Speedy Publishing - French Grammar

Jarrive ! Im coming! Vous is the formal you form. Using it shows respect and social distance. It should always be used when addressing strangers except for in certain environments like school where students normally use tu with each other. Permission should be asked before using tu, but you normally shouldnt ask if someone is significantly older than you. It should always be employed when addressing people of authority like your teachers or the police. Excuse me. Excuse me.

Vousparlezfrancais? Do you speak French? Normally, the final consonant of a word ending in s isnt pronounced. When followed by a vowel ending word or a word that begins with silent h, this final consonant is pronounced. This is called liaison. lesenfants Je suisheureuse. the children I am happy (f.). Vous is also used for plural you.

Voustesfous. Voustes des lves. You (all) are crazy. You (all) are students. CONJUGATIONS Notice that the verb form changes whenever the subject changes. These different verb forms are known as conjugations.

They indicate the subject (I, you, he/she/it,
we, you formal, and they) and tense (ie. present, past, or future). The conjugations of regular verbs (verbesrguliers m.) follow easy to predict patterns while irregular verbs (verbesirrguliers m.) dont. tre, the verb on this page, is one of the irregulars. Two other important irregular verbs are aller (to go) and pouvouir (can). tre je tu il / elle nous vous ils / elles suis es est sommes tes sont aller je tu il / elle nous vous ils / elles vais vas va allons allez vont pouvoir je tu il / elle nous vous ils / elles peux peux peut pouvons pouvez peuvent The infinitive (linfinitif) is displayed at the top of each verbs conjugation table.

Besides serving to identify a verb, it is employed whenever the tense or the person need not be indicated. This is the case when verbs are strung together. The first verb marks the tense and person. Elle vatreici. Shes going to be here. I can go. I can go.

The infinitive is also used when a verb follows a preposition. Il vaallerl-bas. Hes going to go over there. Negation To negate something surround the verb with ne and pas. Je ne peux pas. I cant. I cant.

Theyre not going. Ne, like je, drops its vowel when it comes before a vowel. This is called lision. Il nest pas franais. He isnt french. In casual speech, the ne is often dropped.

Je peux pas. I cant This introductory guide doesnt explore conjugations in depth, so every now and then were going to send you to the conjugation guide. Now would be a good time to study the regular verbs which are divided into -er ending verbs, -ir ending verbs and -re ending verbs.

POSSESSION Masculine mon pays my country ton pre your father son fils his/her son notre pays our country votre pain your (formal) bread leur ami their friend Feminine ma ville my city/town ta mre your mother sa fille his/her daughter notre ville our village votre nourriture your (formal) food leur maison their house Masculine & Feminine plural mes amis my friends tes parents our parents ses enfants m. his/her children nos voisins f. your (formal) apples leurs noms m. their name Whenever a feminine noun begins with a vowel, the masculine forms are used- mon, ton, and son. son argent f. sonamitif. lasur de Bruno Brunos sister (the sister of Bruno) lavoiture de monsieur Jospin Mr. lasur de Bruno Brunos sister (the sister of Bruno) lavoiture de monsieur Jospin Mr.

Jospins car (the car of Mr. Jospin) lescls de mon frre my brothers keys (the keys of my brother) his/her money his/her friendship ADJECTIVES Usually adjectives come in masculine and feminine flavors and reflect the gender of the noun they modify. Normally masculine adjectives end in a consonant and feminine adjectives end in an e. unhomme fort Adjectives are a diverse lot though. Youll find many kinds of masculine and feminine forms including invariable adjectives. unmaillonfaible Here are some adjectives in masculine feminine pairs unless invariable chaud / chaude froid / froide a strong soldier a weak link hot cold lourd / lourde lger / lgre une femme forte unevoixfaible heavy light a strong woman a weak voice difficile facile difficult easy

plein / pleine vide pais / paisse fin / fine dur / dure doux / douce full empty thick thin hard soft rapide lent / lente longue court / courte mouill / mouille sec / sche fast slow long short wet dry propre sale haut / haute bas / basse clean dirty high low sr / sre dangereux / dangereuse sure/safe dangerous compliqu / complique simple complicated simple Subject pronouns can refer to objects as well as persons.

Il estdoux. Elle estdouce. He/It is soft. She/It (feminine) is soft. More commonly though, ce or another demonstrative is used with objects and things. Ce is only used with the verb tre and becomes c when thetre verb form begins with an e.

When an adjective describes ce, it is always masculine, even if a feminine object is being referred to. Cestdoux. Cestdangereux. It / That is soft. It / That is dangerous. des vents froids m. des mains froides f. cold winds cold hands Whenever an adjective describes both a male and female noun, the masculine form is used. cold winds cold hands Whenever an adjective describes both a male and female noun, the masculine form is used.