Tag Archives: French grammar
Qu’est-ce que j’ai fait?* Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 31, 2016
In 1986, Sabine Paturel had a hit with the song “Les bêtises“. There is just a handful (une poignée) of verbs in French that use the verb être to form the past tense, but most verbs in the passé composé are formed using the verb avoir (to have). Les bêtises gives you lots of chances…
L’heure de la sortie / Quitting Time Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 17, 2016
Listening to one of my old favorites in the car the other day, I got to thinking about French expressions for time and in particular the difference between some very common expressions that, while not exactly confusing, can trip up the novice and experienced language learner alike. You see, the French have two words for…
An Introduction to the Subjunctive Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Jan 26, 2015
Just the mention of the subjonctif can make French learners tremble in their boots. However, this grammatical mood is very common and exists in many languages, including in English. In French, the subjonctif is used very often and serious French learners need to be familiar with it (although there are grammatical ways of getting around using the subjunctive…
What are French Conjunctive Phrases? Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Jan 19, 2015
Two weeks ago, we went over les conjonctions de la langue française, including les conjonctions de coordination (car, donc, ensuite, et, mais, or, ni, ou, puis) and les conjonctions de subordination (comme, lorsque, puisque, quand, que, si, quioque). You can go back and look over that lesson here. Today, we will focus on les locutions…
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…
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…
French Indefinite Subject Pronoun Posted by Hichem on Feb 25, 2014
It’s time to turn French Grammar “ON” again here on the Transparent French Blog! And what a coincidence it is, because today you’ll be given a few precious pointers as to how to use the indefinite French pronoun “On“, which, as we know very well, can often cause some serious headache to the débutants learners of the French language…