Lesson 2 Flashcards
This deck covers the present tense of both regular and irregular verbs. You will also learn about possessive adjectives, how to ask questions, and basic negation.
Translate to French:
Hi!
Coucou!
hi (informal, friendly) - coucou. Note that coucou is only used with friends and family members.
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Hi honey!
Coucou chéri!
honey, sweetie (informal) - chéri. Note that the feminine form would be chérie.
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Kisses!
Bisous!
kiss(es) - bisou(s)
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I have too many friends
J’ai trop de copains
too much, too many - trop. Note that when trop precedes a noun, de is usually placed between them.
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It’s early
Il est tôt
early - tôt
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It’s late
Il est tard
late - tard. Note the use of Il est instead of C’est here. The latter would only be appropriate if the following adverb (tard) were modified: C’est trop tard – “It’s too late.”
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earlier
plus tôt
earlier - plus tôt. Note that this literally means “more early.”
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later
plus tard
later - plus tard. Note that this literally means “more late.”
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See you later!
À plus tard!
see you later - à plus tard
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I’m arriving/coming soon
J’arrive bientôt
soon - bientôt
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See you soon!
À bientôt!
see you soon - à bientôt
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good
bon, bien
good (adj.) - bon, bien. Note that bon is typically used as an adjective, while bien can also be used as an adverb – “well.”
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a good week
une bonne semaine
a week - une semaine
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Have a good weekend!
Bon week-end!
a weekend - un week-end. An alternative is the feminine term fin de semaine, which literally translates to “end of the week.”
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I am hungry
J’ai faim
to be hungry - avoir faim. The above sentence translates literally to “I have hunger.”
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She is perfect
Elle est parfaite
perfect - parfait
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The house is great
La maison est géniale
great, fantastic - génial. Note that génial also translates to “brilliant” or “of genius.”
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A large pizza, please
Une grande pizza, s’il vous plaît
a pizza - une pizza
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I have (some) ice cream
J’ai de la glace
ice cream - la glace. In French, a distinction must be made between ice cream in general (de la glace) and a single portion of ice cream (une glace).
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He is always happy
Il est toujours heureux
always - toujours. In French, most adverbs follow the verbs they modify. Also note that for the most part, French adverbs are invariable.
What are the three types of infinitive verb endings in French?
- -ER, as in parler (to speak)
- -IR, as in finir (to finish)
- all other endings including -RE and -OIR, as in entendre (to hear) or voir (to see)
What are the present tense conjugation endings of 1st group (-ER) verbs?
-e -es -e -ons -ez -ent
For example, for parler, which means “to speak”: je parle, tu parles, il/elle/on parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils/elles parlent.
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You walk
Tu marches
to walk - marcher. In the second-person singular of the present tense, verbs with infinitives ending in -ER adopt the ending -es.
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We talk
Nous parlons
to speak, to talk - parler. In the first-person plural of the present tense, verbs with infinitives ending in -ER adopt the ending -ons.
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You talk a lot
Tu parles beaucoup
a lot - beaucoup. Most adverbs immediately follow conjugated verbs. Beaucoup can also function as an adjective when followed by de: beaucoup de pizza – “many pizzas/a lot of pizza.”
Translate to French:
They have a lot of candy
Ils ont beaucoup de bonbons
(a piece of) candy - un bonbon. The plural form of this masculine noun is used to designate “some candy” or “sweets,” while its singular form un bonbon is used to denote a single piece of candy.
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The girls dance
Les filles dansent
to dance - danser. In the third-person plural of the present tense, verbs with infinitives ending in -ER adopt the ending -ent.
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She sings well
Elle chante bien
to sing - chanter. In the third-person singular of the present tense, verbs with infinitives ending in -ER adopt the ending -e.
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I work a lot
Je travaille beaucoup
to work - travailler. In the first-person singular of the present tense, verbs with infinitives ending in -ER adopt the ending -e.
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You eat a lot
Tu manges beaucoup
to eat - manger
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I sing badly
Je chante mal
badly - mal. Recall that when an adverb modifies a conjugated verb, it immediately follows the verb.
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I love pizza
J’adore la pizza
to love (something) - adorer. There are two ways to say “to love” in French: adorer and aimer. Adorer is used to describe fondness for an object, activity, event, celebrity, or friend (but not for a romantic lover).
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You (plural) hate sweets
Vous détestez les bonbons
to hate - détester. In the second-person plural of the present tense, verbs with infinitives ending in -ER adopt the ending -ez.
Conjugate the verb arriver in the present tense.
- j’arrive
- tu arrives
- il/elle/on arrive
- nous arrivons
- vous arrivez
- ils/elles arrivent
This is a regular -ER verb.
Translate to French:
I love my house
J’adore ma maison
my (singular) - mon/ma. These are the possessive adjectives for je when referring to singular nouns. Possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun: they agree with what is possessed, not with the possessor.
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My friends are rich
Mes copains sont riches
my (plural) - mes. This is the possessive adjective for je when referring to plural nouns, regardless of gender. Note how it agrees in number with the noun.
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I love my life
J’adore ma vie
life - la vie
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(to a close friend) Your friend is hungry
Ton ami a faim
your (singular) - ton/ta. Ton and ta are the possessive adjectives for tu when referring to singular nouns.
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Your (female) students are brilliant
Tes étudiantes sont brillantes
your (plural) - tes. This is the possessive adjective for tu when referring to plural nouns, regardless of gender.
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I have his table
J’ai sa table
his/her (singular) - son/sa. These are the possessive adjectives for il/elle/on when referring to singular nouns.
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We have her candy
Nous avons ses bonbons
his/her (plural) - ses. This is the possessive adjective for il/elle/on when referring to plural nouns.
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I like candy
J’aime les bonbons
to like - aimer. This verb means “to like” when applied to things. When applied to people, it means “to love (romantically).”
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He loves his girlfriend
Il aime sa petite amie
to love (someone) - aimer. Recall that generally, when dealing with objects instead of people, aimer means “to like.”
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She is in love with Paul
Elle est amoureuse de Paul
in love (with) - amoureux (de). Amoureux can be used without the preposition de to mean “romantic.”
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We always win
Nous gagnons toujours
to win - gagner. Note that gagner de l’argent means “to earn money.”
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I like our house
J’aime notre maison
our - notre/nos. Notre is the possessive adjective for nous when referring to a singular noun, regardless of gender. Nos is the possessive adjective for nous when referring to a plural noun.
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He likes music
Il aime la musique
music - la musique
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You (informal) play piano
Tu joues du piano
to play - jouer. Note that piano is a masculine noun. Also note that jouer de refers to playing a musical instrument, whereas jouer à refers to playing a game or a sport.
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Marcel plays guitar
Marcel joue de la guitare
a guitar - une guitare
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We play basketball too
Nous jouons au basket aussi
also, as well, too - aussi. The word for “basketball” is le basket-ball, often shortened to le basket. Note how à le is contracted to au.
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You guys like your house, no?
Vous aimez votre maison, non?
your (plural/formal) - votre/vos. These are the possessive adjectives for vous.
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The girls love their boyfriends
Les filles aiment leurs petits amis
their - leur/leurs. These are the possessive adjectives for ils/elles.
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They listen to pop music
Ils écoutent de la musique pop
to listen - écouter
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My (female) friend talks a lot
Mon amie parle beaucoup
Note that ma changes to mon when the (feminine) noun begins with a vowel sound. The same applies to ta and sa: they change to ton and son, respectively.
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She has a small car
Elle a une petite voiture
a car - une voiture
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They have our keys
Ils ont nos clés
a key - une clé/clef. Both spellings are pronounced the same way and are entirely interchangeable.
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The car works very well
La voiture marche très bien
to function, to work - marcher. Note this second meaning of the verb marcher, in addition to the meaning “to walk.”
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I really like her convertible
J’aime beaucoup son cabriolet
a convertible - un cabriolet. The French here translates more directly to “I like her convertible a lot.”
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They are in the car
Ils sont dans la voiture
in - dans. The preposition dans can also mean “within” or “into.”
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I think a lot
Je pense beaucoup
to think - penser. This verb is conjugated in the present as follows: je pense, tu penses, il/elle/on pense, nous pensons, vous pensez, ils/elles pensent.
Translate to French:
I think about Marie
Je pense à Marie
to think about (someone, something) - penser à. In this case “about” is translated with the preposition à. Very common in French, à can have various meanings – including “to” and “toward” – depending on context.
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I have a good book
J’ai un bon livre
a book - un livre
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She is a teacher
C’est une enseignante
a teacher - un enseignant. Note that it is common to use c’est rather than il/elle est, even for a person. C’est must be followed by an indefinite article (un/une), while il/elle est should NOT: Elle est enseignante.
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She is a (primary school) teacher
C’est une institutrice
a teacher (primary school) - un(e) instituteur/-trice. Note that when addressing primary (and sometimes middle) school teachers, students usually use the noun maître/-esse.
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a (middle/high school) teacher, a professor
un professeur
a (middle/high school) teacher, a professor - un professeur. In written form, professeur is always a masculine noun. When spoken, especially with the colloquial abbreviation prof, you can use the feminine form – une prof.
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It’s an American school
C’est une école américaine
school - l’école
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The middle school is big
Le collège est grand
middle school - le collège. Note that the French word for “college” or “university” is the feminine université.
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a good high school
un bon lycée
high school - le lycée. Note that although most nouns ending in an “e” are feminine, lycée is masculine.
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I study mathematics
J’étudie les mathématiques
to study - étudier. After étudier, you should always use an article before the noun. Note also that mathématiques is a special noun that can only be plural.
Translate to French:
She is studying with a friend
Elle révise avec un ami
to study, to review, to revise - réviser. Note that this verb is different from étudier, which means to study a subject regularly or in general. Réviser pertains instead to studying for something specific like an exam or a quiz.
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She enters the house
Elle entre dans la maison
enter - entrer
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I am studying at home
J’étudie à la maison
at home - à la maison. This literally translates to “at the house.”