Grammar Guide
Grammar is simply the rules about how a language works.
In the pages that follow you will find explanations about how the French language works.
The following terms are used and it is a good idea to learn them:-
Noun – a naming word, e.g. table, book, dog, man (NOTE: a proper noun is a place name, a person’s name, e.g. Paris, Switzerland, John)
Pronoun – a word which could be used instead of a noun e.g. “he” in place of “the man”, “it” in place of “the table, “they” in place of “Paul and John.
Adjective – a describing word, e.g. big, red, old, French (NOTE: an adjective always describes a noun)
Verb – a doing word, e.g. to play, to eat, to speak (NOTE: when the verb has the word “to” in front of it, we say that the verb is “an infinitive”)
Adverb – a describing word explaining how we do something, e.g. quickly, easily, happily (NOTE: an adverb always describes a verb)
Preposition – a word which tells you where something is e.g. in, under, above
GRAMMAR INDEX
Page 1 Nouns (masculine; feminine; nouns starting with a vowel/letter “h”; plural)
Page 2 Adjectives (endings; position in the sentence)
Page 3 Pronouns
Page 4 Verbs (present tense of verbs ending in “er”, “ir”, “re”; irregular verbs; jouer and faire with sports and leisure activities; immediate future tense)
Page 9 My, your, his, her, its, our, your, their
Page 10 Adverbs
Page 11 Prepositions
French Grammar
NOUNS
1. In French nouns are split into 2 groups –
French people have decided that some nouns are masculine so they use le for “the” and un for “a”, therefore le sac is “the” bag; un sac is “a bag”; and «sac» is a masculine noun.
The other nouns are feminine so they use la for “the” and une for “a”, therefore la chaise is “the chair”; une chaise is “a chair”; and «chaise» is a feminine noun.
2. Sometimes the noun begins with a vowel sound, e.g. arbre (tree); in this case the word for “the” is l’; l’arbre = the tree but since the word “arbre” is thought of as masculine we would still use “un” for “a”.
In French the letter “h” is usually not pronounced so a word which starts with “h” usually sounds as though it starts with a vowel and will then use l’ for “the” e.g. l’hôtel
3. There is no way of knowing whether a noun is masculine or feminine – each noun simply has to be learned with le/la/un/une in front of it.
PLURAL OF NOUNS
To make most nouns plural add “s” and change the word for “the” to les, e.g. le sac = the bed, les sacs = the beds; la chaise = the chair, les chaises = the chairs; l’arbre = the tree, les arbres = the trees.
ADJECTIVES
Some examples of adjectives in French are grand = tall/big, rouge = red, petit = small.
Adjectives work differently in French.
The first difference is that adjectives in French take endings (usually called “agreements”) and the pattern of endings is as follows: -
If the adjective is describing a masculine noun e.g. le/un sac, use the adjective without changing its spelling; therefore use grand, rouge, petit
If the adjective is describing a feminine noun e.g. la/une chaise, add “e” to the adjective (don’t add the “e” if there is already one on the end of the adjective); therefore use grande, rouge, petite
If the adjective is describing a masculine plural noun e.g. les sacs, add “s” to the adjective; therefore use grands, rouges, petits
If the adjective is describing a feminine plural noun e.g. les chaises, add “es” to the adjective (don’t add the “e” if there is already one on the end of the adjective); therefore use grandes, rouges, petites
The second difference is where adjectives go in the sentence.
In English we say “a red bag” in French this becomes “un sac rouge” – this is the rule for most adjectives, they come after the thing they are describing.
There are exceptions and the two most common are “grand” and “petit” – they always go in front of the thing they are describing; therefore, “un grand sac”, “un petit sac” but remember – they still take endings (une grande chaise)!
PRONOUNS
The main pronouns in French are:-
je / j’ = I (je is only given a capital letter at the beginning of a sentence)
tu = you (when talking to one person you know well)
il = he
il = it (when replacing a masculine word e.g. le sac would be replaced by il)
elle = she
elle = it (when replacing a feminine word e.g. la chaise would be replaced by elle)
nous = we
vous = you (for any number of people you don’t really know or for more than one person you know)
ils = they (for a masculine or mixed group e.g. les hommes (the men) would be replaced by ils; les sacs would be replaced by ils; Paul et Marie would be replaced by ils)
elles = they (for a feminine group e.g. les filles (the girls) would be replaced by elles; les chaises would be replaced by elles)
VERBS
1. In French a verb in the infinitive (“to”…) ends in one of three ways and the most common way is “er”; therefore, jouer = to play, parler = to speak. The other two ways are “ir” and “re” e.g. finir = to finish, vendre = to sell.
2. Verbs are used in different tenses to let us talk about things that happen at different times. They are used in the present tense to allow us to talk about things which are going on in our lives at present; they are used in the future tense to allow us to talk about things which have yet to happen.
PRESENT TENSE of verbs ending in “er”. Examples of commonly used verbs ending in “er” are :- jouer – to play regarder – to watch arriver – to arrive écouter – to listen to parler – to speak travailler – to work
To use a verb in the present tense you do the following
1. Remove “er” – “jouer” therefore becomes “jou”
2. Use the pronouns je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles
3. After each pronoun use “jou”
4. Add the following endings With “je jou” add “e” → je joue = I play, am playing With “tu jou” add “es” → tu joues = you play, are playing With “il jou” add “e” → il joue = he/it plays, is playing With “elle jou” add “e” → elle joue = she/it plays, is playing With “nous jou” add “ons” → nous jouons = we play, are playing With “vous jou” add “ez” → vous jouez = you play, are playing With “ils jou” add “ent → ils jouent = they play, are playing With “elles jou” add “ent” → elles jouent = they play, are playing
If you use someone’s name e.g. Marie, use the same part of the verb as you use after “elle”→ Marie joue; if you use a boy’s name (Joe), use the same part of the verb as “il”→Joe joue if you are using the names of two people e.g. Marie and Paul, you use the same part of the verb as “ils”→ Marie et Paul jouent; “John and I” uses the same part of the verb as “nous”→ Jean et moi jouons
WATCH! If the verb starts with a vowel “je” will become j’. e.g. j’écoute
There are two “er” verbs to watch for – “manger” (to eat)follows all the rules up above except for the “nous” part where you have to add an extra letter → nous mangeons; “commencer” (to start) follows all the rules up above except for the “nous” part where you have to alter the “c” → nous commençons
PRESENT TENSE of verbs ending in “ir”
Examples of commonly used verbs ending in “ir” are: - finir – to finish choisir – to choose remplir – to fill
To use a verb in the present tense you do the following
1. Remove “ir” – “finir” therefore becomes “fin”
2. Use the pronouns je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles
3. After each pronoun use “fin”
4. Add the following endings With “je fin” add “is” → je finis = I finish, am finishing With “tu fin” add “is” → tu finis = you finish, are finishing With “il fin” add “it” → il finit = he/it finishes, is finishing With “elle fin” add “it” → elle finit = she/it finishes, is finishing With “nous fin” add “issons” → nous finissons = we finish, are finishing With “vous fin” add “issez” → vous finissez = you finish, are finishing With “ils fin” add “issent → ils finissent = they finish, are finishing With “elles jou” add “issent” → elles finissent = they finish, are finishing
PRESENT TENSE of verbs ending in “re”
Examples of commonly used verbs ending in “re” are: - vendre – to sell attendre – to wait for
To use a verb in the present tense you do the following
1. Remove “re” – “vendre” therefore becomes “vend”
2. Use the pronouns je, tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles
3. After each pronoun use “vend”
4. Add the following endings With “je vend” add “s” → je vends = I sell, am selling With “tu vend” add “s” → tu vends = you sell, are selling With “il vend” add “nothing” → il vend = he/it sells, is selling With “elle vend” add “nothing” → elle vend = she/it sells, is selling With “nous vend” add “ons” → nous vendons = we sell, are selling With “vous vend” add “ez” → vous vendez = you sell, are selling With “ils vend” add “ent → ils vendent = they sell, are selling With “elles vend” add “ent” → elles vendent = they sell, are selling
PRESENT TENSE of IRREGULAR VERBS
Some verbs are known as irregular verbs; that simply means that they don’t follow the usual pattern of endings which were shown up above.
The most common of these verbs are:- aller – to go avoir – to have être – to be faire – to make/do sortir – to go out lire – to read
The pattern for each of these verbs is as follows:-
aller - to go avoir – to have
je vais – I go, am going j’ai – I have, am having tu vas – you go, are going tu as – you have, are having il va – he/it goes, is going il a – he/it has, is having elle va – she/it goes, is going elle a – she/ it has, is having nous allons – we go, are going nous avons – we have, are having vous allez – you go, are going vous avez – you have, are having ils vont – they go, are going ils ont – they have, are having elles vont – they go, are going elles ont – they have, are having
être – to be faire – to make/do
je suis - I am je fais – I make/do, am making/doing tu es – you are tu fais – you make/do, are making/doing il est – he/it is il fait – he/it makes/does, is making/doing elle est – she/it is elle fait – she/it makes/does, is making/doing nous sommes – we are nous faisons – we make/do, are making/doing vous êtes – you are vous faites – you make/do, are making/doing ils sont – they are ils font – they make/do, are making/doing elles sont – they are elles font – they make/do, are making/doing
sortir – to go out lire – to read
je sors – I go out, am going out je lis – I read,am reading tu sors – you go out, are going out tu lis – you read, are reading il sort – he/it goes out, is going out il lit – he reads, is reading elle sort – she/ it goes out, is going out elle lit – she reads, is reading nous sortons – we go out, are going out nous lisons – we read, are reading vous sortez – you go out, are going out vous lisez – you read, are reading ils sortent – they go out/are going out ils lisent – they read, are reading elles sortent – they go out, are going out elles lisent – they read, are reading
JOUER and FAIRE with sports and leisure activities
In French we actually say e.g. “I play at the football/at the computer” etc – this is obviously different from English so you have to work with the word à which means at.
You then have to add on the word for the - le, la, l’, les.
The following rules then apply –
à + le changes to au therefore je joue à + le football → je joue au football à + la stays the same therefore je joue à + la pétanque → je joue à la pétanque à + l’ stays the same therefore je joue à + l’ ordinateur → je joue à l’ ordinateur à + les changes to aux therefore je joue à + les échecs → je joue aux échecs
We also say in French “I do some of the judo/some of the swimming” etc – which again is different from English so you have to work with the word de which means some.
You then have to add on the word for the - le, la, l’, les.
The following rules then apply –
de + le changes to du therefore je fais de + le judo → je fais du judo de + la stays the same therefore je fais de + la natation → je fais de + la natation de + l’ stays the same therefore je fais de + l’équitation → je fais de + l’équitation de + les changes to des therefore je fais de + les posters → je fais des posters
Watch – if you want to say I do not do…… or I don’t do…… you forget about the rule above and you just use de i.e. I don’t do judo → je ne fais pas de judo
IMMEDIATE FUTURE TENSE
This is the easiest version of the future tense and is made up as follows
1. Use the verb “aller” - to go
je vais, tu vas, il va, elle va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont, elles vont
2. Follow the part of aller you want to use with an infinitive (the part of the verb ending with “er”, “ir”, “re”) e.g. jouer, regarder
3. Therefore you get
je vais jouer I am going to play tu vas jouer you are going to play il va jouer he is going to play elle va jouer she is going to play nous allons jouer we are going to play vous allez jouer you are going to play ils vont jouer they are going to play elles vont jouer they are going to play
MY, YOUR, HIS, HER, ITS, OUR, YOUR, THEIR.
In French there is more than one word for my, your, his etc. The correct word for my etc depends on whether the following word is masculine, feminine, or plural.
The rule works as follows
Followed by a masculine word / Followed by a feminine word / Followed by a plural wordmy / mon / ma / mes
your (used along with “tu”) / ton / ta / tes
his / son / sa / ses
her / son / sa / ses
its / son / sa / ses
our / notre / notre / nos
your(used along with vous) / votre / votre / vos
their / leur / leur / leurs
Examples