COMPLETE FRENCH GRAMMAR - part 1 docx

Contents Introduction ix Regular -er verbs in the present 1 -er verbs with spelling and stem changes 4 When is the present tense used in French?. 9 2 The present tense of -ir and -re ve

Cân Chinh Truong

M A K E S

PE RFEC T

Complete French

Grammar

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M A K E S

PERFEC T

Complete French

Grammar Annie Heminway

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Contents

Introduction ix

Regular -er verbs in the present 1

-er verbs with spelling and stem changes 4

When is the present tense used in French? 9

2 The present tense of -ir and -re verbs 13

-ir verbs in the present 13

-re verbs in the present 16

The interrogative form 19

The negative form 21

3 To be and to have 24

The verb être (to be) 24

The verb avoir (to have) 26

The -oir verbs 28

The verb aller (to go) 34

The immediate future tense 35

The verb venir (to come) 36

The immediate past 37

The verb faire (to do, to make) 40

The causative form 41

The verb devoir (to have to, must) 43

Il y a (there is, there are) 46

Il s’agit de (it is a matter of, it’s about) 46

Verbs ending in -eindre and -aindre 46

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vi Contents

Refl exive verbs 49Reciprocal verbs 50Passive pronominals 51Subjective pronominals 51Pronominals in the imperative and the infi nitive 52

The past participle of regular verbs 55

The passé composé with avoir 56

Irregular past participles 58

The passé composé with être 60 Pronominal verbs in the passé composé 62 Verbs conjugated with avoir and être 63

The imparfait 65 The imparfait versus the passé composé 67 The imparfait with special constructions 70

The futur simple 72 The futur antérieur 77

Conjunctions used with the indicative mood 79

10 The plus-que-parfait 81

Formation of the plus-que-parfait 81 Use of the plus-que-parfait 83

The present conditional 87The past conditional 92

12 Could, should, would? 97

Could 97 Should 99 Would 100

The present subjunctive 104Uses of the subjunctive 106The past subjunctive 112

Contents vii

14 The infi nitive mood 115

The infi nitif présent 115

The infi nitif passé 118

Verbs with their prepositions 120

The present participle 126

The gerund 129

Formation of the passé simple 131

The passé simple of irregular verbs 132

17 The passive voice 136

Formation of the passive voice 136

Uses of the passive voice 139

Avoiding the passive voice in French 139

18 Indirect speech 141

Direct speech versus indirect speech 141

Balancing tenses: la concordance des temps 142

Formation of the imperative 147

The imperative of pronominal verbs 150

20 Articles and nouns 152

The defi nite article with nouns 152

The indefi nite and partitive articles with nouns 153

The gender of nouns 155

The plural of nouns 158

The gender of countries 160

Geographical names with prepositions 161

21 All the pronouns 166

Subject pronouns 166

Direct object pronouns 167

Indirect object pronouns 170

The order of object pronouns 176

viii Contents

Adjectives of color 185Comparatives and superlatives 187

Demonstrative adjectives 191Possessive adjectives 193Possessive pronouns 195Demonstrative pronouns 198

24 Relative pronouns 202

Qui 202 Que 203 Lequel 205

Où 206 Dont 207

Ce que, ce qui, ce dont, ce à quoi 209

Adverbs and expressions of time 212Interrogative forms; question words 219Adverbs and expressions of location 219

The numbers 0 to 50 221Ordinal numbers 222The numbers 50 to 99 224The numbers 100 to 999 225The numbers 1,000 and greater 227

27 Pot pourri 230

Verbs that use different prepositions 230

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever 233

Avoir beau and quitte à 234

Verb tables 236Regular verbs 236Verbs with spelling changes 238Verbs with stem changes 238Irregular verbs 239

French-English glossary 240English-French glossary 250Answer key 260

Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French Grammar is designed as a review and

study tool for the advanced beginner and intermediate student of French Th e grammar explanations given in each unit include comparisons that provide ample practice of the material along with appropriate, useful vocabulary Instructions for each exercise are given in French, enabling the student to anticipate the task that follows while, at the same time, practicing vocabulary in context Th e variety

of exercises makes them suitable for a range of diff erent learning styles; ended exercises are included to encourage creative answers and to increase confi -dence in using French for normal everyday communication

open-Each unit can be studied independently to suit individual needs in a specifi c area For the student seeking additional practice at the high school or college level, these units, taken individually or as a whole, provide an opportunity to learn and review French grammar using contemporary language and examples

New vocabulary is incorporated within the exercises or is highlighted in boxes Th e glossaries include words appropriate to this level and make it easy to quickly review or learn new vocabulary Finally, the verb charts serve as a quick grammar reference

Learning another language requires dedication, time, and ultimately, quent practice By using what the students already know, by making connections with their fi rst language, and by building on that base, the foundation for their future learning is strengthened By including a number of cognates of English words in the vocabulary, both advanced beginners and intermediate students are given numerous opportunities to reinforce what they already know as they con-tinue to advance their knowledge of French

fre-Introduction

Copyright © 2008 by Annie Heminway Click here for terms of use

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M A K E S

PE RFEC T

Complete French

Grammar

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The present tense of

regular -er verbs

Before studying the present tense in French, you need to be familiar with the

grammatical terms in chapters presenting verbs To conjugate a verb in the

pres-ent tense, you’ll need to fi nd the root (or stem) of a verb to which you’ll add the

ending corresponding to the desired tense Th e root of the verb is found in its

infi nitive form In English, the infi nitive is preceded by the preposition to: to say,

to wear Infi nitives in French are not preceded by an equivalent of the preposition

to Th ey are identifi ed according to groups by their endings: -er, -ir, -re, -oir.

Regular -er verbs in the present

Let’s start with the infi nitives of verbs of the fi rst group, ending in -er, such as

regarder (to look at) and chanter (to sing) Most verbs that end in -er in the infi

ni-tive follow the same conjugation Th e pattern is easy You remove the -er ending

of the verb to get the root: parler (to speak)
parl- Th en, you add the endings

corresponding to the subject pronoun

Th e endings for the -er regular verbs are: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent Th e -e,

-es, and -ent endings of the verbs are all silent Th e fi nal -s of nous, vous, ils, elles

links with verbs beginning with a vowel sound, making a z sound Th is is called a

liaison.

Let’s conjugate the verb parler (to speak) Note that, as in English, conjugated

forms are preceded by a subject pronoun:

je parle I speak nous parlons we speak

tu parles you speak vous parlez you speak

il parle he speaks ils parlent they (m., m./f.) speak

elle parle she speaks elles parlent they (f.) speak

on parle one/they/we speak

Here are some questions using parler:

Parlez-vous italien? Do you speak Italian?

Combien de langues parles-tu? How many languages do you speak?

Chanter (to sing) follows the same pattern:

je chante I sing nous chantons we sing

tu chantes you sing vous chantez you sing

il chante he sings ils chantent they (m., m./f.) sing

elle chante she sings elles chantent they (f.) sing

on chante one/they/we sing

·1·

Copyright © 2008 by Annie Heminway Click here for terms of use

2 practice makes perfect Complete French Grammar

To recapitulate, here are the subject pronouns with their English equivalents:

je I

tu you (singular familiar)

il he, it (masculine)

elle she, it (feminine)

on one, we, they

nous we

vous you (singular formal and all plurals)

ils they (masculine or mixed masculine and feminine)

elles they (feminine)

Th ere are two ways of saying you in French Use tu to talk to friends, family members,

chil-dren, and animals Use vous when you are addressing a stranger, someone you don’t know well,

or to maintain a certain degree of distance or respect

Th e pronoun on takes on diff erent meanings It may mean one, we, or they depending on

how it is used See the examples below

Ici, on parle japonais Japanese is spoken here.

On ne devrait pas se comporter ainsi One should not behave this way.

On va au cinéma ce soir? (familiar) Shall we go to the movies tonight?

En Espagne, on mange des tapas In Spain, they eat tapas.

On est tous d’accord (familiar) We all agree.

Here are some common regular -er verbs:

Mettre les verbes entre parenthèses au présent.

1 Lucie (travailler) à Lyon

2 Mon frère et moi, nous (accepter) votre invitation

3 M et Mme Benoît (chercher) un appartement

4 Tu (apporter) toujours des fl eurs

5 Vous (bavarder) sur la terrasse

6 Je (commander) une soupe de légumes

7 Ils (habiter) en Normandie

8 Elle (déjeuner) avec sa belle-sœur

9 Vous (dessiner) très bien

10 Nous (visiter) le château de Fontainebleau

1·2

EXERCICE

Traduire en français.

1 We refuse the invitation

2 She cancels the trip

3 He speaks French

4 You bring some fl owers (formal)

5 I cut the bread

The present tense of regular -er verbs 3

4 practice makes perfect Complete French Grammar

6 They are having lunch with Julie

7 He borrows ten euros

8 I order a dessert

9 You study Russian (informal)

10 They are looking for a good restaurant

après-demain the day aft er tomorrow

avant-hier the day before yesterday

le matin in the morning

l’après-midi in the aft ernoon

le soir in the evening

toujours always

souvent oft en

le samedi, on Saturdays, on

le dimanche Sundays

cette semaine this week

le mois prochain next month

le mois dernier last month

à la fi n du mois at the end of the

-er verbs with spelling and stem changes

Some -er verbs, otherwise regular, show spelling or stem changes in the present tense, largely to

maintain pronunciation Th ese can be learned according to their groups

Verbs ending in -cer

Some spelling changes occur with some -er regular verbs With verbs ending in -cer, such as

pro-noncer (to pronounce) the -c- becomes -ç- before the letter o Th e cedilla (ç) under the c is needed

to keep the soft pronunciation of the c in the infi nitive form.

je prononce I pronounce nous prononçons we pronounce

tu prononces you pronounce vous prononcez you pronounce

il/elle prononce he/she pronounces ils/elles prononcent they pronounce

Here are a few examples of other -cer verbs:

nous annonçons we announce

nous avançons we move forward

nous balançons we swing

nous commençons we start

nous défonçons we smash in

nous déplaçons we move

nous devançons we get ahead of

nous eff açons we erase

nous épiçons we spice

nous façonnons we craft , we manufacture

nous fi nançons we fi nance

nous grimaçons we make faces

nous infl uençons we infl uence

nous laçons we lace up, we tie

nous menaçons we threaten

nous perçons we pierce

nous plaçons we place

nous ponçons we sand

nous remplaçons we replace

nous renonçons we give up

1·3

EXERCICE

Mettre au présent les verbes entre parenthèses.

1 Nous (commencer) à huit heures le matin

2 Vous (avancer) rapidement

3 Je (déplacer) les meubles du salon

4 Nous (devancer) nos concurrents

5 Nous (annoncer) une augmentation de salaire au début de l’année

6 Tu (eff acer) le tableau

7 Nous (remplacer) toute l’équipe

8 Ils (exercer) une grande infl uence

9 Nous (fi nancer) ce projet

10 Elle (menacer) de partir

Verbs ending in -ger

With verbs ending in -ger, such as voyager (to travel), the -g- becomes -ge- before the letter o.

je voyage I travel nous voyageons we travel

tu voyages you travel vous voyagez you travel

il/elle voyage he/she travels ils/elles voyagent they travel

Here are other common -ger verbs:

nous bougeons we move

nous changeons we change

The present tense of regular -er verbs 5