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1. Demonstrative Adjectives
Feminine form: Cette (this, that)
o Ex: Cette porte
Masculine form: Ce (this, that)
o Ex: Ce concierge
Masculine form before a vowel sound: Cet (this, that)
o Ex: Cet exercice
Plural form: Ces (these, those)
o Ex: Ces tasses
There is a special form only before a masculine singular noun which begins with a vowel sound. The feminine
singular form cette is used before all feminine singular nouns whether they begin with a consonant or with voew
sound.
o Ex: Cette idée, Cette dame
The plural form ces is used before all plural nouns whether they are masculine or feminine or whether they
begin with consonant or a vowel sound
o Ex: Ces étudiants; ces crayons
A noun starting with a vowel sound has first later as a vowel or h. H is not pronounced in french
Devoir is followed by another verb in the infinitive when it translate as I must, I have to or I am supposed to
o Ex: Nous devons finir cette lec(5)on. = we must finish this lesson. we have to finish this lesson.
o Ex: Marc doit venir a\ sept heures. Marc is supposed to come at seven o'clock.
In a negative sentence, ne is placed before devoir and pas right after.
o Ex: Tu ne dois pas rester ici. You musn't stay here.
en auto
en autobus a\ pied
en avion a\ bicyclette
en métro
en train
En is used when you can sit in a vehicle (car, bus, plane, subway, train); a\ is used when you cannot (bicycle,
foot)
In french, aller must be used in the following examples. There is no other way to translate.
o Je vais \a Ottowa en avion
o Il va bureau en auto
The preposition A
The preposition \a is used to introduce an indirect grammatical object
o Ex: Je parle a Pierre; I am talking to Pierre
o Only certain verbs have indirect objects. The list of these verbs must be learned each time. The following
verbs take an indirect object
Apporter a Montrer a
Demander a Offrir a
Dire a Parler
Ecrire a
Lancer a
In a negative sentence, ne is placed not only before the verb, but also before the object pronoun.
Ex: Je ne leur parle pas. = I am not talking to them
REMINDER: In the case of the verbal expression être à (to belong to) even though the noun is introduced by à, it
is not replaced by an indirect object pronoun but instead by a disjunctive pronoun.
Ex: Ce livre est à Marie?
Oui, il est à elle. = Yes it belongs to her.
A disjunctive pronoun takes the position of the noun it replaces.
Do not confuse the possessive adjectives "leur" and "leurs" with indirect pronoun "LEUR" (them).
With two verbs in the sentence, the object pronoun is placed before the verb which takes the object.
Ex: Elle doit parler au concierge? = Does she have to talk to the caretaker?
Oui, elle doit lui parler.
Non, elle ne doit pas lui parler.
"Concierge" is the object of parler not of doit. Hence, the indirect object pronoun lui which replaces concierge
must be placed before parler.
Conjugate dire:
Je dis
Tu dis
Il, elle dit
Nous disons
Vous dites
Ils, elles disent
When using indirect speech, if you have to transpose to the third person, you must not forget to make the
necessary changes.
You may have the change the form of the verb according to the new subject in the sentence.
Ex: Je dois télephoner à Marie. (I must phone Marie)
Qu'est-ce que Paul dit à sa mère?
Il lui dit qu'il doit téléphoner à Marie. (He tells her that he must phone Marie)
You may have to change the form of the possessive adjective.
Ex: Ce n'est pas mon verre.(this is not my glass)
Qu'est-ce que Paul dit à Marie?
Il lui dit que ce n'est pas son verre. (he tells her that this is not his glass)