Français III – Second Semester Study Guide
I. Vocabulaire
A. Leçon 5 – La société en évolution: les problèmes, les changements, les immigrés, etc. (183)
B. Leçon 6 – Les générations qui bougent: la famille, la cuisine, les étapes de la vie, etc. (221)
C. Leçon 7 – À la recherche du progrès: la technologie, la science, l’univers, etc. (257)
II. Structures
A. Irregular –ir verbs (132-133)
courir
dormir
partir
sentir
sortir
couvrir
découvrir
offrir
ouvrir
souffrir
devenir
maintenir
revenir
tenir
venir
meaning
je(j’)
tu
il/elle/on
nous
vous
ils/elles
p.c. (aux + p.p.)
meaning
je(j’)
tu
il/elle/on
nous
vous
ils/elles
p.c. (aux + p.p.)
meaning
je(j’)
tu
il/elle/on
nous
vous
ils/elles
p.c. (aux + p.p.)
B. Demonstrative adjectives (384): specify a noun to which a speaker is referring. They mean this/these
or that/those. They can refer to people or things.
1.
singular
plural
masculine (before a
consonant)
masculine (before a
vowel sound)
feminine
2. To distinguish between two different nouns of the same kind, add –ci (this/these) or –là
(that/those) to the noun.
ex.
3. The suffixes –ci and –là can also be used together to distinguish between similar items that are
near and far.
C. Partitives (160-161)
1. indefinite articles are used to refer to whole items; when you want to talk about part of
something, you use partitive articles.
2. partitive articles refer to uncountable items or mass nouns. They usually correspond to some
or any in English.
3. the partitive articles are formed by combining de with the definite articles le, la, l’, and les.
Notice that de contracts with le and les.
de + le
de + la
de + l’
de + les
4. in English, sometimes the words some and any can be omitted. In French, the partitive must
be used.
ex.
5. some nouns can be countable or mass nouns, depending on the context.
ex.
6. in a negative sentence, all partitive articles become de/d’
ex.
7. use de with most expressions of quantity (see 161 for examples) – note that when these
expressions are employed – de is always used alone, not a partitive article.
D. The pronouns y and en (164-165)
1. y: the pronoun y often represents a location. In this case, it usually means there
ex.
i. the pronoun y can stand for these common prepositions of location and their objects: à,
chez, dans, derrière, devant, en, and sur
ii. y can stand for non-human objects of the preposition à
ex.
iii. y goes: (1) before the conjugated verb, (2) before the infinitive in an infinitive
construction.
iv. y can replace verbal expressions, as in phrases such as Je suis arrivé à finir ce devoir.
Y replaces à finir ce devoir to become J’y suis arrivé
2. en: the pronoun en stands for the preposition de and its object
i. en can replace a partitive article and its object
ex.
ii. en can replace a noun that follows an expression of quantity. In this case, omit the
noun and the preposition de/d’, but retain the expression of quantity
ex.
iii. en can replace a noun that follows a number. In this case, omit the noun, but retain
the number
ex.
iv. in a negative sentence, the number is not retained
ex.
v. en can represent de plus a location. In this case, it usually means from there
ex.
vi. en can also stand for a verbal expression with de. In this case, en often means about
it, for it, or from it.
ex.
E. Object pronouns (388)
1. direct object pronouns (D.O.P.s) directly receive the action of a verb.
ex.
2. indirect object pronouns (I.O.P.s) identify to whom or for whom an action is done
ex.
3. D.O.P.s and I.O.P.s generally precede the verbs of which they are objects. In compound
tenses (i.e. p.c. or p-q-p), they are placed in front of the helping verb. When a pronoun is the
object of an infinitive, it is placed in front of the infinitive
ex.
4. in most negative sentences, place ne…pas around the object pronoun and the conjugated verb.
In sentences with infinitives, ne…pas goes around the conjugated verb, but the object pronoun
usually goes before the infinitive
ex.
F. Order of pronouns (168-169)
1. order:
ex.
2. the order of object pronouns is different in affirmative commands. Notice that hyphens are
placed between the verb and pronouns. Note that me and te become moi and toi. They revert
to m’ and t’ before y or en. The order of pronouns in negative commands is the same as in
affirmative commands
ex.
G. The subjunctive (198-199, 244-245, see subjunctive packet as well***)
H. The past subjunctive (245)
1. if the verb in a subordinate clause following a subjunctive trigger took place in the past, use
the past subjunctive
2. like the passé composé and the plus-que-parfait, the past subjunctive is formed by combining a
helping verb (avoir or être) with a past participle. In the past subjunctive, the helping verb is in
the present subjunctive. Whatever helping verb a verb uses in the passé composé or plus-queparfait is the same helping verb used in the past subjunctive
3. auxiliary verbs in the subjunctive:
avoir
être
que j’______
que je________
que tu ______
que tu ________
qu’il/elle/on _______
qu’il/elle/on _________
que nous ________
que nous __________
que vous ________
que vous __________
qu’ils/elles _________
qu’ils/elles __________
I. Demonstrative pronouns (202-203): typically refer to a previously-mentioned noun in a sentence
1. the demonstrative pronoun celui and its forms mean this one/that one/the one or
these/those/the ones. Use them for pointing something out or indicating a preference
2. demonstrative pronouns agree in number and gender with the noun to which they refer
singular
plural
masculine
(this one; that one; the one)
(these; those; the ones)
(this one; that one; the one)
(these; those; the ones)
feminine
ex.
3. as with demonstrative adjectives, -ci and –là can be added after a form of celui to distinguish
between people or objects that are closer or farther
ex.
4. a form of celui can also be followed by a relative clause to mean the one(s) that or the one(s)
whose
ex.
5. a prepositional phrase can also follow a demonstrative pronoun
ex.
6. adjectives that modify forms of celui must agree with them in number and gender. Past
participles should agree with forms of celui when appropriate
7. remember that forms of celui cannot stand alone; they must always be followed by –ci/-là, a
relative clause, or a prepositional phrase
J. The comparative and superlative of adjectives and adverbs (236-237)
1. Adjectives:
i.to make comparisons between people or things, place plus (more), moins (less), or
aussi (as) before the adjective, and que (than or as) after it.
ex.
ii. form the superlative by using the appropriate definite article along with the
comparative form
ex.
iii. the preposition de following the superlative means in or of
iv. when using the superlative of an adjective that precedes the noun it modifies, the
superlative form also precedes the noun as well
v. the adjectives bon and mauvais have irregular comparative and superlative forms
adjective
comparative
superlative
bon(ne)(s)
mauvais(e)(s)
2. Adverbs:
i. when comparing adverbs, place plus, moins, or aussi before the adverb and que after it
ex.
ii. because adverbs are invariable, the definite article used in the superlative is always le
ex.
iii. the adverbs bien and mal have irregular comparative and superlative forms
adverb
bien
mal
comparative
superlative
K. The futur simple (240-241)
1. the futur simple refers to something that will happen further ahead in time
2. form the simple future of regular –er and –ir verbs by adding these endings to the infinitive.
For regular –re verbs, take the –e off the infinitive before adding the endings
je/j’ _______
nous ________
tu ________
vous ________
il/elle/on _______
ils/elles ________
3. spelling change –er verbs undergo the same change in the future tense as in the present
ex.
4. verbs with an é before the infinitive ending, such as espérer, préférer, and répéter, do not
undergo a spelling change in the future tense.
5. many common verbs have an irregular future stem.
infinitive
stem
future
infinitive
aller
pleuvoir
avoir
pouvoir
courir
recevoir
devoir
savoir
envoyer
tenir
être
valoir
faire
venir
falloir
voir
mourir
vouloir
stem
future