GRAMMER

ADJECTIVES:

English adjectives are invariable, that’s not the case of French adjectives. In French, adjectives
change depending on two things:

1. The gender of the noun they describe

2. The number (plural or singular) of the noun they describe

Here is a rule you can follow in most cases:

 You add a “e” to adjectives that describe a feminine noun, except if the adjective already
ends with a silent “e”
 You add a “s” to adjectives that describe a plural noun, except if the adjective already
ends in “s”

Un petit croissant (a small croissant)

Une petite surprise (a small surprise)

Des petits changements (small changes)

Exemples :

 Petit: Small
 Grand: Large, tall
 Jeune: young
 Vieux: Old (masculine)
 Vieille: Old (feminine)
 Beau : Handsome ; beautiful (Masculine)
 Belle : Beautiful (feminine)
 Fort : Strong
 Fabile : Weak (person,object)
 Froid : Cold
 Chaud : hot
 Bien chaud: warm
 Long: long
 Court: Short
 Chair: Clear, Bright;thin
 Bas: low
 Haut: high, tall
 Leger: Light
 Lourd: Heavy
 Propre: Clean
 Sale: Dirty
 Plein: Full
 Vide: Empty
 Sec: Dry
 Humide: Damp
 Frais: Fresh ; chilly ; wet (Paint)
 Bon: Good; Right
 Mauvais: bad; wrong
 Nouveau: New
 Proche: near
 Facile: Easy
 Difficile : Difficult
 Dur : Hard
 Pauvre : Poor
 Riche : Rich
 Content : Happy, satisfied
 Fatigue : Tired
 Triste: Sad, unhappy
 Sain: Healthy
 Malade: Ill
 Gentil: Kind, Nice
 Sympathique: Nice, friendly
 WORDS TO USE WITH ADJECTIVES:
 Il est: He’s…. it’s….
 Elle est: She’s…. It’s….
 C’est » It is
 Il Fait : It is (talking about weather)
 Plus: More
 Moins: Less
 Tres: Very
 Tout: All, completely (masculine)
 Toute: All, completely (Feminine)
 Bien: Quite… Rather… Pretty
 Assez: Quite… Rather… Sufficiently
 Peu: hardly…, not…
 Pas: Not..
 Si: so…
  Tellement: So…
 Nettement: noticeable
 Gravement: Seriously

Adjective Forms:

Types of adjective: Examples

Fem Masc
Masc sing Fem plural Meaning
sing plural
The general  grand grande grands grandes big
rule cher chère chers chères dear
fini finie finis finies finished
noir noire noirs noires black
Several short adjectives ending in vowel+ bas basse bas basses low
consonant bon bonne bons bonnes good,
gros grosse gros grosses fat
nul nulle nuls nulles worth-less
las lasse las lasses tired
Adjectives ending in -g long longue longs longues long
Many adjectives ending in -e sage, sage sages sages, wise
efficace efficace efficaces efficaces efficient
Short adjectives ending in c blanc blanche blancs blanches white
sec sèche secs sèches dry
Adjectives ending in -f actif active actifs actives active
nocif nocive nocifs nocives poison
adjectives ending in -el or -eil , réel, réelle réels, réelles, real
pareil pareille pareils pareilles similar
adjectives ending in -er léger légère légers légères light
premier première premiers premières first
adjectives ending in -eux  or -oux joyeux, joyeuse, joyeux, joyeuses, joyful
heureux, heureuse heureux, heureuses happy
poreux poreuse poreux poreuses porous
jaloux jalouse jaloux jalouses jealous
adjectives ending in -teur  porteur porteuse porteurs porteuses load -bearing
adjectives ending in -al général générale généraux générales general
génial géniale géniaux géniales brilliant
beau / bel belle beaux belles beautiful
The most common  nouveau / nouvel nouvelle nouveaux nouvelles new
completely irregular adjectives
vieux / vieil vieille vieux vieilles old
frais fraîche frais fraîches fresh
doux douce doux douces gentle
faux fausse faux fausses wrong

Passe compose:
 Forming the perfect tense with avoir

How to make a past participle for regular verbs used with avoir:

Choose the verb you want to use.

For verbs ending in -er, take off -er and add -é:

parler (to speak) → parl + é → parlé = spoken

For verbs ending in -ir, take off -ir and add -i:

choisir (to choose) → chois + i → choisi = chosen

For verbs ending -re, take off -re and add -u:

vendre (to sell) → vend + u → vendu = sold

How to form the perfect tense with avoir

Once you have formed your past participle, you need to select the correct part of avoir you want to use.

1. You must choose a part of avoir in the present tense, eg:

English Subject pronoun Avoir – to have

I j’ ai

you (informal) tu as

he/she/it (we) il/elle/on a

we nous avons

you (formal, plural) vous avez

they ils/elles ont

2. Now add your chosen past participle:

-er verb: parler -ir verb: choisir -re verb: vendre

parlé choisi vendu

 j’ai + parlé = I spoke/I have spoken

 nous avons + choisi = we chose/we have chosen
 il a + vendu = he sold/he has sold
Common irregular past participles used with avoir for the perfect tense
 Many common verbs don’t follow the rule for how to form a past participle

Verb Past participle English

avoir eu had

boire bu drunk

comprendre compris understood

connaître connu known

croire cru believed

devoir dû had to

dire dit said

écrire écrit written

être été been

faire fait done/made

lire lu read

mettre mis put

ouvrir ouvert opened

pouvoir pu been able to

prendre pris taken

savoir su known

voir vu seen

vouloir voulu wanted

However, they are used in exactly the same way with the correct part of avoir, eg:

 j’ai vu - I saw

 tu as pris - you took
 nous avons voulu - we wanted

Forming the perfect tense with être

 The perfect tense is used to talk about something that happened in the past. It's an action that is
completely finished. Some verbs take être to form the perfect tense.

You need to consider three things to form the perfect tense with être:

 the correct part of the present tense of être

 the past participle of the main verb
 the correct agreement, ie is the subject pronoun feminine/masculine or plural?
Agreement

When you form the perfect tense with être, the past participle agrees with the subject of the verb (the
person doing the action).

If the subject pronoun is feminine and singular, you need to add -e to the past participle of the main verb
→ allée.

If the subject pronoun is masculine plural, add -s to the past participle of the main verb → allés.

If the subject pronoun is feminine plural, add -es to the past participle of the main verb → allées.

So the perfect tense of aller (to go) is:

 je suis allé(e)- I went

 tu es allé(e)- you went (informal)
 il est allé- he went
 elle est allée- she went
 on est allé(e)(s) - we went
 nous sommes allé(e)s - we went
 vous êtes allé(e)(s) - you went (formal, plural)
 ils sont allés - they went (all male or mixed)
 elles sont allées - they went (women only)

To sum up, you must choose the correct part of être, add the past participle and add the correct
agreement, for example:

 je suis sortie de la banque - I left the bank (feminine)

 je suis sorti de la banque - I left the bank (masculine)
 il est né en 2007- he was born in 2007
 elle est née en 2007- she was born in 2007
 nous sommes tombés par terre- we fell onto the ground (males or mixed)
 elles sont tombées par terre- they fell onto the ground (only women)
Verbs that take être in the perfect tense

A limited number of verbs take être. Here is the list of the verbs used with être in the perfect tense. Try
to memorise them as the MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs:

Verb English Past participle

Monter to go up monté

Retourner to return retourné

Rester to stay resté

Venir to come venu

Arriver to arrive arrivé

Naître to be born né

Sortir to go out sorti

Tomber to fall tombé

Rentrer to go back in rentré

Aller to go allé

Mourir to die mort

Partir to leave parti

Entrer to enter entré

Descendre to go down/to get off descendu

PRESENT TENSE:

Conjugating an –ER verb:

To conjugate a regular -er verb, drop the -er of the infinitive to get the stem. Then add the six
present tense endings specific to -er verbs: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent,

Conjugating a –ir verb:

To form the present tense of a regular -ir verb, drop the -ir of the infinitive to get the stem for the
present tense conjugation. Then add the present tense endings specific to -ir verbs: -is, -is, -it,
-issons, -issez, -issent. 
Conjugating a –re verb:

To form the present tense of an -reverb, drop the -re of the infinitive, like you do for -er and -
ir verbs. When you do that, you’re left with the stem for the conjugation of the present tense,
and you can add the present tense endings specific to -re verbs: -s, -s, nothing, -ons, -ez, -ent.

FUTUR PROCHE/ NEAR FUTURE:

The near future is used to express when you are going to do something (not "will," that is the regular
future tense). Do not confuse it with going to a location. You will know it is the futur proche if there is a
form of the verb "aller" (to go) in the present tense, followed directly by an infinitive. An example in
English:

I'm going to watch a movie.

To form it, you take the form of "aller" (to go) that corresponds to your subject (person doing the
action), and add an infinitive.

 je: vais + infinitif

 tu: vas + infinitif
 il/elle/on: va + infinitif
 nous: allons + infinitif
 vous: allez + infinitif
 ils/elles: vont + infinitif

Here is an example of a verb conjugated in the near future:

chanter (to sing)

je vais chanter=I am going to sing
tu vas chanter=you are going to sing
il/elle/on va chanter=he/she/one is going to sing
nous allons chanter=we are going to sing
vous allez chanter=you are going to sing
ils/elles vont chanter=they are going to sing

IMPERATIF
The imperative is a used to convey a command, suggestion, request or instruction, for example:

get up! → lève-toi !

close the door → ferme la porte

add 100g of flour → ajoutez 100g de farine

How to form the imperative

To form the imperative, drop the tu, vous or nous and keep the verb in the present tense:

prendre: tu prends → prends ! - take!

faire: vous faites → faites ! - do/make!

aller: nous allons → allons ! - let's go!

partir: tu pars → pars ! - leave!

With -er verbs, take the final -s off the tu form of the verb:

tu regardes → regarde ! - look!

tu manges → mange ! - eat!

Reflexive verbs in the imperative

With reflexive verbs in the tu form, the te changes to toi, but you must add a hyphen:

tu te lèves → lève-toi ! - stand up!

tu t'assieds → assieds-toi ! - sit down!

Making suggestions

If you want to suggest doing something, use the imperative form of nous:

allons à la piscine ! - let's go to the swimming pool!

prenons un taxi ! - let's take a taxi!

 **IL Y A: THERE IS OR AGO**

IMPARFAIT:

The French imperfect (imparfait) is a descriptive past tense which indicates an

ongoing state of being or a repeated or incomplete action. 
CONJUGATION:

**Regular verbs
Subject
Imparfait ending
pronoun

Je -ais

Tu -ais

Il/Elle/On -ait

Nous -ions

Vous -iez

Ils/Elles -aient
How to transform the verb faire into the imparfait:

 Faire (infinitive) → Nous faisons (present-tense nous form) → Remove the -ons ending →

Add the correct imparfait ending → Je fais- + -AIS = Je faisais

**Irregular verbs

Prendre Recevoir Boire Aller Être

Je prenais Je recevais Je buvais Je vais J'étais
Tu prenais Tu Recevais Tu buvais Tu vas Tu étais
On prenait On Recevait On Buvait Il va
Il était
Nous prenions Nous recevions Nous buvions Nous allons
Nous étions
Vous Preniez Vous Receviez Vous buviez Vous allez
Vous étiez
Ils Prenaient Ils Revevaient Ils buvaient Ils/Elles vont
Ils/Elles étaient

VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS

Verbs requiring à 

The following verbs are followed by the preposition à:

 aider (help)
 s'amuser (have fun)
 apprendre (learn to)
 commencer (begin)
 consister (consist)
 continuer (continue)
 se décider (decide)
 encourager (encourage)
 enseigner (teach to)
 s'habituer (get used to)
 se mettre (begin)
 persister (persist)
  renoncer (renounce)
 réussir (succeed)
 servir (serve)
 songer (think about)

These verbs are used as follows:

Il commence à comprendre. (He is beginning to understand.)

Je réussis à le faire. (I succeed in doing it.)

Verbs requiring de

The following verbs are followed by the preposition de:

 s'arrêter (stop)
 décider (decide)
 se dépêcher (hurry)
 empêcher (prevent)
 essayer (try to)
 mériter (deserve)
 s'occuper (take care of)
 oublier (forget to)
 parler (speak about)
 persuader (persuade)
 promettre (promise)
 refuser (refuse)
 regretter (regret)
 rêver (dream)
 se souvenir (remember)
 venir (have just)

The preceding verbs are used as follows:

Je m'occuperai de cela. (I'll take care of that.)

Ils viennent d'arriver. (They [have] just arrived.)

Verbs requiring other prepositions

The following prepositions are commonly used before the infinitive of a verb:

 afin de (in order to)

 au lieu de (instead of)
 avant de (before)
 pour (for, in order to)
  sans (without)

Note how these prepositions are used in sentences:

Il fait de son mieux afin de réussir. (He does his best in order to succeed.)

Il dort au lieu de travailler. (He sleeps instead of working.)

Verbs requiring à quelqu'un de

The following verbs require à quelqu'un de before an infinitive:

 commander (order)
 conseiller (advise)
 défendre (forbid)
 demander (ask)
 dire (tell)
 interdire (forbid)
 ordonner (order)
 permettre (permit)
 promettre (promise)

CONDITIONAL:

This tense basically describes and action that would happen, given certain condition. A clause beginning
with if followed by a verb in the imperfect usually precedes the clause with the conditional verb. An
example in English:

If I won the lottery, I would buy a mansion.

This tense is very easy to form. You take the future stem of the verb and add the imperfect endings this
time. Here is an example of a verb conjugated in the conditional:

parler (to talk)

je parlerais=I would talk
tu parlerais=you would talk
il/elle/on parlerait=he/she/one would talk
nous parlerions=we would talk
vous parleriez=you would talk
ils/elles parleraient=they would talk

Conditional Sentences

A conditional sentence is made up of a si clause (also known as a condition clause) and a result,
or main, clause. Only four tenses of the indicative mood (the mood that states a fact) may
normally be used in French in the si clause: the present, the passé composé, the imperfect, and
the plus‐que‐parfait. The tense used in the main clause is the same in both French and English.
In a conditional sentence, si generally means “if.”

Real condition:

In the examples below, note that either clause may begin the sentence, but in the si clause, the
subject must be followed by the present or the passé composé. Note that si elides
with il or ils to become s'il and s'ils, respectively, but does not elide with elle (si elle) or elles (si
elles). Si followed by the present:

 Si j'ai soif, je bois de l'eau. (If I'm thirsty, I drink water.)

 Tu réussiras, si tu étudies beaucoup. (You will succeed, if you study a lot.)
 S'il ne commence pas immédiatement, il n'aura pas fini avant midi.(If he doesn't start
immediately, he will not have finished before noon.)
 Si je suis en retard, attends‐moi. (If I'm late, wait for me.)

Si followed by the passé composé:

 Le vol n'est pas encore arrivé, si j'ai bien entendu. (The flight hasn't arrived yet, if I heard
correctly.)
 Si j'ai bien compris, elle a changé d'avis. (If I understood correctly, she changed her
mind.)
 S'il s'est trompé, il perdra beaucoup d'argent. (If he made a mistake, he will lose a lot of
money.)
 Elle ne savait pas les détails, si elle vous a dit cela. (She didn't know the details, if she
told you that.)
 Si tu l'as appris, n'en dis rien. (If you heard about it, don't say anything.)

Contrary-to-fact conditions

A conditional sentence that describes a situation or event that is unlikely is called “contrary‐to‐fact” or
“unreal”:

You might say the following if you're not expecting snow:

S'il neigeait, je ne sortirais pas. (If it snowed, I wouldn't go out.)

Once again, either clause may begin the sentence, but in the si clause, the subject must be
followed by the imperfect or the plus‐que‐parfait.

Si followed by the imperfect:

 Si j'étais riche, je m'achèterais un château. (If I were rich, I'd buy myself a castle.)
 Je t'enverrais de l'argent, si tu en avais besoin. (I would send you money, if you needed
some.)
 S'il avait eu le temps, il t'aurait aidé. (If he had had the time, he would have helped you.)
 J'aurais fait un gâteau, si j'avais su que tu venais. (I would have baked a cake, if I had
known you were coming.)

Regular –er verbs

Tense (stem) je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles

Present (parl) -e -es -e -ons -ez -ent

Imperfect (parl) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Future (parler) -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont

Conditional (parler) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Subjunctive (parl) -e -es -e -ions -iez -ent

Regular –ir verbs:

Tense (stem) je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles

Present (fini) -s -s -t -ssons -ssez -ssent

Imperfect (finiss) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Future (finir) -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont

Conditional (finir) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Subjunctive (finiss) -e -es -e -ions -iez -ent

Regular –re verbs

Tense (stem) je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles

Present (vend) -s -s (nothing) -ons -ez -ent

Imperfect (vend) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Future (vendr) -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont

Conditional (vendr) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Subjunctive (vend) -e -es -e -ions -iez -ent