forms are pronounced with

ehr.

-etchange

-et -teinquiet

complet

inquite

complte

-et is pronounced ayand -te is pronounced

eht.

-ouchange

-ou /-ol

-olle fou, folmou, mol

follemolle

-ol forms occur before a vowel or mute h.

Special rules

Adjectives that precede nouns

List

Adjectives that are used frequently before nouns. These are:

affreux (affreuse)

autre

beau (belle)

bon(ne) +

court(e) +

dernier (dernire) +

gentil (gentille)

grand(e) +

gros(se) +

haut(e)jeune +

joli(e)

large

long(ue)

mauvais(e)

mchant(e) +

meilleur(e)

nouveau (nouvelle)

pauvre

petit(e)

vieux (vieille)vilain(e)

+ sometimes placed after a noun, and may change in meaning

When these adjectives appear before an indefinite plural noun, they will change the article associated with it[1]

:

des garons courageux / de beaux garons

Changes in meaning


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When grand goes before a noun, it means great. However, when it goes after the noun, it means tall. Likewise,

when pauvre goes before a noun, it means unfortunate. When it comes after the noun, it means financially poor.

This rule works most of the time, but be careful, "pauvre" can mean "financially poor" even when used before

the nouns.

Beau, nouveau, and vieux

These three adjectives behave differently when placed before a singular masculine noun starting with a vowel or

silent h:

Masc. Sing. Cons. Masc. Sing

Vowel Masc. Plural Fem. Sing. (all) Fem. Plural

Beau un beau garon un bel individu de beaux garons une belle fillette de belles fillettes

Nouveauun nouveau

camionun nouvel ordre

de nouveaux

ordres

une nouvelle

ide

de nouvelles

ides

Vieux un vieux camion un vieil ordre de vieux camions une vieille ide de vieilles ides

Possessive adjectives

In English, we say "her car" when the owner of the car is a woman and "his car" when the owner is a man. In

French, they say "sa voiture" even if the owner is a male. It is not the owner who determines the gender of the

possessive adjective but the object owned.

First person singular - mon, ma, mes

Second person singular (informal) - ton, ta, tes

Third person singular - son, sa, ses

First person plural - notre, notre, nos

Second person plural (and polite form) - votre, votre, vos

Third person plural - leur, leur, leurs

Note: Exception. When a feminine noun starts with a vowel or silent 'h', you should utilize "Mon" instead of

"Ma". Example:

Mon ami = ok

Ma amie = error!

Mon amie = ok.

Demonstrative adjectives

There are four adjectives that demonstrate a specific object:

Cegaron (masculin)

Cetami (masculin before vowel or silent h)

Cettefille (feminine)

Cesenfants (plural)


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References

Price, Glanville (2008),A Comprehensive French Grammar(6 ed.), Blackwell, p. 35,

ISBN 978-1-4051-5385-0

1.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikibooks.org/w/index.php?title=French/Grammar/Adjectives&oldid=2258925"

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French/Grammar/Adverbs

French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other

adverbs, and verbs or clauses. They do not display any inflection; that is, their form

does not change to reflect their precise role, nor any characteristics of what they

modify.

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the

suffix -ment("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent

("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement("slowly"); similarly, heureux heureusement("happy" "happily").

As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix:

If the adjective ends in an i, then -mentis added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to

the feminine singular form:

vrai vraiment("real" "really")

polipoliment("polite" "politely")

If the adjective ends in -antor -ent, then the corresponding adverb ends in -ammentor -emment,

respectively:

constant constamment("constant" "constantly")rcent rcemment("recent" "recently")

Some adjectives make other changes:

prcisprcisment("precise" "precisely")

gentilgentiment("nice" "nicely")

Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:

bon bien("good" "well")

mauvais mal("bad" "badly")

meilleur mieux("better"-adjective "better"-adverb)

pirepire("worse"-adjective "worse"-adverb)

And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:

ainsi("thus" or "thusly")

Placement

The placement of French adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs.

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An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:

compltementvrai("completelytrue")

paspossible("notpossible")

tellementdiscrtement("sodiscreetly")

An adverb that modifies an Infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive:

marcher lentement("to walk slowly")

But negative adverbs, such aspas("not"),plus("not any more"), andjamaiscome before the infinitive:

ne pasmarcher("notto walk")

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

Lentementil commena marcherorIl commena lentement marcher("Slowly, he began to walk" or

"He began slowly to walk").

Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs:

Jamaisje n'ai fait celaorJe n'ai jamaisfait cela("Neverhave I done that" or "I've neverdone that")

List of common adverbs

Adverb English Group French Example English Translation

actuellement currently time

ainsi thus, so manner ainsiva la vieso life goes (nothing you

can do)

aprs afterwards time On va au cinma aprsWe'll go to the cinema

afterwards

assez enough quantity

aussi also manner

aussitt straight away time

autant as many / as much quantity

autrefois in the past time

autrement differently,otherwise

manner

avant-hieron the day before

yesterdaytime

beau, bel, bellenicely (in

expressions)manner

beaucoup (de) much, many quantity

bien well manner


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bientt soon time tres bientt see you very soon

cependant however conjunction

certainement certainly affirmation

certesadmittedly, of

course

affirmationleur tche est certesplus

difficile

their task is admittedly

more difficult

ci-dessous below placeRdigez votre message

ci-dessousWrite your message below

combien (de) how much, many interrogativeun succs, combien

mrit

a success, oh how

deserved

comment how interrogative

compltement completely degree il se troue compltement he screws up completely

davantage more, longer degree

debout standing, up manner

dedans inside place ils se sont rentrs dedansthey crashed into each

other

en dehors deoutside, apart

fromplace

dj already time

au del de beyond place au del de35 ans over 35 years old

demain tomorrow time demainsoir tomorrow evening

dsormais from now on time

devant ahead, in front place

doucement gently, quietly manner

galement also, equally degree

encore again, still time Ils jouent encore They are still playing

enfin at last, finally time

ensemble together manneron vivait ensemble

depuis longtemps

we have been living

together for a long time

ensuite then, next time Ensuite, cela devenait

trs compliqu

Then it became very

difficult

environ about degreeil va tre absent environ

un mois

he will be off for about a

month

facilement easily manner

fort strongly manner il a dmarr trs fort he started very strongly

heureusement fortunately manner

hier yesterday time


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ici here, now placeles vacances commencent

icithe holidays start here

l there place

l-dedans in here, in there placeil n'y a rien de mystre

l-dedansthere is no mystery in it

l-dessus on here, on there place on reste l-dessus we stay where we are

largement greatly, well degree

lgrement lightly, slightly degree

lentement slowly manner lentementmais srement slowly but surely

loin far placela soire est loind'tre

fini

the evening is far from

over

longtemps a long time time

lors de during time

maintenant now timeEt maintenanton fait

quoi?And now, what do we do?

mal badly, wrongly manner

malheureusement unfortunately manner

mme even degree

moins less, least quantity

nanmoins nevertheless manner

parfois sometimes time La vie est parfoiscruel Life is sometimes cruel

partout everywhere place

peu little degreeon peut respirer un peu

mieux

we can breathe a little

easier

peut-tre perhaps affirmationla prochaine fois,

peut-trenext time, perhaps

plus more quantitynous sommes plusque

jamais dtermin

we are more determined

than ever

plutt rather degree

pourquoi why interrogative

pourtant yetSi prs, et pourtantsi

loin !So near, and yet so far!

prs close place

presque almost degree

puis then time

quelque approximately quantityon supporte le parti

quelquesoit les sondages

we support the party

whatever the opinion polls


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quelquefois sometimes timeje joue quelquefoisdu

pianoI sometimes play the piano

rcemment recently time

seulement only degree

si yes, so, however,as

affirmation ils ne mritent pas d'treen sibonne position

they don't deserve to be inas good a position

souvent often time

surtout above all

tant so much quantityun vnement tant

attendua much awaited event

tanttsometimes, this

afternoontime

tard late time

tellement so much, so many degree la mto c'est tellementimprvisible

the weather is sounpredictable

tt soon, early timeles billets ont t puiss

plus ttque prvu

the tickets were sold out

earlier than expected

toujours still, always time

tout very, quite degree tout fait justifi totally justified

trs very degree

vite quickly manner

vraiment really, truly affirmationy to it, there place

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French/Grammar/Articles

The definite article L'article dfini

The definite article agrees with a specific noun in gender and number. Like other

articles (indefinite, partitive) they present a noun. In English, the definite article is

always the(the noun). Unlike English, the French definite article is used also in a

general sense, a general statement, or feeling about an idea or thing.

In French, the definite article is dependent on the noun's:

gender1.plurality2.

first letter being a vowel3.

There are three definite articles and an abbreviation.Leis used for masculine nouns,Lais used for feminine

nouns,Lesis used for plural nouns (both masculine or feminine), andL'is used when the noun begins with a

vowel or silent h(both masculine or feminine). It is similar to English, where achanges to anbefore a vowel.

The indefinite article L'article indfini

In English, the indefinite articles are aand an. Whilesomeis used as a plural article. In French, indefinite

articles take on the gender of the noun it precedes if singular, but also has a plural form that is used for eithergender.

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Note that des, like les, is used in French before plural nouns when no article is used in English. For example, you

are looking at photographs in an album. The English statement "I am looking at photographs." cannot be

translated to French as "Je regarde photographies" because an article is required to tell which photographs are

being looked at. If it is a set ofspecificpictures, the French statement should be "Je regarde lesphotographies."

("I am looking at thephotographs.") . On the other hand, if the person is just randomly browsing the album, the

French translation is "Je regarde desphotographies." ("I am looking atsomephotographs.")

Partitive articleThe partitive article deindicates, among other things, the wordsome. As for prepositions, de lecontracts

(combines) into du, and de lescontracts into des. Also, de l'is used in front of words starting with vowels.

When speaking about food, the partitive article is used sometimes, while the definite article (le, la, les) is used at

other times, and the indefinite article (un, une) in yet another set of situations. In general "de" refers to apartof

food (apieceof pie) whereas the definite article (le) refers to a food in general (I like pie (in general)). The

indefinite article refers to an entire unitof a food (I would like a (whole) pie).

When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:

J'aime laglace. I like ice cream.

Nous prfrons le steak. We prefer steak.

Vous aimez les frites You like French fries.

When speaking about eating or drinking an item, there are specific situations for the use of each article.

Def. art. specific/whole itemsJ'ai mang latarte. I ate the (whole) pie.

Ind. art. known quantity

J'ai mang unetarte. I ate a pie.

Part. art. unknown quantity

J'ai mang de latarte. I ate some pie.

J'ai mang beaucoup de tarte. I ate a lot of pie.

Je n'ai pas mang les tranches de tarte ! I didn't eat the slices of pie!

Part. art. known quantityJ'ai mang deux des tartes. I ate two of the pies.

If the noun taken in a partitive sense happens to be preceded by a qualifying adjective, or a negative verb, then

deis used alone.

un, une, du, de la, deschange to de.

for specific quantities;however, the quantity rather than deis used.


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Nous avons mang unetarte. We ate a pie.

Nous n'avons pas mang detarte. We did not eat a pie/ We did not eat any pie.

Nous n'avons pas mang deux tartes. We did not eat two pies

Nous avons mang de latarte. We ate some pie.

Nous n'avons pas mang de tarte. We did not eat some pie/ We did not eat any pie.

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French/Grammar/Nouns

Gender of nouns Genre des noms

In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender; that is, they are either masculin(m)

orfeminin(f).

Most nouns that express people or animals have both a masculine and a feminine form. For example, the two

words for "the actor" in French are l'acteur(m) and l'actrice(f). The two words for "the cat" are le chat(m)

and la chatte(f).

However, there are some nouns that talk about people or animals whose gender are fixed, regardless of theactual gender of the person or animal. For example, la personne(f) (the person) is always feminine, even when

it's talking about your uncle!Le professeur(m) (the professor) is always masculine, even when it's talking about

your female professor/teacher!

The nouns that express things without an obvious gender (e.g., objects and abstract concepts) have only one

form. This form can be masculine or feminine. For example, la voiture(the car) can only be feminine; le stylo

(the pen) can only be masculine.

Irregularities and exceptions

There are three nouns in French where gender is altered when put in the plural form:

amour (un amour passionn des amours passionnes)

orgue

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dlice

There are many exceptions to gender rules in French which can only be learned. There are even words that are

spelled the same, but have a different meaning when masculine or feminine; for example, le livre(m) means the

book, but la livre(f) means the pound. Some words that appear to be masculine (like le photo, which is actually

short for la photographie) are in fact feminine, and vice versa. Then there are some that just don't make sense;

la foiis feminine and means a belief, whereas le foiemeans liver.

Plurals

Irregular plurals

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French/Grammar/Prepositions

Common prepositions

Preposition Translation Example Notes

1. to2. at

3. of4. in

Je vais Paris. --I amgoing toParis.Je pars cinq heures. --Iam leaving atfive

C'est un ami moi. -- Thisis a friend ofmine.

C'est la voiture John. --This is John's car.

-Expresses a report/ratio ofplace (to), time (at),possession (of or 's), means,manner, price.- Introduced a complementof indirect object or acomplement of attribution, acomplement of the name oradjective.

ct denext to,besides

La salle des ftes se trouve ct del'glise. -- Thevillage hall is next tothe

church.

l'intrieur

deinside

l'air l'intrieur delamaison -- the air insidethehouse

Alternative: dedans (rarely

used as a preposition)

afin de in order to

Il a press lorange afinden extraire du jus.Hesqueezed the orange to

extract juice from it.

aprs after On mange aprsavoir bu.-- We eat afterwe drink

Also an adverb.

autour de aroundLa Lune gravite autour dela Terre. -- The Moon

orbits aroundthe Earth.

avant (de)before, infront

Je prfre de se coucheravantminuit.I prefer togo to bed beforemidnight.

avec withIls sont avecleurs familles.They are withtheir

Families.

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chezat the homeof

Il est all chezlui.He wenthome.

contre against

Le cheval se gratte contrela muraille. The horse isscratching againstthe

wall.

dansinintoout of, from

Les livres sont danslabibliothque. The booksare inthe library.

Mettre l'argent danslapoche.Put money intoone's pocket.

Il prend le beurre danslerfrigrateur.He takes thebutter out ofthe fridge.

Synonym: enIPA: /d/

de

1. of, from

2. about

Also an indefinite artcle.

Contractions: du, desIPA: /d/

depuis for; sinceJe joue du piano depuistrois ans.I have played thepianoforthree years.

derrire behindVos cls sont derrirevotre lit. Your keys arebehindyour bed.

ds fromVotez dsmaintenant pourvotre favori ! Vote now for

your favorite!

ds que as soon asJe veux commencer dsquepossible.I want tostart as soon aspossible.

devantin front of,ahead of

Garder les yeux sur laroute devantvous.Keepyour eyes on the road

ahead ofyou.

en in, by

Ils habitent enville. Theylive in(the) town.

Nous allons aller envoiture. We will go bycar.

Used mostly to indicate

distance in time or space.Also a pronoun.

entre betweenOn peut lire entreleslignes. We can readbetweenthe lines.

hors de outside, out of Votre tlphone est horsdeporte. Your telephoneis out ofrange.


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jusqu' until

La salle est disponiblejusqu'la fin de lasemaine. The hall isavailable untilthe end of

the week.

loin de far from

Le lyce est loin dela

plage. The school isfarfromthe beach.

Without "de", "loin" is an

adverb.

malgr despiteJe vais bien malgrlefroid.I am fine in spite ofthe cold.

par1. through2. by, for

J'irai parla fret.I will gothroughthe forest.

Vous pouvez nouscontacter partlphone.You can contact us by

telephone.

parmi among

Paris reste parmiles villesles plus chres au monde.Paris remains amongthe

most expensive cities in

the world.

pendantduring,throughout

La lune a brill pendanttrois nuits. The moon shoneforthree nights.

prs de near

La bibliothque est prsde

la mairie. The library isnearthe town hall.

Without "de", "prs" is anadverb.

pour forJe l'ai vol pourtoi.I stoleitforyou.

IPA: /pur/

sans without

Elles veulent avoir une ftesansalcool. They want tohave a party without

alcohol.

sauf exceptOuvert tous les jours saufle dimanche. Open everyday exceptSunday.

selon according toSelonune tude rcente...According to a recent

study...

sous under La Cte d'Azur est sous laneige. The Cte d'Azur isunderthe snow.


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sur

1. on2. upon3. on top of4. above5. out of

Il y a beaucoup de mondesurla plage. There are lotsof people onthe beach.

sept surdixseven out often

Synonyms: au-dessus de(above)Antonyms: sous (below,under)Antonyms: dessous,au-dessous-de (below)IPA: /syr/ (audio)

vers1. about,around 2.towards

L'avion devrait dcollervers9 heures. The planeshould take of f around9

o'clock.

Un ouragan se dirige versle Texas.A hurricane isheading towardsTexas.

voici here is/are Voiciton vrai pre !Here

isyour real father!

voil there is/are Voilles escrocs ! Therearethe swindlers!

en face (de)across from /face to face

Cette fille est en face devous. That lady is acrossfromyou

au lieu de instead of

Vous devriez aller au lieuderester la maison. Youshould go out instead of

staying at home.

au fond de at the bottomof

Il ya beaucoup de poissons

au fond del'tang Thereare many fishat the

botttom of the pond.

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French/Grammar/Pronouns

Subject pronouns

A pronoun replaces a noun in a sentence. Often used to prevent repeating the noun.French has six different types of subject pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singularand the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural.

Notes:

* When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, vous must be used. When referring to a singleperson, vous or tu may be used depending on the situation. Tuis informal and used only with well-knownacquaintances. In case of unknown persons you have to use the polite form Vous. A good example, to explainthat is the following: If two business acquaintances meet another, they say Vous. If they later fall in love, theysay Tu. When unsure, it is better to say "vous." Also, grammatically, even the singular form of "vous" behavesas though it were a plural, so even if you are addressing only one person, you would still use verbal grammarconsistent with addressing multiple people, similar to English (as in "you are", "you [all] are", "they are.")Nevertheless, the adjectives or past participles are declined according to the true number of the referringpronoun.

Examples, addressing oneperson:

Tu chantes- you sing (informal)Vous chantez- you sing (polite) - (also, to address many persons)Tu esgrand - You are tall (informal)Vous tesgrand - You are tall (polite, male)Vous tesgrande- You are tall (polite, female)

Examples, addressing manypersons:

Vous tesgrands- You are tall (informal or polite, male, many persons)Vous tesgrandes- You are tall (informal or polite, female, many persons)

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** - ildenotes masculine nouns, elledenotes feminine nouns, and onis for indeterminate subjects (see below).

*** - While the third person plural "they" has no gender in English, the French equivalents "ils" and "elles" do.However, when pronounced, they normally sound the same as "il" and "elle", so distinguishing the differencerequires understanding of the various conjugations of the verbs following the pronoun.Ilsis used with all-maleor mixed groups, ellesis only used when all members of the group are female. Examples:

Jacket Philippparlent - Jack and Philipp speak

Ilsparlent - They speak (all-male group)Jacket Lucyparlent - Jack and Lucy speakIlsparlent - They speak (mixed group)Lucyet Dinaparlent - Lucy and Dina speakEllesparlent - They speak (all female group)

The pronoun on

French pronouns carry meanings that do not exist in English pronouns. The French third person "on" has severalmeanings, but most closely matches the English "one", except that it is not so formal, and is more common. It

has a number of uses:

It is used in the same ways as the English personal pronoun one:It is used in expressing generalities: C'est en forgeant qu'ondevient forgeron. ("It is byblacksmithing that onebecomes a blacksmith.")It is the implicit subject for an infinitive that has no other implicit subject: penser qu'ona raison ("to think that oneis right," i.e. "to think oneselfright").

Because of French's limited passive voice, it is often used as an empty subject when the agent is unknownor unimportant: Onme l'a donn. ("[On]gave it to me" or"I was given it" or"It was given to me.")It is used as a less formal substitute for the subject pronoun nous(we). In this case, note that even thoughonalways takes a third-person singular verb, it takes plural adjectives ( On est amricains , "We're

American"). Also, note that the other forms of nous(direct object, indirect object, and disjunctive) are notreplaced by forms of onunless onis the subject as well. (Hence, Ils nousl'ont donn , "They gave it tous," but On se l'est donn , "We gave it to ourselves.")It is notthe number 1, and therefore is notused to mean "one of them." In French as in English, numberscan be used as pronouns Deux sont entrs et un est ressorti ,

"Two went in and one came back out" but the number 1 is un(e), not on.

Ondoes not have ordinary direct- and indirect-object pronouns, only the reflexive pronounse. Similarly, itsdisjunctive-pronoun form,soi, is only used when onis the subject andsoirefers to the same entity. The pronounquelqu'un("someone") can fill some of the roles of on, in the same way that oneandsomeoneare sometimes

interchangeable in English.

Object Pronouns me, te, se, nous, and vous

Meanings

me- me, to mete- you, to you (singular, informal)se- to him/her (or himself/herself/itself- reflexive)nous- us, to us


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vous- you, to you (plural, formal)se- to them (or themselves- reflexive)

Place in sentences

These pronouns are placed before the verb that they modifyJe te vois. - I see you.Je veux te voir. - I want to see you.

If a perfect tense is used, these pronouns go before the auxiliary verb.Je t'ai vu. - I saw you.

Direct object replacement

Il me voit. - He sees me.Il te voit. - He sees you.Il nous voit. - He sees us.Il vous voit. - He sees you.

Indirect Object Replacement

Il m'appelle. - He calls to me.Il te le jette. - He throws it to you.Il nous le jette. - He throws it to us.Il vous le jette. - He throws it to you.

l', le, la, and les

l', le, la, and lesare pronouns which are used as direct objects and hence are called direct object pronouns. A

direct object is a noun that receives the action of a verb.Il jette la boule. - He throws the ball.

In the above sentence la bouleis the direct object.

You have learned earlier that names and regular nouns can be replaced by the subject pronouns (je, tu...).Similarly, direct objects, such as "la boule", can be replaced by pronouns.

le- replaces a masculine singular direct objectla- replaces a feminine singular direct objectl'- replaces leand laif they come before a vowelles- replaces plural direct objects, both masculine and feminine

The direct object pronouns come before the verb they are linked to.

Il lajette. - He throws it.Il lesjette. - He throws them.

ote

When direct object pronouns are being used with passe compose, which do not represent movement (i.e. use


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avoir conjugation before the past participle), some endings are added to the past participle.

Object Endings

Masculine Singular None

Feminine Singular e

Masculine Plural s

Feminine Plural es

e.gJe les ai eu(e)s.

luiand leur

Indirect objects are prepositional phrases with the object of the preposition. An indirect object is a noun thatreceives the action of a verb.

Il jette la boule Jacques. - He throws the ball to Jack.Il jette la boule Marie. - He throws the ball to Mary.Il jette la boule Jacques et Marie. - He throws the ball to Jack and Mary.

Luiand leurare indirect object pronouns. They replace nouns referring to people and mean to him/herand tothemrespectively.

lui- replaces a singular masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a humanleur- replaces a plural masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human

An example follows:

Il lui jette la boule. - He throws the ball to him.Il lui jette la boule. - He throws the ball to her.Il leur jette la boule. - He throws the ball to them.

Whether luimeans to himor to heris given by context.

In English, "He throws himthe ball" is also said, and means the same thing.

When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, luiand leurcome after those pronouns.

Il la lui jette. - He throws it to him.

Note that while le, la, and lesare used to replace people or inanimate objects, luiand leurare not used toreplace innanimate objects and things.

Also note that unlike leand la, which are shortened to l'when followed by a vowel, luiis never shortened

Indirect object pronoun - to it, to them


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The French pronounyis used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by .

Je rponds aux questions. - J'y rponds.I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.

Note that luiand leur, and noty, are used when the object refers to a person or persons.

Replacement of places - there

The French pronounyreplaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any prepositionexcept de(for which enis used).

Les hommes vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.The men go to France - The men go there.

Note that en, and notyis used when the object is of the preposition de.

Idioms

a y est! - It's done!J'y suis! - I get it!

en

Replacement of a partitive construction

The pronoun enreplaces a noun with a partitive article (l'article partitif: du, de la, de, des) at the front. Inthis caseEngoes always with the singular, even if there are many items addressed.

Je veux du pain. => J'en veux. - I want some bread. => I want some.

Replacement of quantified nouns

If the quantity of the object is specified, "en" is used for the replacement of the noun.

Example: Il a achet deux pommes. => Il ena achet deux.

Note that no agreement is needed between the past participle (le participe pass) and the object (complmentd'objet direct).

Replacement of phrases with de

The pronoun enreplaces prepositional phrases beginning with deif the object of the preposition isreferring to a thing or place.

Je viens de Paris. - I come from Paris.J' en viens. - I come from it.

Note that stress pronouns, and not enare used if the object refers to a person or persons.

Pronoun order


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Order chart

If a sentence uses no infinitive, the pronouns are embedded as follows:

SubjectPronoun(or noun)

NegDirect orIndirect

Direct ObjPronouns

IndirectObjects

Neg

jetuil (elle)nousvousils (elles)

ne

metenousvousse (reflexive)

lelal'les

luileur

y enconjugatedverb

pasplusetc...

pastparticiple

If a sentence uses an infinitive, the pronouns are embedded as follows:

SubjectPronoun(or noun)

Neg NegDirect orIndirect

Direct ObjPronouns

IndirectObjects

jetuil (elle)nousvousils (elles)

neconjugatedverb

pasplusetc...

pastparticiple

metenousvousse (reflexive)

lelal'les

luileur

y en infinitive

Order rules

When a sentence uses the indirect object pronouns me, te, nous, and vouswith the direct object pronounsle, la, and les, me, te, nous, and vousgo first.

Il me le donne. - He gives it to me.When a sentence uses the indirect object pronouns luiand leurwith the direct object pronouns le, la, andl', le, la, and lesgo first.

Il le lui donne. - He gives it to him/her.Whenyis used in the same sentence as other pronouns,ygoes after all of them with the exception of en.

Il m'emmne Paris. - He takes me to Paris.Il m'yemmne. - He takes me there.

Yin conjunction with enis only used in a few cases.Il y en a. - There exist several ones.Est-ce qu'il y a des pommes? (Oui,) il y en a. (No,) il n'y en a (pas/plus). - Are there any apples(left)? Yes, there are. No, there aren't.

When there are two pronouns in a sentence, enalways go last.

L'impratif


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When expressing positive commands, there are several rules one must remember when using object pronouns.These are:

The pronouns are attached to the verb with a hyphen.Retrouve-la. - Find it.

Me and Te become moi and toi.Donnez-moi les vidos. - Give me the videos.

Le, la, and lesprecede all other object pronouns.

Donnez-le-moi. - Give it to me.For the second person singular form, an "s" is added if the object (in the pronoun form) begins with avowel or "y".

Va au tableau. - Go to the blackboard. BUT Vas-y. - Go (there).Vas-y. - Come on.Achte des pommes. - Buy some apples. BUT Achtes-en. - Buy some.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace possessive article + noun sets.

Vous avez votre voiture? - You have your car?Oui, nous avons la ntre. - Yes, we have ours.

+ a stress pronoun is used when the noun replaced is also the subject of the sentence. This usually occurs insentences with tre.

Elle est ta voiture? - Is that your car?Oui, elle est moi. - Yes, it is mine.


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French/Grammar/Sentences

In the introduction of the book the description of a sentence, versus a phrase was

outlined. A phrase does not contain asubject + verb, while a sentence includes a

subject (what or whom) and a predicate (tells us about the subject). A sentence, and not

a phrase, is a grammatical unit, which may have nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Like

English, a sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.

In the introduction we highlighted the types of sentences, and these are:

Declarative (statements)

Interrogative (questions)

Exclamatory (exclamations)Commanding (commands)

Declarative

A simple declarative sentence issubject + verb + object noun. This word order is pretty much the same as

English. "Henry got a car."You may have heard that there are some English sentences that cannot be translated

to French. While this is true in the literal sense, it doesn't mean you can't get the point across in another way.

The French declarative sentence with direct and indirect object nouns must be in this order:subject + verb +direct object + indirect object.

For example, I can say "Peter bought a car for his son Henry"in French, but I can't say "Peter bought his son

Henry a car."In the first examplePeteris the subject, boughtis the verb, a caris the direct object, andfor his

son Henryis the indirect object. In the second example you will see that the direct objectand indirect object

have been swapped. In order to translate an English statement like this, you would have to slide the indirect

object to its proper place.

Henri obtenu une voiture. (Simple declarative)

Pierre a achet une voiture pour son fils Henri. (With direct + indirect object)

Pierre a achet pour son fils Henri une voiture. (With indirect + direct object - wrong)

Interrogative

Formation

Intonation

As in English, raising the tone at the end of a sentence can turn it into a question.

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Example:

Il aime les bonbons.He likes sweets.

Il aime les bonbons?Does he like sweets?

Est-ce que...

"Est-ce que" (ehs kuh) by itself does not mean anything. Like the upside-down question mark in Spanish '', it

merely indicates the sentence is a question. To form a question, attach "Est-ce que..." at the beginning of the

sentence. Sometimes "que" has to be modified to "qu'" for elision.

Example: Il aime ce film. => Est-ce qu'il aime ce film ?

(He likes this film. => Does he like this film?)

Inversion

This is considered to be the most formal way to ask a question out of the three.

(The indicative form of the following sentences will be placed in parentheses for comparison.)

To ask a question by inversion, simply invert the verb and the subject (the pronoun) and insert a hyphen (un trait

d'union) in between.

Example: Do you like apples? (You like apples.)

imes-tules pommes ?(Tu aimes les pommes.)

In the case where the verb ends in a vowel while the subject starts with one, a "t" needs to be inserted to avoid

elision.

Example: Did she make the decision already? (She made the decision already.)

-t-elle dj pris la dcision ? (Elle a dj pris la dcision.)

(Notice that for compound tense [les temps composs], only the avoiror trepart is interchanged with thesubject.)

For third person plural (verbs ending in "ent"), there is no need to insert the "t".

Example: Are they buying a house? (They are buying a house.)

chtent-ilsune maison ?(Ils achtent une maison.)

If the subject is a noun instead of a pronoun, invert the verb and the pronoun that represents the subject.

Example: Did Marie choose this shirt? (Marie chose this shirt.)

'Marie a-t-elle choisicette chemise ? (Marie a choisi cette chemise.)

For negative such as "ne...pas", the verb should be inserted in between:Example: Didn't you eat the whole pizza? (You didn't eat the whole pizza.)

N'as-tu pas mangla pizza entire ?(Tu n'as pas mang la pizza entire.)

If there is a direct or indirect object (complment d'objet [in]direct), it goes before the verb.

Example: Have you been there? (You have been there.)

Y es-tu all(e)?(Tu y es all(e).)

Question words

O ? - Where?


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Quand ? - When?

Pourquoi ? - Why?

Comment ? - How?

Quel/Quels/Quelle/Quelles ? - Which?

Qui ? - Who?

Combien ? - How much?

Quoi ? - What?

Exclamatory

Commanding

If...

Si...

With present tense (le prsent):

(1) Si + (le prsent), (le futur simple)

Example: If you finish your homework, I'll give you some candies.

Si tufinistes devoirs, je te donneraides bonbons.

(2) Si + (le prsent), (l'impratif)

Example: If you are cold, close the window.

Si tu asfroid,fermela fentre.

With imperfect (l'imparfait) past tense (to express hypothetical situations):

(3) Si + (l'imparfait), (le conditionnel)Example: If I had a million dollars, I would buy a house.

Si j'avaisun million de dollars, j'achteraisune maison.

With "plus-que-parfait" (also to express hypothetical situations):

(4) Si + (le plus-que-parfait), (le conditionnel pass)

Example: If I had known (or "had I known") computers were so useful, I would have taken a computer course.

Si j'avais suque les ordinateurs taient si utiles, j'aurais suiviun cours de l'informatique.

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French/Grammar/Verbs

Pronominal verbs

Pronominal verbs are verbs that include pronouns. These pronouns are me, te,se, nous,

and vousand are used as either direct objects or indirect objects, depending on the verb

that they modify. When pronominal verbs are conjugated in perfect tenses, tre is used

as the auxiliary verb.

The following table shows which reflexive pronoun to use with each form of the verb:

Subject Reflexive pronoun

je me

tu te

il, elle, on se

nous nous

vous vous

ils, elles se

Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject.

Je melave. - I wash myself.

Nous nouslavons. - We wash ourselves.

Ilsselavent. - They wash themselves.

Reflexive verbs can also be used as infinitives.

Je vais me laver. - I'm going to wash myself.

Either the conjugated verb or the infinitive can be negated each with slightly different meanings.

Je ne vais pas me laver. - I'm not going to wash myself.

Je vais ne pas me laver. - I'm going to not wash myself (for some period of time, e.g.).

In perfect tenses, the past participles agree with the direct object pronoun, but not the indirect object pronoun,

in gender and plurality. Therefore it would only agree when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Also

remember that the past participle does not agree with the direct object if it goes after the verb.

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Elle s'est lave. - She washed herself.

Nous nous sommes lav(e)s. - We washed ourselves.

Elle s'est lav les mains. - She washed her hands.

Nous nous sommes lav les mains. - We washed our hands.

Here is an example conjugation of a reflexive verb:

Se coucher - to go to bed

Present[1]

Pass compos[2]

Futur proche[3]

Je mecouche Je mesuis couch(e) Je vais mecoucher

Tu tecouches Tu t'es couch(e) Tu vas tecoucher

Il secouche Il s'est couch Il va secoucher

Elle secouche Elle s'est couche Elle va secoucher

On secouche On s'est couch On va secoucher

Nous nouscouchons Nous noussommes couch(e)s Nous allons nouscoucher

Vous vouscouchez Vous voustes couch(e)(s) Vous allez vouscoucher

Ils secouchent Ils sesont couchs Ils vont secoucher

Elles secouchent Elles sesont couches Elles vont secoucher

^1.The futur simple, pass simple, imperfect, conditional and subjunctive are all conjugated with the reflexive

pronoun in the same position as in the present.

^2.All reflexive verbs take tre in the pass compos and therefore have an eadded to the past participle for

females and ansfor plural.

^3.When a reflexive verb is put as an infinitive behind any other verb (e.g. vouloir, pouvoir, aller...) it still

takes the appropriate reflexive pronoun.

Reciprocal verbs

With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other.

Nous nous aimons. - We like each other.

Like reflexive verbs, the past participle of reciprocal verbs agrees in number and gender with the direct object if

it goes before the verb. It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as direct objects.

Nous nous sommes aim(e)s. - We liked each other.

The reciprocal pronoun can also function as an indirect object without a direct object pronoun.

Nous nous sommes parl. - We spoke to each other.

Elles se sont tlphon. - They telephoned one another.

Vous vous tes crit souvent? - You wrote to each other often?


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Naturally pronominal verbs

Some verbs are pronominal without performing a reflexive or reciprocal action.

Tu te souviens? - Do you remember?

In perfect tenses, these verbs agree with the direct object if it goes before the verb. Otherwise, the past

participle agrees with the subject.

Elle s'est souvenue. - She remembered.

Some verbs have different meanings as pronominal verbs.

rendre - to return, to give back

se rendre () - to go (to)

Negation

ne..pas

Simple negation is done by wrapping ne...pasaround the verb.

Je ne vole pas. - I do not steal.

In a perfect tense, ne...paswraps around the auxiliary verb, not the participle.

Je n'ai pas vol. - I haven't stolen.

When an infinitive and conjugated verb are together, ne...pasusually wraps around the conjugated verb.

Je ne veux pas voler. - I do not want to steal.

ne pascan also go directly in front of the infinitive for a different meaning.

Je veux ne pas voler. - I want not to steal.

negoes before any pronoun relating to the verb it affects.

Je ne l'ai pas vol. - I did not steal it.Nous ne nous aimons pas. - We do not love each other.

Other negative expressions

ne...aucun(e) not any, none, no

ne...jamais never

ne...ni...ni neither...nor

ne...pas du tout not at all

ne...pas encore not yet

ne...personne nobody

ne...plus no longer

ne...gure hardly

ne...que only

ne...rien nothing

ne...personnewraps around the entire verb set.

Je ne l'ai donn personne. - I did not give it to anyone.


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Je ne veux le donner personne. - I do not want to give it to anybody.

ne...ni...nirequires two objects, either direct or indirect, and comes before them.

Je ne l'ai donn ni mon frre, ni ma sur. - I gave it neither to my brother nor my sister.

Je ne peux voir ni mon frre ni ma sur. - I am able to see neither my brother nor my sister.

In ne...aucun(e), aucun(e) goes before an object.

Il n'a aucun ami. Aucun. - He has no friend. None.

Il n'a aucune feuille de papier. Aucune. - He has no sheet of paper. None.

Il n'a qu'une feuille de papier. - He has only one piece of paper.

Je ne peux gure voir mon frre et ma sur - I can hardly see my brother and sister.

Spoken French

Now, the 'ne' sometimes disappears when one speaks. However, it is always used in written French and for

formal conversations.

Je ne l'ai donn personne (I didn't give it to anyone)

Je ne sais pas (I don't know)

SummaryTo say not, never, or other negative verbs, you have to 'sandwich' the negative words around a verb.

Example:

Il n'y a pasde cinma. (meaning: "There is nocinema")

On nepeutjamaisaller en bote. (meaning: "You can nevergo partying")

Il n'y a rien faire ici. (meaning: "There is nothingto do here")

If " ne" is before a vowel then it changes to " n'".

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