Grammar / Vocabulary from Study Flashcards
Après-demain
the day after tomorrow
Avant-hier
The day before yesterday
à la fin du mois
at the end of the month
au début de l’année
At the beginning of the year
In the present tense, for verbs that end in “cer” like commencer, what happens to the c?
When there’s an “o” behind it, like in Nous commençons, the cedilla is added.
In the present tense, for verbs that end in “ger” like manger, what happens when used with nous?
An e is added, so it’s Nous mangeons, nous voyageons
Which is the accent grave
è
Which is the accent aigu
é
Which is the chapeau, or l’accent circumflex
î
Which is the tréma?
ë
in the present tense, for verbs that end in e + constanant + er - i.e. acheter, what happens when you conjugate it?
the first e, gets an accent grave, è, in je, tu, il, elle, on, ils, elles.
In the present tense, for verbs that have a é + constanent + er, then what happens? i.e. exagérer
It changes to è, for je, tu, il, elle, on, ils, elles
When do you use the present tense in French?
In the present, ongoing action (I’m looking, looks, does look in English), to express a close future (Il part (in English he will leave), to express a habitual action (Usually, I buy meat / D’habitude, j’achète viande), to describe a past action closely related to the present (je reviens, I just returned), to express a historical fact (le president arrive en Chine…(in English, the president arrived), to describe past events more dramatically (la reine avance versos le trône), to express an action in the process (être en train de + infinitive, i.e. parler).
What is the french equivilent to neither…nor…
ni…ni, alors, je n’aime ni le cafe ni le chocolate
Pour utiliser ni et ni, quand est-ce que tu garde le article?
Quand c’était definitive, comme: je n’aime ni le cafe, ni le chocolate. Quand c’etait indefinitive, tu perds le article, Elle commande de l’eau et du vin, Elle ne commande ni eau ni vin.
When avoir du mal à is followed by a verb, it means…
to have trouble doing something. Elle a du mal àmonter l’escalier.
When tenir is followed by à or de, what does it change it’s meaning too?
Attached, looks like (tenir de)
Which verbs are used more in imparfait than for passé composé
être, avoir, penser, croire, savoir, espérer, sembler, paraître. But when used in the passe compose, they may take on a different meaning.
d’ordinaire
ordinairly
comme à l’accountumée
as usual
autrefois
formerly
jadis
in times past
As soon as….
Aussitôt que, dès que
lorsque
when
tant que
as long as
alors que
while, whereas
étant donné que
given, in view of
pendant que
while
puisque
since
sous prétexte que
under the pretext that
tandis que
whereas
vu que
given, in view of
