French Grammar Index - Métro 1 Module 1 1. The Indefinite Article 2. Negation - Saying you haven't any 3. Adjectives of Colour Module 2 4. Towns and Countries - Saying "in" or "to" a town or country 5. Adjectives of Nationality 6. Possessive Adjectives - "my" and "your" 7. The Plural of Nouns 8. The Definite Article 9. The Plural of Adjectives 10. Pronouns 11. The verb "avoir" - Saying what you have 12. The verb "être" - Saying what you are like Module 3 13. The conjunction "parce que" 14. The verb "faire" - "to do" 15. Regular er verbs - arriver-écouter-jouer-manger-parler-travailler 16. Possessive adjectives - "his" and "her" 17. Adjectives of colour - which do not change Module 4 18. faire + de - Saying what you do 19. Negation - Saying you don't 20. Aimer + the Infinitive 21. Asking questions 22. Irregular verbs - re (lire-dire-écrire), ir (sortir), + aller Module 5 23. The "nous" form of the verb 24. The preposition près de + 25. The plural of verbs - nous / vous / ils / elles 26. On - "one" 27. Prepositions - sous / sur / dans /par terre 28. être and avoir - full verb tables (Revision) Module 6 29. aller - full verb table 30. aller+ the Infinitive - The Near Future tense 31. à + - to the 32. More prepositions French Grammar Note 1 The Indefinite Article Translating a into French 1) a is called the Indefinite Article e.g. a book; a rubber 2) In French there are 2 words for a un with masculine nouns une with feminine nouns 3) The dictionary tells us if a word is masculine or feminine e.g. livre (m) règle (f) stylo (m) gomme (f) 4) Therefore we know it is; un livre but un stylo but une règle une gomme French Grammar Note 2 Saying What You have not got 1) To say you have not got a pen or a pencil :you do not use----- un stylo or un crayon. 2) Instead you use de:e.g. Je n'ai pas de stylo. = I do not have a pen. Je n'ai pas de crayon. = I do not have a pencil. 3) You apply this rule to any object :e.g Je n'ai pas de gomme. = I do not have a rubber. Je n'ai pas de cahier. = I do not have a jotter. Je n'ai pas de livre. = I do not have a book. Je n'ai pas de trousse. = I do not have a pencil-case. French Grammar Note 3 Adjectives of colour 1. Adjectives are describing words. 2. Adjectives of colour describe the colour of something. 3. In French adjectives of colour follow the noun they are describing. e.g. un crayon rouge = a red pencil (The French say a pencil red) 4. The spelling of the colour adjective depends on whether it describes a masculine or a feminine noun. Masculine un crayon Feminine une trousse (red) orange (pink) (yellow) rouge orange rose jaune rouge orange rose jaune Both M and F (blue) (black) (green) (grey) (brown) bleu noir vert gris brun bleue noire verte grise brune e is added in the feminine (white) (purple) blanc violet blanche violette Add Add (brown) marron marron No change *If you want to describe more than 1 thing just add s e.g. deux crayons bleus trois trousses bleues deuz stylos blancs trois gommes blanches are the same he te French Grammar Note 4 Towns and Countries How to say you live in a town or in a country:1) The names of countries are mostly feminine: e.g la France l'Ecosse la Belgique l'Italie la Grande-Bretagne l'Irlande l'Angleterre l'Allemangne l'Autriche 2) A small number of countries are masculine: e.g. le pays de Galles le Canada le Portugal le Danemark le luxembourg le Japon 3) To say in or to with a feminine country we use en e.g. J'habite en Écosse. = I live in Scotland. Je vais en France. = I'm going to France. 4) To say in or to with a masculine country we use au e.g J'habite au pays de Galles. = I live in Wales. Je vais au Luxembourg. = I'm going to Luxembourg. *(Je vais aux États-Unis. = I'm going to the U.S.A.) *(Les États-Unis is Masculine Plural.) 5) To say in or to with a town we always use à e.g. J'habite à Aberdeen. = I live in Aberdeen. Je vais à Édimbourg. = I'm going to Edinburgh. 6) Therefore remember to use the correct words when you say the town and the country in which you live. e.g. J'habite à Aberdeen en Écosse. French Grammar Note 5 Adjectives of Nationality 1) Words for nationalities, such as Scottish, English are adjectives, so they add an e when describing a female or a feminine noun. e.g. Je suis = I am Il est =He is Masculine écossais anglais gallois irlandais français allemand espagnol Je suis = I am Elle est =She is Feminine écossaise anglaise galloise irlandaise française allemande espagnole Scottish English Welsh Irish French German Spanish 2) Like colour adjectives, some already end in an e. e.g. belge suisse belge suissee Belgian Swiss 3) Some end in n. In the feminine they double the n and add e. e.g italien canadien australien italienne canadienne australienne Italian Canadian Australian *(But not américain américaine American) French Grammar Note 6 Possessive Adjectives - "my" and "you" 1) The words "my" and "your" are called Possessive Adjectives because they say who something belongs to. 2) Like other adjectives in French, they change according to whether the person or thing they are describing is masculine, feminine or plural. e.g. my your m. mon stylo mon cahier f. ma trousse ma gromme pl. mes livres mes crayons ton taille-crayon ton ballon ta règle ta plante tes feutres tes gommes French Grammar Note 7 The Plurals of Nouns 1) To talk about more than one of something, you need to use the plural. 2) In English most nouns are made plural by adding s. e.g. one brother one pencil two brothers two pencils 3) The same applies in French with most nouns. e.g. un frère un crayon deux frères deux crayons 4) But words which already end in s stay the same. e.g. une souris deux souris 5) Some words make the plural by adding x. e.g. un oiseau un bateau un gâteau deux oiseaux deux bateaux deux gâteaux 6) Some words take off l and add ux e.g. un animal un cheval deux animaux deux chevaux French Grammar Note 8 The Definite Article 1) We already know about "a" - The Indefinite Article. This refers to any one item, but not a specific one. e.g. This means un livre a(any) book *(des livres = some (any) books and une gomme a (any) rubber. des gommes = some (any) rubbers) 2) The Definite Article is "the". This does refer to a specific item. e.g. le livre bleu la gomme blanche This means the blue book and the white rubber, not any book and any rubber. 3) The French word for "the" - The Definite Article depends on whether it is Masculine Feminine Plural le la les e.g. le lapin gris la souris blanche les chats noir = the grey rabbit the white mouse the black cats 4) If the noun begins with a vowel or a silent h, l' is used instead of le and la. However les stays the same in the Plural. e.g. = Masculine l'oiseau jaune the yellow bird Feminine l'araignée the black spider Plural les oiseaux jaunes the yellow birds French Grammar Note 9 Plurals of Adjectives 1) Most French adjectives change to agree with the nouns they are describing. As you have already learned, most adjectives add e in the feminine. e.g. masculine feminine noir noire grand grande *Some already end in e timide timide 2) When describing Plural Nouns, most adjectives add s to their masculine and feminine singular form. Singular Plural Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine grand grande grands grandes petit petite petits petites timide timide timides timides bleu bleue bleus bleues 3) Adjectives which end in s in the masculine singular do not change in the masculine plural. gris grise gris grises 4) Adjectives which end in x in the masculine singular also do not change in the masculine plural but x changes to se in the feminine. ennuyeux parresseux ennuyeuse paresseuse ennuyeux paresseux ennuyeuses paresseuses 5) Adjectives ending in f in Masculine change the f to ve in the Feminine. sportif sportive sportifs sportives French Grammar Note 10 Pronouns 1) Pronouns stand in place of nouns. (Nouns are the people or thing you are talking about) 2) This is the order in which we learn pronouns when we learn verbs. je = I tu = you (when you are talking to a friend or a young person in an informal situation) il = he / it (a male person or a masculine object e.g. le livre) elle = she / it (a female person or a feminine object e.g. la gomme) on = you / we (when you are talking in general e.g. you/we see too much violence on television nowadays.) nous = we (when you talk about yourself and someone else) vous = you (when you are talking to an adult / a stranger in a formal situation or to more than one person) ils = they (when you are talking about a group of males or a group of males and females) elles = they (when you are talking about a group of females) French Grammar Note 11 "avoir" - Saying What You Have 1) "avoir" is an irregular French verb which means "to have" 2) Because it is irregular, it does not follow any regular pattern. Therefore we must learn the verb table using all the pronouns from Grammar Note 10. avoir = to have j'ai = I have tu as = you have il a = he / it has elle a = she / it has on a = you / we have nous avons = we have vous avez = you have ils ont = they have elles ont = they have French Grammar Note 12 "être" - Saying What You Are Like 1) "être" is an irregular French verb which means "to be" 2) Because it is irregular, it does not follow any regular pattern. Therefore we must learn the verb table using all the pronouns from Grammar Note 10. être = to be je suis = I am tu es = you are il est = he / it is elle est = she / it is on est = you / we are nous sommes = we are vous êtes = you are ils sont = they are elles sont = they are French Grammar Note 13 – The Conjunction “parce que” 1) A conjunction is a joining word which is used to join 2 smaller sentences together. 2) We already know 2 conjunctions:et mais = = and but eg a) becomes = J’ai les cheveux blonds. J’ai les yeux bleus. J’ai les cheveux blonds et j’ai les les yeux bleus. I have blond hair and I have blue eyes. b) becomes = J’adore les maths. Je déteste l’anglais. J’adore les maths mais je déteste l’anglais. I love maths but I hate English. 3) parce que = because is also an important conjunction eg a) becomes = J’adore le français. C’est super. J’adore le français parce que c’est super. I love French because it is super. b) becomes = Je déteste les sciences. C’est ennuyeux. Je déteste les sciences parce que c’est ennuyeux. I hate science because it is boring. 4) Using conjunctions makes your writing more interesting and will improve your grades. French Grammar Note 14 – The verb “faire” = to do 1) The verb “faire” means to do or to make. 2) It is an irregular verb, just like the 2 irregular verbs we have already learned (avoir = to have, être = to be). 3) It does not follow any regular pattern and we must learn the verb table using all the pronouns from Grammar Note 10. faire = to do / to make je fais tu fais il fait elle fait on fait = = = = = I do/make you do/make he does/makes she does/makes you/we do/make nous faisons vous faites ils font elles font = = = = we make you make they make they make French Grammar Note 15 – Regular er Verbs – arriver – écouter – jouer – manger – parler – travailler 1) Most verbs which end in er are Regular. This means they all follow a Regular Pattern. 2) Regular er Verbs are the biggest group of French Verbs. 3) If you learn this Verb Table, it will help you with very many French Verbs. 4) jouer = to play Take off er and add these endings to the stem jou:je joue tu joues il joue elle joue on joue = = = = = I play you play he plays she plays you/we play nous jouons vous jouez ils jouent elles jouent = = = = we play you play they play they play 5) You follow exactly the same pattern for arriver, écouter – manger – parler – travailler and for all the other Regular er Verbs. French Grammar Note 16 – Possessive Adjectives – his and her 1) We already know the Possessive Adjectives my and your. 2) We know that because they are adjectives they change to agree with the word they describe. eg my your Masculine mon stylo ton chat Feminine ma trousse ta perruche Plural mes livres tes chiens 3) The words for his and her follow the same pattern. his/her his/her his/her Masculine son frère son cahier son collant Feminine sa soeur sa gomme sa chemise Plural ses parents ses crayons ses chaussures 4) *Remember son frère can be his or her brother and sa soeur can be his or her sister. 5) Possessive Adjectives agree with the thing being described not the person who possesses/owns the thing. eg son collant = sa chemise = her tights (although it could be his tights) his shirt (although it could be her shirt) French Grammar Note 17 – Adjectives of Colour which do not change 1) In Grammar Note 3 we learned about colour adjectives which usually change to agree with the noun they describe. eg Singular Masculine Feminine Plural Masculine Feminine un chat noir blanc beige deux chats noirs blancs beiges une perruche noire blanche beige deux perruches noires blanches beiges 2) Some adjectives do not change in the Feminine and Plural marron orange bleu clair bleu marine vert foncé vert olive rouge bordeaux à rayures a carreaux eg = = = = = = = = = brown orange light blue navy blue dark green olive green burgundy/maroon striped checked une jupe bleu clair = a light blue skirt des baskets bleu marine = navy blue trainers French Grammar Note 18 faire and de – Saying what you do 1) When you use the verb faire followed by de with the definite article (m = le / f = la / pl = les) changes happen in the masculine and plural. 2) eg de + le = du de la de l’ de + les = des 3) Remember de + le is always du de + les is always des Je fais du judo Je fais de la gymnastique Je fais de l’ athlétisme Je fais des courses French Grammar Note 19 – Negation – saying you don’t 1) To say that you don’t….. you put ne in front of the verb and pas after the verb eg J’aime les sciences = I like science Je n’aime pas les sciences = I don’t like science 2) To say you haven’t got a/any…. you use ne …..pas de eg J’ai un stylo = I have a pen Je n’ai pas de stylo = I haven’t got a pen Je mange des bananes = I eat some bananas Je ne mange pas de bananes = I don’t eat any bananas 3) To say you don’t do any you use ne ….. pas de eg Je fais du cyclisme = I go cycling Je ne fais pas de cyclisme = I don’t go cycling Je fais de las natation = I go swimming Je ne fais pas de natation = I don’t go swimming 4) de replaces du, de la, de l’ and des in a negative sentence. French Grammar Note 20 – aimer and the Infinitive 1) aimer is a regular er verb. It follows the pattern we have already learned. aimer j’aime tu aimes il aime elle aime on aime Take off er and add:nous aimons vous aimez ils aiment elles aiment 2) In English we say I like to do judo I like to play football I like to go to the cinema I like is followed by the Infinitive of the verb each time 3) French is exactly the same. J’aime is followed by the Infinitive of the French verb. eg J’aime faire du judo J’aime jouer au foot J’aime aller au cinéma 4) It is the same rule whoever we talk about. Marc aime faire de la natation = Marc likes to go swimming Nous aimons jouer au tennis = We like to play tennis Ils aiment aller en ville = They like to go into town French Grammar Note 21 – Asking Questions 1) Interrogation is the grammatical term for asking questions. 2) You can ask a questions just be using a different intonation, by making your voice rise at the end. eg Tu parles français? = Do you speak French? Here your voice rises on the word français. You can do this with any question Tu aimes le badminton? = Do you like badminton? Tu as un animal? = Do you have a pet? Tu as des frères et des soeurs? = Do you have any brothers and sisters? 3) Or you can put Est-ce que at the beginning. eg Est-ce que tu parles français? Est-ce que tu aimes le badminton? Est-ce que tu as un animal? Est-ce que tu as des frères et des soeurs? 4) You can also change the word order and put the verb first – followed by a hyphen. eg Parles-tu le francais? Aimes-tu le badminton? As-tu un animal? As-tu des frères et des soeurs? French Grammar Note 22 – Irregular Verbs lire, dire, écrire / sortir / aller 1) Irregular Verbs do not follow a regular pattern. Therefore we must learn each Verb Table individually. Each Verb Table uses the Pronouns we learned in Grammar Note 10 – always in the same order. 2) lire, dire, écrire and sortir have a similar pattern with singular pronouns but are different with plural pronouns. lire=to read dire=to say écrire=to write sortir=to go out je tu il elle on lis lis lit lit lit dis dis dit dit dit écris écris écrit écrit écrit sors sors sort sort sort nous vous ils elles lisons lisez lisent lisent disons dites disent disent écrivons écrivez écrivent écrivent sortons sortez sortent sortent 3) Aller = to go is completely irregular although it is an er verb. je vais tu vas il va elle va on va = I go = you go (friendly) = he goes = she goes = you/we go nous allons = we go vous allez = you go (polite) ils vont = they go (m + f) elles vont = they go (f) French Grammar Note 23A – The nous form of the verb. 1) To talk about yourself and someone else, you need the word we = nous in French. 2) The nous verb form usually ends in ons. 3) For Regular er verbs, first find the stem by taking off the er and then adding ons. 4) Example a): jouer = to play Take off er and add ons = nous jouons = we play Example b): habiter = to live Take off er and add ons = nous habitons = we live 5) Here is the nous form of 4 important irregular verbs. avoir = to have nous avons = we have être = to be nous sommes = we are aller = to go nous allons = we go faire = to do nous faisons = we do French Grammar Note 23B – Possessive Adjective “our” 1) The word “our” is a Possessive Adjective because it tells us who something belongs to. 2) “Our” is used when we use the “we” part of the verb. Example: We arrive at our school. We watch our television. We listen to our teachers. 3) The word for “our” is notre if talking about one person or thing, whether they are Masculine or Feminine. Example: Masculine notre collège = our school Feminine notre télévision = our television 4) The word for “our” is nos if talking about more than one. Example: Plural Nos professeurs = our teachers 5) Here are all the Possessive Adjectives we know so far. Masculine Feminine Plural my = mon collège ma télévision mes professeurs your = ton collège ta télévision tes professeurs his/her = son collège sa télévision ses professeurs our = notre collège notre télévision nos professeurs French Grammar Note 24 – The preposition près de + 1) A preposition tells us the position of a person or a thing. 2) près de = near 3) When près de is followed by la or l’, nothing changes. Examples: Nous habitons près de la gare. Notre maison est près de la poste. Notre appartement est près de l’église. Nous habitons près de l’hôpital. 4) However, when près de is followed by le or les, changes occur. We must learn these changes. Examples: Nous habitons près de le collège. Nous habitons près du collège . i.e. de + le = du Nous habitons près de les magasins Nous habitons près des magasins. i.e. de + les = des French Grammar Note 25 – The Plurals of verbs – nous / vous / ils /elles 1) In Grammar Note 10 we learned all the pronouns we use when we learn a Verb Table. Singular je = I tu = you (when talking to a friend / young person in an informal situation) il = he/it (a male person or masculine object e.g. le livre) elle = she/it (a female person or a feminine object e.g. la gomme) on = you/we (when talking in general) Plural nous = we (when talking about yourself and someone else) vous = you (when talking to an adult/stranger in a formal situation or to more than one person) ils = they (when talking about a group of males or a group of males and females) elles = they (when talking about a group of females) 2) We already know most of the verb endings, but we must really concentrate on *vous, *ils and *elles. 3) Take a regular er verb like jouer. Take off the er and add the correct endings. Example: Jouer Singular Plural st 1 Person je joue nous jouons 2nd Person tu joues *vous jouez 3rd Person il/elle/on joue *ils/elles jouent French Grammar Note 26 – On = one 1) When you want to say that “people in general” do something, you can use on. 2) On can be used where we say “you”, meaning people in general. Example: On monte l’escalier et on tourne à droite. = You go up the stairs and you turn right. 3) On can also be used where we would say “we” in English. Example: On ne va pas au collège le mecredi. = We don’t go to school on Wednesdays. 4) Sometimes people in English use the word “one” to translate on – meaning again people in general. Example: On mange dans la cantine. = One eats in the canteen. = You/we eat in the canteen. 5) On is followed by the 3rd Person Singular (i.e. il/elle) form of the verb. Example: On mange = you/we eat On joue = you/we play On va = you/we go On fait = you/we do/make French Grammar Note 27 – Prepositions sous, sur, dans and par terre 1) A Preposition tells us the position of a person or a thing. 2) We need to know several prepositions in order to give as accurate a position as possible. 3) sous = under sur = on dans = in par terre = on the floor/ground 4) Now we can make our sentences more interesting: a) Mon sac est sous la table. b) Mes livres sont sur la table. c) Mon chat est dans le jardin. d) Mes crayons sont par terre. = = = = My bag is under the table. My books are on the table. My cat is in the garden. My pencils are on the floor. French Grammar Note 28 – être and avoir – full verb tables – Revision 1) We have already come across these two irregular verbs in Grammar Notes 11 and 12. 2) They are very common verbs which means that they are used very often. 3) Here is a quick revision. être = to be avoir = to have je suis = I am *tu es = you are il est = he is elle est = she is *on est = you/we are j’ai = I have tu as = you have il a = he has elle a = she has on a = you/we have nous sommes = we are *vous êtes= you are ils sont = they are elles sont = they are nous avons = we have vous avez = you have ils ont = they have elles ont = they have 4) *Remember: tu = you (when talking to a friend or a young person in an informal situation.) vous = you (when talking to an adult/stranger in a formal situation or to more than one person) on = you/we (when talking in general) French Grammar Note 29 – aller – full verb table 1) aller = to go, is another irregular verb. 2) It is a very common verb and is used a lot. We must learn it carefully. 3) *je vais = I go tu vas = you go il va = he goes elle va = she goes on va = you/we go nous allons = we go vous allez = you go ils vont = they go elles vont = they go 4) Remember to check Grammar Note 10 to make sure you remember when you use certain Pronouns. French Grammar Note 30 – aller + the Infinitive – The Near Future Tense 1) To say what you are “going” to do, you need the near future tense. 2) In French, you use the verb aller = “to go”, plus the infinitive. 3) This is very like the English. 4) a) Je vais aller en ville. = I am going to go into town. b) Qu’est-ce que tu vas faire? = What are you going to do? c) Il/Elle/On va jouer au foot. = He is/She is/We are going to play football. d) Nous allons faire de la natation. = We are going to go swimming. e) Vous allez faire une balade à vélo. = You are going to go for a bike ride. f) Ils vont faire les devoirs. = They are going to do their homework. French Grammar Note 31 – à = to the 1) When you use à with the definite article la ( feminine) or l’ (masculine or feminine), no changes occur. Example: Je vais à la banque. = I go to the bank. Nous allons à l’église. = We go to the church. 2) However, when à is used with the definitive article le (masculine) or les (plural), changes occur. We must learn these changes. Examples: Je vais à le cinéma. = I go to the cinema. Je vais au cinéma. i.e. à + le = au Il va à les magasins. = He goes to the shops. Il va aux magasins. i.e. à + les = aux French Grammar Note 32 – More Prepositions 1) So far we have learned the prepositions: près de = near à + Definite Article = to the sous = under sur = on dans = in par terre = on the ground 2) Remember prepositions tell us the position of a person or a thing. 3) Here are six more prepositions. a) à côté de = next to b) en face de = opposite *Remember changes occur when de meets le or les. Examples: Le cinéma est à côté de le parc. = The cinema is next to the parc. Le cinéma est à côté du parc.i.e. de + le = du La banque est en face de les magasins. = The bank is opposite the shops. La banque est en face des magasins. i.e. de + les = des c) derrière = behind Example: Le parking est derrière la gare. = The car park is behind the railway station. d) devant = in front of Example: L’arrêt de bus est devant le cinéma. = The bus stop is in front of the cinema. e) entre = between Example: Le restaurant est entre l’hôtel et la poste. = The restaurant is between the hotel and the post office. f) après = after, beyond Example: Le supermarché est après le pont. = The supermarket is after/beyond the bridge.