6.2: Grammar

B.1 The verb venir

Clip audio: [Prononciation de plusieurs verbes irréguliers]  https://www.languageguide.org/french/grammar/conjugations/out-of-this-world-irregulars.jsp

The verb venir, meaning to come, is an irregular verb. As is usually the case for irregular verbs, the nous and vous forms resemble the infinitive while the other forms have an irregular stem.

venir [və nir]
je viens [ʒə vjɛ̃]	nous venons [nu və nɔ̃]
tu viens [ty vjɛ̃]	vous venez [vu və ne]
il vient [il vjɛ̃]	ils viennent [il vjɛn]

Notes:

• The singular forms are all pronounced alike, with a nasal sound. The endings are typical: -s for the je and tu forms, -t for the il/elle/on form.
• The nous and vous forms use the same stem as the infinitive. The e muet is pronounced as in the word je: [və nɔ̃], [və ne].
• The ils plural form is written with a double n, which means that the vowel is no longer nasalized. The -nn- is pronounced. Thus the il and ils forms can be distinguished orally as well as in writing.

Many other verbs are in the same family as venir and are conjugated in the same way. Some of these include:

Mini-Vocabulaire:

• tenir to hold
• contenir to contain
• obtenir to obtain
• retenir to retain
• devenir to become
• parvenir to achieve
• prévenir to warn

B.1.1 Practice conjugation, venir

Practice the conjugation by writing it out a few times. Read the forms out loud to yourself as you write them. Refer to the IPA or listen to the audio clip. Remember to distinguish between the nasal and non-nasal vowel sounds.

venir je __________________ tu __________________ il/elle __________________ nous __________________ vous __________________ ils/elles __________________

venir je __________________ tu __________________ il/elle __________________ nous __________________ vous __________________ ils/elles __________________

venir je __________________ tu __________________ il/elle __________________ nous __________________ vous __________________ ils/elles __________________

Uses of the verb venir including venir de + infinitif

• Venir can simply mean to come to or from a place, at a given time, etc.

French	English
Tu viens à la fête?	Are you coming to the party?
Il vient seul.	He's coming alone.
Venez à huit heures.	Come at eight o'clock.

• Venir is also used with the preposition de to indicate national or regional origin. (Etre can also be used in this way.)

French	English
D'où venez-vous?	Where are you from?
Je viens d'Australie.	I'm from Australia.
(Il est de Normandie.	He's from Normandy.)
(Nous sommes du Mexique.	We're from Mexico.)

Note: Spanish speakers may notice that the expression acabar de + verbo is equivalent to venir de + verbe.

• Finally, the idiomatic expression venir de + infinitif means that something has just happened. Venir is conjugated in the present tense to agree with the subject, and the second verb, describing what has just been done, remains in the infinitive. Note that although the expression describes something that has happened, the present tense of venir is used in French. This construction is known as the recent or immediate past (le passé immédiat).

French	English
Je viens de finir mes devoirs.	I have just finished my homework.
Le professeur vient d'arriver.	The teacher has just arrived.
Le trimestre vient de commencer.	The quarter has just begun.
Nous venons de rentrer.	We've just gotten back.

B.1.2 Visites

Plusieurs parents de Luc viennent chez lui pour la fête nationale. Complétez les phrases avec la forme correcte du verbe venir.

1. La grand-mère de Luc ___________________demain.
2. Son cousin Gilles ___________________d'arriver ce matin.
3. Sa soeur mariée et son beau-frère ___________________de Provence.
4. Le père de Luc demande, "Luc, tu ___________________à la gare avec moi pour chercher ta soeur?"
5. Luc répond, "Non papa, je ne ___________________pas. Sylvie et moi, nous ___________________de rentrer de l'université et nous sommes fatigués. Nous allons attendre Crystal et Nicolas ici."

=> Continuons!

Quelles phrases dans cet exercice indiquent le passe immédiat? Soulignez ou listez ces verbes.

B.1.3 Venez avec nous!

Pauline demande à Marie, une nouvelle étudiante à la fac, si elle vient à une fête ce week-end. Complétez les phrases avec la forme correcte du verbe venir.

A: Salut, Marie! Ça va? B: Ah, salut, Pauline. Oui, ça va. Et toi? A: Ça va bien, merci. Dis, Marie, est-ce que tu (1)___________________à la fête chez Marc ce week-end? B: Oh non, je ne pense pas. A: Mais pourquoi? Tout le monde (2*)___________________! Nous allons nous amuser beaucoup, tu sais! B: C'est que je ne connais pas beaucoup d'autres étudiants . . . . A: Mais justement, c'est pour ça qu'il est important de (3)___________________! C'est une occasion parfaite de rencontrer de nouveaux amis. B: Mais tu sais, je (4)___________________d'arriver dans ce pays, et je suis un peu timide. A: Ah oui? D'où (5) -tu? B: Je (6)___________________du Sénégal. Ma famille et moi, nous sommes arrivés ici en décembre. A: En effet, vous (7)___________________d'arriver! Mais ce n'est pas une raison de ne pas venir à la fête. Elodie et moi, nous allons (8)___________________te chercher. Comme ça, nous (9)___________________à la fête tous ensemble, et tu n'as pas besoin de t'inquiéter. D'accord? B: D'accord. C'est très sympa.

=> Continuons!

Note: *(2) Tout le monde est grammaticalement singulier, et le verbe doit être à la forme il, comme son équivalent everyone en anglais.

Quelles phrases dans cet exercice indiquent le passe immédiat? Soulignez ou listez ces verbes.

B.2 Prepositions with Place Names

Rappel: à + le = au à + les = aux de + le = du de + les = des

In chapter 3 (B.1, page 238), we learned that the prepositions à and de contract with the definite articles. These contractions are also used when these prepositions are used with certain place names.

To say that someone or something is in, from or going to a certain place, the structure in French depends on whether the place is a city, island, or country, and also on whether the place is masculine or feminine!

The basic distinction is that à or en are used to indicate location in or movement toward a place, while de is used to mean from a certain place. These prepositions must sometimes be combined with definite articles, according to the rules given below.

Lien: [Carte des pays masculins et féminins en français, par Zorion]. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pays_masculin_feminin.png

Note

Countries are feminine if their name ends in an -e, except for le Mexique, le Cambodge, le Belize, le Mozambique, and le Zimbabwe.¹ Countries ending in all other letters are masculine.

^1le Zaïre, the old name for the RDC (République démocratique du Congo), was also masculine.

For cities, no article is used.²

French	English
Je vais à Paris.	I'm going to Paris.
Nous sommes à Los Angeles.	We are in Los Angeles.
Paul vient de New-York.	Paul is from New York City.
Marco est de Mexico.	Marco is from Mexico City.

For states, provinces, or countries, the definite article is combined with the preposition if the country is masculine or plural, and en replaces à if the country is feminine.³

^2In the very few cases where an article is part of the city's name, then it is used; for example, Cairo in French is Le Caire, so we say Je vais au Caire, je viens du Caire. ^3If the country begins with a vowel, it uses the same prepositions as a feminine country, whether it is one or not: e.g. en Irak, d'Irak.

	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Plural
to, in	au	en	aux
from	du	de (d' before vowel)	des

Examples:

to, in a feminine country
la France	Je vais en France.	I'm going to France.
la Belgique	Elle habite en Belgique.	She lives in Belgium.
of, from a feminine country
l'Angleterre	Ils viennent d'Angleterre.	They are from England.
la France	Le champagne est de France.	Champagne is from France.
to, in a masculine country
le Danemark	Nous allons au Danemark la semaine prochaine.	We're going to Denmark next week.
le Mexique	Les pyramides mayas sont au Mexique.	The Mayan pyramids are in Mexico.
of, from a masculine country
le Portugal	Nous venons du Portugal.	We are from Portugal.
le Canada	Le sirop d'érable est un produit du Canada.	Maple syrup is a product of Canada.
to, in a plural country
les Etats-Unis	Nous habitons aux Etats-Unis.	We live in the United States.
les Pays-Bas	Tu veux voyager aux Pays-Bas?	Do you want to travel to the Netherlands?
of, from a plural country
les Etats-Unis	Je suis des Etats-Unis.	I am from the United States.
les Philippines	Nous importons des orchidées des Philippines.	We import orchids from the Philippines.

B.2.1 D’où sont-ils?

Match the people with their countries of origin. Follow the example.

l'Angleterre	l'Allemagne	l'Autriche	la Belgique	le Canada
le Congo	la Corée	la Chine	les Etats-Unis	la France
la Grèce	le Japon	le Mexique	les Pays-Bas	la Pologne
le Salvador	le Sénégal	le Togo	la Turquie	le Vietnam

Exemple: Elizabeth est anglaise.                         Elle vient d'Angleterre.

1. Arnold est autrichien.	6. Sung est coréenne.
2. Thu est vietnamien.	7. Marc est canadien.
3. Cecilia est salvadorienne.	8. José et Miguel sont mexicains.
4. Hans et Marthe sont néerlandais.	9. Je suis américaine.
5. Lech est polonais.	10. Vous êtes française.

B.2.2 Où vont-ils?

Tell where everyone is going. Follow the example, and refer to the list of countries in the preceding exercise.

Exemple: Lisa va à Rome.                                 Elle va en Italie.

1. Je vais à Tokyo.
2. Sylvie va à Dakar.
3. Maxime va à New-York.
4. Elodie va à Nice.
5. Jérémy et sa mère vont à Ankara.
6. Pauline et moi allons à Bruxelles.
7. Guillaume et toi, vous allez à Mexico.
8. Sophie va à Berlin.
9. Tu vas à Pékin.
10. Antoine et Caroline vont à Brazzaville.

 

B.3 Passé composé of être verbs

Last chapter, we learned that all verbs in the passé composé are composed of two parts: the present tense of the auxiliary verb and the past participle. In most cases, the auxiliary verb is avoir. However, there are about 15 verbs that use être as their auxiliary verb in the passé composé — we will refer to these as "être verbs."

Observe and compare the following examples.

"Avoir" verb	"Etre" verb
parler, an avoir verb	aller, an être verb
j'ai parlé	je suis allé(e)
tu as parlé	tu es allé(e)
il a parlé	il est allé
elle a parlé	elle est allé
nous avons parlé	nous sommes allé(e)s
vous avez parlé	vous êtes allé(e)(s)
ils ont parlé	ils sont allés
elles ont parlé	elles sont allés

j'ai (verbe auxilliare)	mangé (participe passé)
je suis (vb aux)	allé(e) (p.p.)
elles ont (vb aux)	nagé (p.p.)
elles sont (vb aux)	arrivées (p.p.)

• Both avoir verbs and être verbs have the same structure: helping verb and past participle. The helping verb is conjugated to agree with the subject. The helping verb is avoir or être.
• You do not get to choose whether to use avoir or être as your helping verb. Only certain verbs use être, and you must memorize them.
• The past participle of an avoir verb does not change. The past participle of an être verb, on the other hand, does. In fact, it behaves like an adjective — it agrees in gender and number with the subject of the verb, adding an -e if the subject is feminine and/or an -s if the subject is plural.
• You must choose the appropriate past participle for the je, tu, nous and vous forms. For example, one would use vous êtes allé for a man, vous êtes allée for a woman, vous êtes allés for more than one man or a mixed group, and vous êtes allées for more than one woman.
• Etre verbs are more complicated than avoir verbs. You must treat each part of the passé composé differently if it is an être verb. First you conjugate the helping verb to agree with the subject, then you make the past participle agree with the subject like an adjective.
• Despite the different forms, the meaning of the passé composé of avoir and of être verbs is the same. They correspond to the simple past in English. Je suis arrivé means I arrived just as j'ai fini means I finished.

List of être verbs

Depending on how you count them, there are 15-18 important être verbs. (Some people count compounds of a verb separately; some people leave them out of their count.) Here are verbs and their past participles, if irregular.⁴

Mini-Vocabulaire:

aller to go
arriver to arrive
descendre to come down
devenir (devenu) to become
entrer to enter
monter to go up
mourir (mort) to die
naître (né) to be born
partir to leave
passer to pass
rentrer to come back
repartir to leave again
rester to stay
retourner to return
revenir (revenu) to come back
sortir to go out
tomber to fall
venir (venu) to come

How can you remember these? In the end, you must memorize them, either by brute drilling or just by the fact that you will use them enough that eventually they will "sound right" to you with être and "sound wrong" with avoir. Here are some tricks to help you in the meantime:

^4There are some fairly rare verbs that also use être that we will not discuss here; and there is a large category of verbs known as re exive verbs that always use être. We will discuss re exive verbs in chapter 7.

• You can visualize the "House of être / Maison d'être" (Click [here: http://flemagique.blogspot.com/2011/02/la-maison-detre.html] or google the term for an image you like.) Etre verbs are all verbs of motion (although not all verbs of motion are être verbs), so you can fit these verbs into a visual image.
• You can use the mnemonic (= trick to remember something) familiar to generations of Anglophone students of French: (Dr. and) Mrs. P. Vandertramp. The initial letters of the verbs spell "MRS. P. VANDERTRAMP," as you can see in the margin. (Revenir, Devenir, and Repartir don't get their own letter in this list; they are included with venir and partir respectively; some people add "Dr." to have separate letters for these). If you are hesitating as to whether, say, conduire is an être verb, you will remember that there is no "C" in Mrs. Vandertramp, so you will know that conduire cannot be an être verb.

Mnemonic: MRS P VANDERTRAMP

Mourir
Rentrer
Sortir

Passer

Venir (revenir, devenir)
Aller
Naître
Descendre
Entrer
Retourner
Tomber
Rester
Arriver
Monter
Partir (repartir)

• As you memorize your list, you will see that many of the verbs come in logical pairs: naître-mourir, arriver-partir, entrer-sortir, monter-descendre. That will help you come up with the complete list.
• Etre verbs are often described as "verbs of motion." Again, all verbs of motion are not être verbs, but all être verbs are verbs of motion (you have to imagine naître and mourir as motion into and out of the world, and rester as a verb of motion even though it's really a temporary pause in motion).
• Finally, if you can identify a direct object, you can remember that an être verb must be intransitive, that is, unable to have a direct object. They may be followed by a preposition, but will never be followed by a noun that is the object of the verb. Note: All intransitive verbs are not être verbs, but all être verbs are intransitive. So if you see that a verb has a direct object, it cannot be an être verb.⁵ However, just because a verb does not have a direct object, it is not necessarily an être verb.

^5In fact, six of the être verbs listed here sometimes become avoir verbs because they occasionally take a direct object, with a slightly different meaning. For example, je suis sortie means I went out, but j'ai sorti la plante means I took the plant outside. While this is an important grammatical point, it is a complication that first-year students do not need, so we will only use these verbs in cases where their auxiliary is être.

B.3.1 Conjugaison verbale, verbes avec être

Conjugate the following être verbs in the passé composé. Remember that the past participle must agree like an adjective with the subject. If there are several possible forms (e.g. masculine and feminine), list them both or put the extra letters in parentheses.

venir (p.p. venu) je __________________ tu __________________ il/elle __________________ nous __________________ vous __________________ ils/elles __________________	entrer je __________________ tu __________________ il/elle __________________ nous __________________ vous __________________ ils/elles __________________
aller je __________________ tu __________________ il/elle __________________ nous __________________ vous __________________ ils/elles __________________	mourir (p.p. mort) je __________________ tu __________________ il/elle __________________ nous __________________ vous __________________ ils/elles __________________

B.3.2 L’histoire de ma famille

Mini-Vocabulaire: dur hard obtenir to get    p.p. obtenu une bourse scholarship vieille old    (fém. de vieux)

Conjuguez les verbes entre parenthèses au passé composé. Faites attention au verbe auxiliaire (être ou avoir?) et à la forme du participe passé.

1. Ma grand-mère (naître) _____________________au Mexique.
2. Elle (venir) _____________________aux Etats-Unis en 1946.
3. Elle (trouver) _____________________un travail et un appartement.
4. Mon grand-père, lui, (arriver) _____________________en 1948.
5. Il (rencontrer) _____________________ma grand-mère à l'église.
6. Ils (tomber) _____________________amoureux.
7. Ils (retourner) _____________________au Mexique pour leur mariage.
8. Les deux familles (célébrer) _____________________les noces pendant 6 jours.
9. Mes grands-parents (aller) _____________________au Costa Rica pour leur lune de miel.
10. Puis, ils (rentrer) _____________________aux Etats-Unis et (reprendre) _____________________leur travail.
11. Ils (acheter) _____________________une maison en 1950.
12. Mon père (naître) _____________________en 1953.
13. Il (étudier) _____________________dur et (obtenir) _____________________une bourse à l'université.
14. Il (avoir) _____________________son diplôme en 1975. Ma grandmère lui (donner) _____________________une vieille voiture et il (partir) _____________________à son nouveau poste à San Francisco.
15. 15. Mes parents (revenir) _____________________à Los Angeles en 1980 et je (naître) _____________________en 1982.

B.3.3 Quelle journée!

Conjuguez les verbes entre parenthèses au passé composé. Faites attention au verbe auxiliaire (être ou avoir?) et à la forme du participe passé.

A: Salut chéri! Tu as l'air fatigué. Tu (avoir) 1._______________une journée dicile? B: Tu peux bien le dire! D'abord, je (quitter) 2._______________la maison à 6h30. Mais à cause de la circulation, je ne (arriver) 3._______________au bureau qu'à 7h30. Je (devoir) 4._______________immédiatement me mettre au travail, et je (finir) 5._______________ma présentation juste avant notre réunion à 8h30. A: Pourquoi (faire) 6._______________n' -tu pas la présentation hier? B: Je (ne pas pouvoir) 7._______________. En tout cas, les clients (aimer) 8._______________nos idées, et nous (obtenir) 9._______________le contrat. A: Ça, c'est bien! B: Oui, mais puis ils (vouloir) 10._______________sortir déjeuner ensemble, et ça (prendre) 11._______________deux bonnes heures. Je (être) 12._______________en retard pour prendre Marc à l'école, et la secrétaire m' (téléphoner) 13._______________sur mon portable. Je n'aime pas parler au téléphone pendant que je roule, et ça m' (stresser) 14._______________. A: Mon pauvre! Qu'est-ce que vous (faire) 15._______________après, toi et Marc? B: Nous (aller) 16._______________à son match de foot, où je (réussir) 17._______________à passer quelques coups de téléphone importants pendant son entraînement. Puis, nous (rentrer) 18._______________à la maison et je (aider) 19._______________Marc avec ses devoirs. A: Qu'est-ce que vous (préparer) 20._______________pour le dîner? B: Nous (commander) 21._______________une pizza. La voilà qui arrive. A: Quelle bonne idée! J'ai très faim.

 

B.4 Dates

Spanish speakers, beware! There is no de in dates in French!

Dates in French are given in reverse order than in American English. The basic order is le + # + mois.

French	English
Quelle est la date?	What is the date?
Nous sommes le combien aujourd'hui?	What is the date today?
C'est quelle date?	What's the date?
C'est le 8 février 2012.	It's February 8, 2012.
Aujourd'hui, c'est le 10 mars.	Today is March 10.
Demain, c'est le samedi 23 septembre.	Tomorrow is Saturday, September 23.
Nous sommes le 14 juillet.	It's July 14.
C'est le premier novembre.	It's November 1.

• Neither months nor days are capitalized in French.
• Note that where spoken English uses the ordinal number (March second, third, fourth), French uses the cardinal number (two, three, four) in both written and spoken French. The only exception to this is for the first of the month, which can be written premier or 1^er.
• Dates in French are abbreviated in the same order that they are said; e.g., le 23 janvier 1961 = 23/01/61. The day comes first, then the month, then the year. To give a year or month, use the preposition en. You can also say au mois de . . . (in the month of . . .) for months.

French	English
Mon anniversaire est en février.	My birthday is in February.
Je suis née en 1965.	I was born in 1965.
Je suis née au mois de février.	I was born in February.

• To say years before 2000, you have the choice of two structures: thousand plus hundreds (mille neuf cent . . .), or simply hundreds (dix-neuf cent . . .). The use of the word cent (hundred) is not optional. In English, we say nineteen eighty-four, but in French, you can never eliminate the word cent in the year.

Il est né en mille neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatre.

Il est né en dix-neuf cent quatre-vingt-quatre.

• If the year is an even hundred, you put an -s on cent: mille huit cents. Otherwise, the -s is eliminated: mille huit cent soixante-cinq.

B.4.1 C’est quelle date?

Give the dates for the following American and French holidays. If the dates change, give the date for the holiday in the current year. For the French holidays, consult chapter 4, page 226 if necessary. Follow the model.

Exemple: Halloween                                         C'est le 31 octobre.

1. la fête nationale française
2. Noël
3. le Jour de l'An
4. l'Armistice
5. Martin Luther King Day
6. la Saint-Valentin
7. votre anniversaire
8. la fête du Travail américaine
9. la fête du Travail française
10. la fête nationale américaine
11. April Fool's Day
12. Flag Day
13. la fête des mères américaine
14. Thanksgiving

B.4.2 Quand sont-ils nés?

Mini-Vocabulaire: arrière-grand-père great-grand-father

Tell in what year each person was born. Read the year aloud to yourself. (Assume that each person has already had their birthday this year).

Exemple: Georges a 79 ans.                                         Il est né en mille neuf cent trente-cinq.
                J'ai 32 ans.                                                   Vous êtes né en mille neuf cent soixante-douze.

1. Mon professeur a 40 ans. Il est né _______________________
2. Ma nièce Gisèle a 4 ans. Elle est née _______________________
3. Mes cousins ont 17 ans. Ils sont nés _______________________
4. Mon grand-père a 68 ans. Il est né _______________________
5. Mon arrière-grand-père a 99 ans. Il est né _______________________
6. Ma mère a 51 ans. Elle est née _______________________

 

B.5 Comparatives

Comparative structures are used to compare people, things, or actions. In both English and French, the structure varies depending on the part of speech (noun, adjective, adverb, or verb) that is used to make the comparison. There are three types of comparison: superiority (more . . . than), equality (as . . . as), and inferiority (less . . . than). The following examples show different types of comparison where the first term is superior to the second term.

French	English
Marc est plus grand que moi.	Marc is taller than me. (adj.)
Nous parlons plus rapidement que vous.	We speak more quickly than you. (adverb)
Ma soeur parle plus au téléphone que moi.	My sister talks on the phone more than I do. (verb)
Bill Gates a plus d'argent que moi.	Bill Gates has more money than I do. (noun).

Note: Parts of speech

Part of speech is the term used to describe whether a word functions as a noun, verb, preposition, etc. When you are studying a new language, it is necessary to think about parts of speech even if you seldom (or never!) do in your native language. For example, if you wanted to find the word "run" in an English-French dictionary, you would need to know whether you are using it as a verb (They run quickly), or a noun (She has a run in her stocking). In order to form sentences in French, you must memorize the rules, and rules often work differently for different parts of speech.

Comparisons with adjectives

The three forms of comparison with an adjective are

Comparatif - adjectif:
plus [adjectif] que	more [adjective] than
aussi [adjectif] que	as [adjective] as
moins [adjectif] que	less [adjective] than

Observe the examples for a comparison of superiority (. . . er than).

French	English
Il est plus grand que moi.	He is taller than me.^6
Elle est plus intelligente que lui.	She is smarter than him.
Nous sommes plus sincères qu'eux.	We are more sincere than them.

In English, we can use more or place -er on the end of the adjective; in French, there is only one structure: we place the modifier plus in front of the adjective.

^6Note: In formal English, this sentence, and the English examples throughout this section, are grammatically incorrect; one should say He is taller than I or He is taller than I am, She is smarter than he or She is smarter than he is, We are more sincere than they (are), because the word after the comparison is the subject of an implied or stated verb. However, in informal spoken English, most Americans use the structures given above, so I have used them so that students can better understand the equivalent usage in English and French.

Grammar Note

The pronouns used after any preposition and after the "que" in a comparison are called stressed, disjunctive or emphatic pronouns. You have seen them often and must actively learn them now.

moi me
toi you
lui him
elle her
nous us
vous you
eux them (masc.)
elles them (fem.)

The adjective must agree with the first item in the comparison — in the sentences above, intelligente is feminine to agree with elle; sincères is plural to agree with nous.

This same basic structure is used when the comparison is one of equality or inferiority; only the comparison word is different.

French	English
Elle est aussi grande que son père.	She is as tall as her father.
Nous sommes aussi honnêtes qu'elle.	We are as honest as her.
Mon frère est moins intelligent que moi.	My brother is less intelligent than me.
Christine et Albert sont moins travailleurs que Paul.	Christine and Albert are less hard-working than Paul.

Although we do not use comparisons of inferiority (with less) very often in English, they are quite common in French. It may help you to think of the moins comparison as being closer to not as in English; e.g. My brother is not as intelligent as me.

B.5.1 Poids et mesures

Comparatif - adjectif: plus [adjectif] que aussi [adjectif] que moins [adjectif] que

Using the adjective given, compare the two items. Do not change the order of the two items, but state how the first one compares to the second one. Make sure the adjective agrees with the first item. Use plus, moins, or aussi as is logical.

Exemple: Une semaine - long - un mois                            Une semaine est moins longue qu'un mois.

1. une pomme - grand - un melon
2. Serena Williams - fort - moi
3. mon stylo - long - ma chaussure
4. la Tour Eiffel - haut - ma maison
5. 100 centimètres - long - un mètre
6. le soleil - chaud - la lune
7. les voitures - rapide - les avions
8. 60 minutes - long - une heure
9. le pôle nord - froid - l'Equateur
10. une eur - délicat - un arbre

Irregular Comparative Adjectives

The only variation in this structure is with the two irregular comparative adjectives in French, the words for better (meilleur) and worse (pire). The only way to say the adjective better is meilleur: the word plus is NOT used in this comparison. However, both pire and plus mauvais can be used for worse, and you can also say moins bon to mean less good, not as good. These comparative adjectives agree with the item being described, just like any other adjective.

French	English
bon, bonne (m., f.)	good
meilleur, meilleure (m., f.)	better

aussi bon(ne)	as good
moins bon(ne)	not as good

mauvais(e)	bad
pire	worse
plus mauvais(e)	worse

Grammar Note

Students often get confused and still use plus in comparisons with meilleur. Remember — just as in English we say better and never *more better, in French the comparison is simply meilleur, never *plus meilleur.

Examples (all correct ways of conveying similar meanings):

French	English
Les fraises sont meilleures que les brocolis.	Strawberries are better than broccoli.
Les brocolis sont moins bons que les fraises.	Broccoli is not as good as strawberries.
Les brocolis sont pires que les fraises.	Broccoli is worse than strawberries.

B.5.2 A mon avis

Mini-Vocabulaire: numérique digital

Tell which is better or worse, in your opinion. Pay attention to adjectival agreement.

Exemple:
le vin français- le vin californien                             Le vin français est meilleur que le vin californien.
                                                                          ou
                                                                          Le vin français est moins bon que le vin californien.

1. le chocolat belge - le chocolat suisse
2. un hamburger- les escargots
3. Les Lakers - Les Clippers
4. mon université - la Sorbonne
5. la musique rap - la musique classique
6. une montre numérique - une montre analogique
7. un ordinateur - une machine à écrire
8. la cuisine chinoise - la cuisine mexicaine

Comparisons with Adverbs

Comparisons with adverbs use the exact same structure as comparisons with adjectives.

Comparatif - adverbe: plus [adverbe] que aussi [adverbe] que moins [adverbe] que

French	English
Notre professeur parle plus rapidement que nous.	Our teacher speaks more quickly than we do.
Je conduis aussi prudemment que mon père.	I drive as cautiously as my father.

Grammar Note

An adverb is a word that modifies an adjective, a verb, or another adverb. Adverbs in English often end in -ly.

Irregular Comparative Adverbs

Grammar Note

Bon (good) and mauvais (bad) are adjectives; bien (well  and mal badly) are adverbs.

Just as the comparatives for bon and mauvais were irregular, so are the comparatives for their equivalent adverbs, bien and mal. The comparative adverb for bien (well) is mieux (better). The comparative adverb for mal (badly) is moins bien, plus mal, pire or pis (worse). (Adverbs do not change form as adjectives do).

French	English
Il écrit moins bien que moi.	He writes less well than I do.
Elle danse mieux que lui.	She dances better than he does.

B.5.3 Les talents de ma famille

Elise is talking about herself and her family. She first says how well she does various things; then she compares other members of her family to herself. Give Elise's second sentence, using a comparative and following the clue given: + plus, = aussi, - moins.

Exemple: Je parle rapidement. (ma mère, -)
                Ma mère parle moins rapidement que moi.

1. Je voyage rarement. (ma mère, +)
2. J'écoute attentivement. (ma soeur, -)
3. Je cours lentement. (ma grand-mère, =)
4. Je danse bien. (mon père, +)
5. Je nage mal (mon frère, +)
6. Je chante mélodieusement. (mes parents, =)

Comparison with nouns

With nouns, the structure is slightly different.

Comparatif - substantif:
plus de [nom] que	more [noun(s)] than
autant de [nom] que	as much [noun] as; as many [nouns] as
moins de [nom] que	less [noun] than; fewer [nouns] than

French	English
Je fais plus de devoirs que vous.	I do more homework than you.
Nous avons autant de cousins qu'eux.	We have as many cousins as them.^7
Mon frère boit moins de lait que ma soeur.	My brother drinks less milk than my sister.

^7As explained in the note on page 349, correct formal English would require "as many cousins as they"; informal English usage is used throughout this section for easier student understanding.

Note that the comparison word used in a comparison of equality is different for a noun (autant) than for an adjective or adverb (aussi).

These comparisons are similar in structure to other expressions of quantity. Whenever we have an expression of quantity in front of a noun in French, we use the preposition de. For example, with adverbs of quantity such as beaucoup, peu, énormément, we say J'ai beaucoup de devoirs ce soir (I have a lot of homework tonight), Nous n'avons pas assez d'argent (We don't have enough money). With nouns of quantity, we also use de: Je voudrais une tasse de café (I would like a cup of coffee); il a acheté trois kilos de boeuf (He bought three kg of beef). Since plus, autant, moins are obviously quantities, it makes sense that they also require de before a noun.

B.5.4 Compétition

Comparatif - substantif: plus de [nom] que autant de [nom] qe moins de [nom] que

Marc et Marie sont frère et soeur, et ils sont très compétitifs. Comparez leurs possessions.

Exemple: Marc a deux jouets.
                Marie a trois jouets.                                     Marc a moins de jouets que Marie.

1. Marc a trois ballons. Marie a trois ballons aussi.
2. Marc a dix dollars. Marie a vingt dollars.
3. Marc a onze voitures miniatures. Marie a une voiture miniature.
4. Marc a deux chaises dans sa chambre. Marie a une chaise.
5. Marc a trente-deux CD. Marie a quarante et un CD.
6. Marc a eu quatre "A" sur son relevé de notes. Marie a aussi eu quatre "A."

B.5.5 Comment sont les maisons?

Comparez votre maison (ou appartement) à la maison (ou appartement) de votre meilleur(e) ami(e). Ecrivez au moins 5 phrases, avec des comparaisons d'adjectifs et de noms.

Comparisons with verbs

Comparatif - verbe: [verbe] plus que [verbe] autant que [verbe] moins que

In truth, one does not normally make comparisons with verbs; one usually makes a comparison using the adverb (how well, often, etc. one does something). However, there is a structure in which the object of the verb remains implicit (unstated). In this case, the comparative words used are plus (+), autant (=), and moins (-), just as with nouns. Observe:

French	English
Nous gagnons plus que lui.	We earn more than him.^8
Je lis moins que ma mère.	I read less than my mother.
Mes parents travaillent autant que moi.	My parents work as much as me.

Note: in many cases, French speakers will choose to make the comparison by modifying the adverb "souvent" rather than the verb itself. e.g., "Il joue au foot moins souvent que moi."

^8Once more, note that correct formal English requires more than he or more than he does; as much as I or as much as I do.

B.5.6 Qui peut se comparer à vous?

Répondez aux questions dans une phrase complète.

Dans votre famille,

1. Qui travaille plus que vous?
2. Qui boit autant que vous?
3. Qui étudie moins que vous?
4. Qui cuisine autant que vous?
5. Qui dort plus que vous?
6. Qui mange moins que vous?

B.5.7 Toute sorte de comparaisons

Make a comparative sentence using the elements given. Decide whether the comparison involves an adjective or adverb, or a noun or verb, in order to use the correct structure.

Exemple: Les éléphants / manger / + / bananes // les lions.
                Les éléphants mangent plus de bananes que les lions.

1. Ma vie / être / + / facile // la vie de mes parents.
2. Notre appartement à Los Angeles / avoir / - / chambres // la maison de mes cousins.
3. Les parents de mon amie / donner / - / liberté / à ses soeurs // à ses frères.
4. L'in uence (f.) de la religion dans la société / être / + / grand / aux Etats-Unis // en France.
5. On peut visiter / = / musées / en Italie // en Grèce.
6. Les New-Yorkais / parler / + / rapidement // les Caroliniens.
7. Les plages (f.) en Floride / être / = / populaire // les plages en Californie.