French 1 Chapter 1 Grammar Review Subjects and Verbs 1. A subject is a person, place or thing that is acting or being described: Ex: My friend has a book Mon ami a un livre 2. A verb is the action being done by the subject Ex: My friend has a book Mon ami a un livre Subject Pronouns 1. Subject pronouns replace the subject to avoid repetition: Ex: John is fifteen years old. He has a book. Ex: John a quinze ans. Il a un livre. SINGULAR PLURAL I je we nous you tu you (all) vous he / she / it il / elle / (on*) they ils / elles * on refers to people in general Plural Nouns 1. To make a noun plural add an –s to the end of the nouns. EX: garçon garcons 2. If the noun ends in –eu or –au, then add an –x instead. EX: tableau tableaux Indefinite Articles 1. In positive sentences the following are the Indefinite Articles (a, an, some): POSITIVE Singular Plural Masculine un des Feminine une
Transcript
French 1
Chapter 1 Grammar Review
Subjects and Verbs
1. A subject is a person, place or thing that is acting or being described:
Ex: My friend has a book Mon ami a un livre
2. A verb is the action being done by the subject
Ex: My friend has a book Mon ami a un livre
Subject Pronouns
1. Subject pronouns replace the subject to avoid repetition:
Ex: John is fifteen years old. He has a book.
Ex: John a quinze ans. Il a un livre.
SINGULAR PLURAL
I je we nous
you tu you (all) vous
he / she / it il / elle / (on*) they ils / elles
* on refers to people in general
Plural Nouns
1. To make a noun plural add an –s to the end of the nouns. EX: garçon garcons
2. If the noun ends in –eu or –au, then add an –x instead. EX: tableau tableaux
Indefinite Articles
1. In positive sentences the following are the Indefinite Articles (a, an, some):
POSITIVE
Singular
Plural
Masculine un
des Feminine une
2. In negative sentences, ONLY “de” is used (meaning “any”), whether singular or plural:
NEGATIVE
Masculine un
de
(d’) Feminine une
Plural des
3. REMEMBER: de becomes d’ before a vowel sound. Ex: Je n’ai pas d’ordinateur.
The Verb Avoir
1. Avoir is the Infinitive (base-form) for the verb “to have”. The following are its conjugations.
2. Your conjugation depends on the verb’s subject.
AV OIR
je ai nous avons
tu as vous avez
il / elle / on a ils / elles ont
3. REMEMBER: je becomes j’ before a vowel. Ex: Je + ai = J’ai
4. REMEMBER: Subjects and Subject Pronouns take the same conjugations.
Ex: Steven et John ont deux chaises ils ont deux chaises
Negating Verbs
1. To make a sentence negative add ne … pas around the conjugated verb.
Ex: Ça va bien Ça ne va pas bien
2. REMEMBER: ne becomes n’ before a vowel sound.
Ex: J’ai un lecteur de DVD Je n’ai pas de lecture de DVD.
3. REMEMBER: When you negate a sentence you must change the Indefinite Article too.
Ex: J’ai un lecteur de DVD Je n’ai pas de lecteur de DVD
4. REMEMBER: When de is before a vowel sound, it becomes d’.
Ex: J’ai un ordinateur Je n’ai pas d’ordinateur
French 1
Chapter 2 Grammar Review
Definite Articles
1. Unlike Indefinite Articles (un, une, des) which reference one object out of potentially
many, the Definite Articles (le, la, les, l’) reference a specific or defined object: Ex: J’ai
un livre (I have a book) vs. J’ai le livre (I have the book)
2. In French, you MUST ALWAYS use the definite article before a noun.
Ex: J’aime la music = I like music (notice there is no definite article used in English)
MASCULINE FEMININE BEFORE A
VOWEL SOUND
SINGULAR le la l’
PLURAL* les les les
* Notice that the plural form never changes
-ER Verbs
1. To conjugate an –ER verb, drop the –ER to get the “Verb Stem.”
Ex: aimer - er aim (the “Verb Stem”)
2. Just like we saw with the verb AVOIR, a conjugation depends on the Subject (the person,
place or thing that is “doing” or “being”). Your Subject dictates what ending you add to your
Stem.
3. Below is a sample conjugation of the –ER verb AIMER with the appropriate Verb Endings:
AIMER (to like; to love)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je aime nous aimons
tu aimes vous aimez
il / elle / on aime ils / elles aiment
4. REMEMBER: “je” and “ne” contract when the next word begins with a vowel sound.
Ex: je + aime = j’aime (I like) je + ne + aime + pas = je n’aime pas (I don’t like)
5. You ONLY ever conjugate one verb in a phrase. Additional verbs will be the infinitive
form.
Ex: Il aime manger = He likes to eat (Notice that English also acts the same way!)
6. REMEMBER: The negations (ne … pas) ONLY go around the conjugated verb.
Ex: Il aime manger. Il n’aime pas manger.
Irregular Plural Nouns
1. REGULAR: To make a noun plural add an –s to the end of the nouns.
EX: garçon garcons
2. IRREGULAR: If the noun ends in –eu or –au, then add an –x instead.
EX: tableau tableaux
3. IRREGULAR: If a singular noun ends in –al, it changes to –aux.
EX: journal journaux
Contractions with “à”
1. The preposition “à” usually means “to” or “at” in English.
2. In French, “à” contracts with the definite articles le and les that follow it. There is no
contraction with la or l’.
Contractions with “à”
Before
After
Masculine à + le au
Feminine à + la à la
Before Vowel à + l’ à l’
Plural à + les aux
3. Unlike English, where contractions are optional, in French they are REQUIRED!
Ex: J’aime aller à le café (ungrammatical) J’aime aller au café (grammatical)
Conjunctions
1. You many use conjunctions to connect ideas, such as the following:
et (and): J’aime le foot. J’aime le base-ball. J’aime le foot et le base-ball.
mais (but): J’aime chanter. Je préfère danser. J’aime chanter, mais je préfère danser.
ou (or): Il préfère chanter? Il préfère danser? Il préfère chanter ou danser?
Est-ce que…
1. Instead of raising your voice at the end of a sentence to ask a question, you can add “est-ce
que” to the beginning of an affirmative or negative sentence to make it a question.
2. The “que” in “est-ce que” will contract with any vowel:
Ex: Est-ce que il danse? Est-ce qu’il danse?
3. Adding “est-ce que” to a statement turns it into a “DO” question.
Ex: Tu aimes la musique? (You like music?)
Est-ce que tu aimes la musique? (DO you like music?)
Ex: Il nage bien? (He swims well?)
Est-ce qu’il nage bien? (DOES he swim well?)
French 1
Chapter 3.1 Grammar Review
The Verb Être
1. Être is an irregular verb meaning “to be”. Like avoir, être does not follow a regular pattern and
therefore its conjugations must be memorized.
Être (to be)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je suis nous sommes
tu es vous êtes
il / elle / on est ils / elles sont
Adjective Agreement
1. Adjectives must ALWAYS agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural), with
the noun they describe. All adjectives are already in the masculine singular form.
2. GENDER: Unless an adjective already ends in an unaccented “-e”, then you add an “-e” to the end
of the adjective to make it feminine. This means that the “e” is now the final letter and any silent
letter before it must now be pronounced.
Ex: Il est timide Elle est timide (no change: already ends in an unaccented “e”)
Ex: Il est blond Elle est blonde (add an “e” to make it feminine)
3. NUMBER: Unless it’s singular form already ends in an “s” (like gros), to make an adjective plural,
add an “-s”. Below is an example of the adjective “blue” (bleu).
MASCULINE FEMININE
SINGULAR bleu bleue
PLURAL* bleus bleues
*REMEMBER: If it already ends in an “s”- there’s no change
4. Adjectives that end in “-eux” change to “-euse” in the feminine form. And those that end in “-if”
change to “-ive” in the feminine form.
Ex: Ils sont paresseux Elles sont paresseuses
Ex: Il est créatif Elle est créative
5. Some adjectives have IRREGULAR feminine forms. These must be memorized. For example:
long longue gros grosse blanc blanche
gentil gentille bon bonne mignon mignonne
Adjective Placement
1. The vast majority of adjectives come AFTER the noun they modify. This is different from English:
Ex: Il est un étudient sérieux He is a serious student.
2. A few adjectives come BEFORE the noun, like in English. These generally describe beauty, age,
number, goodness, or size (BANGS). Their placement must be memorized. For example:
Ex: Il est un bon ami He is a good friend
3. The following adjectives are a sample of the most common adjectives that come BEFORE the noun:
bon mauvais beau nouveau vieux
petit grand gentil joli jeune
4. PLURALS: “Des” becomes “de” when the plural adjective comes BEFORE the noun:
Ex: Il y de bons étudiants dans la class There are (some) good students in the class.
Irregular Adjectives
1. INVARIABLES: Some adjectives never change their form, whether feminine or plural. Examples
of these words are: cool, chic, orange, and marron.
Ex: Les filles blondes sont chic. (notice that “chic” does not add an “e” or an “s”) Ex:
Il a les yeux marron. (notice that “marron” does not add an “s”)
2. HIGHLY IRREGULARS: The adjectives beau (beautiful), nouveau (new), vieux (old), and fou
(crazy) are highly irregular. They go before the noun, their feminine forms are irregular, and the
masculine singular form changes before a vowel. Make note of the changes below:
Masculine
Singular
Masculine
Singular (before a vowel)
Masculine
Plural
Feminine
Singular
Feminine
Plural
beau bel beaux belle belles
nouveau nouvel nouveaux nouvelle nouvelles
vieux vieil vieux vieille vieilles
fou fol foux folle folles
Ex: J’ai une belle voiture de sport (I have a beautiful sports car)
Ex: Je suis un bel étudiant. (I am a beautiful student)
Ex: Nous sommes de beaux étudiants. (We are beautiful students)
Ex: Vous avez un beau prof (You have a beautiful teacher)
Ex: Il y a de belles filles dans la classe. (There are beautiful girls in the class)
French 1
Chapter 3.2 Grammar Review
Possessive Adjectives
1. Possessive Adjectives show ownership and like all adjectives must agree in gender and number
with the thing that is being possessed. The following are the Possessive Adjectives:
Masculine Singular
Feminine
Singular
Plural
my mon ma mes
your (tu) ton ta tes
his / her / its son sa ses
our notre notre nos
your (vous) votre votre vos
their leur leur leurs
Ex: Ma sœur est petite Mes sœurs sont petites
Ex: Son frère est sportif Ses frères sont sportifs.
2. For singular nouns that begin with a vowel, use the masculine form, even if the thing that being
possessed is feminine. This does not apply if an adjective beginning with a consonant precedes it.
Ex: C’est mon amie Julie. (amie is in the feminine form, but it begins with a vowel)
Ex: C’est ma belle amie. (belle precedes amie, therefore no change is needed)
3. To express the English equivalent of the possessive ‘s with a person’s name, (such as Scott’s), use
the preposition “de”. Notice in French that the possessor and the thing possessed switch places.
Ex: C’est le frère de Sophie (It’s Sophie’s brother)
Ex: Ce sont les sœurs d’Amelie (They’re Amelie’s sisters)
Contractions with “de”
1. The preposition “de” usually means “of” or “from” in English. In French, “de” contracts with the
articles le and les. There is no contraction with la or l’.
Contractions with “de”
Before
After
Masculine de + le du
Feminine de + la de la
Before Vowel de + l’ de l’
Plural de + les des
Contractions with “de” (cont.)
2. Contractions with “de” are used to expresses the English equivalent of the possessive ‘s, when a
person’s name (or proper noun) is NOT used (such as the boy’s). This is because articles are
required before nouns (ex: cat = le chat):
Ex: Le père du garçon est petit. (The boy’s father is small)
Ex: Le chat des enfants est gros. (The children’s cat is fat)
3. Unlike English, where contractions are optional, in French they are REQUIRED!
Ex: Le père de le garçon est petit (ungrammatical) Le père du garçon est petit (grammatical)
Ex: Le chat de les filles est petit (ungrammatical) Le chat des filles est petit (grammatical)
4. REMEMBER: Contractions only occur with le and les. For example:
Ex: Ça, c’est le livre du professeur: (de + le)
Ex: Ce sont les chocolats de la fille blonde. (de + la)
Ex: Ça, c’est la voiture de l’amie de Claire (de + l’)
Ex: Ça, c’est le père des frères Smith. (de + les)
“C’est” versus “Il/Elle est”
1. Use “Il/Elle est” or “Ils/Elles sont” when you use an adjective by itself, with no noun.
Ex: Elle est belle (In this case, belle is being used by itself)
Ex: Ils sont marrants et jolis (In this case, marrants and jolis are used with no noun)
2. Use “C’est” or “Ce sont” with:
a. a person’s name: Ex: C’est Chelsea! (It’s Chelsea!)
b. with an article + noun: Ex: C’est une étudiante. (She’s a student)
c. with a possessive adjective + noun: Ex: Ce sont mes cousins (They’re my cousins)
d. with an article + noun + adjective: Ex: C’est une fille forte (She’s a strong girl)
3. To form a negative sentence, place ne and pas around the conjugation of Être.
*REMEMBER: ne becomes n’ before a vowel sound and de becomes d’ before a vowel sound.
Ex: C’est une étudiante Ce n’est pas une étudiante
Ex: Ce sont mes cousins Ce ne sont pas mes cousins
Ex: Ce sont des amies marrantes Ce ne sont pas d’amies marrantes.
Ex: Ce sont des garçons forts Ce ne sont pas de garçons forts.
Ex: Elle est belle Elle n’est pas belle.
Ex: Ils sont méchants Ils ne sont pas méchants.
French 1
Chapter 4 Grammar Review
-RE Verbs
1. To conjugate an –RE verb, drop the –RE to get the “Verb Stem.”
Ex: répondre - re répond (the “Verb Stem”)
2. Below is a sample conjugation of the –RE verb RÉPONDRE with the appropriate Verb Endings:
RÉPONDRE (to answer; to respond)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je réponds nous répondons
tu réponds vous répondez
il/elle/on* répond ils / elles répondent
3. NOTICE: The plural endings are the same as the –ER Verb plural endings. Also notice that that 3rd
person singular does NOT take an ending.
Ex: il + répondre = il répond (he answers) No ending for 3rd person singular
4. REMEMBER: The negations (ne … pas) ONLY go around the conjugated verb.
Ex: Je réponds au prof. Je ne réponds pas au prof.
-GER and -CER Verbs
1. Verbs ending in –GER and –CER conjugate just like –ER Verbs in every form except the nous form.
2. –GER Verbs: Add an “e” between the Stem and the Verb Ending to keep the [j] sound before the
[o]. Below is a sample conjugation of the –GER verb NAGER with changes to the nous form:
NAGER (to swim)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je nage nous nageons
tu nages vous nagez
il/elle/on nage ils / elles nagent
3. –CER verbs: Change the [c] to [ç] to keep the [s] sound before the [o]. Below is a sample
conjugation of the –CER verb PRONONCER with the appropriate change to the nous form:
PRONONCER (to pronounce)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je prononce nous prononçons
tu prononces vous prononcez
il/elle/on prononce ils / elles prononcent
Stem Changing Verbs (é/e è)
1. Stem changing verbs have a slightly different pattern than regular –ER verbs. The last [e] or [é] in
the verb Stem changes to [è].
2. The Stem change signified a change in pronunciation for the letter [e]. These Stem changes occur in
all forms EXCEPT the nous and vous forms.
3. Below is an example of a Stem change from [é] to [è] with the verb PRÉFÉRER:
PRÉFÉRER (to prefer)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je préfère nous préférons
tu préfères vous préférez
il/elle/on préfère ils / elles préfèrent
4. Below is an example of a Stem change from [e] to [è] with the verb ACHETER:
ACHETER (to buy)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je achète nous achetons
tu achètes vous achetez
il/elle/on* achète ils / elles achètent
Adjectives as Nouns
1. To avoid repeating the noun you’re describing, simply drop the noun and leave the article (le, la, les)
and the adjective. This translates roughly to the English word “one”.
Ex: J’aime le tee-shirt rouge. J’aime le rouge (I like the red one)
2. The article and the adjective still MUST AGREE with the noun that’s been dropped.
Ex: Tu aimes la gomme bleue (f.s.) Tu aimes la bleue (Do you like the blue one?)
Ex: Il a les calculatrices vertes (f.pl.) Il a les vertes (He has the green ones) Ex:
J’aime les cahiers blancs (m.pl) J’aime les blancs (I like the white ones)
Number Agreement
1. The number “quatre-vingts” (80) does NOT take an “s” with another number:
Ex: quatre-vingts (80) quatre-vingt-un (81) (The “s” is removed!)
2. The number “cent” (100) MUST take an “s” with its multiples:
Ex: cent (100) deux cents (200) trois cents (300) (Add an “s”)
3. The number “un” (1) changes to “une” when describing feminine things:
Ex: Il y a vingt et un livres (m.) Il y a vingt et une règles (f.).
French 1
Chapter 5 Grammar Review
-The Verb faire
1. Faire is an irregular verb. It does not follow a regular pattern; therefore, its conjugations must be
memorized.
2. Below is a sample conjugation of the irregular verb FAIRE with the appropriate Verb Endings:
FAIRE (to make, to do)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je fais nous faisons
tu fais vous faites
il/elle/on fait ils / elles font
3. REMEMBER: The negations (ne … pas) ONLY go around the conjugated verb.
Ex: Elle fait du jogging. Elle ne fait pas du jogging.
Question Words
1. We have already learned to ask yes/no questions using intonation or est-ce que.
Ex: Tu aimes le baseball? Est-ce que tu aimes le baseball?
Ex: Il fait du jogging? Est-ce qu’il fait du jogging?
2. To ask for information, use a question word followed by est-ce que plus a subject and verb.
(When) Quand est-ce qu’il fait du théâtre ?
(Why) Pourquoi est-ce qu’il n’aime pas le football?
(What) Qu’est-ce qu’il fait en automne?
(Where) Où est-ce qu’il nage?
(How) Comment est-ce qu’on fait du ski?
(With whom) Avec qui est-ce que tu joues au tennis?
3. You don’t use est-ce que with question words when they are followed by the verb être.
Où est ton oncle? Comment est ton frère?
4. The question word Qui (Who) is followed directly by a verb.
Qui joue de la guitare ?
-The Verb aller and the future proche
1. The verb aller is an irregular verb. It does not follow a regular pattern; therefore, its conjugations
must be memorized.
2. Below is a sample conjugation of the irregular verb ALLER with the appropriate forms:
ALLER (to go)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je vais nous allons
tu vas vous allez
il/elle/on va ils / elles vont
Est-ce que vous allez au parc ?
3. You can use a form of aller plus an infinitive to talk about something that is going to happen in the
near future.
Je joue au basket. Je vais jouer au basket.
I play basketball. I’m going to play basketball.
Nous étudions la géo. Nous allons étudier la géo.
We are studying geography. We are going to study geography.
-The Verb venir and the passé récent
1. The verb venir is an irregular verb. It does not follow a regular pattern; therefore, its conjugations
must be memorized.
2. Below is a sample conjugation of the irregular verb VENIR with the appropriate forms:
VENIR (to come)
SINGULAR PLURAL
je viens nous venons
tu viens vous venez
il/elle/on vient ils / elles viennent
Ils viennent au café avec Paul.
Est-ce que tu viens au restaurant avec nous ?
3. You can use a form of venir plus de plus the infinitive of another verb to say that something just
happened.
Je viens de voir un film. Il vient d’aller en France.
I just saw a movie. He just went to France.
Idioms with avoir
1. Avoir (to have) is often used in French where to be is used in English.
2. Here are some useful expressions with the verb avoir:
