Grammar ~ General Rules Flashcards
(Like saying “It is”)
To identify people and objects use ____ before a singular article and a noun
C’est
With most French nouns, when you use the plural, you do what?
Add an “s” to the end
In French, how do you turn a singular into a plural if the word end in “eau”?
Add “x” to the end of the word
How to you change a verb from singular to plural if it ends in “al”?
Drop the “al” and add “aux”
For both masculine and feminine the indefinite article (the “of the”), you use the word
des
“They are” (masculine) =
Ils sont
To say the “is” part of “It is”, if the “it” is feminine, you say
“est”
“They are” (feminine) =
Elles sont
“We are” =
Nous sommes
With proper names and with professions, do you use the articles “de”, “des”, “un”, “une”, etc. (like when saying “c’est” and “ce sont”)?
Nope
If “they” refers to both men/boys AND women/girls, do you use masculine or feminine when referring to them?
Masculine
Do you use “C’est” (“That is”/“That’s”) for singular or plural?
Singular
(To be)
To say “I am” in French, it’s:
“Je _____”
suis
Do you use “Ce sont” (“Something” or “Someone” is) for singular or plural?
Plural
(To be)
To say a person is “one is” say =
“On est”
(To be)
They are =
Ils sont
(To be)
We are =
Nous sommes
(To be)
You are (plural)
Vous êtes (masculine OR feminine)
(To be)
He is =
Il est
(To be)
When using the informal “You”, how would you say: “You are”?
«Tu es»
(To be)
There are =
Ce sont
What are the French singular articles for “one”, “a” or “an”, both for the masculine and the feminine (so please provide 2 answers here)?
Un
Une
When you’re saying that someone is from a certain country, do you capitalize the first letter of it?
Nope
To change from masculine to feminine when designating being from a country what do do at the end of the word?
Add an “e”
(“Français” 👉 “Française”)
How do you say “they” for plural nouns that begin with a consonant?
“Les”
To say “It is” when referring to singular people or objects use “_________” followed by “____”and then the noun.
“C’est” and then an article.
(“C’est une fenêtre.”)
What are two definite singular articles (“the”) that are used in French?
“Le” or “la”
What are indefinite articles (“a”, like in “a cat”) in French?
“Un” or “une”
What is a good, simple way to ask a question?
Repeat it in the same form as a statement, but raise your intonation at the end of the question.
(“Tu es gentile?”)
Is “sont” used for singular or for plural?
Only for plural
“C’est” used to _______ and, in contrast, “Il est” is used to _________.
Yes
In French, “c’est” and “il est” (or “ils sont” for plural) are used differently depending on the context:
“C’est” (This is/That is/It is) is used to identify or introduce someone or something. It’s followed by a noun, often with an article or adjective.
Example: C’est un médecin. (He is a doctor.)
“Il est” / “Ils sont” (He is/They are) is used to DESCRIBE someone or something. It’s followed by an adjective or a profession WITHOUT an article.
Example: Il est intelligent. (He is intelligent.)
Example: Ils sont étudiants. (They are students.)
When do you use “sommes” and when would you use “sont” with the “to be” verb “are”?
“Nous sommes” means “we are”. For example, “Nous sommes heureux”, which means “We are happy.”
“Sont” is used with “ils” or “elles” (they). For example, “Ils sont heureux” means “They are happy.”
When does “je” shorten to “j’”?
When it appears before ____?
A vowel or a vowel sound
“J’ adore”
With verbs that end in “ger”, like “manger”, how would you spell it in the “nous” form?
“Nous mangeons”
With verbs ending in “cer”, like “commencer” how do you spell the “nous” form?
You add a cedile (ç):
“Nous commençons.”
Explain the use of the plural “Les” versus “Des”.
“Les”
Definite Article: “Les” is the plural form of the definite articles “le” (masculine) and “la” (feminine). It translates to “the” in English.
Usage: Use “les” when referring to specific or known items.
Example: “Les livres sont sur la table.” (The books are on the table.)
“Des”
Indefinite Article: “Des” is the plural form of the indefinite articles “un” (masculine) and “une” (feminine). It translates to “some” or can be omitted in English.
Usage: Use “des” when referring to unspecified or unknown items.
Example: “J’ai des amis en France.” (I have friends in France.)
Summary
Les: Specific items (the)
Des: Unspecified items (some)
To form a question, you can do 4 things. What are they, Jean?
- Raise your intonation at the end of the sentence
- Say “Est-que” before what would be a statement (“Est-ce que vous parlez français?”)
- Make the statement and then add a “tag question”, like “n’ est-ce pas?”, or “d’ accord?”
- Invert the subject/verb: “ Vous parlez français.” inverts to “Parlez-vous français?”
DONT FORGET THE HYPHEN BETWEEN THE VERB AND THE SUBJECT!
When using “Est-ce que”: if the next word begins with a vowel sound, what do you do?
Change to “Est-ce q’ “
“Est-ce q’ il aime dessiner?
When using inversion to form a question, if the verb ENDS in a vowel, and the subject pronoun BEGINS with one, what do you do?
So “Il mange à midi.” Becomes
What three subject nouns does this apply to?
You insert a “t” between the newly inverted verb and the subject (don’t forget the hyphens).
So So “Il mange à midi. becomes: “Mange-t-il à midi?”
This applies to “Il”, “elle” and “on”.
In forming a question, “Il y a” becomes:
“Y a-t-il”
In forming a question, what is the inverted form of “C’est”?”
It’s “est-ce”.
With an inversion type of question, like “Détestez-vous travailler?”, how would you make it into a negative?”
“Ne détestez-vous pas travailler?”
Please explain “les” vs. “des”.
Use “les” when you are talking about specific, known items. An example is: « Les pommes sont sur la table »
Use “des” when you are talking about non-specific items or an unspecified quantity. An example is: «Des pommes sont cher»
When you raise your intonation at the end of a sentence you are changing a statement into a _______?
And is this formal or informal usage?
Into a question.
This is informal.
A way to ask a question is to place what words in front of a statement?
Est-ce que
When using “Est-ce que” in front of a statement to form a question, how do you change “Est-ce que” if the next word begins with a vowel sound?
For example, changing “Il aime dessiner.” would have you say:
You drop the “e” in “que”, changing it to “Est-ce qu’ “
Is the use of “inversion” when changing a statement into a question formal or informal?
It’s quite formal.
With “inversion”, if the verb ends in a vowel and the subject PRONOUN also begins with a vowel, what do you need to insert, and where?
For example, how would you use inversion to change “Il mange à midi.” Into a question?
You insert “-t-“ between the verb and the subject pronoun.
So the sentence “Il mange à midi.”, when inverted into a question, becomes: “Mange-t-il à midi?”
When using inversion to change a statement into a question, if the subject is a noun INSTEAD of a pronoun, where do you move the noun and then what do you invert?
For example, with “Nina arrive demain.”, you would change it to:
You place the noun at the beginning, then invert the verb and pronoun.
“Nina arrive-t-elle demain?”
What’s the inverted form of “Il y a” is what?
“Y a-t-il”
To invert with “ Il y a”, as in “Il y a une horloge dans la classe.”, you change it to:
“Y a-t-il une horloge dans la classe?”
What is the inverted form of “C’est”?
(C’est le professeur de lettres.” would become:)
The inverted form is “Est-ce”
(Est-ce le professeur de lettres?”)
Is “inversion” formal or informal usage?
Formal
When you invert to form a question what do you need to place between the verb (“Parlez”) and the subject (“vous”)?
A hyphen
(“Parlez-vous français?”)
Inverting “Nina arrive demain.” into a question yields:
“Nina arrive-t-elle demain?”
The inverted form of “C’est” is
“Est-ce”
How would you turn the sentence “Déteste-vous travailler?” into a negative?
(John, notice, too, the hyphen, since this is an inversion.)
“Ne déteste-vous pas travailler?”
With inversion type questions, if the noun comes first, followed by the verb and then the object (“Le professeur donne des devoirs.”) how do you make the inversion?
Noun, inverted verb then -t-Il, then the object
(“Le professeur donne-t-Il des devoirs?”)
What does adding “d’accord?” come across as?
It’s a kind of insult, like “don’t you GET it?!”
Explain “division words” (“an, jour, matin, and soir” ) ~ (and note that they are all masculine) and “duration words.”
The short words “an, jour, matin, and soir” (note that they are all masculine) indicate a simple amount of time or division of time. For the purposes of this lesson, we’ll call these “division words.”
Je suis en France depuis deux jours. –> I’ve been in France for two days.
Il est fatigué ce soir. –> He’s tired this evening.
In comparison, the longer words “année, journée, matinée, and soirée” (all feminine) indicate a duration of time, usually stressing the actual length of time. And these “duration words.”
Nous avons travaillé pendant toute la matinée. –> We worked all morning.
“
Elle est la première de son année.* –> She’s the first in her year/class.
*Though année is feminine since it begins with a vowel you have to say son année (not “sa année”)
Please explain “un jour” vs “une journée”
Basically, “jour” refers to a specific point in time, while “journée” emphasizes the duration and experiences during that time.
Please explain “un soir” vs “une soirée”.
“Soir” (masculine) refers to a specific time of the day, which is the evening. For example, “Je vais sortir ce soir” means “I’m going out this evening.”
“Soirée” (feminine) emphasizes the duration of the evening, often used to talk about an event or activity that takes place during the evening. For example, “Nous avons passé une excellente soirée” means “We had a great evening.”
In summary, use “soir” to talk about a specific moment and “soirée” to talk about the duration or activities of the evening.
Please conjugate “avoir” (“to have”) in singular and plural
j’ai. nous avons
tu as. vous avez
il a. ils ont
elle a elles ont
on a
In using negation to form a question for the verb “avoir, what do need to interject, and where?
For example: “J’ai un cours difficile” becomes
The “ne/n’ “ and “pas”, of course, but you also have to add “de/des/d’” before the object.
“Je n’ai pas DE cours difficile”
Le samedi vs samedi - how are they used differently?
Le samedi means every Saturday
samedi means THIS COMING Saturday
To say “I call Mark”, what do you have to add?
You have to add an “a”, so it would be “Je téléphone à Mark.”
How would you say “Last Thursday”?
“Jeudi dernier”
How do you say “this”
“cette” (féminine) and “ce”(masculin)
“I call Mark.”
“Je téléphone à Mark.”
Last Thursday
Jeudi dernier
This (masculine)
This (feminine)
Ce
Cette
To attend
assister à
This very/exact month
Ce moins-ci
When telling time, if you’re saying 4:05 you’d say ______, but I’d you wanted to say “quarter past four” you would say _______.
But if you’re using minus a quarter or a half hour what needs to be added?
Quatre heures cinq (with no “and”/“et”) added
But when you use times like “quarter past four” you add “and”/“et”, saying “quatre heures ET quart”
MINUS a 15 minute “quart” or a half hour “demie”, though, you need to say “minus THE half”, so “moins le demie”
When do you use “tu” and when do you use “toi”?
“Tu” and “toi” both mean “you,” but they’re used in different contexts:
-
“Tu”: This is the subject form. Use it when “you” is the subject of the sentence.
- Example: Tu es gentil. (You are kind.)
-
“Toi”: This is the stressed or emphatic form. Use it for emphasis or after prepositions.
- Example: C’est pour toi. (It’s for you.)
Got it? ✨
What word do you use when telling the second hand’s time when it’s past 30 minutes?
“moins”
In telling time, how do you speak about something happening AT a certain time?
“Céline works at 7:00.”
You use “à”
“Céline travaille à sept heures.”
“At what time?”
À quelle heure?”
“in the afternoon”
“de l’après-midi”
in the morning
du matin
in the evening
du soir
early (name both ways to say it)
“tôt” and “en avance”
It’s 10:45
Il est onze heures moins LE quart
How do you say “midnight” when using 24 hour time?
“Vingt quartre”
When you’re telling time and using “quart” and “demie” and you’re using “minus”, do you say “moins le quart” or “moins quart”?
You use the “le”
When telling time and using “quart” or “demie”, and when your adding positive time, not “moins”, do you say “et demie” “demie” or “le demie”
“et demie”
How would you say: “I work from 8 to 4.”?
“Je traveille DE huit heures À seize heures.”
How to say “I work on Monday.”?
“LE lundi je travaille”
