1. Tu/vous = you
"Tu" means "you". It is familier. It's used with family and friends. It is a subject pronoun.
"Vous" means "you", "y'all" or "you guys". It is Formel or pluriel. It's used to show respect, anger, or isolation OR to talk to a group of people.
2. Les pronoms sujets = Subject pronouns
Pronouns replace nouns Subject pronouns are the nouns doing the action in the sentence Note: ONLY 3rd person pronouns will actually replace nouns!
Singulier Pluriel 1ere personne je/ j' = I nous = we 2eme personne tu = you (friendly, vous = y’all or familier) vous = you (Formel) 3eme personne il = he/it, elle = she/it ils = they (masculine or on = one, we (slang), mixed group) people (in general), elles = they (feminine qui = who, tout le group only) monde = everybody
3. L'élision=Words that must contract
L’élision = the act of making 2 words into one, by dropping the last letter of the first word and replacing it with an apostrophe.
In French, ONLY the following words will drop their last letter in front of a word starting with a vowel or silent h.
← ce (it) -> c' ne (part of not) -> n' de (of, from) -> d' que (that or what) -> qu' ← je (I subject pronoun) -> j' se (one, to oneself)-> s' ← le, la (the) -> l' si (if) in front of IL only- > s’il me (me, to me) -> m' te (you, to you) -> t' ← ← Notice that all these words are “petits”, and almost all of them end in "e"!
4. Question words - les mots interrogatifs
1. Qui = who (answer with a person!) 2. Comment = how 3. Où = where 4. D'où = from where (answer with de + place) 5. Qu'est-ce que c'est? = What is it? (answer with c'est...) 6. Quel(le)(s) + noun = What, which 7. qu'est-ce que + sujet + verbe = what 8. Quoi = what (comes after conjugated verb) 9. Que = what (before inversion) 10. à quelle heure = at what time (answer with à + specific time) 11. quand = when (answer does NOT have to be specific) 12. est-ce que + sujet+ verbe = is it that? , Do? (oui/non answer) 13. combien = how many/much (give a quantity answer) 14. pourquoi = why (answer with parce que OR pour+infinitif)
5. Comment poser les questions
1. Raise your voice. 2. Add "n'est-ce pas" to the end of the statement. 3. Add "Est-ce que" to the beginning of the statement. 4. Inversion: flip the pronoun and the conjugated verb, and add a hyphen. 5. Use a question word.
Ex. Tu es content? Tu es content, n'est-ce pas? Est-ce que tu es content? Es-tu content? Qui est content?
6. Comment répondre aux questions
If the question subject is: Then the answer subject is: Tu Je 3rd person 3rd person On On Vous (singulier, Formel) Je Vous pluriel Nous Je Tu or vous Nous Nous or vous 7. Answer words vs. question words
If the answer is.... then use the Question word (c'est) + person qui à + person à qui avec+ person avec qui (à) +place où de + place d'où à + specific time à quelle heure approximation of time quand number or quantity (+ noun) combien parce que, pour + infinitive or pourquoi pour + a thing Tells how you are feeling/ How comment you did something, especially transportation gives you the answer to a "what" quoi (always follows verb) question quel + noun qu'est-ce que + subject + verb que + inversion 8. Inversion: sophisticated way of asking ?
Inversion is not generally used with "je" Inversion is the act of swapping the pronom et le verbe conjugué and adding a hyphen to form a question. Ex. Tu as faim -> As-tu faim? Note: For prononciation purposes, if the 3rd person singular verbe conjugué form ends in a vowel, you place -t- instead of -. Ex. Il a soif. A-t-il soif? Inversion cannot be used with a noun or a proper noun. Use the noun, followed by a comma, and then make inversion using a corresponding pronoun. Ex. Sylvie habite ici. Sylvie, habite-t- elle ici?
9. Verb vocabulary
Conjugation (conjugaison) = changing the infinitive to agree with its subject (ie. subject-verb agreement) Infinitive (infinitif) = The untouched form of the verb. This is the verb form you will find in the French dictionary. In English, it starts with "to ___". ex. to run, to sing. It can be either irregular* or regular. Conjugated verb (verbe conjugué) = the verb form after it has been changed to agree with the subject Irregular verb*: Does not follow a pattern for conjugation. Regular verb: Follows a pattern for conjugation. This pattern is always: 1. Drop the last 2 letters of the infinitive and 2. Add the personal endings to the stem. 10. Les noms = nouns (and clues)
Nouns are people, places, things or ideas. In French, they always have GENDER (m/f) You MUST memorize gender when you learn the noun.
Here are some clues to help you. If then noun ends in: -eau, -one, -c, -oir, -ier, -d, -ille, -ise, -rie, -ique, -ette, - ment, -l, -f , -b, -et, -ing, -sion, -tion, -ue , –ace, -ance, -isme, -k, -ou, -p, -cle -esse, -fe, -nne, tié
EXCEPT: eau , peau, soif, EXCEPT: squelette, golfe, boucle bastion
Assume masculine Assume feminine
11. Les articles indéfinis = indefinite articles
SINGULIER: un = (m) a, an, one une = (f) a, an, one
PLURIEL: des = some (use for all plural)
AFTER A NEGATIVE: de or d' = any (follows "pas de" rule)
Articles are called "gender markers".
ALWAYS use un/une after c'est.
12. L'article défini = the definite article
Definite article = the Describes a specific object Used MUCH more in French than English
SINGULIER: le : before masculine singular noun la: before feminine singular noun l': before any singular WORD starting with a vowel sound (vowel/silent h) PLURIEL: les: before ALL plural nouns
13. The non-silent "h"
The non-silent "h" in French is called le h aspiré. It is shown in the dictionary as an apostrophe ex. ['ariko] = haricot
There is a break between it and the word before. Therefore instead of l' ou d' ou cet, we use le or la, de and ce or cette.
In 7th grade, you will only learn 4 French words with the non-silent "h": le haricot vert (green bean), le haut parleur (loudspeaker), le hot dog, le hamburger However, feel free to look up words in the dictionary if you want to learn more!
14. Les noms pluriels= Plural nouns
To make nouns plural in French: 1. Change the article
Definite article changes to "les" Indefinite article changes to "des"
2. Add "s" to the noun UNLESS*
- it ends with an "s" or an "x" --> then do NOT do anything! - it ends with a "u"--> then add an "x" (EXCEPT: pneu= pneus)
Ex. la gomme = les gommes, le drapeau = les drapeaux, le cours = les cours, l'élève = les élèves, une gomme = des gommes, un bureau = des bureaux
15. 3rd person singulier
All of the following subjects will take the 3rd person singular form when conjugating your verb: il = he elle = she on = we (slang, spoken French), one, people (in general) qui = who tout le monde = everybody any singular proper noun: Robert, Paris, New York any singular noun: la fête, la cassette la famille = the family This is a single unit, or a "collective noun". Just like in English, it is conjugated to 3rd person singular form la classe = the class (same reason as above) 16. Regular "er" verb conjugation
To conjugate regular "er" verbs, drop the "er" from the infinitive and add the "personal" endings below to the "stem":
Singulier Pluriel 1st person je -> E nous -> ONS 2nd tu -> ES vous -> EZ (pronounced person “AY”) 3rd il , elle, on, qui, tout le ils elles -> ENT (not person monde, etc. pronounced! This ending is totally silent!) -> E
ex. chanter = to sing
je chante = I sing, I am singing, I do sing tu chantes = you sing, you are singing, you do sing il chante = he sings, he is singing, he does sing on chante = we sing, one sings, people sing etc. nous chantons = we sing, we are singing, we do sing vous chantez = you (Formel) sing, y'all (you guys) are singing, y'all do sing, you (Formel) do sing elles chantent = they (féminin) sing, they are singing, they do sing
17. Regular "ir" verbs
To conjugate regular "ir" verbs, first you drop the "ir”. Then you add the personal ending to the stem.
Singulier Pluriel 1st person is issons 2nd is issez person 3rd it issent person 18. Regular “re” verbs
To conjugate "re" verbs, first you drop the "re”. Then you add the personal ending to the stem.
Singulier Pluriel 1st person s ons 2nd s ez person 3rd - (don’t add ent person anything)
The regular -re verbs you have learned are: descendre = to go down, to get off perdre = to lose vendre = to sell répondre = to answer attendre = to wait (for) entendre = to hear
19. Multiple verbs in sentence
In French, whenever you have multiple verbs in a sentence, follow this rule:
sujet + verbe conjugué + infinitif(s)
To make it negative, follow the hot dog rule (ne...pas goes around the conjugated verb)!
sujet + ne or n' + verbe conjugué + pas + infinitifs
In English, this translates 2 ways:
J'aime travailler = I love to work or I love working. Ils détestent étudier et passer les examens = They hate (studying/to study) and (taking/to take) tests. 20. Négation - THE HOT DOG RULE
To make a sentence negative in French, wrap "ne" "pas" around the conjugated verb.
(Think of the conjugated verb as the hot dog, and the ne...pas will wrap around him like a bun). ex. Je suis français becomes Je ne suis pas français. = I am not French. Ne = bun suis = hot dog pas = bun
***In front of a vowel or a silent "h", ne becomes n'. ex. Il est intelligent becomes: Il n'est pas intelligent
21. "Pas de" rule un, une, des, de la, du, or de l' change to de or d'
IF 1). They come directly after a "pas" OR 2). They come directly after a "pas + verb form"
Ex1. J'écoute des cassettes. Je n'écoute pas de cassettes. (makes a PAS DE)
Ex 2. J'aime écouter des amis. Je n'aime pas écouter d'amis.
23. Avoir* - to have
Singulier Pluriel 1st person J’ai = I have nous avons = we have 2nd tu as = you (friendly, vous avez = y’all have or you person familier) have (Formel) have 3rd il a = he has ils ont= they (masculine or person elle a = she has mixed group) have on a= one has, we elles ont = they (feminine (slang) have, people group only) have (in general) have qui a = who has tout le monde a = everybody has 22. Être * = to be
The irregular verb être means "to be" and is conjugated in the following bizarre way (you must memorize it!)
Singulier Pluriel 1st person je suis = I am, Suis- nous sommes = we are je? = Am I? 2nd person tu es = you (friendly, vous êtes = y’all are or you familier) are (Formel) are 3rd person il est = he is ils sont= they (masculine or elle est = she is mixed group) are on est= one is, we elles sont = they (feminine group (slang) are, people (in only) are general) are qui est = who is tout le monde est = everybody is
c'est * = it is (*special cases only)
1. before a stress pronoun (moi) 2. before a person's name 3. before un/une + noun. ex. c'est une porte. 4. before a date
ce sont* = these are/ those are
Use ce sont when you have plural cases: 1. before 2 or more proper names 2. before des + noun ex. Ce sont des livres.
24. Les adjectifs = adjectives
Adjectives describe nouns. In French, adjectifs go AFTER the noun. Adjectifs will change to take the gender (f/m) of the noun they describe (this is called “agreement”). The dictionary gives the masculine form of the adjective. To make it feminine: 1. If it ends in “e”, do NOTHING! 2. If it doesn’t end in “e”, just add an “e” to the end (usually). Adjectifs will also change to become plural if the noun is plural - following the same rules as plural nouns. (add an “s” or an “x”) (Exception: bleu => bleus) Some adjectifs never change, and they will be marked with INV (invariable) in the dictionary
25. Possessive Adjectives
Possessive adjectives replace the definite article and come BEFORE the noun (just like the definite article)
LE LA L' LES My mon ma mon mes Your ton ta ton tes His son sa son ses Her son sa son ses Our notre notre notre nos Your (formel) votre votre votre vos Their leur leur leur leurs
Example: Elle a son stylo. She has her pen. Instead of “le” stylo, we use “son”.
26. PAN BAGS = adjectives that come before
Some adjectives will come before the noun instead of after it. They must still agree in number and in gender with the noun they are describing.
PA: Possessive adjectives = mon, ton, son, etc. N: Number = un, deux, trois, premier, deuxième, etc.
B: Beauty = beau (handsome), joli (pretty) A: Age = jeune (young), nouveau (new), vieux (old) G: Goodness = bon/ bonne (good), mauvais (bad), meilleur (best) S: Size = grand (big), petit (small)
27. Irregular Adjectives : beau, nouveau, vieux
These irregular adjectives come before the noun, and must agree with the noun they describe. You will have to memorize all their forms:(
Masc Sing before vowel or Anglais Masc Sing Fem sing Fem plural silent h Masc plural Old Vieux Vieil Vieux Vieille Vieilles New Nouveau Nouvel Nouveaux Nouvelle Nouvelles Handsome, Beau Bel Beaux Belle Belles Beautiful
28. Annoying de rule : des + plural adj. + noun
Des = some. However, if you have "des" followed by a plural adjective (BAGS) followed by a noun THEN...
“des” changes to de or d'
ex. des filles = some girls
de jolies filles = some pretty girls
d'autres filles = some other girls NOTE: The new word still means "some"
29. Les chiffres
21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71 all have et
81, 91 DON'T have et
Notice that all these numbers have 3 words in them. If you cannot remember whether to add the “et”, ask yourself whether there are 3 words already.
Careful! You add the et ONLY to numbers ending in "1". Don't be tempted to add it to other numbers.
quatre-vingt-un (3 words, so no need for et), vingt et un (3 words)
centimeter and century have cent = 100 millimeter has mille = 1000
32. Futur proche= aller + infinitive
The futur proche is an easy way to make a future tense in French.
Subject +conjugated form of ALLER+infinitive.
Whenever you see the aller + infinitive construction, I want you to think WILL.
For negative, wrap the ne..pas around the conjugated verb (aller!) Ex. Je vais étudier, et tu ne vas pas écouter la radio. I will study (I am going to study)
30. 12 hour clock- l'horloge de 12 heures
This clock is used when giving the time orally, and is similar to the US time. You ONLY use the numbers 1 to 11, and you indicate the time of day (am or pm) using: du matin (in the morning), de l'après-midi (12h31 to around 16h30) and du soir (in the evening).
There are five special cases (every 15 minutes, noon and midnight) that you MUST memorize that happen only for 12 hour time:
1. quarter past = et quart Ex. 2:15pm 2. half past = et demie Ex. 11:30 am
3. quarter to = moins le quart* *Just like in English, you need to go to the next hour and subtract. Ex. 6:45pm = Il est sept heures moins le quart du soir. 3a. minus = moins. In French time, anytime after the half hour will jump ahead to the next hour and subtract the minutes using “moins”. Ex: 4:35am = Il est cinq heures moins vingt-cinq du matin. 4. noon = Il est midi. NO heure! 12:05 pm = Il est midi cinq. 5. midnight = Il est minuit. No heure! 12:15 am = Il est minuit et quart.
33. Verbs ending in "ger" #
Verbs ending in -ger are conjugated just like regular "er" verbs (drop the "er" and add e, es, e, ons, ez, ent). However the nous form gets an extra "e" for pronounciation purposes.
Nous mangeons Nous voyageons Nous changeons
# sign denotes "spelling changing verbs" in Mme CHAN's class. They are considered "regular" because they follow the same "er" endings and pronunciation, but they have something bizarre in their spelling that you MUST memorize. 31. Aller = to go*
Singulier Pluriel 1st person Je vais = I go, I am nous allons = we go, we are going, I do go going, we do go 2nd tu vas = you vous allez = y’all go or you person (friendly, familier) go, (Formel) go you are going, you do go 3rd il va = he goes ils vont= they (masculine or person elle va = she goes mixed group) go on va= one goes, we elles vont = they (feminine (slang) go, people (in group only) go, they are going, general) go they do go qui va = who goes tout le monde va = everybody goes 31. Aller = to go* (derrière)
Remember that Aller* is used in French to ask how people are:
Comment allez-vous? How are you? (Formel ou pluriel) literally: How are you going? ie. How are you feeling?
Comment vas-tu? How are you? (informel, singulier)
Comment ça va? How's it going?
34. Verbs ending in -yer #
Verbs ending in -yer follow the same conjugation rules for "er" verbs. However the "y" changes to an "i" for the boot form (je, tu, il and ils form). ex. payer # = to pay (for)
Singulier Pluriel 1st person Je paie nous payons
2nd tu paies vous payez person 3rd il /elle/ on/ qui/ tout le Ils/elles paient person monde paie essayer = to try 35. Acheter# , préférer#, récupérer#
In the boot, the middle e will become è.
Ex. acheter # = to buy
Singulier Pluriel 1st person J’achète nous achetons
2nd tu achètes vous achetez person 3rd il /elle/ on/ qui/ tout le Ils/elles achètent person monde achète
The same is true for préférer = to prefer and récupérer = to claim (luggage). The middle é will change to è in the boot.
36. -cer# verbs
Verbs ending in -cer are spelling changing verbs. Pas de panique! They are still regular, and follow the "er" verb conjugation rules. However, they add a ç in the nous form. Pourquoi? For prononciation purposes only! Remember that whenever there is a "c" followed by an "o" or an "a" in French, it sounds like a "k". In order to make it sound like an "s", we use the cedilla accent: ç. ex. annoncer = to announce: nous annonçons Also, commencer = to start: nous commençons
37. avoir* Idiomatic expressions
Certain expressions in French do not translate word for word into English. These are called idiomatic expressions and they must be memorized. avoir ___ ans = to be ____ years old avoir soif = to be thirsty avoir faim = to be hungry avoir chaud = to be hot avoir froid = to be cold (note: the chaud and froid are not treated as adjectives in this expression, so you don't have to worry about agreement) Ex. (Notice that each sentence has a conjugated verb.) Quel âge as-tu? J'ai treize ans. Est-ce que tu as soif? Oui, je vais commander un coca. Quand Arthur a faim, il mange beaucoup 38. à, au, à la, à l', aux: to/at (the)
I. à means to, at, in (only translated as "in" with cities) Use à in front of names of people, city names and possessive adjectives.
II. When à is followed by a definite article (le, la, l', les) it may contract into a new word AND its meaning changes to: to the, or at the à la, à l', au (contraction of à in front of le), aux (contraction of à in front of les)
III. à contractions are also used with food expressions (you must memorize, but they follow the same rules)
39. De, du, de la, de l', des: from/of (the)
I. de means from, of
II. "De" can be used to show possession. This replaces the "'s" that we have in English. Ex. C'est le livre de Liliane. C'est la voiture de mes parents. C'est le chien des voisins.
III. When followed by a definite article (le, la, l', les) it may contract into a new word AND its meaning changes to: from the, of the de la , de l', du (morph of de in front of le), des (morph of de in front of les)
NOTICE: If "DE" is followed by 1). a person's name or 2). a possessive adjective or 3). the name of a city, then we don't need the contraction de la, de l', du, or des - we only use DE or D' (if the word starts with a vowel or silent h.)
42. Vouloir*= to want
Notice that the Je and Tu forms are spelled the same. Also, I refer to this as a BOOT verb because the Je, Tu, Il and Ils all have the same root veu.
Singulier Pluriel 1st person Je veux = I want, I do nous voulons = we want, we want, I am wanting do want, we are wanting 2nd tu veux = you vous voulez = y’all want, or person (friendly, familier) you (Formel) want want voulez-vous? Do you want? 3rd il /elle/ on/ qui/ tout ils veulent= they (masculine or person le monde veut = mixed group) want he/she/we/ who/ elles veulent = they (feminine everybody wants group only) want
Je voudrais = I would like (Vouloir conjugation, but in conditional tense) 40. Faire* = to make, to do
Faire is an irregular verb. It is used in many French weather expressions.
Singulier Pluriel 1st person Je fais = I make/do, I nous faisons = we make/do, am making/doing, I do we are making/doing, we do make/do make/do 2nd tu fais = you vous faites = y’all make/do, person (friendly, familier) y’all are making/doing, or you make/do, you are (Formel) make/do making/doing 3rd il /elle/ on/ qui/ tout ils font= they (masculine or person le monde fait = mixed group) make/do he/she/we/ who/ elles font = they (feminine everybody makes/ group only) make/do, they are does making/doing
Font-ils...? Do they make...?
41. Faire* idiomatic expressions
1. faire with weather expressions: il fait... beau, mauvais, du soleil, du vent, gris, froid, chaud, frais 2. faire les devoirs = to do homework 3. faire la cuisine = to cook 4. faire attention = to pay attention 5. faire les courses = to go shopping 6. faire un pique-nique = to have a picnic 7. faire des fautes = to make mistakes 8. faire des bagages/valises = to pack your bags 9. faire de + definite article + sport = to do a sport (le ski, le tennis, le baseball etc) 10. faire de + definite article + subject = to study a certain subject ex. faire du français = to study French, faire de l'anglais, faire des maths, faire de la biologie 43. Pouvoir = to be able/can*
Notice that the Je and Tu forms are spelled the same. Also, I refer to this as a BOOT verb because the Je, Tu, Il and Ils all have the same root peu.
Singulier Pluriel 1st person Je peux = I am able nous pouvons = we are able to, I can (Puis-je? = to, we can Can I?) 2nd tu peux = you vous pouvez = y’all can or you person (friendly, familier) are (Formel) are able to/ you can able to, you can 3rd il /elle/ on/ qui/ tout ils peuvent= they (masculine person le monde peut = or mixed group) are able to he/she/we/ who/ elles peuvent = they (feminine everybody is able group only) can to/can
44. The partitive: du, de la, de l', de, d'
Le partitif = de la, du, de l' Le partitif becomes de (d') after a negative. It is used to indicate an unknown quantity OR a part of something - usually foods and drinks. It looks like "of" or "of the" but it's NOT! It means "some, any" and is usually used when talking about food. NOT used after AIMER, ADORER, DÉTESTER, PRÉFÉRER or ÊTRE because they take the definite article instead (le, la, l', les). In class, we used the acronym "All amazing dads prefer être" to remember these particular verbs.
Je veux du pain. BUT: Le pain n'est pas bon. J'ai soif. Je commande de l'eau minérale. J'aime l'eau minérale. Il achète de la viande. Il adore le steak. Nous ne voulons pas de salade. Nous détestons les haricots verts. Ils peuvent acheter des fruits. Ils préfèrent les yaourts. 45. Irreg. -ir*: dormir, servir, partir, sortir
dormir = to sleep, servir= to serve, partir = to leave, to depart, sortir= to exit, to take out, to go out
These are 2 stem verbs. For the singular stem, drop the last 3 letters. For the plural stem, drop the last 2 letters.
OR another way to look at it: For the singular stem, take the first 3 letters of the infinitive For the plural stem, take the first 4 letters of the infinitive
Don’t forget to add the personal endings: s, s, t, ons, ez, ent
46. Adj. and nouns ending in –al
Any French adjective or noun that ends with -al will change to -aux for the plural (NEVER ALS)
ex. un cheval international = des chevaux internationaux
Note: This is only true for those words ending in -al. If they end in -ale, then this rule is invalid!
masculin féminin singulier -al -ale pluriel -aux -ales
47. Quel (what, which) et Tout(all, every)
Quel and tout are both adjectives, and must agree in number and gender with the noun that comes AFTER them (ie. the noun that they describe):
What, which The entire, the whole (all the) Masc. Sing. Quel Tout le/l' Fem. Sing. Quelle Toute la/l' All, every Masc. Pl. Quels Tous les Fem. Pl. Quelles Toutes les 48. "What" in French
There are 4 different ways to say "what" in French. Each has a different placement/function in the sentence, so you have to look at the entire sentence structure to decide which one to use.
QUOI: It MUST follow the verb AND it will not be directly followed by a noun!
QUEL (LE)(S): used in front of a noun, or in front of être + noun . (This also translates as "which")
QUE (QU'): used before inversion (verbe conjugué-pronom sujet)
QU'EST-CE QUE+ sujet+ verbe
ex. Tu fais quoi ce soir? = Qu'est-ce que tu fais? = Que fais-tu? Quelle boisson est-ce que tu vas commander? Quel livre est-ce que tu regardes? Quelle est la date aujourd'hui? Quel temps fait-il?
49. Mettre *= to place, to put
Singulier Pluriel 1st person Je mets Nous mettons 2nd Tu mets Vous mettez person 3rd Il/elle/ on/ qui/ tout le Ils/ elles mettent person monde met
Mettre also has a few idiomatic expressions you must memorize:
mettre le couvert = to set the table mettre la télé = to turn on the tv (this can also be used for the radio: mettre la radio)
50. Demonstrative adjectives: this/that/those
Demonstrative adjectives are used to point out a specific person or object. They translate to "this, that, those or these" in English. They are used in place of an article, just like Quel and Possessive Adjectives!
ce Used in front of a masculine singular noun Replaces LE cet Used in front of a masculine singular noun Replaces L’ starting with a vowel or silent h (MSVH) cette Used for ALL feminine singular nouns Replaces LA ces Used or ALL plural nouns Replaces LES