French Made Easy

French Grammar Made Easy is the ideal introduction to the basics of French grammar for anyone new to the language or looking to refresh their knowledge. The Grammar features: • concise and jargon-free explanations supported by examples • exercises throughout to reinforce learning • a ‘fast-track’ option for more advanced learners • a full answer key, making the Grammar ideal for self- study. French Grammar Made Easy presents the essential patterns and rules of the in a clear and accessible manner. It is the ideal Grammar for those wishing to supplement their learning and move beyond the phrasebook level.

Rosi McNab is an independent author and has published courses and for French, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Polish and German. Grammar Made Easy Series Editor: Rosi McNab

Titles in the series: Made Easy by Lisa Kahlen Made Easy by Allan Wesson and Mike Zollo Made Easy by Allan Wesson and Mike Zollo Rosi McNab

second edition

french grammar made easy Second edition published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2016 Rosi McNab The right of Rosi McNab to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. First edition published by Hodder Education 2005 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Edwards, Vanessa, 1965- author. Title: Research skills for journalists / Vanessa Edwards. Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon : New York, NY : Routledge, 2015. Identifiers: LCCN 2015032848| ISBN 9780415734271 (hardback) | ISBN 9781408282977 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781315646275 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Journalism–Research. | Online journalism–Research. Classification: LCC PN4784.R38 E39 2015 | DDC 070.4/3072--dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015032848

ISBN: 978-1-138-67214-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-94621-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-67095-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Futura and New Baskerville CONTENTS

Introduction 1 A simple guide to the parts of speech 2

1 1.1 Verbs: talking about doing things 4 1.1.1 What is the ? 5 1.1.2 Groups of verbs 6 1.1.3 Irregular verbs 8 1.1.4 The ‘persons’ of the 9 1.1.5 Fast track: Verbs 11

1.2 The 11 1.2.1 Talking about yourself (‘I’): je 12 1.2.2 Talking to a child or someone you know well (‘you’): tu 22 1.2.3 Talking about someone or something else (‘he/she/ it’): il/elle 25 1.2.4 Talking about yourself and someone else (‘we’): nous 28 1.2.5 Talking to someone else (‘you’): vous 32 1.2.6 Talking about other people or things (‘they’): ils/elles 36 1.2.7 Fast track: Present tense 39

1.3 Negatives, and imperatives 43 1.3.1 Negatives: how to say what doesn’t happen 43 1.3.2 Interrogatives: asking 44 1.3.3 Imperatives: giving orders, directions or instructions 47 1.3.4 Fast track: Negatives, interrogatives and imperatives 49

1.4 The past tenses 50 1.4.1 The perfect tense 52 1.4.2 How to form the past participle 53 1.4.3 Verbs which go with être 58 1.4.4 Past participle : Verbs which go with être 60 vi Contents

1.5.4 1.5.3 1.5.2 1.5.1 2.3.1 1.8.2 1.8.1 1.8.3 1.8.8 1.8.7 1.8.6 1.8.5 1.8.4 1.8.9 1.6.4 1.6.3 1.6.2 1.6.1 1.4.9 1.4.8 1.4.7 1.4.6 1.4.5 2 and and Nouns 2 1.5 1.7 1.6 2.3 2.2 2.1 1.8 attak uueadcniinl76 conditional and Future track: Fast 73 ...’ would ‘I conditional: The 71 ...’ will ‘I tense: future The 70 ...’ to going am ‘I future: near The omnirglrpuas100 plurals irregular Common There is/there are: is/there There of uses Special To know: To venir de) (venir just have to (depuis); Since order: word and words 89 expressions negative More remember: To 88 bring to and take To attak sflepesoswt eb 94 verbs with expressions Useful track: Fast Fast track: The subjunctive 80 subjunctive The track: Fast 80 subjunctive the Recognising 79 subjunctive the take which Expressions 78 subjunctive the form to How Fast track: The past tenses 67 tenses past The track: Fast 66 ? or Perfect 64 tense imperfect the form to How 63 tense imperfect The 61 tense perfect the in verbs Reflexive Nouns and the word for ‘the’ in the plural:the‘the’inforword the Nouns and ‘the’:forwordthe Nounsand Nounsand Usefulexpressions usingverbs track: FastVerbs subjunctive The future Thetensesconditionaland tense connaître se souvenir de souvenir se avoir 77 82 or il y a y il 84 97 savoir? 87 89 84 le Comment? and la 69 98 92 les 99 87 93

3.3.3 3.3.2 3.3.1 2.6.7 2.6.6 2.6.5 2.6.4 2.6.3 2.6.2 2.6.1 3.1.7 3.1.6 3.1.5 3.1.4 3.1.3 3.1.2 3.1.1 3.2.4 3.2.3 3.2.2 3.2.1 2.7.3 2.7.2 2.7.1 3 3 2.5 3.3 3.2 3.1 2.7 2.6 2.4 attak nietojc rnus 124 pronouns Indirect track: Fast 123 indirect and Direct pronouns: of order Word 122 object indirect the using when order Word 108 determiners and Nouns track: Fast (leur/leurs ) Their (votre/vos ) Your (notre/nos ) Our ses) sa, (son, its and her His, tes) ta, (ton, Your mes ) ma, (mon, My Fast track: pronouns 116 pronouns Subject track: Fast ils/elles vous nous il/elle tu Je attak ietojc rnus 120 pronouns object Direct track: Fast 119 pronouns object with agreement participle Past Me, Le, oe te,cran vr t.111 etc. every certain, other, Some, Which? these: that, This, Nouns and the word for ‘a’:forwordthe Nounsand Me Le Je determiners More your,etc.her,his,my,say:to How masculineisnounfeminine ora iftell to How , – I – , – you – la tu , la te, – you – – we – , lui The first person singular person first The , and – he/she/it – nous il les – they – , / Quel, The second person singular person second The leur elle The first person plural person first The , etc.:Directobject, pronouns : Him, her, it, them 118 them it, her, Him, les: The second person plural person second The and , etc.:Indirect, object pronouns , etc.:Subject,pronouns quelle, The third person plural person third The e o,u 119 us you, Me, vous: ce, cet, cette cet, ce, The third person singular person third The 109 quels and quelles and quels 113 and 114 un ces 115 114 and 115 110 110 104 113 une 114 117 101 121 103 108 107 107 106 106 105 vii Contents viii

Contents

4.1.4 4.1.3 4.1.2 4.1.1 3.13.1 3.11.1 3.9.1 3.7.2 3.7.1 3.6.1 3.8.2 3.8.1 4 4 3.14 3.13 3.12 3.11 3.10 3.5 3.9 3.8 3.7 3.6 3.4 4.1 oor htdntcag 149 change don’t that Colours 148 Colours 144 adjectives Irregular 143 adjectives Regular Celui-ci, Qui, Qui 130 prepositions and pronouns Emphatic 129 emphasis for pronouns Using with Pronouns re fpoon nteiprtv 131 imperative the in pronouns of Order 131 verbs reflexive with Pronouns Y Adjectivalagreement: track: FastPronouns Celui Lequel? Qui mien Le Que? Qui? Pronounsimperativetheand Moi! about Moreorderword En : there: : of it/ofthemof : , or que, , que etc.:Emphaticpronouns que celle hsoe htoe138 one that one, This celui-là: , 124 Whichone? h,wih hs 135 whose which, dont: Who, , la miennela ? dont : The one which/whose/etc.oneThe : Interrogativepronouns devoir, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir savoir, pouvoir, devoir, : Relative:pronouns 125 : : pronouns 138 137 grand(e)petit(e)et 127 131 129 135 132 133 and 142 137 falloir 128 133

6.1.7 6.1.6 6.1.5 6.1.4 6.1.3 5.1.2 5.1.1 4.5.5 4.5.4 4.5.3 4.5.2 4.5.1 6.1.2 6.1.1 5.1.3 5 5 6 Prepositions 6 4.5 5.4 5.3 5.2 5.1 6.1 4.6 4.4 4.3 4.2 Fast track: Fast wrong? What’s Whose? When? of? kind What -ent in ending Adjectives 159 adverbs Regular Meilleur 155 comparisons Irregular best: better, Good, 155 as’ (big) ‘as Saying 154 .’ . . least ‘the and .’ . . most ‘the superlative: The 153 things or people two Comparing Where? à 160 adverbs Irregular The position Theadjectivesof The preposition The track: FastAdverbs Otherusefuladverbs Adjectivesadverbsasused Formationadverbsof track: FastComparative superlativeand bigger, Big,biggest: comparative The and Adjectivesmeaningstwowith track: FastAdjectives superlative and the definite 163 article definite the and Quand? and Ou? C’est à qui? à C’est à 152 166 163 mieux Quel genre de? genre Quel Qu’est-ce qu’il y a? y qu’il Qu’est-ce 165 à 156 165 162 161 159 150 161 and -ant and 150 164 160 152 165 159 157 ix Contents Contents x

6.2.5 6.2.4 6.2.3 6.2.2 6.2.1 7 Conjunctions and other useful other and Conjunctions 7 6.5 6.6 6.4 6.3 6.2 7.3 7.2 7.1 de with expressions Other de de de The preposition The Answers tables Verb understandingwith Help spellingnumbersand Usefulphrases Conjunctions Expressionstimeof Usefulprepositional phrases prepositions The Prepositionspositionof words nepesoso uniy170 quantity of expressions in 168 any’ ‘not say to how and 168 any or some meaning 167 article definite the and 186 177 174 174 de en 173 167 and de 170 169 chez 172 172 175 INTRODUCTION

French Grammar Made Easy is a French grammar workbook aimed at adult non-linguists, that is adults with some rudimentary knowledge of French, who do not necessarily know anything about grammar, but need to learn about it so they can progress beyond phrasebook French. In the past, grammar has been seen as a barrier to language learning. It has put more people off learning a language than it has helped. Because of the way grammar has been portrayed, students were often made to feel that only those who could master ‘conjugations’ and ‘declensions’ could learn a language. In fact, you can drive a car without mastering the principles of the internal combustion engine – but if you do learn where to put the oil and how to check the tyres and fill up the windscreen wash, it does help! Grammar is about recognising word patterns which give you a framework to a language; if you know the framework, you can ‘build’ new language of your own instead of having to learn everything by heart. For those who already know some French grammar, short cuts are marked with ǠǠ to enable you to go straight to the information you need. If you feel you would like to have more in-depth knowledge about a particular grammar point, please refer to French Grammar and Usage, R. Hawkins and R. Towell, 2015, 4th edn, Routledge and the companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/hawkins. 2 A simple guide to the parts of speech ǠǠ If you know what verbs, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, etc. are, go on to 1.1.

The most useful categories of words to recognise are:

Introduction 1 Verbs – ‘doing’ words Verbs tell you what someone or something is doing. I am going to France. My friend booked the flight. I am going to a meeting. You also use them to ask questions . . . Have you seen the film? Are you all right? . . . and to give instructions. Fetch it! Slow down! Help me! Wait! Verbs usually present the most problems, so the section dealing with them is the longest one and comes first in the book. 2 Nouns – ‘naming’ words Nouns are the words which tell you: • what something is: a timetable, a train, a station, a town, a secret • who someone is: a steward, a bank clerk, a baker, a student 3 Pronouns Pronouns are words which ‘stand in’ for a . M. Bleriot is French. M. Bleriot lives in Paris. Instead of repeating M. Bleriot, you can say he. M. Bleriot is French. He lives in Paris. In the same way, you can say she instead of repeating Florence in the following sentence. Florence works in Strasbourg. She works at the European Parliament. These are also pronouns: I, you, it, one, we, they, me, us, them. 4 Adjectives 3 Adjectives are ‘describing’ words. They are used to describe something or someone. the new house, the red car, a tiny flat, a wet day, a busy secretary 5 Adverbs

Adverbs are words which usually describe a verb, e.g. they Introduction describe how something is done. They often answer the question How? and in English they often end in -ly. He runs fast. She eats slowly. It comes naturally! 6 Prepositions Prepositions are words which usually tell you where something is, e.g. in, under, on. Words such as to, for, with, and without are also prepositions. 7 Conjunctions Conjunctions are words which join two parts of a sentence together like and and but.