Point grammaire

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Adjectives

In French adjectives usually follow the noun

E.x. Un cours interessant

However, a limited number of adjectives are placed before the noun including;

-beau/belle

-joli(e)

-vieux/vielle

-nouveau/nouvelle

-haut

-bon

-mauvais

-petit/petite

French adjectives agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and in number (singular or plural) with the noun or the pronoun to which they refer.

Add ‘e’ to make the adjective feminine.

Add ‘s’ to make the adjective plural.

E.x. les petites filles

The small girls

Some adjectives form their feminine and plural forms differently-Irregular words:

Singular

Plural

Masculine

feminine

masculine

feminine

Nouveau

Nouvelle

Nouveaux

Nouvelles

Gentil

Gentille

Gentils

Gentilles

Paresseux

Paresseuse

Paresseux

Paresseuses

Positif

Positive

Positifs

Positives

gros

Grosse

Gros

Grosses

Reflexives

A reflexive verb is a verb which includes a second pronoun (before the verb)

E.x. je me lave

The infinitive of a reflexive verb has the pronoun ‘se’ in front

E.x. se laver

The reflexive pronouns are:

Me

Te

Se

Nous

Vous

Se

‘Me’, ‘te’, and ‘se’ shorten to ‘m’ ‘ , ‘t’ ‘ and ‘s’ ’ in front of a vowel sound.

E.x. Je m’habille

Je m’appelle

Je me lave

Tu te laves

Il/elle/on lave

Nous nous lavons

Vous vous lavez

Ils/elles lavent

Some examples of reflexive verbs are:

S’amuser – to have fun

Se réveiller – to wake up

Se bronzer – to sunbathe

Se coucher – to go to bed

Se laver – to wash

Se doucher – to shower

Se lever – to get up

Se reposer – to rest

S’ennuyer – to get bored

S’habiller – to get dressed

Se tromper – to make a mistake

S’intéresser a – to be interested in

Se rappeler – to remember

Se maquiller – to put make-up on

Se fâcher – to get cross

‘Open’ and ‘closed’ questions

A ‘closed’ question is a question that can simply be answeres by ‘yes’ or ‘no’

E.x. Est-ce-que Cecile bien?

You start a ‘closed’ question with ‘est-ce que’ which cannot be translated in English. It is just a way of showing that you are about to ask a question.

To make the question more advanced you do a subject-verb inversion

E.x. Veux-tu lire le journal?

An open question cannot simply be answered by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and often does not have only one right answer.

E.x. Où vas-tu ce soir Sophie?

To form an open question you need to start your question with a question word.

E.x. Pourquoi

Où

Quand

Quel (le)

Qui

Quoi

A quelle

Comment

Combien

To form an open question you can simply use a question word and ‘Est-ce que’

E.x. Pourquoi est-ce que tu fait tes devoirs devant la télé?

Or you can use a question word and do a subject-verb inversion

E.x. Pourquoi fais-tu tes devoirs devant la télé

The only question which doesn’t require a subject-verb inversion is ‘Qu’est-ce que’

Near future

Person + Aller + infinitive

Je + vais + me coucher

Tu + vas + essayer

Il/elle + va + travailler

Nous + allons + manger

Vous + allez + écouter

Ils/elles + vont + dormir

Aller remains in the present tense. It is an auxiliary verb in the near future tense and it is the whole construction that conveys the future

E.x. Je vais travailler aujourd’hui

Je ne vais pas écouter

You must sandwich the auxiliary verb

After a negative you put ‘de’ or ‘d’‘

E.x. Ils ne vont pas ecouter de musique

Using ‘jouer’ and ‘faire’

In french you use the verb ‘jouer’ when you are talking about instruments and sports which require a ball, and ‘faire’ for other sports

In front of sports use au/ a la/ a l’ according to the spelling and gender of the sport.

In front of instruments use du/ de la/ de l’ according to the spelling or gender of the instrument(s)

au

Je joue a la Ball sports/instruments

a la

du

Je fais de la Other sports

de l’

En + the present participle

The construction en + the present participle describes two actions being done at the same time by one person.

E.x. Je regarde un film en faisant mes devoirs

I watch a film while doing my homework

To form the present participle, take the nous form of the present tense of the verb, remove the -ons and add –ant

Prenons-Prenant

Regardons –Regardant

Ecoutons -Ecoutant

THERE ARE THREE EXCEPTIONS!

Avoir-ayant

Etre-etant

Savoir-sachant

Depuis, pendant, il y a, pour

Il y a is used for

-Indicating the moment the action happened

-Expressing a moment in the past

E.x. Je suis allée a Espagne il y a cinq mois

We use the past tense with il y a. You translate it ‘ago’

E.x. j’habitais en France il y a trois ans

I was living in France 3 years ago

J’ai fait un gateau il y a une semaine

I made a cake a week ago

Depuis is used for

-Indicating the start of an action which is still going on

E.x. J ‘ai envoie de partir en chine depuis trois moins

You can include a date or a time (months etc.)

In French you use the present tense before depuis where as in English you use the perfect tense

Pendant is used for

-indicating a length of time

E.x. Je suis restée chez ma grand-mere pendant les vacances de pâques

This can be used for many tenses. It just indicates a length of time-it does not say when it started or finished

Negatives in the past tense

Normally:

The person + auxiliary + the past participle

(avoir/être)

E.x. Nous + avons + joue

In the negative :

The person + ne/n’ + auxiliary + pas + the past participle

(avoir/être)

E.x. Je + n’ + ai + pas + fini

To make a sentence negative in the past ‘ne’ goes in front of the auxiliary verb and ‘pas’ or ‘jamais’ after it.

After a negative you cannot use un/une/des/du/de la bu replace it with de.

Mrs Vand der tramp verbs

Some verbs called Mrs Van de tramp verbs are also known as verbs of movement.

They use ‘être’ as an auxiliary verb in the past tense

E.x. Elle est tombée

When you use the auxiliary verb ‘etre’ the past particple must agree with the person doing the action

Feminine singular add ‘e’

Masculine plural add ‘s’

Feminine plural add ‘es’

Mrs Vand der tramp verbs:

infinitive

English

Past participle

M

Monter

To go up

Monte

R

Retourne

To return

Retourne

S

Sortir

To go out

Sorti

V

Venir

To come

Venu

A

Arriver

To arrive

Arrive

N

Naitre

To be born

Ne

D

Descendre

To go down

Descendu

D

Devenir

To become

Devenu

E

Entrer

To come in

Entre

R

Rentrer

To come in

Rentre

T

Tomber

To fall

Tombe

R

Rester

To stay

Reste

A

Aller

To go

Alle

M

Mourir

To die

Mot

P

partir

To leave

parti

Using ‘y’

The pronoun y generally replaces a noun or phrase that stands for place and translates into English as ‘there’

It is placed before the verb (before the auxiliary in the perfect tense)

E.x. Tu vas souvent en France? Non je n’y vais jamais

Note its position if the ver bis in the near future tense:

E.x. Dublin? Je vais y aller bientôt

The comparative

To compare things or people, we use:

‘plus… que’ (more… than)

‘aussi… que’ (as… as)

‘moins… que’ (less than)

E.x. Strasbourg est plus ancien que Stockholm

Remember to make the necessary agrement on the adjective used in the comparison

Direct object pronouns

When a verb is used in the perfect tense wit the auxiliary ‘avoir’ its past participle agrees with the direct object pronoun, if there is one.

The direct object pronoun is plced BEFORE the auxiliary verb

J’aime les arbres. Je les ai toujours aimes

J’aime les glaces. Je les ai mangées

J’aime mon quartier, je le trouve tranquille

In the example le replaces ‘mon quartier’ so that we do not have to repeat it.

Direct object pronouns take on the gender and number of the noun that they replace. (le is used because ‘mon quartier’ is masculine singular)

These are the different direct object pronouns:

Me/m’-me nous-us

Te/t’-you vous-you

Le/la/l’-he/she/it les-them

Complex negatives

In the present tense the two parts of the negative ‘ne… rien’ (nothing/not anything) and ‘ne… personne’ (nobody/not anyone) these parts are placed around the verb.

E.x. Je ne fais rien et je ne vois personne

Note the placing of ‘ne… rien’ and ‘ne… personne’ in the perfect tense with a verb:

Je n’ai rien fait et je n’ai vu personne

In the immediate future:

Je ne vais rien faire et je ne vais voir personne

The same

Ne… rien

Ne… pas Does not equal/is not the same as ne… personne

Ne… plus

Avant de…

To convey the idea of doing something before doing something else we use ‘avant de’ followed by a verb in the infinitive

Avant de + infinitive

Before + …ing

Whatever the form of the verb in English

E.x. Je prend mon sac avant de manger

Avant de partir, je ferme la porte a clef

Using ‘en’

J’aime bien la viande et les œufs, j’en mange régulièrement

Tu veux des pates? Qui j’en veux s’il te plait!

En often translates into English as ‘some’ or ‘any’ It can also be used in conjugation with a number, or other specific quantity

E.g. Vous avez visité des musées?

Oui, j’en ai visité deux

In this sentence, you will translate en as ‘of them’ or ‘of it’ or not at all

	Created by Molly Munyard over 10 years ago

GCSE French (Point Grammaire) Note on Point Grammaire, created by Molly Munyard on 13/03/2014.