Y4 grammar Flashcards
What mood must you ALWAYS use to introduce a si clause?
Indicative
What mood do ‘suivant que’, ‘selon que’ and ‘dans le mesure où’ take?
Indicative
What mood do ‘quand bien même’, ‘au cas où’ and ‘dans l’hypothèse où’ take?
Conditional
What mood do “à (la) condition que”, “à moins que”, “à supposer que”, “en admettant que”, “pour peu que” and “pourvu que” take?
Subjunctive
How do you distinguish potential hypotheses with cases of the “unlikely present”?
You can only do so from context
Name six times you use the definite article (le, la, les)
- For abstract nouns such as qualities
- For general nouns (where in English we perhaps wouldn’t use a definite article)
- After verbs denoting like/dislike
- Before nouns denoting species, categories, languages and subjects
- Before units of measure or weight
- Before days of the week to express repetition or habit
What article do you use before geographical locations?
The definite article. NO exceptions aside from Israël and Oman.
When do you not use the definite article before geographical locations? (Ignoring cases when you use prepositions such as “de” or “a”)
- If the name of the country is preceded by “en”
For what countries do you use the preposition “en”?
Feminine countries or masculine countries beginning with a vowel
When using “de” to denote origin, which countries never use a definite article?
Feminine countries or masculine countries beginning with a vowel
Although towns are not preceded by a definite article, when is there an exception to this rule?
When the town is specified by an adjective or a preposition
When is the definite article used before professions, titles, jobs?
ALWAYS. Only exception is when addressing the person directly
When do you use the definite article before body parts?
When it is already clear who owns the body part from the context
Whereas English uses simple verbs and possessive adjectives to denote body parts, what does French employ?
Reflexive verbs and definite articles
In what contexts does ‘des’ change to ‘de’ (ignoring negation)?
- When it precedes a noun that is qualified by an adjective
When does ‘un/une’ convert to ‘de’?
After negations (EXCEPT when the negated verbs is ‘etre’)
In what descriptions are indefinite articles not used?
Before a profession, nationality and religion when they employed as ‘attributs du sujet’ (EXCEPT when qualified by an adjective)
How do you translate “as” in the sense of a profession?
En tant que
When to abstract nouns take no article?
When they are preceded by ‘avec’ or ‘sans’ (EXCEPT when qualified by an adjective)
When introducing a noun in apposition, which article is used?
None
When do you use the partitive article?
When the article serves to denote an undetermined part of a whole
What article is used after verbs that require “de”?
NO article. The proposition “de” is always used (EXCEPT when the noun is qualified)
When do you use the partitive article with ‘avec’ and ‘sans’?
Never with ‘sans’, always with ‘avec’
What article is used following ‘la plupart’?
Plural partitive article except with ‘la plupart du temps’
Name some indefinite adjectives
Tout, aucun, chaque, certain, quelques, plusieurs
Name some possessive adjectives
Ma, mon, mes, leur, leurs
Name some demonstrative articles
Ce, cet, cette, ces
Name some numeral adjectives
Un, une, deux, six cents
Which indefinite adjectives change according to gender/numer?
Ones describing partial quantities (e.g. quelque) or total quantities (tout) apart from “chaque”
Name some indefinite adjectives which can also be qualitative adjectives (6)
Tout, divers/différent, quelconque, nul, certain
Name some indefinite adjectives which can also be adverbs (3)
Tout, quelque, meme
In the structure of l’expression du but, what mood is used for propositions expressing desire or facts which are not real? Think of an example too
Subjunctive
E.g. Pour que, afin que, de sorte que
Elle a changé de vie de facon que sa famille soit au centre de son univers
What conjunctions can you use to express that the speaker’s point is to avoid the resulting action?
De peur que, de crainte que
What mood/tense does ‘dans l’espoir que’ and ‘avec l’idée que’ take?
Future or conditional depending on context
What follows an expression de but where the subjects of the two propositions are the same?
An infinitive
E.g. Je t’appelle pour aller au cinéma
How do you formally formulate a question in French?
Using inversion
How do you define opposition?
When two facts are presented to contrast each other but not contradicting each other
e.g. Adrien aime les sciences, alors que son frère préfère le français
How do you define concession?
Two facts which are presented as a contradiction
Paul a échoué ….. (?) sa bonne volonté
Malgré, en dépit de
…… (?) se décourager, Paul persevere avec courage
Loin de, au lieu de
…… (?) en étant souriante, elle est autoritaire
Tout
What is the difference between alors que and bien que?
Alors que (‘even though’) denotes opposition whereas bien que (‘although’) denotes concession
What kind of logical connectors are ‘parce que’, ‘comme’, ‘puisque’?
Cause
What kind of logical connectors are ‘si bien que’, ‘de sorte que’?
Consequence
What does l’ajout add to a text?
Development
What does l’illustration introduce to a text?
A particular case or example which underlines what you’re saying
How do you conjugate the recent past?
Use ‘venir de’
What are the endings for the conditional as well as the imperfect?
ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, aient
What are the endings for the future?
ai, as, a, ons, ez, ont
