Self Check for Writing

SELF-CHECK FOR WRITING
Verbs:
Articles:
✓ Do all sentences have a subject & a verb?
✓ Do your articles (le, la, l’, les / un, une, des / du, de la ,des, etc.) make
sense?
‣ Nous /\ au cinéma. Nous allons au cinéma.
‣ le / la / l’ / les = the
‣ un / une = a (an)
✓ In each sentence, does the verb agree with the subject?
‣ du / de la / des = some
‣ Vous avons un chat? Vous avez un chat?
‣ Consider:
1. gender (masculine or feminine) & ✓ Does the verb tense (i.e. present, past, future) communicate my idea?
2. number (singular or plural)
‣ L’année dernière, je vais en France. L’année dernière, je suis allé en
France.
- present: le présent (verbs, is verbing, does verb)
- past: General:
passé composé (specific events in past, main actions, verbed);
imparfait (habits, ongoing activities, progressive actions, circumstances of main event, was verbing)
- future: near future (is going to verb); futur simple (will verb)
- other: conditional (would verb); subjunctive (used after impersonal expressions)
Adjectives:
✓ Do adjectives agree with the word they describe?
✓ Do you use conjunctions that make sense?
‣ parce que (not parce-que; not pourquoi)
‣ et / mais / ou ✓ Do you use correct punctuation?
‣ “je” only capitalized at beginning of sentence (whodathunkit?)
‣ days of week, months not capitalized
‣ use swaggy quotation marks: << … >> ‣ J’ai une voiture vert. J’ai une voiture verte.
✓ Are adjectives in the right place?
‣ MOST adjectives go AFTER the word they describe
‣ Nous avons un sympa prof. Nous avons un prof sympa.
‣ BANGS (beauty, age, newness, goodness, size) go BEFORE
‣ Tu as une maison grande ou petite? Tu as une grande ou petite
maison?
See back for common mistakes . . .
SELF-CHECK FOR WRITING
Les Erreurs Fréquent (Common Mistakes):
SPELLING
Incorrect
parce-que
beacoup porquoi ‣
‣
‣
Correct
parce que
beaucoup
pourquoi
MAL / MAUVAIS / BIEN / BON
bon / mauvais (good / bad; use with nouns)
bien / mal
(well / badly; use with verbs)
adjectives:
adverbs: ‣
‣
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
masc. singular
fem. singular
plural
my
mon
ma
mes
your
ton
ta
tes
son (before masc. word)
sa (before fem. word)
ses
his/her
our
notre
nos
your
votre
vos
their
leur
leure
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
all
masc.
fem.
which
masc.
fem.
singular
tout
toute
singular
quel
quelle
plural
tous
toutes
plural
quels
quelles
OTHER
‣
Never “très beaucoup” - either “très” or “beaucoup”; choose one!
‣
Always: beaucoup de/d’ + noun (never “beaucoup du / de la / des”)