French Grammar

Sentences
Basic Sentence Structure Subject + Verb + Object I am a teacher. => Je suis professeur. All nouns have gender. Nouns ending in a consonant, -age, or -ment are usually masculine. Nouns ending in vowels, -ance, -ence, -ette, -sion, -t, and -ure, are usually feminine. Negative Sentences Use ne and pas around the verb: (ne is omitted in spoken French- do not omit it when written) Je suis du Etats-Unis. => Je ne suis pas les Etats-Unis. Also, if you are asked a negative question to which you are replying "yes" to, use si instead of oui. Comparatives / Superlatives as ____ as => aussi ___ que less ___ than => moins ___ que OR moins de noun que more ___ than => plus ___ que OR plus de noun que as many ___ as => autant de ___ que For example, She is taller than Colette. => Elle est plus grande que Colette. I am smarter than you. => Je suis plus intelligente que toi. Peter runs less quickly than me. => Pierre court moins rapidement que moi. The kitchen is as big as the living room. => La cuisine est aussi grande que le salon. I have more books than she. => J'ai plus de livres qu'elle. We have as many cars as he. => Nous avons autant de voitures que lui. For superlatives, if you are using an adjective add le/la/les before the comparative. Use le with adverbs. For example: It's the biggest city in the world. => C'est la plus grande ville du monde. She is the most beautiful woman in this room. => Elle est la plus belle femme de cette salle. This neighborhood is the least expensive in Paris. => Ce quartier est le moins cher de Paris. It's the most dreaded punishment in the world. => C'est la punition la plus redoutable du monde. She works the most courageously of everyone. => Elle travaille le plus courageusement de tous.

Verbs
Similar to other romance languages French has 3 kinds of 'easy'-to-conjugate verbs. It also has 2 other kinds: irregular and stem-changing verbs. These first three examples are examples of regular -er, -ir and -re ending verbs. Parler ---Present Tense: I speak = je parle you speak = tu parles you speak (formal) = il parle we speak = nous parlons they speak = ils parlent Choisir ---Present Tense: I choose = je choisis you choose = tu choisis you choose (formal) = il choisit we choose = nous choisissons they choose = ils choisissent Descendre ---Present Tense: I descend = je descends you descend = tu descends you descend (formal) = il descend we descend = nous descendons they choose = ils descendent

---Past Tense: I spoke = je parlais you spoke = tu parlais you spoke (formal) = il/elle/on parlait we spoke = nous parlaions they spoke = ils/elles parlaint

---Past Tense: I chose = je choisais you chose = tu choisais you chose (formal) = il/elle/on choisait we chose = nous choisions they chose = ils/elles choisient

---Past Tense: I descended = je descendais you descended = tu descendais you descended (formal) = il/elle/on descendait we descended = nous descendions they descended = ils/elles descendaient

Here are a few other useful verbs and their conjugations. The first is an irregular verb: Avoir ---Present Tense: I have = je ai OR j'ai you have = tu as you have (formal) = il a we have= nous avons they have = ils ont tre ---Present Tense: I am = je suis you are = tu es you are (formal) = il est we are= nous sommes they are = ils sont Aller ---Present Tense: I go = je vais you go = tu vas you go (formal) = il va we go= nous allons they go = ils vont

---Past Tense: I had = j'avais you had = tu avais you had (formal) = il/elle/on avait we had = nous avions they had = ils/elles avaient

---Past Tense: I was = j'tais you were = tu tais you were (formal) = il/elle/on tait we were = nous tions they were = ils/elles taient

Venir ---Present Tense: I come = je viens you come = tu viens you come (formal) = il vient we come= nous venons they come = ils viennent Faire ---Present Tense: I do/make = je fais you do/make = tu fais you do/make (formal) = il fait we do/make= nous faisons they do/make = ils font

---Past Tense: I came = je venais you came = tu venais you came (formal) = il/elle/on venait we came = nous venions they came = ils/elles venaient

---Past Tense: I did/made = je faisais you did/made = tu faisais you did/made (formal) = il/elle/on faisait we did/made = nous faisions they did/made = ils/elles faisaient

Commands Use vous, tu and nous: Polite- vous form Familiar- tu form "Let us"- nous form For example, Vous => Restez! (Stay!) Tu => Regarde! (Watch!) Nous => Allons-y! (Let's go!)

Nouns
Articles before nouns are done in this way: (Notice that l' is used before vowels like in l'ami or l'oiseau) a book => un livre the book => le livre some books => des livres the books => les livres a chair => une chaise the chair => la chaise some apples => des pommes For the words this, that, these, those use ce, cet, cette, ces. For example, this/that bed => ce lit (masculine noun) this/that apple => cette pomme (feminine noun) this/that bird => cet oiseau (note that bird begins w/a vowel)

these/those gloves => ces gants Do not use un, une, or des to refer to someone's relition or profession.

Adjectives
Adjectives are words used to describe a noun. Adjectives and articles always agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. You can not leave out articles as we do in English. More adjectives: French => Franais/e /e means add e for fem. => Franaise fat => gros/se skinny => maigre beautiful => beau, belle ugly => laid short => petit/e tall => grand/e new =>nuevo/a old => g/e young => jeune less => moins more => plus weak => faible strong => fort/e rich => riche poor => pauvre cute => mignon/ne athletic => sportif, sportive asleep => endormi awake => rveill clean => propre dirty => sale sad => triste happy => content

Possessive Adjectives My => mon/ma/mes (masc./fem./plural) Your => ton/ta/tes His/Her/Its => son/sa/ses Our => notre/notre/nos Your => votre/votre/vos Their => leur/leur/leurs Note: These are used before the noun. If a feminine noun begins with a vowel use the masculine form for pronunciation. For example, Ma amie is incorrect => mon amie is correct (though feminine) Examples: Your book is blue. = Ton livre est bleu. My brother is married. = Mon frre est mari.

Prepositions

 refers to location, time, possession: I am at the bank => Je suis la banque. It is 100 meters => Il est 100 mtres. This is Jean's book => Ce livre est Jean. Time and location effects which words you use in French. For example, there are two words for the word before: avant and devant. You use avant when speaking about time, and you use devant when you are talking about location. before noon => avant midi in front of (before) you => devant toi The same is true for the French words for after: aprs (time), derrire (location): after noon => aprs-midi behind (after) you => derrire toi with => avec without => sans I'll go with you => J'irai avec toi He left without me. => Il est parti sans moi. in => dans in the street => dans la rue (notice that dans must be followed by an article) in the airplane => dans l'avion dans la semaine => in (during) the week (notice that dans can be used for both location and time in => en Similar to dans, but it is not followed by an article, and can be used for both location and time. It can also be used for by. en semaine => in (during) the week by train => en train

Adverbs
Place adverbs right after the verb in a simple tense. If they are about opinion or time they usually go at the beginning or end of the sentence. already => dj badly => mal well => bien here => ici there => l inside => dedans outside => dehors often => souvent

always => toujours never => jamais soon => bientt usually => d'habitude quickly => rapidement slowly => lentement There are some irregularly formed adverbs (not mentioned). To make adverbs take the feminine form of an adjective and add -ment to the end. For example, natural => naturally naturel (m) => naturelle (f) => naturellement slow => slowly lent (m) => lente (f) => lentement easy => easily facile (m) => facile (f) => facilement probable => probably probable (m) => probable (f) => probablement