Miscellaneous Flashcards
What is the rhyme for preceding adjectives?
mauvais, méchant, vilain, beau
petit, haut, vieux, joli, gros
nouveau, gentil, jeune et bon,
vaste et meilleur, grand et long.
Distinguish between the two ‘champagnes’ according to gender
le champagne = the drink
la Champagne = the region
Passé Composé - what is the rule re avoir verbs?
They do not agree with the subject EXCEPT when there is a preceding direct object
e.g. Elle a chanté une chanson BUT
La chanson qu’elle a chantée était trés belle
What is the rule in the perfect tense (or any other compound tense) for placement of pronouns?
The pronoun must precede the auxiliary verb. This is also the case for questions formed by inverting the word order and to negatives.
Relative pronouns - when do you use ‘qui’?
Where the word ‘who’ or ‘which’ is the subject of the following verb otherwise use ‘que’.
(Subject = the one doing the action)
Quantity - what is the rule re ‘more than’
Plus que UNLESS it comes in front of a quantity eg “plus que Zac” BUT “plus de trente”.
NB: the rule is the same for “moins que” and “moins de”
What is the rule about a number or quantity at the end of a sentence?
In this situation you must put “en” in front of the verb eg. Ils en ont deux
What are the prepositions for place?
à = for town or city en = for a country (generally) except au = for a masculine country (add x for plural ie aux
en France au Japon aux États Unis à Rome à Wellington en Nouvelle Zélande
What is the rule for using ‘pour’ between two infinitives?
When two infinitives occur together, if it is possible in English to insert ‘in order to’ then in French you must put in ‘pour’.
How do you form adverbs in French?
Take the adjective in its feminine form and add "ment" e.g. égal - equal (masc) égale - equal (fem) également - equally
When do you use the imperfect tense (as opposed to passé composé?
to describe
- incomplete action in the past
- continuous action in the past
- interrupted action in the past
- description in the past
When do you use the passé composé (as opposed to the imperfect tense)?
to describe a completed action in the past
Where does the pronoun go when using compound tenses?
It must go in front of the auxiliary verb (avoir or être)
If you are making a negative using a compound tense where do you put the negative?
In front of the auxiliary verb. If there are two parts of the negative e.g. ne pas then they ‘wrap’ around the auxiliary verb e.g.Tu ne les as pas vus.
What is the rule for use of ‘un’ or ‘une’ after être
You cannot use them BUT you can use them with c’est
e.g. Il est medicin cf c’est un medicin
Accents What are the names of the following: é è circumflex cedilla full stop comma semi colon question mark exclamation mark
e accent aigu e accent grave accent circonflex cédille point virgule point et virgule point d'interrogation point d'exclamation
What is the subject of a sentence?
The person or thing doing the action
What is the object of the sentence?
The person (or thing) to whom the action is done.
Relative pronouns - when do you use que and qui?
If the word who/which is the subject of the following verb then use ‘qui’ otherwise it is ‘que’.
What must you do if a sentence (or part of a sentence) ends with a number or a quantity?
Put “en” in front of the verb
