Important Grammar Flashcards
How do you say ‘He is not watching’?
Il ne regarde pas
- So you form basic negatives by doing ne + verb + pas
- The continuous (watching) is just the normal present tense
How do you say ‘I never go to the cinema’?
Je ne vais jamais au cinéma
You replace the “pas” with the another negative word, ‘plus’ can also be used for example to be ‘I no longer…’
How do you say “I must learn” “I want to learn” and “I can learn”
- Je dois apprendre
- Je veux apprendre
- Je peux apprendre
As you can see, for modal verbs, you always use the infinitive
How do you form the present participle and what does it mean?
- Use the nous form of the present tense
- Add “ant” to the end
- Add “en” before it
- It means “by doing…..”
- Eg: En jouant = By playing…
When do you use le, la or les?
- They are definite articles, so when you want to say “the” or often just when you are referring to a specific noun (even if you wouldn’t say the in English)
- La is for feminine nouns
- Le is for masculine nouns
- Les is for plural nouns
When do you use un, une or des?
- They are indefinite articles, so when you want to say “a” or “some” in the case of des)
- Un is for feminine nouns
- Une is for masculine nouns
- Des is for plural nouns (and essentially means “some”)
Basically the same as la, le and les except it is indefinite instead of definite
How can you tell if a noun is masculine or feminine?
- If it ends with “e” or “ion” it is probably femine
- The only exceptions are nouns ending with “age”, “ège” or “isme”
- All other nouns are masculine
What are all the possessive adjectives for the different genders?
- Mon (m), ma (f), mes (pl) - My
- Ton (m), ta (f), tes (pl) - Your (informal)
- Son (m), sa (f), ses (pl) - His/her/its
- Notre (s), Nos (pl) - Our
- Votre (s), Vos (pl) - Your (formal)
- Leur (s), Leurs (pl) - Their
Does the adjective come before or after the noun?
- The majority of adjectives come after the noun
- However, there are some which come after the noun which will be addressed in another card
What are the main adjectives which come before the noun?
- Grand - Big
- Petit - Small
- Gros - Big/Fat
- Jeune - Young
- Noveau - New
- Vieux - Old
- Mauvais - Bad
- Premier - First
- Bon - Good
- Beau - Beautiful
When do you use au vs à la vs aux?
These words mean “to the”
- Au is a contraction of ‘à le’ and is used for masculine nouns
- À la is used for feminine nouns
- Aux is used for plural feminine nouns
- Au is also used for plural masculine nouns
How do you say ‘I am going to the cinema’ and ‘I am going to the kitchen’ and ‘I am going to the kitchens’
- Je vais au cinéma
- Je vais à la cuisine
- Je vais aux cuisines
What are the general rules of adjectival agreement?
- Add nothing to adjectives describing masculine nouns
- Add e to adjectives describing feminine nouns
- Add s to adjectives describing masculine plural nouns
- Add es to adjectives describing feminine plural nouns
What are the different ways adjectives agree for adjectives ending in ‘eux’
Eg. Ennuyeux
- Masculine - Eux
- Feminine - Euse
- Masculine Plural - Eux
- Feminine Plural - Euses
What are the different ways adjectives agree for adjectives ending in ‘f’
Eg. Sportif
- Masculine - F
- Feminine - Ve
- Masculine Plural - Fs
- Feminine Plural - Ves
What are the different ways adjectives agree for adjectives ending in ‘c’
Eg. Blanc
- Masculine - ‘c’
- Feminine - ‘che’
- Masculine Plural - ‘cs’
- Feminine Plural - ‘ches’