MICHAEL AND CECILIA IBRU UNIVERSITY,

AGBARHA-OTOR, DELTA STATE,

NIGERIA.

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO FRENCHCOURSE CODE: MCIU-FRE 102

INSTRUCTOR:

MONSIEUR LAWRENCE OYOVWIKIMO ABUKE

1
 CHAPTER ONE

L’AFRIQUE (AFRICA)

Le français en Afrique (French in Africa).

It is in Africa that French dominance is more geographically widespread. More than twenty African countries use this language
in different ways. In some countries, French is the official or administrative language (exclusively or with other national
languages). In other countries, French is used as a language of instruction in the public system. In all these countries, French is
often used in commerce and industry.

French is spoken in the countries below:

1. L’Algérie Algeria
2. Le Bénin Republic of Bénin
3. Le Burundi Burundi
4. Le Burkina Faso Burkina Faso
5. Le Cameroun Cameroun
6. La République Centafricaine Central African Republic
7. Les Comores Comorres
8. La Republique du Congo Republic of Congo
9. La Republique Democratique du Congo Congo DR.
10. La Cȏte d’ivoire Ivory Coast
11. Djibouti Djibouti
12. Le Gabon Gabon
13. La Guinee Guinea
14. Madagascar Madagascar
15. Le Mali Mali
16. Le Maroc Morocco
17. L’ile Maurice Mauricius Island
18. La Mauritanie Mauritania
19. Le Niger Niger Republic
20. Le Rwanda Rwanda
21. Le Sénégal Senegal
22. Les Seychelles Seychelles
23. Le Tchad Chad republic
24. Le Togo Togo
25. La Tunisie Tunisia

L’AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE (WEST AFRICA)

Un peu d’histoire ( A brief history)

The history of West Africa is very ancient. It is known, for example, that a vast kingdom existed in the 9 th century in
the region of present day Senegal. This kingdom was called the kingdom of Tekrour. In the 10th century, the Arabs
arrived in this region and converted its inhabitants to Islam. In the14th century, French sailors explored Senegal which
was then called “la Cȏte des dents” or “Coast of teeth”, that is the teeth of elephants for the sale of ivory. From the
beginning of the 15th century, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the English, and the French established trade routes in the
coasts of Africa. In the 17th and 18th centuries, these Europeans did slave trade with their American colonies.
In the second half of the 19th century, France colonized a large part of West Africa. In her colonies, France established
an administration and a public system of teaching. In 1960, the African French colonies became independent
republics. Today, all these countries are members of the United Nations.

2
 Le role du francais en Afrique Occidental
(The role of French in West Africa)

After the independence, the West African countries conserved the French language as an official language. Why? The
reason is very simple. The population of these countries is composed of a great number of tribes which generally
speak different dialects. In order to facilitate communication between these tribes and also promote national unity, it
became necessary to adopt a common language. For that reason, French was chosen.
In the majority of these African countries, teaching is done in French. In their homes, the young people speak their
local dialect, but in secondary school, they do their studies in French. Today, French is not only a language of
instruction, it is the language used in commerce, in the newspapers, radio and television.

L’Afrique du nord (North Africa)

Le Maroc, L’Algerie et la Tunisie.

Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia constitute North Africa or the Maghreb. Majority of the inhabitants of these countries
are Arabs and they practice the Moslem religion. Many Algerians, Moroccans, and Tunisians work in France where
they represent an important percentage of the immigrant population.
Algeria is the biggest country of the Maghreb, a vast part of her territory is occupied by the Sahara, an immense
desert of sand. Algeria is a member of the Oil Producing Exporting Countries, OPEC. She exports her oil and natural
gas to France and also the United States.

Le francais en Europe. (French in Europe.)

French is not only the official language of France. It is also one of the official languages in four other European
countries: La belgique (Belgium), le Luxembourg (Luxembough), La Suisse (Switzerland) and Monaco.

1. La Belgique
Belgium is a country of 10 million inhabitants, situated in the north of France. It is a monarchy with a king. The
capital of Belgium is Bruxelles. Bruxelles is the seat of some institutions of the European Union. Belgium has
three official languages: French, Dutch and German. 35% of Belgians speak French.
2. Le Luxembourg.
Luxembourg is a small country of 450,000 inhabitants situated in the east of Belgium. The official languages are
French, German and luxembourgeois, which is a dialect of German. The capital of this country is also called
Luxembourg. Like Bruxelles, this city is an important European center.
3. Monaco
Situated in the Mediterranean, close to Italy, Monaco is a very small country with a population of 30,000
persons. The inhabitants of Monaco are called “Monegasques”. Monaco is a principality governed by a prince.
The official language is French.
4. La Suisse (Switzerland)
Switzerland is a country of about 7 maillion inhabitants situated in the east of France. Switzerland is the oldest
republic in Europe. There are four national languages in Switzerland: German, French, Italia and Romania. The
capital city Geneva is situated in the French part. It is the seat of some agencies of the United Nations and the
Red Cross International.

3
SOUND-SPELLING CORRESPONDENCES

Les voyelles (vowels)

SOUND SPELLING EXAMPLES

/a/ a, à,â Madame, là-bas, théâtre

/i/ i, î Visite, Nice, dîne

y (initial, final or between Yves, Guy, style

consonants)

/u/ ou, oὺ, oȗ Toulouse, oὺ, aoȗt

/y/ u, ȗ Tu, luc, sȗr

/o/ Final or before silent consonant Piano, idiot, Margot

au, eau
ȏ Jaune, claude, beau
hȏtel, drȏle, Cȏte d’ivoire

/ɔ/ O Monique, noël, jolie

Au Paul, restaurant, laure

/e/ é, Dédé, Québec, télé

e before final z,t,r Chez, et, Roger
ai (final of before final consonant J’ai, mai, japonais

/ε/ ѐ, Michѐl, Ѐve, pѐre

ei Seize, neige, Tour Eiffel
ê Tête, être, Viê-nam
e (before two consonants) Elle, Pierre, Annette
e (before pronounced final Michel, avec, cher
consonant
ai (before pronounced final Française, aime, Maine
consonant)

/ǝ/ e (final or before single consonant) Je, Denise, venir

/ø/ eu, oeu Deux, Mathieu, euro, oeufs

eu (before final se) Nerveuse, généreuse, sérieuse

/œ/ eu, oeu (before final pronounced Heure, neuf, lesieur, soeur, Coeur,
consonant oeuf

Les voyelles nasales Nasal vowels

SOUND SPELLING EXAMPLES

/ã/ an, am France, quand, lampe

en, em Henri, pendant, décembre

/ɔ/ on, om Non, Simone, bombe

/ε/ in, im Martin, invite, impossible

4
 yn, ym
Syndicat, sympathique, olympique
ain, aim Alain, americain, faim
(o) + in Loin, moins, point
(i) + en Bien, Julien, viens

/œ/ un, um Un, lebrun, parfum

Les semi-voyelles semi-vowels

SOUND SPELLING EXAMPLES

/j/ i, y (before vowel sound) Bien, piano, lion

-il, -ill (after vowel sound) Oeil, travaille, Marseille

/Ɥ/ u (before vowel sound) Lui, Suisse juillet

/w/ ou (before vowel sound) Oui, Louis, jouer

/wa/ oi, oî, oy Voici, Bénoît, voyage

Les consonnes Consonants

SOUND SPELLING EXAMPLES

/b/ B Barbara, banana, Belgique

/k/ c (before a, o, u or consonant Casque, cuisine, classe

ch(r)
qu, q (final) Christine, Christophe, Christian
k Kilo, kiki, ketchup

/Ⴝ/ ch Charles, blanche, chez

/d/ D Didiers, dans, médecin

/f/ f Félix, franc, neuf

ph Philippe, tééphone, photo

/g/ g (before a, o, u or consonant) Gabriel, gorge, legume, gris

gu (before e, I, y)
Vague, Guillaume, Guy

/ / gn Mignon, champagne,Allemagne

/ / J Jaune, Jérome, je
g (before e, I, y) Rouge, gigi, gymnastique
ge (before a, o, u) Orangeade, georges, nageur

/l/ L, ll Lise,cheval, elle

/m/ M Maman, moi. Tomate

/n/ N Banana, nancy, nous

5
 /p/ P Peu, papa, Pierre

/r/ r, rr Arrive, rentre, Paris

/s/ c (before e, I, y) Ce, Cécile,Nancy

ç (before a, o, u) Ça, garçon, déçu
s (initial or before consonant) Sac, Sophie, reste
ss (before vowels)
t (before i + vowel Boisson, dessert, Suisse
Attention, Nations Unies, natation
x Six, dix soixante

/t/ T Trop, télé, Tours

Th Thérѐse, thé, Marthe

/v/ V Viviane, vous, nouveau

/gz/ X Examen, exemple, exact

/ks/ X Max, Mexique, excellent

/z/ s (between vowels} Désert, télévision, Louise

z Suzanne, zut, zero

Transcrivez ces mots.

Transcribe these words!

1. Communiquer
2. Musicien
3. Villageois
4. Chaleur
5. Télévision
6. Chasseur
7. Oiseau
8. Couteau
9. Président
10. Exactement

Choisissez l’option qui contient le son.

Choose the option that contains the sound.

1. /y/ A. yaourt B. craie C. couturier D. voyage

2. /u/ A. future B. heure C. premouvoir D. au revoir
3. /e/ A. choquer B. prince C. marche D. couteau
4. /i/ A. fin B. pringtemps C. voici D. important
5. /ε/ A, choix B. bureau C. échelle D. case
6. /ã/ A. bouquet B. brancher C. impossible D. nouveau
7. /k/ A. fumer B. embarquer C. futur D. ordinaire
8. /ǝ/ A. manger B. petit C. sortir D. voir
9. /ɔ/ A. restaurant B. chemise C. charmer D. parfois
10. /z/ A. narrator B. mission C. monarchie D. rasoir

HOW TO TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE, WANT, CAN DO AND MUST DO.

6
Qu’est-ce que tu aimes faire? What do you like doing?

J’aime … I like …

Je n’aime pas … I don’t like …

Je préfѐre … I prefer …

Qu’est-ce que tu veux faire? What do you want to do?

Je veux … I want …

Je ne veux pas … I don’t wan …

Je voudrais … I would like …

Qu’est-ce que tu peux faire? What can you do?

Je peux … I can/ I am able to …

Je ne peux pas … I can’t …

Qu’est-ce que tu dois faire? What must you /should you/ have to do?

Je dois … I must. I should, I have to

Je ne dois …

Les phrases

1. J’aime jouer au foot I like playing football

2. Je veux jouer aux jeux vidéo I want to play video game
3. Je peux préparer le diner I can prepare dinner
4. Je dois rester à la maison I must stay at home.

7
 CHAPTER TWO

LES ARTICLES (ARTICLES)

In French, articles and adjectives agree with the noun which they introduce. They are MASCULINE or FEMININE, SINGULAR or
PLURAL.

Definite articles (The)

SINGULAR PLURAL

MASCULINE Le (l’) Les Le garçon, l’ami les garçons, les amis

FEMININE La (l’) Les La fille, l’amie les filles, les amies

Elision and liaison.

 Before a vowel sound, le and la become l’ and ne becomes n’. This is called elision.
L’appareil photo n’est pas sur la table.

 Before a vowel sound, the final s of les is pronounced. This is called liaison.

Oὺ sont les affiches?

Vocabulaire Quelques objets

Un objet an object, a thing

Un crayon a pencil

Un cahier notebook

Un livre a book

Un sac bag

Un bureau desk

Un lit bed

Un ordinateur computer

Un appareil-photo camera

Un baladeur portable stereo

Un CD CD

Un portable cell phone

Un vélo bicycle

Une chose thing

8
 Une montre watch

Des lunettes glasses

Des lunettes de soleil sunglasses.

Une table table

Une chaise chair

Une affiche poster

Une chaine hi-fi sound system

Une mini-chaine compact stereo

Une télé TV set

Une radiocassette boom box

Une voiture car

Indefinite articles (a, an, some + noun)

SINGULAR PLURAL

MASCULINE Un Des Un sac, un ordinateur des sacs (bags), des ordinateurs

(computers)

FEMININE Une Des Une tabele, une affiche des tables (tables, des affiches (posters)

 Des often correspond to the English “some”. Although, the word “some” may be omitted in English, the article des
must be used in French.

J’ai des cousins à Québec I have (some) cousins in Quebec

 After a negative verb other than être, un, une, and des become de (d’)
Philippe a un velo Philippe has a bike
Alice n’a pas de velo Alice doesn’t have a bike.
J’ai des amis a Paris I have (some) friends in Paris.
Je n’ai pas d’amis a Rome. I don’t have any friends in Rome.

Vocabulaire Quelques vêtements.

Des vêtements clothes

Un pantalon pair of pants/trousers

Un jean pair of jeans

Un short pair of shorts

Un pull sweater

9
Un sweat sweatshirt

Un sur- vêtement warm-up suit

Un maillot de bain bathing suit

Un chemisier blouse

Un tee-shirt T-shirt

Un blouson windbreaker

Un manteau coat

Un imper (imperméable) raincoat

Une chemise shirt

Une veste jacket

Une cravate tie

Une ceinture belt

Une robe dress

Des chaussures shoes

Des chaussettes socks

À et de + l’article define

à + le = au

à + les = aux

De + le = du

De + les = des

The definite articles le and les contract with à (to, at) and de (of, from)

Voici le café This is the café

Marc va au café Mark is going to the café

Vous parlez des eleves You are speaking of the students.

There is no contraction with l’ and la.

Voici la plage This is the beach

Anne est à la Plage Anne is at the beach

Nous rentrons de la plage We are returning from the beach

10
Voici l’hȏpital This is the hospital

Le docteur va à l’hȏpital The doctor is going to the hospital

Je rentre de l’hȏpital I am returning from the hospital

Vocabulaire Quelques endroits

Un endroit place

Un quartier district.neighbourhood

Un cinéma (un ciné) movie theatre

Un hospital hospital

Un hotel hotel

Un magasin store

Un musée museum

Un restaurant restaurant

Un stade stadium

Un supermarché supermarket

Un aeroport airport

Un Parc a Park

Une ville city/town

Une maison house

Une rue a street

Une bibliothѐque library

Une boutique shop

Une école a school

Une église church

Une piscine swimming pool

Une plage beach

Une gare station

Une poste post office

11
L’ARTICLE PARTITIF (PARTITIVE ARTICLE

The partitive article has the following forms:

Masculine du du fromage, du pain

de l’ (+ vowel sound) de l’argent

Feminine de la de la salade, de la lemonade

de de l’eau

Partitive articles are used to refer to A CERTAIN QUANTITY OF A CERTAIN AMOUNT of something. See how they are used in the
sentences below:

Voici du pain et voila de la confiture

Here is some bread and there is some jam

Philippe mange du fromage

Philippe is eating (some) cheese

Nous achetons de l’eau minerale

We are buying some mineral water

- Est-ce que tu veax de la salade? Do you want (any, some) salad?

- Oui, donne-moi de la salade! Yes, give me some salad.

The list below show some nouns which use the partive articles:

1. Du beurre butter
2. Du pain bread
3. Du thé tea
4. Du riz rice
5. Du blé wheat
6. Du sable sand
7. Du sucre sugar
8. Du sel salt
9. Du fromage cheese
10. De la farine flour
11. De l’eau water
12. De l’huile oil
13. De la viande meat
14. De la confiture jam
15. Du café coffee
Exercices.

Remplissez les vides avec l’article define juste.

12
Cet âge est ____âge de _____ information. ______ monde est devenu un village global. Beacoup de personnes utilisent
______ordinateurs pour faire _____ choses différentes: surfer sur ______internet, naviguer _______web, bavarder avec
______ amis et ______ membres de ___ famille. Pour certains qui s’interessent seulement sur ________ crime, tout ceux qu’ils
font sur _____ internet c’est de decevoir _______ gens et voler leurs argent. ________ chose la plus importante sur _______
informatique c’est ______ aide que _______ ordinateur donne aux gens au niveau de _____ connaissance: _______
enseignement et _________ apprentissage.

LES SALUTATIONS GREETINGS

Below are greetings in French and their English equivalents:

FRANCAIS ANGLAIS

A bientot See you soon

A la prochaine fois See you next time

A toute a l’heure See you later

A demain See you tomorror

A lundi See you on Monday

A la semaine prochaine See you next week

Au revoir Goodbyr

Bonjour God morning, good day, hello

Bonsoir Good evening

Bonne nuit Good night

Bonne journée Have a nice day

Bonne soirée Have a nice evening

Bon appétit Have a nice meal

Bon voyage Safe journey

Bonne chance Good luck

13
 Bon guérison Get well soon

Bon noël Merry Christmas

Bonne année Happy New Year

Bonne Pâques Happy Easter

Bon anniversaire Happy birthday

Bon weekend Have a nice weekend

Bon séjour Have a nice stay

Enchanté Nice to meet you

Joyeux anniveraire Happy birthday

Meilleurs voeux Best wishes

Salut Hi

Comment ça va? How are you

Comment allez-vous? How are you?

Comment tu vas? How are you?

Je vais bien, merci I am fine, thank you.

Bien Fine

Ça va bien, merci. I am fine, thank you.

Pas mal Not bad

Comme ci… comme ça. So…so

LES JOURS DE LA SEMAINE ET LES MOIS DE L’ANNÉE

14
FRANCAIS ANGLAIS

dimanche Sunday

lundi Monday

Mardi Tuesday

Mercredi Wednesday

Jeudi Thursday

Vendredi Friday

Samedi Saturday

Janvier January
Février February
Mars March
Avril April
Mai May
Juin June
Juillet July
Août August
Septembre September
Octobre October
Novembre November
Décembre December

LES CHIFFRES
LES NOMBRES ORDINAUX ET CARDINAUX

NOMBRES CARDINAUX NOMBRES ORDINAUX

Un Premier/ premiѐre
Deux Deuxiѐme
Trois Troisiѐme
Quatre Quatriѐme
Cinq Cinquiѐme
Six Sixiѐme
Sept Septiѐme
Huit Huitiѐme
Neuf Neuviѐme
Dix Dixiѐme
Onze Onziѐme
Douze Douziѐme
Treize Treiziѐme
Quatorze Quatorziѐme
Quinze Quinziѐeme

15
 Seize Seiziѐme
Dix-sept Dix-septiѐme
Dix-huit Dix-huitiѐme
Dix-neuf Dix-neuviѐme
Vingt Vingtiѐme
Vingt-et-un Vignt-et-uniѐme
30. Trente Trentiѐme
31. Trente-et-un Trente-et-uniѐme
40. Quarante Quarante-et-uniѐme
50. Cinquante Cinquante-et-uniѐme
60. Soixante Soixantiѐme
61. Soixante-et-un Soixante-et-uniѐme
70. Soixante-dix Soixante-dixiѐme
71. Soixante-onze Soixante-onziѐme
72. Soixante-douze Soixante-douziѐme
80. Quatre-vingt Quatre-vingtiѐme
81. Quatre-vingt-et-un Quatre-vingt-et-uniѐme
90. Quatre-vingt dix Quatre-vingt dixiѐme
91. Quatre-vingt onze Quatre-vingt onziѐme
100. Cent Centiѐme
101. Cent un Cent uniѐme
200. Deux cents Deux centiѐme
1000. Mille Milliѐme

Exercices

Ecrivez en mots

1. 1234
2. 673
3. 337
4. 996
5. 178
6. 555
7. 666
8. 777
9. 888
10. 999

LE CALCUL

+ Plus Plus

- Moins Minus

÷ Divisé par Divided by

16
 × Fois Times

= Égale , fait, égalent, font Equals to

Exemples

100 + 25 = 125 cent plus vingt cinq egale cent vingt cinq

80 – 16 = 64 quatre-vingt moins seize fait soixante quatre

200 ÷ 25=8 deux cents divisé par vingt cinq fait huit

30 × 5 = 150 trente fois cinq fait cent cinquante

Exercices

Ecrivez en mots 1. 1000 × 25 = 80

2. 25 ×5=125

3. 35 ÷ 7=5

4. 400 + 295 = 695

5. 1000 – 375 = 625

la famille

La famille et les amis (Family and friends)

Les gens (people)

 La famille
i. Un parent (parent,relative)
ii. Le pѐre father
iii. Le beau-pѐre stepfather, father-in-law
iv. Le mari husband
v. Le grand-pѐre grandfather
vi. L’oncle uncle
vii. La mѐre mother
viii. La belle-mѐre stepmother, mother-in-law
ix. La femme wife
x. La grand-mѐre grandmother
xi. La tante aunt
xii. Un enfant child
xiii. Le frѐre brother
xiv. Le demi-frѐre stepbrother, half brother
xv. Le fils son

17
 xvi. Le petit-fils grandson
xvii. Le cousin cousin
xviii. Le neveu nephew
xix. La soeur sister
xx. La demi-soeur stepsister, half sister
xxi. La fille daughter
xxii. La petite-fille grand daughter
xxiii. La cousine cousin (female)
xxiv. La niѐce niece
 Les amis (friends)
i. Un ami a male friend
ii. Un copain a male friend
iii. Un camarade friend, mate
iv. Un voisin neighbour
v. Une amie a female friend
vi. Une copine a female friend
vii. Une camarade friend, mate
viii. Le meilleur ami best friend
ix. Le meilleur copain best friend
x. La meilleure amie
xi. La meilleure copine.

Les phrases

 Tu as des frѐres et des soeurs Do you have brothers and sisters?

Non, je suis enfant unique. No, I am only child

Oui, j’ai un frѐre/ j’ai une soeur. Yes, I have a brother/ I have a sister

 Comment s’appelle t-il/elle? What is his/her name?

Il s’appelle Philippe His name is Philippe
Elle s;appelle Véronique Her name is Veronica.
 Est-ce qu’il/elle est plus jeune que toi? Is he/she older than you?
Non, il/elle est plus âgé(e) No, he/she is older.
 Quel âge a t-il/elle? How old is he/she?
Il/elle a dix-sept ans He/she is seventeen years old
 Est-ce que ton oncle est marié? Is your uncle married?
Non, il est célibataire/divorcé No, he is single/divorced

Chapter three

LE NOM (NOUN)

1. Gender and Plural

18
 2. How do you know if a French word is masculine or feminine?

French nouns are either masculine or feminine.

For instance, le soleil (“the sun”) is masculine, while la lune (“the moon”) is feminine.

The question of why une araignée (“a spider”) is female and un cafard (“a cockroach”) is male doesn’t matter as

much as: How do I know which gender it is?

Luckily, it’s generally quite straightforward, and based on the final letters of a word, you can guess its gender. The

rule isn’t entirely accurate, but as you get used to these typical masculine and feminine endings, you’ll be able to

make good guesses.

Usually masculine endings:

Usually feminine endings:
Words ending in -age, -ege, -é, -isme
Most words ending in -e or -ion
+ Everything else.
 Une lune; une année; une semaine
 Une nation; une division
 Un mariage; un été
 Un jour; un parc; un nain
Except words ending in -age, -ege, -é, -isme

Should you learn all of these endings by heart? I don’t believe so.

1. It would be a tedious and super-boring process.

2. This is not how native speakers learn the words’ genders.

If you’re wondering how to remember French nouns’ gender, I instead encourage you to ALWAYS learn new nouns

with their article.

 Soleil Un soleil (“A sun”)

 Lune Une lune (“A moon”)

19
You can also memorize them with a definite article. It’s just a matter of preference.

 Le soleil (“The sun”)

 La lune (“The moon”)

2- How to make French nouns plural

For most nouns, simply add an -s at the end of the word.

 Un an -> des ans

 Un jour -> des jours

Nouns ending in -au become -aux.

 Un bateau -> des bateaux

Nouns ending in -ou usually become -ous, but some take a -oux.

 Un fou -> des fous

 Un bijou -> des bijoux

Nouns ending in -al become -aux.

 Un animal -> des animaux

Finally, nouns ending in -s, -x, or -z are invariable.

20
  Une souris -> des souris

 Un lynx -> des lynx

 Un nez -> des nez

Now that we’ve learned how to determine the gender of French nouns and how to make them plural, let’s move on to

our 100 French nouns list!

1. About Time

Un an; des ans Nous vivons ici depuis dix ans.

“Year” “We have been living here for ten years.”

Une année; des années Nous vivons ici depuis plusieurs années.
“Year” “We have been living here for several years.”
An is mainly used when there is a number involved:

 J’ai 35 ans. (“I’m 35 years old.”)

 Trois fois par an (“Three times per year”)

Année is used in most other cases:

 Je voyage chaque année. (“I travel every year.”)

 L’année dernière, j’ai arrêté de fumer. (“Last year, I stopped smoking.”)

Une semaine; des semaines A la semaine prochaine !

“Week” “See you next week!”
Un mois; des mois Le mois de juillet est souvent ensoleillé.
“Month” “The month of July is often sunny.”
Un jour; des jours Je viendrai dans trois jours.
“Day” “I will come in three days.”
Une heure; des heures Ce film dure trois heures.
“Hour” “This movie is three hours long.”
Quick Tip: How to tell time?

In France, you can use the twelve- or twenty-four-hour system.

 Quelle heure est-il ? (“What time is it?”)

 Il est seize heures et demi. (“It is 4:30 PM.” Literally: “It is 16 and half.”)
 Il est huit heures trente cinq. (“It is 8:35.”)

Une minute; des minutes Laisse moi deux minutes et on y va !

“Minute” “Give me two minutes and let’s go!”
Un temps; des temps Je n’ai pas le temps.
“Time” “I don’t have the time.”

21
3. Places

Un monde; des mondes La plus belle plage du monde.

“World” “The most beautiful beach in the world.”
Un pays; des pays Tu as visité de nombreux pays.
“Country” “You have visited many countries.”
Un endroit; des endroits J’adore cet endroit !
“Place” “I love this place!”
In Quebec, where French is a bit different, a place is une place.

 Montréal est un endroit une place que j’aime beaucoup

“Montreal is a place that I like very much.”

In France, une place means “a square,” as in La place centrale (“The main square”).
Une région; des régions C’est le plat typique de ma région.
“Region” “This is the typical dish of my region.”
Une mer; des mers La mer du nord est un peu froide.
“Sea” “The northern sea is a bit cold.”
Une forêt; des forêts Il s’est perdu dans la forêt.
“Forest” “He got lost in the forest.”
Une montagne; des montagnes Des vacances à la montagne
“Mountain” “Mountain vacations”
Un magasin; des magasins Tu peux en acheter dans ce magasin.
“Shop” “You can buy some in this shop.”
Une banque; des banques J’ai besoin de retirer de l’argent à la banque.
“Bank” “I need to withdraw some cash at the bank.”
Un parc; des parcs On se retrouve dans le parc ?
“Park” “Shall we meet in the park?”

4. Technology & Internet

22
Un téléphone; des téléphones Je te donne mon numéro de téléphone.
“Phone” “I’ll give you my phone number.”
Un portable; des portables Tu me donnes ton numéro de portable ?
“Mobile phone” “Can you give me your mobile phone number?”
Portable VS. Mobile VS. Laptop

A common source of confusion, even among natives, is the word portable meaning “mobile phone” and “laptop.”

One way to avoid the confusion is to use un mobile or un smartphone instead of un portable when talking about mobile
phones. Younger generations also tend to use laptop instead of portable.

To be fair, it’s usually easy to guess from the context.

Un ordinateur; des ordinateurs Mon ordinateur est un PC.
“Computer” “My computer is a PC.”
Fun fact: PC is also the acronym for the French communist party: Parti Communiste.
Is there any risk of ever confusing these two? I wouldn’t bet on it.
Une tablette; des tablettes Tu as installé l’app sur ta tablette ?
“Tablet” “Did you install the app on your tablet?”
Une télé; des télés Il y a quoi à la télé, ce soir ?
“TV” “What’s on TV tonight?”
Télévision, Télé, or TV?

While Télévision is the full word, it’s rarely used in conversations; Télé is far more popular. TV is mainly used in writing.
Un chargeur,;des chargeurs Je peux emprunter ton chargeur ?
“Charger” “Can I borrow your charger?”
Internet On n’a pas internet, dans ce petit village.
“Internet” “We don’t have internet in this small village.”
Internet (with a capital “I”), internet, or l’internet?

Short answer: Whatever you like!

(But use “internet” if you wanna sound cool. L’internet is for your grandpa.)

Long answer: According to the Académie Française (official patron of the French language), you can use both. However, there
was an attempt in 2016 at the national assembly to officialize l’internet over “internet.” Thank goodness, the bill didn’t pass.
Un site web; des sites web On ira voir sur le site web de la mairie.
“A website” “We’ll check on the city hall’s website.”
Site or Site web? Whichever.

 On ira voir sur le site de la mairie.

“We’ll check on the city hall’s website.”

Un compte; des comptes Tu as un compte Skype ?

“Account” “Do you have a Skype account?”
Un mot de passe; des mots de passe Je dois réinitialiser mon mot de passe.
“Password” “I need to reset my password.”
How do you say “login?”
We often say login, but you can equally say identifiant.
Un fichier; des fichiers J’ai copié les fichiers sur ma clef USB.
“File” “I copied the files on my USB drive.”
Un logiciel; des logiciels Tu peux installer ce logiciel.

23
“Software” “You can install this software.”

5. Home, Sweet Home

Une maison; des maisons On rentre à la maison.

“House”; “Home” “We’re going home.”
Une porte; des portes La première porte à gauche
“Door” “The first door on the left”
Une fenêtre; des fenêtres Les cambrioleurs ont cassé une fenêtre.
“Window” “Burglars have broken a window.”
Un frigo; des frigos Ne mettez jamais de vin rouge au frigo !
“A fridge” “Don’t ever put red wine in the fridge!”
Ideally, before and after it has been opened, you should keep it out of light and at room temperature.
Une armoire; des armoires On a besoin d’une nouvelle armoire.
“Closet” “We need a new closet.”
Une pièce; des pièces Ce serait bien d’avoir une pièce en plus.
“Room” “It would be nice to have one more room.”
Une cuisine; des cuisines N’oublie pas d’aérer la cuisine.
“Kitchen” “Don’t forget to ventilate the kitchen.”
Cuisine also means…well, “Cuisine.” #CaptainObvious

 J’aime la cuisine indienne.

“I love Indian cuisine.”

Un salon; des salons On va prendre l’apéro dans le salon.

“Living room” “We’ll take the aperitif in the living room.”
Une chambre; des chambres Ma chambre a un plafond intéressant.
“Bedroom” “My bedroom has an interesting ceiling.”
Des toilettes (invariable) Où sont les toilettes ?
“Toilets” “Where are the toilets?”
We also use WC, for “water closet.”
Une salle de bain; des salles de bain Il y a une autre salle de bain à l’étage.
“Bathroom” “There is another bathroom upstairs.”

7. Family & Friends

24
Une mère; des mères Aujourd’hui, c’est la fête des mères.
“Mother” “Today is Mother’s Day.”
Ma maman
“My mom”
Un père; des pères Luke, je suis ton père.
“Father” “Luke, I am your father.”
Mon papa
“My dad”
Une femme; des femmes Ma femme a toujours raison.
“Wife” (literally: “Woman”) “My wife is always right.”
You can also say Mon épouse (formal) or Ma conjointe (super-formal).
Un mari; des maris Son mari est enseignant.
“Husband” “Her husband is a teacher.”
You can also say Mon époux (formal) or Mon conjoint (super-formal).
Un frère; des frères Il t’aime comme un frère.
“Brother” “He loves you like a brother.”
Une soeur; des soeurs J’ai deux soeurs et un frère.
“Sister” “I have two sisters and one brother.”
Une famille; des familles Je passe Noël avec ma famille.
“Family” “I spend Christmas with my family.”
You can also use un parent/des parents, but don’t confuse mon parent (“my relative”) and mes parents (“my parents”).

Un parent (“a relative”) or des parents (“relatives”) both refer to relatives of any kind, while mes parents (possessive plural)
means: “my parents” (mom and dad).

 Je vais voir mes parents.

“I’m going to see my parents.”

 J’ai des parents dans la région.

“I have relatives in the region.”

Une copine; des copines Je vais au cinéma avec ma copine.

“Girlfriend” “I’m going to the cinema with my girlfriend.”

Un copain; des copains Laisse tomber, j’ai un copain.

“Boyfriend” “Let it go, I have a boyfriend.”
The word copain / copine also means “buddy.” It depends on the context, but it can be confusing even for locals. (Just like when
American women talk about their “girlfriends.”)

The general rule is:

 When you say un copain, it means “a buddy” or “a pal.”

 When you say mon copain, it means “my boyfriend.”

Un fils; des fils Nous sommes les fils de la Terre.

“Son” “We are the sons of the Earth.”
Une fille; des filles Ma fille aînée.

25
“Daughter” (Literally: “Girl”) “My elder daughter.”
Un ami; des amis Tu es mon meilleur ami.
“Friend” “You’re my best friend.”

8. Body Parts

Une tête; des têtes Un chasseur de têtes

“Head” “A headhunter”
Un oeil; des yeux Tu as de très beaux yeux.
“Eye” “You have very beautiful eyes.”
Une bouche; des bouches Ouvre la bouche.
“Mouth” “Open your mouth.”
Un nez; des nez Un piercing au nez.
“Nose” “A nose piercing.”
The French don’t stand toe to toe, but nose to nose.

 Il se trouve nez à nez avec elle.

“He’s standing toe to toe with her.”

However, in French, this expression doesn’t necessarily involve a conflict or competition. It means that you unexpectedly end up
right in front of that person.
Un cheveu; des cheveux Elle a les cheveux courts.
“Hair” “She has short hair.”
Un bras; des bras Viens dans mes bras.
“Arm” “Come into my arms.”
Une main; des mains Les mains en l’air !
“Hand” “Put your hands in the air!”
The French don’t wear their heart on their sleeve; they have it on their hand.

 Il a le coeur sur la main.

“He’s wearing his heart on his sleeve.”

Une jambe; des jambes Je me suis cassé la jambe.

“Leg” “I broke my leg.”
Un pied; des pieds J’ai déjà un pied dans la tombe.
“Foot” “I already have one foot in the grave.”
In France, don’t put your foot in your mouth; put it in the dish.

 J’ai mis les pieds dans le plat.

“I put my foot in my mouth.”

26
9. Food & Utensils

Un couteau; des couteaux Un couteau à fromage

“Knife” “A cheese knife”
Une fourchette; des fourchettes J’ai besoin d’une plus grande fourchette.
“Fork” “I need a bigger fork.”
Une cuillère; des cuillères Une cuillère à soupe d’huile
“Spoon” “A tablespoon of oil”
Une assiette; des assiettes Une assiette de charcuterie
“Plate” “A plate of cold cuts”
Un verre; des verres Tu mérites un verre de vin.
“Glass” “You deserve a glass of wine.”
Une eau; des eaux Je voudrais une carafe d’eau, s’il vous plait.
“Water” “I would like a jug of water, please.”
Un vin; des vins Une cave à vin
“Wine” “A wine cellar”
Un fruit; des fruits Un jus de fruit
“Fruit” “A fruit juice”
Un légume; des légumes Je mange des légumes une fois par semaine.
“Vegetable” “I eat vegetables once a week.”
Une viande; des viandes Viande ou poisson ?
“Meat” “Meat or fish?”

10. Occupation

Un étudiant; des étudiants C’est un très bon étudiant.

“Student” “He’s a very good student.”

Un docteur; des docteurs Vous avez besoin d’une ordonnance du médecin.

“Doctor”; “Physician” “You need a doctor’s prescription.”
The most common word for “physician” is médecin.
Un policier; des policiers Mon frère est policier.

27
“Police officer” “My brother is a police officer.”
Un professeur; des professeurs Je veux devenir professeur de Russe.
“Teacher” “I want to be a Russian teacher.”
Un avocat; des avocats Je ne parlerai pas sans mon avocat.
“Lawyer” “I will not talk without my lawyer.”
Avocat also means “Avocado.” Any risk of confusion? Not sure.

 Je ne parlerai pas sans mon avocat.

“I will not talk without my avocado.”

Un serveur; des serveurs La serveuse a pris notre commande.

“Waiter” “The waitress has taken our order.”

11. Clothing Items

Un pantalon; des pantalons Un pantalon en cuir

“Pants” “Leather pants”
Un pull; des pulls Un pull en laine
“Sweater” “A wool sweater”
Un T-shirt; des T-shirts J’enfile un T-shirt propre.
“T-shirt” “I’m putting a clean T-shirt on.”
Une chemise; des chemises Enlève ta chemise.
“Shirt” “Take off your shirt.”
Un manteau; des manteaux J’ai laissé mon manteau dans la voiture.
“Coat” “I’ve left my coat in the car.”
Une chaussette; des chaussettes Mes chaussettes rouges et jaunes
“Sock” “My red-and-yellow socks”
Une robe; des robes Une robe en soie
“Dress” “A silk dress”
Une chaussure; des chaussures Des chaussures de randonnée
“Shoe” “Hiking shoes”

La profession (profession/occupation)

 Les professions médicale

i. Un(e) dentist(e)) a dentist
ii. Un médecin, un doctuer a doctor, physician
iii. Un infirmier (une infirmiѐre) a nurse
iv. Un pharmacien (une pharmacienne) a pharmacist
v. Un€ véterinaire a veterinary doctor
 Les professions techiques
i. Un ingénieur an engineer

28
 ii. Un programmeur (une programmeuse) a programmer
iii. Un technician (une techniciene) a technician
iv. Un informaticien (une informaticienne) a computer specialist
 Les professions légales et commerciales
i. Un avocat (une avocate) a lawyer
ii. Un vendeur (une vendeuse) a salesperson
iii. Un homme (une femme) d’affaires a business person
 Les professios admiistratives
i. Un(e) comptable an accountant
ii. Un employé (une employée) de bureau office worker
iii. Un patron (une patronne) a boss
iv. Un(e) secrétaire a secretary
 Les professions artistiques et littéraires
i. Un acteur une actrice an actor, an actress
ii. Un(e) cineaste a filmmaker
iii. Un(e) photographe a photographer
iv. Un(e) journaliste a journalist
v. Un déssinateur (une déssinatrice) a designer
vi. Un mannequin a fashion model

Les phrases

1. Que fait ta mѐre? What does your mother do?

Elle est photographe She is a Photographer.

2. Que fait ton pѐre? What does your father do?

Il est comptable He is an Accountant

Il travaille dans un bureau He works in an office

3. Qu’est-ce que tu voudrais faire plus tard? What woulg you like to do later?

Je voudtais être ingénieur I would like to be an Engineer

 After être, the French do not use un/une with the name of a profession

Ma tante est médecin My aunt is a doctor

Je voudrais être acteur I would like to be an actor

EXCEPTION: un/une are used when the profession is modified by an adjective

Gérard Depardieu est un acteur français.

Chapter four

LES PRONOMS FRANCAIS.

French Pronouns.

29
 French Personal Pronouns

French Subject Pronouns

The most basic French personal pronouns are the French subject pronouns. They’re used for the subject of the sentence; that is,
the person or thing who’s doing the action in the sentence.
Je I

Tu you (singular)

il/elle he/she

On (see below)

nous We

vous you (plural or formal)

ils/elles They

Here’s what the subject pronouns look like in action:

 je parle – “I speak”
 tu parles – “you speak”
 il/elle/on parle – “he/she/one/we speak(s)” (a bit more on this one later)
 nous parlons – “we speak”
 vous parlez – “you (plural or formal) speak”
 ils/elles parlent – “they speak”

Je abbreviates to j’ before a vowel sound:

 J’ai mangé – “I’ve eaten.”
Use il for men and elle for women. When referring to a group of people, use elles for an all-female group, and ils for an all-male
or mixed group.
French doesn’t have a direct equivalent of the gender-neutral pronoun “it”. Instead, when talking about objects, use il for
masculine nouns, and elle for feminine.
 La voiture est rouge / Elle est rouge. – “The car is red” / “It is red.”
You can also use il in impersonal expressions, or to mean “it” in an abstract sense.
 Il pleut – “It’s raining.”
 Il est possible que… – “It’s possible that…”

French Direct Object Pronouns

The direct object of a sentence is the thing which the verb is being done to. The French direct object pronouns are really
straightforward:
me Me

te you (singular informal)

Le him, it

La her, it

nous Us

vous you (plural, or singular formal)

30
les Them

Me, te and le abbreviate to m’, t’ and l’ before a vowel sound.

Unlike in English, French direct object pronouns go before the verb (but after the subject pronoun):
 Elle le connaît depuis cinq ans. – “She’s known him for five years.”
 Je t’aime – “I love you.”
 Nous vous voyons.* – “We see you.”

French Indirect Object Pronouns

Indirect objects are best explained by example.

Consider the English sentence “I kicked the ball to David.” It’s pretty clear that “the ball” is the direct object of the verb “to
kick”; it’s the ball that my foot made contact with.

But my kicking also does something “to” David, indirectly: it makes him receive a ball. David is the indirect object of the verb.
Indirect objects are often indicated in English with the word “to” or “for”.

The French indirect object pronouns look like this:

1st person (je) Me

singular 2nd person (tu) Te

3rd person (il/elle) Lui

1st person (nous) Nous

plural 2nd person (vous) Vous

3rd person (ils/elles) Leur

French Reflexive Pronouns

A reflexive pronoun in French is an object pronoun that refers to the same thing as the subject of the sentence. They correspond
to the English pronouns that end in “self”: “myself”, “yourself”, “himself” etc.
If you know how to say “my name is” in French, you’ve already seen a French reflexive pronoun. It’s the m’ in je m’appelle –
literally, “I call myself”!
The French reflexive pronouns are:

1st person (je) Me

singular 2nd person (tu) Te

3rd person (il/elle) Se

1st person (nous) Nous

plural 2nd person (vous) Vous

3rd person (ils/elles) Se

31
Note that the reflexive pronouns look identical to the direct object pronouns, except in the third person, where it’s se in both the
singular and plural. Se abbreviates to s’ before a vowel sound.
 Je me regarde dans le miroir. – “I look at myself in the mirror.*
 On se connait? – “Do we know each other?”
 Il s’est lavé. – “He washed himself.”
 *Ils se sont lavés – “They washed themselves.”
 Nous nous amuserons. – “We’ll amuse ourselves.” Note the difference between reflexive and direct/indirect object
pronouns:
 Ils se voient. – “They see each other.”
 Ils les voient. – “They see them” (i.e. they see someone other than themselves.)
 Elles se parlent. – “They’re talking to each other.”
 Elles leur parlent. – “They’re talking to them” (i.e. someone else.)

French Pronoun Order

When a phrase contains multiple personal pronouns, they follow a strict order:

Number Person Slot

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1st je me

2nd tu te

Singular il Le
y en
3rd elle se La lui

on ne le/la

1st nous nous

2nd vous vous

Plural
ils
3rd se Les leur y en
Elles

French Stressed Pronouns

The stressed pronouns are as follows:

moi Me

toi You

lui Him

elle Her

nous Us

32
vous You

Eux them – masculine or mixed

Elles them – feminine

French Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are for stating that something belongs to someone. In English, these would be words like “mine”, “yours”,
“hers”, etc.

French possessive pronouns work the same way, with a couple of differences:

 The pronoun must match the gender and number (singular or plural) of the noun it replaces.
 A definite article – le, la or les – comes before the pronoun.
Here is a summary of all the possessive pronouns in French:

Singular Plural

Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine

Mine le mien la mienne les miens les miennes

yours (tu) le tien la tienne les tiens les tiennes

his, hers, its le sien la sienna les siens les siennes

Ours le nôtre la nôtre les nôtres les nôtres

yours (vous) le vôtre la vôtre les vôtres les vôtres

Theirs le leur la leur les leurs les leurs

And a couple of example sentences:

 Est-ce que ce portefeuille est le tien ? Oui, c’est le mien. (“Is this wallet yours?” “Yes, it’s mine.”)
 A qui sont ces assiettes ? Ce sont les nôtres. (“Whose plates are these?” “They are ours.”)

French Demonstrative Pronouns and Determiners

The demonstrative pronouns in French are used to highlight, emphasise, or draw attention to something, or to distinguish one
thing from another. They’re related to the demonstrative determiners (sometimes also called demonstrative adjectives.)
Determiners Pronouns

singular ce (cet before a vowel sound) celui

masculine
plural Ces celle

singular Cette ceux

Feminine
plural Ces celles

Use ce, cet, cette and ces to modify a noun. While English distinguishes between “this” and “that” for objects that are closer or
farther away, French doesn’t make that distinction:
 Ces vêtements sont trop chers. – “These/those clothes are too expensive.”
 Cet acteur m’agace! – “This/that actor irritates me!”

33
Use celui, celle, ceux and celles to say “the one” or ”the ones”. You can use French demonstrative pronouns in three situations:
1. With the suffixes -ci and -la. When paired with -ci, they mean “the one here” or “the ones here” – or, more naturally,
“this one” or “these ones”. With -la, they mean “that one” or “those ones”. If using -ci and -la in the same sentence,
then -ci comes first:
 Quel garçon l'a fait, celui-ci ou celui-là? – “Which boy did it, this one or that one?”
 Tu veux celles-ci? Non, je préfère celles-là – “Do you want these ones? No, I prefer these ones.”
1. To introduce a clause with a relative pronoun. (Remember the relative pronouns?)
 Voici celle dont j’ai rêvé. – “Here is the one that I dreamt of.”
 Ce vin est celui que tu n’aimes pas – “This wine is the one you don’t like.”
 Ceux qui sont polis recevront un cadeau. – “Those who are polite will receive a gift.”
1. With a prepositional phrase (usually one with de):
 C’est ta voiture? Non, c’est celle de mes parents.* – “Is this your car? No, it’s my parents’.”

Indefinite French Demonstrative Pronouns

The indefinite French demonstrative pronouns are ce (c’ before a vowel), ça, ceci and cela.
They refer to something abstract or unspecified, and, as such, they don’t need to agree with anything. This means they don’t have
a number or gender.

Ce, when used as an indefinite demonstrative, means “this” or “it”. It’s usually used with être (“to be”):
 C’est important – “It’s important.”
 C’est la vie! – “That’s life!”
 Ce sont de bonnes nouvelles. – “It’s good news.”
Ce also works with devoir or pouvoir, but only when those verbs are followed by être.
 Ce doit être une mauvaise idée – “This must be a bad idea.”
 Ce peut être difficile de ne pas se fâcher – “It can be difficult not to get angry.”
Ce can also work without a verb, but it sounds pretty formal and isn’t very common:
 Elle a travaillé en Allemagne, et ce en tant que bénévole. – “She worked in Germany, and this as a volunteer.”
Use ça with all other verbs. This includes pouvoir and devoir when they’re not followed by être:
 Ça va? – “How are you?” (literally: “Does that go?”)
 Ça peut nous aider. – “It can help us”
Ça can also be used as the direct or indirect object of a verb:
 Je trouve ça très ennuyeux – “I find that very annoying.”
 Tu es d’accord avec ça? – “Do you agree with that?”
Ceci and cela mean “this” and “that” respectively. They can be used as drop-in replacements for ça, although they’re more
formal, and less common in everyday speech:
 Je trouve ceci très ennuyeux – “I find this very boring.”
 Tu es d’accord avec cela? – “Do you agree with that?”















 Chapter four
 Les adjectives (Adjectives)

Adjectives come in handy in our everyday lives. I used two in that sentence alone! To speak French
fluently, you’ll need to describe all kinds of things, from your food and drink to your job or your best

34
friend. There are all kinds of French adjectives, and all kinds of rules to follow when using them. Let’s
delve in…

French adjectives to describe a person: When learning a language we learn to describe people quite
early on, so to begin, you should be able to describe yourself in French using adjectives.

Here are just a few examples using the verbs avoir and être…
 J’ai les cheveux blonds – I have blond hair
 Il a les cheveux bouclés – He has curly hair
 J’ai les yeux bleus – I have blue eyes
 Elle est grande – She is tall
Describing a person in French isn’t something we tend to do every day. However, French adjectives to
describe personality and mood are far more commonly used.

Here are a few examples:

 Je suis content – I am happy

 Il est fatigué – He is tired
 Vous êtes triste – You are sad
 Nous sommes fachés – We are angry
 Il est sympa – He is nice
 Elle est timide – She is shy
 Vous êtes gentil – You are kind

Feminine and Masculine

Here are a few examples of French adjectives (masculine and feminine) with nouns that you might
already know:

 Un bol rond – a round bowl

 Une assiette ronde – a round plate
 Un mur blanc – a white wall
 Une porte blanche – a white door
 Un ordinateur neuf – a new computer
 Une télévision neuve – a new television
List of French adjectives – masculine and feminine

Here is a list of the most common French describing words, and their feminine equivalents:

 grand(e) – big/tall
 petit(e) – small
 bon(ne) – good
 mauvais(e) – bad
 beau/belle – beautiful
 chaud(e) – hot
 froid(e) – cold
 gentil(le) – kind
When a word ends in a vowel then a consonant, we must double the last letter before adding the ‘e’.
For example: bon/bonne, gentil/gentille.

Note: Some adjectives change completely when they become feminine. For example, as you saw
above, “beau” becomes “belle”.

35
Some adjectives don’t have a feminine equivalent. Many of these are adjectives that already end in
the letter ‘e’. Here are some common examples of adjectives that stay the same for both genders:

 bien – good
 confortable – comfortable
 calme – calm
 difficile – difficult
 facile – easy
 pauvre – poor
 riche – rich
 propre – clean
 sale – dirty
 timide – shy
 sympathique – kind
 sympa – kind/nice (frequently used abbreviation of sympathique)
These adjectives don’t have a feminine equivalents, however they can still be transformed into plural…

Plural

Once you’ve mastered the masculine and feminine, you need to get your head around the French
adjective agreement for plural nouns. Simply put, when we add an ‘s’ to the noun to make it plural, we
need to add an ‘s’ to the adjective too.

 Un grand lac – A big lake

 Deux grands lacs – Two big lakes
 La chaussure rose – The pink shoe
 Les chaussures roses – The pink shoes
Of course, this is French we’re talking about, and things are never as straightforward as one might
hope! We’ve seen the feminine, we’ve seen the plural, and now we need to combine both to create the
feminine plural.

 Les tables basses – Low tables (meaning: coffee tables)

 Les chaises hautes – High chair (meaning: both baby high chairs and bar stools)
Here’s a recap of when to use adjective agreement with the word “petit”:

 Le petit garçon – the little boy (masculine singular)

 La petite fille – the little girl (feminine singular)
 Les petits garçons – the little boys (masculine plural)
 Les petites filles – the little girls (feminine plural)
When using a plural of both masculine and feminine objects, or talking about a group of both males
and females, the default is always masculine (eg. les petits enfants).

Invariable adjectives

Once you can understand the French plural adjectives, feminine adjectives and even the feminine
plural, and you think that French might not be too hard after all, we’re going to add one more
complication into the mix. Invariable adjectives. These are a small group of adjectives that DO NOT
change, therefore they have neither a feminine form nor a plural form. Don’t be afraid, there’s an easy
way to remember which adjectives fall into this category…

Colors with two meanings. Colors are of course adjectives, and when the name of the color is derived
from a flower, fruit, animal or even metal, then the adjective is invariable. Here are the most common
invariable colors along with the noun they derive from:

36
  argent – silver (metal)
 marron – brown (marron: chestnut)
 lavande – lavender (lavender plant)
 orange – orange (fruit)
 turquoise – turquoise (jewel)
The most common exceptions to this rule are rose (color: pink, noun: rose flower), fauve (color:
fawn/tawny, noun: big cat or wild animal) and mauve (color: mauve, noun: mallow flower).
Example:

 2 chaussures marron et 2 chaussettes roses – 2 brown shoes and 2 pink socks

Order of French adjectives

As a general rule, French adjectives go after the noun.

 La fille américaine porte un chapeau rouge.

The American girl wears a red hat.
 La semaine prochaine nous allons au restaurant italien.
Next week we’re going to the Italian restaurant.

The acronym to remember these exceptions is BANGS: beauty, age, numbers, greatness, size.

Beauty:
 Beau/belle – beautiful
 joli – pretty
Age:
 vieux – old
 jeune – young
 nouveau – new
Numbers:
Ordinal numbers including…
 premier – first
 deuxième – second
 troisième – third
Greatness:
 Bon/bonne – good
 mauvais/e – bad
 meilleur – best
 pire – worst
Size
 Grand/grande – big
 petit – small
 gros – big/fat
Examples of sentences with the adjective before the noun:

 Le premier ministre – The prime minister

 La vieille dame marche dans la petite rue avec son gros chien. – The old lady walks in the
street with her fat dog.
 Une jeune fille joue avec son nouveau ballon et sa jolie poupée. – A young girl plays with her
new ball and her pretty dolly.

Some adjectives have different meanings depending on whether they come before or after the noun.

Ancien – old/former
 Mon ancienne maison – My former/previous house
 Une maison ancienne – An old house

37
Propre – clean/own
 Il a son propre sac – He has his own bag
 Un sac propre – A clean bag
Seule – alone/only
 Le bébé est seul – The baby is alone
 J’ai un seul bébé – I have only one baby
Cher – Dearest/expensive
“Dear” can mean two things in English, which will help you to remember the two French meanings:

Mon cher grand-père porte une montre chère – my dear Grandfather wears an expensive watch
Note: Dernier (last) and prochain (next) always go before the noun, unless it’s a time word such as
week, month and year.

Examples:

 J’ai vu le dernier match. C’était la semaine dernière. – I saw the last match. It was last week.
 Février dernier nous sommes allés au dernier spectacle d’Elton John. – Last February we went
to Elton John’s last concert.
Adjectives that give praise and show admiration have the same meaning whether they are before or
after the noun in a sentence. Some examples of these are excellent, incroyable, formidable,
fantastique, remarquable.
Example:

 Une histoire incroyable – An incredible story

 Une incroyable histoire – An incredible story
How to use more than one adjective in a sentence

The last of the French adjectives rules that you need to know is the use of several adjectives in a
sentence. Most of the time one adjective goes before the noun and another goes after it.

Examples:

 Une jeune fille intelligente – A young, intelligent girl

 Un petit chapeau pointu – A small, pointy hat
You can also simply say both adjectives after the noun. In a list form, the last adjective must be
preceded by “et” (and). Without saying “et”, the meaning of the sentence can change.

Examples:

Un pantalon noir evasé (Black, flared pants/trousers)

Des devoirs ennuyants, difficiles et fatigants (Boring, difficult and tiring homework)
Un professeur sympa, amiable et drôle (A nice, friendly and funny teacher)
Le bol rond et bleu (the round blue bowl)
Le bol rond bleu (the blue round bowl, emphasis on the color as there may be other round
bowls)
Compound adjectives

The French adjectifs composés, or compound adjectives are two adjectives used together to create a
new meaning.
Here are some examples of unique French adjectives.

 aigre-doux – sweet and sour

 bleu clair – light blue (or any other color)

38
  rouge foncé – dark red (or any other color)
 anglo-saxon – Anglo-Saxon
 nouveaux-nés – newborns babies
 l’avant-dernière – penultimate/second to last
 ultra-violet – ultra-violet
 infra-rouge – infra-red
 sud-américain – south-American
 bien-aimé – beloved
Invariables don’t change, but other adjectives should agree and therefore use the feminine, masculine
or plural according to the noun in question.

Exercise key:

1. Une grosse araignée – a big spider (feminine singular)

2. Un livre intéressant – an interesting book (masculin singular)
3. Une chambre orange – an orange bedroom (feminine singular, but the color orange is named
after the fruit and therefore is invariable)
4. Des stylos noirs – black pens (masculine plural)
5. Des jolies fleurs – pretty flowers (feminine plural)

Le comparatif des adjectives

Comparisons with adjectives are expressed according to the following pattern:

+ plus Adjective (+ que) Plus cher (que) Moreexpensive (than)

- Moins Moins cher (que) Less expensive (than)

= aussi Aussi cher (que) As expensive as

 LIAISON is required after plus and moins.

Plus intelligent moins intelligent

 Stressed pronouns are used after que

Paul est plus grand que toi. Tu es moimoins grand que

39
  The comparative of bon/bonne (good) is meilleur/meilleure (better)

La tarte aux pommes est bonne. La tarte aux poire est meilleure

LE SUPERLATIF DES ADJECTIFS

In a superlative constgruction, one or several people or things are compared to the rest of the group. Note

the superlative constructions in the following sentences:

Anne est la fille la plus gentille de la classe. Anne is the nicest girl in the classe

C’est l’hotel le plus moderne de la ville It’s the most modern hotel in the city

Oὺ est la boutique la moins chere? Where is the least expensive shop?

Qui sont les eleves les moins serieux? Who are the least serious students?

Superlative constructions are formost modernedaccording to this pattern:

Le/la/les Plus adjective Le/la/les plus moderne The most modern

Moins adjective Le/la/les moins modern

The least modern

 The position of the superlative adjective (BEFORE or AFTER the noun) ts usually the same as the simple

adjective.

Voice une fille intelligente. Elle est la fille la plus intelligente de la classe

40
 Voice une jolie boutique. C’est la plus jolie boutique de la ville.

CHAPTER FIVE

les verbes francais

French verbs are identified by their endings. There are French verbs that end in –er, -ir, and –re.

1. LES VERBES REGULIERS EN –ER: FORMES AFFIRMATIVES ET NEGATIVES

INFINITIVE PARLER NEGATIVE ENDINGS

STEM PARL-

41
 PRESENT Je parle Je ne parle pas -e

Tu parles Tu ne parles pas -es

Il/elle/on parle Il/elle/on ne parle pas -e

Nous parlons Nous ne parlons pas -ons

Vous parlez Vous ne parlez pas -ez

Ils/elles parlent Ils/elles ne parlent pas -ent

 For verbs ending in -ger, the nous- form is written with –geons:

nous mangeons, nous nageons

 The stem of the acheter is written with ѐ in the je, tu, il and ils- forms.

J’achѐte, tu achѐtes, il/elle achѐte, ils/elles achѐtent

These are 3 most common French verbs conjugations in present, present perfect, imperfect, and future tense.

Examples and grammar tips included!

.

1. Être (to be)

Présent Passé composé Imparfait Futur simple

(Present) (Imperfect)

42
 (Present perfect)

Je suis J’ai été J’étais Je serai

Tu es Tu as été Tu étais Tu seras

Il/elle est Il/elle a été Il/elle était Il/elle sera

Nous sommes Nous avons été Nous étions Nous serons

Vous êtes Vous avez été Vous étiez Vous serez

43
 Ils/elles sont Ils/elles ont été Ils/elles étaient Ils/elles seront

Example:

Ils sont devant le musée. (They are in front of the museum.)

E.g. Il est parti tard. (He left late.)

2. Avoir (to have)

Présent (Present) Passé composé (Present perfect) Imparfait Futur simple (Future
(Imperfect)

J’ai J’ai eu J’avais J’aurai

Tu as Tu as eu Tu avais Tu auras

Il/elle a Il/elle a eu Il/elle avait Il/elle aura

Nous avons Nous avons eu Nous avions Nous aurons

44
 Vous avez Vous avez eu Vous aviez Vous aurez

Ils/elles ont Ils/elles ont eu Ils/elles avaient Ils/elles auront

Example:

Nous avons eu deux réunions hier. (We had two meetings yesterday.)

Grammar tip:

Like “être”, “avoir” is an essential French verb and has irregular conjugations. For the vast majority of French verbs
conjugation, “avoir” serves as the auxiliary verb in the compound tenses and moods.

E.g. Ils ont déjà vu le film. (They have already seen the film.)

3. Aller (to go)

Présent (Present) Passé composé (Present perfect) Imparfait Futur simple (Futur
(Imperfect)

Je vais Je suis allé(e) J’allais J’irai

Tu vas Tu es allé(e) Tu allais Tu iras

45
 Il/elle va Il/elle est allé(e) Il/elle allait Il/elle ira

Nous allons Nous sommes allé(e)s Nous allions Nous irons

Vous allez Vous êtes allé(e)s Vous alliez Vous irez

Ils/elles vont Ils/elles sont allé(e)s Ils/elles allaient Ils/elles iront

Example:

Ils allaient au parc tous les jours. (They went to the park every day.)

Grammar tip:

Verbs whose auxiliary verb is “être” must show agreement of their past participles in gender (masculine or feminine
— add e) and number (singular or plural — add s).

E.g.

 Masculine subject → Je suis allé.

 Feminine subject → Je suis allée.

 Masculine plural → Ils sont allés.

 Feminine plural → Elles sont allées.

For a mixed group, always use the masculine form.

E.g.

 Thomas et Catherine sont revenus. (Thomas and Catherine came back.)

Les verbes conjugués avec être

46
Aller allé to go Je suis allé au cinema

Sortir sorti to go out,get out Mélanie est sortie avec Christophe

Partir parti to leave Mes parents sont partis en vacances

Arriver arrivé to arrive Vous êtes arrivés à midi

Entrer entré to enter Nous sommes entrés dans le café

Rentrer rentré to return (go home) Nous sommes rentrés lundi

Retourner retourné to return Léa est rotournée à Paris

Monter monté to go up Alice est montée dans sa chambre

to get On Les tourists sont montés dans le bus

Descendre descendu to go down Annie est descendue dans la cave

to get off Je suis descendu de l’avion àNice

Passer passé to pass, to go by Cécile est passé par le parc

Rester resté to stay Les touristes sont restés à l’hȏtel

Tomber tombé to fall L’enfant est tombé dans la rue

Venir venu to come Quand est-ce que vou êtes venus?

Revenir revenu to come back Paul est revenu hier.

Devenir devenu to become Christne est devenue trѐs pale

Chapter six

French adverbs – Les adverbes en francais

First of all, let’s start with understanding what an adverb is. It’s one of the eight parts of speech and its
role is to modify and describe a verb, an adjective, a preposition or an adverb. An adverb gives
information about when, where, how, how often something was, is, would, should or will be done.
Compared to the other parts of the speech that have to agree in number and gender, French adverbs are
invariable, which means their spelling doesn’t change. The only things you need to know about French
adverbs is how they are formed and specific placement rules.

How to form French adverbs

47
As a general rule, the adverb is formed by adding – ment, same as in English when you add – ly to
adjectives to form an adverb. For example “honest” + – ly = “honestly”.

The same rule is applied in French. By adding the suffix – ment you can transform an adjective into an
adverb.

poli (polite) → poliment (politely)

However, there are always some more rules and exceptions

1.

1. If an adjective ends in a vowel, simply add – ment to the masculine form to form the

adverb.

vrai(true) → vraiment (truly)

2. Simply add – ment to the feminine form to form the adverb, if an adjective ends in a

consonant.

lent(m) → lente(f) → lentement (slow/slowly)

3. If an adjective ends in – ant or – ent, remove the ending and add – amment or – emment.

– ant → – amment passionant → passionamment (passionate/ passionately)

– ent → – emment intelligent → intelligemment (intelligent/ intelligently)

There are some exceptions with irregular adverbs, those that don’t follow any rules:

bon (m) → bonne (f) → bien (well)

mauvais (m) → mauvaise (f) → mal (badly)
meilleur (m) → meilleure (f) → mieux (better)

With these adjectives, you would normally use the 2nd rule, however the rules don’t apply on these ones.

Here’s a spreadsheet with different types of adverbs with examples

48
Where to place French adverbs
There are two general rules when it comes to understanding the placement of adverbs in the French
language.

1.

1. If the adverb modifies a verb, it is placed after the conjugated verb.*J’ai bien mangé. → I

ate well.Je pars loin. → I’m leaving far (away).

49
 *If the verb is in a compound tense, then the adverb has to be placed after the auxiliary

verb. Also note that in negative sentences the adverb is placed after “pas”.

Je n’ai pas bien mangé. → I didn’t ate well.

Je ne pars pas loin. → I’m not leaving far.

2. It sits right before, If the adverb modifies an adjective or another adverb.

3. J’ai trop bien mangé. → I ate very well.Je pars trop loin. → I’m leaving very far (away).

And this is it! Make sure to practice forming adverbs, but don’t forget that they are still a separate form of
speech, so you will have to learn them by heart. Good luck!

Chapter seven

La préposition (French prepositions)

What are the most common prepositions in French?

The prepositions à, de and en

 In lists, à, de, and en are repeated before each item (not mentioned once and then left out, as in English).

Examples:

Elle a donné un mouchoir à Pierre et à Zoé.

Il faut de l’eau, de la farine et du sel pour faire une pâte à pizza.

 The prepositions à and de are combined with the articles le and les to make one word.
Preposition +
Example
article

à + le = au la glace au chocolat

à + les = aux Fais attention aux enfants!

de + le = du parler du jeu

de + les = des C’est la table des enfants.

List of important French prepositions

The following tables list the most important prepositions in French grammar.

50
Prepositions – Time

French English Usage Example

at for times of day à 8 heures

for spring (the season) au printemps

à in
for ages or eras au XXème siècle

to with from … to … de 8 heures à 9 heures

après 8 heures
après after after a certain event or time
après le cours

avant 8 heures
avant before before a certain event or time
avant le cours

dans in in… (how long until something happens) dans une heure

de 8 heures à 9 heures
de From with from … to …
du lundi au jeudi

depuis 1980
depuis since, for starting at a certain point and continuing until now
depuis 2 ans

dès 8 heures
dès Since starting at a certain point and continuing until now
dès lundi

Months en février
In
en all seasons except for spring en été, en automne, en hiver

In Years en 2008

jusque Until until a certain point jusqu’en février

pendant les vacances

pendan during,
to indicate how long something lasts
t for…
pendant trois jours

Prepositions – Place (Position and Direction)

51
 French English Usage Example

Buildings à la bibliothèque, au cinema

À in, to city names à Paris

country names (masc.) au Pérou, aux Etats-Unis

à côté next to physical proximity to sth. Jeanne est à côté de la voiture.

à droite Right to the right of sth. à droite de la voiture

à gauche Left to the left of sth. à gauche de la voiture

au-delà Beyond beyond, farther than a place au-delà des montagnes

au- located below, but not immediately beneath

Below au-dessous de la voiture
dessous sth.

located above, but not immediately on top of

au-dessus Above au-dessus de la voiture
sth.

à travers la porte
à travers Through action that reaches the other side of sth.
à travers la France

at/to a person’s house/apartment chez Christophe

at/to (someone’s
Chez
place) chez le coiffeur, chez le
at/to a professional’s place of work
fleuriste

Contre Against in the sense of leaning on sth. contre la voiture

room, building, street, city, country dans la ville

book, newspaper, etc. dans le livre

Dans in, into
means of transportation dans le train

World dans le monde

De From from a place Je viens de Paris.

Derrière Behind behind sth. derrière la maison

En in, to country names (fem.) en France, en Suisse

en dehors Outside directly outside of sth. en-dehors de la maison

52
 French English Usage Example

en face Across directly across from sth. Il habite en face de chez moi.

hors out of, outside of outside the limits of sth. Il habite hors de la ville.

loin Far Distance J’habite loin de la gare.

par Through through sth. regarder par la fenêtre

près Near physical proximity J’habite près de la gare.

sous Under directly under sth. sous la table

Over directly over sth. sur la tête

sur
On directly on sth. sur la table

Towards in the direction of sth. Va vers le nord!

vers
Near near … Versailles se trouve vers Paris.

Other Important Prepositions

French English Usage Example

le gâteau au chocolat, la machine à

material, purpose
[describing a purpose or laver
à
material], by
travel by foot, by bicycle aller à pied, à vélo

with someone or sth. avec son chien, avec Jean

avec with
in a certain manner avec joie

contre against to refuse/reject sth. être contre une idée

d'après according to indicating a source d’après le journal

referring to a possessor une page du livre

de of, by, from creator, author, etc. un livre de Victor Hugo

source, giver un cadeau de Jeanne

en made of material un pull en coton

53
 French English Usage Example

means of transportation (except

by en voiture, en train, en avion
bicycle)

between two mentioned people or

entre sbetween entre les arbres, entre toi et moi
objects

excepté/
except for referring to an exception Tous sont venus excepté/sauf Julien.
sauf

Grâce à Emilie/mon ordinateur, j’ai

grâce à thanks to with the help of someone/something
terminé plus vite.

malgré despite in spite of an obstacle malgré le mauvais temps

by means of means, instrument, manner par mail

referring to the cause of the action in

par by La voiture est lavée par le garçon.
the passive

per referring to distribution trois fois par semaine

parmi among belonging to a group la plus grande parmi les filles

for, because of reason être arrêté pour vol

purpose, intention pour le travail

pour
recipient un cadeau pour mon père
for

agreement être pour une idée

sans ma valise
referring to the lack of things or
sans without
people
sans mon frère

depending on depending on selon les possibilités

selon
according to according to someone/something selon le journal

54
CHAPTER EIGHT

LES CONJONCTIONS

What are conjunctions?

Conjunctions (les conjunctions) are connecting words or linking words: they connect words, phrases and clauses to each other to
form complete sentences. In French, word order doesn’t change when we do this. Coordinating conjunctions, such as et,
ou, and mais join words, phrases or independent clauses together. Subordinating conjunctions, such as aprés que, bien que,
or comme join an independent clause with a dependent or subordinate one.

Let Lingolia teach you everything you need to know about conjunctions in French grammar, then test out your knowledge in the
free exercises.

Example

Christine est en vacances mais son mari est resté à la maison.

Elle passe ses vacances au bord de la mer du Nord parce qu'elle aime la mer.

Elle veut voir le coucher de soleil, c'est pourquoi elle est sur la plage.

Coordinating Conjunctions

The French coordinating conjunctions (les conjonctions de coordination) are car, donc, et, mais, ni, or, ou. They connect two
independent clauses or two nouns.

Example:

Christine est en vacances mais son mari est resté à la maison.

There’s an easy trick to remember the French coordinating conjunctions, just ask yourself:

Mais où est donc Ornicar?

55
This little question contains all the coordinating conjunctions in one. But remember – don’t confuse the conjunction ou (or) with
the adverb où (where), the accent makes all the difference! Likewise, don’t mix up the conjunction et with the
3rd person singular of être, est.

Overview of the French coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating
Translation Example
Conjunction

Car because Les magasins sont fermés car aujourd’hui est un jour férié.

Le programme informatique ne fonctionnait pas parfaitement, j’ai donc appelé le

Donc So
service client.

Et And Nous avons invité Romain et Denise au restaurant.

Mais But Ce professeur est intéressant mais il ne parle pas assez fort.

neither …
ni … ni Kévin n’aime ni les haricots, ni les épinards.
nor

Mon patron a essayé de m’appeler cinq fois, or je lui ai bien spécifié que je ne
Or But
serais pas joignable ce week-end.

Ou Or Nous pouvons tourner à gauche ou continuer tout droit.

56