4.2: Grammar

B.1 The prepositions “à” and “de” and their contractions with the definite article

The two most common prepositions in French are "à" (most commonly meaning "at" or "to" in English) and "de" (most commonly meaning "of" or "from" in English).

When these prepositions occur before certain definite articles, they combine with them in an obligatory contraction. These changes must occur; they are not optional. Memorize the following table:

	+ le	+ la	+ l'	+ les
à	au [o]	à la [a la]	à l' [a l]	aux [o]
de	du [dy]	de la [də la]	de l' [də l]	des [de]

To illustrate these contractions, let us review a construction we previously learned, the use of the preposition "de" to illustrate possession (see chapter 2, B.3, on page 113).

de + Claire	C'est le livre de Claire.	It's Claire's book.
de + le professeur	Ce sont les livres du professeur.	They're the teacher's books.
de + la bibliothèque	C'est le livre de la bibliothèque.	It's the library's book.
de + l'université	C'est le symbole de l'université.	It's the symbol of the university.
de + les étudiants	Ce sont les livres des étudiants.	They're the students' books.

You can see that "le professeur" and "les étudiants" combine with the preposition, but "la bibliothèque" and "l'université" do not.

In the same way, if "le" or "les" follow the preposition "à," they must combine with it.

à + Paris	Je vais à Paris.	I'm going to Paris.
à + le cinéma	Je vais au cinéma.	I'm going to the movies.
à + la bibliothèque	Je vais à la bibliothèque.	I'm going to the library.
à + l'université	Je vais à l'université.	I'm going to school.
à + les Etats-Unis	Je vais aux Etats-Unis.	I'm going to the United States.

B.1.1 Révision: Possession avec “de”

Rappel: In French, families are indicated by "les" and the last name without adding an -s; so "les Beauchamp" means "the Beauchamps." Mini-Vocabulaire: la bibliothèque library la boucherie butcher shop la boulangerie bakery l'épicerie grocery le fleuriste florist la fromagerie cheese store le marchand de vin wine seller vieux, vieille old rouennais from Rouen niçois from Nice marseillais from Marseilles bordelais from Bordeaux Les Halles est un énorme centre commercial (=mall ) à Paris.

Following the model, indicate the owner of each business; combine the preposition de with the definite article if necessary.

Exemple: l'épicerie — les Beauchamp
                C'est l'épicerie des Beauchamp.

1. la boulangerie — le boulanger rouennais
2. la fromagerie — la jeune femme marseillaise
3. la boucherie — le boucher parisien
4. le café — les soeurs Rousseau
5. le restaurant libanais — les Haddad
6. la crêperie — le jeune homme niçois
7. le commerce — le marchand de vins bordelais
8. le restaurant — la vieille femme vietnamienne

B.1.2 Where is everybody?

Say where each person is. Use the verb être. Combine the preposition à with the definite article if necessary.

Exemple: Georges - le supermarché
                Georges est au supermarché.

1. Ma mère - la banque	5. Je - la cafétéria
2. Nous - la maison	6. Jacques - le gymnase
3. Tu - la bibliothèque	7. Paul et Philippe - le zoo
4. Vous - le téléphone	8. Mes amies parisiennes - les Halles

 

B.2 Le verbe aller

We learned in chapter 3 that all -er verbs EXCEPT aller are basically regular. Here are the very irregular forms of aller.

aller [a le] (to go)
je vais [ʒə vɛ]	nous allons [nu za lɔ̃]
tu vas [ty va]	vous allez [vu za le]
il/elle va [il va]	ils/elles vont [il vɔ̃]

n / In the “shoe” pattern, the je, tu, il, and ils forms, which are different from the infinitive stem, form the shape of a shoe. The nous and vous forms, which resemble the infinitive stem, are outside the shoe.

Notes on the verb aller:

• The pattern of changes we see here is a common one, sometimes called the "shoe" or "boot" pattern.
• The tu and il forms are pronounced alike, but as always, the tu form ends in the letter -s.
• Since the nous and vous forms begin with a vowel, liaison must be made with the subject pronoun.
• Students sometimes at first confuse the forms of this verb with those of the verb avoir. Although the verb aller has no -v- in the infinitive, four of the forms begin with the letter v! It is thus an extremely irregular verb. Compare the two verbs:

aller [a le], to go		avoir [a vwar], to have
je vais	nous allons	j'ai	nous avons
tu vas	vous allez	tu as	vous avez
il va	ils vont	il a	ils ont

B.2.1 Conjugation, aller

Practice the conjugation of the verb aller by writing it out a few times. Read the forms out loud to yourself as you write them. Remember to make liaison between the subject pronoun and verb in the "nous" and "vous" forms.

aller je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

aller je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

aller je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

Uses of the verb aller: Movement to a place

The verb aller has three principal uses.

First, in accordance with its basic meaning of "to go," aller is used to indicate where people are going.

B.2.2 Où vont-ils?

Rappel: moi + une autre personne = nous; toi + une autre personne = vous

Conjugate the verb and combine the elements with the correct form of the preposition "à" to indicate where each person is going. Remember that the preposition "à" must combine with the masculine or plural definite article (see section B.1, page 238).

Exemple: Marie/aller/le cinéma.
                Marie va au cinéma.

1. Nous/aller/l'université.	8. Ma mère et moi/aller/l'église.
2. Tu/aller/le lavomatic.	9. Luc/aller/la boulangerie.
3. Mes frères/aller/l'école.	10. Je/aller/le musée.
4. Je/aller/le temple.	11. Christophe et Paul/aller/le supermarché.
5. Vous/aller/le restaurant.	12. Tu/aller/le jardin public.
6. Mon père/aller/le café.	13. Yasmine/aller/la librairie.
7. Charles et Sylvie/aller/la bibliothèque.	14. Ton ami et toi/aller/le cinéma.

Uses of the verb aller: Health

You have already encountered the idiomatic use of the verb aller to describe someone's health, in expressions such "Ça va?" and "Comment allez-vous?" Previously, we simply answered with the appropriate adverb, but a more complete answer can be given with the properly conjugated form of the verb aller.

Comment allez-vous?	Je vais bien, merci.
Comment va ta mère?	Elle va assez bien.
Comment va votre famille?	Nous allons bien, merci.

• Remember that "Comment va-t-il?" means "How is he?," while "Comment est-il?" means "What is he like?"
• You have already seen that the verb aller is often left out of the answer. For example, while it is not grammatically incorrect to say "Je vais pas mal," it would be more common to simply respond with "pas mal." At this stage, do not worry about such nuances; if you continue to study French, some things will simply begin to sound more natural than others.

B.2.3 Comment vont-ils?

Consult the chart and answer the question about each person by using the proper form of the verb "aller." Replace any proper names with the appropriate pronoun.

mal	assez bien	bien	très bien
Raoul	moi	mes grands-parents	Julie et Jean-Michel
Pauline	Marie	ma soeur et moi	Louise et sa mère

Exemple: Comment va Pauline?
                Elle va mal.

1. Comment vas-tu?
2. Comment vont tes grands-parents?
3. Comment vont Julie et Jean-Michel?
4. Comment allez-vous, ta soeur et toi?
5. Comment va Raoul?
6. Comment va Marie?
7. Comment vont Louise et sa mère?

Uses of the verb aller: Immediate Future

The third main use of the verb aller is to indicate that someone is going to do something in the future. Although this is referred to as the "immediate future" ("futur proche"), it can actually be used to indicate events fairly far off. It is called the "immediate future" simply to distinguish it from another future tense conjugated differently.

Just as in English, the verb aller is used in this way in conjunction with another infinitive. It is the second infinitive that tells you what the person is actually going to do, but it is the verb aller, as the first verb in the sentence, that will be conjugated to match the subject. The second verb remains in the infinitive.

Compare:

French	English
Le prof va corriger les devoirs ce soir.	The teacher is going to correct papers tonight.
Nous allons jouer au tennis ce week-end.	We are going to play tennis this weekend.
Je vais aller au cinéma demain.	I'm going to go to the movies tomorrow.

If you wish to make a two-verb sentence negative, the negation always surrounds the conjugated verb. For example:

Je ne vais pas étudier ce soir.

Marc ne va pas travailler ce week-end.

Nous n'allons pas aller au cinéma avec eux.

B.2.4 Qu’est-ce qu’ils vont faire ce soir?

Using the immediate future, state that each person is going to do the indicated activity this evening. Supply the correct form of the verb aller and do not conjugate the second verb.

Exemple: Tu/préparer un devoir
                Tu vas préparer un devoir ce soir.

1. Claude/dîner au restaurant avec Christine.
2. Nous/étudier notre leçon de français.
3. Je/manger à la maison.
4. Gilles/travailler à la pharmacie.
5. Bérénice et Charlotte/aller au supermarché.
6. Vous/lire un livre.
7. Francine et moi/regarder la télé.
8. Tu/finir tes devoirs.
9. Je/écrire une lettre à ma grand-mère.
10. Matthieu et Cédric/jouer au foot.

 

B.3 Révision: les verbes en -ir

In chapter 3, although we introduced all three regular verb groups (-er, -ir, and -re verbs), we concentrated on -er verbs. Let us now review the regular -ir verb conjugations. Remember that irregular verbs in French fall into the second (-ir) and third (-re) groups; so when you learn a new -ir or -re verb, you must remember whether it is a regular or an irregular verb.

Regular -ir verbs add an extra syllable, -iss-, in the plural forms (nous, vous, and ils).

Regular -ir verb endings
je    -is	nous    -issons
tu    -is	vous     -issez
il     -it	ils     -issent

-ir verbs, Example: finir: fin / ir
je nis [ʒə fi ni]	nous finissons [nu fi ni sɔ̃]
tu finis [ty fi ni]	vous finissez [vu fi ni se]
il/elle finit [il fi ni]	ils/elles finissent [il fi nis]

You will note that all the singular forms (je, tu, and il) sound the same, while the plural forms, including the plural ils form, are distinguished by their inclusion of the [is] sound. Unlike -er verbs, where the singular il and plural ils forms are pronounced exactly the same (e.g. il parle, ils parlent = [il parl], the singular vs. the plural forms of -ir and -re verbs, regular or irregular, are easily distinguishable from each other.

Common regular -ir verbs include those formed from the feminine form of many adjectives. Observe:

adjectif (fém.)		verbe en -ir
blanche	white	blanchir	to turn white, to bleach
brune	brown	brunir	to brown, to tan
rouge	red	rougir	to turn red, to blush
grosse	fat	grossir	to gain weight
maigre	thin	maigrir	to lose weight
pâle	pale	pâlir	to turn pale
vieille	old	vieillir	to get old

Some other common regular -ir verbs include:

Mini-Vocabulaire:

finir	[fi nir]	to finish
choisir	[∫wa zir]	to choose
accomplir	[a kɔ̃ plir]	to accomplish
réussir	[re y sir]	to succeed
réfléchir	[re fle ∫ir]	to think (about)
obéir	[o be ir]	to obey
punir	[py nir]	to punish

B.3.1 Conjugation, regular -ir verbs

Practice the conjugation of regular -ir verbs by writing these examples out a few times. If your teacher has already demonstrated the correct pronunciation of the forms to you, please read the forms out loud to yourself as you write them. Refer to the IPA to refresh your memory of your teacher's model pronunciation. Remember to make élision where necessary.

obéir je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

réussir je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

blanchir je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

B.3.2 Cause et effet

Complete the sentences by correctly conjugating the verbs in parentheses. The verbs are all regular -ir verbs. Since there are some unfamiliar object pronouns in the sentences, the subject in each case is in bold type to help you.

1. Est-ce que tu (obéir) _________________à tes parents? —Oui, parce que si je ne leur (obéir) pas, ils me (punir) _________________.
2. Les étudiants (réfléchir) _________________avant de répondre aux questions. Comme cela, ils (choisir) _________________la bonne réponse et ils ne (rougir) _________________pas devant la classe.
3. Les jours chauds d'été, qu'est-ce que vous (choisir) _________________de faire? — Nous (brunir) _________________sur la plage! Tous sauf Michel, parce que lui, il est très pâle et il ne (brunir) _________________pas. Il (rougir) _________________!
4. Je ne comprends pas! Je fais beaucoup d'exercice, mais je ne (maigrir) _________________pas! Je (grossir) _________________! —Vous (grossir) _________________? C'est peut-être parce que vous (finir) _________________toujours les dîners et les desserts de vos enfants!

 

B.4 The verb faire

The verb faire means "to do" or "to make." It is difficult in both its irregular forms and its pronunciation.

faire [fɛr] (to do, to make)
je fais [ʒə fɛ]	nous faisons [nu fə zɔ̃]
tu fais [ty fɛ]	vous faites [vu fɛt]
il/elle fait [il fɛ]	ils/elles font [il fɔ̃]

• The singular forms are all pronounced alike; the endings (-s, -s, -t) are what you would expect.
• The pronunciation of the nous form is extremely unusual, for the letters "ai" are pronounced just like the [ə] in "je" ([ʒə]).
• The vous form is one of only three vous forms in the language that do not finish with the letters -ez. You already have learned vous êtes, one of the other forms.

B.4.1 Conjugation, faire

Practice the conjugation of the verb faire by writing it out a few times. If your teacher has already demonstrated the correct pronunciation of the forms to you, please read the forms out loud to yourself as you write them. Refer to the IPA to refresh your memory of your teacher's model pronunciation.

faire je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

faire je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

faire je ______________________ tu ______________________ il/elle ______________________ nous ______________________ vous ______________________ ils/elles ______________________

Uses of faire

Faire is used both literally, meaning to do or to make, and in many types of idiomatic expressions. French students, for example, will often use faire to describe the subject they are studying: Je fais des maths can be loosely translated as I'm majoring in math. Many sports are also described with faire: Cristiano Ronaldo fait du foot, Serena Williams fait du tennis.

Faire as a “substitute” verb. You have already seen and heard the verb faire many times in questions: if someone asks "Qu'est-ce que vous faites?" ("What are you doing?"), you usually reply not with the verb faire itself, but with the verb that describes the activity you are doing. Faire thus often substitutes for another verb; when the question is answered, faire is replaced by a different verb.

B.4.2 Qu’est-ce que vous faites?

Conjugate the verb faire in the question and the regular -er verb in the answer.

1. Charles, que (faire) ____________-tu? —Je (manger) ____________un sandwich.
2. Alors, les amis, qu'est-ce que nous (faire) ____________ce soir? — Nous (rencontrer) ____________Paul et Stéphane au cinéma, bien sûr!
3. Que (faire) ____________Marie? — Elle (réviser) ____________pour l'examen.
4. Monsieur, qu'est-ce que vous (faire) ____________? — Je (chercher) ____________mes clés.
5. Qu'est-ce qu'ils (faire) ____________, les enfants? — Ils (jouer) ____________au foot.
6. Madame, qu'est-ce que je (faire) ____________après l'exercice? — Vous (continuer) ____________avec le reste du chapitre, Marthe.

 

B.5 Faire and weather expressions

Another common use of faire is in expressions describing the weather. These expressions are always expressed in the third person singular form, known as an "impersonal" expression. The subject pronoun il must be used in an impersonal expression, so these expressions occur in only one verb form.

Mini-Vocabulaire:

Quel temps fait-il ?	[kɛl tã fɛ til]	What's the weather like?
il fait beau	[il fɛ bo]	it's nice out
il fait mauvais	[il fɛ mo vɛ]	the weather is bad
il fait moche	[il fɛ mɔ∫]	the weather is lousy
il fait (du) soleil	[il fɛ dy sɔ lɛj]	it's sunny
il y a du soleil	[i lja dy sɔ lɛj]	it's sunny
il fait chaud	[il fɛ ∫o]	it's hot out
il fait froid	[il fɛ frwa]	it's cold out
il fait frais	[il fɛ frɛ]	it's cool
il fait du vent	[il fɛ dy vã]	it's windy
il pleut	[il plø]	it's raining
il neige	[il nɛʒ]	it's snowing

Notes:

• The word "temps" can mean "weather" or "time." You must deduce its meaning from its context. Remember that to ask what time it is, you say, "Quelle heure est-il?"
• Use of "il fait soleil," "il fait du soleil," or "il y a du soleil" depends on the region.
• "Il pleut" and "il neige" conjugate the verbs for "to rain" (pleuvoir) and "to snow" (neiger) rather than using faire.
• "Moche" literally means "ugly." "Il fait moche" is used on days when it is unpleasant to go outside because of rain, snow, mud, etc.

B.5.1 Quel temps fait-il?

Les mois de l'année: janvier [ʒã vje] février [fe vri je] mars [mars] avril [a vril] mai [mɛ] juin [ʒ4ɛ] juillet [ʒ4i je] août [ut] septembre [sɛp tã brə] octobre [ɔ̃k tɔ̃ brə] novembre [nɔ̃ vã brə] décembre [de sã brə]

Choose the correct weather expression for each of the situations given.

1. l'Alaska en décembre: Il fait froid / il fait chaud.
2. Los Angeles en juillet: Il fait beau / il fait moche.
3. Los Angeles en février: Il pleut / il neige.
4. Paris en avril: Il fait frais / il fait chaud.
5. Buffalo en février: Il neige / il fait frais.
6. New York en janvier: Il fait moche / il fait chaud.
7. Tahiti en mai: Il fait beau / il fait mauvais.
8. Los Angeles en août: Il fait mauvais / il fait chaud.
9. San Francisco en septembre: Il fait frais / il neige.
10. San Diego en juin: Il y a du soleil / il pleut.

Avoir/être/faire with chaud and froid

You should remember the idiomatic expressions avoir chaud and avoir froid (chap 2 B.9, page 130). The words "chaud" and "froid" are used with different verbs depending on whether they describe people, objects or weather.

People	Objects	Weather
Avoir	Etre	Faire
J'ai chaud.	La soupe est chaude.	Il fait chaud.
Elle a froid.	Les biscuits sont froids.	Il fait froid.

Note that when they are used with the verb être, chaud and froid are adjectives and must agree in number and gender with the object being described; however, in the idiomatic expressions avoir froid, avoir chaud, faire chaud and faire froid, they are nouns and do not change form.

B.5.2 Chaud-froid

Complete the sentence with the appropriate verb (avoir, être, or faire) and "chaud" or "froid." Remember that when used with être, `chaud" or "froid" must agree as an adjective.

1. Georges est à la plage en juillet. Georges _______________.
2. Au pôle nord, il _______________.
3. Garçon! Mon dîner _______________.
4. Ma mère aime les fenêtres ouvertes, même en décembre. Notre maison _______________.
5. Quel temps fait-il à Paris en janvier? Il _______________.
6. Vous _______________? —Oui! J'ai une température élevée!
7. Nous sommes en août, l'électricité ne marche pas, et il _______________. Ma chambre _______________. Moi, je _______________aussi.

 

B.6 Recognition: Le passé composé

There are two main past tenses in French, called the "passé composé" and the "imparfait." We will begin to work on these tenses next chapter, but in this chapter, you will learn to recognize the forms of the passé composé.

The passé composé is used to recount events that happened in the past. It is called the "passé composé" ("composed past") because it is composed of two parts. These two parts are known as the "verbe auxiliaire" ("helping verb") and the "participe passé" ("past participle.")

These two parts together make up the past tense of a single verb.

Observe:

French	English
J'ai mangé au restaurant.	I ate at the restaurant.
Tu as fait tes devoirs, n'est-ce pas?	You did your homework, right?
Marie a parlé en classe.	Marie spoke in class.
Nous vons regardé la télé.	We watched t.v.
Vous avez corrigé les examens, Madame?	Did you correct the tests, Ma'am?
Mes parents ont préparé un grand dîner.	My parents prepared a big dinner.

You can see that the helping verb in all these cases is avoir. The verb avoir is conjugated to agree with the subject. Next, the past participle of the main verb is formed and put together with the helping verb. The past participles of -er verbs are all formed by taking o the -er ending and adding an -é. This is pronounced just like the -er infinitive ending: [e].

In a very small number of verbs, the helping verb used is être instead of avoir . This does not change the meaning of the passé composé; it still corresponds to the simple past in English.

French	English
Je suis allé au supermarché.	I went to the store.
Il est arrivé à dix heures.	He arrived at ten o'clock.
Nous sommes tombés.	We fell down.

In this chapter, we will not ask you to form the passé composé, but you will be asked to recognize it when you see it and when you hear it.

With the passé composé, the present, and the futur proche, you will be able to talk about past, present, and future events.

B.6.1 Tense recognition

Indicate whether the verb in each sentence is in the present, past, or future. Remember that a present tense verb will be a single word, the passé composé will have a form of avoir plus a past participle, and the futur proche will have a form of aller plus another infinitive. The goal of this exercise is to help you begin to distinguish the three tenses from each other.

	présent	passé	futur
1. J'adore le français.
2. Je vais acheter des croissants à la boulangerie.
3. Il a étudié sa leçon.
4. Nous sommes contents.
5. Tu as réservé ta chambre?
6. Nous avons une nouvelle voiture.
7. J'ai traversé la rue.
8. Marie prend le bus.
9. Puis, vous allez tourner à gauche.
10. Paul a trois frères.

B.6.2 Résultats

Rewrite the three sentences, putting them in chronological order. First write the sentence in the past, then the one in the present, and finally the one in the future. Remember that the passé composé will have a form of avoir plus a past participle, and the futur proche will have a form of aller plus another infinitive. The goal of this exercise is to make you more familiar with the forms of the three tenses.

Exemple: Je vais recevoir une excellente note. J'ai étudié pour l'examen. J'ai beaucoup de conance!
                You write:                                      J'ai étudié pour l'examen. J'ai beaucoup de confiance.
                                                                    Je vais recevoir une excellente note!

1. Marie a réussi son examen. Elle va aller au cinéma. Elle est contente.
2. Je vais inviter Paul à la fête. Marc a oublié mon anniversaire. Je déteste Marc.
3. Ils n'ont pas besoin de leur ancienne voiture. Ils vont me donner leur ancienne voiture! Mes parents ont acheté une nouvelle voiture.
4. Tu as copié le devoir de Philippe? Le professeur va vous punir! Ce n'est pas bien!
5. Nous allons continuer à étudier le français à l'université. Nous avons étudié à Paris. Nous parlons un peu le français.
6. Mais non, vous allez finir les devoirs d'abord et jouer après. Et vous jouez? Emilie et Mélanie, vous n'avez pas fini vos devoirs?