Fiches de Grammaire #3

Question 1

The imparfait:

irregular verbs

Answer 1

• Irregular verbs follow the same pattern as regular verbs: j’allais, j’avais, je buvais, je faisais, je sortais etc.

Question 2

Possessive Adjectives:

Unlike English, this is what French adjectives do

Answer 2

Unlike English, French possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the object owned rather than the owner

Examples:

Mon magazine (My magazine)

Ma band dessinée (My comic strip)

Mes journaux (My newspapers)

Question 3

Possessive Adjectives:

Where are they placed

Answer 3

Possessive adjectives are placed before the nouns they modify

Examples:

C’est ta radio? (Is that your radio)

Non, mais c’est ma télévision. (No, but that’s my television)

Question 4

Imparfait:

What it is used for

Answer 4

• The imparfait is used to talk about actions that took place repeatedly or habitually
• When narrating a story in the past, the imparfait is used to set the scene, such as describing the weather, what was going on, the time frame, and so on.
• The imparfait is used to describe states of min that continued over an unspecified period of time in the past

Question 5

Imparfait:

Verbs that end in -ger

The c in verbs that end in -cer

Answer 5

Verbs that end in -GER add an E before all endings except in the nous and vous form.

Similarly, the c in verbs that end in -CER becomes ç before all endings except in the nous and vous forms

Examples:

je mangeais but nous mangions

ils commençait but vous commenciez

Question 6

Possessive Adjectives:

Mon, Ton, Son

Answer 6

Use mon, ton, son before a feminine singular noun or adjective that begins with a vowel sound

Examples:

mon amie Nathalie (my friend Nathalie)

but

ma meilleure amie Nathalie (my best friend Nathalie)

Son ancienne publicité (his/her/its former advertisement)

but

sa publicité (his/her/its advertisement)

Question 7

Possessive Adjectives:

Notre and Votre

Nos and Vos

Answer 7

• Notre and votre are used with singular nouns whether they are masc or fem
• Regardless of gender, the plural forms of notre and votre are nos and vos

Examples:

Notre neveu (My nephew) Notre nièce (My niece)

Votre oncle (your uncle) votre tante (your aunt)

nos cousins (our cousins) nos cousines (female cousins)

vos frères (your brothers) ** vos** sœurs (your sisters)

Question 8

Imparfait vs. Passé Composée

Answer 8

• The imparfait and the passé composée are both used to talk about the past, but they are not interchangable.
• Use passé composée to talk about completed actions or events in the past

Question 9

Imparfait:

être

Answer 9

Only the verb être is irregular in the imparfait

j’étais nous étions

tu étais vous étiez

il/elle était ils/elles étaient

Question 10

The imparfait: formation and uses

Answer 10

• The imparfait is used to talk about what happened or describe conditions in the past
• Examples:*

Ils regardaient le feuilleton tous les jours (they used to watch the soap opera every day)

• to form the imparfait, drop the -ons from the nous form of the present tense, and add these endings

Je: ais ** Tu**: ais

Il/elle: ait Nous: ions

Vous: iez Ils/Elles: aient

Question 11

Possessive Adjectives:

When are they used?

What are they?

Answer 11

Possessive adjectives are used to express ownership and possession

mon, ma, mes (my)

ton, ta, tes (your)

son, sa, ses (his, her, it)

notre, notre, nos (our)

votre, votre, vos (your)

their (leur, leur, leurs)

Question 12

Possessive Adjectives:

Son, Sa, Ses

Answer 12

The possessive adjectives son, sa, ses reflect the gender and number of the noun possed, not the owner. Context should tell you whether they mean his or her

Examples:

son père (his/her father)

sa mère (his/her mother)

ses parents (his/her parents)