Archive for 'Grammar'
Let’s Talk About Verbs – Venir Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 6, 2009
Je viens de mettre mes filles au lit. I have just put my girls in bed. Venir de conjugated in the present tense and followed by the infinitive is the equivalent of to have just + past participle. Elle vient d’arriver. (She has just arrived.) Ils viennent de faire leurs devoirs. (They have just done…
Writing a Letter in French Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 28, 2009
Do you ever need to write a letter in French either for work, school or pleasure? Well, today, I’m going to try to help you out a bit with this task. First, let’s talk about a formal/business letter. Let’s say you need to write a letter to a company asking for information. You can put…
Let’s Talk About French Verbs Once Again Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 6, 2009
Today, we’ll begin talking about the past…the French past tense that is. What does imparfait mean? Well, let’s find out! First of all, Le Robert Micro (my favorite French-French dictionary) defines the adjective imparfait as qui n’est pas achevé, pas complet; or in other words, something that is incomplete. The definition it gives for the…
French Verbs – The Present Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 24, 2009
Let’s talk a little grammar! First of all, French verb phrases can be indicatif which expresses an event as being certain whether it occurs in the past, present or future. They can be in le subjonctif which is used in a subordinate clause to express an assessment or interpretation or it can be used after some…
French Grammar – Depuis Posted by Transparent Language on Aug 3, 2009
Today a little grammar. Here are some sentences you might hear if you are talking to French people: Vous êtes en France depuis quand? (How long have you been in France?) Vous habitez Paris depuis combien de temps? (How long have you been living in Paris?) J’habite à Paris depuis quinze ans. (I’ve been living…
French Grammar – This and That Posted by Transparent Language on Jul 9, 2009
Demonstrative articles are a little bit different in French as opposed to English. And since they are words that you often want to use when speaking, well, I thought we’d discuss them today. First of all, not only is there a singular and plural form, but there are also masculine and feminine forms. So, that…
French Grammar – Punctuation Marks Posted by Transparent Language on Jun 5, 2009
Punctuation is sometimes different in the French language. I first came across this when reading Albert Camus’ La Chute in my literature class at the Sorbonne back when I was a student in Paris. I found it so bizarre to see the direct speech noted in the sentence « Voulez-vous d’une vie propre? Comme tout…