French Grammar Book

French Grammar Book

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Adjectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Articles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Indefinite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Definite . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Partitive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Cest vs. Il est. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Comparative & Superlative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Equality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Comparative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Superlative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Equality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Comparative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Superlative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Equality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Comparative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 16

Conditional (Present) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Conditional (Past) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Demonstrative Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Devoir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Faire Causative Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Future Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Idiomatic Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Avoir. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .25

Faire. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Imperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Imperfect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Indirect Discourse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Infinitives Pereceded by Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Interrogative Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Interrogative Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Qui/Que . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Lequel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Jouer / Jouer de. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Jours de la Semaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40Language & Nationality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Literary Tenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Pass Antrieur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Pass Simple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Imperfect Subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Pluperfect Subjunctive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Months of the Year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Negative Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Object Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Indirect Object Lui & Leur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Disjunctive (stressed) Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Y & En. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Direct Object Pronouns Le, La, and Les. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Ordinal Numbers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Pass Compose. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Verbs conjugated with Avoir. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Verbs Conjugated with Etre. . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Reflexive Verbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Passive voice. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Past infinitive. .. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Past Subjunctive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Pluperfect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Possessive Adjectives. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Prepositions of Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Prepositions with Geographical Locations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 62

Present Participle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Present tense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Quantitative Expressions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Question Formation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Reflexive / Reciprocal Verbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Word order for Reflexive Verbs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Relative Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Savoir & Connaitre. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Seasons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Subject Pronouns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Vous vs. Tu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

Subjunctive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Formation. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Usage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Emotion / Opinion / Judgement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Doubt / Possibility / Uncertainty. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

Wishes / Desires. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85Necessity / Obligation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Conjunctions . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Conversational Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Official Time. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Venir De + Infinitive: The Immediate past. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

ADJECTIVES

A. Formation of Feminine Form- in most cases the feminine form of the adjective is formed by adding -e. but there are exceptions.

Irregular Forms of Adjectives

ADJ. ENDINGSMASCULINEFEMININE ENGLISH EQUIV.

-C -CHEblanc blanche white

-C -QUEpublic publiquepublic

-ER REpremier premirefirst

-ET TEinquietinquitenervous

-EUR EUREsuprieur suprieure superieur

-EUR EUSEmenteur menteuse liar

-EURRICEacteur actriceactor

-ET ETTEmuetmuettesilent

-IF -IVEactif

nafsportifactive

nave

sportiveactive

naive

athletic

-N -NNEbon

mignonbonne

maignonnegood

cute

-L -LLEgentil

intellectuel

personnelgentille

intellectuelle

personnelle nice

intellectual

personal

-EUX -EUSEgnreux

heureux

srieuxgnreuse

heureuse

srieusegenerous

happy

serious

SPECIAL CASES MASCULINEFEMININE ENGLISH EQUIV.

beau *bel doux faux favori frais long nouveau *nouvel sec vieux *vieilbelle

douce

fausse

favorite

frache

longuenouvellesche

vieillebeautiful

soft

faise

favorite

fresh

long

new

dry

old

*NOTE: Special forms of these adjectives are used before a masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel or mute h.

un bel homme un nouvel tudiant

un vieil ami

B. PLURAL FORMATION- Adjectives with a regular plural form also add -s to the masculine of feminine singular.

REGULAR PLURAL of ADJECTIVES

GENDER SINGULAR PLURAL

Masculine grand

intelligent

sympathiquegrandsintelligents

sympathiques

Feminine petite

blonde

agable petites

blondes

agables

NOTE: An adjective that modifies both a masculine and a feminine noun at the same time takes the masculine plural form

Nous cherchons une femmer et un homme intelligents.

1. Adjectives ending in s or x in the masculine singular show no change in the masculine plural form. Feminine forms, however, add s:

un garon franais

un homme heureux des garcon franais

des hommes heureux

une jeune fille franais

une femme heureusede jeunes filles franaises

des femmes heureuses

2. Adjectives ending u in the masculine singular add x to form plural un beau garon

un nouveau tableau

des beaux garcondes nouveaux hommes

une belle maison une nouvelle voiturede belle maisons

des nouvelles voitures

NOTE: The indefinite article des should change de when followed by a plural adjective + plural noun

de bons amisde jolies femmes

However, the above usage is current undergoing change, and des is used in current conversational French.

Jai des bons amis.

EXCEPTIONS

3. Adjectives depicting qualified colors do NOT agree with the nouns they modify

des cheveux chtain fonc (dark brown)

des cheveux chtain clair (light brown)

4. Adjectives of color (orange, citron, crme, marron, etc) that are nouns do NOT agree with the nouns they modify

des rideaux crme

C. POSITION OF ADJECTIVES

1. Adjectives usually follow the nouns they modify, which is the opposite of English usuage.

un homme amusant

trios copains agrables

une femme lgante a funny man

three nice friends

an elegant woman

2. There are a few adjectives that are exceptions to this rule as they precede the noun. beau

bon/mauvais

grand/petit

jeune/vieux

nouveau

jolihandsome/beautiful

good/bad

big ,tall/small ,little,short

young/old

new

pretty

C. The following adjective change their meaning according to their pleasure:

ancienmon ancient professeur

my former professor un livre ancient

an ancient / old book

certainun certain homme

a certain, particular manune victoire certaine

a sure win

chermes chers collgues

me dear colleaguesdes machines chresexpensive machines

dernierla dernire anne

the final year (in a series)l anne dernire

the last, preceding year

grandun grand homme

a great man un homme grand

a big /tall man

mmela mme ide

the same ideal ide meme

the very idea

pauvre la pauvre famille

poor, unfortunate familyla famille pauvre

poor, penniless family

proprema propre chamber

my own roomune chamber propre

a clean room

prochainLa prochaine fois

Next time (in a series)La semaine prochaine

Next week (one coming)

seulLe seul homme

The only manUn homme seul

a solitary man

Adverbs

A. FORMATION- Adverbs are generally formed by adding ment to the feminine form of the adjective. The ment ending is equivalent to the ly adverb ending in English.

ADJECTIVEADVERBTRANSLATION

Lent(e)LentementSlowly

SincereSincerementSincerely

Ouvert(e)OuvertementOpenly

Attentive(-ve)AttentivementAttentively

Heureux(-se)Heureusementfortunately

For the adjectives that end in ant or ent, drop the nt and add mment to creat the adverb form

Independent( independamment- independently

Intelligent( intelligemment intelligently

The following are some common adverbs that do NOT have the ment ending.

Bien- well

Mal- badly

Tres- very

Bientot- soon

Souvent- often

Trop- too much/ many

Dj- already

Toujours- always

Vite- quickly

Encore- still, yet

B. POSITION- The normal position for adverbs in simple tenses is directly after the conjugated verb.

Il etudie attentivement He studies attentively.

Elles jouent bien au tennis They play tennis well.

In compound tenses, such as the pass compose, the longer adverbs ending in -ment normally follow the past participle. Short adverbs, suc has those above, follow the conjugated auxiliary verb and precede the past participle.

Il a etudie attentivement. He studied attentively.

Elle ont bien travaille. They worked well.

Articles

A. INDEFINITE ARTICLES- All nouns in French are either masculine or feminine are usually preceded by a marker that indicates the gender. One type of gender marker is the indefinite article UN/ UNE which is equivalent to the English a/ an. The indefinite article simply states the existence of a person, thing, or concept; it does not specify any particular one. The plural of UN/ UNE is DES (=some)

Un homme

Un ami

Une soeur

Une jeune fille

Des hommes

Des amis

Des soeurs

Des jeunes filles

1. In most cases, UN/ UNE/ DES becomes DE (D before nouns beginning with a vowel) after a verb used in the negative

-Tu cherches un camarade de chambre? Are you looking for a roommate?

-Non, je ne cherche pas de camarade de chambre. No, Im not looking for a roommate.

NOTE: In negative sentences where the main verb is ETRE, the indefinite articles UN/ UNE/ DES will not undergo any change.

Ce ne sont pas des livres. These arent books.

Ce nest pas un bon livre. This isnt a good book.

2. Nouns referring to males are generally masculine (un homme) and nouns referring to females are generally feminine (une soeur)

-Some nouns have both masculine and feminine form: un ami/ une amie

- Other nouns, although they refer to both men & women have only one form: un professeur.

B. DEFiNITE ARTICLES

LE, LA, L, LES

SIngular Forms Plural Form

[masculine]

[masculine/feminine nouns that being with vowel sounds] les [masculine/feminine plural]

[feminine]

Uses of Definite Articles

designates a noun in a general/generic/collective sense

designates a noun in a specific sense

designates an abstract concept

1. General/generic/collective sense- the broadest sense to the idea of someone or something. Please note that in English, no article is used in this context.

Anne aime le tennis.

Anne like tennis. [This implies that Anne like tennis in general]

Michel naime pas la bire.

Michel doesnt like beer. [This implies that dislikes all beer]

Le fromage franais cote cher aux Etats-Unis.

French cheese costs a lot in the USA. [This implies all French cheese in general is expensive]

NOTE: The definite article is used often after the verbs AIMER, DETESTER, and PREFERER to express a generalized sense of like, dislike, or preference.

Aimez-vous le vin?

Non, je naime pas le vin, mas jaime la bire. Do you like wine?

No, I dont like wine but I like beer.

2. Specific Sense- Please note that in English, the article is also used in this context.

Voici les cls.

Here are the keys [This refers to specific keys that have already been mentioned]

O est l'Htel Jean-Bart?

Where is the Jean Bart hotel? [This refers to a specific hotel, the Jean-Bart Hotel]

3. Abstract Sense: used to express abstract concept where the article is normally omitted in English

La libert est importante.

Freedom is important. [The concept of Freedom]

Elle tudie la psychologie.

She is studying psychology. [psychology as science/its concepts]

1. Other Uses of of the Definite Article

a) The definite article is used in conjunction with the preposition de to indicate possession.

FORMATION le/la/l/les + the possessee + de possessor

lami de Vincent les livres dIsabelle Vincents friend

Isabelles books

b) The definite article is used before the names of languages, except after the preposition en and after the verb parler

Le franais est trs intressant.

Le film est en italien.French is interesting.

The film is in Italian.

Suzanne parle franais mais elle ne parle pas espagnol.Susan speaks French, but she doesnt speak Spanish.

NOTE: When the verb PARLER is modified by adverb the definite article is optional.

Sophie parle bien le franais. Sophie speaks French well.

c) The definite article indicates the idea per when used before units of measure.

Cest 5F...le kilo le litre la livre la bouteille (per kilo)

(per liter)

(per book)

(per bottle)

d) When the definite article is placed before the days of the week, it indicated the idea of a repeated occurrence (ever____or on_____s). The days of the week are all masculine and are not capitalized in French.

lundi mardi mecredi jeudiMonday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday vendredi samedi dimancheFriday

Saurday

Sunday

Elle tudie le dimanche. Il ne travaille pas le samedi. Je sors le samedi.She studies on Sundays.

He doesnt work on Saturdays.

I go out every Saturday.

NOTE: When no article is used with the days of the week, this indicates a one time occurrence and does not indicate a habitual occurrence.

Quest-ce que vous faites samedi? What are you doing Saturady?

e) The definite article is generally used with the parts of the body.

-Quest-ce que tu as? -Oh, jai mal la tte.Whats the matter with you?

I have a headache.

-Est-ce quil a les cheveux blonds? - Non, il a les cheveux noirs.Does he have blond hair?

No, he has black hair.

-Le pauvre Paul: Il a mal au dos. Poor Paul! His back hurts.

*NOTE: Unlike English, in French, the possessive adjectives (my, your, his/her,our,their) are never used with parts of the body, but instead, the definite articles are used because the nature of the sentences itself clearly indicates possession.

**NOTE: When the part of the body is modified by an adjective that precedes the noun, however, the indefinite article is used instead.

CONTRACTIONS WITH THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

1. + Definite Article

DEFINITE ARTICLE CONTRACTIONS with PREPOSITIONS + le au

+ la la

+ l l

+ les aux

Tu parle au pre de Paul.

Je vais la campagne.

Il parle loncle de Frdric.

Elle donne du vin aux parents. You are talking to Pauls father.

Im going to the country.

Hes talking to Frederics uncle.

Shes giving some wine to the parents.

2. DE + Definite Article

Definite Article Contractions with Prep. DE

de + le du

de + la de la

de +l de l

de + les des

Nous parlons du frre de Thomas.Were talking about Thomass brother.

Tu parles de la belle-mre de Jean. Are you talking about Jeans mother in law?

Vous parlex de lenfant de Phillippe. Youre talking about Phillippes child.

Les amis des garons sont pnibles. The boys friends are annoying.

C. PARTITIVE

1. Distinctive Features

The partitive is used to express the idea of a certain quantity or portions of something , but not the whole thing

Equivalent to some or any (=a part of) in English that can be used

Equivalent to some or any (=a part of) in English that can be used both with concrete or abstract nouns

In English, the partitive article is often omitted, but in French it must always be use before a noun whenever the idea of some or any is implied

2. FORMATION

LE PARTITIVE

Masculine SingularFeminine SingularM or F before a vowel or aspirate HM/F plural

dude lade ldes

Est-ce que tu veux du vin?

Non, je vais acheter de la bire.

Elle a de largent?

Oui, et elle achte des petits pois. Do you want wine?

No, Im going to buy some beer.

Does she have any money?

Yes, and shes buying some peace.

*NOTE: After a negative construction, the partitive articles du, de la, de l, and des change to de or d regardless of the gender or number of the noun except after the verb ETRE. The English equivalence to the partitive in the negative is no or any.

Il ny a pas de pain aujordhui. There is no bread today.

There isnt any bread today.

Elle na pas achet de croissants. She didnt buy any croissants.

Vous ne prenez pas de salade? Youre not having any salad?

BUT

Ce nest pas du vin amricain. This isnt american wine.

NOTE: Remember that un/une means a/an and is used before singular, countable, nonspecified noun. Normally, is a/an is in the the English sentence, that is you cue to use un/une in French. The partitives du, de la, de l, and des, on the other hand, mean some/any (part of) a whole quantity or of a noun that is not countable. Remember that both the indefinite and partitive articles change to de after a negative construction.

-Paul, tu prends une bire ou du vin? Paul, are you having a beer or some wine?

-Moi, je prends une bire, merci.

Im having a beer, thanks.

Je ne prends pas de vin. Im not having any wine.

-Oui, je prends du vin. Je ne prends pas de bire.

Yes, Im having some wine. Im not having a beer.

Some nouns, however, can be modified by either the indefinite article: th, caf, Coca, bire, Orangina, etc... In this case, the indefinite article un/une means a whole measure of, while the partitive articles mean part of a whole quantity. -Quest-ce que tu prends comme boisson, Georges? What are you having to drink, Georges?

-Oh, je prends du Coca. Oh, Im having (some) Coke.

(=a glass of Coke, ie: part of a bottle)

OR-Oh, je prends un Coca. Oh, Im having a bottle of Coke.

CEST VS. IL EST

Both Il (ils, elle, elles) and Ce can mean he, she, it, or that as the subject of the verb ETRE, but these pronouns are not interchangeable. There are specific grammatical rules that require choosing between Il (ils, elle, elles) and Ce.

Generally, if the word following ETRE could itself function as the subject of a verb, you use CE.

If the word following the ETRE cannot be the subject of a verb, you must use the appropriate personal pronoun il, elle, ils, elles.

A. CE + ETRE 1. Proper NounCest Jeanne.

2. Disjunctive PronounCest elle.

Ce sont elles.

3. Noun Cest une calculatrice?

-Non, ce nest pas une calculatrice. Cest un ordinateur.

4. Modified noun of profession, nationality, religion Cest un bon profeseur.

5. Masculine adjective referring to a complete idea-Tu travailles dans un restaurant franais?

-Oui, cest intressant.

B. IL/ ELLE/ ILS/ ELLES + ETRE

1. Adjective referring to specific people or things Elle est belle.

2. Prepositional PhraseElle est dans un caf.

Ils sont Paris.

3. Unmodified noun of profession, nationality, and religion Elle est professor.

NOTEL: When starting a noun profession, nationality, or religion, both CEST and IL EST can be used if the noun is unmodified. In such a case, when you use CEST retain the article; after IL EST omit it. When the noun is modified by an adjective, you must use CEST. COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE A. ADVERBS 1. Equality COMPARISONS OF EQUALITY w/ ADVERBSAUSSI + adverb + QUEas....as

Il danse aussi bien que son frre.

He dances as well as his brother.

Sophie shabille aussi lgamment que sa mre.

Sophie dresses as elegantly as her mother.

2. COMPARATIVE

COMPARATIVE OF ADVERBS

PLUS + adverb+ QUE morethan (-er)

MOINS +adverb+QUElessthan (-er)

MIEUX + QUE better than

Il parle plus lentement que Marie.

(He speaks slower than Marie.)

Elles travaillent moins vite que leurs amis.

(They work less than their friends.)

**NOTE: The adverb BIEN (well) is irregular. The comparative form is

MIEUX (better). (Plus bien or plus mieux is NOT acceptable in French.)

Vous chantez bien You sing well.Vous chantez mieux que Jean You sing better than Jean.

3. SUPERLATIVE

SUPERLATIVE OF ADVERBS

LE + PLUS + adverb + dethe most in/of (-er)

LE + MOINS +adverb+ dethe least in/of (-er)

LE MIEUX + dethe best of/in

Il parle le plus vite de la classe.

He speaks the fastest in the class.

Elles travaillent le moins attentivement de tous les tudiants.

They work the least attentively of all the students.

**NOTE: The adverb bien (well) is irregular: the superlative form is LE MIEUX

(the best). (le plus bien / le plus mieux is NOT acceptable in French.)

Vous chantez le mieux du groupe.

(You sing the best of the group.)

B. ADJECTIVES remember that the adjective must agree in gender & in number with the noun it modifies.

1. EQUALITY

COMPARISONS OF EQUALITY WITH ADJECTIVES

AUSSI + adjective + QUE asas

Ma maison est aussi grande que ton appartement. My house is as big as your

apartment.

Ma mre est aussi ge que mon pre. My mother is as old as my

father.

**NOTE: The adjective agrees in gender & in number with first noun & NOT the noun

that follows QUE.

2. COMPARATIVE

COMPARATIVE WITH ADJECTIVES

PLUS + adjective + QUEmorethan (-er)

MOINS +adjective + QUElessthan (-er)

MEILLEUR(E)(S) +QUEbetter than

Ma maison est plus grande que ton appartment. My house is bigger

than your apartment.

Ma mre est moins ge que mon pre. My monther is younger

than my father.

**NOTE: The adjective BON (good) is irregular: the comparative form is

MEILLEUR(E)(S). (plus bon/ plus meilleur(e)(s) is NOT acceptable in French.)

MEILLEUR(E)(S) + QUE = better than

Ma note en franais est meilleure que ta note.

My French grade is better than yours.

3. Superlatives will always precede the adjective whether the adjective precedes or follows the noun

Superlatives With Adjectives

Le/La/L/Les + PLUS + Adjective + DEthe most . in/of (.-est)

Le/La/L/Les + MOINS +adjective +DEthe least. in/of (-est)

Marie est la plus jolie fille de la famille.

Marie is the prettiest girl in

the family.Son frre est le moins grand de tous.

Her brother is the shortest of all.

BUT*Il a les cassettes les plus interessantes He has the most interesting cassettes of

du groupe.

the group.*Voila ma cassette la plus chere. Heres my most expensive cassette

*NOTE: To form the superlative of adjectives that follow the noun, two markets are used. Place either a definite article or possessive adjective before the noun. And then place PLUS or MOINS before the adjective

**NOTE: The adjective bon is irregular: the superlative form is le/la/l/les MEILLEUR(E)(S).(Le/la/les plusbon(ne)(s)/le/la/les plus meilleur(e)(s) is NOT acceptable in French)

Voila les meilleurs disques de ma collection.

C. Nouns

1. Equality

Equality Of Nouns

AUTANT DE + noun + Que

(w/o article)

as much / many.as

Jai autant de disques que mon ami. I have as many records as my friend.

2. Comparative

Comparative Of Nouns

PLUS DE + noun + QUE (w/o article)more than..

MOINS DE + noun + QUE (w/o article)less/ fewer.than

Philippe a moins de disques que Georges. Phillipe has fewer records

than George.

Jai plus de disques que Georges. I have more records than

GeorgeCONDITIONAL (Present)

A. FORMATION- The is often equivalent to the English would + verb. For most verbs, the stem of the conditional is the infinitive except for RE verbs which drop the final E.

Infinite / Irregular stem + Imperfect Endings

1. Stems

a. REGULARPARLER PARLER-

ETUDIER ETUDIER-

FINIR FINIR-

SORTIR SORTIR-

ATTENDRE ATTENDR-

DIRE DIR-

ECRIRE ECRIR-

b. SLIGHTLY IRREGULAR- spelling changes that occur in the present tense of certain ER verbs appear throughout the conditional.

e y i

Ennuyer Nettoyer

essayer

payer

employer enneier-

nettoier-

essaier-

paier-

emploier-

Acheter Acheter-

Se lever Se lever-

l ( ll

t ( ttsappeler

sappeller-

jeter jetter

c. IRREGULAR STEM CHANGES

aller( ir-

avoir( aur-

devenir( deviendr-

envoyer(enverr-

tre(ser-

faire(fer-

pouvoir(pourr-

recevoir(recevr--

savoir(saur--

venir(viendr--

voir(verr-

vouloir(voudr--

d. STEM ENDINGS

-ais-ions

-ais-iez

-ait-aient

B. USES of the Conditional

1. POLITENESS when making requests or seeking information.

Je voudrais parler au patron, sil vous plait.

Id like to speak with the boss please

Pourriez-vous me dire o se trouve le bureau de placement? Could you tell me where the employment agency is?

Auriez-vous le temps pour une interview aujordhui?Would you have the times for an interview today?

2. Indication of action at a future that is hypothetical; it may or may not happen.

Il a dit quil irait chez le mdecin 3hHe said that he would go to the doctors at 3oclock.

3. SI clause used in conjunction with the imperfect. Imperfect will ALWAYS follow SI & the conditional will be in the other clause. Indicates what WOULD happen (conditional) IF certain conditions were met.

Si j tais infirmire, je travaillerais dans le cabinet dun mdecin. If I were a nurse, I would work at a doctors office.

CONDITIONAL (PAST) FORMATION- To form the past conditional in French, the auxiliary verb (AVOIR or ETRE) in the present conditional is followed by the past participle of the main verb.

Je serais arriv(e)...Nous aurons fini...

Tu lui aurais parl...Vous vous seriez fch...

USAGE- expressed what would have happened if another event had taken pace or if certain conditions had been present. Thus, it is commonly used in experiences of regret and reproach.

1. Ways of expressing regret and reproach in English are could have or should have. POUVOIR in past conditonal + infinitive = could have

DEVOIR in past conditonal + infinitive = should have

Tu aurais pu me tlphoner!

Tu as raison. Jaurais d te tlphoner.You could have called me!

Youre right. I should have called you.

2. SI CLAUSES- the past conditional most often appears in sentences in which the verb in the SI CLAUSES is in the PLUPERFECT

SI + PLUPERFECT, PASTCONDITIONAL

Si tu me lavais dit, jaurais pu appoter tous les outils ncessaires pour rparer ta voiture.

Tu naurais pas eu faire venir un mcanicien si tu mavais parl de tes difficults.

NOTE: Either the present or past conditional must be used following the expression au cas o

Au cas o tu aurais encore des problmes, tu pourrais me donner un coup de fils.

In case you have further problems, you could give me a call.

Au cas o le mcanicien naurait pas pu rparer ta voiture, donne-moi un coup.

In case your mechanic isnt able to come repair your call, give me a call.

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES

This/That/These

Masculine singularCeCe livreThis, that

Masculine singular (before a vowel)Cetcet hommeThis, that

Feminine SingularCetteCette femmeThis, that

M&F PlurelCesCes tentesThese, those

Ce garon va faire du Camping

This boy is going to go camping.Cet homme va avec le garcon

This man is going to go with the boy.Cette femme naime pas le camping This woman doesnt like camping

Ces sacs de couchage sont confortables These sleeping bags are

comfortable.Ces tentes ne sont pas grandes

These tents arent big.The distinction between this and that or these and those is not made as frequently in French as in English. When the need arises to make this distinction for clarity, emphasis, or comparison. -ci (=this) is added immediately after one noun and -la (=that) after the other.

-Quel maillot vas-Lu acheter?

Which bathing suit are you going to buy?

-Je vais acheter ce maillot.

l'm going to buy this / that bathing suit.

-Moi, je vais acheter ce maillot-ci, pas ce maillot-l.

I'm going to buy this bathing suit, not that bathing suit.DEVOIR

The present and the pass compos of DEVOIR have several meanings, depending on the context of the sentence. The following illustrate the four basic meanings of DEVOIR:

1. [present tense / DEVOIR + Direct object]

to owe (money & objects)2. [present tense / DEVOIR + infinitive]

have to, must3. (pass compos]

had to, must have4. [imparfait]

was supposed to

5 [conditional]

should19

DEVOIR

je dois (P)

ai du (PC)

devais (I)

devrais (C)Nous devons (P)

avons du (PC)

devions (I)

devrions (C)

Tu dois (P)

as du (PC)

devais (I)

devrais (C)Vous devez (P)

avez du (PC)

deviez (I)

devriez (C)

il / elle / on

doit (P)

a du (PC)

devait (I)

devrait (C)ils/ elles

doivent (P)

ont du (PC)

devaient (I)

devraient (C)

Past Participle: du Auxiliary in P.C. - Avoir

Tu dois vingt francs ta soeur.

You owe twenty francs to your sister

Nous devons rentrer ce soir.

We have to go home tonight.lls ont d aller en ville.

They had to go into town.

Il doit tre malade ou il a d oublier.

He must be sick or he must have forgotten.

Il devait venir hier soir.

He was supposed to come last night.Vous devriez faire vos devoirs.

You should do your homework.FAIRE CAUSATIVE CONSTRUCTIONThe causative FAIRE construction is used to express the idea of having something done, making someone do something, or causing something to be done

A. FORMULATION

SUBJECT + FAIRE(Conjugated)+ INFINITIVE+ DIRECTOBJECT(Subject of Inf.)

20

J'ai fait venir le pre la runion.

Il fait construire une maison.

Nous faisons manger le chat.

B) When there are two objects of the infinitive, the indirect object always refers to the person or thing that is completing the action (subject of the infinitive) and the direct object refers to the object that receives the action of the infinitive.

SUBJ + FAIRE (conjugated) + INFINITVE + DO + + IO

Il fera boire un peu de vin son enfant.

He will make his child drink a little wine.

Son dernier bouquin a fait gagner beaucoup d'argent Jean-Jaques.

His last book earned Jean-Jaques a lot of money.

Elle a fait visiter la ferme ses parents.

She had her parents visit the farm.

Tu vas faire perdre son poste ton copain.

You are going to make your friend lose his job.

C) When the direct & indirect objects are in the form of object pronouns, they precede the verb FAIRE and NOT the infinitive.

Il la fait construire.

He is having it built.

Il lui en fera boire un peu.

He will make him/her drink a little of it.

Elle la leur a fait visiter.

She had them visit it.

Tu vas le lui faire prendre.

You are going to make him lose it.

B. SE FAIRE + INFINITIVE means to have I get something done to oneself.

Thus, the subject is not performing the action, but is having the action done by

someone or something else.

21

Je me fais couper les cheveux.

I'm getting a haircut. Elle se fait bronzer la plage.

She is getting a tan at the beach.21, cont

FUTURE

A. IMMEDIATE FUTURE It is possible to express a future idea by using the

Immediate future (used to express a future idea that is in the not-too distant

future.)

1. equivalent in English: to be going + 2nd verb in the infinitive

I'm going to go to the concert.

2. formed by: conjugated form of ALLER + 2nd verb in the infinitive

Je vais aller au cinmaIm going to the movies.

Nous allons faire un tour en voiture.

We're going to go for a ride.

Qu'est-que vous allez faire ce soir?What are you going to do tonight?

3. In the negative, ne...pas is placed around the conjugated form of ALLER.Mathide ne va pas quitter la maison.

Mathidle isn't going to leave the house.

B.REGULAR FUTUREA. FORMATION The is often equivalent to the English will + verb. For most verbs, the stem of the regular future is the infinitive except for the -RE verbs which drop the final -E.

Infinitive / Irregular stem + Future Endingsa.STEMS

REGULAR

PARLER

PARLER

ETUDIER

ETUDIER

FINIR

FINIR22

SORTIR

SORTIR

ATTENDRE

ATTENDR

DIRE

DIR

ECRIRE

ECRIR

22, cont

SLIGHTLY IRREGULAR- spelling changes that occur in the present tense of certain -ER verbs appear throughout the future.

e (

acheter

se lever

ach ter-

se l ver-

y ( i

ennuyer

nettoyer

essayer

payer

employer

ennuier-

nettoier-

essaier-

paier-

emploier-

l( ll

sappelersappeller-

t( tt

jeter

jetter-

IRREGULAR STEM CHANGES

aller( ir-

avoir( aur-

devenir( deviendr-

envoyer(enverr-

tre(ser-

faire(fer-

pouvoir(fer-

pouvois( pourr-

recevoir(recevr--

savoir(saur--

venir(viendr--

voir(verr-

vouloir(voudr--

d. STEM ENDINGS

-ai-ons

-as-ez

-a-ont

The future tense is used:

1. to express an action, event, or state that will occur in the future.

23

Il aura dix ans le mois prochain.He will be ten years old next month.

2. after quand (when), lorsque (when), aussitt que (as soon as), ds que (as soon as), and aprs que (after) when expressing a future action

23, cont

Ds quelle aura son diploma, Monique fera un aux Etais-Unis pour perfectionner son anglais.

Quand elle nous rendra visite en juillet, nous lemmnerons Chicago avec nous. As soon as she has her diploma, Monique will travel to the United States to perfect her English

When she visits us in July, we will take her to Chicago with us. .

3. States the results of a SI clause in the present tense.

Si elle russit cet examen comptitif, elle sera professeur danglais et son employ sera garanti.

Monique acceptera un poste Strasbourg si son mari y trouve du travail. If she passes this competitive exam, she will be an English professor and her job will be guaranteed

Monique will accept a job in Strasbourg if her husband finds a job there. .

FUTURE PERFECT

A. FORMATION- The future perfect (futur antrieur) is formed with the future tense of the auxiliary AVOIR or ETRE and the past participle of the main verb. Agreement rules, word order, and negative/interrogative patterns are the same as for the pass compose.

jaurai tudije serai arrive(e)je me suis couch(e)

tu auras tuditu seras arrive(e)tu te seras couch(s)

il/elle/on aura tudiil/elle/on on

arriv

arrive

arrivil/elle/on

couch

couche

couch

nous aurons tudinous serons arriv(e)(s)nous nous couch(e)(s)

vous aurez tudivous serez arriv(e)(s)vous vous serez couch(e)(s)

ils/elles auront tudiils/elles seront

arrivs

arrivesils/elles se sont

couches

couches

B. USAGE- the future perfect is used to express an action that will have taken place before another action in the future. It expresses the English will have + past particle

En lan 2010, tout aura change.By the year 2010, everything will have changed.

1. Use the future perfect with quand, lorsque, aussitt que, ds que, and aprs que if that action will have taken place before another future action.

Ex. 1 Ds quil auro trouv un emploi, il achtera une voiture.

(As soon as he has found (will have found) a job, he will buy a car.)

Ex.2 Partons aussitt quil aura appel.

(Lets leave as soon as he has called (will have called).)

2. At times, it is up to the speaker to decide whether to use the simple future or the future perfect after one of the above conjuctions. When both clauses are in the simple future, it is implied that both action took place at the same time.

Ex.1 Aussitt quil achtera sa nouvelle voiture, il nous emmnera fair un tour.

(As soon as he buys his new car, he will take us for a ride.)

Ex.2 Aussitt quil aura achet sa nouvelle voiture, il nous emmnera fair un tour.

(As soon as he has bought (will have bought) his new car, he will take us for a ride.)

3. After the conjuction aprs que, the future perfect is used when that action takes place in the future.

Ex.1 Aprs que nous serons revenus, je te raconterai toutes nos aventures.

(After we (will) have returned, I will tell you about all our adventures.)

Si/ Conjunction clauseMain Clause

SiPresentPresent

Future

Imperative

Quand

Lorsque

Ds que

Aussitt queFutureFuture

Imperative

Future perfect

Future PerfectFuture

Imperative

Aprs queFuture PerfectFuture

Imperative

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONSA. AVOIR The verb AVOIR is used in many common idiomatic expression. An idiom is an expression that cannot be translated literally. Note that in many AVOIR idioms, AVOIR has the meaning of the English verb TO BE rather than TO HAVE

Avoirans

to beyears old

____besoin de

to need

____bon/mauvais caractre

to have a good/bad personality

____chaud

to be hot

____envie de

to feel like

____faim

to be hungry

____froid

to be cold

____lintention de

to intend to

____mal

to have a(n) ache

____peur (de)

to be afraid (of)

____raison

to be right

____soif

to be thirsty

____sommeil

to be sleepy

____tort

to be wrong

EXAMPLES:

-Cest un beau garon. Quel ge a-t-il?Hes a handsome boy. How old is he?-Il a onze ans.

Hes eleven years old.-Quest-ce tu prends quand tu as soif?

What do you have when youre thirsty?-Dhabitude, je prends un grand verre deau.

Usually I have a big glass of water.-Jai envie daller la boum, mais jai mal

I feel like going to the party, but my

aux pieds.

feet hurt.

-Tu as besoin de nouvelles chaussures!

You need new shoes!

B.FAIRE1. SPORTS- Faire is used in conjunction with sports activities

FAIRE + de + definite article + sport

Faire

de laththisme

de la natation

de larobic

de la planche voile

du baseball

de la plonge sous-marine

de basket-ball

du rugy

de la bicyclette

du ski (nautique)

du cyclisme

du surf

du foot

du tennis

du football amricain

du volleyball

du hockey du golf

du jogging

EXAMPLES

-Fais-tu du sport?

Do you play sports?-Oui, mon amie et moi, nous

Yes, my friend and I play tennis. And

du tennis. Et toi?

you?

-Moi, je fais de la planche voile.I windsurf.

2. WEATHER EXPRESSIONS

a. Il fait/ Il fait/ Il va faire

. . . . beauIt was nice out.It was nice outIts going to be nice out.

. . . . du vent It was windy.It was windyIts going to be windy

. . . . du soleil It was sunny.Its sunnyIts going to be sunny

. . . . mauvais It was bad outside.Its bad outsideIts going to be bad outside

. . . . chaud It was hot outside.Its hot outside Its going to be hot outside

. . . . froid It was cold outside.Its cold outside Its going to be cold outside

. . . . frais It was cool outside. Its cool outside Its going to be cool outside

b. OTHER WEATHER EXPRESSIONS

Il a plu/ Il pleut/ Il va pleuvoir

Il a neig/ Il neige/ Il va neigerIt rained

It snowedIts raining

Its snowed Its going to rain

Its going to snow

Le ciel a t couvert (nuageux)

Le ciel est couvert (nuageux)

Il va y avoir des naugesIt was cloudy.

Its cloudy.

Its going to be cloudy.

Il y a eu un orage

Il y a un orage

Il va y avoir un orage There was a thunderstorm.

Theres a thunderstorm.

Theres going to be a thunderstorm

IMPERATIVE

Imperative forms of a verb are used to give orders or commands or to make requests

A.FORMATION- only exists in the TU/NOUS/VOUS forms

1. Drop the subject pronoun from the present tense of the verb

2. for all regular er verbs and aller. With the TU form of the imperative the final s is dropped

3. The negative is formed by placing NE before the verb & PAS after the verb

PARLER

tu parles Parle! Speak! Ne parle pas!Dont speak!

vouz parlezParlez!Speak!Ne parlez pas!Dont speak!

nous parlonsParlons!Lets speak!Ne parlons pas!Lets not speak!

FINIR

tu finisFinis!Finish!Ne finis pas!Dont finish!

vouz finissezFinissez!Finish!Ne finissez pas!Dont finish!

nous finissonsFinissons!Lets finish!Ne finissons pas!Lets not finish!

Rpondretu rpondsRponds! Answer! Ne rponds pas!Dont answer!

vouz rpondezRpondez!Answer!Ne rpondez pas!Dont answer!

nous rpondonsrpondons!Lets answer!Ne rpond pas!Lets not answer!

B. Imperatives Followed by Object Pronouns

When a command form is accompanied by an object pronoun, the object pronoun follows the affirmative command and is attached to it by a hyphen. In a negative command, the object pronoun precedes the verb.

Regardez cette emission.

Regarze-la!

Ne la regardez pas!

Rponds au professeur.

Ronds-lui!

Ne lui rponds pas!

Nous le regardons souvent.

Regardons-le!

Ne le regardons pas! Look at this program.

Look at it!

Dont look at it!

Answer the teacher.

Answer him/her!

Dont answer him/her!

We watch it often.

Lets watch it!

Lets not watch it!

NOTE When the object pronoun ME follows the affirmative command, the stressed form MOI must be used.

Donnez-moi du caf sil vous plait.

Ne me donnez pas de caf,

donnez moi du th.Give me some coffee, please.

Dont give me any coffee, give me some tea

28

C. Imperatives of the Reflexive Verbs

To form the imperatice of reflexive verbs, you also begin with the appropriate person (tu ,nous,or vous) of the present tense and remove the subject pronoun. In the case of the reflexive verbs, however, the reflexive pronoun , like other object pronouns, is placed AFTER the verb and is attached to it by the hyphen in affirmative commands.

Vous vous amusez bien.

Amusez-bien vous!

Nous nous reposons.

Reposons-nous!You have a good time.

Have a goodtime!

We are resting.

Lets rest!

1. When TE follows the affirmative command form, the stressed form TOI is used.

Tu te lves.

Lve-toi vite! You get up.

Get up quickly!

2. In a negative command, the reflexive pronoun precedes the verb

Ne vous amusez pas trop!

Ne te lve pas!

Ne nous reposons pas maintenant!Dont have too much fun!

Dont get up!

Dont rest now!

-le-me (moi)-y-en

-la-te (toi)

-les-lui

-leur

-nous

-vous

Object pronoun in AFFIRMATIVE Imperatives

IMPERFECT

A. FORMATION of the imperfect- To form the imperfect tense of a verb, remove the

-ais

-ais

-ait-ions

-iez

-aient

-ONS ending of the first person plural (NOUS form) of the present tense and add the following endings.

PARLER- to speak

je parlaistu parlais il/elle/on parlaitnous parlions vous parliez

ils/elles parlaient je vendais

tu vendaisil/elle/on vendaitnous vendionsvous vendiez

ils/elles vendaient

All verbs, even those that are irregular, form the imperfect tense in the regular fashion, except for ETRE.

je finissais

tu finissais

il/elle/on finissait

nous finissions

vous finissiez

ils/elles finissaientj tais

tu tais

il/elle/on tait

nous tions

vous tiez

ils/elles taient

B. USES of the imperfect- When the imperfect tense is used, you mentally move back to a specific point of reference in the PAST (generally) indicated by a verb in the pass compos, as in a flashback. The imperfect is used to describe what was going on or how things were at that given point in time. The verb in the pass compos is the primary incident you are telling about; the imperfect helps establish the context in which this incident occurred. You are not concerned with when the action of the verb in the imperfect began or when it ended or even with its duration. It expresses simply how things were at that time.

1. Habitual Actions that occurred an unspecified number of times often used with the following adverbs:

dhabitude

toujourssouvent

habituellementfrquemment

tous les jours

_____________________ ______ __________________

Jallais toujours au cours de maths le vendredi.

Dhabitude jarrivais lheure.

Je faisais mes devoirs tous les jours.

Quand j tais jeune jallais au cimena souvent. I always went to math class on Fridays.

Normally, I would arrive on time.

I used to do my homework everyday.

When I was young, I used to go to the movies often

2. Description, background, &circumstances where the reference point is in the past (going back into time to describe)

_________________________________________________________

Vendredi dernier, il faisait chaud et beau.

Il y avait beaucoup d tudiants dans la salle.

Le prof parlait.

Il tait dj trios heures.

Je ncoutais pas le prof.

Mon ami faisait attention et prenait des notes. Last Friday. It was hot and nice.

There were a lot of students in the room.

The teacher was talking.

It was already three oclock.

I wasnt listening to the teacher.

My friend was paying attention and taking notes

3. Conditions, sate of being, and feelings where the focus is on the condition, state, or feeling itself with NO regards to the beginning or end. The following verbs often are used to describe a physical or emotional state.

avoir

penser

tredesirer

prfrerdetester

aimercroire

vouloir

Javais mal la tte.

J tais trs fatigue.

Je ne comprenais plus le prof.

Javais envie de partir.

Les tudiants attendaient la

fin de la leon avec impatience. I had a headache.

I was very tired.

I couldnt understand the teacher anymore.

I wanted to leave.

The students were waiting impatiently

for the lesson to be over.

______________________________________________________

4. With SI when expressing a wish or desire that would happen in the present or future. (Note that it is a wish or desire that is not probable to come true)

Si javais de largent!

Sil avait le temps! If I has some money!

If he only had the time!

31

5. An ongoing action for which no beginning or end can be visualized in the past that is interrupted by another in the past.

______________________________________________________Je regardais le film quand tout coup jai eu faim.

I was watching a movie when all of a sudden I got hungry.

INDIRECT DISCOURSE

Indirect discourse is used to report both statements and questions. The following are examples of the kinds of verbs that may introduce reported speech:

affirmer

annoncer

declarer

dire

expliquer

jurer

promettre

A. QUE/QU links the introductory verbs such as DIRE with a reported statement whether it is affirmative or negative. Note that the original subject pronoun in the quoted statement will change when it is reported to the introductory verb.

Elle dit: Je ne vient pas ce soir.

Ils disent: Nous venons ce soir.Elle dit QUelle ne vient pas ce soir.

Ils disent QUils viennent ce soir.

B. If the introductory verb is in the present tense, the tense of the verb(s) In the reported statements doe NOT change.

Elles dissent: Nous venons la manif.Elles disent quelles viennent la manif.

Il dit: Je nai pas promis de venire. Il dit quil na pas promis de venire.

C. If the introductory verb is in a past tense, the tense of the verb(s) in the reported statement changes as follows.

Ella a dit: Je viens ce soir.Elle a dit quelle venait ce soir.

Ella a dit: Je vais venire ce soir. Elle a dit quelle venait ce soir.

Il a dit: Je nai pas promis de venire.Il a dit quil navait pas promis de venire.

Jai dit: Javais trop de travail.Jai dit que javais trop de travail.

D. When reporting yes/no questions, si/s in place of que/qu Elles demandent: Vous venez se soir?

Il voulait savoir: Elle arrive lheure? Elles demandent si vous venez ce soir.

Il voulait savoir s elle arrivait lheure.

E. When reporting informational questions, retain only the interrogative pronouns. Do not use est-ce que or inversion/

Il ma demand: Quand est-ce que le roi est mort? Elle ma demand quand le roi tait mort.

a. QUI-EST-CE QUI and QUI EST-CE QUE become QUI

Elle ma demand: Qui est-ce qui est denvenu roi?

Elle ma demand qui tait devenu roi.

b. QUEST-CE QUI becomes CE QUI

Ils ont demand: Quest-ce qui sest pass ensuite?

Ils ont demand ce qui stait pass ensuite.

c. QUEST-CE QUE becomes CE QUE

Il a demand: Quest-ce que tu as dit?

Il a demand ce que javais dit.

INFINITIVES PRECEDED BY PREOPPOSITIONS

aider

samuser

apprendre

sattendre

autoriser

avoir (to have to) + INFINITVE

commener

consenter

continuer

encourager

enseigner

shabituer

hesiter

s intresser

inviter

se mettre

russir

tenir

sagir de

sarrrer de

avoir besoin de

avoir envie de

avoir lintention de

avoir peur de

choisirDE + INFINTIVE

dcider de

se dpcher de (to hurry)

empcher de (to prevent)

essayer de

finir de

oublier de

regretter de

parler de

refuser de

remercier de

rver de

se souvenir de

tcher de (to try)

venir de (to have just)

+ PERSON

commander quelquun deconseiller quelquun dedfendre quelquun dedemander quelquun dereprocher quelquun de/

DE + INFINTIVE

dire quelquun decrire quelquun depermettre quelquun depromettre quelquun desuggrer quelquun de

aimer

aller

compter

croire

desirer

detester

devoir

couterNO PREPOSITION

esprer

faire

falloir

penser

pouvoir

prfrer

savoirsembler

souhaiter

venir

voir

vouloir

SUBJECT + ETRE + ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITON + INFINITIVE

Most all subjects that precede ETRE will take DE

Je suis content de te voir

Il est difficile de comprendre le franais.

BUT:

Cest is followed by Cest facile comprendre.

INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES

A. agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies

QUEL (what, which)

masculine singular feminine singularmasculine plural feminine plural

quelquelle quels quelles

B. It occurs in the following positions:

1. Immediately before the noun modifies: QUEL + NOUN

Quelle glise?

Quel livre est-ce que tu as?

Quels sports est-il aime?

Quelles bires prfrez-vous?What (which) church?

What (which) book do you have?

What (which) sports does he like?

What (which) beers do you prefer?

NOTE: When QUEL and the noun are followed by the pass compose. The past participle must agree in gender and number with the noun.

Quels disques as-tu achets?

Quelles jeunes filles est-ce que tu as invites

2. Between the noun it modifies and the verb tre when asking for identification in (3rd person singular & plural ONLY)

QUEL+ ETRE + NOUN

Quelle est votre adresse?

Quels sont tes vins prfres?What is your address?

What are your favorite wines?

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNSA. QUI/ QUE

Person Thing

SUBJECTQui

Qui est-ce quiQuest-ce qui

DIRECT OBJECTQui

Qui est-ce queQue (inversion)

Quest-ce que

OBJECT OF PREPOSITIONprep. + quiprep. + quoi

1. SUBJECT

a. PERSON

Qui va au cinma?

Qui est-ce qui va au cinma?

Eric va au cinma. Whos going to the movies?

Erics going to the movies.

b. THING Quest-ce qui se passe? Whats happening?

2. DIRECT OBJECT

a. PERSON

Qui a-t-elle vu?

Qui est-ce quelle a vu?

Elle a vu son prof.Who did she see?

She saw her professor.

b. THING

Que fais-tu?

Quest-ce que tu fais?

Je joue au tennis. What are you doing?

Im playing tennis.

3. OBJECT OF PREPOSITION

a. PERSON

De qui parles-tu?

qui pensez-vous?

Chez qui reste-t-il?Who are you talking about?

Who are you thinking about?

Whose house is he staying at?

b. THING De quoi a-t-elle besoin?

A quoi pensez-vous?

Avec quoi repares-tu la vioture? What does she need?

What are you thinking about?

What are you repairing the car with?

B. LEQUEL- the pronoun form of quel (lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles) agree in gender and number with the noun they replace and are the French equivalents of which one/which ones. LEQUEL contrats with and de in the same manner as the definite article. MASCULINEFEMININE

SINGULARlequel

auquel

duquellaquelle

laquelle

de laquelle

PLURALlesquels

auxquels

desquelslesquelles

auxquelles

desquelles

Regarde le garon! LequelleWatch the boy! Which one? Lesquelles de ces patisseries est-ce que tu prfres?

Which ones of these pasteries do you prefer?

Je mintresse plusieurs clubs sociaux de luniversit.

Moi, aussi! Auxquels est-ce que tu tintersses?

Jtais en train de parler dun film que jai vu rcemment.

Ah, oui? Duquel parlais-tu?

C. OTHER INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

A quelle heure

(when, at what time)A quelle heure +

Inversion/ est-ce queA quelle heure est-ce que ton train arrive?

(What time does your train arrive?)

A quelle heure arrive-t-il ce soir?

(What time is he arriving this evening)

*A quelle heure arrive son avion?(What time does his plane arrive?)

Combien

(how much/ many)Combien + inversionCombien coute-t-il?

(How much does it cost?)

*Combien coute ta robe?(How much does your dress cost?)

Combien de + sing.

Noun = how much

Combine de + pl.

Noun = how manyCombien de + noun +

Est-ce que/ inversionCombien de billets est-ce que Paul achete?

(How much money do you have?)

Combien dargent as-tu?

(How much money do you have?)

Combien de billets a Paul?

(How many tickets does Paul have?)

**Combien de personnes voyagent a Paris?

(How many people are traveling to Paris?)

Comment

(how)Comment +

Est-ce que/ inversionComment est-ce que tu sais la reponse?

(How do you know the answer?)

Comment trouvez-vous la France?

(What do you think of France?)

*Comment est le voyage?)

(How is the trip?)

Ou

(where)Ou +

Est-ce que/ inversionOu est-ce quil voyage?

(Where are you traveling?)

Ou allez-vous aprs Paris?

(Where are you going after Paris?)

*Ou est le guichet?

(Where is the ticket window?)

38

Pourquoi

(why)Pour quoi +

Est-ce que/ inversionPourquoi est-ce quil va en France?

(Why is he going to France?)

Pourquoi va-t-elle en France?

(Why is she going to france?)

Pourquoi Paul va-t-il en France?

(Why is Paul going to France?)

Quand

(when)Quand +

Est-ce que/ inversionQuand est-ce que vous renevez de Paris?

(When do you come back from Paris?)

Quand reviens-tu de Paris?

(When do you come back from Paris?)

*Quand reviens ton frere?

(When is your brother coming back?)

*NOTE With all of the interrogative expression except pourquoi, a noun subject may be inverted after the verb to form the question IF THE NOUN IS THE LAST WORD IN THE SENTENCE. Please notice that with inversion with nouns, no hyphen is inserted.

**NOTE When Combien de + noun is itself the subject of the sentence, est-ce que nor inversion can be used because est-ce que is followed by the subject & inversion inverts the subject.

JOUER A / JOUER DE

A. JOUER A is used to express the idea of playing SPORTS & GAMES

JOUER + a + definite article + Game or sport

Jouer: To play (games)

(sports)

Au bridge

bridge

a lathletisme

Aux cartes (f. pl)

cards

au basket-ball

Aux dames (f. pl)

checkers

au cyclisme

Aux echecs (m. pl)

chess

au foot

Au poker

poker

au tennis

Veux-tu jouer au tennis avec moi? Do you want to play tennis with me?

Non merci. Je ne joue pas bien au tennisNo thanks. I dont play tennis wel

Mais Joues-tu aux cartes avec moi?

But do you want to play cards with me?

B. JOUER DE is used to express the idea of playing MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

FAIRE + de + definite article + musical instrument

De la clarinette du saxophone

De la guitare du trombone

Du piano de la trompette

Est-ce qu elle joue dun instrument de musique? Does she play a musical instrument?

Oui, elle joue de la clarinette. Yes, she plays the clarinet.

JOURS DE LA SEMAINE

lundi (Monday) vendredi (Friday)

mardi (Tuesday) samedi (Saturday)

mercredi (Wednesday) dimanche (Sunday)

jeudi (Thursday

A. The French consider the days of the week to begin on Monday and end of Sunday.

B. The names of the week are all masculine and never capitalized except if at the beginning of the sentence.

C. They are never accompanied by a preposition

1. vendredi- Friday/ on Friday

2. Vendredi je suis sorti en boite. On Friday, I went out to a nightclubD. The definite article le is only used with the days of the week when it indicates a repeated occurrence

1. le dimanche every Sunday/ on Sundays

2. Le dimanche nous allons a leglise. On Sundays, we go to churchLANGUAGE & NATIONALITY

Feminine CountriesMasculine Countries

Allemagne France

Angleterre Grece

Belgique Inde

Chine Italie

Espagne Pologne

Russie

Bresil Japon

Canada Luxembourg

Danemark Maroc

Etats-Unis Portugal

Viet-nam

A. The following languages are the same in French as the masculine name of the nationality

Un(e) Allemand(e) parle allemandUn(e) Anglais(e) parle anglaisUn(e) Chinois(e) parle chinoisUn(e) Espagnol(e) parle espagnolUn(e) Francais(e) parle francaisUn(e) Grec(que) parle grecUn(e) Italien(ne) parle italienUn(e) Russe parle russeUn(e) Danois(e) parle danois

Un(e) Japonais(e) parle japonais Un(e) Polonais(e) parle polonaisUn(e) Portugais(e) parle portugaisUn(e) Vietnamien(ne) parle vietnamienNOTE: The name of the nationality (the person) is capitalized, but the name of the language is not.

B. The following languages are different from the names of their nationality

Une(e) Australien(ne) parle anglaisUn(e) Belge parle francais ou flammandUn(e) Indien(ne) parle hindi ou anglaisUn(e) Israelien(ne) parle hebreuUn(e) Bresilien(ne) parle portugaisUn(e) Iranien(ne) parle persanUn(e) Canandien(ne) parle francais ou anglaisUn(e) Luxembourgeois(e) parle francaisUn(e) Marocain(e) parle arabe ou francaisUn(e) Mexicain(e) parle espagnolUn(e) Americain(e) parle anglais

LITERARY TENSES

A. Passe Anterieur

1. FORMATION the pass anterieur is a compound tense, formed by combining the pass simple of the auziliary verb AVOIR or ETRE with the pas participle of the main verb.

AVOIR + past participleETRE + past participle

Jeus parle

Tu eus parleIl

Elle eut parleonNous eumes parleVous eutes parleIls

Elles eurent parle

Je fus alle(e)Tu fus alle(e)

Il

Ellie fut alle(e)onNous fumes alle(e)sVous futes alle(e)(s)Ils

Elles furent alle(e)s

2. USAGE the pass anterieur is a literary tense used to designate a past action / event that occurred prior to another past action / even that is usually expressed in the pass simple. It often appears the the conjunctions QUAND, LORSQUE,

DES QUE, AUSSITOT QUE, and APRES QUE. There fore, the pass anterieur is the literary equivalent to the pluperfect.

Des quun des souliers eut glisse, un nostalgique de lancien regime le sauva.As soon as one of the shoes slipped out, a nostalgic adherent to the Old Regime saved.

B. PASSE SIMPLE the pass simple is used to narrate past events, replacing the pass compose in formal, historical, or literary texts. Since it is not likely that you will need to actively use this tense, you only need to learn to recognize and understand the forms.

1. REGULAR VERBS use the infinitive minus the ER, -IR, or RE as the stem, and add the following endings:

Regular ER verbs (including ALLER)

Je parlaiTu parlasIl/elle/on parlaNous parlamesVous parlatesIle/elles parlerent

Regular IR verbs

Je finisTu finisIl/elle/on finitNous finimesVous finitesIls/elles finirent

Regular RE verbs

Je dendisTu rendisIl/elle/on renditNous rendimesVous renditesIls/elles rendirent

2. IRREGULAR VERBS

a. Add the following endings ( the circumflex in the NOUS & VOUS forms are placed above thelast vowel of the stem).

je

tu

il/elle/on -s

-s

-tnous

vous

ils/elles-mes

-tes

-rent

b. The following are stems to IRREGULAR verbs:

apercevoir

asseoir

atteindre

avoir

boire

conduire

convaincre

connatre

courir

craindre

croire

devenir

devoir

dire

crire

tre

faillir

faire

falloir

fuir

lireaperu-

assi-

atteign-

eu-

bu-

conduisi-

convainqui-

connu-

couru-

craigni-

cru-

devin-

du-

di-

crivi-

fu-

failli-

fi-

il faillut

fui-

lu-mettre

mourir

natre

offrir

ouvrir

paratre

plaire

pleuvoir

pouvoir

prendre

recevoir

rsoudre

rire

savoir

suivre

taire

valoir

venir

virvre

voir

voulourmi-

mouru-

naqui-

offri-

ouvri-

paru-

plu-

il plut

pu-

pri-

reu-

rsolu-

ri-

su-

suivi-

tu-

valu-

vin-

vcu-

vi-

voulu-

C. IMPREFECT SUBJUNCTIVE

1. FORMATION- The imprefect subjunctive is formed by dropping the final letter of the JE form of the pass simple and adding the following endings

je

tu

il/ elle/on -sse

-sses

-tnous

vous

ils-ssions

-ssiez

-ssent

2. USAGE- the imperfect subjunctive may be used in subordinate clauses when the verb in the main clause is in the past tense or in the condtional. It corresponds in meaning ro to the present subjunctive.

Je ne corvais pas quil vint. I didnt think he would come.

D. PLUPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE

1. FORMATION- The pluperfect subjunctive is formed by combining the imperfect subjunctive of the auxiliary AVOIR or ETRE with the same the past participle of the main verb.

que jeusse

que tu eusses

quil

quelle et

quon

que je fusse

que tu fusses

quil

quelle ft

quon

que nous eussions

que vous eussiez

quils

quelles eussent

que nous fussions

que vous fussiez

quils

quelles fussents

2. USAGE- the pluperfect may replace the pluperfect or the past conditonal. It maybe used in subordinate clauses for events that occurred proir ro rime of the verb in the main clause. Like the imperfect subjunctif, it is used when the main-clause verb is in a past tense or in the conditional. Therefore, the pluperfect subjunctive corresponds in meaning to the past subjunctive.

Je ne crovais pas quil ft venu. I didnt believe he had come.

MONTHS OF THE YEAR

Definite articles are not used with the months of the year. To say in + the name of the month, use either en or au mois de + the month. The months are not capitaliezed in French.

janvier

fvrier

mars

avril

mai

juinJanuary

February

March

April

May

June juillet

aot

septembre

octobre

novembre

dcembre July

August

September

October

November

December

Je pars en vancances au mois d aot.

Les cours recommecent en septembre.

Im leaving on vacation in August.

Classes begin in September.

NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

ne...aucun(e)

*ne... gure

*ne...jamais

ne...ni...ni

ne...nulle part

*ne...pas du tout

*ne...pas encore

*ne...pas non plus

ne...personne

*ne...plus

*ne...que

*ne...rienno, not any, not a single (stronger than ne...pas)

hardly

never

neither...nor

nowhere

not at all

not yet

not either

no noe, not anyone, nobody

no longer, not any longer, no more

only

nothing

A. PERSONNE, RIEN, and AUCUN(E) can be used as subjects, in which case they are placed in the normal subject psotion followed by NE. (PAS is never used with these expressions).

Le weekend pass, personne ne ma tlphon.

Rien ne sest pass.

Mes Amis? Aucun ne ma rendu visite.

B. PERSONNE & AUCUN follow the past participle rather than auxiliary verb when acting as the object of the verb. The negative adverb NULLE PART also follows that past participle in the past tense.

Je nai vu personne.

Mes amis. Tu nas vu aucun?

Il nest all nulle part.

C. AUCUN(E) frequently acts as an adjective & can modify subjects or objects and thus is placed before the noun it modifies with no articles.

Aucune letter ne mest arrive.

Je nai eu aucun visiteur.

D. With NE...NI...NI, the partitive articles are dropped altogether. As with most negative expressions, the definite article is retained.

Je nai vu ni ami ni trangers.

Je nai parl ni avec le factuer ni avec la concierge.

E. NE...QUE synonymous with seulement, is a restrictive expression rather than a true negative. Thus all articles are retained after it. QUE is placed directly after word groups it modifies.

Je navais que le chat pour me tenir compagnie et il ne fait que dormir.

F. In sentences with multiple negative expressions, NE is used just once, and the second part of each negative expression is places in its normal position.

Personne na jamais rien fait.

Quand mon appartement a t propre., je navais plus rien faire.

G. RIEN & PRESONNE can be further quantified by combining them with de plus a masculine singulair adjective.

Il ny avait rien de spcial la tl.

Personne dintressant na particip mon mission prfre du soir.

OBJECT PRONOUN

a. Indirect Pronoun LUI & LUER- are used to replace nouns referring to people whne those nouns are preceded by the preposition . There is no distinction in gender, thus it is understood by context. Indirect objects are placed before the conjugated verb or when there is more than one verb before the verb of which it is the indirect object.

+ person (singular) = LUI

LUI= to him/her

-Parlez-vous votre prof?

-Oui, je lui parle souvent.

- A-t-elle envoy une carte postale son amie?

-Quest-ce quil a donn ses copines?

-Il leur a donn des disques.

Est-ce que vous sperez parler vos amis?

Oui, j spre leur parle. + person (plural)=LEUR

LEUR= to them

Do you talk to your teacher?

Yes, I talk to him/her often.

Did she send a postcard to her friend?

What did he give to his friends?

He gave them some records.

Do you hope to talk toy your friends?

Yes, I hope to talk to them.

B. Disjunctive (stressed) Pronouns- are used whenever a pronoun is needed in a stressed positionanywhere other than directly before a verb. MOI

TOI

LUI

ELLEme

you

him (masc)

herNOUS

VOUS

EUX

ELLESus

you

them

them (fem)

1. When referring to a person as the object of any preposition EXCEPT . Use the disjunctive pronoun.

-Est-ce que vous parlez de Marie?

-Oui, nous parlons delle.

-Avez-vous voyag avec les Smith?

-Oui, jai voyag avec eux.

-Tu vas chez Marc?

-Non, je ne vais pas chez lui. Are you talking about Mary?

Yes, were talking about her.

Did you travel with the Smiths?

Yes, I traveled with them.

Are you going to Maries house?

No, Im going to his house.

2. after QUE in a comparison

-Tu as plus de cassettes que Paul?

-Non, il a plus de cassettes que moi.

-Est-ce que vous avez les mme albums que nous?

-Oui, nous avons les mme albums que vous. Do you have more cassesttes than Paul?

Yes, he has more cassettes than me.

Do you have the same albums as us?

Yes, we have the same albums as you.

3. As a pronoun stadning alone.

-Qui a achet ce disque?

-Lui

-Alors, qui la choisi?

-MoiWho bought this record?

Him.

Well, who chose it?

Me

4. For emphasizing the subject

-Et toi, comment as-tu trouv le concert?

-Moi, je lai beaucoup aim, mais lui, il la dtest.And how did you like the concert?

I really liked it, but he hated it.

C. Pronouns Y & EN

Y replaces

1. preposition of location (, en, sur, chez, dans, sous, devant, etc) + object

2. + noun referring to things (NOT people)

3. + verbs in infinitives referring to ideas

Je vais chez des amis.Le livre se trouve sur la table.

Je mintresse aux sports.Il a rpondu la question.

Nous nous intressons partir. Jy vais.

Le livre sy trouve.

Je my intresse.

Il y a rpondu.

Nous nous y intrssons.

EN replaces

1. de + noun

2. de + verb

Jai besoin dun livre.

Il mange de la viande.

Tu as peur de chanter.

*Il as deux livres.

*Elle n pas beaucoup dargent. Jen ai besoin.

Il en mange.

Tu en as peur.

Il en a deux.

Elle nen a pas beaucoup.

*nouns preceded by numbers or expression are replaced BUT NOT the number or the expression of quanitity.

D. Direct object pronouns LE, LA, LES

The direct object pronouns le, la and les replaces a noun objec that directly follows the verb without being preceded by a preposition. The pronoun agrees in gender and number with the noun it replaces. The object pronoun is placed directly before the CONJUGATED verb. However, when the verb in the present or past is followed by an infinitive, the object pronoun must directly precede the infinitive.

-Aimez-vous le football?

-Oui, je laime bien.

-Regardez-vous les matches de foot ta tl?

-Oui, je les regarde souvent. Do you like soccer?

Yes, I really like it.

Do you watch the soccer matches on TV?

Yes, I watch them often.

-Avez-vous vule match dhier?

-Non, je ne lai pas vu.

-Aimez-vous faire la lessive?

-Non, je naime pas la faire.Did you see yesterdays match>

No, I didnt see it.

Do you like to do the wash?

No, I dont like to do it.

When the object pronouns le, la and les precede the auxiliary verb AVOIR in the pass compos, the past participle agrees in gender and in number with this preceding direct object.

-Avez-vous vu la femme dans l quipe de foot?

-Oui, je lai vue.

-Vous avez regard les matches la tl?

-Oui, je les ai regards et je les ai beaucoup aims.

-Avez-vous vu Sophie & Anne au Match de tennis?

-Oui, jeles ai viues.

Did you see the women on the soccer team?

Yes, I saw her

Did you watch the games on TV?

Yes, I watched them & I really liked them.

Did you see Sophie or Anne at the tennis game?

Yes, I saw them.

Subject Reflexive Direct ObjectIndirect Object Disjunctive

(stressed)

je me mememoi

tutetetetoi

il

elle

onse

se

sele

la

le lui

lui

luilui

elle

soi

nousnous nous nousnous

vousvousvousvousvous

ils

ellesse

seles

lesleur

leur eux

elles

THE ORDER OF OBJECT PRONOUNmeleluiyen

telaleur

seles

nous

vous

ORDINAL NUMBERS

Ordinal numbers are used to order and to rank items in a series.

1stle premier/la premire 11thle/la onzime

2ndle/la deuxime 12thle/la douzime

3rdle/la troisime13thle/la treizime

4thle/la quatrime14th le/la quatorime

5thle/la cinquime15thle/la quatorzieme

6thle/la sixime 16thle/la seizime

7th le/la septime17thle/la dix-septime

8thle/la huitime18thle/la dix-huitime

9thle/la neuvime19thle/la dix-neuvime

10thle/la dixime20thle/la vingtime

The following are special cases:

To express the first, use le premier or la premire. For the last, use le dernier or la dernire. All other ordinals are formed by adding -ime to the cardinal number.

When the cardinal number ends in -e. drop the e before adding -ime: quatre/quatrime

Add u to cinq before adding the ordinal ending: cinquime

Change the f of neuf to v before adding the ordinal ending: neuvime

PASSE COMPOSE

D. Formation

Verbs conjugate with AVOIR- mose verbs whose auxiliary is AVOIR in the pass compos are transitive verbs (verbs that are capable of having direct objects). Direct objects can NOT be separated from the verb by a preposition.

parler

finir

attendre

avoir

tre

faire

pouvoir

prendre

vouloir (((((((((

parl

fini

attendu

eu

t

fait

pu

pris

voulu

AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENT = subject + auxiliary verb + past participle

NEGATIVE STATEMENT:

Subject +

+ auxiliary verb +

+ past participle +

INVERTED QUESTION:

noun subject + auxiliary verb + sunjecy pronoun +

+ past participle +

2. Verbs Conjugated with ETRE- most French verbs that cannot take direct objects use etre as their auxiliary verb in the pass compose. If there is a noun that follows an ETRE verb, it must be preceded by a preposition because D.O.s The past participles of the etre verbs function as adjectives and agree in gender and number with the subject.

Devenir(devenu)

Revenir (revenue)

Monter (monte)

Rentrer (rentre)

Sortir (sorti)

Venir (venu)

Arriver (arrive)

Naitre

(ne)

Descendre (descendu)

Entrer

(entre)

Retourner (retourne)

Tomber (tombe)

Rester

(reste)

Aller

(alle)

Mourir (mort)

Partir

(parti)

53

Je suis _____(e)

Nous sommes _________(e)s

Tu es ______(e)

Vous etes ___________(e) (s)

Il est _______

Ils sont ___________s

Elle est _______e

Elles sont ___________es

B. Reflexive Verbs in the Passe Compose

SAMUSER to have fun / a good time

Je me suis amuse(e)

Nous nous sommes amuse(e)s

Tu tes amuse(e)

Vous vous etes amuse(e)(s)

Il / on sest amuse

Ils se sont amuses

Elle sest amuse

Elles se sont amuses

1. All reflexive verbs are conjugated with etre in the pass compose and its past participle agrees in gender and in number with the reflexive pronoun / subject.

-Monique sest couchee tres tard hier soir.

Monique went to bed very late last night.2. The past participle of SE FAIRE + infinitive constructions and those reflexive verbs followed by direct objects will NOT agree with its reflexive pronoun / subject in the pass compose.

-Sophie sest fait couper les cheveux.

Sophie had her hair cut.

-Elles se sont brosse les dents avant de se coucher.

They brush their teeth before going to bed.

3. In the negative, ne precedes the reflexive pronoun, as in the simple tense. Pas or other negative words normally follow the auxiliary ver.

-Pierre ne sest pas endormi devant la tele.

Pierre didnt fall asleep in front of the TV.

4. When forming questions by inversion, the subject pronoun is inverted directly behind the auxiliary verb.

-Se sont ils baignes a la plage?

Did they go swimming at the beach?

-Non, ils ne se sont pas baignes a la plage.

Mais ils se sont fait bronzer.

No, they didnt. They got a tan.

C. Uses of Pass Compos

1. Onset of the action is clearly seen, although the specific beginning point may not necessarily be stated.

Je suis alle au cinema cet aprs-midi a 3h.

I went to the movies this afternoon (at 3 oclock).

2. The end of the action is c