5.3: Grammaire - présentation
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The verbs partir, sortir, and dormir are irregular in the present tense. Listen carefully to the pronunciation of these verbs, noting especially the pronunciation of the consonant sound in the plural forms. Can you hear the difference between the singular and the plural forms in the third person?
| partir 'to leave' | |
| je pars | nous partons |
| tu pars | vous partez |
| il/elle/on part | ils/elles partent |
| sortir 'to exit, go out' | |
| je sors | nous sortons |
| tu sors | vous sortez |
| il/elle/on sort | ils/elles sortent |
| dormir 'to sleep' | |
| je dors | nous dormons |
| tu dors | vous dormez |
| il/elle/on dort | ils/elles dorment |
1. My friend is sleeping now. 2. Are you leaving ? 3. My sisters are going out tonight.
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1. Mon ami dort maintenant. 2. Est-ce que vous partez ? 3. Mes sœurs sortent ce soir.
The definite article (le, la, l', les) is often used with parts of the body instead of a possessive determiner (mon, ma, mes, etc.). Sentences with this structure always use the verb avoir to indicate that the possessor is the subject of the sentence. The following French sentences are equivalent.
Example : Tu as les cheveux roux. = Tes cheveux sont roux.
However, an indefinite article is used if an adjective comes before the part of the body:
Example : Tu as un petit nez. Il a une grande bouche.
1. Mon père a ... cheveux courts et raides. 2. Ma mère a ... grand front.
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1. les 2. un
Regular adjectives are formed by adding an e to the masculine form in the singular (content / contente), or by adding an s to the masculine and feminine forms in the plural.
Example : Les étudiants sont contents / Les étudiantes sont contentes.
This group of adjectives is by far the most common. There are, however, a number of adjectives which are called irregular, because they do not have the normal -e, -s, or -es endings. The endings of these irregular adjectives vary widely and often change the pronunciation.
Genre : masculin et féminin
Some adjectives are completely irregular:
| masculine | feminine | translation |
| doux | douce | soft |
| faux | fausse | false |
| favori | favorite | favorite |
| frais | fraîche | fresh |
| long | longue | long |
| public | publique | public |
Other adjectives can be grouped in categories:
| masculine ending | feminine ending | french | english |
| -el | -elle | cruel • cruelle | cruel |
| -eil | -eille | pareil • pareille | similar |
| -il | -ille | gentil • gentille | kind, nice |
| -on | -onne | mignon • mignonne | cute |
| -s | -sse | gros • grosse | big, fat |
| -en | -enne | ancien • ancienne | old |
| -et | -ète | secret • secrète | secretive |
| -er | -ère | cher • chère | dear, expensive |
| -eux | -euse | heureux • heureuse | happy |
| -eur | -euse | trompeur • trompeuse | deceptive |
| -teur | -trice | créateur • créatrice | creative |
| -f | -ve | actif • active | active |
| -c | -che | franc • franche | frank |
| -ou | -olle | fou • folle | crazy |
Some adjectives have identical masculine and feminine forms. This is generally the case with adjectives ending in e in their masculine form and with foreign adjectives like 'snob', 'cool', etc.
Example: Shasta est un chat cool et extraordinaire. Sasha elle aussi est cool et extraordinaire.
Here are a few of these adjectives:
| pauvre (poor) | difficile (difficult) | sensible (sensitive) |
| riche (rich) | calme (calm) | semblable (similar) |
| mince (slim) | minuscule (tiny) | ridicule (ridiculous) |
| propre (clean) | ironique (ironic) | imaginaire (imaginary) |
1. Mon père est gentil = > Ma mère est ... 2. Mon père est intelligent = > Ma mère est ... 3. Mon père est sportif = > Ma mère est ... 4. Mon père est doux = > Ma mère est ... 5. Mon père est curieux = > Ma mère est ...
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1. gentille 2. intelligente 3. sportive 4. douce 5. curieuse
Nombre : singulier et pluriel.
The majority of adjectives are regular in the plural; that is, an -s is added to the singular masculine or feminine forms. There are two major exceptions to this rule:
1. Do not add an s to the masculine form of adjectives ending in s or x. The masculine singular and plural forms are thus identical: un animal heureux (a happy animal), des animaux heureux (happy animals). However, the feminine plural form of these adjectives is regular; it is formed by simply adding an s to the feminine singular form: une fille heureuse (a happy girl), des filles heureuses (happy girls).
2. Adjectives ending in al in the masculine singular form change to aux in the masculine plural form.
Example: Les étudiants font un exercice oral. Les étudiants font des exercices oraux.
The feminine plural form of these adjectives is regular; it is formed by simply adding an s to the feminine singular form.
Example : Les étuduants font une activité orale. Les étudiants font des activités orales.
1. Mon ami est généreux => Mes amis sont .... 2. Mon ami est amusant => Mes amis sont .... 3. Mon amie est généreuse => Mes amies sont .... 4. Mon ami est impartial => Mes amis sont .... 5. Mon amie est impartiale => Mes amies sont ....
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1. généreux 2. amusants 3. généreuses 4. impartiaux 5. impartiales
The placement of most adjectives in French is after the noun: un ami débrouillard, une étudiante travailleuse, des chats intelligents, etc. There is a small group of adjectives, however, that normally precede the noun. These adjectives may be categorized as adjectives of Beauty, Age, Numbers, Goodness, and Size (BANGS).
Example : Shasta a de grands yeux. Sasha a un joli visage.
The adjectives which precede the noun must agree in number and gender with the noun they modify.
| autre, other | beau (belle), beautiful | bon (bonne), good |
| grand (grande), tall, big | gros (grosse), big, fat | jeune, young |
| joli (jolie), pretty | mauvais (mauvaise), bad | nouveau (nouvelle), new |
| petit (petite), little | vieux (vieille), old | |
ordinal numbers: |
||
| premier (première), first | deuxième, second | troisième, third, etc. |
Beau, nouveau, and vieux have irregular forms. Note the special forms in the masculine singular when they precede a word that begins with a vowel or a silent h.
| masculine singular |
masculine before vowel |
feminine singular |
masculine plural |
feminine plural |
| beau | bel | belle | beaux | belles |
| nouveau | nouvel | nouvelle | nouveaux | nouvelles |
| vieux | vieil | vieille | vieux | vieilles |
1. vieux: c'est un ... hôtel. 2. nouveau : c'est sa ... copine. 3. beau : c'est un ... homme 4. beau: c'est une ... femme 5. beau: il a de ... yeux. 6. Elle a de .... dents.
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1. vieil 2. nouvelle 3. bel 4. belle 5. beaux 6. belles
To describe and introduce things or people in French, two common phrases are used: c'est and il/elle est. The plural forms are ce sont and ils/elles sont.
The choice between c'est and il / elle est is not always easy, but there are basic principles which can guide you in the choice. A rule of thumb is that c'est or ce sont are followed by a determined noun or proper noun ('le chat', 'Shasta', 'une Américaine', 'mes livres') or a disjuncitve pronoun ('moi'). Remember that most nouns in French are preceded by a determiner. Il/elle est and ils/elles sont are followed by an adjective ('content', 'sympathique').
Example: Salut, c'est moi, Shasta. Et ça, c'est ma copine Sasha. C'est une très bonne copine. Elle est belle et intelligente.
1. She is an old intelligent woman. 2. He is a handsome intelligent man. 3. They are new modern computers. 4. This is a young ambitious boy.
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1. C'est une vieille femme intelligente. 2. C'est un bel homme intelligent. 3. Ce sont de nouveaux ordinateurs modernes. 4. C'est un jeune homme ambitieux.
A pronominal verb is a verb that is accompanied by a reflexive pronoun. Pronominal verbs fall into three major classes based on their meaning: reflexive, idiomatic and reciprocal.
You have probably already seen the pronominal verb s'appeler (Comment t'appelles-tu? What is your name?). To conjugate pronominal verbs in the present tense, you need to pay attention to both the pronoun and the verb form. Listen carefully to the conjugation of the following pronominal verb. The verb is conjugated normally (here an -er verb) with addition of the reflexive pronouns me, te, se, nous, vous, se.
| se raser 'to shave oneself' | |
| je me rase | nous nous rasons |
| tu te rases | vous vous rasez |
| il/elle/on se rase | ils/elles se rasent |
Je me maquille. 1. Tu .... 2. Elle ... 3. Nous ... 4. Vous .... 5. Elles ....
Je ne me maquille pas 6. Tu .... 7. Elle ... 8. Nous ... 9. Vous .... 10. Elles ....
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1. Tu te maquilles 2. Elle se maquille 3. Nous nous maquillons 4. Vous vous maquillez 5. Elles se maquillent 6. Tu ne te maquilles pas 7. Elle ne se maquille pas 8. Nous ne nous maquillons pas 9. Vous ne vous maquillez pas. 10. Elles ne se maquillent pas.
Pronominal verbs often express reflexive actions, that is, the subject performs the action on itself. If the subject performs the action on someone else, the verb is not reflexive. Examples of reflexive verbs are: se laver, s'habiller, se brosser, se coucher, etc. Compare the difference in meaning between se laver and laver in the following sentences. Note that English does not usually indicate reflexive meaning explicitly since it can be inferred from the context. However, if reflexive meaning is intended in French, then it must be explicitly stated by using a reflexive pronoun.
Example : Sasha lave son t-shirt rouge. Sasha se lave.
To negate pronominal verbs, place the ne before the reflexive pronoun and the pas after the verb. When used with an auxiliary verb such as aimer (to like), the infinitive of a pronominal verb agrees with its subject. When pronominal verbs are used with parts of the body, they take the definite article (le, la, les) rather than the possessive article as in English: Shasta se lave les mains. (Shasta washes his hands.)
Example: Shasta, est-ce que tu te couches ? - Non, je ne me couche pas. Je n'aime pas me coucher très tôt.
1. I wash myself. 2. I wash my cat. 3. He goes to bed. 4. We shave. 5. We do not shave. 5. Do you like getting up early ? 6. No, I do not like getting up early.
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1. Je me lave. 2. Je lave mon chat. 3. Il se couche. 4. Nous nous rasons. 4. Nous ne nous rasons pas. 5. Est-ce que tu aimes te lever tôt ? 6. Non, je n'aime pas me lever tôt.
Adjectives are frequently used to compare things, people, events, ideas etc. Plus ... que conveys the idea of 'more ... than', moins ... que the idea of 'less than' and aussi ... que the idea of 'as ... as'.
Example: Mon ami est plus grand que moi. Sasha est aussi sportive que Shasta. Astérix est moins paresseux qu'Obélix.
The adjectives bon and mauvais have irregular forms of comparison, meilleur and pire. However, the regular form plus mauvais que has become commonly accepted. Note that this irregularity is found in English too with 'better' (not *gooder) and 'worse' (not *badder).
Example: Mes amis sont meilleurs que moi en français. Je suis pire que mes amis en grammaire française.
Modèle : Petit, Madonna, Lady Gaga (=): Madonna est aussi petite que Lady Gaga.
1. Sportif, LeBron James, Michael Jordan (=) : 2. Amusant, les chats, les chiens (-) : 3. Jeune, Mila Kunis, Demi Moore (+) :
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1. LeBron James est aussi sportif que Michael Jordan. 2. Les chats sont moins amusants que les chiens. 3. Mila Kunis est plus jeune que Demi Moore.
Aknowledgment: some parts of this page are partially adopted from Francais Interactif.