In short

Every French noun has a gender (masculine or feminine) and a number (singular or plural). The gender is a fixed property you must learn with each word, and the plural is usually built by adding -s (or -x for some endings).

The rule

French has no neutral gender: a table, a book, an idea - each is either masculine or feminine. Gender is grammatical, not logical, so le livre (the book) is masculine while la table (the table) is feminine for no deeper reason. Because articles and adjectives must agree with the noun, learning the gender is not optional - always memorise a noun with its article.

Masculine vs feminine

• Learn the article with the noun: store un stylo (a pen), not just stylo; une chaise (a chair), not just chaise.
• People and animals often have two forms, one per sex: un ami / une amie (a friend), un chat / une chatte (a cat).
• Making the feminine of many nouns adds an -e: un étudiant -> une étudiante (a student). This often changes the pronunciation of the final consonant.
• Some nouns keep one gender regardless of the person: une personne (a person) is always feminine, un professeur is traditionally masculine (though une professeure is now common).

Plural -s and -x (journal -> journaux)

The default plural marker is a silent -s added to the singular. It is written but usually not pronounced, so le chat and les chats sound the same - only the article tells you the number aloud.

• Regular: add -s -> un livre / des livres, une idée / des idées.
• Nouns ending in -s, -x, -z do not change: un bras / des bras (arm), une voix / des voix (voice), un nez / des nez (nose).
• Nouns ending in -au, -eau, -eu add -x: un bateau / des bateaux (boat), un jeu / des jeux (game).
• Most nouns ending in -al change to -aux: un journal / des journaux (newspaper), un animal / des animaux (animal). A few keep -s: un bal / des bals (ball/dance), un festival / des festivals.
• Seven nouns in -ou take -x: un bijou / des bijoux (jewel), un genou / des genoux (knee); most others just add -s (un trou / des trous, hole).

Endings that hint at gender

Gender is not fully predictable, but the ending of a noun is a strong clue. These are tendencies, not laws - there are exceptions.

• Usually masculine: endings in -age (le fromage), -ment (le moment), -eau (le bureau), -isme (le tourisme), -ier (le cahier).
• Usually feminine: endings in -tion / -sion (la nation), -té (la liberté), -ette (la fourchette), -ance / -ence (la France, la science), -ure (la voiture), -ie (la boulangerie).
• Watch the traps: le musée, le lycée, le silence, la page, la plage, l’eau (feminine) all break the pattern above - endings guide you, they do not decide for you.

Forms & patterns

Regular plural formation by ending:

Masculine / feminine pairs for people:

Endings that hint at gender:

Examples

Common mistakes

• la problème -> le problème - despite the -e, problème is masculine (like most nouns in -ème).
• des journals -> des journaux - nouns in -al usually form the plural in -aux.
• des bateaus -> des bateaux - endings in -au / -eau / -eu take -x, not -s.
• deux voixs -> deux voix - nouns already ending in -s, -x, -z stay unchanged in the plural.
• le eau -> l’eau (feminine, la) - it elides to l’, but the underlying article is la, not le.
• une page blanc -> une page blanche - page is feminine, so the adjective must agree in the feminine.

Tips

• Never learn a noun alone - learn un / une + noun so the gender sticks from day one.
• The plural -s is silent: in speech the article (le/la vs les, un/une vs des) carries the number, so pronounce it clearly.
• Trust endings as hints, not rules: -tion, -té, -ette lean feminine; -age, -ment, -eau lean masculine.
• When unsure, check a dictionary - the abbreviations n.m. (masculine) and n.f. (feminine) tell you the gender.
• Watch the -al -> -aux nouns; they are common (journal, animal, cheval, hôpital) and worth memorising as a group.
• Before a vowel or silent h, both le and la elide to l’ (l’ami, l’eau), which hides the gender - so learn these words with special care.

In short

Almost every French noun needs an article, and the article changes with the noun’s gender and number. Use the definite article (le, la, les = “the”) for something specific or known, and the indefinite article (un, une, des = “a / some”) for something new or unspecified.

The rule

French articles agree with their noun in gender (masculine / feminine) and number (singular / plural). Unlike English, you almost never drop the article: you say J’aime le café (“I like coffee”), not J’aime café.

Definite: le, la, les

The definite article points to a specific or already-known thing, or to a whole category / abstraction.

• le - masculine singular: le livre (the book), le père (the father)
• la - feminine singular: la table (the table), la mère (the mother)
• les - plural, both genders: les livres (the books), les tables (the tables)

Use le/la/les for:

• A specific thing: Ferme la porte. (Close the door.)
• Something already mentioned or known: Le film était bon. (The film was good.)
• General / abstract statements - where English uses no article: J’aime le chocolat. (I like chocolate.) Les chats sont indépendants. (Cats are independent.)
• Languages, subjects, colours: Il étudie le français. (He studies French.)

Indefinite: un, une, des

The indefinite article introduces a new, non-specific, countable thing - “a” in the singular, “some / any” in the plural.

• un - masculine singular: un livre (a book), un ami (a friend)
• une - feminine singular: une table (a table), une amie (a friend, f.)
• des - plural, both genders: des livres (some books), des amies (some friends)

Use un/une/des for:

• First mention of something countable: Il y a un problème. (There is a problem.)
• “Some / a few” in the plural - where English often uses nothing: J’achète des pommes. (I’m buying (some) apples.)

Note: des is the plural of both un and une, and unlike English it is rarely omitted - J’ai des questions (I have questions), never J’ai questions.

Elision: l’ami, l’école

Before a word starting with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or a silent h, the singular forms le and la both shrink to l’ - the vowel is dropped and replaced by an apostrophe. This is called elision.

• le ami -> l’ami (the friend)
• la école -> l’école (the school)
• le homme -> l’homme (the man - silent h)
• la histoire -> l’histoire (the story)

Key points about elision:

• It affects only le and la. The plural les never elides: les amis, les écoles (you hear a liaison “z” sound, but the spelling stays les).
• The indefinite articles un/une/des never elide: un ami, une école, des amis.
• The aspirated h blocks elision on a small set of words: le héros (the hero), la haine (the hatred) stay unelided. Most h-words, though, take elision.

Forms & patterns

Definite and indefinite articles side by side:

Elision in practice - le / la -> l’:

Examples

Common mistakes

• J’aime chocolat -> J’aime le chocolat - general likes take the definite article; you cannot drop it.
• le ami -> l’ami - le and la must elide to l’ before a vowel or silent h.
• les’amis -> les amis - the plural les never elides; keep it written in full.
• un’école -> une école - un/une never elide; only le/la do.
• J’ai questions -> J’ai des questions - plural countable nouns need des; French does not drop it like English.
• l’héros -> le héros - the aspirated h blocks elision on a few words.

Tips

• Learn each noun with its article (la table, not just table) - it fixes the gender in your memory.
• Definite vs indefinite = “the” vs “a / some”. Ask: specific/known (le, la, les) or new/unspecified (un, une, des)?
• des is the plural you keep saying out loud - English hides it (“I buy apples”), French shows it (J’achète des pommes).
• Elision is automatic before a vowel sound: if le/la meets a, e, i, o, u or silent h, it becomes l’.
• After a negation, un/une/des usually turn into de/d’: J’ai un stylo -> Je n’ai pas de stylo (see Lesson 10).
• With à and de, le and les contract to au, aux, du, des - covered next in Lesson 4.

In short

Prepositions like à (to/at) and de (of/from) connect words, but when they meet the definite articles le and les they must merge into one word: à + le = au, de + les = des. This contraction is compulsory - you can never write à le or de le.

The rule

A preposition is a little linking word (to, at, of, from, with, for, without) that sits before a noun. Learn the most common ones first, then learn how two of them (à and de) fuse with articles.

Common prepositions:

• à = to, at, in - Je vais à Paris. Elle est à la maison.
• de = of, from - Il vient de Lyon. La couleur de la voiture.
• chez = at/to someone’s place - Je suis chez moi. On va chez le médecin.
• pour = for, in order to - C’est pour toi. Je travaille pour vivre.
• avec = with - Je viens avec mes amis.
• sans = without - Un café sans sucre.
• en = in, to (feminine countries, months, materials) - Je vis en France. En été.

Contractions: à and de + le/les

à and de contract with le and les. They do not contract with la or l’.

• à + le -> au - Je parle au professeur. (not à le)
• à + les -> aux - Je parle aux enfants. (not à les)
• à + la -> à la (no change) - Je vais à la plage.
• à + l’ -> à l’ (no change) - *Je vais **à l’*école.
• de + le -> du - Je viens du cinéma. (not de le)
• de + les -> des - La porte des voisins. (not de les)
• de + la -> de la (no change) - Le nom de la rue.
• de + l’ -> de l’ (no change) - *La porte **de l’*immeuble.

The pronunciation of aux and des links to a following vowel: aux enfants sounds like “aux‿enfants”, des amis like “des‿amis” (see liaison).

Prepositions with cities and countries

The choice depends on whether it is a city or a country, and on the country’s gender.

• Cities -> à (both “to” and “in”): Je vais à Paris. J’habite à Tokyo.
• Feminine countries and continents -> en: en France, en Espagne, en Europe, en Chine. (Most countries ending in -e are feminine.)
• Masculine countries -> au: au Japon, au Canada, au Portugal, au Brésil.
• Plural countries -> aux: aux États-Unis, aux Pays-Bas.
• Countries beginning with a vowel take en regardless of gender: en Iran, en Israël.

To say “from” a place, use de/du/des: Je viens de Paris (city), de France (fem.), du Japon (masc.), des États-Unis (plural).

Forms & patterns

Contraction table for à and de:

Place prepositions for countries and cities:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je vais à le cinéma -> Je vais au cinéma - à + le must contract to au.
• Je viens de le bureau -> Je viens du bureau - de + le must contract to du.
• le livre de les enfants -> le livre des enfants - de + les must contract to des.
• J’habite à France -> J’habite en France - feminine countries take en, not à.
• Je vais en Paris -> Je vais à Paris - cities take à, not en.
• Je vais au Espagne -> Je vais en Espagne - Espagne is feminine, so en; keep au for masculine countries like au Portugal.

Tips

• Only le and les contract. If you see la or l’, leave the preposition and article separate.
• Two verbs drive most contractions: aller (to go) pulls à/au/aux, venir (to come) and parler de pull de/du/des.
• Country gender shortcut: ends in -e -> usually feminine -> en (except le Mexique, le Cambodge).
• chez only goes before a person or a person-like noun: chez moi, chez le coiffeur - never chez la maison.
• To remember city vs country: à the small place (city), en/au/aux the big place (country).
• Watch the liaison: aux amis and des amis link the final consonant to the vowel.

In short

French counts in a way that surprises English speakers past 60 (soixante-dix = “sixty-ten” = 70, quatre-vingts = “four-twenties” = 80). The one spelling rule to nail early: quatre-vingts takes an -s when it stands alone, but drops it in quatre-vingt-un and before another number.

The rule

Learn the cardinal numbers (one, two, three…) for counting, then the ordinals (first, second…) for order, dates and telling time.

Cardinal numbers

The numbers 0-16 are single words; 17-19 are built as dix + unit (dix-sept = 17). Tens follow a base-ten logic up to 60, then French switches to a base-twenty (“vigesimal”) system:

• 70 = soixante-dix (60 + 10), 71 = soixante et onze (60 + 11), 79 = soixante-dix-neuf.
• 80 = quatre-vingts (4 x 20), 81 = quatre-vingt-un, 90 = quatre-vingt-dix (4 x 20 + 10), 99 = quatre-vingt-dix-neuf.

The et rule. Use et (and, no hyphen) only for 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71: vingt et un, trente et un, soixante et onze. All other compound numbers take a hyphen and no et: vingt-deux, quatre-vingt-un.

quatre-vingts vs quatre-vingt-un. This is the classic trap:

• quatre-vingts and cent take a final -s when they are multiplied and end the number: quatre-vingts, deux cents, trois cents.
• They lose the -s as soon as another number follows: quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-trois, deux cent cinq, trois cent dix.
• cent and vingt stay singular after another multiplier only in that “followed by a number” case; mille is invariable always: deux mille, cinq mille euros.

un agrees. The number un/une is the only cardinal that agrees in gender: un livre, une table, vingt et une pages, quatre-vingt-une personnes.

Ordinal numbers

Add -ième to the cardinal (dropping a final -e first) to make most ordinals: deux -> deuxième, quatre -> quatrième, onze -> onzième. Two irregulars:

• 1st = premier / première - the only ordinal that agrees in gender (le premier jour, la première fois).
• 5th = cinquième (add a u) and 9th = neuvième (f -> v).
• Second(e) exists alongside deuxième; it is often preferred when there are only two items.
• Abbreviations: 1er (premier), 1re (première), 2e, 3e…

Dates

Give the date with le + number + month (months are lowercase and take no article): le 3 mai, le 14 juillet.

• Use the ordinal only for the first of the month: le premier mai (le 1er mai). Every other day uses the cardinal: le deux mai, le quinze août.
• Full form: Nous sommes le lundi 3 mai 2026. / C’est le 3 mai.
• Years are read as plain cardinals: deux mille vingt-six (2026). No en before a bare date, but en mai, en 2026 for “in”.

Telling time

Ask Quelle heure est-il ? and answer with Il est… heure(s). Heure is feminine, so une heure, and it takes -s from two o’clock on: deux heures.

• Quarter/half past use et: et quart (:15), et demie (:30). Demie agrees with the feminine heure: deux heures et demie.
• To the hour uses moins: moins le quart (:45), moins dix (:50). Il est huit heures moins le quart = 7:45.
• Noon = midi, midnight = minuit (both masculine): midi et demi (note: no -e, demi agrees with masculine midi).
• The 24-hour clock is standard in writing/schedules: 14 h 30 = quatorze heures trente; here you say the exact minutes, not et quart.

Forms & patterns

Cardinals and their ordinals:

The base-twenty tens (60-100):

The -s on vingt / cent:

Telling the time:

Examples

Common mistakes

• quatre-vingt ans -> quatre-vingts ans - when quatre-vingts ends the number, keep the -s.
• quatre-vingts-un -> quatre-vingt-un - drop the -s as soon as another number follows.
• le un mai -> le premier mai - the first of the month is the one day that uses the ordinal.
• le deuxieme mai -> le deux mai - all days except the 1st use the plain cardinal.
• vingt-et-un -> vingt et un - the et in 21/31…/71 takes no hyphens.
• Il est huit heure et demi -> Il est huit heures et demie - plural heures from 2 on, and demie agrees with feminine heure.

Tips

• Break the 70s/90s down out loud: 75 = soixante + quinze, 95 = quatre-vingt + quinze. Do the arithmetic and read the pieces.
• The -s on quatre-vingts / cents is a “last word” flag: present when the multiple ends the number, gone when a digit trails it.
• Only two numbers agree in gender: un/une and the ordinal premier/première. Everything else is invariable.
• Dates: memorise “premier for the 1st, cardinal for the rest” - it is the whole rule.
• For time, et goes with quart and demie (past the hour); moins handles “to” the hour with le quart.
• Use midi/minuit (not douze heures) for 12:00, and note demi stays masculine there: midi et demi.

In short

-er verbs are the biggest and most regular verb group in French (about 90% of all verbs). Drop the -er from the infinitive and add the six present endings: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.

The rule

A French verb in the dictionary is an infinitive - the “to do” form, like parler (to speak). To conjugate a regular -er verb in the present, work in two steps:

• Find the stem: remove the -er ending -> parler becomes the stem parl-.
• Add the present ending for the subject pronoun (see Lesson 1 for the pronouns).

The present tense covers three English meanings at once: je parle = “I speak”, “I am speaking”, and “I do speak”. French has no separate continuous form here.

Pronunciation note. Four forms sound identical: je parle, tu parles, il parle, and ils parlent are all pronounced the same - the endings -e, -es, -e, -ent are silent. Only nous parlons and vous parlez are heard as different. The spelling still matters, so learn to write all six.

Regular -er endings

Take any regular -er verb - aimer (to like/love), habiter (to live), travailler (to work), regarder (to watch) - and attach the endings to the stem:

• je + -e: j’aime (note the elision: je -> j’ before a vowel)
• tu + -es: tu aimes
• il/elle/on + -e: elle aime
• nous + -ons: nous aimons
• vous + -ez: vous aimez
• ils/elles + -ent: ils aiment

Spelling changes: manger, commencer, acheter, appeler

Some -er verbs keep the endings above but adjust the stem to preserve a sound or to match pronunciation. These are still called regular, just spelling-adapted.

• -ger verbs (manger, voyager, nager): add an e before the -ons of nous to keep the soft “g” sound -> nous mangeons, nous voyageons. All other forms are normal: je mange, tu manges.
• -cer verbs (commencer, placer, lancer): the c becomes ç before -ons to keep the soft “s” sound -> nous commençons, nous plaçons. Elsewhere it stays plain: je commence.
• acheter type (e + consonant + -er): a silent e in the stem becomes è in all forms except nous and vous -> j’achète, tu achètes, but nous achetons, vous achetez. Same pattern: (se) lever, (se) promener, emmener.
• appeler / jeter type: these double the consonant (l -> ll, t -> tt) in the same four forms -> j’appelle, ils appellent, but nous appelons, vous appelez; likewise je jette vs nous jetons.
• préférer type (é + consonant + -er): the é becomes è in the four “boot” forms -> je préfère, ils préfèrent, but nous préférons, vous préférez. Same: répéter, espérer, considérer.
• -yer verbs (payer, employer, nettoyer): the y becomes i before a silent ending -> je paie, ils paient, but nous payons, vous payez.

Notice the shared pattern: the change hits the four forms where the ending is silent (je, tu, il, ils) and spares nous and vous. Teachers call this the “boot” or “L-shape” because of where those forms sit in the table.

Forms & patterns

Regular endings on parler (to speak):

Spelling-change verbs side by side (watch the bold cells):

Examples

Common mistakes

• je parle-e / je parles -> je parle - the je ending is a single -e, never -es.
• ils parlont -> ils parlent - the ils/elles ending is -ent (silent), not -ont.
• nous mangons -> nous mangeons - keep the e after g to hold the soft sound.
• nous commencons -> nous commençons - the cedilla ç is required before -ons.
• j’achete -> j’achète - add the grave accent è in the four “boot” forms.
• nous appellons -> nous appelons - appeler does not double the l for nous/vous; the doubling is only in the boot forms.

Tips

• Memorize the six endings as one chant: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. They fit almost every -er verb.
• Before a vowel or silent h, je becomes j’: j’aime, j’habite, j’écoute.
• If four written forms sound the same, that is normal - only nous (-ons) and vous (-ez) are audible.
• The spelling changes all target the same “boot”: je, tu, il/elle, ils/elles. Nous and vous stay closest to the infinitive.
• One clue for the stem swap: -ger and -cer verbs change only for nous; acheter/appeler/préférer types change everywhere except nous/vous.
• aller (to go) ends in -er but is irregular - do not conjugate it this way (see Lesson 12).

In short

Être (“to be”) and avoir (“to have”) are the two most important verbs in French: both are irregular, and you must memorize their present forms because almost everything else - c’est, il y a, and the whole past tense - is built on them.

The rule

These two verbs do not follow the regular -er pattern from Lesson 6. Learn each form by heart, then notice how much of French leans on them.

Être - to be

Use être for identity, description, origin, profession, and to link a subject to an adjective or noun.

• Identity / description: Je suis Marie. Il est grand.
• Origin & nationality: Nous sommes de Paris. Elle est française.
• Profession (no article before the job): Mon père est ingénieur.
• Location (unlike Spanish, French uses être for where things are): Le chat est dans le jardin.

Avoir - to have

Use avoir for possession, and note that French uses it in many places where English uses “to be”.

• Possession: J’ai une voiture. Tu as un frère.
• Age (English “to be”, French “to have”): Elle a vingt ans.
• Physical sensations and states (the avoir idioms, below).

Idioms with avoir

French describes many bodily and emotional states with avoir + noun, where English uses “to be + adjective”. There is no article in these expressions:

• avoir faim - to be hungry
• avoir soif - to be thirsty
• avoir froid / chaud - to be cold / hot
• avoir peur - to be afraid
• avoir sommeil - to be sleepy
• avoir raison / tort - to be right / wrong
• avoir besoin de - to need
• avoir … ans - to be … years old: J’ai vingt ans.

Even though these words are nouns, the everyday way to intensify them is with très (“very”), just like an adjective: J’ai très faim. Never je suis faim.

Why these two verbs matter most

Être and avoir underpin three structures you will meet constantly:

• c’est / il est (Lesson 13) - c’est uses être: C’est un livre. Il est tard.
• il y a (“there is / there are”, Lesson 13) - built on avoir: Il y a un problème. Il y a deux chats.
• the passé composé (Lessons 20-21) - the past tense combines an auxiliary (avoir or être) with a past participle: J’ai mangé (I ate), Je suis allé (I went).

Master these six-form paradigms now and the rest of the course rests on solid ground.

Forms & patterns

Note the elision: je becomes j’ before the vowel of ai -> j’ai. The written liaison is heard in nous avons (z sound), vous avez, ils ont / elles ont (z sound) - do not confuse ils sont (they are) with ils ont (they have).

Key idioms with avoir + a noun (no article):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je suis vingt ans -> J’ai vingt ans - French uses avoir for age, not être.
• Je suis faim -> J’ai faim - hunger and other sensations use avoir + noun.
• Il a un problème dans la rue (for “there is”) -> Il y a un problème - “there is/are” is the fixed phrase il y a, not bare avoir.
• Ils sont deux voitures -> Ils ont deux voitures - do not confuse ils sont (they are) with ils ont (they have).
• Je ai un frère -> J’ai un frère - je must elide to j’ before a vowel.
• Vous etes en retard -> Vous êtes en retard - keep the circumflex on êtes.

Tips

• Drill the six forms of each verb aloud until they are automatic - you will use them in every lesson from here on.
• English “to be + age/hungry/cold/afraid” almost always becomes French avoir + a noun. Translate the idea, not the words.
• Il y a is invariable: it stays the same for one thing or many - il y a un livre, il y a dix livres.
• Hear the liaison: ils ont has a z sound, ils sont does not - it tells “have” from “are” in speech.
• The past tense picks one of these two as its helper verb, so knowing them now is an investment in Lessons 20-21.
• Before a vowel, je -> j’ only with avoir (j’ai); être starts with a consonant, so it never elides here (je suis).

In short

A French adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it describes, and most adjectives come after the noun. A small group of short, common adjectives (the BAGS set) come before it.

The rule

An adjective changes its ending to match its noun. Unlike English, where “big” never changes, French has up to four forms: masculine singular, feminine singular, masculine plural, feminine plural.

Agreement in gender and number

• Feminine: the basic rule is to add -e to the masculine form: grand -> grande, petit -> petite.
• Plural: add -s to the singular form: grand -> grands, grande -> grandes.
• An adjective already ending in -e (no accent) does not change in the feminine: un homme jeune, une femme jeune.
• An adjective already ending in -s does not add another in the masculine plural: un cours français, des cours français.
• Some endings transform in the feminine: -eux -> -euse (heureux -> heureuse), -f -> -ve (sportif -> sportive), -er -> -ère (cher -> chère), and some double the consonant: bon -> bonne, gros -> grosse.
• Colour and mixed groups: if a group has at least one masculine noun, the adjective is masculine plural: Marie et Paul sont contents.

Note the two-word noun phrase agrees fully: une petite voiture rouge (feminine singular on both adjectives).

Most adjectives placed after the noun

Most descriptive adjectives - colour, shape, nationality, and longer adjectives - follow the noun:

• Colour: une voiture rouge, un chat noir.
• Nationality / origin: un film français, une ville espagnole.
• Shape / type: une table ronde, un livre intéressant.

BAGS adjectives placed before the noun

A short list of very common adjectives comes before the noun. Remember them with BAGS:

• B - Beauty: beau, joli -> un beau jardin.
• A - Age: jeune, vieux, nouveau -> une jeune fille.
• G - Goodness (and its opposite): bon, mauvais, meilleur -> un bon repas.
• S - Size: grand, petit, gros, long -> une grande maison.

Three of these have a special form before a masculine noun starting with a vowel sound: beau -> bel, nouveau -> nouvel, vieux -> vieil: un bel homme, un nouvel ami, un vieil hôtel.

Forms & patterns

Regular adjective (grand):

Common irregular feminine patterns:

BAGS adjectives with the special pre-vowel form:

Examples

Common mistakes

• une maison grand -> une grande maison - size is a BAGS adjective and agrees: grande before a feminine noun.
• une voiture rouge et petit -> une petite voiture rouge - both adjectives take the feminine, and petit goes before the noun.
• un homme jeune est arrivé… un nouveau homme -> un nouvel homme - use nouvel before a masculine vowel sound.
• des chats noir -> des chats noirs - the adjective must also take the plural -s.
• une film français -> un film français - film is masculine, so no feminine -e is added.
• ils sont content -> ils sont contents - the adjective agrees with a plural subject.

Tips

• Ask two questions: what gender/number is the noun? (agreement) and is it a BAGS word? (position).
• Default position is after the noun; only the short BAGS set goes before.
• If a group of people or things is mixed, choose the masculine plural.
• Learn beau/bel/belle, nouveau/nouvel/nouvelle, vieux/vieil/vieille as a block - the middle form is only for a masculine vowel sound.
• Adjectives ending in -e (no accent) look the same in masculine and feminine: rouge, jaune, jeune, facile.
• When in doubt, say the feminine out loud: the extra -e often makes a silent consonant audible (grand vs grande).

In short

Possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes…) say whose something is, and demonstrative adjectives (ce, cette, ces) point something out (“this / that”). The key rule: both agree with the noun they precede, not with the English owner - so son livre is “his/her book”, chosen by the gender of livre, not the person.

The rule

Like all French adjectives, these agree with the noun in gender and number. They replace the article: you say mon frère, never le mon frère.

Possessives: mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses

Each owner has three forms - masculine singular, feminine singular, plural (both genders):

• mon / ma / mes = my: mon vélo, ma voiture, mes amis
• ton / ta / tes = your (informal): ton stylo, ta soeur, tes livres
• son / sa / ses = his / her / its: son père, sa mère, ses enfants

The big trap for English speakers: son/sa/ses do not tell you the owner’s gender. son sac is “his bag” or “her bag” - the form follows sac (masculine), not the person. Context makes the owner clear.

Feminine noun starting with a vowel or silent h. To avoid two vowels clashing, use the masculine form mon/ton/son before a feminine noun that begins with a vowel sound:

• ma amie -> mon amie (my friend, female)
• ta école -> ton école (your school)
• sa histoire -> son histoire (his/her story)

Possessives: notre / votre / leur

The plural owners have just two forms - one for singular, one for plural - and no gender distinction in the singular:

• notre / nos = our: notre maison, nos voisins
• votre / vos = your (formal or plural): votre nom, vos clés
• leur / leurs = their: leur voiture, leurs idées

Note that leur here (their) takes an -s in the plural (leurs), unlike the object pronoun leur (to them), which never does.

Demonstratives: ce / cet / cette / ces

One word covers both English “this” and “that”. The form depends on the noun’s gender, number, and first sound:

• ce - masculine singular before a consonant: ce garçon, ce livre
• cet - masculine singular before a vowel or silent h: cet homme, cet arbre
• cette - feminine singular: cette femme, cette idée
• ces - plural, all genders: ces enfants, ces maisons

cet and cette sound identical but are spelled differently - cet is masculine, cette is feminine.

The ce…-ci / ce…-là contrast

French normally does not distinguish “this” from “that”. When you need to, attach -ci (nearer, “this”) or -là (farther, “that”) to the noun with a hyphen:

• ce livre-ci = this book (here) / ce livre-là = that book (there)
• cette semaine-ci = this week / cette semaine-là = that week
• ces jours-ci = these days

In everyday speech, -là is very common even when there is no real contrast: cette voiture-là often just means “that car”.

Forms & patterns

Possessive adjectives

Reminder: before a feminine noun starting with a vowel sound, use mon / ton / son (mon amie, ton histoire, son école).

Demonstrative adjectives

Examples

Common mistakes

• le mon livre -> mon livre - a possessive replaces the article; never use both.
• ma amie -> mon amie - before a feminine noun starting with a vowel, use mon/ton/son.
• son meaning only “his” -> son = his OR her - the form follows the noun, not the owner.
• ce homme -> cet homme - masculine singular before a vowel sound takes cet, not ce.
• cet femme -> cette femme - cet is masculine only; a feminine noun needs cette.
• ce livre ci -> ce livre-ci - -ci and -là attach to the noun with a hyphen.

Tips

• Choose the form by the French noun, never by the English word: mes parents (plural noun) even though “my” looks singular.
• cet (masc.) and cette (fem.) are pronounced the same - let the noun’s gender pick the spelling.
• Memorize the vowel rule as one set: mon / ton / son / cet all appear before a vowel sound.
• Default to -là if you only remember one: ce truc-là sounds natural in speech even without contrast.
• notre / votre / leur ignore gender in the singular - one form fits masculine and feminine nouns.
• Do not confuse leur (their, adjective, takes -s) with the invariable pronoun leur (to them) from Lesson 23.

In short

French negation is a sandwich: put ne before the verb and pas after it. So je parle (I speak) becomes je ne parle pas (I do not speak).

The rule

The two negative words wrap around the conjugated verb. ne comes first, pas comes second, and the verb sits between them.

• Affirmative: Je comprends. -> Negative: Je ne comprends pas.
• The subject stays in front, exactly as before: Nous ne travaillons pas.

Elision of ne. Before a vowel or a silent h, ne loses its e and becomes n’:

• *Il **n’*aime pas le café. (aimer starts with a vowel)
• *Elle **n’*habite pas ici. (silent h)
• *Je **n’*ai pas faim. (with avoir)

ne…pas around the verb

Only the conjugated verb goes inside the sandwich. When object pronouns are present, they count as part of the verb group and stay inside too, right before the verb:

• Je ne le connais pas. (I do not know him)
• Tu ne me comprends pas. (you do not understand me)

In the passé composé and other compound tenses, the sandwich wraps the auxiliary (avoir or être), not the past participle:

• *Je **n’*ai pas mangé. (I did not eat) - see Lesson 20
• *Elle **n’*est pas partie. (she did not leave) - see Lesson 21

pas de + noun (negative article)

After a negation, the indefinite articles un / une / des and the partitive du / de la / de l’ all change to a single de (or d’ before a vowel). This is one of the most important A1 rules:

• J’ai un chien. -> *Je **n’*ai pas de chien.
• Elle mange des légumes. -> Elle ne mange pas de légumes.
• Il boit du vin. -> Il ne boit pas de vin.
• *Nous avons **de l’*argent. -> *Nous **n’**avons **pas d’*argent.

Exception: after the verb être, the article does NOT change. It stays un / une / des:

• C’est un problème. -> *Ce **n’*est pas un problème. (not pas de problème here)
• Ce sont des amis. -> Ce ne sont pas des amis.

The definite articles (le, la, les) never change either: *Je **n’*aime pas le café.

Negation of an infinitive: ne pas faire

When you negate an infinitive, the two words do NOT wrap around it. Instead, ne pas stay together in front of the infinitive:

• Je te demande de ne pas partir. (I ask you not to leave)
• Il vaut mieux ne pas fumer. (it is better not to smoke)
• Prière de ne pas déranger. (please do not disturb)

This is common after prepositions like de and pour, and in polite instructions.

Forms & patterns

Present tense of parler (to speak), affirmative vs negative:

Elision with a vowel-initial verb (aimer):

Article change after negation (pas de):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je parle pas français -> Je ne parle pas français - in writing keep ne; dropping it is spoken-only, informal.
• Je ne pas parle -> Je ne parle pas - the verb goes between ne and pas, not after both.
• Il n’a pas un chien -> Il n’a pas de chien - after a negation, un/une/des/du become de.
• Ce n’est pas de problème -> Ce n’est pas un problème - after être the article does NOT change.
• Je ne aime pas -> Je n’aime pas - elide ne to n’ before a vowel.
• Je te demande de ne partir pas -> de ne pas partir - with an infinitive, ne pas stay together in front.

Tips

• Think of it as a sandwich: ne [verb] pas. The verb is always the filling.
• In fast speech the French drop ne (je sais pas), but always write both parts.
• The big trap is the article: after a negation, count/partitive amounts collapse to pas de.
• Only être keeps its article: Ce n’est pas une bonne idée stays un/une/des.
• For compound tenses, wrap the helper verb: *je **n’*ai pas fini, not the participle.
• To say “not to do”, keep the pair together: ne pas + infinitive.

In short

French has three ways to ask a question: raise your voice at the end (intonation), put est-ce que in front, or invert the verb and subject. For everyday spoken French, intonation and est-ce que cover almost everything.

The rule

A yes/no question can be built without changing word order at all - you keep subject + verb and simply signal a question. To ask for specific information (where, when, why…) you add a question word.

1. Intonation - the spoken way. Keep the statement word order and let your voice rise at the end. In writing, only the ? changes.

• Tu parles français. -> Tu parles français ? (You speak French?)
• Vous avez faim ? (Are you hungry?)

This is the most common form in casual speech, but it is informal - avoid it in formal writing.

2. est-ce que - the neutral all-purpose way. Put est-ce que before a normal statement. Nothing else moves. It works in speech and writing and fits every register.

• Est-ce que tu parles français ? (Do you speak French?)
• Est-ce que vous avez faim ? (Are you hungry?)

Before a vowel or a mute h, que elides to qu’: ***Est-ce qu’*il est là ? (Is he there?)

Intonation questions

Use them for quick yes/no questions among friends and family. The verb form is exactly the same as in a statement; only the melody (and the ?) tells the listener it is a question.

• Ça va ? (How’s it going? / OK?)
• Il vient ce soir ? (Is he coming tonight?)

est-ce que

Think of est-ce que as a plug-in “question marker”. Take any statement, attach it to the front, and you have a correct, polite question:

• Tu as un stylo. -> Est-ce que tu as un stylo ?
• Elle habite ici. -> ***Est-ce qu’*elle habite ici ?

Question words: où, quand, comment, combien, pourquoi, qui, que, quel

To ask for information, combine a question word with est-ce que (or with intonation, or with inversion). The most common pattern is question word + est-ce que + subject + verb.

Notes:

• qui is invariable and asks about a person; que/qu’ asks about a thing.
• quel is an adjective and agrees with its noun: quel, quelle, quels, quelles.
• que almost always becomes qu’ before est-ce que -> the fixed phrase Qu’est-ce que…? means “What…?”.
• With intonation, the question word can go to the end: Tu habites où ?, Tu pars quand ?

Simple inversion (introduced)

In formal French you can invert the verb and a pronoun subject, joining them with a hyphen. This is the third way to ask a yes/no question.

• Vous parlez français. -> Parlez-vous français ?
• Tu as faim. -> As-tu faim ?

With a question word, put the word first, then the inverted verb-pronoun:

• Où habitez-vous ? (Where do you live?)
• Quand partez-vous ? (When are you leaving?)

You will meet complex inversion with a noun subject - Pierre viendra-t-il ? (Will Pierre come?) - at A2. For now, just recognize it: the noun stays in front and a matching pronoun is added after the verb.

Forms & patterns

The same yes/no question in the three registers:

Information questions built with est-ce que:

Agreement of quel:

Examples: Quel âge as-tu ? - Quelle heure est-il ? - Quels films aimes-tu ? - Quelles langues parles-tu ?

Examples

Common mistakes

• Est-ce que tu viens-tu ? -> Est-ce que tu viens ? - never combine est-ce que with inversion; pick one method.
• Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? said as Que tu fais ? -> Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? - to ask “what”, use the full fixed phrase Qu’est-ce que….
• Est-ce que il est là ? -> Est-ce qu’il est là ? - que must elide to qu’ before a vowel.
• Quel est ton livres ? -> Quels sont tes livres ? - quel agrees in gender and number with its noun.
• Qui est-ce que vient ? (as a subject) -> Qui est-ce qui vient ? - when qui is the subject, use qui est-ce qui, not qui est-ce que.
• Comment tu t’appelles-tu ? -> Comment t’appelles-tu ? - with inversion, do not also keep the plain subject pronoun.

Tips

• In doubt, use est-ce que: it is correct everywhere and never needs word-order changes.
• Reserve inversion for formal or written French; reserve intonation for relaxed speech.
• Qu’est-ce que = “What?” is a set phrase - memorize it whole.
• Remember the person/thing split: qui = who, que/quoi = what.
• quel always needs a noun (or être): Quel jour ?, Quelle est la réponse ? - never use it alone like English “which”.
• With a -t- inserted verb (a-t-il, viendra-t-il), the t is just for pronunciation - you will practise this fully at A2.

In short

French verbs fall into three infinitive groups: -er (Lesson 6), -ir, and -re. Regular -ir and -re verbs follow fixed endings on a predictable stem, but many everyday verbs (aller, faire, venir, prendre, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir) are irregular and must be memorized.

The rule

To conjugate a regular verb, drop the infinitive ending to get the stem, then add the endings for its group. The tricky part is that the most common verbs are irregular, so learn those by heart.

Regular -ir verbs (finir)

These are the “big” second-group verbs. Drop -ir and add the endings -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent. The plural forms insert a distinctive -iss-.

• Je finis mon travail. (I finish my work.)
• Nous finissons à midi. (We finish at noon.)
• Other verbs like this: choisir (to choose), réussir (to succeed), grandir (to grow), réfléchir (to think), obéir (to obey).

Careful: not every verb ending in -ir belongs here. Venir, partir, dormir are irregular and do not take -iss-.

Regular -re verbs (vendre)

Drop -re and add -s, -s, -(nothing), -ons, -ez, -ent. The il/elle form has no ending at all - the stem ends in a consonant.

• Je vends ma voiture. (I sell my car.)
• Elle attend le bus. (She waits for the bus.)
• Other verbs like this: attendre (to wait), entendre (to hear), répondre (to answer), perdre (to lose), descendre (to go down).

High-frequency irregulars

These seven verbs appear constantly and each has its own pattern. Notice how the stem often changes between singular and plural:

• aller (to go) - completely irregular: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont.
• faire (to do/make) - watch nous faisons (spelled with -ai- but pronounced “fesons”) and vous faites, ils font.
• venir (to come) - stem changes: je viens … nous venons … ils viennent. Like it: tenir, revenir, devenir.
• prendre (to take) - drops the -d- in the plural: nous prenons, ils prennent. Like it: apprendre, comprendre.
• pouvoir (can/be able to), vouloir (to want), devoir (must/have to) - these are modal verbs, usually followed by an infinitive: Je peux partir. Tu veux venir? Nous devons travailler.

Forms & patterns

Regular groups:

Irregular verbs of motion & action:

Modal verbs:

Note that pouvoir and vouloir share the endings -x, -x, -t in the singular.

Examples

Common mistakes

• je finis / nous finons -> nous finissons - regular -ir verbs add -iss- in the plural.
• je vende -> je vends - -re verbs take -s in je/tu, never -e.
• il vendt -> il vend - the il/elle form of -re verbs has no ending after the stem.
• nous allez / vous allons -> nous allons / vous allez - do not swap the nous and vous forms of aller.
• je prend -> je prends - prendre keeps the -s in je/tu; only il/elle is prend.
• je veut / je peut -> je veux / je peux - vouloir and pouvoir end in -x in je and tu.

Tips

• Sort every new verb into its group by the last two letters of the infinitive: -er, -ir, or -re.
• The -iss- test tells the two -ir families apart: finir has it (finissons), venir and partir do not.
• For -re verbs, remember the silent il/elle form: il attend, elle répond - stem only, no added letter.
• Aller looks like an -er verb but is fully irregular - and it powers the near future (Lesson 16): je vais manger.
• Modal verbs pouvoir / vouloir / devoir are nearly always followed by a bare infinitive: Je dois travailler.
• Group verbs that behave alike: venir = tenir, revenir, devenir; prendre = apprendre, comprendre.

In short

French uses three different structures where English often just says “it is” or “there is”. Use c’est to identify (name what something is), il/elle est to describe (a quality or a bare profession), and il y a to say something exists.

The rule

The choice between c’est and il est trips up almost every learner, because both can translate as “he is / it is”. The trick is to look at what follows.

c’est for identifying (c’est un médecin)

Use c’est when you point at something or someone and say what it is - a noun follows, almost always with an article or a determiner.

• c’est + noun with article/determiner: C’est un médecin. C’est une voiture. C’est mon frère.
• c’est + name: C’est Marie. C’est Paris.
• c’est + stressed pronoun: C’est moi. C’est lui.
• c’est + adjective for a general idea or situation (not a specific person): C’est facile. C’est bon. C’est intéressant.
• Plural: ce sont in careful speech, though c’est is very common informally: Ce sont mes parents.

Think of c’est as putting a label on something: the answer to “Qu’est-ce que c’est ?” or “Qui est-ce ?“

il/elle est + adjective/profession for describing

Use il est / elle est when you already know the person or thing and you describe it - an adjective follows, or a bare profession (no article).

• il/elle est + adjective: Il est grand. Elle est fatiguée. Ils sont français. The adjective agrees in gender and number (see Lesson 8).
• il/elle est + profession WITHOUT an article: Il est médecin. Elle est avocate. Ils sont étudiants.

This is the key contrast: a profession takes no article after il est, but takes an article after c’est.

• Il est médecin. = He is a doctor. (describing - what he does)
• C’est un médecin. = He is a doctor / That’s a doctor. (identifying - a noun phrase with un)

Both are correct; the structure differs. Whenever you add an article, an adjective before the noun, or a complement, switch to c’est: C’est un bon médecin. (never il est un bon médecin).

il y a for existence

Il y a means “there is / there are” - it states that something exists or is present, in a place. It is invariable: the same il y a works for singular and plural.

• il y a + noun: Il y a un livre sur la table. Il y a trois chaises.
• Negative: il n’y a pas de + noun: Il n’y a pas de pain. (the article becomes de after the negation - see Lesson 10).
• Question: Est-ce qu’il y a un problème ? / Y a-t-il un problème ?
• It never describes a quality and never identifies a person by name - it only asserts presence or existence.

Forms & patterns

c’est vs il est - what follows the verb:

il y a - forms:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Il est un médecin -> Il est médecin / C’est un médecin - after il est a profession takes no article; add un only with c’est.
• C’est facile ce livre, il est intéressant mixing up: Ce livre, il est intéressant - to describe a known thing use il/elle est + adjective, not c’est.
• Il y a trois chaise -> Il y a trois chaises - il y a is invariable, but the noun after it still takes its normal plural.
• Il y a pas un pain -> Il n’y a pas de pain - in the negative the article becomes de.
• C’est sont mes parents -> Ce sont mes parents - the plural of c’est is ce sont, not c’est sont.
• Elle est une bonne médecin -> C’est une bonne médecin - as soon as an article or an adjective joins the noun, use c’est.

Tips

• Two questions: What is this? (a label, a noun) -> c’est. What is he/she/it like, or what does he/she do? -> il/elle est.
• Article test: if there’s an article (un, une, le, mon…) before the noun, use c’est. No article before a profession -> il est.
• For a general opinion about a situation use c’est + adjective: C’est super ! C’est nul.
• il y a answers “What is there?” - it only places things in existence; it never replaces être.
• Say il n’y a pas de in the negative, whatever the number: Il n’y a pas de problème / de problèmes.
• To describe a specific person with an adjective, prefer il/elle est + adjective; save c’est + adjective for general ideas.

In short

The partitive article (du, de la, de l’, des) means “some” or “an unspecified amount” of something. Its key twist: after a quantity word or a negation, it collapses to a bare de (d’ before a vowel).

The rule

French marks the difference between a whole, countable thing and an undefined part or amount. Where English can just say “bread” or “some water”, French needs an article. Choose it by the gender/number of the noun and whether it starts with a vowel.

The partitive forms:

• du = de + le, for masculine nouns: Je mange du pain. (some bread)
• de la, for feminine nouns: Je bois de la limonade. (some lemonade)
• de l’, before any noun starting with a vowel or silent h: *Je bois **de l’**eau. Il boit **de l’*alcool.
• des = de + les, plural, for countable things you take several of: J’achète des pommes. (some apples)

Think of it as “an unmeasured portion”. You use it above all with food and drink, and with abstract nouns: avoir du courage, faire de la musique, écouter de la musique.

Partitive vs. definite vs. indefinite

Do not confuse the three article families (see Lesson 3):

• Definite (le, la, les) = the thing in general, or a specific one: J’aime le café. (coffee in general)
• Indefinite (un, une, des) = one whole countable unit: Je mange une pomme. (one apple)
• Partitive (du, de la, de l’) = some undefined amount: Je mange du gâteau. (some cake)

A useful test: verbs like aimer, adorer, détester, préférer express a general taste, so they take the definite article: J’aime le chocolat but Je mange du chocolat.

Quantity expressions: beaucoup de, un peu de, un kilo de

After an expression of quantity, the partitive drops its article and becomes plain de (or d’ before a vowel). The noun that follows carries no du/de la/des:

• beaucoup de (a lot of): beaucoup de travail, *beaucoup **d’*amis
• un peu de (a little): un peu de sucre
• assez de (enough): assez de temps
• trop de (too much/many): trop de bruit
• peu de (little/few): peu de gens
• Units of measure: un kilo de pommes, un litre de lait, *une bouteille **d’*eau, une tasse de café

So it is beaucoup de pain, never beaucoup du pain.

de after negation: pas de pain

In a negative sentence, du, de la, de l’, des all become de (d’ before a vowel). The idea: “zero of it”.

• Je mange du pain. -> Je ne mange pas de pain.
• Il y a de la place. -> Il n’y a pas de place.
• J’ai des amis ici. -> *Je n’ai **pas d’*amis ici.

One important exception: after être, the negation does not trigger de - the article stays: Ce n’est pas du vin, c’est du jus.

Forms & patterns

Contrast the three article families on the same noun:

Quantity words that all take bare de:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je mange le pain (meaning “some”) -> Je mange du pain - an undefined amount takes the partitive, not the definite.
• beaucoup du travail -> beaucoup de travail - after a quantity word the article disappears; use bare de.
• un kilo des pommes -> un kilo de pommes - measures always take de, never des.
• Je n’ai pas des amis -> Je n’ai pas d’amis - negation turns des into de/d’.
• Je bois de la eau -> Je bois de l’eau - before a vowel, de la elides to de l’.
• J’aime du café (general taste) -> J’aime le café - aimer expresses taste in general, so it takes the definite article.

Tips

• Ask “how much / some of it?” -> partitive (du, de la, de l’, des). Ask “which / in general?” -> definite (le, la, les).
• Any word of quantity (beaucoup, un peu, trop, un kilo…) is followed by plain de - memorise “quantity + de”.
• Negation flattens every partitive to de/d’: pas de, plus de, jamais de, pas d’.
• The big exception is être: Ce n’est pas du sucre keeps the article.
• Before a vowel or silent h, always elide: de l’eau, beaucoup d’amis, pas d’argent.
• Do not confuse partitive des (“some”) with the contraction des = de + les (la couleur des fleurs, see Lesson 4).

In short

A pronominal verb carries an extra reflexive pronoun that matches the subject: je me lave, tu te laves. The key rule: the pronoun sits right before the verb and changes with the subject, exactly like the ending does.

The rule

Many everyday French verbs - especially those about daily routine - come with a built-in pronoun. In the dictionary they show up with se in front: se laver (to wash oneself), se lever (to get up). This se is the infinitive form of the reflexive pronoun; in a real sentence you swap it for the pronoun that matches the subject.

The six reflexive pronouns:

• me, te, se shorten to m’, t’, s’ before a vowel or a mute h: *je **m’*appelle, *elle **s’*habille.
• The pronoun always goes directly before the conjugated verb: nous nous levons.
• The verb itself conjugates normally - se laver is a regular -er verb, so only the pronoun is “extra”.

Reflexive meaning - the action falls back on the subject. The subject does the action to itself: je me lave = I wash myself. Compare with the non-reflexive je lave la voiture (I wash the car - the action goes to something else).

Daily-routine verbs

These pronominal verbs are the backbone of describing a typical day:

• se lever (to get up): Je me lève à sept heures.
• se coucher (to go to bed): Ils se couchent tard.
• s’appeler (to be called): *Elle **s’*appelle Camille.
• se laver (to wash up): Nous nous lavons le matin.
• Also common: se réveiller (to wake up), s’habiller (to get dressed), se doucher (to shower), se dépêcher (to hurry), se reposer (to rest).

Note the spelling shift in s’appeler and se lever: some of these verbs double a consonant or add an accent grave in the “boot” forms (je m’appelle, je me lève) - see the table below.

Reciprocal use

With a plural subject (nous, vous, ils, elles), a pronominal verb can mean the people do the action to each other:

• Nous nous parlons tous les jours. - We talk to each other every day.
• Ils se regardent. - They look at each other.
• Vous vous aimez. - You love each other.

Context tells you whether it is reflexive (to oneself) or reciprocal (to each other). If needed, French adds l’un l’autre to force the reciprocal reading: ils s’aident l’un l’autre.

Negation

In the negative, ne goes before the pronoun and pas after the verb - the pronoun stays glued to the verb:

• Je ne me lève pas tôt. - I do not get up early.
• *Elle **ne s’*appelle pas Marie. - Her name is not Marie.

The compound past of these verbs (with être and agreement) is covered later - see Passé composé with être (and agreement).

Forms & patterns

se laver (regular -er pattern):

s’appeler (doubles the l) and se lever (adds è):

Note that nous and vous keep the simple stem (appelons, levons) - the doubling and the accent only appear in the other four forms.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je appelle Thomas -> Je m’appelle Thomas - the reflexive pronoun is not optional; without it the verb means “I call (someone)”.
• Je me lave les mains said as Je lave mes mains -> Je me lave les mains - French uses the reflexive + definite article, not a possessive, for body parts.
• Nous nous levons written nous levons -> nous nous levons - the nous pronoun looks repeated, but you truly need it twice (subject + reflexive).
• Elle se appelle -> Elle s’appelle - se must elide to s’ before a vowel.
• Je me lève pas (careful) -> Je ne me lève pas - in negation, ne comes before the pronoun, not before the verb only.
• Je me appelle -> Je m’appelle - me elides to m’ before a vowel.

Tips

• Learn each verb with its se: memorize “se lever”, never just “lever”.
• Match the pronoun to the subject, then conjugate the verb as usual - two separate steps.
• Elide me, te, se to m’, t’, s’ before a vowel or mute h: je m’habille, tu t’appelles.
• For daily routine, string them in order: je me réveille, je me lève, je me lave, je m’habille.
• With plural subjects, ask “to oneself” or “to each other?” - both are possible; context decides.
• Watch the stem-change verbs: je me lève and je m’appelle change in every form except nous and vous.

In short

To say something is going to happen, use the present of aller + an infinitive: Je vais manger = “I am going to eat”. The main verb never changes - only aller is conjugated.

The rule

The futur proche (“near future”) is the everyday way to talk about the future in spoken French. It mirrors English “to be going to do something” almost exactly, so it is easy to build: take the present tense of aller and follow it with a verb in its infinitive (the dictionary form: manger, partir, finir, être…).

The structure is always: subject + aller (conjugated) + infinitive.

aller (present) + infinitive

First you need aller in the present - it is irregular, so learn it well:

• Je vais travailler. - I am going to work.
• Tu vas dormir. - You are going to sleep.
• Il va arriver. - He is going to arrive.
• Nous allons partir. - We are going to leave.
• Vous allez comprendre. - You are going to understand.
• Elles vont chanter. - They are going to sing.

The infinitive stays in its base form no matter who the subject is: je vais parler, nous allons parler, ils vont parler.

Planned/near-future actions

Use the futur proche for things that are:

• About to happen: Attention, tu vas tomber ! - Careful, you are going to fall!
• Planned or intended: Ce soir, je vais regarder un film. - Tonight I am going to watch a movie.
• Near-term arrangements: Demain, nous allons visiter le musée. - Tomorrow we are going to visit the museum.

Time markers often go with it: maintenant (now), tout de suite (right away), bientôt (soon), ce soir (tonight), demain (tomorrow), la semaine prochaine (next week).

Note: with a pronominal verb (see Lesson 15), the reflexive pronoun matches the subject and sits right before the infinitive: Je vais me lever. - I am going to get up. Nous allons nous coucher. - We are going to go to bed.

Negation: ne va pas + infinitive

To make it negative, wrap ne … pas around the conjugated aller - not around the infinitive:

• Je ne vais pas sortir. - I am not going to go out.
• Il ne va pas venir. - He is not going to come.
• Nous n’allons pas attendre. - We are not going to wait.

The ne becomes n’ before the vowel of allons / allez (elision). Object and reflexive pronouns stay glued to the infinitive: Je ne vais pas me lever. - I am not going to get up.

Forms & patterns

Present of aller (the only part you conjugate):

Affirmative vs negative (note the ne … pas around aller only):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je vais mange -> Je vais manger - after aller you need the infinitive, not a conjugated form.
• Je vais à manger -> Je vais manger - no preposition between aller and the infinitive.
• Je vais suis parti -> Je vais partir - use one infinitive; do not stack another verb form.
• Je ne vais manger pas -> Je ne vais pas manger - ne … pas wraps the conjugated aller, so pas comes before the infinitive.
• Nous allons manger pronounced with a j-sound? -> nous allons - it is /alɔ̃/; do not confuse allons (aller) with a made-up form.
• Je va partir -> Je vais partir - the je form is vais, not va.

Tips

• Think English “going to”: if you can say “I am going to …”, French uses aller + infinitive.
• Only aller changes; the second verb is always the plain infinitive - one thing to conjugate.
• For the negative, keep ne … pas tight around aller: ne vais pas, ne va pas, n’allons pas.
• Remember elision: ne -> n’ before allons and allez (n’allons pas, n’allez pas).
• Reflexive and object pronouns go just before the infinitive: je vais le faire, je vais me laver.
• This is the go-to future in conversation; save the futur simple for more formal or distant plans.

In short

French expresses ability, wish and obligation with three “modal” verbs - pouvoir (can), vouloir (want) and devoir (must) - each conjugated and followed directly by an infinitive, plus the fixed expression il faut + infinitive for necessity. The key rule: conjugate only the modal, and leave the second verb in the infinitive.

The rule

French has no separate class of modal verbs like English “can/must/will”. Instead, three ordinary (but irregular) verbs carry modal meaning, and they use the same pattern as the near future (Lesson 16): a conjugated verb + a bare infinitive.

• pouvoir = can, to be able to, may (permission): Je peux venir. (I can come.)
• vouloir = to want to: Elle veut partir. (She wants to leave.)
• devoir = must, to have to: Nous devons travailler. (We must work.)

The infinitive never changes, whatever the subject: Je peux manger, tu peux manger, ils peuvent manger.

Negation wraps the conjugated modal, not the infinitive: Je ne peux pas venir. (see Lesson 10).

il faut + infinitive (obligation / necessity)

il faut is an impersonal expression (from the verb falloir). il is a dummy subject, like English “it” in “it is necessary” - it refers to no one. It exists only in the il form and is followed by an infinitive:

• Il faut manger pour vivre. (One must eat to live.)
• Il faut faire attention. (You have to be careful.)

Because it is impersonal, il faut gives a general obligation (“one must / you have to”), while devoir attaches the obligation to a specific person. Negation: Il ne faut pas fumer ici. (You must not smoke here.)

Polite requests as set phrases: je voudrais, pourriez-vous

The plain present of vouloir and pouvoir can sound blunt. In real life the conditional forms are used as ready-made polite formulas - learn them as fixed phrases now; the tense itself comes in Lesson 34.

• je voudrais = I would like: Je voudrais un café. / Je voudrais réserver une table.
• pourriez-vous = could you: Pourriez-vous m’aider ? (Could you help me?)
• est-ce que vous pourriez = could you (softer): Est-ce que vous pourriez répéter ?

Compare: Je veux un café (I want a coffee - blunt) vs Je voudrais un café (I’d like a coffee - polite).

A2 value-add: devoir = obligation vs probability; conditionnel de politesse

• devoir = obligation: Tu dois payer maintenant. (You must pay now.)
• devoir = probability / supposition: the same verb also means “must be / is probably”: Il doit être malade. (He must be ill - I suppose.) Elle doit avoir trente ans. (She’s probably thirty.) Context tells the two apart.
• conditionnel de politesse: the conditional softens any modal, not just requests. Vous devriez vous reposer. (You should rest - advice, gentler than vous devez.) Tu pourrais faire un effort. (You could make an effort.)

Forms & patterns

Present tense of the three modals (all irregular):

Note: je/tu peux and je/tu veux end in -x, not -s; je/tu dois ends in -s.

Impersonal falloir - only one form exists:

Polite fixed forms (conditional - memorize as phrases):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je peux à venir -> Je peux venir - no preposition before the infinitive after a modal.
• Je veux venant -> Je veux venir - the second verb stays an infinitive, never a participle.
• Je peux aide -> Je peux aider - conjugate only the modal; the other verb is an infinitive.
• Il faut je parte -> Il faut partir (or Il faut que je parte with the subjunctive, Lesson 38) - il faut + infinitive needs no subject.
• Ils faut travailler -> Il faut travailler - falloir is impersonal; the subject is always il.
• Je veux un café (to a waiter) -> Je voudrais un café - use the polite conditional in requests.

Tips

• One pattern to remember: conjugated modal + infinitive, exactly like aller + infinitive in the near future.
• Watch the endings: peux, veux take -x; dois takes -s. All three keep a change in the nous/vous/ils stem (pouvons/pouvez/peuvent).
• Il faut is the easiest way to say “you have to / one must” without choosing a subject - very common in instructions and signs.
• Default to je voudrais and pourriez-vous whenever you ask for something; je veux and pouvez-vous can sound demanding.
• Devoir means both “must (do)” and “must (be) = is probably” - let context decide.
• For gentle advice, reach for vous devriez / tu devrais (“you should”) rather than the flat vous devez.

In short

The imperative gives orders, instructions, advice and invitations: Parle!, Écoutons!, Venez! It exists in only three persons - tu, nous, vous - and you build it by taking the present-tense form and dropping the subject pronoun.

The rule

The imperative is the mood of commands and requests. Because you are speaking directly to someone (or including yourself), it uses only three persons and no subject pronoun appears in front of the verb.

The three forms - tu / nous / vous:

• tu -> a command to one person you address informally: Mange ta soupe.
• nous -> a suggestion including yourself, “let’s…”: Partons maintenant.
• vous -> a command to one person (polite) or several people: Fermez la porte.

To form them, start from the present tense (Lesson 6, 7, 12) and simply remove the pronoun:

• tu regardes -> Regarde!
• nous regardons -> Regardons!
• vous regardez -> Regardez!

-er verbs drop the -s (parle!)

For -er verbs (and for verbs whose tu form ends in -es, plus aller and ouvrir/offrir-type verbs), the tu form loses its final -s:

• tu parles -> Parle! (not parles)
• tu manges -> Mange!
• tu vas -> Va!
• tu ouvres -> Ouvre!

Note: nous and vous forms keep their endings unchanged - only the tu form of these verbs drops the -s. The -s comes back for liaison before y and en: Vas-y!, Manges-en!

Irregulars: sois, aie, sache

Four verbs do not use the present tense - they borrow the subjunctive stem. Learn them by heart:

• être -> sois, soyons, soyez (Sois sage! - Be good!)
• avoir -> aie, ayons, ayez (Aie confiance! - Have confidence!)
• savoir -> sache, sachons, sachez (Sachez que… - Know that…)
• vouloir -> veuille, veuillons, veuillez (Veuillez patienter. - Please wait - very polite)

Pronoun placement (positive vs negative preview)

When the command has an object or reflexive pronoun, its position depends on whether the command is affirmative or negative:

• Affirmative: the pronoun comes after the verb, joined by a hyphen. me and te become moi/toi: Regarde-moi!, Donne-le-lui., Lève-toi!
• Negative: the pronoun goes before the verb, in its normal place: Ne me regarde pas., Ne le lui donne pas., Ne te lève pas.

Full detail on object pronouns is in Lesson 23; this is just the preview.

Forms & patterns

Regular verbs - one from each group:

The four irregular verbs:

Pronominal (reflexive) verbs - note the affirmative/negative shift:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Tu parle plus fort -> Parle plus fort - the imperative drops the subject pronoun tu.
• Parles! -> Parle! - -er verbs lose the final -s in the tu form.
• Va-y! -> Vas-y! - the -s returns for liaison before y and en.
• Sois pas triste -> Ne sois pas triste - a negative command still needs ne…pas around the verb.
• Lève-te! -> Lève-toi! - in an affirmative command te becomes toi.
• Regarde-me! -> Regarde-moi! - likewise me becomes moi after an affirmative imperative.

Tips

• Build any regular imperative from the present tense, then delete the subject pronoun - that is the whole trick.
• The -s only disappears in the tu form of -er verbs (and aller, ouvrir…); nous and vous never lose their endings.
• Memorize the four irregulars as a set: sois / aie / sache / veuille - they come from the subjunctive, not the present.
• Affirmative -> pronoun after with a hyphen (me/te -> moi/toi); negative -> pronoun before, everything back to normal.
• Veuillez + infinitive is the polite everyday formula on signs and requests: Veuillez patienter.
• Say it out loud with the exclamation - the imperative is about tone as much as form.

In short

Stressed (tonic) pronouns - moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles - refer to people but stand apart from the verb. Use them after prepositions (avec moi), for emphasis, and after c’est (c’est moi).

The rule

Subject pronouns (je, tu, il…) glue to the verb and cannot stand alone. When you need a pronoun that is not the subject glued to a verb - after a preposition, alone, or for stress - French uses a separate stressed form. English mostly uses one word (“me”, “him”) for all of these.

Each subject pronoun has a matching stressed form:

• je -> moi
• tu -> toi
• il -> lui
• elle -> elle
• nous -> nous
• vous -> vous
• ils -> eux
• elles -> elles

Note that elle, nous, vous, elles look the same as their subject forms; only moi, toi, lui, eux are new shapes.

After prepositions

A pronoun after a preposition is always the stressed form - never the subject form.

• chez + person: chez moi (at my place), chez eux (at their place)
• avec / sans: avec lui (with him), sans toi (without you)
• pour: C’est un cadeau pour elle. (a gift for her)
• de: Il parle de nous. (he’s talking about us)
• à (with certain verbs like penser à, tenir à): Je pense à toi. (I’m thinking of you)

Emphasis and c’est

Stressed pronouns spotlight a person. French cannot stress a subject pronoun by voice alone, so it adds a stressed pronoun:

• Doubling the subject: Moi, je préfère le thé. (Me, I prefer tea.)
• After c’est / ce sont: C’est moi. (It’s me.) C’est lui qui a payé. (He’s the one who paid.) Use ce sont with eux / elles: Ce sont eux.
• Alone as an answer: Qui veut du café? - Moi! (Who wants coffee? - Me!)
• In comparisons: Il est plus grand que moi. (He is taller than me.)
• With -même for “-self”: Je le fais moi-même. (I do it myself.)
• In compound subjects: Toi et moi, nous partons. (You and I are leaving.)

Forms & patterns

Reinforced “-self” forms (-même(s)):

Examples

Common mistakes

• avec je -> avec moi - after a preposition you must use the stressed form, never the subject form.
• chez il -> chez lui - il can never follow a preposition; the stressed form of il is lui.
• C’est je -> C’est moi - after c’est use the stressed pronoun.
• C’est eux -> Ce sont eux - in careful French, plural eux / elles takes ce sont.
• pour ils -> pour eux - the stressed form of ils is eux, not ils or leurs.
• plus grand que je -> plus grand que moi - after que in a comparison, use the stressed form.

Tips

• Only four forms are genuinely new: moi, toi, lui, eux. The rest (elle, nous, vous, elles) copy the subject form.
• Ask yourself: is the pronoun glued to a verb as its subject? If not (preposition, alone, after c’est, in a comparison), use the stressed form.
• lui is the stressed form for he/him; the feminine “her” stays elle.
• eux is masculine/mixed “them”; elles is all-feminine “them”.
• To say “myself, yourself…”, add -même(s) to the stressed pronoun: lui-même, eux-mêmes.
• Don’t confuse stressed lui (after prepositions) with object lui “to him/her” (Lesson 23) - same spelling, different job.

In short

The passé composé is the everyday French past tense for completed actions (“I ate”, “I have eaten”). It is built from two parts: a present-tense auxiliary plus a past participle. Most verbs use avoir as the auxiliary: j’ai mangé.

The rule

The passé composé is a compound tense: avoir (present) + past participle. The auxiliary carries the person and number; the past participle carries the meaning.

• J’ai parlé à Marie. - I spoke / I have spoken to Marie.
• Nous avons fini le travail. - We finished the work.
• Ils ont vu le film. - They saw the film.

One French form covers three English pasts: j’ai mangé = “I ate”, “I have eaten”, and “I did eat”.

Negation wraps the auxiliary, not the participle: Je n’ai pas compris. - I did not understand. Object pronouns also go before the auxiliary: Je l’ai vu. - I saw it/him.

avoir (present) + past participle

You already know avoir in the present (Lesson 7). Put it in front of the participle and you have the tense. The auxiliary is what changes with the subject; the participle usually stays the same (see the agreement section below).

• tu as attendu, elle a dormi, vous avez répondu

Regular participles (-é, -i, -u)

Past participles follow the verb group:

• -er verbs -> -é: parler -> parlé, manger -> mangé, aimer -> aimé
• -ir verbs (regular) -> -i: finir -> fini, choisir -> choisi, dormir -> dormi
• -re verbs (regular) -> -u: vendre -> vendu, attendre -> attendu, répondre -> répondu

Common irregular participles

Many high-frequency verbs have irregular participles - learn them one by one:

• avoir -> eu, être -> été, faire -> fait, prendre -> pris
• voir -> vu, boire -> bu, lire -> lu, croire -> cru
• vouloir -> voulu, pouvoir -> pu, devoir -> dû, savoir -> su
• mettre -> mis, dire -> dit, écrire -> écrit, ouvrir -> ouvert
• connaître -> connu, recevoir -> reçu, vivre -> vécu, pleuvoir -> plu

No agreement with avoir - EXCEPT with a preceding direct object (B1)

With avoir, the past participle normally does not agree with the subject:

• Elle a mangé une pomme. (not mangée) - the subject elle triggers nothing.
• Ils ont acheté des fleurs. (not achetés)

The B1 refinement: the participle agrees in gender and number with a direct object that comes BEFORE the verb (le complément d’objet direct antéposé). The object usually appears before the verb in three cases:

• A relative clause with que: les fleurs que j’ai achetées (fleurs = feminine plural)
• A preceding object pronoun (le, la, les): Ces lettres, je les ai écrites.
• A question with quel / combien de: Quelle robe as-tu choisie ?

If the direct object comes after the verb, there is no agreement: J’ai acheté des fleurs. The trigger is strictly a direct object placed before the verb - an indirect object never causes agreement: les amis à qui j’ai parlé (no agreement, parler à is indirect).

Forms & patterns

Auxiliary avoir + participle (regular verbs, one from each group):

Preceding-COD agreement (participle endings, avoir verbs):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je suis mangé -> J’ai mangé - most verbs take avoir, not être.
• J’ai manger -> J’ai mangé - the participle ends in -é, never the infinitive -er.
• Elle a mangée une pomme -> Elle a mangé une pomme - no agreement with the subject under avoir.
• Les fleurs que j’ai acheté -> Les fleurs que j’ai achetées - a preceding direct object triggers agreement.
• J’ai pas vu (careful in writing) -> Je n’ai pas vu - keep the ne around the auxiliary.
• J’ai le vu -> Je l’ai vu - the object pronoun goes before the auxiliary, not the participle.

Tips

• Two-step build: pick avoir for the subject, then add the participle. The subject only changes avoir.
• Memorize irregular participles in small batches; the top ten (eu, été, fait, pris, vu, bu, lu, mis, dit, pu) cover most conversation.
• Default to no agreement with avoir. Only ask about agreement when you spot que, a le/la/les pronoun, or quel/combien before the verb.
• Agreement is mostly silent: lu / lue / lus all sound the same; it matters most in writing. But écrit -> écrite and fait -> faite do change the sound.
• Only a direct object triggers agreement - if the verb needs à (parler à, répondre à), there is no agreement.
• Time markers like hier, ce matin, l’année dernière signal a completed action and the passé composé.

In short

A small group of verbs (mostly about movement and change of state) plus all pronominal verbs form the passé composé with être, not avoir. When the auxiliary is être, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number: elle est allée, ils sont partis.

The rule

The passé composé has two auxiliaries. Most verbs take avoir (Lesson 20), but two families take être:

• a fixed list of intransitive verbs of motion and change of state,
• all pronominal (reflexive) verbs.

The structure is the same as before: subject + present of être + past participle.

Je suis allé. / Nous sommes venus. / Elle est restée.

être verbs (DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP)

About a dozen and a half verbs (plus their compounds) use être. Two classic mnemonics collect them:

• DR MRS VANDERTRAMP - each letter is one verb.
• Or picture a house of être (la maison d’être): you go up, down, in, out, are born, die, and so on.

Their compounds go the same way: repartir, redescendre, parvenir, etc.

Careful - some of these can also take avoir. Monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, passer and retourner switch to avoir when they take a direct object (they become transitive), and the meaning shifts:

• Elle est sortie. (She went out.) -> Elle a sorti le chien. (She took the dog out.)
• Il est monté. (He went up.) -> Il a monté les valises. (He carried the suitcases up.)

Past participle agrees with the subject

With être, the past participle behaves like an adjective and agrees with the subject:

• masculine singular: no ending - il est parti
• feminine singular: add -e - elle est partie
• masculine plural: add -s - ils sont partis
• feminine plural: add -es - elles sont parties

With a mixed group, the masculine plural wins: Marie et Paul sont arrivés. Note that with vous the agreement follows the real person(s): polite singular feminine -> Vous êtes venue, madame.

Pronominal verbs in the passé composé - always être

Every pronominal verb (se laver, se lever, s’appeler, se souvenir…) uses être. The reflexive pronoun sits before the auxiliary:

*Je me suis levé. Elle **s’*est habillée. Nous nous sommes couchés.

Agreement here is subtler: the participle agrees with the preceding reflexive pronoun when it is the direct object (which is the usual case):

• Elle s’est lavée. (She washed herself - se = direct object -> agreement.)

But if a direct object follows the verb, or the reflexive pronoun is the indirect object, there is no agreement:

• Elle s’est lavé les mains. (No agreement: les mains is the direct object, se is indirect.)
• Elles se sont parlé. (No agreement: parler à - se is indirect.)

In negatives, ne…pas wraps the pronoun and auxiliary: Il ne s’est pas rasé. / Nous ne sommes pas partis.

Forms & patterns

être verb - aller (to go):

Agreement endings of the participle:

Pronominal verb - se lever (to get up):

Examples

Common mistakes

• Elle a allé au marché -> Elle est allée au marché - aller is an être verb, and the participle agrees.
• Elle est allé -> Elle est allée - with être, a feminine subject adds -e.
• Ils sont venu -> Ils sont venus - a plural subject needs -s.
• Je me suis lavé les mains (adding -e for a woman) -> Je me suis lavé les mains - no agreement when a direct object (les mains) follows.
• Elle s’a levée -> Elle s’est levée - pronominal verbs always take être, never avoir.
• Il est sorti le chien -> Il a sorti le chien - with a direct object, sortir becomes transitive and takes avoir.

Tips

• Learn the être list as a block (DR MRS VANDERTRAMP or the house of être); everything else takes avoir.
• Quick test for the switchers: is there a direct object right after the verb? Yes -> avoir; no -> être.
• Treat the être participle like an adjective: match it to the subject the way you match content / contente / contents / contentes.
• On is masculine singular by default (on est parti), but many writers agree it with the real people it stands for: on est parties.
• For pronominal verbs, ask “does a direct object follow?” If yes, no agreement; if not, agree with the reflexive pronoun.
• Say the feminine forms aloud: -e and -es are silent, but née / venue still cue you to write the ending.

In short

The imparfait is a past tense for description, habits, and ongoing background. To build it, take the nous form of the present, drop -ons, and add one set of endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

The rule

The imparfait tells you what things were like or what used to happen, without focusing on a single completed event. Where the passé composé reports finished actions (see Lesson 20), the imparfait sets the scene around them.

Formation - nous-stem + endings. The stem is regular for almost every verb:

• Take the present-tense nous form: nous parlons, nous finissons, nous prenons.
• Drop the -ons ending -> stem: parl-, finiss-, pren-.
• Add the imparfait endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

This works even for verbs that are irregular in the present. Because you start from nous, spelling quirks carry over automatically: nous mangeons -> je mangeais; nous commençons -> je commençais (the e and ç keep the soft sound before -a).

être -> ét- stem. Only one verb has an irregular stem. Être does not follow the nous-rule (nous sommes would give the wrong stem), so it uses ét-: j’étais, tu étais, il était, nous étions, vous étiez, ils étaient. All the endings are the normal ones.

Uses. Choose the imparfait when you mean one of these:

• Description in the past (people, places, weather, feelings): Il faisait beau et le ciel était bleu.
• Habit / repeated action (“used to”, “would”): Quand j’étais petit, je jouais au foot tous les jours.
• Background / setting around another event: Elle dormait quand le téléphone a sonné.
• Ongoing action with no clear start or end: Nous regardions un film.

Typical trigger words: souvent, toujours, tous les jours, d’habitude, chaque, pendant que, quand (for a background action).

Forms & patterns

The endings are identical for every verb, including être:

Regular verbs on their nous-stem:

être (irregular stem ét-), plus two spelling-change verbs:

Note: the -ge- and -ç- only appear before endings starting with a - so nous mangions and nous commencions drop them.

Examples

Common mistakes

• je étais -> j’étais - elide je before a vowel.
• je finais -> je finissais - the stem comes from nous finissons, so keep the -iss-.
• nous mangeions -> nous mangions - drop the extra e before endings that start with i.
• il etait -> il était - être uses the ét- stem, and needs its accent.
• j’ai joué au foot tous les jours (for a childhood habit) -> je jouais au foot tous les jours - a repeated past habit is imparfait, not passé composé.
• ils parlait -> ils parlaient - the ils/elles ending is -aient, not -ait.

Tips

• One stem, one set of endings, one exception (être): the imparfait is the most regular French past tense.
• If you can say “was/were …-ing” or “used to” in English, French almost always wants the imparfait.
• The je/tu/il and ils endings sound the same out loud (-ais/-ait/-aient all like “eh”) - the difference is only in writing.
• Build the stem from nous, never from the infinitive: that is what saves you on faire -> faisais, écrire -> écrivais, boire -> buvais.
• Watch the nous/vous forms of -ier, -yer and -gn- verbs: they double up as -iions/-iiez or add -yi- (nous étudiions, vous payiez).
• Description and setting = imparfait; the single event that interrupts it = passé composé. Lesson 32 drills the contrast.

In short

Object pronouns replace a noun already mentioned so you do not repeat it: direct (COD) answers who/what?, indirect (COI) answers to whom?. In French they go before the verb - Je le vois (I see him), Je lui parle (I speak to him).

The rule

English keeps the object after the verb (I see her, I call them). French does the opposite: the pronoun jumps in front of the conjugated verb. The first job is to tell a direct object from an indirect one.

Direct object (COD) - the verb acts on the noun with no preposition: Je vois Marie -> Je la vois. Ask voir qui/quoi? (see who/what?).

Indirect object (COI) - the verb links to a person through the preposition à: Je parle à Marie -> Je lui parle. Ask parler à qui? (speak to whom?). COI pronouns replace à + a person.

Direct object (COD): me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les

• me (me), te (you), le (him/it, masc.), la (her/it, fem.), nous (us), vous (you), les (them).
• Tu me regardes. (You look at me.)
• Elle le connait. (She knows him.) - le replaces a masculine noun.
• Je les achète. (I buy them.)
• Elision: me, te, le, la drop the vowel before a vowel or mute h: *Il **m’*aime, *Je **l’*invite, *On **t’*écoute.

Indirect object (COI): me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur

• me (to me), te (to you), lui (to him/to her - same form for both), nous (to us), vous (to you), leur (to them).
• Je lui téléphone. (I phone him or her.)
• Nous leur écrivons. (We write to them.)
• Common à-verbs: parler à, téléphoner à, écrire à, répondre à, donner à, dire à, demander à, offrir à, plaire à.
• Note: lui and leur never elide (both start with a consonant sound).

Position: conjugated verb, infinitive, imperative

• Before the conjugated verb (the default): Je te comprends. In the negative, the pronoun stays glued to the verb: Je ne le vois pas.
• Passé composé: the pronoun sits before the auxiliary: *Je **l’*ai vu. With a COD, the past participle agrees with it: Les clés? Je les ai perdues. (COI never triggers agreement.)
• With an infinitive: the pronoun goes before the verb it belongs to - usually the infinitive: Je vais le faire. Tu peux lui parler.
• Affirmative imperative: the pronoun comes after the verb, joined by a hyphen, and me/te become moi/toi: Regarde-moi!, Donne-lui le livre!, Appelle-les!
• Negative imperative: back to the normal spot, before the verb: Ne me regarde pas!, Ne leur parle pas!

Forms & patterns

Only the third person differs: COD le / la / les vs COI lui / leur.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je vois le -> Je le vois - the pronoun goes before the verb, not after.
• Je parle le (for a person) -> Je lui parle - parler à takes a COI, so use lui, not le.
• Je le donne le livre -> Je lui donne le livre - donner à quelqu’un is indirect; the person is lui.
• Regarde-me! -> Regarde-moi! - in the affirmative imperative me becomes moi.
• Je les ai vu (for feminine) -> Je les ai vues - the past participle agrees with a preceding COD.
• Je le aime -> Je l’aime - elide le/la before a vowel.

Tips

• Test the verb: no preposition = COD (le/la/les); à + person = COI (lui/leur).
• lui covers both him and her - context tells you which. leur here means to them and never takes an -s.
• With two verbs, attach the pronoun to the one it logically completes - almost always the infinitive: Je dois les finir.
• In the passé composé, listen for agreement: *Je **l’*ai prise (fem.) vs *Je **l’*ai pris (masc.).
• Watch verbs that differ from English: téléphoner à, répondre à, plaire à are indirect; regarder, écouter, attendre, chercher are direct (no preposition).
• Only the affirmative imperative moves the pronoun after the verb; everything else keeps it before.

In short

y and en are two little pronouns that replace whole phrases so you do not repeat them. Use y for a place or an à + thing phrase, and en for a de + thing phrase or a quantity.

The rule

Both pronouns sit before the verb (like the object pronouns in Lesson 23), and both let you avoid repeating a noun already mentioned. Choose between them by the preposition the original phrase uses: à -> y, de -> en.

y = place / à + thing

Use y for a location - it replaces a place introduced by almost any preposition (à, en, dans, sur, sous, chez…). It answers the question where?

• Je vais à Paris. -> J’y vais. (I’m going there.)
• Elle habite en France. -> Elle y habite.
• Les clés sont sur la table. -> Elles y sont.

Use y for à + a thing or idea - it replaces à + noun when that noun is not a person.

• Je pense à mon travail. -> J’y pense. (I’m thinking about it.)
• Tu joues au tennis? -> Tu y joues?
• Nous réfléchissons à ce problème. -> Nous y réfléchissons.

Note: for à + a person, use an indirect object pronoun instead (Je pense à Marie -> Je pense à elle, a stressed pronoun; see Lessons 19 and 23), not y.

en = de + thing / quantity

Use en for de + a thing - it replaces de + noun (place of origin, or a verb built with de), when the noun is not a person.

• Je viens de Lyon. -> J’en viens. (I come from there.)
• Il parle de son projet. -> Il en parle. (He’s talking about it.)
• Nous avons besoin de repos. -> Nous en avons besoin.

Use en for a quantity - it replaces a noun introduced by a partitive (du, de la, des), by an indefinite article (un, une, des), or by a number / expression of quantity. The quantity word stays at the end.

• Je bois du café. -> J’en bois. (I drink some.)
• Tu veux des pommes? -> Tu en veux?
• Il a trois voitures. -> Il en a trois. (keep the number!)
• Elle mange beaucoup de légumes. -> Elle en mange beaucoup.
• J’ai une soeur. -> J’en ai une. (keep un/une)

Position; combination with other pronouns (preview)

Both y and en go directly before the conjugated verb, or before the infinitive in a two-verb group. In the affirmative imperative they come after the verb, joined by a hyphen.

• Before the verb: J’y pense. Nous en avons.
• With a negation: Je n’y vais pas. Il n’en veut plus.
• With an infinitive: Je vais y aller. Tu peux en prendre.
• Imperative (affirmative): Vas-y! Prends-en! (note the added -s on va -> vas before y/en for liaison; prends already ends in -s, so nothing is added).
• Imperative (negative): N’y va pas. N’en prends pas.

When y or en combine with another pronoun, they always come last, and their order is y before en (the memory phrase il y en a keeps them in order). Full double-pronoun order is covered in Lesson 40.

• Il y en a trois. (There are three of them.)
• Donne-m’en. (Give me some.)
• Je l’y retrouve. (I meet him there.)

Forms & patterns

y and en never change form (no gender, no number). What changes is where they sit around the verb.

Choosing between them by preposition:

Examples

Common mistakes

• Je pense à lui -> J’y pense (about a person) -> Je pense à lui - for à + a person keep a stressed pronoun, not y.
• J’en ai. (for “I have three”) -> J’en ai trois - with a number or quantity word, en replaces the noun but the quantity word stays.
• Je vais y. -> J’y vais / Je vais y aller - y/en cannot end a clause alone; they lean on a following verb.
• Va-y! -> Vas-y! - add the liaison -s to va before y/en in the affirmative imperative (verbs already ending in -s, like prends -> prends-en, need nothing extra).
• Je y vais -> J’y vais - elide je before y (j’y); do not leave je y.
• Il en y a -> Il y en a - the order is always y before en, never the reverse.

Tips

• Ask which preposition the full phrase uses: à / a place -> y; de / a quantity -> en. That one question settles almost every case.
• en always shows up with quantities: un, deux, beaucoup, un peu, assez - and the quantity word stays at the end.
• For people, switch off y/en: use an indirect pronoun or a stressed pronoun (Lessons 23, 19).
• Both pronouns sit right before the verb they belong to - including before an infinitive: Je vais y penser, Tu dois en acheter.
• Memorise the ready-made chunks: il y a -> il y en a, vas-y, j’en ai marre, je m’en vais.
• In the affirmative imperative only, y/en move after the verb with a hyphen; a negative imperative puts them back in front: Prends-en! / N’en prends pas!

In short

The futur simple is French’s main future tense (English “will…”). For almost every verb, take the infinitive as the stem and add one set of endings - -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont - the same for all three verb groups.

The rule

The futur simple is a one-word tense (no helper verb). The magic is that the stem always ends in -r, and the endings are the present tense of avoir squeezed on: j’ai, tu as, il a… -> -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.

Build the stem from the infinitive:

• -er verbs: keep the whole infinitive -> parler -> parler- -> je parlerai (I will speak).
• -ir verbs: keep the whole infinitive -> finir -> finir- -> tu finiras (you will finish).
• -re verbs: drop the final -e -> prendre -> prendr- -> elle prendra (she will take).

Then add the endings to everyone: -ai / -as / -a / -ons / -ez / -ont. Notice all six forms keep the -r of the stem, which is what makes the tense sound like the future.

Irregular stems

A handful of common verbs use a special stem, but they take the exact same endings. You must memorise the stem; the endings never change.

• aller -> ir- : j’irai (I will go)
• être -> ser- : tu seras (you will be)
• avoir -> aur- : il aura (he will have)
• faire -> fer- : nous ferons (we will do/make)

Other high-frequency irregular stems worth learning now: venir -> viendr-, voir -> verr-, pouvoir -> pourr-, vouloir -> voudr-, devoir -> devr-, savoir -> saur-, envoyer -> enverr-, falloir -> il faudra.

Spelling-change -er verbs adjust their stem too: acheter -> achèter- (j’achèterai), appeler -> appeller- (j’appellerai), payer -> paier- / payer-. The accent or doubled consonant appears in every person, unlike the present tense.

Futur simple vs futur proche

Both talk about the future, and in speech they often overlap. The practical split:

• Futur proche (aller + infinitive, Lesson 16): near, planned, or certain events, and conversational speech. Je vais partir demain. (I’m going to leave tomorrow.)
• Futur simple: more distant, formal, hypothetical, or “official” statements - schedules, predictions, promises, and after si + present in the main clause. Un jour, je partirai vivre au Canada. (One day I will go and live in Canada.)

Rule of thumb: futur proche = “going to” (immediate intention); futur simple = “will” (prediction, promise, timetable). Both are correct; the futur simple is more common in writing.

Forms & patterns

Regular stems + shared endings:

The four core irregular stems (same endings):

More irregular stems to recognise:

Examples

Common mistakes

• je finirai said as je vais finir for a timetable -> use je finirai - schedules and predictions prefer the futur simple.
• j’allerai -> j’irai - aller has the irregular stem ir-, never aller-.
• je serai / je aurai run together -> je serai, j’aurai - avoir elides (j’aurai), être does not (je serai).
• nous prendrons written nous prenderons -> nous prendrons - -re verbs drop only the final -e, keep no extra.
• quand je serai grand, je suis… -> quand je serai grand, je serai… - after quand about the future, French uses the futur simple in both clauses, unlike English.
• si j’aurai le temps -> si j’ai le temps - never use the futur simple after si (condition); keep the present there.

Tips

• The stem always ends in -r: if your future form has no -r before the ending, it is wrong.
• Endings = present of avoir (-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont); learn them once and they work for every verb.
• Only the stem can be irregular; the endings are 100% regular, always.
• After quand, lorsque, dès que, aussitôt que referring to the future, use the futur simple (English uses the present here).
• After si meaning “if” (a condition), use the present, never the future: Si tu viens, je serai content.
• In conversation, reach for futur proche for near plans; save the futur simple for predictions, promises, and writing.

In short

To compare, French wraps the adjective (or adverb) in plus / moins / aussi … que - more / less / as … than/as. For the superlative (the most / the least), add the definite article: le/la/les plus or le/la/les moins. Watch two irregulars: bon -> meilleur and bien -> mieux.

The rule

A comparison in French always uses the frame [plus / moins / aussi] + adjective + que + [the thing you compare to]. The adjective still agrees in gender and number with its noun; que introduces the second element. If there is no second element, you simply drop que.

plus / moins / aussi … que

Three degrees, one pattern:

• plus … que = more … than (superiority): Marie est plus grande que Paul.
• moins … que = less … than (inferiority): Ce livre est moins cher que l’autre.
• aussi … que = as … as (equality): Il est aussi fort que son frère.

The same frame works with adverbs: Elle court plus vite que moi. After que, use a stressed pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle…), not a subject pronoun (see Lesson 19): plus grand que moi, never que je.

To compare quantities of a noun, use plus de / moins de / autant de + noun: J’ai plus de travail que toi. (Note it is autant de, not aussi de, for nouns.)

Superlative: le plus / le moins

The superlative singles out the top or bottom of a group. Take the comparative and add the definite article that matches the noun:

• le/la/les plus + adjective = the most / the …-est
• le/la/les moins + adjective = the least

C’est la plus grande ville de France. - It is the biggest city in France.

Position matters. If the adjective normally comes before the noun (grand, petit, jeune, beau, bon…), the superlative can sit before too: le plus grand pays. If the adjective normally comes after the noun, the article is repeated: la ville la plus intelligente, le film le plus intéressant. After a superlative, in a group is expressed with de, not dans: le meilleur élève de la classe.

For adverbs there is only one form, always with le: C’est lui qui parle le plus vite.

Irregulars: bon -> meilleur, bien -> mieux

Two everyday words break the pattern - do not say plus bon or plus bien.

• bon (adjective, good) -> comparative meilleur (better), superlative le meilleur (the best). It agrees: meilleure, meilleurs, meilleures. Ce vin est meilleur que l’autre. / C’est le meilleur restaurant de la ville.
• bien (adverb, well) -> comparative mieux (better), superlative le mieux (the best). It is invariable. Elle chante mieux que moi. / C’est lui qui joue le mieux.

The trap is choosing between them: meilleur describes a noun (it is an adjective, like bon); mieux modifies a verb (it is an adverb, like bien). Un meilleur café but Je vais mieux. Note also mauvais -> plus mauvais or pire (worse); plus mauvais is fine, pire is a touch more formal.

Forms & patterns

Comparative frame (adjective agrees; que is optional if there is no second term):

Superlative frame (article agrees with the noun):

Irregular bon / bien:

Examples

Common mistakes

• plus bon que -> meilleur que - bon has no plus form; its comparative is meilleur.
• plus bien que -> mieux que - the adverb bien becomes mieux, never plus bien.
• Je chante meilleur que toi -> Je chante mieux que toi - modifying a verb needs the adverb mieux, not the adjective meilleur.
• aussi de livres -> autant de livres - equal quantity of a noun uses autant de, not aussi de.
• plus grand que je -> plus grand que moi - after que use a stressed pronoun (moi), not a subject pronoun.
• la ville plus grande de France -> la ville la plus grande de France - a post-noun superlative repeats the article: la … la plus.
• le meilleur élève dans la classe -> le meilleur élève de la classe - after a superlative, “in a group” is de, not dans.