Point Grammaire

 Point grammaireFrançais    Adjectives In French adjectives usually follow the noun E.x. Un cours interessant   However, a limited number of adjectives are placed before the noun including; -beau/belle -joli(e) -vieux/vielle -nouveau/nouvelle -haut -bon -mauvais -petit/petite   French adjectives agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and in number (singular or plural) with the noun or the pronoun to which they refer. Add ‘e’ to make the adjective feminine. Add ‘s’ to make the adjective plural. E.x. les petites filles        The small girls   Some adjectives form their feminine and plural forms differently-Irregular words:     Singular Plural   Masculine feminine masculine feminine Nouveau Nouvelle Nouveaux Nouvelles Gentil Gentille Gentils Gentilles Paresseux Paresseuse Paresseux Paresseuses Positif Positive Positifs Positives gros Grosse Gros Grosses             Reflexives A reflexive verb is a verb which includes a second pronoun (before the verb) E.x. je me lave   The infinitive of a reflexive verb has the pronoun ‘se’ in front E.x. se laver   The reflexive pronouns are: Me Te Se Nous Vous Se   ‘Me’, ‘te’, and ‘se’ shorten to ‘m’ ‘ , ‘t’ ‘ and ‘s’ ’ in front of a vowel sound. E.x.  Je m’habille         Je m’appelle   Je me lave Tu te laves Il/elle/on lave Nous nous lavons Vous vous lavez Ils/elles lavent   Some examples of reflexive verbs are: S’amuser – to have fun Se réveiller – to wake up Se bronzer – to sunbathe Se coucher – to go to bed Se laver – to wash Se doucher – to shower Se lever – to get up Se reposer – to rest S’ennuyer – to get bored S’habiller – to get dressed Se tromper – to make a mistake S’intéresser a – to be interested in Se rappeler – to remember Se maquiller – to put make-up on Se fâcher – to get cross   ‘Open’ and ‘closed’ questions A ‘closed’ question is a question that can simply be answeres by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ E.x. Est-ce-que Cecile bien?   You start a ‘closed’ question with ‘est-ce que’ which cannot be translated in English.  It is just a way of showing that you are about to ask a question.   To make the question more advanced you do a subject-verb inversion E.x. Veux-tu lire le journal?     An open question cannot simply be answered by ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and often does not have only one right answer. E.x. Où vas-tu ce soir Sophie?   To form an open question you need to start your question with a question word. E.x. Pourquoi        Où        Quand        Quel (le)        Qui        Quoi        A quelle        Comment        Combien   To form an open question you can simply use a question word and ‘Est-ce que’ E.x. Pourquoi est-ce que tu fait tes devoirs devant la télé?   Or you can use a question word and do a subject-verb inversion E.x. Pourquoi fais-tu tes devoirs devant la télé   The only question which doesn’t require a subject-verb inversion is ‘Qu’est-ce que’   Near future Person              +                      Aller                  +                      infinitive Je                     +                      vais                  +                      me coucher Tu                     +                      vas                   +                      essayer Il/elle                 +                      va                    +                      travailler Nous                +                      allons                +                      manger Vous                 +                      allez                  +                      écouter  Ils/elles             +                      vont                  +                      dormir     Aller remains in the present tense.  It is an auxiliary verb in the near future tense and it is the whole construction that conveys the future E.x. Je vais travailler aujourd’hui   Je ne vais pas écouter You must sandwich the auxiliary verb   After a negative you put ‘de’ or ‘d’‘ E.x. Ils ne vont pas ecouter de musique   Using ‘jouer’ and ‘faire’  In french you use the verb ‘jouer’ when you are talking about instruments and sports which require a ball, and ‘faire’ for other sports   In front of sports use au/ a la/ a l’ according to the spelling and gender of the sport. In front of instruments use du/ de la/ de l’ according to the spelling or gender of the instrument(s)                   au Je joue       a la          Ball sports/instruments                   a la                    du Je fais          de la          Other sports                     de l’   En +  the present participle The construction en + the present participle describes two actions being done at the same time by one person. E.x. Je regarde un film en faisant mes devoirs         I watch a film while doing my homework   To form the present participle, take the nous form of the present tense of the verb, remove the  -ons and add –ant   Prenons-Prenant Regardons –Regardant Ecoutons -Ecoutant   THERE ARE THREE EXCEPTIONS! Avoir-ayant Etre-etant Savoir-sachant   Depuis, pendant, il y a, pour Il y a is used for -Indicating the moment the action happened -Expressing a moment in the past E.x. Je suis allée a Espagne il y a cinq mois   We use the past tense with il y a.  You translate it ‘ago’     E.x. j’habitais en France il y a trois ans        I was living in France 3 years ago         J’ai fait un gateau il y a une semaine       I made a cake a week ago   Depuis is used for -Indicating the start of an action which is still going on E.x. J ‘ai envoie de partir en chine depuis trois moins        You can include a date or a time (months etc.) In French you use the present tense before depuis where as in English you use the perfect tense   Pendant is used for -indicating a length of time E.x. Je suis restée chez ma grand-mere pendant les vacances de pâques   This can be used for many tenses.  It just indicates a length of time-it does not say when it started or finished   Negatives in the past tense Normally: The person + auxiliary + the past participle                     (avoir/être) E.x. Nous + avons + joue    In the negative : The person + ne/n’ + auxiliary + pas + the past participle                                (avoir/être) E.x. Je + n’ + ai + pas + fini   To make a sentence negative in the past ‘ne’ goes in front of the auxiliary verb and ‘pas’ or ‘jamais’ after it.   After a negative you cannot use un/une/des/du/de la bu replace it with de.    Mrs Vand der tramp verbs Some verbs called Mrs Van de tramp verbs are also known as verbs of movement. They use ‘être’ as an auxiliary verb in the past tense E.x. Elle est tombée   When you use the auxiliary verb ‘etre’ the past particple must agree with the person doing the action Feminine singular add ‘e’ Masculine plural add ‘s’ Feminine plural add ‘es’   Mrs Vand der tramp verbs:     infinitive English Past participle M Monter To go up Monte R Retourne To return Retourne S Sortir To go out Sorti V Venir To come Venu A Arriver To arrive Arrive N Naitre To be born Ne D Descendre To go down Descendu D Devenir To become Devenu E Entrer To come in Entre R Rentrer To come in Rentre T Tomber To fall Tombe R Rester To stay Reste A Aller To go Alle M Mourir To die Mot P partir To leave parti  Using ‘y’ The pronoun y generally replaces a noun or phrase that stands for place and translates into English as ‘there’ It is placed before the verb (before the auxiliary in the perfect tense) E.x. Tu vas souvent en France? Non je n’y vais jamais   Note its position if the ver bis in the near future tense: E.x. Dublin? Je vais y aller bientôt   The comparative To compare things or people, we use: ‘plus… que’ (more… than) ‘aussi… que’ (as… as) ‘moins… que’ (less than)   E.x. Strasbourg est plus ancien que Stockholm   Remember to make the necessary agrement on the adjective used in the comparison   Direct object pronouns When a  verb is used in the perfect tense wit the auxiliary ‘avoir’ its past participle agrees with the direct object pronoun, if there is one.   The direct object pronoun is plced BEFORE the auxiliary verb   J’aime les arbres. Je les ai toujours aimes J’aime les glaces.  Je les ai mangées   J’aime mon quartier, je le trouve tranquille In the example le replaces ‘mon quartier’ so that we do not have to repeat it.   Direct object pronouns take on the gender and number of the noun that they replace. (le is used because ‘mon quartier’ is masculine singular)   These are the different direct object pronouns: Me/m’-me                                  nous-us Te/t’-you                                    vous-you Le/la/l’-he/she/it                          les-them   Complex negatives In the present tense the two parts of the negative ‘ne… rien’ (nothing/not anything) and ‘ne… personne’ (nobody/not anyone) these parts are placed around the verb. E.x. Je ne fais rien et je ne vois personne   Note the placing of ‘ne… rien’ and ‘ne… personne’ in the perfect tense with a verb: Je n’ai rien fait et je n’ai vu personne   In the immediate future: Je ne vais rien faire et je ne vais voir personne The same    Ne… rien  Ne… pas                     Does not equal/is not the same as             ne… personne  Ne… plus    Avant de… To convey the idea of doing something before doing something else we use ‘avant de’ followed by a verb in the infinitive   Avant de + infinitive   Before + …ing   Whatever the form of the verb in English E.x. Je prend mon sac avant de manger        Avant de partir, je ferme la porte a clef   Using ‘en’ J’aime bien la viande et les œufs, j’en mange régulièrement Tu veux des pates? Qui j’en veux s’il te plait!   En often translates into English as ‘some’ or ‘any’ It can also be used in conjugation with a number, or other specific quantity E.g. Vous avez visité des musées?         Oui, j’en ai visité deux   In this sentence, you will translate en as ‘of them’ or ‘of it’ or not at all

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