French grammar
One point at a time.
French grammar is mostly agreement: every noun is masculine or feminine, and the articles, adjectives and past participles around it change to match. Verbs conjugate in ways the spelling hides — parle, parles and parlent are one sound — and the negative comes in two pieces that wrap around the verb. These are those, one page each, in plain English.
A1 21 points
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Every noun has a gender
le + masculine noun · la + feminine noun
Not a property of the thing. A property of the word, which everything around it has to match.
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le, la, les, un, une, des
le / la / les + Noun · un / une / des + Noun
French uses an article where English uses none, which is the habit to build first.
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Plurals you cannot hear
Noun + s · les + Noun
The -s is written and almost never pronounced. The article is what tells you.
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Subject pronouns, and tu against vous
Pronoun + Verb
Six forms, and one of them is a decision about your relationship with the listener.
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être — to be
Subject + être + Complement
The most irregular verb in the language, and the one you need in the first sentence you say.
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avoir — to have
Subject + avoir + Object
A verb you need twice over: for having things, and for building the past tense.
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-er verbs in the present
Stem + e / es / e / ons / ez / ent
Five written endings, three of which sound identical. The pronoun is what you hear.
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-ir and -re verbs, and the irregular ones
Stem + is / it / issons · Stem + s / d / ons
Two smaller regular families, and the handful of common verbs that follow neither.
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ne … pas — the negative in two pieces
Subject + ne + Verb + pas
It wraps around the verb. And in speech the first half is usually dropped.
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Asking a question, three ways
Statement ? · Est-ce que + Statement ? · Verb-Subject ?
Intonation, est-ce que, or inversion — and the three are not interchangeable socially.
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Adjectives — agreement and position
Noun + Adjective · Short adjective + Noun
They change to match the noun, and most of them come after it.
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mon, ma, mes — possessives
Possessive + Noun
They agree with the thing owned, not with the owner. “Son” is his or hers and the word cannot tell you which.
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du, au, des, aux — obligatory contractions
de / à + le / les → du / au / des / aux
de and à cannot sit next to le or les. The merged form is the only option.
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du, de la, des — some of something
du / de la / de l’ / des + Noun
French names the portion where English names nothing. You do not drink coffee; you drink some coffee.
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aller + infinitive — the near future
aller (conjugated) + Infinitive
The same “going to” as English, and in speech it has largely replaced the real future tense.
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The passé composé with avoir
avoir (conjugated) + Past participle
Two words for one past tense: a conjugated avoir and a participle that does not change.
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The passé composé with être
être (conjugated) + Past participle (agreeing)
A short list of verbs takes être instead, and with it the participle has to agree.
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il y a — there is, there are
il y a + Noun
One fixed phrase for both, and it does not change in the plural.
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Numbers, and what happens after sixty
Number + Noun
French counts to sixty and then starts doing arithmetic.
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Telling the time, days and dates
il est + Number + heure(s)
The hour word is compulsory, the date runs day-month-year, and no capital letters.
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c’est and il est
c’est + Article + Noun · il est + Adjective
Both mean “it is”, and which one you use depends on what comes next.
A2 20 points
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The imperfect
nous stem + ais / ais / ait / ions / iez / aient
One stem, one set of endings, one irregular verb in the whole language.
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Which past tense
Imperfect (setting) + Passé composé (event)
Not when it happened, but how you are looking at it — as a completed event or as a setting.
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Reflexive verbs
Subject + se + Verb
A pronoun that refers back to the subject, and it turns up on far more verbs than English would use one for.
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Object pronouns
Subject + Pronoun + Verb
They go before the verb, not after it, and direct and indirect are different words in the third person.
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y and en
Subject + y / en + Verb
Two small words that replace whole phrases — one for à, one for de.
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The simple future
Infinitive + ai / as / a / ons / ez / ont
Built on the infinitive itself, so the endings sit on a word you already know.
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The conditional
Future stem + ais / ais / ait / ions / iez / aient
The future stem with the imperfect endings. It is also how French is polite.
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plus, moins, aussi — comparing
plus / moins / aussi + Adjective + que
Three words in front of the adjective do all of it. Only two adjectives are irregular.
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qui, que, où, dont
Noun + qui / que / où / dont + Clause
Which one you use depends on its job in the second half, not on whether it refers to a person.
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The subjunctive, and when you cannot avoid it
Trigger + que + Subject + Subjunctive
Not a tense. A form certain expressions force on the verb that follows them.
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Giving an instruction
Verb (tu / nous / vous form), no pronoun
The present tense with the pronoun removed — except for one letter that also disappears.
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pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, savoir
Modal (conjugated) + Infinitive
Four verbs that take a bare infinitive, and two of them are easy to confuse.
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Prepositions with places
à + City · en / au / aux + Country
Which word you use for “in” or “to” depends on the gender of the country.
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venir de — the recent past
venir (conjugated) + de + Infinitive
A present-tense verb that describes something already finished.
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ce, cet, cette, ces — this and that
ce / cet / cette / ces + Noun
French has one word for both, and adds -ci or -là when the difference matters.
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Adverbs in -ment
Feminine adjective + ment
Built from the feminine adjective, which is why so many of them carry a silent e.
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depuis, pendant, il y a
depuis / pendant / il y a + Duration
Three words for a stretch of time, and depuis takes the present where English takes a perfect.
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quel and lequel — which
quel + Noun · lequel (standing alone)
One goes with a noun, the other stands in for it. Both agree in gender and number.
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rien, personne, jamais, que
ne + Verb + rien / personne / jamais / que
The second half of the negative changes, and two of these can start the sentence.
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moi, toi, lui, eux — the stressed pronouns
Preposition + moi / toi / lui / elle / nous / vous / eux / elles
The forms used after a preposition, for emphasis, and whenever the pronoun stands on its own.