2.3: Grammaire - présentation

Les articles

In French, very few nouns can stand alone. Most need to be introduced or 'determined' by an article. As in English, an article is characterized as either definite ('the') or indefinite ('a', 'an'). Articles and adjectives must agree in number and gender with the nouns they modify. Articles must be expressed even though they aren't always in English; and you may have to repeat the article in some cases.

Example:

a boy - un garçon

some boys - des garçons

the boy - le garçon

the boys - les garçons

If you want to talk about an unspecific object in French, you can use an indefinite article for this (un, une, des). This rule is the opposite of the definite article rule, which indicates that you should use definite articles for specific and defined objects. Also, use indefinite articles (un, une, des) to describe countable objects. Countable objects are objects that you can count, unlike water or milk. Whenever you mention many countable objects in French and want to say “some,” use an indefinite article.

Here is the summative table for French articles.

Article	Masculin	Féminin	Pluriel
Indéfini	un	une	des
Défini	le /l'	la/l'	les

Les formes contractées des articles

Note that le and la both become l' when they precede a noun beginning with a vowel or a silent h: l'escargot, l'université. This is called élision.

Unlike le and la, les and des do not have a contracted, reduced form. When les / des is followed by a word starting with a vowel, the normally silent final s is pronounced, making a /z/ sound. This additional sound linking two words is called liaison.

Examples:

the man - l'homme (masc)

the plane - l'avion (masc)

the address - l'adresse (fem)

the men - les hommes (masc)

the addresses - les adresses (fem)

Le ? L' ? La ? Les ?

1. étudiant 2. étudiante 3. étudiants 4. étudiantes 5. commerce 6. histoire 7. sociologie 8. sciences po

Answer

1. l'

2. l'

3. les

4. les

5. le

6. l'

7. la

8. les

Les pronoms-sujets

Subject pronouns are a type of personal pronoun that indicate who or what is performing the action of a verb.

Examples:

Je suis prêt. I’m ready.

Nous devons partir. We need to leave.

Thus, with two numbers and three persons, there are a total of six grammatical persons, each of which has at least one French subject pronoun:

	Singulier	Pluriel
1st person	je = I	nous = we
2nd person	tu = you	vous = you
3d person	il = he elle = she on = one / we/ they	ils = they elles = they

Les pronoms-sujets (suite)

Je is only capitalized at the beginning of a sentence. Je contracts to j’ in front of a vowel or mute h.

Examples:

J’aime le chocolat. I like chocolate.

Oui, j’aime le chocolat. Yes, I like chocolate.

In addition to "he" and "she," il and elle mean “it” when they replace a noun of that gender. Thus, le livre (the book) becomes il and la carte (the map) becomes elle.

Examples:

Voici le livre du professeur. Il est interessant. Here is the teacher's book. It is interesting.

Voici la carte de France. Elle est grande. Here is the map of France. It is big.

Ils is used for men, masculine nouns, and mixed gender groups – it is the default when referring to plural groups. Elles can be used only for a group of women and/or feminine nouns.

Tu vs. Vous: While there’s only one word for "you" in English, in French formality and familiarity play a big role.

Examples:

Bonjour Monsieur, comment allez-vous ? Hello sir, how are you ?

Salut mec, tu vas bien? Hey man, how’s it going?

Quel pronom?

1. Voici la salle de classe. ... est grande. 2. Voici mon ami Victor. ... est intelligent. 3. Voici les chats de UH, Shasta et Sasha. .... sont adorables.

Answer

1. Elle 2. Il 3. Ils

Le verbe être au présent

Être is one of the most important and common French verbs in the entire language. The meaning of être is “to be”. The conjugation of être in the present tense is:

Singulier	Pluriel
Je suis - I am	Nous sommes - we are
Tu es - you are	Vous êtes - you are
Il / elle / on est - he / she / one is	Ils / elles sont - they are

Quelle forme du verbe être ?

1. Je... intelligent. 2. Astérix ... petit. 3. Shasta et Sasha ... grands. 4. Nous .... contents.

Answer

1. suis 2. est 3. sont 4. sommes

Il y a vs. Voilà / Voici

Both mean "there is / there are" or "here is / here are" and both can introduce nouns.

1. Il y a means "there is / there are" and indicates the existence of a person or a thing in the context of a particular setting.

The "a" in "il y a" is the present tense of the verb "avoir" (to have).

Examples:

Il y a beaucoup d’étudiants. There are a lot of students.

Il y a une fête la semaine prochaine. There is a party next week.

2. Voilà / Voici mean "here is / here are ". They introduce people or ideas. Alternating between “voici” and “voilà” is common when referring to more than one item.

Examples:

Voici Astérix et voilà Obélix ! Here is Asterix, and there is Obelix.

Voici la bibliothèque de UH et voilà la célèbre Sasha ! Here is the library and there the famous Sasha.

Comment dit-on en français ?

1. Here is a book and there is a pen. 2. There are twenty chairs in the classroom.

Answer

1. Voici un livre, et voilà un stylo. 2. Il y a vingt chaises dans la salle de classe.

Aknowledgment: some parts of this page are partially adopted from Francais Interactif.