10 things you need to know about French

10 things you need to know
about French...
1. Nouns
• A noun is the name of a person, place or
thing.
• In French, all nouns are masculine (le or un) or
feminine (la or une).
• There’s no easy way to remember. Try to
learn the gender with the noun,
• E.g.: le chien, la tortue.
• Dictionaries use the abbreviations m and f
2. Adjectives
• An adjective describes a noun. Common
examples are colours, descriptions of character,
and opinions.
• An adjective has to agree with the gender (m or f)
of the noun and to show whether it is singular or
plural:
• Un chien noir
• Une tortue verte
• Deux chiens noirs
• Deux tortues vertes
Some irregular adjectives
Masc. singular
Fem. singular
Masc. plural
Fem. plural
blanc
blanche
blancs
blanches
rouge
rouge
rouges
rouges
marron
marron
marron
marron
vieux
vielle
vieux
vielles
Other changes to adjectives
Masc. singular
Fem. singular
Masc. plural
Fem. plural
paresseux
paresseuse
paresseux
paresseuses
travailleur
travailleuse
travailleux
travailleuses
rigolo
rigolote
rigolos
rigolotes
3. Possessive pronouns
• Possessive pronouns are used to show
belonging, e.g. my dog.
• They don’t just show who the owner is. They
also show whether the object (e.g. the dog) is
a masculine, feminine or plural noun.
Possessive Pronoun Grid
masculine
feminine
plural
My
mon
ma
mes
Your
ton
ta
tes
His/her
son
sa
ses
Our
notre
notre
nos
Your
votre
votre
vos
Their
leur
leur
leurs
4. Prepositions
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Prepositions show the position of things.
Some commonly used prepositions:
à = to, at, in
de = of, from
dans = in
sous = under
sur = on
devant = in front of
derrière = behind
à côté de = next to
en = in
5. Linking words
• Linking words do just that – they link your
phrases:
• et = and
• mais = but
• alors = so
• parce que = because
• aussi = also
• pourtant = however
6. Opinion phrases
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J’aime = I like
C’est super = it’s brilliant
J’aime = I like
J’adore = I love
Je déteste = I hate
Je préfère = I prefer
Je pense que = I think that
Je trouve que = I find that
A mon avis = In my opinion
7. Question words
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Qui? = Who?
Comment? = How?
Pourquoi? = Why?
Où? = Where?
Quand? = When?
Qu’est-ce que? = What?
Qu’est-ce que c’est? = What is it?
8. Making comparisons
• Plus que = more than – mon frère est plus
grand que moi
• Moins que = less than – je suis moins grand
que mon frère
• Aussi que = as...as – ma sœur est aussi grande
que moi
9. Negatives
• Negatives go around the verb: je ne regarde
pas las télé
• Ne...pas = not
• Ne ... jamais = only
• Ne.. rien = nothing
• Ne...plus = no longer
• Ne...ni...ni = neither...nor
• NOTE: ne...que = only
10. And finally ... verbs
• A verb is a doing word. Every sentence
contains a verb.
• If you look up a verb, eg “play” in the
dictionary, you will find the infinitive, “jouer”.
• You do not use the verb in its infinitive – you
need to make it show who is doing the action
and what tense is being used.
Present tense: regular –er verbs
• Most verbs are regular –er verbs, like jouer. To
make the verb agree, remove the er and add the
following endings:
• Je joue
• Tu joues
• Il/elle/on joue
• Nous jouons
• Vous jouez
• Ils/elles jouent
Present tense – re verbs
• To form –re verbs, like vendre, remove the re
and add these endings:
• Je vends
• Tu vends
• Il/elle/on vend (no ending)
• Nous vendons
• Vous vendez
• Ils/elles vendent
Present tense – ir verbs
• To form –ir verbs, like finir, remove the ir and
add these endings:
• Je finis
• Tu finis
• Il/elle/on finit
• Nous finissons
• Vous finissez
• Ils/elles finissent
Irregular verbs
• Irregular verbs have to be learned separately.
• We have already looked at avoir, être, aller and
faire. Make sure you know them.
• Other common irregular verbs:
• Lire, dire, savoir, boire, voir, connaître
• Prendre, apprendre, comprendre
• Vouloir, pouvoir, devoir
• Manger, commencer
• Partir, sortir, dormir, venir
The perfect tense
• The perfect tense describes a completed
action.
• E.g. I have watched TV/ I watched TV
• Regular verbs: j’ai joué, j’ai vendu, j’ai fini
• Être verbs: je suis allée – remember MRS VAN
DER TRAMP
Irregular past participles
• Avoir – j’ai eu; être – j’ai été; faire – j’ai fait; aller
– je suis allé
• Lire – j’ai lu; dire- j’ai dit; savoir – j’ai su; boire –
j’ai bu; voir – j’ai vu; connaître – j’ai connu
• Prendre – j’ai pris; apprendre- j’ai appris;
comprendre – j’ai compris
• Vouloir – j’ai voulu; pouvoir – j’ai pu; devoir – j’ai
dû
• Partir – je suis parti; sortir – je suis sorti; dormir
– j’ai dormi; venir – je suis venu
The future tense
• Take the infinitive (cross off the e on re verbs)
and add these endings:
• Je jouerai
• Tu joueras
• Il/elle/on jouera
• Nous jouerons
• Vous jouerez
• Ils/elles joueront
Irregular future stems
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Avoir – j’aurai
Être – je serai
Aller – j’irai
Faire – je ferai
Voir – je verrai
Savoir- je saurai
Vouloir – je voudrai
Pouvoir – je pourrai
Venir – je viendrai
The imperfect tense
• The imperfect tense describes what something was
like, eg the weather, how you felt, or what something
was like.
• Take the nous form of the present tense. Cross off the
–ons and add these endings:
• Je jouais
• Tu jouais
• Il/elle/on jouait
• Nous jouions
• Vous jouiez
• Ils/elles jouaient
Être
• The verb être is irregular in the perfect tense:
• J’étais = I was
• C’était = it was
The pluperfect
• The pluperfect tense is: I had played
• Use the imperfect of avoir or être + the past
participle:
• J’avais joué = I had played
• J’étais sorti = I had gone out
The conditional
• The conditional is used to express what would
be. There is no word for “would” in French –
you have to change the verb.
• Take the future stem and the imperfect
ending:
• Je voudrais = I would like
• Je serais = I would be
• J’aurais = I would have
Revision Tips
• Familiarise yourself with verbs. Take a verb and
work through all its tenses.
• Make a list of adjectives you use frequently.
• Learn your prepositions and possessive
pronouns.
• Practise giving opinions and explaining why you
think that.
• Practise joining sentences and ideas with linking
words and comparisons.
What about the vocab?
• If you have a basic grasp of grammar, your
topic-related vocabulary will be much easier
to use.
• Take a noun and work out how many
adjectives and verbs you can use it with.
• Experiment with mind maps, venn diagrams
and flow charts.
• Try making a podcast about a chosen topic.