Archive for 'Grammar'
Le Bescherelle: Your Gateway to French Conjugation Posted by mtaulier on Jun 19, 2014
In the last post, we looked at indefinite articles and how to conjugate the verbs avoir (to have) and être (to be) in the most basic tense (present indicative). If you want to learn French, getting a grasp on these fundamentals is a must. There is no other way around it. So what if you…
Avoir et Être (To Have and To Be) and Indefinite Articles: The Building Blocks of the French Language Posted by mtaulier on Jun 16, 2014
French is a difficult language to learn. If you’re a native English speaker, you know that in English nouns are preceded by the word ‘the’ or ‘a’ whereas in French every noun is either masculin ou feminin (masculine or feminine). Unfortunately, there’s no real rhyme or reason in assigning gender to a noun so your…
French Grammar: The *NE* explétive Posted by Hichem on May 31, 2014
*NE*… A two-letter word can be a source of serious confusion for new French learners! What is it exactly? It is un adverbe called the “ne explétif.” When do we use it? Right after some verbs and conjunctions. It is used in situations where the main clause has a negative meaning (in the sense of negation), or expressing situations of warning, doubt…
Parlez-vous Français?: A Study of French Expressions Posted by mtaulier on Apr 28, 2014
Si tu veux vraiment apprendre le Français, il faut connaître quelques expressions Françaises (If you really want to learn French, you need to know a few French expressions). You aren’t going to find these in formal language books but equipping yourself with some of these idioms, colloquialisms and tournures de phrases (turns of phrase) will…
French Grammar: Using *Depuis*! Posted by Hichem on Apr 17, 2014
Un peu de grammaire aujourd’hui (A little bit of grammar today)! Here is a “flashback lesson” from The French Blog, using sentences which you might hear if you are talking to French people. Today, we’ll focus on the word “depuis“, which usually means “since.” Let us see the different cases it can be used…
*IL FAUT* que tu apprennes le Français (You *Must* Learn French)! Posted by Hichem on Mar 30, 2014
Learning French is not optional anymore; it is now mandatory! Well, just kidding, bien sûr… One thing you must do, however, if you already speak French, is to watch out for the good use of le subjonctif. Just pay a bit of attention to when French people speak, or to French books, articles, etc., you will…
French Grammar: Ça alors! (How About That!) Posted by Hichem on Feb 27, 2014
Let’s quickly quiz your French grammar: Can you tell what the difference is between “ça“, “çà“, and “sa“? “Ça“, “çà“, and “sa“: Just take a look at them. All three se prononcent exactement de la même façon (are pronounced exactly the same way.) How on Earth then are we to tell them apart—especially if we are to run into them in the middle…