4.3: Grammaire - présentation
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An adverb is a word that qualifies the action of the verb, that is, it specifies how or when the action is performed. In English, many adverbs are indicated by the -ly ending. In French, most adverbs end in -ment.
| lentement | slowly |
| attentivement | carefully |
| souvent | often |
Adverbs answer questions about the action: how? how much? when? and where? While most adverbs in French and English modify verbs, they can also modify other adverbs as well as adjectives.
| verb modified by adverb | Ecoute attentivement. | Listen carefully. |
| adverb modified by adverb | trop lentement | too slowly |
| adjective modified by adverb | extrêmement silencieux | extremely quiet |
It is common in non-standard English for speakers to use adjectives in place of adverbs.
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Shasta joue bien. |  |
Shasta plays well. |
| La vie de Shasta est bonne. | Shasta's life is good. |
Mes notes sont 1. mauvaises. Je suis un 2. mauvais étudiant. Je travaille 3. mal à la fac.
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1. adjectif 2. adjectif 3. adverbe
An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. The major differences between adjectives in French and English concern agreement and placement. In French, an adjective is usually placed after the noun it modifies and must agree in gender and number with the noun. In English, an adjective usually comes before the noun it modifies and is invariable, that is, it does not agree.
Examples: Shasta est un chat sportif.
Astérix et Obélix sont des personnages admirables.
1. My mother is French, and my father is American. 2. Your mother is American, and your father is French. 3. His half-sisters are Canadian and my half-brothers are Canadian too.
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1. Ma mère est française, et mon père est américain. 2. Ta mère est américaine, et ton père est français. 3. Ses demi-sœurs sont canadiennes et mes demi-frères sont canadiens aussi.
The verb faire is irregular in the present tense.
| faire 'to do, to make' | |
| je fais | nous faisons |
| tu fais | vous faites |
| il/elle/on fait | ils/elles font |
Note the vous form faites. It is unusual because it does not end in -ez. Faire is one of only three verbs where this is the case (The others are être: vous êtes, and dire: vous dites ). You may notice, too, the similarity in the third person plural forms of aller, être, and faire:
| ils vont (they go), |
| ils sont (they are), and |
| ils font (they do/make). |
1. Nous 1. ... du ski en hiver. 2. Mon ami 2. ... des promenades en été. 3. Mes parents 3. ... du sport le weekend. 4. Et vous, est-ce que vous 4. .... du sport ?
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1. faisons 2. fait 3. font 4. faites
The verb aller is irregular in the present tense. Listen carefully to the pronunciation of the -s in the plural forms nous andvous forms. This -s is pronounced as a /z/ to link with the vowel sound in the plural forms allons and allez.
Aller literally means 'to go', but is used figuratively in salutations to say how one is doing.
| aller 'to go' | |
| je vais | nous allons |
| tu vas | vous allez |
| il/elle/on va | ils/elles vont |
1. Shasta 1. ... au stade. 2. Nous 2. ... à la fac. 3. Nos parents 3. .... au bureau.
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1. va 2. allons 3. vont
There are two future tenses in French, the simple future and the near future (le futur proche). The futur proche is usually translated into English as going + infinitive (e.g., going to eat, going to drink, going to talk) and is used to talk about events happening in the near future. The futur proche is characteristic of spoken French but may be used in informal writing. It is formed with the verb aller (to go) conjugated in the present tense followed by an infinitive.
| nager 'to swim' | |
| je vais nager, I am going to swim | nous allons nager, we are going to swim |
| tu vas nager, you are going to swim | vous allez nager, you are going to swim |
| il, elle / on va nager, he, she (it) / one is going to swim | ils / elles vont nager, they are going to swim |
To negate the futur proche, place ne ... pas around the conjugated form of aller: Je ne vais pas nager. (I am not going to swim).
Example : Shasta ne va pas faire une promenade, il va jouer au foot !
1. Tomorrow I am going to swim, but I am not going to ski. 2. Next week you (formal) are going to visit a cathedral. 3. Next weekend mes parents are going to travel, but they are not going to visit monuments.
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1. Demain je vais nager, mais je ne vais pas faire du ski. 2. La semaine prochaine vous allez visiter une cathédrale. 3. Le weekend prochain mes parents vont voyager, mais ils ne vont pas visiter des monuments.
Prepositions are used in expressions which relate where you are, where you are going and where you are coming from. The preposition used in such expressions depends on the geographic location discussed.
| geographic location | to/in | from |
| à | de (d') | |
| cites (Paris, Londres, Austin) | à Paris | d'Austin |
| islands (Cuba, Tahiti) | à Cuba | de Tahiti |
| feminine (usually ending in -e) | en | de (d') |
| countries (la France) | en France | de France |
| states (la Californie) | en Californie | de Californie |
| provinces (la Bourgogne) | en Bourgogne | de Bourgogne |
| continents (l'Europe) | en Europe | d'Europe |
| masculine | au | du |
| countries (le Canada, le Texas :-) | au Canada | du Texas |
| provinces/states (le Colorado) | au Colorado | du Colorado |
| masculine beginning with a vowel | en | de (d') |
| countries (l'Iran) | en Iran | d'Iran |
| provinces/states (l'Ontario) | en Ontario | d'Ontario |
| aux | des | |
| plural countries and regions (les Etats-Unis) |
aux Etats-Unis | des Etats-Unis |
1. Nous habitons ... Houston. 2. Tu habites ... Texas. 3. Mes amis habitent ... Etats-Unis. 4. Shasta est américain, donc il est ... Etats-Unis. 5. Ma copine voyage ... France.
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1. à 2. au 3. aux 4. des 5. en
Aknowledgment: some parts of this page are partially adopted from Francais Interactif.