Tag Archives: French grammar
Auxiliaries Être and Avoir Posted by Transparent Language on Nov 17, 2008
In French, the verbs être and avoir are considered auxiliaries when followed by a past participle and, thus, used to form the perfect tenses much like have/has/had are auxiliaries in English. Just as have/has/had, être and avoir are also regular, normal verbs as well. AVOIR is the auxiliary that is used with most verbs. ÊTRE…
Complex Sentences (La Phrase Complexe) Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 27, 2008
Just like in English, a complex sentence in French is a sentence with more than one clause. These are often used and many times we don’t even realize they’re so complex because several of them so easily come rolling off our tongues. To begin our discussion, there are two kinds of clauses: main clauses and…
Let’s Talk About Present Tense Verbs Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 10, 2008
Je travaille. In French, this short sentence has several translations in English and we would need more context to decide exactly what is meant. It could be translated as “I work” or “I’m working” and if we add more to the sentence without changing the verb structure in any way, it could take on even…
Are French Cars Better Than Italian Cars? Posted by Transparent Language on Oct 6, 2008
« La puissance est plus impressionnante lorsqu’elle est générée par une simple goutte. » This comes from an Audi ad that was blinking at me this afternoon while I was reading Le Monde online. It didn’t inspire me to go out and buy a car, but it did bring me to write this article on comparatives in…
Falloir Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 30, 2008
The United States is famous in Europe for being prohibitive despite its status as a nation of freedom. I have tried again and again to explain to my French and other European friends that one’s freedom in the United States ends when their acts fringe upon another’s freedom. In any case, the French version of…
Ella, Elle L’a Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 23, 2008
One of the biggest hits on European radio this summer has been Belgian singer Kate Ryan’s version of France Gall’s 1987 song Ella, Elle L’a. The song is translated as ‘Ella, She’s Got It’ and is a tribute to Ella Fitzgerald who was one of the most influential jazz singers in the 20th century. Click…
Let’s Talk About Verbs Posted by Transparent Language on Sep 18, 2008
Verbs in French can be used alone or be followed by an object, a complement, a subordinate phrase or another verb. Here is an example of a verb used alone: Je lis. Here is an example of a verb followed by an object: Je fais de la natation. Here is an example of a verb…