Chapitre 4 Structures: Verb Review: Conduire et Mettre: Je conduis Nous conduisons Je mets Nous mettons Tu conduis Vous conduisez Tu mets Vous mettez Il/elle/on conduit Ils/elles conduisent Il/elle/on met Ils/elles mettent Imperfect Stem: Conduis- Mett- Future/Conditional Conduir- Mettr- Stem: Past Participle: Conduit Mis Articles: -there are three types of articles in French: definite, indefinite, and partative (the, a I an, and some) Singular Masculin Singular Feminine Plural Definite Article Le (l’) La (l’) les Indefinite Article Un Une des Partative Article Du (de l’) De la (de l’) Definite Article: 1. Definite articles precede nouns that are used in a very specific sense -ex. La voiture qu’elle achète est neuve. (The car she is buying is new.) (Here a specific car is being talked about.) 2. Definite articles also precede nouns used in a general sense. Often in English the definite article is omitted in this case. -ex. L’essence coûte trop cher en France. (Gas costs too much in France.) -Remember that there are four frequently used verbs in French that express this generality: aimer, adorer, préférer, detester. These verbs require the use of a definite article when they are followed by a direct object. -ex. J’aime le bus mais je déteste le metro. (I like the bus but I hate the subway.) 3. Definite articles are used before abstract nouns. -ex. La patience est très utile pendeant les heures de pointe. (Patience is very useful during rush hour.) 4. Definite articles are used before the names of the seasons. -ex. Le printemps est la meillure saison pour faire du vélo. (Spring is the best season to go biking.) 5. Definite articles are used before the days of the week to indicate habitual action. -ex. Elle prend le metro le mardi matin et le jeudi après-midi. (She takes the subway Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons.) 6. Definite articles are used before names that denote nationality, before the names of countries and geographic regions, and before the names of famous buildings and monuments. -ex. Les Français font rarement du covoiturage. (The French rarely carpool.) -ex. La tour Eiffel est le monument le plus visité de Paris. (The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument in Paris.) 7. Definite articles are used before names of disciplines and languages, except when the language follows the verb parler. -ex. Ce chauffeur de taxi étudie l’informatique le soir après son travail. (This taxi driver studies computer science at night after work.) -ex. Il parle couramment anglais, et il comprend le français. (He speaks English fluently, and he understands French.) Indefinite Article: 1. Indefinite articles are used before the names of indeterminate people and things, much the same way as in English. -ex. Il y a un feu rouge au prochain Carrefour. (There is a red light at eh the next intersection.) -ex. Il y a une station Vélib’ dans la prochaine rue. (There is a Vélib station on the next street.) -ex. Il y a des gens qui se garent sur les voies cyclables. (There are people who park in bike lanes.) -**NOTE: The plural indefinite article in French (des) is often not required in English. 2. When the verb is negative, the indefinite article is replaced by de. -ex. Vous avez une voiture. (You have a car.) -ex Vous n’avez pas de voiture. (You don’t have a car.) -However, if the negative verb is être, the indefinite article does not change to de. -ex. C’est une voiture d’occasion. (It’s a used car.) -ex. Ce n’est pas une voiture d’occasion. (It isn’t a used car.) 3. The plural indefinite article des has almost the same meaning as the plural partitive article des; they both can be translated as some. -ex. Il y a des casques dans le placard. (There are some helmets in the closet.) -**NOTE: Before the adjective d’autres, the plural indefinite (or partitive) article des changes to d’. -ex. J’ai d’autres voisins que font toujours du covoiturage. (I have other neighbors who always carpool.) Partitive Article: 1. Partitive articles indicate a part of something, an unspecified amount or quantity. They are usually used with nouns referring to things that cannot be counted. -ex. Il me faut de l’argent pour acheter un VTT. (I need (some) money to buy a mountain bike.) -ex. Ne te mets pas au Volant sit u bois du vin au diner! (Don’t get behind the wheel if you drink wine at dinner!) 2. When the verb is negative, the partitive articles du, de la, de l’, and des change to de. -ex. Il y a de l’essence dans la voiture. (There is gas in the car.) -ex. Il n’y a pas d’essence dans la voiture. (There is no gas in the car.) -ex. Tu as des rollers? (Do you have inline skates?) -ex. Tu n’as pas de rollers? (You don’t have inline skates?) 3. When a plural adjective precedes the noun, the partitive article des changes to de. -ex. Les argents d’entretien du service Vélib se déplacent dans de petits véhicules électroniques. (The maintenance crews for Vélib get around in small electric vehicles.) Articles With Expressions of Quantity: 1. Following expressions of quantity (beaucoup, trop, peu, assez, autant, plus, moins, un verre, une bouteille, un litre, un kilo, etc.), du, de la, de l’, and des change to de. -ex. Il y a beaucoup de taxis à l’aéroport. (There are a lot of taxis at the airport.) -ex. Elle achète cinque litres d’essence. -ex. Il y aura plus de bouchons ce soir que demain matin. (There will be more traffic jams tonight than tomorrow morning.) -ex. Trop de cyclists ne portent pas de casque. (Too many cyclists don’t wear helmets.) -EXCEPTION: This change does not occur following la plupart, bien, and encore. -ex. La plupart des automobilistes respectent les droits des cyclistes. (Most motorists respect the rights of bikers.) -ex. Bien des jeunes conduisent trop vite. (A lot of young people drive to fast.) 2. When the expression avoir besoin de is followed by a noun used in a general sense, the definite articles le, la, l’, and les are not used. -ex. J’ai besoin d’argent pour payer l’essence. (I need money to pay for the gas.) -The dfinite article is added, however, if the noun is specific. -ex. J’ai besoin de l’argent que mn père m’a promis pour acheter de l’essence. (I need the money my father promised me in order to buy gas.) Object Pronouns, Y and En: Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns: -A direct object receives the direct action of the verb in a sentence without an intervening preposition -ex. Je vois l’éléphant. (I see the elephant.) -Direct object nouns can be replaced by direct object pronouns. -ex. Je le vois. (I see it/him.) -The direct object pronouns in French are: Singular Plural 1st Person Me (m’) Nous 2nd Person Te (t’) Vous 3rd Person Le/la (l’) Les -The indirect object, which is also acted upon by the verb, is preceded by the preposition à -ex. Il offer un cognac à ma soeur. (He offers a cognac to my sister.) -When the indirect object is a person, it can be replaced by an indirect object pronoun. -ex. Il lui offer un cogac. (He offers her a cognac.) -The indirect object pronouns in French are: Singular Plural 1st Person Me (m’) Nous 2nd Person Te (t’) Vous 3rd Person Lui Leur -There are three main rules that govern the use of the direct and indirect object pronouns in French. 1. The pronoun precedes the verb of which it is the object, unless the verb is affirmative in the imperative. -ex. Ma soeur suit les policiers au poste. (My sister follows the police officers to the station.) -ex. Ma soeur les suit au poste. (My sister follows them to the station.) -ex. Elle explique aux policiers ce qui est arrivé. (She explains to the police officers what happened.) -ex. Elle leur explique ce qui est arrive. (She explains to them what happened.) 2. If the verb is an affirmative imperative, the object pronoun follows the verb and is connected to it by a hyphen. -ex. Suivez les policers au poste! (Follow the police officers to the station!) -ex. Suivez-les au poste! (Follow them to the station!) -ex. Demandez à ma soeur pourquoi elle conduit mal. (Ask my sister why she drives poorly.) -ex. Demandez-lui pourquoi elle conduit mal. (Ask her why she drives poorly.) -*Note: With an affirmative imperitive verb, the pronouns me and te are replaced by moi and toi. -ex. Suivez-moi! (Follow me!) -ex. Calme-toiI (Calm down!) 3. If the verb is a compound tense (passé compose, past conditional, pluperfect, etc.) the pronoun precedes the auxiliary verb. The past participle agrees with the direct object pronoun in gender and number. -ex. On a gardé ma soeur au post de police pendant dix heures. (They kept my sister at the police station for ten hours.) -ex. On l’a gardée au poste de police pendant dix heures. (The kept her at the police station for ten hours.) -There is no agreement with a preceding indirect object pronoun. -ex. Un incident bizarre est arrive à ma soeur. (A strange incident happened to my sister.) -ex. Un incident bizarre lui est arrivé. (A strange incident happened to her.) -*Note: Direct object pronouns are used for people and things. The pronoun le can also be used to express and idea.