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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fremdsprachen
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
Write, read, work, and play--en Français French Workbook For Dummies is the perfect starting place for beginners who want to learn French. Packed with foundational grammar and integrated vocab, this hands-on book will set you on your way to picking up a new language. You'll find valuable practice lessons and exercises throughout that help you learn key vocabulary and phrases, writing in French, and understanding the fifth most commonly spoken language worldwide. * Start with the very basics of the French language and work your way through important grammar and vocabulary * Follow lessons at your own pace and complete practice exercises to hone your skill * Learn using the Dummies method--based on evidence about how people learn best * Gain the confidence to speak French in the workplace and while you travel For anyone learning French for use at home, at the office, or on the go, French Workbook For Dummies is a vital asset.
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French Workbook For Dummies®
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Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022946533
ISBN 978-1-119-98203-6 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-119-98205-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-119-98204-3 (ebk)
French Workbook For Dummies®
To view this book's Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “French Workbook For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.
List of Tables
Chapter 1
Table 1-1 French Subject Pronouns and Their English Cohorts
Chapter 3
Table 3-1 Examples of Nouns in Masculine and Feminine Forms
Table 3-2 Plural Patterns
Table 3-3 Common French Nouns that Have Irregular Plurals
Chapter 4
Table 4-1 Demonstrative Adjectives
Table 4-2 Demonstrative Pronouns
Table 4-3 Demonstrative Adjectives Become Demonstrative Pronouns
Table 4-4 Possessive Adjectives
Table 4-5 Singular-Owner Possessive Adjectives
Table 4-6 Plural-Owner Possessive Adjectives
Table 4-7 Singular-Owner Possessive Pronouns
Table 4-8 Plural-Owner Possessive Pronouns
Chapter 5
Table 5-1 Ordinal Numbers
Table 5-2 French Times
Chapter 7
Table 7-1 Reflexive Pronouns
Table 7-2 Reflexive Pronoun with Different Verb Forms
Table 7-3 Common Reflexive Verbs
Table 7-4 Common Reciprocal Verbs
Table 7-5 Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs
Chapter 8
Table 8-1 Interrogative Pronouns with Est-ce que
Table 8-2 Common Questions that Use Inversion
Chapter 9
Table 9-1 Negative and Indefinite Pronouns
Chapter 10
Table 10-1 Common French Infinitive Nouns
Table 10-2 Creating Present Participles
Table 10-3 English
–ing
Nouns and Their French Counterparts
Chapter 11
Table 11-1 French Adjectives, Ready to Agree
Table 11-2 Adjectives with Special Masculine Singular Forms
Table 11-3 Adjectives with Meaning Changes
Table 11-4 Stressed Pronouns that Follow Que in Comparatives and Superlatives
Chapter 12
Table 12-1 Prepositions, With and Without Contractions
Table 12-2 French Prepositions
Table 12-3 Verbs with Different Meanings per Preposition
Chapter 13
Table 13-1 Direct Object Pronouns
Table 13-2 Indirect Object Pronouns
Table 13-3 Object and Reflexive Pronouns
Chapter 14
Table 14-1 Imperative of Parler (to Talk, Speak), a Regular –er Verb
Table 14-2 Imperative of Choisir (to Choose), a Regular –ir Verb
Table 14-3 Imperative of Vendre (to Sell), a Regular –re Verb
Table 14-4 Imperative of Acheter (to Buy), a Stem-Changing Verb
Table 14-5 Imperative of Commencer (to Begin), a Spelling-Change Verb
Table 14-6 Imperative of the Irregular Verb Aller (to Go)
Table 14-7 Imperative of Partir (to Leave), an Irregular –ir Verb
Table 14-8 Imperative of Mettre (to Put), an Irregular –re Verb
Table 14-9 Imperative of Ouvrir (to open), Conjugated Like –er Verbs
Table 14-10 Imperative of Avoir (to Have)
Table 14-11 Imperative of Être (to Be)
Table 14-12 Imperative of Savoir (to Know)
Table 14-13 Imperative of Vouloir (to Want)
Table 14-14 Imperative of Se Coucher (to go to bed)
Table 14-15 Imperative of Se Taire (to be quiet)
Chapter 15
Table 15-1 Verbs Conjugated with Être in the Passé Composé
Table 15-2 Using Être Verbs without and with Direct Objects
Table 15-3 Past Participle Irregular Verb Patterns
Table 15-4 Irregular Verbs That Have Uniquely Irregular Past Participles
Chapter 16
Table 16-1 Functions of the Imparfait and Passé Composé
Appendix A
Table A-1 Regular –er verbs
Table A-2 Regular –ir verbs
Table A-3 Regular –re verbs
Appendix B
Table B-1 Verbs That Require à
Table B-2 Verbs Followed by de
Table B-3 Verbs That Need Other Prepositions
Table B-4 Verbs with Prepositions in English but Not in French
List of Illustrations
Chapter 2
FIGURE 2-1: What the French-English Dictionary entry for
avocat
might look like...
FIGURE 2-2: What the English-French Dictionary entry for
present
might look lik...
Chapter 6
FIGURE 6-1: Help for remembering the four forms that have stem changes.
Guide
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Index
About the Author
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Introduction
French is one of the world’s great languages. It’s a native language on five continents, and it’s one of the most common languages in the world. Millions of people in more than 30 countries speak it as a native language, and millions more like you want to learn it because of school, work, travel, or cultural understanding — or simply because they just love how it sounds.
The French take their language pretty seriously, and the Académie française (or French Academy) has assumed the role of protecting the language’s purity for more than 350 years — although not everyone listens to the Académie. French is a working language of many major international organizations, so if you’re looking for a job with the United Nations, the International Olympic Committee, the International Red Cross, or Interpol, for example, understanding and speaking French gives you an additional language to wow ‘em with in the interview.
Regardless of whether you’re planning to do business in France or Quebec, prepping for a trip to French-speaking Africa, trying to pass that next exam, or just looking for ways to impress the love of your life, this book can help you figure out how to speak, write, and understand French.
About This Book
French Workbook For Dummies is a combination reference book and workbook for people new to the French language. It’s not a textbook, and you don’t have to read it from cover to cover or in any particular order. Just take a look at the Table of Contents at the front of the book or Index at the rear to find the grammar point you want to understand or practice, and then flip to that page. The Appendixes offer quick-reference ways to look up unfamiliar French words, conjugate verbs, and remember details such as which verbs need être in the passé composé.
I divided the book into six parts, with each part broken into chapters on related topics. From using the present tense, to remembering the past, to looking forward to the future, I explain all about French verbs. I also talk about adjectives and adverbs, questions and negation, greetings and social niceties — everything you need to know to communicate effectively in French.
Not only do you read about French in this book, but you use it, as well. The self-contained chapters are divided into sections and include plenty of examples and practice exercises to make sure you understand what you’ve just read. The Answer Key at the end of each chapter lets you check yourself as you go.
Conventions Used in This Book
To make this book as easy to use as possible, I use certain conventions throughout:
I
bold
all the French words so that you can spot them immediately.
I provide English translations in
italics.
I also italicize English terms that I immediately follow with a definition.
Per French writing conventions, I precede question marks and all other two-part punctuation marks — exclamation points,
guillemets
(French quotation marks —
« Bonjour ! »
), colons, and semicolons — with a space.
Before each set of practice exercises, I provide an example in Q&A format to show you how to complete the task.
When a practice question has more than one correct answer, I provide the most common one.
The Answer Key at the end of each chapter provides the solutions to the practice exercises throughout that chapter.
Foolish Assumptions
I wrote this book with the following assumptions about you in mind, dear reader:
You’re new to the French language.
You have little to no knowledge of French grammar.
You’re looking for practice questions to test yourself and help cement your understanding, or to ensure that you score well on your next French quiz or exam.
You want to learn French in order to travel to French-speaking countries or communicate with French-speaking friends and family.
Icons Used in This Book
Like all For Dummies books, this one uses icons to indicate certain kinds of content. You can see them in the left-hand column throughout the book. Here’s what they mean:
I use this icon to alert you to info that can save you time and frustration.
This icon points out important concepts that you need to store in the back of your mind because you use them regularly.
This icon highlights potential pitfalls to becoming truly familiar with the French language.
This icon lets you know about key points of difference between French and English, or the varieties of French found in different countries.
This icon pops up at the beginning of every practice exercise so that you know it’s time to put your skills to the test.
Beyond the Book
In addition to the abundance of information and guidance related to embracing French that I provide in this book, you get access to even more help and information online at Dummies.com. Check out this book’s online Cheat Sheet by going to www.dummies.com and searching for French Workbook for Dummies Cheat Sheet.
Where to Go from Here
French Workbook For Dummies is organized to let you read only what you want to read. Take a look at the Table of Contents (at the front of the book) or the Index (at the back), pick a topic, and go! Or you may want to start in Chapter 1 to figure out how to say hello (spoiler alert: the most important word you can know) and good-bye. Want to give orders or talk about the past? Then flip to Part 4. It’s up to you!
No matter how you choose to read this book, I’m confident that it can help you get comfortable with French. Of course, don’t let your practice end with the exercises here. Write to a French pen pal, visit French websites and social media, stream foreign flicks, attempt conversations with your French-speaking friends, or try to translate song lyrics into French while you’re stuck in traffic. And when you have a grammar question, come back here and look it up. Pretty soon, the thoughts running through your head may take on a decidedly French flair.
Bon courage ! (Good luck!)
Part 1
The Building Blocks of French
IN THIS PART …
Get familiar with the most important word in French (
bonjour !
hello!
).
Pick up some tips on working with the parts of speech and correctly using a bilingual dictionary.
Introduce yourself to nouns, gender, and number, which provide the foundation for grammatical agreement.
Use French possessives and demonstratives like a pro.
Express yourself with numbers, times, and dates so that you can get to where — and when — you need to go.
Chapter 1
Getting to Know You
IN THIS CHAPTER
Starting off on the right foot with a greeting
Introducing yourself and others
Being polite
Using the right subject pronouns
Bonjour ! (Hello!) and welcome to the most important chapter in this book and in your entire French language journey. Knowing how to greet people in French is more than just understanding that bonjour means hello; in fact, this simple word is vital to making sure that all of your interactions start off on the right foot.
In addition to sharing the different French greetings, I explain how to introduce yourself and others, offer tips on being polite, and describe the differences between subject pronouns.
French Greetings
As a kid, you might have been told that please is the magic word, but in French, it’s definitely bonjour (hello) or an equivalent greeting (depending on the time of day and your relationship to the person you're talking to). In this section I cover the three primary French greetings that you need to be familiar with.
Hello
In English, it’s perfectly normal not to say “hello” in some situations. For example, when approaching a stranger for directions, English speakers are likely to say “excuse me” rather than “hello.” In France, however, not using a greeting like Bonjour (Hello) to start a conversation is considered very rude. Any conversation — even a short one — simply can’t begin without bonjour or another greeting. In a situation where you need to start with Excusez-moi (Excuse me), it's important to then add a greeting before anything else or you run the risk of being ignored or given a frosty look followed by a pointed, “Bonjour” in return.
Appropriate French greetings include
bonjour
(
hello
): The greeting commonly used in the morning and afternoon, with anyone and everyone. The French language spoken in France doesn’t have specific terms for
good morning
or
good afternoon
—
bonjour
is used for all of these. In comparison, Canadian French does have a different term for
good morning
:
bon matin
.
bonsoir
(
good evening
): As opposed to
bonjour
, which means
hello
,
good morning
, and
good afternoon
,
bonsoir
means
good evening
. I can’t give you a definite time when you should switch from
bonjour
to
bonsoir
, but a good rule of thumb is either 6 p.m. or when the sun starts to set, whichever is earlier. You can also take cues from the people around you. If you’re in a room full of people all saying
bonsoir
to each other at 3 p.m., you can either be a rebel with
bonjour
or just go with the flow and say
bonsoir
.
salut
(
hi
): Informal — you can and should use
salut
only with friends, family, and kids, at any time of day.
Mind your manners! Decide which greeting is most appropriate with each person at the time given.
Q. Your cousin at 11 a.m.: _________________
A.Salut (Hi)
1 The mail carrier at 8 a.m.: _________________
2 A friend at 3 p.m.: _________________
3 Your boss at 9 a.m.: _________________
4 Your brand-new neighbor at 7 p.m.: _________________
5 A waitress at 12:30 p.m.: _________________
6 Your preschooler son’s friend at 8 p.m.: _________________
7 Your daughter at 1 p.m.: _________________
8 A cashier at 6 p.m.: _________________
9 Your spouse at 10 p.m.: _________________
10 The plumber at 10 a.m.: _________________
How are you?
Many English speakers say, “How are you?” to anyone and everyone, even when they don’t expect an answer or assume it will be an automatic, “Fine.” For the French, it’s just the opposite: They ask the question only when they expect and care about the response. If you casually ask a French cashier or bank teller how they are, for example, you’re likely to get a puzzled look in return.
Comment allez-vous ? means How are you? and is formal and/or plural, meaning you should use it when talking to either
A person with whom you use respectful language
More than one person
When talking to just one person with whom you use tu (see the section “Tu or vous: The second person,” later in this chapter), you can use any of these more informal versions to ask How are you?
Comment vas-tu ?
Comment tu vas ?
Comment ça va ?
Ça va ?
All of these questions mean basically the same thing — How are you? — but grammatically, they’re a bit different.
To answer any of the questions that begin with Comment, you can give a real response, such as Super, bien sûr, je suis à Paris ! (Great, of course, I’m in Paris!), or you can say something non-committal, such as Bien (Fine) or Très bien (Very good). In addition, you can answer with Ça va (Fine).
In contrast, Ça va ? literally means Is it going (well)? So, in addition to any of the responses just mentioned, you can answer with a simple Oui (Yes) or Non (No).
You can also use Ça va ? when addressing more than one person with whom you use tu, such as your children or a group of friends.
You absolutely could have a conversation in French that consists of just two words repeated as questions and answers:
-
Ça va ?
(
How’s it going?
)
-
Ça va, ça va. Ça va ?
(
Fine, fine. How’s it going?
)
-
Ça va.
(
Fine.
)
However, you're more likely to have a few extra words thrown in:
-
Ça va ?
(
How’s it going?
)
-
Ça va, merci. Et toi, ca va ?
(
Fine, thanks. And you, is it going well?
)
-
Oui, ça va bien.
(
Yes, fine.
)
Do you want to know how I am? Decide whether you should use Ça va ? with each of these people and circle your answer.
Q. A banker Yes No
A.No
11 Your daughter Yes No
12 Your new neighbors Yes No
13 A waitress Yes No
14 Your brother Yes No
15 A group of friends Yes No
16 A cashier Yes No
Won’t you tell me your name?
When meeting someone for the first time, in addition to saying Bonjour (Hello), the two parties need to exchange names, or at least have someone else do it for them.
You can ask someone’s name by saying either Comment vous appelez-vous ? or Comment t’appelles-tu ? (What is your name?). Your choice here depends on whether you’re talking
Formally or to more than one person. (
Comment vous appelez-vous ?
)
To one person with whom you’ll use
tu
. (
Comment t'appelles-tu ?
)
You may be tempted to think that you should always say Comment vous appelez-vous ? — after all, by definition, you’re talking to someone you don’t know, so vous would seem to make sense. But that’s not the only criterion for using vous. See the section “Tu or vous: The second person,” later in this chapter, for the full explanation.
You can answer the question What is your name? with any of the next four phrases. With the first two responses, you can provide your first name or your full name:
Je m’appelle …
(
My name is …
)
Je suis …
(
I am …
)
These next two phrases are more limited:
Mon nom est …
(
My name is …
): Can only be used when you give your full name
Mon prénom est …
(
My first name is …
): Can precede only your first name
You can introduce someone else with the following phrases (which both mean I’d like to introduce you to …):
Je vous présente …
Je te présente …
You can also say
Il s’appelle …
(
His name is …
)
Elle s’appelle …
(
Her name is …
)
In an informal situation, simply
Voici …
(
This is …
).
If necessary, you can include a title in front of the name:
Monsieur/M.
(
Mr.
)
Madame/Mme
(
Mrs.
)
Mademoiselle/Mlle
(
Miss
)
What’s in a name? You’re at a conference with your partner, Shay. You meet a woman whom you don’t know and run into your friend Marc. Fill in the blanks with the correct introduction. (Note: You can use each phrase only once if at all. I marked out Je m’appelle because it’s the answer to the example question.)
- Elle s’appelle
- Il s’appelle
-
Je m’appelle
- Je te présente
- Je vous présente
- Mon nom est
- Mon prénom est
Q. You: Bonsoir Madame. Comment vous appelez-vous ?
A. Woman: Je m’appelle Agathe Anam.
17 You: Bonsoir Mme Anam. ___________________ Laura.
18 ___________________ mon ami Shay, et
19 Shay, ___________________ Mme Anam.
20 Shay: Bonsoir Mme Anam. ___________________ Shay Lavee.
21 You: Ah, salut Marc ! Est-ce que tu connais cette dame ? ___________________ Mme Anam.
Using Other Social Niceties Appropriately
Although bonjour (hello) is the most important social nicety, it isn’t the only one. You also need please, thank you, you're welcome, and good-bye.
Saying please, thank you, and you’re welcome
You have two ways to say “please,” based on — you guessed it! — whether you use vous or tu with the person:
s’il vous plaît
s’il te plaît
Merci means thank you, and you can make it stronger by adding beaucoup (very much).
You’re welcome is je vous en prie or je t’en prie. You’ll also hear de rien (it was nothing), but this response can seem ungracious.
Parting ways
There are quite a few different expressions you can use when leaving, such as
au revoir
(
good-bye
)
bonne journée
(
have a nice day
)
bon/bonne après-midi (have a nice afternoon)
Note: The word après-midi can be either masculine or feminine with no difference in meaning
bonne soirée
(
have a nice evening
)
bonne nuit
(
good night
)
à bientôt
(
see you soon
)
à plus
(
see you later
)
à la prochaine
(
until next time
)
Note that the last two farewells are slightly informal.
Time to play matchmaker! Connect a social nicety on the left with the one on the right that you’d expect to hear in the same exchange. Each term can be matched only once. I get you started.
Understanding Subject Pronouns
The subject is the person, place, or thing that’s doing something in a sentence. In “My dog has fleas,” for example, my dog is the subject. A subject pronoun can replace a subject, so if you’ve already mentioned your dog, you can just say “he” or “she” when you refer to your dog again.
Subject pronouns exist in both French and English, but they’re extra important in French because each one has its own conjugation, or verb form. In a verb conjugation table, each subject pronoun represents any noun that has the same number and grammatical person — the role the subject plays in the conversation. Subject pronouns may be singular or plural, and they may be first person (the speaker), second person (the listener/reader/recipient), or third person (everyone else). Table 1-1 breaks down the pronouns so that you can better understand them.
Table 1-1 French Subject Pronouns and Their English Cohorts
Person
Singular
Plural
1st
je (I)
nous (we)
2nd
tu (you)
vous (you)
3rd (masculine)
il (he, it)
ils (they)
3rd (feminine)
elle (she, it)
elles (they)
3rd (indefinite)
on (one, people, they, we)
n/a
Note: In formal situations, vous can be singular — see the section “Tu or vous: The second person,” later in this chapter, for details.
I explain the particularities and contradictions of the indefinite pronoun on in the section “Il, elle, or on: The third-person singular,” later in this chapter.
French has a different conjugation for each grammatical person, whereas English usually has only two conjugations: one for third-person singular (he walks) and one for everything else (I walk, you walk, we walk, they walk). The following sections take a closer look at these pronouns to help you use them correctly.
Je or nous: The first person
Je is the first-person singular pronoun. Unlike its English equivalent I, je is capitalized only when it begins a sentence.
Je suis écrivain.
(
I’m a writer.
)
Demain, je vais en France.
(
Tomorrow, I’m going to France.
)
Note that when je is followed by a word that begins with a vowel or mute h (see Chapter 3 for more about the mute h), it contracts to j’.
J’ai grandi en Floride.
(
I grew up in Florida.
)
Maintenant, j’habite en Californie.
(
Now I live in California.
)
Nous is the first-person plural, and it means we. You use it the same way in French and English.
Nous allons en France.
(
We’re going to France.
)
Je pense que nous mangeons à midi.
(
I think we’re eating at noon.
)
Here’s a quick catch-up. You and your partner Dominique work different hours, so you often text to keep your schedules synced. Choose the correct first-person pronoun to match the translation.
Q. You: Salut Dominique, __________ suis à la banque. (Hi Dominique, I’m at the bank.)
A.je
22 You: __________ vais rentrer dans une heure. (I’ll be home in an hour.)
23 Dominique: Okay, __________ ai une chose à faire et puis (Okay, I have one thing to do, and then)
24 __________ avons des billets d’opéra. (We have opera tickets.)
25 You: Mais pourquoi ? __________ détestons l’opéra ! (But why ? We hate the opera !)
26 Dominique: Pas du tout — moi, __________ adore l’opéra. (Not at all — me, I love the opera.)
Tu or vous: The second person
Tu and vous both mean you, but French distinguishes between different kinds of you.
Tu is singular and informal, meaning that you use it only when you’re talking to
One person whom you know well — such as a family member, friend, classmate, or colleague
A child or animal
For example, here I'm greeting a friend and then talking to a child:
Salut Aurélie, comment vas-tu ?
(
Hi Aurélie, how are you?
)
Tu peux commencer maintenant.
(
You can begin now.
)
Vous is plural and/or formal. You use it when you’re talking to
One person whom you don’t know or to whom you wish to show respect, such as a teacher, doctor, boss, or elderly person
More than one person, whether or not you know them
In the following examples I use vous in the first instance to show respect to my professor, while in the second example I need vous because I’m talking to more than one child:
Bonjour Professeur Degueldre, comment allez-vous ?
(
Hello Professor Degueldre, how are you?
)
Allez les enfants, vous devez faire vos devoirs !
(
Come on kids, you have to do your homework!
)
If you’re not sure whether to use tu or vous, err on the side of respect and opt for vous. Except when you’re introduced to someone by a close friend, you normally start out using vous with any adults you meet. At some point, if you become friends, this new person may ask you to use tu by saying something like, “On peut se tutoyer.” (“We can use tu with one another.”) English has no real equivalent to this — “Call me John” is the closest, but it doesn’t indicate the same shift to intimacy as switching from vous to tu does. Using tu without this sort of invitation can be very offensive, but the French usually make allowances for non-native speakers.
What do you know? Decide whether to use tu or vous with each of these people or groups of people and circle your answer.
Q. Your boss tu vous
A.vous
27 Your spouse tu vous
28 A cashier tu vous
29 Your two kids tu vous
30 Your doctor tu vous
31 A group of friends tu vous
32 The waiter tu vous
33 Your dentist tu vous
34 A kid at the park tu vous
35 Parents of kids at the park tu vous
36 The bartender tu vous
Il, elle, or on: The third-person singular
Il and elle mean he and she, respectively.
Il a deux sœurs.
(
He has two sisters.
)
Elle veut travailler ici.
(
She wants to work here.
)
In addition, when you want to say “it,” you have to figure out the gender of the noun because you use il to refer to a masculine noun and elle to refer to a feminine noun (see Chapter 3 for details on noun gender).
Où est mon livre ? Il est sur la table.
(
Where is my book? It’s on the table.
)
Je vois la voiture. Elle est dans la rue.
(
I see the car. It’s in the street.
)
On is an indefinite pronoun that literally means one. But on can also mean you, people in general, or we, informally.
On ne doit pas dire cela.
(
One shouldn’t say that.
)
On ne sait jamais.
(
You just never know.
)
On ne fait plus attention de nos jours.
(
People don’t pay attention any more nowadays.
)
On va partir à midi.
(
We’re going to leave at noon.
)
Judgment time. Your friends like to gossip and are always asking, Qu’est-ce que tu penses de … ? (“What do you think about … ?”) Answer with the appropriate third-person singular pronoun.
Q. Qu’est-ce que tu penses de Laura ?
A.Elle est géniale ! (She’s awesome!).
37 Qu’est-ce que tu penses de Marc ? _______ est drôle.
38 Qu’est-ce que tu penses de Sandrine ? _______ est triste.
39 Qu’est-ce que tu penses d’Annette ? _______ est artistique.
40 Qu’est-ce que tu penses de Thomas ? _______ est acerbe.
41 Qu’est-ce que tu penses de David ? _______ est énigmatique.
42 Qu’est-ce que tu penses de Christelle ? _______ est honnête.
Ils or elles: The third-person plural
Ils and elles mean they.
Ils is used for
Groups of men or masculine nouns
Mixed groups of men and women
Masculine and feminine nouns together
Check out these examples of ils in action:
Paul et David (ils) habitent à Bruxelles.
(
Paul and David [they] live in Brussels.
)
Où sont mes livres ? Ils sont dans ta chambre.
(
Where are my books? They’re in your room.
)
Lise, Marie-Laure, Robert et Anne (ils) partent ensemble.
(
Lise, Marie-Laure, Robert, and Anne [they] are leaving together.
)
Elles is used only for
Groups of women
Feminine nouns
Even if there’s only one man in a group of a thousand women, you have to use ils:
Ma mère et ma sœur (elles) aiment danser.
(
My mother and sister [they] like to dance.
)
Je vois tes clés. Elles sont sur mon bureau.
(
I see your keys. They’re on my desk.
)
You work at an advertising firm, and you’re writing to a colleague about an ad idea for a product called la Sandwichière (the Sandwich Maker). Choose the best pronoun-verb pair to fill in each blank.
Q. Marc, _________________ (je suis, il est) prêt à commencer. (Marc, I’m ready to start.)
A.je suis
43 Michel, _________________ (j’ai, il a) une idée pour une nouvelle publicité. (Michel, I have an idea for a new ad.)
44 _________________ (Peux-tu, Pouvez-vous) m’aider ? (Can you help me?)
45 _________________ (Nous pouvons, Vous pouvez) travailler ensemble. (We can work together.)
Voici mon idée. Il y a un père, une mère et un enfant dans la cuisine. (Here’s my idea. A father, mother, and child are in the kitchen.)
46 Le père dit à sa femme, _________________ (veux-tu, voulez-vous) quelque chose à manger ? (The father says to his wife, “Do you want something to eat?”)
47 _________________ (Il répond, Elle répond, On répond): (She responds:)
48 Oui, et _________________ (je pense, tu penses, il pense, nous pensons) que David a faim aussi. (“Yes, and I think David is hungry, too.”)
49 David dit à ses parents : Oui, moi aussi — _________________ (peux-tu, pouvez-vous) me faire un sandwich ? (David says to his parents: “Yes, me too, can you make me a sandwich?”)
50 _________________ (Ils répondent, Elles répondent): (They respond:)
51 Non, _________________ (tu peux, vous pouvez) le faire tout seul. (“No, you can do it yourself.)
52 _________________ (J’ai, Nous avons) acheté une Sandwichière — (“We bought a sandwich maker —)
53 _________________ (il est, elle est, on est) tellement simple à utiliser qu’un enfant peut faire son propre sandwich. (“It’s so simple to use that a child can make his own sandwich.”)
Answer Key to “Getting to Know You” Practice Questions
1Bonjour (Hello/Good morning)
2Salut (Hi)
3Bonjour (Hello/Good morning)
4Bonsoir (Good evening)
5Bonjour (Hello/Good afternoon)
6Salut (Hi)
7Salut (Hi)
8Bonsoir (Good evening)
9Salut (Hi)
10Bonjour (Hello/Good morning)
11 Yes
12 No
13 No
14 Yes
15 Yes
16 No
17 You: Bonsoir Mme Anam. Mon prénom est Laura. (Good evening Mrs. Anam. My first name is Laura.)
18Je vous présente mon ami Shay, et (I’d like to introduce you to my friend Shay, and)
19Shay, je te présente Mme Anam. (Shay, I’d like to introduce you to Mrs. Anam.)
20 Shay: Bonsoir Mme Anam. Mon nom est Shay Lavee. (Good evening Mrs. Anam. My name is Shay Lavee.)
21You: Ah, salut Marc ! Est-ce que tu connais cette dame ? Elle s’appelle Mme Anam. (Oh, hi Marc! Do you know this lady? Her name is Mrs. Anam.)
22je
23j’
24nous
25nous
26j’
27tu
28vous
29vous
30vous
31vous
32vous
33vous
34tu
35vous
36vous
37Il est drôle. (He’s funny.)
38Elle est triste. (She’s sad.)
39Elle est artistique. (She’s artistic.)
40Il est acerbe. (He’s acerbic.)
41Il est énigmatique. (He’s enigmatic.)
42Elle est honnête. (She’s honest.)
43j’ai
44Peux-tu
45Nous pouvons
46veux-tu
47Elle répond
48je pense
49pouvez-vous
50Ils répondent
51tu peux
52Nous avons acheté
53elle est
Chapter 2
Understanding Parts of Speech and Bilingual Dictionaries
IN THIS CHAPTER
Eyeing the basic parts of speech — in any language
Getting the most out of your bilingual dictionary
Language is made up of parts of speech — nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on. Each of these building blocks has its own function and rules, and understanding them is key to using them correctly, particularly with a foreign language. If you don’t know the difference between the parts of speech in English, you probably won’t understand them in French either, which means you’re likely to make a lot of mistakes when you write and speak.
Bilingual dictionaries are essential tools for speaking and understanding a new language, but misusing them is easy. You can’t accept whatever the dictionary says as gospel — you need to know how to understand the symbols and abbreviations, how to make a choice when given several translations, and how much to trust the answers you get. This chapter explains the basic parts of speech, as well as how to get the most out of your bilingual dictionary.
Identifying the Parts of Speech
You’re probably already familiar with at least some of the parts of speech, such as nouns and verbs, even though you don’t necessarily think about them when speaking your native language. Because I use these terms throughout the book, I want to give you an overview of the parts of speech in the following sections.
To help illustrate the differences between parts of speech, I use an example sentence that has all eight essential parts of speech in both languages.
Je veux vraiment aller en France et visiter les musées célèbres.
(
I really want to go to France and visit the famous museums.
)
In the following sections, I bold the part of speech under consideration in my example French sentence and its English translation.
What’s in a name? Nouns
Nouns are people, places, things, and ideas. They’re the concrete and abstract things in your sentences, the who and the what that are doing something or having something done to them. Here, the example sentence from the preceding section has the nouns in bold (in both French and English).
Je veux vraiment aller en
France
et visiter les
musées
célèbres.
(
I really want to go to
France
and visit the famous
museums
.
)
France is a proper noun — a noun that refers to a specific person, place, or thing and that’s always capitalized. Other proper nouns include Laura (that’s me!) and the Louvre. Museums is a plural noun, which means it’s also a countable noun because you can count it: one museum, two museums, three museums, and so on. Collective nouns, such as group and bunch, refer to a group of nouns considered a single unit: one group of students, a bunch of flowers. Uncountable nouns, such as beauty and fear, are things that you can’t count.
In French, nouns are also masculine or feminine, which I explain in greater detail in Chapter 3. Nouns and verbs (see the section “Doing all the things with verbs,” later in this chapter) provide the basic elements of any sentence. Nouns need verbs to tell them what they’re doing, and verbs need nouns to explain who or what is acting or being acted upon. You can often replace nouns with pronouns — see the section “Pronouns: They’re replacements,” later in this chapter.
Doing double duty! Go to the beginning of this section and, starting with the first sentence, underline all the nouns from there to here. That’s right, you should re-read this section and underline the nouns while you do it; the following example sentence and answer get you started. A cool thing about using the text itself as the basis for this exercise is that it gives you a chance to examine the very text that explains what you’re doing. And it better familiarizes you with parts of speech in English, which is vital to understanding grammar essentials and developing your language skills.
Q.Nouns are people, places, things, and ideas.
A.Nouns are people, places, things, and ideas.
Articles (not the ones in magazines)
An article is a very particular part of speech. You can use it only with a noun in order to classify that noun in a particular way. English has two kinds of articles:
Definite article (
the
), as in
the book
Indefinite article (
a
/
an
), as in
a book
Although English has just two kinds of articles, French has three kinds:
Definite articles: le, la, les (the)
Refers to something specific: le livre (the book), la leçon (the lesson), les idées (the ideas).
Indefinite articles: un, une (a/an), des (some)
Unspecific: un homme (a man), une chaise (a chair), des mots (some words).
Partitive articles: du, de la, des (some)
Partitive articles refer to a part or portion of something: du pain (some bread), de la bière (some beer). (Note: In English, some is technically considered an adjective, not an article.)
Chapter 3 has a lot more information about the French articles. While you’re here, see if you can correctly identify the article in the example sentence (spoiler alert: The article’s in bold).
Je veux vraiment aller en France et visiter
les
musées célèbres.
(
I really want to go to France and visit
the
famous museums.
)
From the top! Return to the first sentence in this section and underline all the articles from there to here. The following example sentence and answer show you how it’s done. While you review the text, take advantage of the opportunity to better familiarize yourself with how articles work both in English and French.
Q. An article is a very particular part of speech.
A.An article is a very particular part of speech.
Doing all the things with verbs
Verbs express actions and describe states of being. They tell you what’s happening, what the situation is like, and whether any music is pounding in the background during it all. The verbs from the example sentence are in bold; you can discover why they don’t always have the same number of words in both languages in Chapter 10.
Je
veux
vraiment
aller
en France et
visiter
les musées célèbres.
(
I really
want to go
to France and
visit
the famous museums.
)
Verbs are the most variable part of speech because they have all kinds of different forms, called conjugations, which help tell you who or what is doing something, when they’re doing it, and how they feel about it. French verbs are classified by how they’re conjugated:
Regular verbs
–er
verbs
–ir
verbs
–re
verbs
Stem-changing verbs
Spelling-change verbs
Irregular verbs
In addition, verbs have many different forms that give you all kinds of information about their actions:
Tense:
Tells you when the verb action takes place — in the present, past, or future — and whether it was completed (
perfect
) or incomplete (
imperfect
). See
Chapters 6
,
10
,
15
, and
16
for more info about verb tenses.
Mood:
Shows how the speaker feels about the verb action — whether it’s indicative, imperative, conditional, or subjunctive. You can flip to
Chapter 14
to read more about the imperative; the other moods are more advanced topics for another day (and another book!)
Voice:
Indicates the relationship between the subject and the verb — whether it’s active, passive, or reflexive. Take a look at
Chapter 7
for the reflexive voice and how it differs from active voice. The passive voice is a more advanced topic to be avoided for now.
Do over! Find the first sentence in this section and underline all the verbs that you find, starting there and ending here. Use the following example sentence and answer to get the hang of it.
Q.Verbs express actions and describe states of being.
A.Verbsexpress actions and describe states of being.
Describing adjectives
Adjectives are flowery, helpful, and exciting words that describe nouns. Adjectives may tell you what color something is, whether it’s new or old, or about its shape, size, or provenance. The example sentence has only one adjective.
Je veux vraiment aller en France et visiter les musées célèbres. (I really want to go to France and visit the famous museums.)
Adjectives usually aren’t essential, the way nouns and verbs are, because they just add some extra information to the basic facts. Compare My brother has a car to My older brother has a red car — the important information is that your brother has a car; the facts that he’s older than you and that the car is red are just window dressing. Adjectives such as older and red are called descriptive adjectives, but adjectives come in many other useful varieties:
Demonstrative adjectives:
ce
,
cette
,
cet
(
this
,
that
),
ces
(
these
,
those
)
Indefinite adjectives:
quelques
(
some
),
certain
(
certain
),
plusieurs
(
several
)
Interrogative adjectives:
quel
(
which
)
Negative adjectives:
ne … aucun
,
ne … nul
(
no
,
not any
)
Possessive adjectives:
mon
(
my
),
ton
(
your
),
son
(
his/her
)
Unlike boring old English adjectives, French adjectives have masculine, feminine, singular, and plural forms so that they can agree with their nouns. (Chapter 11 tells you a lot of other interesting details about descriptive adjectives, and the Table of Contents at the front of this book or the Index at the rear tell you where to find more info about the other types of adjectives.)
Find the first sentence in this section, and then underline all the adjectives that you see until you get to this point in the text. The following example question and answer take care of the first sentence for you. While you look for adjectives, also keep an eye out for any helpful rules about using adjectives that you missed on your first read-through.
Q.Adjectives are flowery, helpful, and exciting words that describe nouns.
A.Adjectives are flowery, helpful, and exciting words that describe nouns.
Using adverbs
Adverbs easily modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Like adjectives, adverbs aren’t always essential, but rather, they add some extra information to the words that they’re helpfully modifying. In the example sentence, really modifies the verb want.
Je veux
vraiment
aller en France et visiter les musées célèbres.
(
I
really
want to go to France and visit the famous museums.
)
English adverbs often end in –ly and indicate how the action of a verb is occurring: happily, quickly, rudely. Most of these words are adverbs of manner. The other kinds of adverbs are
Adverbs of frequency:
jamais
(
never
),
souvent
(
often
)
Adverbs of place:
ici
(
here
),
partout
(
everywhere
)
Adverbs of quantity:
très
(
very
),
beaucoup
(
a lot
)
Adverbs of time:
avant
(
before
),
demain
(
tomorrow
)
Interrogative adverbs:
quand
(
when
),
où
(
where
)
Negative adverbs:
ne … pas
(
not
),
ne … jamais
(
never
)
Check out Chapter 11 to understand more about French adverbs.
Carefully underline the adverbs in this section. Starting with the first sentence (which I illustrate in the following example), underline all the adverbs from there to here. Take your time while you re-read this section, getting yourself comfortable with what adverbs are. (Knowing the parts of speech in English makes understanding a new language easier.)
Q.Adverbs easily modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
A.Adverbseasily modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
Pronouns: They’re replacements
Pronouns are easy to understand; they replace nouns. That is, pronouns also refer to people, places, things, and ideas, but they let you avoid repeating the same words over and over.
For example, you could say, “Marc has a sister. His sister has a cat. The cat has fleas, and the fleas make the cat itch.” But hearing those nouns repeated each time gets a little old. A much nicer way to say that would be, “Marc has a sister. She has a cat. It has fleas, and they make it itch.” She, it, and they are personal pronouns because they have different forms for each grammatical person. (You can read about the concept of grammatical person in Chapter 1.) My trusty example sentence has one pronoun in it.
Je
veux vraiment aller en France et visiter les musées célèbres.
(
I
really want to go to France and visit the famous museums.
)
French has five types of personal pronouns. The following are all equivalent to I/me, you, or he/him/it:
Subject pronouns:
je
,
tu
,
il
(see
Chapter1
)
Direct object pronouns:
me
,
te
,
le
(see
Chapter13
)
Indirect object pronouns:
me
,
te
,
lui
(see
Chapter 13
)
Reflexive pronouns:
me
,
te
,
se
(see
Chapter 7
)
Stressed pronouns:
moi
,
toi
,
lui
(see
Chapter 11
)
French also has several kinds of impersonal pronouns — which doesn’t mean they’re unkind, just that they don’t have different forms for each grammatical person. However, many of them do have different forms for masculine, feminine, singular, and plural. I give you some examples in this list (although I hold off on the translations for now):
Adverbial pronouns:
y
,
en
Demonstrative pronouns:
celui
,
celle
Indefinite pronouns:
autre
,
certain
Interrogative pronouns:
quel
,
quelle
Negative pronouns:
aucun
,
personne
Possessive pronouns:
le mien
,
le tien
Relative pronouns:
qui
,
que
,
