DÉTERMINANTS

§1A
Les articles

The form of an article depends on the following noun. You need to know whether the noun is masculine or feminine (using your Dictionnaire to check as needed) and singular or plural (-s, -x). Some articles have a special singular form used before a vowel sound.

§1B
La possession

The form of a possessive depends on the thing being possessed. You need to know whether the noun is masculine or feminine (using your Dictionnaire to check as needed) and singular or plural (-s, -x). Singular nouns that start with a vowel sound take the same form as the masculine.

We also show possession with de (or d’ before a vowel sound). This word means “of” and takes the place of English possessive endings (’s). Note that de has special forms when used with certain words for “the” (see §1A above).

§1C
Les adjectifs

The form of an adjective depends on the noun it describes. You need to know whether the noun is masculine or feminine (using your Dictionnaire to check as needed) and singular or plural (-s, -x). Adjectives usually go after the noun they modify. A few go before the noun: grand, petit, jeune, bon, beau, joli, vieux, mauvais. Most adjectives follow the regular pattern, adding -e for feminine forms and -s for plurals, but some have irregular forms, which you can check using your Dictionnaire. The irregular adjectives beau, nouveau and vieux have special forms before a masculine singular noun that starts with a vowel sound.

§1D
Les démonstratifs

The form of a demonstrative depends on the noun it describes. You need to know whether the noun is masculine or feminine (using your Dictionnaire to check as needed) and singular or plural (-s, -x).

PRONOMS

§2A
Les pronoms personnels

Use subject pronouns as the subject of a verb. Use disjunctive (disjoint) pronouns for emphasis and after prepositions (chez, avec, de, pour…). Object pronouns are placed directly in front of the verb, e.g. Je le donne à Marie. When giving a positive command, put the object pronoun after the verb, e.g. Donne-le à Marie ! The difference between familiar tu and polite/plural vous is explained in §5D below.

§2B
Les pronoms relatifs

Relative pronouns mean “who(m), that, which”. The choice is determined by sentence structure, not by meaning. Use que (qu’) when the next part of the sentence introduces a new subject. Otherwise, use qui.

§2C
Les pronoms y et en

These special pronouns don’t have exact English equivalents. Use y to replace a phrase that starts with à and a location or object. Use en to replace a quantity or phrase that starts with de (d’).

VERBES

§3A
Les verbes irréguliers

Irregular verbs usually have a dictionary form (infinitive) that ends in -ir or -re. They’re irregular because their forms break typical verb rules. Here are présent forms of the four most common irregular verbs for quick reference. Use the Conjugator tool to check other forms and other irregular verbs.

The verbs above are highly irregular, and each form must be learned separately. Most other irregular verbs follow predictable patterns. Use these tricks to reduce the number of forms you have to learn. You can see these patterns in the sample verbs listed below.

• Singular forms will all be similar, with je and tu forms ending in -s and il/elle/on forms ending in -t or -d.
• Plural forms may have special roots but will use typical endings (-ons, -ez, -ent).
• Verbs that end in -mir, -tir or -vir will drop their -m/t/v- in singular présent forms but keep it in all other forms.
• Other -ir verbs often add -ss- before a plural ending.

§3B
L’infinitif (to do)

§3C
Le présent (does, is doing)

§3D
L’imparfait (was doing, used to do)

§3E
Le conditionnel (would do)

§3F
Le futur simple (will do)

§3G
Le futur proche (going to do)

Use the futur proche to say what someone is going to do in the near future. The structure is the same for all verbs. Start with a form of aller “to go” as the helping verb. Then give the infinitive of the main verb. Example: il va marcher “he’s going to walk”.

§3H
Le passé composé (did, has done)

Use the passé composé to tell what someone did or has done. The structure is the same for all verbs. Start with a form of avoir “to have” as the helping verb. Then change the main verb to its past participle. Example: il a marché “he walked”.

with avoir

with être

These verbs use être as their helping verb in the passé composé. The past participle must agree with the subject. Examples: il est allé “he went”, elle est allée “she went”.

STRUCTURES

§4A
Les questions

yes/no questions

Ask a yes/no question by changing the tone of your voice or starting with the phrase Est-ce qu(e).

• Tu marches ? → Est-ce que tu marches ?
• Il mange ? → Est-ce qu’il mange ?

informal questions

Informal questions are worded like sentences, but with a question word in the place of the missing detail.

• Qui marche vers la porte ?
• Il y a combien de livres ?

formal (inversion) questions

In very formal language, the subject and verb are flipped. They’re joined by a hyphen, and -t- is inserted when the verb form ends in a vowel and the subject is il, elle or on.

• Vous parlez anglais ? → Parlez-vous anglais ?
• Il marche ? → Marche-t-il ?
• Nous partons à quelle heure ? → À quelle heure partons-nous ?

§4B
La négation

Following the rules below, add ne (n’) … pas to a complete sentence to make it negative (don’t, doesn’t). To make a short phrase negative, just use pas: pas maintenant “not now”, pas moi “not me”. Remember that n’ is used before a vowel sound.

one-word verb forms

Place ne (n’) … pas around the verb.

• Il marche. → Il ne marche pas.
• Elle aime les maths. → Elle n’aime pas les maths.

two-word verb forms

Place ne (n’) … pas around the helping verb.

• Je vais manger. → Je ne vais pas manger.
• Ils ont étudié. → Ils n’ont pas étudier.

with il y a

The negative of il y a is il n’y a pas. This negative expression often involves the quantity pas de (d’) “not any”.

• Il y a un livre. → Il y n’y a pas de livre.
• Il y a un hôtel ici. → Il n’y a pas d’hôtel ici.
• Il y a des crayons là-bas. → Il n’y a pas de crayons là-bas.

with object pronouns

Object pronouns are always bound directly to their verb. Place ne (n’) … pas around the object-verb group.

• Il m’a parlé. → Il ne m’a pas parlé.
• Elle me les a donnés. → Elle ne me les a pas donnés.

§4C
La quantité

Quantity expressions take the place of other articles (un, une, des…) and generally involve a quantity word + de (d’): pas de “no, not any”, beaucoup de “a lot (of)”, trop de “too much (of)”, assez de “enough (of)”. Remember that de becomes d’ before a vowel sound.

• Je n’ai pas de crayons.
• J’ai beaucoup de devoirs.
• Le prof donne trop de devoirs.
• Tu as assez d’oranges ?

§4D
Les prépositions de lieu

Below are rules for saying “in, at, to” a certain place. We use the same word for “in, at, to” regardless of meaning. It’s the type of place that determines the choice of word.

countries and regions

Use en for countries and regions that are feminine (la) or start with a vowel (l’).

• la France → en France
• la Louisiane → en Louisiane
• l’Italie → en Italie

Use au for countries and regions that are masculine (le).

• le Sénégal → au Sénégal
• le Canada → au Canada
• le Tennessee → au Tennessee

Use aux for countries and regions that are plural (les).

• les États-Unis → aux États-Unis
• les Bahamas → aux Bahamas
• les Antilles → aux Antilles

cities, stores, etc.

Use à for cities, stores and other smaller locations.

• Paris → à Paris
• Walmart → à Walmart

§4E
C’est vs. il/elle est

There are two different ways of saying “he/she/it is” in French. The difference depends on the type of sentence, not the meaning.

C’est

Use c’est to identify people and things, especially before un and une:

• C’est un livre.
  It’s a book.
• C’est un acteur français.
  He’s a French actor.
• C’est une chanteuse très célèbre.
  She’s a very famous singer.

A few common opinion phrases start with c’est:

• Les maths, c’est difficile.
  Math is difficult.
• La biologie, c’est intéressant.
  Biology is interesting.

il/elle est

Use il/elle est when describing a person or thing:

• Voilà mon père. Il est très grand.
  That’s my dad. He’s very tall.
• J’aime ce livre, mais il est vraiment compliqué.
  I like this book, but it’s really complicated.
• Comment est ta mère ? Elle est sympa ?
  What’s your mom like? Is she nice?
• Je n’aime pas cette robe. Elle est trop petite.
  I don’t like this dress. It’s too small.

Use il/elle est to tell someone’s profession. We omit un(e) in this pattern:

• Il est architecte.
  He’s an architect.
• Elle est avocate.
  She’s a lawyer.

CONCEPTS

§5A
Les accents

Accent marks are used in French to clarify pronunciation and distinguish similar words (e.g. ou “or”, où “where”).

In addition to accent marks, you’ll also see the symbol œ which is optional and can be typed or handwritten as separate letters (oe), the symbol € for the euro currency, and French quotation marks « and ».

§5B
Les voyelles, l’élision et l’apostrophe

§5C
L’emploi de -s et -x

The USE-X trick can help you remember certain spelling rules involving -s and -x. Typically, we use -s to mark plural forms and certain verb endings:

• le garçon the boy → les garçons the boys
• il prend he takes → je prends I take

However, if the word base ends in -u, we “use -x” instead:

• le bureau the desk → les bureaux the desks
• il peut he can → je peux I can
• beau beautiful (sing.) → beaux beautiful (pl.)

On the other hand, if the base ends in -x, it will change to -s- in feminine forms. This is the “USE” part:

• courageux brave (m.) → courageuse brave (f.)
• curieux curious (m.) → curieuse curious (f.)

§5D
L’emploi de tu et vous

French has two concepts for “you”. Use familiar tu when speaking to one person that you know well, such as a friend or family member. Use polite/plural vous in all other situations: to show respect to someone older than you and/or when speaking to more than one person. This distinction also extends to a few common phrases that are specifically familiar or polite in usage. Below are some examples.

§5E
Les nombres

Here are basic French numbers. Below the chart, you’ll find additional explanations and notes related to numbers.

There are masculine and feminine forms for “one”:

• un livre (m.)
• une table (f.)

The numbers 20–59 follow a pattern similar to English, but note how we say …et un for “-one”:

The 60s continue through the 70s, e.g. soixante-dix “sixty-ten” (60 + 10 = 70):

The word for 80 literally means “four twenties” and drops its -s in compound numbers. The 90s are a continuation from the 80s, e.g. quatre-vingt-dix “eighty-ten” (80 + 10 = 90):

number formatting

Use a comma (,) for decimals and a period (.) for large numbers. Place currency symbols after the price. This usage is opposite from English:

• 1,5 heures 1.5 hours
• 7,25$ $7.25
• 5.482,99€ €5,482.99

Times are typically noted with h (for heures “hours”) instead of a semicolon (:). We don’t use am and pm in French, but 24-hour time is common:

• 8h30 8:30
• 23h15 23:15 (11:15 pm)

Years are typically stated as a full number, though teens are sometimes used as in English:

• 2010 deux mille dix
• 1930 mille neuf cent trente or dix-neuf cent trente

Dates start with le and are spoken and written in day/month/year format. Months are always said as words. Use premier for the first of the month; use regular numbers for all other dates:

• 25/12/2015 le vingt-cinq décembre deux mille quinze (December 25, 2015)
• 01/09/2008 le premier septembre deux mille huit (September 1, 2008)

Phone numbers start with le and are spoken and written in two-digit pairs:

• 03.15.25.44.23 le zéro trois, quinze, vingt-cinq, quarante-quatre, vingt-trois
• 02.11.37.15.06 le zéro deux, onze, trente-sept, quinze, zéro six

ordinal numbers (first, second…)

Ordinals are adjectives that must agree with the noun they refer to. However, premier (1^er) or première (1^re) “first” is the only ordinal with distinct masculine and feminine forms:

Other ordinals are formed by adding -ième to the number:

• deuxième (2^e)
• troisième (3^e)
• vingt et unième (21^e)
• centième (100^e)

If the number ends in -e, drop it and add -ième:

• quatrième (4^e)
• treizième (13^e)
• cinquantième (50^e)

The numbers cinq and neuf have spelling changes before -ième:

• cinquième (5^e)
• neuvième (9^e)
• dix-neuvième (19^e)