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Tips and notes

Grammar notes like those below can be helpful if you're having trouble with the lessons, so
consider trying the lessons above before reading the notes. They'll be more helpful once
you have a context for understanding them.

Genders

French has two grammatical genders: masculine and feminine. All nouns have a gender
that you must memorize. Sometimes, the gender can be obvious: une femme ("a woman")
is feminine. Other times, it's not obvious: une pomme ("an apple") is also feminine.

Personal Subject Pronouns

In every complete sentence, the subject is the person or thing that performs an action or is
being described. This is often a noun, but a personal subject pronoun (e.g. "I", "you", or
"he") can replace that noun. In both English and French, pronouns have different forms
based on what they replace.

English French Example

I je Je mange. — I eat.

You (singular) tu/vous Tu manges. — You eat.

He/It il Il mange. — He eats.

She/It elle Elle mange. — She eats.

Subject-Verb Agreement

Notice above that the verb manger (as well as its English equivalent, "to eat") changes form
to agree grammatically with the subject. These forms are called conjugations of that verb.
Whenever you want to learn a verb's conjugation, hover your mouse over that word and
press the "Conjugate" button.

Here are some conjugations for verbs you'll encounter in this unit:
 Subject Manger (To Eat) Être (To Be) Avoir (To Have)

je je mange — I eat je suis — I am j'ai — I have

tu tu manges — you eat tu es — you are tu as — you have

il/elle/on il mange — he eats il est — he is il a — he has

Articles

Articles (e.g. "the" or "a") provide context for a noun. In English, articles may be omitted,
but French nouns almost always have an article. French has three types of articles:

 Definite articles ("the") are used with specific nouns that are known to the speakers, as in
English, but also to indicate the general sense of a noun, unlike in English.
 Indefinite articles ("a"/"an"/"one") are used for countable nouns that are unspecified or
unknown to the speakers.
 Partitive articles ("some"/"any") indicate a quantity of something uncountable.
Articles have multiple forms, as provided in this table:

Article Masculine Feminine Plural Example

Definite le/l' la/l' les le chat — the cat

Indefinite un une des une femme — a woman

Partitive du/de l' de la/de l' de l'eau — (some) water

It is critical to understand that articles must agree with their nouns in both gender and
number. For instance, le femme is incorrect. It must be la femme because la is feminine and
singular, just like femme.

Elisions

Le and la become just l' if they're followed by a vowel sound. This is an example of elision,
which is the removal of a vowel sound in order to prevent consecutive vowel sounds and
make pronunciation easier. Elisions are mandatory—for instance, je aime is incorrect. It
must be j'aime.

These other one-syllable words can also elide: je, me, te, se, de, ce, ne, and que. Tu can
also be elided in casual speech, but not in writing (including on Duolingo).
 Contractions

In a contraction, two words combine to form one shortened word. For instance, the
partitive article du is a contraction of the preposition de with le.

 du pain — (some) bread

However, since du can create vowel conflicts, when it would appear in front of a vowel
sound, it takes the elided de l' form instead. This is also the case for de la.

 de l'ananas [masc.] — (some) pineapple

 de l'eau [fem.] — (some) water

Words Beginning with H

The letter H is always mute (silent) in French, but when H starts a word, it can act as a
consonant (aspirate) or vowel (non-aspirate). For example, the H in homme acts as a
vowel. This means that "the man" must be written as l'homme.

Conversely, an aspirate H doesn't participate in elisions or liaisons (which you'll learn about
soon). It's usually found at the beginning of loanwords from German or other languages. For
instance, "the hero" is le héros. Pay attention to this when learning new vocabulary.

Tips and notes

Grammar notes like those below can be helpful if you're having trouble with the lessons, so
consider trying the lessons above before reading the notes. They'll be more helpful once
you have a context for understanding them.

Plurals

Many French words have plural forms. Plural nouns and adjectives often end in -s, though
the S is usually silent.

 homme ("man") ⇒ hommes ("men")

 femme ("woman") ⇒ femmes ("women")
 chat noir ("black cat") ⇒ chats noirs ("black cats")
There are also plural forms for pronouns and verb conjugations. Consider parler ("to
speak"):
 Person French Example

I je Je parle. — I speak.

You (singular) tu Tu parles. — You speak.

You (formal) vous Vous parlez. — You speak.

He il Il parle. — He speaks.

She elle Elle parle. — She speaks.

We nous Nous parlons. — We speak.

You (plural) vous Vous parlez. — You speak.

They (any group including a male) ils Ils parlent. — They speak.

They (all women) elles Elles parlent. — They speak.

Tu or Vous?

French has two words for the subject pronoun "you": tu and vous. For a singular
"you", tushould only be used for friends, peers, relatives, children, or anyone else who's
very familiar to you. In all other cases and also for plurals, the more polite vous should be
used to show respect. When in doubt, use vous.

Agreement

Pronouns, adjectives, and articles must agree with their nouns in both gender and number.
Consider the examples below and note how the article and adjective change to agree with
each noun.

 Masculine singular: Le chat noir — The black cat

 Masculine plural: Les chats noirs — The black cats
 Feminine singular: La robe noire — The black dress
 Feminine plural: Les robes noires — The black dresses
Not all adjectives change forms. For instance, riche is the same for both masculine and
feminine singular nouns.
 Continuous Tenses

English has two present tenses: simple ("I write") and continuous ("I am writing"), but
French has no specialized continuous verb tenses. This means that "I write", "I am writing",
and "I do write" can translate to j'écris (not je suis écris) and vice versa.

However, the idiomatic phrase « être en train de » is often used to indicate that someone is
in the process of doing something.

 Je suis en train de manger. — I am [in the process of] eating.

When translating, remember that English stative verbs have no continuous forms. For
instance, « j'aime un garçon » cannot be translated as "I am loving a boy".

Ah, L'Amour

Love is tricky in France. For people and pets, aimer means "to love", but if you add an
adverb, like in aimer bien, it means "to like". For everything else, aimer only means "to
like". Adorer can always mean "to love", though it tends to be more coy than aimer.

Common Phrases
Tips and notes

Grammar notes like those below can be helpful if you're having trouble with the lessons, so
consider trying the lessons above before reading the notes. They'll be more helpful once
you have a context for understanding them.

Bonjour!

Bonjour is a universal greeting that can be spoken to anyone at any time. In France,
greeting people is very important, and some will even say bonjour aloud when entering a
public room or bus. Bon après-midi is often used as a farewell in the afternoon,
while bonsoir is an evening greeting.

 Greetings: bonjour, bonsoir (plus bon matin in Québec only)

 Farewells: bonne journée, bon après-midi, bonne soirée, bonne nuit

Idioms

Many words or phrases cannot be translated literally between English and French because
their usages are idiomatic. For instance, consider « Ça va ? », which means "How are
you?" The literal translation of the French is "That goes?", but this is nonsensical in English.
 It is very important to identify idioms in both languages and learn how to translate them
properly.

Liaisons

In a liaison, an otherwise silent ending consonant is pushed to the next word, where it's
pronounced as part of the first syllable. Like elisions, this prevents consecutive vowel
sounds. Liaisons are possible whenever a silent ending consonant is followed by a word
beginning in a vowel sound, but some liaisons are mandatory and others are forbidden.

Here are some mandatory liaisons, along with approximate pronunciations:

 Articles and adjectives with nouns. For example, un homme ("uh-nohm"), mon
orange("mohn-norahnge"), or deux hommes ("duh-zohm").
 Pronouns and verbs. For example, nous allons ("noo-zalohn") or est-il ("ay-teel").
 Single-syllable adverbs and prepositions. For instance, très utile ("tray-zuteel") or chez
elle ("shay-zell").
Liaisons are forbidden:

 Before and after et ("and").

 After singular nouns (including proper nouns and names).
 After inversions (which you'll learn in "Questions").
 Before an aspirated H (e.g. héros - "hero").
 After a nasal sound, except that un, on, and en do liaise.
Note that some consonants take on a different sound in liaisons, and it's important to
pronounce these correctly when speaking.

Original Resulting Liaison

Example
Consonant Sound

-s, -x, -z Z des hommes ("day-zohm")

-d T un grand arbre ("uhn-grahn-

tarbre")

-f V neuf ans ("nuh-vahn")

Liaison rules vary among speakers, particularly across dialects, and fewer liaisons tend to
appear in casual and slow speech. Note that the slow mode in Duo listening exercises does
not include liaisons.
 Enchaînement

In enchaînements, ending consonant sounds are pushed onto the next word if it begins in
a vowel. This is essentially the same as a liaison, except that the consonant sound wasn't
silent beforehand. For instance:

 elle est is pronounced like "eh-lay".

 mange une pomme is pronounced like "mahn-jun-pom".

The Impersonal Expression Il Y A

Impersonal expressions are phrases where there isn't a real subject. For instance, in the
phrase "It is snowing" (Il neige), "it" doesn't refer to anything. It's a dummy subject that
exists just to maintain the sentence structure.

One of the most common impersonal expressions is il y a, which is an idiom for "there is" or
"there are".

 Il y a une fille ici. — There is a girl here.

 Il y a un serpent dans ma botte ! — There's a snake in my boot!
You will learn more about impersonal expressions in "V. Pres 1".

Food

Tips and notes

The Partitive Article

The partitive article is used for unspecified amounts of uncountable nouns. In English, it can
translate to "some", but it's often just omitted. Remember that du is a contraction of de +
le and that partitives can elide.

Gender Partitive Article Example

Masculine du Je mange du poisson. — I am eating fish.

Feminine de la Je mange de la viande. — I am eating meat.

Elided Masc. de l' Je mange de l'ananas. — I am eating pineapple.

 Gender Partitive Article Example

Elided Fem. de l' Je bois de l'eau. — I am drinking water.

Nouns almost never appear without articles in French, so articles must be repeated in serial
lists.

 Il cuisine du poisson et de la viande — He cooks fish and meat.

Count Noun, Mass Noun, or Both?

Count nouns are discrete and can be counted, like un livre ("a book"). They can be
modified by definite and indefinite articles, but not partitive articles.

 Je lis un livre. — I am reading a book.

 Nous avons les livres. — We have the books.
Mass nouns like lait ("milk") are uncountable, and they can be modified by definite and
partitive articles, but not indefinite articles.

 Je bois du lait. — I am drinking [some] milk.

 Je bois le lait. — I am drinking the milk.
However, many nouns can behave as both count nouns and mass nouns. This is true for
most edible things. For instance, consider poisson ("fish") or vin ("wine"):

 Count noun: Le poisson est rouge. — The fish is red.

 Mass noun: Je mange du poisson. — I eat [some] fish.
 Count noun: Le vin est blanc. — The wine is white.
 Mass noun: Je bois du vin rouge ou blanc. — I drink red or white wine.
Note that some mass nouns can be pluralized in English when they refer to multiple types of
the noun, but this usage isn't found in French. For instance, "the fishes" refers to
multiple species of fish, while les poissons just refers to multiple fish.

Omitted Articles

When an article is missing in an English sentence, it must be added to the French

translation. The definite article can be used to fill this void in three situations:

1. Almost anywhere one would use "the" in English (i.e. when referring to specific things).
2. Before the subject of a sentence to state general truths about it.
3. Before the direct object of a verb of appreciation (like aimer) to express like/dislike.
If any of the above is true, then use the definite article. Otherwise, use the indefinite or
partitive, depending on whether or not the noun is countable.

 I like wine, but I am drinking milk. — J'aime le vin, mais je bois du lait.
Both articles are missing in the English version of this example. Aimer expresses fondness
for wine, so le vin should be used there. However, boire is not a verb of appreciation, so the
partitive du should be used on the uncountable lait.

 Cats are animals. — Les chats sont des animaux.

This is a general truth about cats, but #2 above can only apply to subjects, so
only chatstakes a definite article here. Animaux are countable, so use the plural
indefinite des.

 He likes to eat meat. — Il aime manger de la viande.

This is a tricky example because the meat is the direct object of manger, not aimer. Thus,
#3 does not apply and viande cannot take a definite article.

Also, the French definite article can be ambiguous when translating from French to English.
It can often refer to both a specific noun and the general sense of a noun.

 Les chats sont des animaux. — Cats are animals. / The cats are animals.

De + Definite Article

De plus a definite article can also have other meanings. De means "of" or "from", so this
can also indicate possession or association with a definite noun.

 La copie du livre. — The copy of the book.

 Les copies des livres. — The copies of the books.
 L'enfant de la femme. — The woman's child.

Animals

Noun Genders

One of the most difficult aspects of learning French is memorizing noun genders. However,
by spending some time now memorizing the following patterns, you may be able to guess
most nouns' genders and save yourself a lot of trouble in the future.
 Some nouns, like l'élève ("the student"), have the same spelling and meaning in both forms.
Other nouns have the same spelling, but have different meanings. Un tour is a tour,
while une tour is a tower. There are also nouns that only have one possible gender. Even a
baby girl is un bébé, for instance. Many masculine nouns can be changed to a feminine
form simply by adding an -e to the end. Your male friend is un ami and your female friend
is une amie.

Some genders depend on a noun's classification. For instance, languages, days of the
week, months, seasons, metals, colors, and measurements are mostly masculine.

Otherwise, memorizing word endings is the best way to guess genders. We'll learn these
ending patterns in four steps:

First: Nouns ending in -e tend to be feminine. All others, especially nouns ending in
consonants, tend to be masculine. This is true for over 70% of all nouns.

Second: Nouns that have the endings -ion and -son tend to be feminine, even though they
end in consonants.

Third: Nouns with these endings are usually masculine, although they end in -e:

 -tre, -ble, -cle (think "treble clef")

 -one, -ème, -ège (think "OMG")
 -age, -isme
Fourth: Watch out for these complications:

 -é is masculine, but -té is feminine.

o le résumé (masc) — the resumé
o la liberté (fem) — the liberty
 -de is masculine, but -ade, -nde, and -ude are feminine.
o le guide — the guide
o la parade — the parade
 -ste and -me tend to be masculine, but there are dozens of exceptions. Words for people
ending in -ste are often gender-neutral, e.g. le/la cycliste.
 -eur is masculine for most professions or technical terms, but it's feminine for some
emotions and abstract things.
o le chauffeur — the driver
o la peur — the fear
That's it! Memorize these, and you'll be able to guess most noun genders.
 Feminine Animals

In French, female animal nouns are generally formed as follows by taking the last
consonant, doubling it, and adding a mute -e to the end.

 un chat ⇒ une chatte

 un chien ⇒ une chienne
Of course, there are many exceptions. For example:

 un ours ⇒ une ourse (not une oursse)

 un cheval ⇒ une jument (not une chevalle)

Adjectives 1

Agreement

Unlike English adjectives, French adjectives must agree in number and gender with the
nouns that they modify. A black dog is un chien noir, but a black dress is une robe noire.
Also, remember that some adjectives have the same masculine and feminine form,
especially those ending in a silent -e (e.g. riche).

When used with pronouns, adjectives agree with the noun that has been replaced. This is
particularly tricky with the formal vous: to a singular man, you would say vous êtes beau,
but to plural women, you would say vous êtes belles.

Adjective Placement

In French, most adjectives appear after the nouns they modify. For instance, le chat noir.
However, some adjectives precede the noun. You can remember these types of nouns
using the mnemonic BANGS.

 B is for beauty. Une belle femme — A beautiful woman

 A is for age. Une jeune fille — A young girl
 N is for number. Deux hommes — Two men
o This can also be for rank: Le premier mot — The first word
 G is for good or bad. Un bon garçon — A good boy
 S is for size. Un gros chat — A fat cat
 All determiner adjectives (e.g. possessives, interrogatives, and demonstratives) appear
before the noun, e.g. mon livre ("my book") and ce cochon ("that pig"). You will learn these
later.

Figurative Adjectives

A few adjectives can come both before and after the noun depending on their meaning. The
most common example is grand, which is a BANGS adjective for everything but people. For
people, it comes before a noun when it means "important" and after the noun when it
means "tall". For instance, Napoleon was un grand homme ("a great man"), but not un
homme grand ("a tall man").

Usually, figurative meanings will precede the noun, while literal meanings will follow the
noun.

 un pauvre homme — a pitiful man

 un homme pauvre — a poor man
 un certain nombre — a certain (particular) number
 une victoire certaine — a certain (guaranteed) victory
 ma propre voiture — my own car
 ma voiture propre — my clean car
 un cher ami — a dear friend
 une montre chère — an expensive watch

Euphony

As you have already learned, elisions, contractions, liaisons, and enchaînements are all
designed to prevent consecutive vowel sounds (which is called hiatus). This quest for
harmonious sounds is called euphony and is an essential feature of French. It has,
however, created some unexpected rules.

For instance, the masculine beau ("beautiful") changes to bel if its noun begins with a vowel
sound. A beautiful man is un bel homme. The other two common changes
are vieux to vieil ("old") and nouveau to nouvel ("new").

Note that this doesn't occur to feminine adjectives because they usually end in silent
vowels.

Plurals
 ost plural forms of nouns and adjectives can be formed by appending an -s to the singular,
but remember that this -s is usually silent.

 Le chat noir — The black cat ⇒ Les chats noirs — The black cats

 Un chat noir — A black cat ⇒ Des chats noirs — (Some) black cats

Note: If the noun is preceded by an adjective, des becomes de.

 Un petit chat — A little cat ⇒ De petits chats

Articles must agree with the nouns they modify, so plural nouns require either les or des.
This is a great way to tell if a noun is plural. If you hear les or des (which sound similar to
"lay" and "day"), then the noun is plural. If not, it's probably singular.

Remember that verbs change conjugation to agree with their subjects in both grammatical
person and number.

Subject Être ("to be") Parler ("to speak")

je suis parle

tu es parles

il/elle/on est parle

nous sommes parlons

vous êtes parlez

ils/elles sont parlent

Punctuation

There are no quotation marks in French. Instead, the French use guillemets (« »).
Exclamation marks (!), question marks (?), colons (:), semicolons (;) and guillemets need to
have a space on either side.

 Incorrect: "Ça va?"

 Correct: « Ça va ? »
When writing numbers in French, commas are decimal points, while spaces mark
thousands places.
 Incorrect: 1,235.8
 Correct: 1 235,8

Verbs: Être / Avoir

To Be and To Have

Être and avoir are the most common verbs in French. Like many common verbs, they have
irregular conjugations.

Subject Être ("to be") Avoir ("to have")

je/j' (je) suis (j')ai

tu es as

il/elle/on est a

nous sommes avons

vous êtes avez

ils/elles sont ont

There should be a liaison between ils or elles and ont ("il-zon" or "elle-zon"). The "z" sound
is essential here to differentiate between "they are" and "they have", so be sure to
emphasize it.

These two verbs are very important because they can act as auxiliary verbs in French, but
they differ from their English equivalents. In "Basics 2", you learned that "I write" and "I am
writing" both translate to j'écris, not je suis écris. This is because être cannot be used as an
auxiliary in a simple tense. It can only be used in compound tenses, which you will learn in
the "Passé Composé" unit.

Another important distinction is that avoir means "to have" in the sense of "to possess", but
not "to consume" or "to experience". Other verbs must be used for these meanings.

C'est or Il Est?

When describing people and things with être in French, you usually can't use a personal
subject pronoun like elle. Instead, you must use the impersonal pronoun ce, which can also
mean "this" or "that". Note that ce is invariable, so it can never be ces sont.
 Impersonal Subject Pronoun Personal Subject Pronoun

Singular c'est il/elle est

Plural ce sont ils/elles sont

These pronouns aren't interchangeable. The basic rule is that you must use ce when êtreis
followed by any determiner—for instance, an article or a possessive adjective. Note
that c'est should be used for singulars and ce sont should be used for plurals.

 C'est un homme. — He's a man. / This is a man. / That is a man.

 Ce sont des chats. — They're cats. / These are cats. / Those are cats.
 C'est mon chien. — It's my dog. / This is my dog. / That's my dog.
If an adjective, adverb, or both appear after être, then use the personal pronoun.

 Elle est belle. — She is beautiful. (Or "It is beautiful.")

 Il est très fort. — He is very strong. (Or "It is very strong.")
As you know, nouns generally need determiners, but one important exception is that
professions, nationalities, and religions can act as adjectives after être. This is optional; you
can also choose to treat them as nouns.

 He is a doctor. — Il est médecin. / C'est un médecin.

However, c'est should be used when using an adjective to make a general comment about
(but not describe) a thing or situation. In this case, use the masculine singular form of the
adjective.

 C'est normal ? — Is this normal?

 Non, c'est étrange. — No, this is strange.

Idioms with Avoir

One of the most common idioms in French is the use of the verb avoir in certain places
where English would use the verb "to be". This is especially common for states or
conditions that a person may experience.

 Elle a chaud. — She is hot. (Or "She feels hot.")

 Il a froid. — He is cold.
 Elle a deux ans. — She is two years old.
 J'ai peur ! — I am afraid!
 French tends to use the verb faire ("to do") idiomatically for general conditions like weather.
Note that il fait is an impersonal expression with no real subject, just like il y afrom
"Common Phrases".

 Il fait chaud. — It is hot (outside).

 Il fait froid. — It is cold.
 Il fait nuit. — It is nighttime.

Clothing

Idiomatic Plurals

English has a number of idiomatic plural-only nouns that have to be translated carefully.
These are not just nouns that are invariable with number (like "deer"), but rather nouns that
cannot refer to a singular thing at all.

For instance, "the pants" can only be plural in English, but the corresponding le pantalonis
singular in French. A single pair of pants is not les pantalons, which refers to multiple pairs
of pants. Similarly, when translating le pantalon back to English, you can say "the pants" or
"a pair of pants", but "a pant" is not correct. This also applies to un jean ("a pair of jeans").

Un vêtement refers to a single article of clothing, and it's incorrect to translate it as

"clothes", which is plural and refers to a collection of clothing. This would have to be des
vêtements.

Diacritics

The acute accent (é) only appears on E and produces a pure [e] that isn't found in English.
To make this sound, say the word "cliché", but hold your tongue perfectly still on the last
vowel to avoid making a diphthong sound.

The grave accent (è) can appear on A/E/U, though it only changes the sound for E (to [ɛ],
which is the E in "lemon"). Otherwise, it distinguishes homophones like a (a conjugated
form of avoir) and à (a preposition).

The cedilla (ç) softens a normally hard C sound to the soft C in "cent". Otherwise, a C
followed by an A, O, or U has a hard sound like the C in "car".

The circumflex (ê) usually means that an S used to follow the vowel in Old French or Latin.
(The same is true of the acute accent.) For instance, île was once "isle".

The trema (ë) indicates that two adjacent vowels must be pronounced separately, like
in Noël ("Christmas") and maïs ("corn").
 Nasal Vowels

There are four nasal vowels in French. Try to learn these sounds by listening to native
speakers.

IPA Letter Sequence Examples

/œ̃/ un/um un/parfum

/ɛ/̃ in/im/yn/ym vin/pain/syndicat/sympa

/ɑ̃/ an/am/en/em dans/chambre/en/emploi

/ɔ/̃ on/om mon/ombre

These aren't always nasalized. If there's a double M or N, or if they are followed by any
vowel, then the vowel should have an oral sound instead. For instance, un is nasal,
but une is not. Also, vin is nasal, but vinaigre is not.

Please see this discussion for more information about nasal vowels.

Possessives

Colors can be both nouns and adjectives. As nouns, colors are usually masculine.

 Le rose. — The pink.

As adjectives, they agree with the nouns they modify except in two cases. First, colors
derived from nouns (e.g. fruits, flowers, or gems) tend to be invariable with gender and
number. Orange ("orange") and marron ("brown") are the most common examples.

 La jupe orange — The orange skirt

 Les jupes orange — The orange skirts
 Les chiens marron. — The brown dogs.
Second, in compound adjectives (les adjectifs composés) made up of two adjectives, both
adjectives remain in their masculine singular forms.
 Sa couleur est vert pomme. — Its color is apple-green.
 J'aime les robes rose clair. — I like light-pink dresses.
Most colors that end in -e in their masculine forms are invariable with gender.

 Un chien rouge — A red dog

 Une jupe rouge — A red skirt
POSSESSIVE

Possessives Match What is Owned

In English, possessive adjectives (e.g. "his") match the owner. However, in French, they
match the thing being owned.

Consider the example of "her lion". The French translation is son lion, because lion is
masculine and both the lion and the woman are singular. Note that if we hear just son lion,
we can't tell if the lion is owned by a man or woman. It's ambiguous without more context. If
two people own a lion, then it is leur lion.

Possessives have different forms that agree with four things: the number of owners, the
number of things owned, the gender of the thing owned, and the grammatical person of the
owner (e.g. "his" versus "my").

For one owner, the possessive adjectives are:

Person English Masculine Singular Feminine Singular Plural

1st my mon ma mes

2nd your (singular) ton ta tes

3rd his/her/its son sa ses

For multiple owners, genders don't matter:

Person English Singular Owned Plural Owned

1st our notre nos

2nd your (plural) votre vos

3rd their leur leurs

 The plural second-person possessive adjectives, votre and vos, should be used when
addressing someone formally with vous.

Examples:

Owner Singular Owned Plural Owned

My Mon ami — My friend Mes tigres — My tigers

Your Ton abeille — Your bee Tes lions — Your lions

His/Her Son oiseau — His/her bird Ses chiens — His/her dogs

Our Notre bière — Our beer Nos pommes — Our apples

Your Votre sel — Your salt Vos citrons — Your lemons

Their Leur fromage — Their cheese Leurs fromages — Their cheeses

Euphony in Possessives

For the sake of euphony, all singular feminine possessives switch to their masculine forms
when followed by a vowel sound.

Person Masculine Feminine Feminine + Vowel Sound

1st mon chat ma robe mon eau

2nd ton chat ta robe ton eau

3rd son chat sa robe son eau

Femme and Fille

Femme can mean "woman" or "wife" and fille can mean "girl" or "daughter" depending on
the context. For example, when femme and fille are preceded by a possessive adjective,
then they translate to "wife" and "daughter", respectively.

 Une fille et une femme sont dans le restaurant — A girl and a woman are in the restaurant.
(Not: "A daughter and a wife are in the restaurant.")
 Ma fille — My daughter. (Not: "My girl".)
 Ta femme — Your wife. (Not: "Your woman".)

Verbs: Present 1
Conjugations and Infinitives

As you learned in "Basics 1", verbs like parler conjugate to agree with their
subjects. Parler itself is an infinitive, which is a verb's base form. It consists of a root (parl-)
and an ending (-er). The ending can dictate how the verb should be conjugated. In this
case, almost all verbs ending in -er are regular verbs in the 1st Group that share the same
conjugation pattern. To conjugate another 1st Group verb, affix the ending to that verb's
root.

 Aimer ("to love"): j'aime, tu aimes, nous aimons, etc.

 Marcher ("to walk"): je marche, tu marches, nous marchons, etc.
Every verb belongs to one of three groups:

 The 1st Group includes regular -er verbs and includes 80% of all verbs.
 The 2nd Group includes regular -ir verbs like finir ('to finish").
 The 3rd Group includes all irregular verbs. This includes many common verbs
like êtreand avoir as well as a handful of less common conjugation patterns.

Subject G1: parler G2: finir G3: dormir

je parle finis dors

tu parles finis dors

il/elle/on parle finit dort

nous parlons finissons dormons

vous parlez finissez dormez

ils/elles parlent finissent dorment

Aller ("to go") is the only fully irregular verb in Group 1, but a handful of others are slightly
irregular.

Spelling-changing verbs end in -ger (e.g. manger) or -cer (e.g. lancer, "to throw") and
change slightly in the nous form, as well as any other form whose ending begins with an A
or O. These verbs take a form like nous mangeons or nous lançons.
 Stem-changing verbs have different roots in their nous and vous forms. For instance, most
forms of appeler ("to call") have two L's (e.g. j'appelle), but the N/V forms are nous
appelons and vous appelez.

Semi-Auxiliary Verbs

The only true auxiliary verbs in French are être and avoir, but there are a number of semi-
auxiliary verbs in French that can be used with other verbs to express ability, necessity,
desire, and so on. They are used in double-verb constructions where the first verb (the
semi-auxiliary) is conjugated and the second is not.

 Je veux lire. — I want to read.

 Il aime manger. — He likes to eat.
Modal verbs are the English equivalents of semi-auxiliaries—for instance, "can", which
translates to either savoir or pouvoir. When "can" indicates knowledge, use savoir.

 Je sais lire et écrire. — I know how to read and write.

 Il sait parler allemand. — He knows how to speak German.
When "can" indicates permission or ability (apart from knowledge), use pouvoir.

 Il peut manger. — He can (or "may") eat.

 Il peut parler allemand. — He is allowed to speak German.
One of the most important semi-auxiliary verbs is aller, which is used to express the near
future (futur proche), just like the English verb "going to".

 Je vais manger. — I am going to eat.

 Vous allez lire le livre. — You are going to read the book.
Note that in verb constructions beginning with non-auxiliary verbs, the verbs must be
separated by a preposition.

 Nous vivons pour manger. — We live to eat.

Impersonal Expressions

A few defective impersonal verbs can only be used in impersonal statements and must be
conjugated as third-person singular with il. Remember that il is a dummy subject and does
not refer to a person.

Falloir means "to be necessary", and it often takes the form il faut + infinitive.

 Il faut manger. — It is necessary to eat. / One must eat.

 Il faut choisir. — It is necessary to choose. / One must choose.
Il faut can also be used transitively with a noun to indicate that it is needed.

 Il faut du pain. — (Some) bread is needed.

Confusing Verbs

Used transitively, savoir and connaître both mean "to know", but in different
ways. Savoirimplies understanding of subjects, things, or skills, while connaître indicates
familiarity with people, animals, places, things, or situations.

 Je sais les mots. — I know the words.

 Je connais le garçon. — I know the boy.
Attendre means "to await", which is why it does not need a preposition.

 Il attend son ami. — He is awaiting (or "waiting for") his friend.

One Each

The indefinite article doesn't always refer to just one thing. Sometimes, it can mean one
thing each. Consider these examples:

 Ils ont un manteau — They have one coat / They each have one coat
 Ils ont des manteaux — They have some coats / They each have some coats

Demonstratives 1

Demonstrative Adjectives

Demonstrative adjectives ("this", "that", "these", and "those") modify nouns so they refer
to something or someone specific. They can be used in place of articles. Like other
adjectives, they must agree with the nouns they modify.

Gender Singular Plural

Masculine ce/cet ces

Feminine cette ces

The singular masculine ce becomes cet in front of a vowel sound for euphony.
 Ce livre est rouge. — That book is red.
 Cet arbre est grand. — That tree is big.
 Cette pomme est rouge. — That apple is red.
 Ces livres et ces pommes sont rouges. — Those books and those apples are red.
Ce can mean either "this" or "that". It's ambiguous between the two. To specify, use the
suffix -ci ("here") or -là ("there") on the modified noun.

 Ce livre-ci est rouge. — This book is red.

 Ces chats-là sont noirs. — Those cats are black.
French learners often confuse the demonstrative adjective ce with the pronoun ce (from
"Être-Avoir"). Discerning between them is easy, however: an adjective must modify a noun,
while a pronoun can stand alone as a subject or object. Compare:

 Adjective: Ces hommes sont mes amis. — These men are my friends.
 Pronoun: Ce sont mes amis. — They are my friends.
In the first example, ces is an adjective that modifies hommes, but in the second, ce is a
subject pronoun.

Ça

The indefinite demonstrative pronoun ça refers to an unnamed concept or thing. When

it's used as an object, it usually translates to "this" or "that".

 Tu manges ça. — You are eating this.

 Je veux ça. — I want that.
Ça can also be used as a subject, in which case it can also mean "it".

 Ça sent bon. — It smells good.

 Ça semble simple. — This seems simple.
ÇA OR CE?
A simple rule of thumb to follow is that ce should be used with être, including in the double-
verb constructions pouvoir être and devoir être.

 C’est un très bon vin ! — This is a really good wine!

 Ce sont des garçons. — They are boys.
 Ce peut être triste en hiver. — It can be sad in winter.
 Ce doit être ton fils. — It must be your son.
Ça should be used with all other verbs.

 Ça va bien. — It's going well.

 Ça dure un jour. — That lasts a day.
 Ça m'intéresse beaucoup. — That interests me a lot.
However, when an object pronoun comes before être, then you must use ça, not ce. This is
relatively rare.

 Ça m'est égal. — It's all the same to me.

Also, note that ça is informal and is usually replaced by cela ("that") or ceci ("this") in
writing.

Conjunctions 1
Conjunctions function by hooking up words, phrases, and clauses. This unit focuses
on coordinating conjunctions, which link two or more similar elements in a sentence. For
instance, et may be used to link two nouns together.

 Je mange une pomme et une orange. — I am eating an apple and an orange.

 Elle a un chien et un chat. — She has a dog and a cat.
It may also link two adjectives or even two clauses.

 La robe est grande et jolie. — The dress is big and pretty.

 Le chat est noir et le chien est blanc. — The cat is black and the dog is white.
For the most part, French coordinating conjunctions behave very similarly to their English
counterparts.

Conj. English Example

et and Elle a un chien et un chat. — She has a dog and a cat.

mais but Mais pas maintenant. — But not now.

ou or Oui ou non ? — Yes or no?

 Conj. English Example

comme as/like Je suis comme ça. — I am like that.

donc so/thus Il est jeune, donc il est petit. — He is young, so he is small.

car because Je lis, car j'aime ce livre. — I read because I like this book.
The conjunction car means "because", and it's usually reserved for writing. The
subordinating conjunction parce que is preferred in speech; you'll learn this in "Conjunctions
2".

Questions
Inversions

The most formal way of asking a question is to use an inversion, where the verb appears
before its pronoun and the two are connected by a hyphen.

 Boit-il ? — Does he drink? / Is he drinking? / He drinks?

 Boivent-ils du lait ? — Do they drink milk? / Are they drinking milk? / They drink milk?
However, if the subject of the sentence is a noun, then the noun should appear before the
verb, although a pronoun still needs to appear afterwards.

 Le lait est-il froid ? — Is the milk cold?

 Les chats sont-ils noirs ? — Are the cats black?
If the verb ends in a vowel, the letter T must be inserted after the verb for euphony. This T is
chaîned onto the pronoun and is meaningless.

 A-t-il un chien ? — Does he have a dog?

 Parle-t-elle anglais ? — Does she speak English?
Inverted forms still obey other grammar rules, like those for il est vs. c'est. However, the
pronoun in an inversion cannot elide.

 Est-ce un problème ? — Is it a problem?

 Est-elle médecin ? — Is she a doctor?
 Puis-je aider les enfants ? — Can I help the children?

Est-ce Que
 Est-ce que (pronounced like "essk") can be added in front of a statement to turn it into a
question. Remember that que elides in front of vowel sounds.

 Est-ce qu'il boit ? — Does he drink? / Is he drinking?

 Est-ce que c'est un problème ? — Is it a problem?
 Est-ce qu'il a un chien ? — Does he have a dog?

Intonation

In informal speech, one of the most common ways to ask a question is simply to raise your
intonation at the end of a statement, like you'd do in English.

 Il boit ? — Is he drinking?
 Il pleut ? — Is it raining?

Interrogatives

An interrogative word introduces a question. French has interrogative adjectives,

pronouns, and adverbs.

INTERROGATIVE ADJECTIVES
French has one interrogative adjective with four forms. It translates to "which" or "what"
depending on the context.

Gender Singular Plural

Masculine quel quels

Feminine quelle quelles

An interrogative adjective cannot stand alone. It must modify (and agree with) a noun, and
that noun must either be adjacent to it or separated by a form of être.

 Quelle fille ? — Which girl?

 Quel est le problème ? — What is the problem?
Quel is also an exclamatory adjective in statements.

 Quelle chance ! — What luck!

 Quel grand garçon il est ! — What a tall boy he is!
 INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS
Unlike an adjective, an interrogative pronoun can stand alone. For instance, the
interrogative pronoun lequel can replace quel + noun. Note that it agrees with the noun it
replaces.

Quel Form Lequel Form

Quel cheval ? — Which horse? Lequel ? — Which one?

Quels hommes mangent ? — Which men Lesquels mangent ? — Which ones

eat? eat?

Quelle robe est rose ? — Which dress is Laquelle est rose ? — Which one is
pink? pink?

Quelles lettres ? — Which letters? Lesquelles ? — Which ones?

The most common interrogative pronouns are qui (for people) and que (for everything
else). However, the construction changes based on a number of factors. Qui is the only
pronoun that can start a question by itself, but both qui and que can be used with inversion.

 Qui parle ? — Who is speaking?

 Qui es-tu ? — Who are you?
 Que fait-il ? — What is he making?
Both can also use est-ce, but est-ce que (which you learned above) can only be used in a
question with être or when the pronoun is the object ("what" or "whom"). When it's the
subject, est-ce qui must be used.

 Qui est-ce qui parle ? — Who's speaking? (subj.)

 Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? — What is going on? (subj.)
 Qui est-ce que tu appelles ? — Whom are you calling? (obj.)
 Qu'est-ce que c'est ? — What is it? (question with être)
After prepositions and at the end of questions, que becomes quoi.

 Le problème est quoi ? — What's the problem?

 À quoi pensez-vous ? — What are you thinking about?
 Qui and que can be very confusing because they can also be relative pronouns. Que can
also be a subordinating conjunction. You will learn these uses later.

INTERROGATIVE ADVERBS
A number of interrogative adverbs can be used to request information

 Pourquoi ("why"): Pourquoi manges-tu du pain ? — Why are you eating bread?
 Comment ("how"): Comment allez-vous ? — How are you?
 Quand ("when"): Quand est-ce que tu vas manger ? — When are you going to eat?
 Combien ("how many/much"): Combien d'eau ? — How much water?
 Où ("where"): Où suis-je ? — Where am I?
Note that when these adverbs are used with intonation-based questions, they can appear at
the beginning or the end of the sentence (except pourquoi).

 Tu vas comment ? — How are you?

 Vous êtes d'où ? — Where are you from?

Verbs: Present 2
Group 3 Verbs

As you learned in "Verbs Present 1", Group 3 verbs are considered irregular, but some
sparse patterns do exist among the -ir and -er verbs in this group.

Subject G1 parler G2 finir G3 dormir G3 ouvrir G3 vendre

je parle finis dors ouvre vends

tu parles finis dors ouvres vends

il/elle/on parle finit dort ouvre vend

nous parlons finissons dormons ouvrons vendons

vous parlez finissez dormez ouvrez vendez

ils/elles parlent finissent dorment ouvrent vendent

Among the G3 -ir verbs, some conjugate like dormir, while verbs like ouvrir conjugate as
though they're -er verbs. Note that singular conjugations of dormir drop the last letter of the
 root. Also, while some -re verbs (such as attendre, entendre, and perdre) conjugate
like vendre, dozens of other conjugation patterns exist, so it's best to memorize each verb's
conjugation individually.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Sentences can have grammatical objects, which are nouns that are affected by a verb.
There are two types of objects: direct objects, which are nouns acted upon, and indirect
objects, which are nouns that are indirectly affected by the action.

 Ben threw the ball at him.

In this example, "Ben" is the subject, "the ball" is the direct object, and "him" is the indirect
object. You can usually recognize indirect objects in English by looking for a preposition
after a verb. Identifying objects is important, especially in French.

Verbs can be transitive, intransitive, or both. Transitive verbs can have direct objects,
while intransitive verbs cannot. However, both types of verbs can have indirect objects.

 Transitive: Je lance une chaussure. — I throw a shoe.

 Intransitive: Je parle à Jacques. — I am speaking to Jacques.
Parler is an interesting example because it's intransitive for everything but language names.

 Transitive: Je parle anglais. — I speak English.

French verbs can be tricky for Anglophones because some transitive verbs in French have
intransitive English translations and vice versa. Pay attention to this.

 Transitive: Le chat regarde le chien.

 Intransitive: The cat is looking at the dog.
 Intransitive: Il téléphone à son ami.
 Transitive: He is calling his friend.

Stative Verbs in English

Unlike dynamic verbs, which describe actions and processes, stative verbs describe states
of being—physical and mental states, possession, sensations, and so on. The most
common stative verb is "to be". Here are some other common examples:

 Possessing: belong, get, have, own, possess

 Feeling: hate, like, love, need, want
 Sensing: feel, hear, see, smell, taste
 Thinking: believe, know, recognize, think, understand
The most important detail about stative verbs is that they can't be used in continuous tenses
in English.

 C'est mon fils. — He is my son. (Not "is being".)

 Je veux une pomme. — I want an apple. (Not "am wanting".)
 Elle aime son chien. — She loves her dog. (Not "is loving".)
 On a deux amis. — We have two friends. (Only cannibals "are having" their friends.)
You may have noticed that some verbs can be both stative and dynamic based on context.
For instance:

 "To have" can be dynamic when it means "to consume".

 "To feel" is stative, but "to feel sick" or "to feel better" are dynamic.
 "To be" can be dynamic when it means "to act".
Pay attention to this nuance when translating into English. This problem rarely occurs when
translating to French because it lacks continuous tenses.

Impersonal Expressions

A number of other impersonal verbs have to do with weather.

 Pleuvoir ("to rain"): Il pleut. — It is raining.

 Neiger ("to snow"): Il neige. — It is snowing.
 Faire chaud ("to be warm"): Il fait chaud aujourd'hui. — It is warm today.
Chaud can be replaced with a number of other adjectives, like froid ("cold")
or humide("humid").

Confusing Verbs

Like their English counterparts, voir ("to see") and regarder ("to watch") differ based on the
subject's intention. If the subject is actively watching or looking for something, use regarder.
Otherwise, use voir.

 Le chat regarde le poisson. — The cat is watching the fish.

 Elle peut voir la ville. — She can see the city.

Adjectives 2
 Multiple Adjectives

When multiple adjectives modify a noun, they should come before or after the noun based
on the same rules as if they were the only adjective. This means that adjectives may
straddle the noun if one is a BANGS adjective.

 La grande robe rouge — The big red dress

 Une jeune fille française — A young French girl
When arranging multiple adjectives on the same side, concrete adjectives should usually be
placed closer to the noun than abstract ones.

 J'ai un joli petit chat gris. — I have a lovely little grey cat.
 J'ai un chat blanc courageux. — I have a brave white cat.
You can add conjunctions and adverbs to break up multiple adjectives.

 J'ai un chapeau blanc et bleu. — I have a white and blue hat.

 L'homme fort et sérieux — The strong and serious man.
 Voici mon premier petit chat blanc et courageux. — Here is my first small white and brave
cat.
 J'adore mon propre tout petit chat blanc très doux. — I love my own tiny white and very
soft cat.
When there are multiple nouns being described by one adjective, that adjective takes the
masculine plural by default.

 Un garçon et une fille italiens — An Italian boy and girl

 J'ai une chemise et un manteau simples. — I have a simple shirt and coat.
However, if the nouns are all feminine, then they can take the feminine plural.

 La robe et la jupe vertes — The green dress and skirt

Grand or Gros?

Grand and gros can both mean "big", but they're only partly interchangeable.

Grand tends to be used for:

 General size: La grande robe — The big dress

 Height: L'enfant est grand. — The child is tall/big.
 Area: La ville est grande. — The city is big.
 Figurative size: La grande richesse — The great wealth
 Importance: Un grand homme — A great man
Gros tends to be used for:

 Thickness or volume: Une grosse boîte de petits-pois — A big can of peas

 Fatness: Un gros chat — A fat cat
 Things that are round: Une grosse pomme — A big apple
 Seriousness: Un gros problème — A big (serious) problem

Faux Amis

Many English and French words look alike and share meanings. This is because English is
heavily influenced by French and Latin. However, there are faux amis ("false friends") that
look similar but do not have the same meaning. For instance, gros looks like "gross", but
their meanings are not the same. Be careful before assuming a French word's meaning
based on its English lookalike.

Pronouns

On

On is a versatile and ubiquitous French indefinite subject pronoun. Francophones usually

say on to refer to "us", "them", or one or more unidentified persons. On is always masculine
and third-person singular, which is why conjugation charts often list il/elle/ontogether.

 On mange. — We are eating.

 On est seul. (Never On est seule/seuls/seules.) — We are alone.
On can also be used more formally in the passive voice or for general statements, much like
the English "one".

 On doit dormir assez. — One must sleep adequately.

Direct Object Pronouns

As you learned in "Verbs: Present 2", direct objects are things that are directly acted upon
by a verb. For instance, in the sentence "Ben threw the ball", the ball is the direct object.
French has a set of pronouns that can be used to refer to a direct object.
 English Direct Object

me me

you (sing.) te

him le

her la

us nous

you (plur. or formal sing.) vous

them les
Direct object pronouns usually come before their verbs.

 L'enfant me voit. — The child sees me.

 Le lion le mange. — The lion eats it (or "him"!).
 Vous nous aimez. — You love us.
 Je t'aime. — I love you.
Me/te/le/la elide, so make sure you notice them when they hide in the first syllable of a verb.

 Elle m'attend. — She is waiting for me.

 L'enfant l'appelle. — The child calls to him (or "her").
Le and les only contract when they're articles, not when they're object pronouns.

 Je suis en train de le faire. (Not du faire) — I am in the process of doing it.

En Replaces De + Noun

The adverbial pronoun en can be used to replace objects introduced by de. For instance, it
can replace a partitive article + noun.

 Avez-vous de l'argent ? — Do you have some money?

 Oui, j'en ai. — Yes, I have some.
En may replace nouns or pronouns in verb constructions that use de, like parler de ("to talk
about").
 Marc parle de son frère ? — Is Marc talking about his brother?
 Oui, il en parle. — Yep, he's talking about him.
Nouns in adverbs of quantity can also be replaced with en.

 Achetez-vous beaucoup de livres ? — Are you buying a lot of books?

 Oui, j'en achète beaucoup. — Yes, I am buying a lot [of them].
Notice that en always precedes the verb, but adverbs stay in place after the verb.

Y Can Refer to a Place

The adverbial pronoun y can refer to a previously mentioned or implied place, in which case
it's usually translated as "there".

 Allez-vous au restaurant ? — Are you going to the restaurant?

 Oui, j'y vais. — Yes, I'm going there.
In English, "there" may be omitted, but the same is not true of y in French. Je vais is not a
complete sentence without y.

The Relative Pronouns Que and Qui

Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses, which are subordinate clauses that elaborate
upon a previously mentioned noun (the antecedent). Use que when the relative pronoun is
the direct object ("whom" in English) and use qui when it's the subject ("who" in English).

 C'est l'homme que je connais. — He's the man whom (or "that") I know.
 La fille qui lit un menu. — The girl who (or "that") reads a menu.
If you have trouble figuring out whether to use qui or que, try rephrasing the sentence
without the relative pronoun. Use qui if the antecedent is the subject; otherwise, use que.

 Subject: La fille qui lit un menu. ⇒ La fille lit un menu.

 Object: C'est l'homme que je connais. ⇒ Je connais l'homme.

The Reflexive Pronoun Se

A reflexive pronoun like se can be used to indicate that a verb acts upon the subject. Seis
used with all third-person subjects, regardless of gender and number.

 Il s'aime. — He loves himself.

 Il s'appelle comment ? — What's his name? (Lit, "He calls himself what?")
 Elle se demande pourquoi. — She wonders why. (Lit, "She asks herself why.")
When se refers to a plural subject, it can also be reciprocal or mutual ("each other").

 Ils s'aiment. — They love each other.

 Les filles se parlent. — The girls speak to each other.
 On se parle quand ? — When do we speak to each other?
 On se voit bientôt. — We will see each other soon.
Certain pronouns can be added to the end of the sentence to differentiate between reflexive
and reciprocal uses if necessary.

 Ils s'aiment eux-mêmes. — They love themselves.

 Elles s'aiment elles-mêmes. — They love themselves.
 Ils s'aiment l'un l'autre. — They love each other.
 Elles s'aiment les unes les autres. — They love one another.

Prepositions 1
French prepositions can be difficult because their meanings and uses don't always line up
to what you would expect in English.

DE AND À
The most common French prepositions are de ("of"/"from") and à ("to"/"at"). These
prepositions can be used in many ways. For instance, they may indicate movement or
location.

 Nous allons à Paris. — We are going to Paris.

 Il vient de Bordeaux. — He is coming from Bordeaux.
 Je suis au restaurant. — I am at the restaurant.
Notice au above. De and à must contract with definite articles whenever they are adjacent.

Definite Article De À

le du au

la de la à la

les des aux

 If the contraction is followed by a vowel sound, du and de la both become de l' and auand à
la both become à l'. This change occurs for euphony only; the nouns do not change
genders because of it.

 Tu parles à l'enfant. (Not au) — You are speaking to the child.

 La Maison de l'Ours — The House of the Bear
 Les copies des livres. — The copies of the books.
 Le repas du chien. — The dog's meal. (The meal of the dog.)
De may be found in numerous fixed expressions, especially in adverbs of quantity
like beaucoup de ("a lot of").

 Nous avons beaucoup de pommes. — We have a lot of apples.

 Rémy a beaucoup d'amis. — Remy has a lot of friends.
Adding de or à to the end of certain verbs can change their meanings.

 Penser ("to think"): Je pense que c'est un homme. — I think that he is a man.
 Penser à ("to think about"): Elle pense à son chien. — She's thinking about her dog.
 Penser de ("to have an opinion about"): Que pensez-vous de ce repas ? — What do you
think of this meal?
USING ARTICLES AFTER DE
Most articles can be used immediately after expressions and verbs ending in de, but they
must follow contraction and elision rules.

 Elle parle beaucoup des (de + les) pâtes. — She speaks a lot about the pasta.
 Que pensez-vous de la voiture ? — What do you think of the car?
 Il a besoin d'un chien. — He needs a dog.
However, no article that already contains de may follow an expression, negative term, or
verb ending in de. This includes the partitives du and de la and the indefinite des. In this
situation, the article is removed so that only the naked de remains.

 Elle mange beaucoup de frites. (Not de des) — She eats a lot of fries.
 Je n'ai pas de pain. (Not de du) — I do not have (any) bread.
 Il a besoin d'argent (Not de de l') — He needs (some) money.
DES BEFORE ADJECTIVES
When des appears immediately before an adjective, it changes to de. This only occurs with
BANGS adjectives, which come before the noun.
 Vous êtes de jeunes garçons. — You are young boys.
 Elle a de petits chiens. — She has small dogs.

Numbers 1
Between 0 and 20, most French numbers are constructed similarly to English numbers. The
main difference is that French starts using hyphenated compound numbers, at dix-sept (17),
while English continues with single-word numbers until 21.

Number French

0 zéro

1 un

2 deux

3 trois

4 quatre

5 cinq

6 six

7 sept

8 huit

9 neuf

10 dix

11 onze

12 douze

13 treize

14 quatorze
 Number French

15 quinze

16 seize

17 dix-sept

18 dix-huit

19 dix-neuf

20 vingt

Uses of Un

The word un (or une in feminine) can be used in a number of ways:

1. As an indefinite article ("a" or "an"), which is used to modify countable nouns that are
unspecified or unknown to the speakers.
o un livre — a book
o un éléphant — an elephant
2. As a numeral ("one"), which is a kind of adjective.
o J'ai une seule question. — I have only one question.
3. As a pronoun ("one"). Like in English, French numbers can be used as pronouns. In
general, when you see a preposition like de after a number, that number acts as a pronoun.
o C'est un de mes enfants. — He is one of my children.
o Je connais un de ces hommes. — I know one of those men.
Also, keep in mind that liaisons are forbidden before and after et.

Family
Adults should use père and mère when referring to parents. The juvenile
forms, papa and maman, are generally used only by children, much like "papa" and "mama"
or "daddy" and "mommy" in English.

Refresher: C'est or Il Est?

 You learned in "Être-Avoir" that you must often use the impersonal pronoun ce when
describing people and things with être. In general, use ce whenever être is followed by any
determiner—for instance, an article or a possessive adjective. Remember that ce is
invariable, so use c'est for singulars and ce sont for plurals.

 C'est un homme. — He's a man.

 Ce sont des chats. — They're cats.
 C'est mon chien. — It's my dog.
This rule applies everywhere, including in questions, inversions, and subordinate clauses.

 C'est un animal ? — That's an animal?

 Est-ce votre petit-fils ? — Is he your grandson?
 Vous l'aimez parce que c'est votre fils. — You love him because he is your son.
The personal pronoun il should only be used with être when they're followed by an adjective
and/or adverb.

 Il est fort. — He is strong.

 Est-elle forte ? — Is she strong?
 Est-ce qu'il est content ? — Is he happy?
In the last example, note that est-ce still appears because est-ce que is a fixed impersonal
phrase.

Possessives 2

Tips and notes

Possessive pronouns replace a possessive adjective + a noun. Like most other pronouns,
they agree in gender and number with the noun they replace.

 Est-ce ton chapeau ? — Is that your hat?

 Oui, c'est le mien. — Yes, it's mine.
For one owner, the forms of possessive pronouns follow a simple pattern:

Person English Masc. Sing. Fem. Sing.

1st mine le mien la mienne

 Person English Masc. Sing. Fem. Sing.

2nd yours le tien la tienne

3rd his/hers le sien la sienne

 J'ai mon livre. As-tu le tien ? — I have my book. Do you have yours?
 Ma ceinture est rouge. La sienne est blanche. — My belt is red. His (or "hers") is white.
For multiple owners, the articles vary with gender, but the pronouns do not:

Person English Sing. Masc. Sing. Fem.

1st ours le nôtre la nôtre

2nd yours le vôtre la vôtre

3rd theirs le leur la leur

 Vous mangez votre repas et nous mangeons le nôtre. — You eat your meal and we eat
ours.
 Vous aimez notre voiture et nous aimons la vôtre. — You like our car and we like yours.
The 2nd-person articles for multiple owners can be used for a single owner when speaking
formally.

 Informal, one owner: C'est le tien.

 Formal, one owner: C'est le vôtre.
 Multiple owners: C'est le vôtre.
Notice that you must use c'est with possessive pronouns, not il est, elle est, etc.

The definite article at the beginning of a possessive pronoun can contract with à or de.

 Tu téléphones à ton père et je téléphone au mien. — You are calling your dad and I am
calling mine.
 J'aime mon repas. Qu'est-ce que vous pensez du vôtre ? — I like my meal. What do you
think of yours?

Tips and notes

 Ceci and Cela

Ceci ("this") and cela ("that") are the formal versions of the indefinite demonstrative
pronoun ça ("this" or "that"). These are used when pointing something out, referring to
something indefinite (like an idea), or referring back to something already mentioned.

 Je connais cela. — I know about that.

 Je veux ceci. — I want this.
Ceci is usually only used when making a distinction between "this" and "that".
Otherwise, cela is preferred in writing and ça is preferred in speech.

CE OR CELA?
Remember that ce can only be used with être, including devoir être and pouvoir être.

 C’est un très bon vin ! – This is a really good wine!

 Ce doit être ton fils. — It must be your son.
However, cela and ceci can also be used with être for emphasis.

 C'est le mien. — It's mine.

 Non, ceci est le mien. Cela est le tien. — No, THIS is mine. THAT is yours.
Cela/ceci/ça should be used with all other verbs.

 Cela arrive souvent. — It happens often. / That happens often.

 Ceci contient un bonbon. — This contains a candy.

Demonstratives 2
Demonstrative pronouns (e.g. "this one", "that one", "these", "those") replace a
demonstrative adjective + noun for the sake of avoiding repetition. Like most other
pronouns, they agree in gender and number with the noun they replace.

Type Adj + Noun ⇒ Pronoun English

Masc. Sing. ce + noun ⇒ celui the one / this / that

Masc. Plur. ces + noun ⇒ ceux the ones / these / those

Fem. Sing. cette + noun ⇒ celle the one / this / that

 Type Adj + Noun ⇒ Pronoun English

Fem. Plur. ces + noun ⇒ celles the ones / these / those

Demonstrative pronouns refer to a very specific thing and cannot stand alone. They must be
used in one of three constructions.

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN + RELATIVE PRONOUN

A relative pronoun and dependent clause can follow the demonstrative pronoun. For
instance, you can use que when the relative pronoun is the direct object and use quiwhen
it's the subject.

 Celui qui est dans ma poche. — The one that is in my pocket.

 Ceux que je connais. — The ones that I know. / The ones whom I know.
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN + PREPOSITION
The preposition de can appear after the demonstrative pronoun to indicate possession.

 À qui est cette balle ? – Whose ball is this?

 C'est celle du chien. — It's the dog's. (Literally: "It is the one of the dog.")
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN + SUFFIX
This construction appears in "Demonstratives 3".

USAGE EXAMPLES
Demonstrative pronouns are often used in comparisons or choices between alternatives.

 Ce tableau est moins beau que celui de Rembrandt. — This painting is less beautiful than
that by Rembrandt.
 Quelle robe préfères-tu ? Celle de Paris ou celle de Tokyo ? — Which dress do you
prefer? The one from Paris or the one from Tokyo?
They can also be used within prepositional phrases.

 Je pense à celles qui sont en vacances. — I am thinking about the ones who are on
vacation.
 Ce repas est pour ceux qui aiment les oignons. — This meal is for those who like onions.

Dates and time

The Close Future
 In French, the present tense can often be used to describe something that will happen
soon.

 Je vous appelle demain. — I [will] call you tomorrow.

 On se voit demain. — We [will] see each other tomorrow.
This also occurs in English, albeit less frequently.

 Ça commence demain. — That begins tomorrow.

Describing Dates

The most formal way to express a date in French is with c'est. (Never use il est.)

 C'est dimanche. — It's Sunday.

However, the most common way is to use nous sommes or on est. This construction is
idiomatic and does not directly translate to English.

 Nous sommes vendredi. — It is Friday.

 Aujourd'hui, on est mardi. — Today is Tuesday.
Note that while "today" is a noun and adverb in English, aujourd'hui cannot be used as a
noun to give a date, so you cannot say Aujourd'hui est mardi. However, hier, aujourd'hui,
and demain can be used as nouns when qualified by an adjective or another noun.

 Demain est un autre jour. — Tomorrow is another day.

 Hier était férié. — Yesterday was a holiday.
This construction can be used to express the month, though you must add en. Months
aren't capitalized in French.

 Nous sommes en juillet. — It's July.

When denoting specific dates, put le and the date before the month. Also, French date
abbreviations take the form DD/MM/YY.

 27/11/14 — C'est le 27 novembre 2014. — It's November 27, 2014.

 02/10 — Nous sommes le 2 octobre. — It's October 2nd.
However, for the first day of the month, you must use the word premier.

 01/04 — C'est le premier avril. — It's April 1st.

To express a relative time in the past, you can use il y a.

 il y a huit jours — eight days ago

 il y a deux ans — two years ago

Jour or Journée?

A few words for dates and times have both masculine and feminine forms that are used in
different contexts.

English Masculine Feminine

day jour journée

morning matin matinée

evening soir soirée

year an année
Consider the meaning of the whole sentence when deciding between the two. Some pairs
are more flexible than others. Jour and journée can often be interchangeable,
but matin and matinée are very strictly separate.

The masculine forms are used for countable units of time and specific dates or moments.
For instance:

 With numerals (except un in some cases).

o deux ans — two years
o trois jours — three days
 With tous ("all"), chaque ("every"), and ce ("this"/"that").
o chaque matin / tous les matins — every morning
 With temporal adverbs (e.g. demain and hier).
o demain matin — tomorrow morning
o hier soir — yesterday evening / last night
The feminine forms are used to express or emphasize a duration or the passing of time.
They're also used with most adjectives. For instance:

 When emphasizing a duration.

o Je vais lire toute la matinée. — I am going to read all morning.
o la journée de 8 heures — the 8-hour day
 With adjectives (except tous/chaque/ce).
o une belle soirée — a beautiful evening
o Cette année est mémorable. — This year is memorable.
Deciding between forms with un depends on whether un acts as a numeral or article. If you
can translate un as "one" in English, then go with the masculine.

Notice that chaque matin doesn't require an article but tous les matins does. This is
because chaque, ce, and articles are all examples of determiners, which are words that give
context to nouns. You will learn more about determiners in "Adjectives 3".

Verbs: Infinitive
The Infinitive Mood

The infinitive mood is an impersonal mood that isn't conjugated nor associated with any
subject pronoun. It can be used in a variety of constructions, either with or without
prepositions.

WITHOUT PREPOSITIONS
Infinitives are often the objects of conjugated semi-auxiliary verbs such as vouloir, pouvoir,
and aimer. You learned this in "Verbs: Present 1".

 Ça va venir. — It is going to come.

 Je veux danser. — I want to dance.
 J'aime avoir un chat. — I like having a cat.
Infinitives can also act like nouns and can be used as subjects.

 Faire du café est facile. — Making coffee is easy.

 Cuisiner et nettoyer sont ses responsabilités. — Cooking and cleaning are his
responsibilities.
Here, note that French infinitives can often be translated as English gerunds (with an -ing
ending), especially when they're subjects.

AFTER VERBS + PREPOSITIONS

As you learned previously, some verbs must be followed by a preposition to complete their
meaning (e.g. penser à). An infinitive can be used as an object when it follows such
prepositions.

 Elle parle de cuisiner le poulet. – She is talking about cooking the chicken.
 Je pense à changer de job. – I am thinking about changing jobs.
 Je vous remercie de laver les verres. – I thank you for washing the glasses.
Since infinitives can act like nouns, they can follow être + de to describe or define a subject
(as a subject complement).

 Mon travail est de cuisiner. – My job is to cook.

 L'objectif est d'apprendre le francais. – The goal is to learn French.
The preposition pour ("for" or "in order to") can come before an infinitive to express the
purpose of an action.

 Je lis pour apprendre. — I read [in order] to learn.

 Je viens pour parler. — I am coming [in order] to talk.
Keep in mind that conjugated verbs should never come after prepositions.

AFTER NOUNS
An infinitive can also modify a noun when used with de or à. It may take practice to decide
which preposition should be used, but in general, use de whenever the infinitive has an
object.

 Merci de laver les verres. — Thanks for washing the glasses.

 Il prend le temps de manger une pomme. — He takes the time to eat an apple.
Use à when the verb in the sentence is avoir (with the translation "to have").

 J'ai une décision à prendre. — I have a decision to make.

 Il a un examen à préparer — He has an exam to prepare.
À can also be used to indicate the purpose of a noun.

 une maison à vendre — a house for sale

 l'eau à boire — drinking water
AFTER ADJECTIVES
Infinitives can be used with the construction il est + adjective + de to create impersonal
expressions. Remember from "Common Phrases" that an impersonal statement is one with
a dummy subject instead of a real one.

 Il est possible de manger maintenant. — It is possible to eat now.

 Il est nécessaire de boire de l’eau. — It is necessary to drink water.
 However, if the subject il is a real thing instead of just a dummy subject, then you must
use à instead of de.

 Cette tâche est facile à faire. — This task is easy to do.

 C'est bon à savoir. — That's good to know.
To further illustrate the difference, consider these two different translations of "It is fun to
read." The first is a general statement, while the second is a statement about a real subject.

 Il est amusant de lire. (Impersonal) — It is fun to read. / Reading is fun.

 Il est amusant à lire. (Real) — It (e.g. a book) is fun to read.

Causative Faire

Faire often appears before a verb to indicate that the subject causes something to happen
instead of performing it. It's often used in relation to foods.

 Il fait bouillir le thé. — He boils the tea.

 J'aime faire griller du poulet. — I like grilling chicken.
It can also be used to indicate that the subject has directed someone else to perform an
action.

 Je le fais réparer. — I am having it fixed.

 Je fais partir mon ami. — I am making my friend leave.

Adverbs 1
Adverbs are invariable words that can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and more.

Adverb Placement

If an adverb modifies a verb, it usually follows right after it.

 Il parle vite. — He speaks quickly.

 Elle mange souvent de la soupe. — She often eats soup.
 J'aime bien l'hiver. — I like the winter.
An adverb comes before an adjective or other adverb that it modifies.

 Je suis très heureux. — I am very happy.

 Ma cuillère est trop grande ! — My spoon is too big!
 A long adverb that modifies a phrase can usually be relegated to the beginning or end of a
sentence.

 Ton fils est un homme maintenant. — Your son is a man now.

 Généralement, je sais quoi faire. — Generally, I know what to do.

Adverbs of Quantity

Imprecise quantities are expressed using adverbs of quantity, which are usually followed
by the preposition de.

 Il a beaucoup de chiens. — He has a lot of dogs.

 Il boit trop de bière. — He is drinking too much beer.
Recall that du, de la, and des cannot be used after expressions ending in de, such as
adverbs of quantity. Thus, des does not appear before chiens and de la does not appear
before bière. However, other articles can follow adverbs of quantity when the noun is
specific.

 Beaucoup des (de + les) amis de mon frère sont là. — Many of my brother’s friends are
here.
 Je veux plus du (de + le) même. — I want more of the same.

Comparatives and Superlatives

The adverbs plus ("more") and moins ("less") can be used with the conjunction que in
comparisons.

 Ta sœur est plus jolie qu'elle. — Your sister is prettier than her.
 Ils mangent moins que nous. — They are eating less than us.
To express equivalence, use aussi...que ("as...as").

 Je suis aussi timide que mon père. — I am as shy as my father.

Adding a definite article before plus or moins creates a superlative. The definite article
agrees with the noun being modified.

 C'est la plus jolie robe. — That's the prettiest dress.

 Le plus grand arbre du monde est là. — The biggest tree in the world is there.
If the adjective should follow the noun, then the definite article must be repeated.

 Je veux acheter le pain le moins cher. — I want to buy the least expensive bread.
 C'est le livre le plus difficile à comprendre. — That's the most difficult book to understand.

Bon, Bien, Mauvais, and Mal

In French, we have to deal with the good (bon and bien), the bad (mauvais and mal), and
the ugly (trying to decide which to use). Luckily, in most cases, bon and mauvais are
adjectives while bien and mal are adverbs.

 C'est un bon chanteur. — He is a good singer.

 Il chante bien. — He sings well.
 Elle est bonne étudiante. — She's a good student.
 Elle étudie bien. — She studies well.
 C'est un mauvais homme. — He's a bad man.
 Mon frère lit très mal. — My brother reads very badly.
 Tu bois le mauvais vin ! — You're drinking the wrong wine!
 L'anglais, ce n'est jamais que du français mal prononcé. (Georges Clemenceau) — English
is nothing but mispronounced French.
There are also a number of fixed expressions or special usages for bien. You are familiar
with some of these from "Common Phrases".

 Bien ! — Good!
 C'est très bien ! — That's very good!
 Bien sûr. — Of course.
Also, remember that aimer normally means "to love" when directed at people and animals,
but adding bien reduces its meaning to "to like".

 Elle l'aime. — She loves him.

 J'aime bien mon ami. — I like my friend.

Occupations
Remember that occupations (along with nationalities and religions) can act as adjectives
when used with être or devenir, so unlike in English, the French often drop the indefinite
article (un, une, etc.) before an occupation.

 Je suis juge. — I am a judge.

 Elle va devenir avocate. — She is going to become a lawyer.
 However, if any specification follows the occupation, then the indefinite article must be
added.

 Tu es un juge respecté par tous. — You are a judge respected by all.

 Il veut devenir un professeur pour adultes. — He wants to become a teacher for adults.
Omitting the indefinite article is optional. However, if it's included in the third-person, then
you must use c'est or ce sont.

 C'est un juge. — He's a judge.

 C’est une dentiste bien connue. — She is a well-known dentist.
 Ce sont des journalistes. — They are journalists.

Genders in Occupations

Some occupations have the same form in both masculine and feminine.

 un/une auteur — an author

 un/une docteur — a doctor
 un/une juge — a judge
 un/une journaliste — a journalist
 un/une pédiatre — a pediatrician
 un/une professeur — a teacher
 un/une dentiste — a dentist
 un/une secrétaire — a secretary
 un/une ingénieur — an engineer
Other occupations have a feminine form that's derived from the masculine:

Masculine Feminine English

un policier une policière a police officer

un agriculteur une agricultrice a farmer

un avocat une avocate a lawyer

un enseignant une enseignante a teacher

 Masculine Feminine English

un serveur une serveuse a server

un cuisinier une cuisinière a cook

un coiffeur une coiffeuse a hairdresser

un boulanger une boulangère a baker

Negatives
A negation changes the meaning of a statement to its negative. Most French negations are
constructed out of two words that surround a conjugated verb.

 Je ne comprends pas. — I don't understand.

 Il ne parle pas anglais. — He doesn't speak English.
Note that the particle ne elides before vowel sounds.

 Vous n'avez pas de chien. — You don't have a dog.

 Ils n'aiment pas le menu. — They don't like the menu.
Along with ne...pas, there are a number of other negations you can use.

 Ne...plus: not any more/no more/not any longer/no longer

o Elle n'a plus de lait. — She no longer has milk.
o Il ne peut plus marcher. — He can't walk any longer.
 Ne... jamais: not ever/never
o Je ne sais jamais. — I never know.
o Je ne gagne jamais. — I don't ever win.
 Ne... rien: not anything/nothing
o Je n'ai rien. — I have nothing.
o Elles ne voient rien. — They don't see anything.
 Ne... personne: not anybody/nobody/not anyone/no one
o Je ne vois personne. — I don't see anybody.
o Il ne veut voir personne. — He doesn't want to see anyone.
 Note that in negations, direct objects preceded by indefinite and partitive articles change
to de.

 Elle n'a pas de lait. — She doesn't have milk. (Not du lait.)
 Je n'entends plus de bruit. — I don't hear a sound anymore. (Not un bruit.)
 Je n’entends plus d’oiseaux. — I don’t hear birds anymore. (Not des oiseaux.)
Since être does not have direct objects, all articles may be used.

 Ce liquide n'est pas du lait. — This liquid isn't milk.

 Ce n'est pas un couteau. — That's not a knife.

Negative Pronouns and Conjunctions

In addition to the negative adverbs above, you also have the option of starting a sentence
with a negative word, which acts like a masculine subject. Both personne and rien can also
be negative subject pronouns if you put ne after them.

Personne ne means "nobody".

 Personne ne sait. — Nobody knows.

 Personne n'aime cela. — Nobody likes that.
Rien ne ("nothing") is the pronoun version of ne...rien.

 Rien n'est parfait. — Nothing is perfect.

 Rien n'est si dangereux qu'un ignorant ami. (Jean de La Fontaine) — Nothing is so
dangerous as an ignorant friend.
The negative conjunction ni can be used to add something to a negation and is similar to
the English "nor". Think of it as a negative form of et ("and"). Ni can be used instead of
negative adverbs or in addition to them.

 Elle ne connaît ni toi ni moi. — She knows neither you nor me. (Or "She doesn't know you
or me.")
 Je ne veux ni ce repas ni cette boisson. — I want neither this meal nor this drink.
 Il ne fait pas chaud ni froid. — It is neither hot nor cold.
When ni coordinates multiple conjugated verbs, each verb must be preceded by ne.

 Je ne lis pas, ni n'écris. — I don't read or write.

 Il ne veut ni ne peut manger de la colle. — He neither wants nor is able to eat glue.
 Word Order

When the negated verb has a pronoun object, it belongs right after ne.

 Je ne l'aime pas. — I don't like it.

 Je n'en ai pas. — I don't have any. (Lit. "I do not have some of it.)
When a negation is used with an inversion (to ask a question), the whole inversion must
remain inside the negation.

 Ne comprenez-vous pas ? — Don't you understand?

 Pourquoi ne l'as-tu pas ? — Why don't you have it?
Unconjugated verbs like infinitives must come after the negation.

 Ne pas toucher. — Do not touch.

 Elle choisit de ne pas manger. — She chooses not to eat.
Extra adverbs that modify the verb usually come after the negation. Otherwise, they follow
the rules from "Adverbs 1".

 On ne marche pas vite. — We aren't walking quickly.

 Elle ne vient jamais ici. — She never comes here.

Other Notes

In English, two negatives may make a positive, but in French, they usually don't. For
instance, consider ne... jamais rien, which is "never... anything", not "never... nothing".

 Ils ne vont jamais rien perdre. — They will never lose anything.
 Elle ne mange jamais rien. — She never eats anything.
The particle ne is often skipped or slurred in casual speech. It's also omitted for short
phrases that lack a verb.

 Pas si vite ! — Not so fast!

 Pas de problème. — No problem.
Remember that verbs of appreciation (e.g. aimer) require the definite article in French.
Negations are no different.

 I don't like fish. — Je n'aime pas le poisson. (Not Je n'aime pas de poisson.)
 Conjunctions 2
Subordinating Conjunctions

In "Conjunctions 1", you learned about coordinating conjunctions, which link similar
elements that have equal importance in a sentence. However, in complex sentences, one
clause may be dependent on another.

 Il mange parce qu'il a faim. — He eats because he is hungry.

In this example, parce qu'il a faim ("because he is hungry") is a dependent clause because
it gives more information about the independent clause il mange ("he eats"). The
dependent clause is introduced by parce que, which is a subordinating conjunction.
Many subordinating conjunctions end in que.

Unlike coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions can begin sentences.

 Lorsque le garçon mange, la fille mange. — When the boy eats, the girl eats.
 Pendant que je lis, il écrit. — While I read, he is writing.
TEMPORAL CONJUNCTIONS
Quand and lorsque both mean "when", but they aren't always interchangeable. Both can
be used for temporal correlations, but lorsque refers to one particular instance,
while quand can refer to one or multiple instances. Quand is also an adverb, so it can be
used in questions. When in doubt, use quand.

 Je sortais quand/lorsque tu arrivais. — I was leaving when you were arriving.

 Je mange quand j'ai faim. — I eat when (whenever) I am hungry.
 Quand mangez-vous ? — When do you eat?
Alors que, pendant que, and tandis que can indicate simultaneity.

 Je mange alors que tu manges. — I eat while you eat.

 Pendant que tu bois, je bois. — While you drink, I drink.
Alors que and tandis que can also indicate a contrast or contradiction, though this is rare
for tandis que.

 Elle est grande, alors que je suis petit. — She is tall, whereas I am short.
 Je mange alors que je n'ai pas faim. — I am eating even though I am not hungry.
CAUSAL CONJUNCTIONS
 Parce que, car, and puisque all mean "because" and describe some kind of cause-and-
effect relationship, but they aren't completely interchangeable.

Parce que is a subordinating conjunction that provides an explanation, motive, or

justification.

 Elle lit parce qu'elle a un livre. — She is reading because she has a book.
 Parce qu'elle est jeune, elle est jolie. — She is pretty because she is young.
Car is similar to parce que, but it's a coordinating conjunction and thus cannot begin a
sentence or clause.

 Je mange du poulet, car j'aime la viande. — I am eating chicken because I like meat.
Puisque is a subordinating conjunction that means "because" or "since" and gives an
already-known or obvious reason or justification.

 Puisque il pleut, j'ai un parapluie. — Since it's raining, I have an umbrella.

ELISIONS WITH SI AND QUE
Usually, only one-syllable words ending in -e can be elided, but the main exceptions
are elle, si, and words ending in que. However, si only elides before il and ils, so you must
write s'il, but cannot write s'elle.