FRENCH GRAMMAR TIPS

One of the main impulses behind the earworms approach is to really get your brain used to the
linguistic patterns, even the melody, of the target language. We do this by offering the
language in the form of the target language, spoken by native speakers, with a direct literal
translation as well as a correct English interpretation, and by breaking a sentence down so that
you understand all its constituent elements. In this way you intuitively learn about the structure,
i.e. the grammar, of the language.
As an inquisitive language student, however, you will no doubt be searching for the rules that
these patterns are based on which will give you the tools to construct strings of vocabulary
yourself. So here we have provided comments on the grammatical elements to help you to
decode the rules, gain a more complete picture, and to construct your own word groups.
The tips given here relate directly to the grammatical themes embedded in earworms French
Volumes 1 and 2.

1) You is not just you in French

Depending on whether talking to a close friend or in a more formal boss-employee situation, or whether
the you is the object of the sentence or not, there are different words for you.
The formal you = Vous is pretty straightforward. Verbs usually take on the ending ez, e.g.:
You speak
=
You go
=
You have
=
You can
=
You could
=
You want
=
You come from =

Vous parlez
Vous allez
Vous avez
Vous pouvez
Vous pourriez
Vous voulez
Vous venez de

Exceptions: you are = vous tes, you do = vous faites.

The informal you, reserved for friends and family, is slightly more complicated. There are three words
for this : tu, te and toi.
toi is typically used in expressions with prepositions like: for you = pour toi, with you = avec toi or the
expression Im fine and you? = Je vais bien, et toi ?

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The difference between tu and te needs a little grammatical explanation:

In the sentence She likes you. we call She the subject (the acting person) and
you the object (the person being acted upon).
Likewise You like her. You = subject and her = object.

French has a different you for the subject and object of a sentence:
tu is the subject you (at the beginning of the sentence) and te is the object you (at the end).
Examples:
You leave tomorrow. = Tu pars demain.
(You at the beginning)
You are glad to see me? = Tu es heureux de me voir?
But with you at the end ...
Im glad to see you. = Je suis heureux de te voir.
Formally (with vous) this would be : Je suis heureux de vous voir.

2) Linguistic gender of nouns feminine beer and masculine coffee!

For traditional rather than any logical reasons, things are grouped into masculine or feminine in French.
Un is the masculine and une the feminine version of the English a.
There are four words for the:
1. masculine le (e.g. le vin = the wine)
2. feminine la (e.g. la voiture = the car)
3. plural les (e.g. les voitures = the cars)
4. l : This is simply a convenient shortening of le and la with words beginning with vowel sounds (a, e,
i, o, u); e.g. llphant, laroport, lautobus, laddition, lhtel (Hotel begins with H but its a silent H.)

Notice to make a plural usually add an s pretty much like in English (although it is not pronounced):
the room / the rooms = la chambre / les chambres
the passport / the passports = le passeport / les passeports

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Remembering the gender

The best advice on learning whether a noun is le or la, un or une is to learn them as a child would by
ear! By listening repeatedly, the nouns with their respective article burn themselves into your long term
memory.
Another interesting technique for remembering the gender of a noun, pioneered by Kevin Crocombe at
www.200-words-a-day.com is to visualise the object with a man or a woman.
So you visualise a man drinking un caf to know that caf is masculine. Visualise a woman drinking
beer to remember that it is une bire.
Gender is also apparent through the words my, your, our etc.:
My = mon (masc.), ma (fem.), mes (plural)
E.g. my bag/case = mon bagage, my room = ma chambre, my bags/luggage = mes bagages.
Now just for fun, after listening to the earworms French Vol. 1 + 2 a few times, test whether you now
know the articles which go with these nouns:
caf, th, bire, eau, bouteille, vin, carafe, maison, boisson, vin, pichet, pain, salade, table,
dessert, addition, centre-ville, aroport, htel, reste, voiture, paire de chaussures, prix, banque,
supermarch, poste, bon restaurant, ticket de bus, billet de train, chambre, toilettes, petit-djeuner,
problme television, frigidaire, appareil photo, passeport, portefeuille, maux, coups de soleil,
moustiques, glace, cognac, moment, vol, voyage, spcialits, salle manger, semaine, rouge (vin),
ros, lettre, nouveau, soupe, steak, femme, mari, fils, fille.

3) Adjectives before or after the noun?

Adjectives (descriptive words) like big (grand/grande) or good (bon/bonne), red (rouge) or interesting
(intressant/intressante) sometimes come before and sometimes after the noun:
(notice there are feminine and masculine versions)
The general rule is that: 1. colours, 2. adjectives of nationality and 3. long adjectives come after the
noun. So for example a red mill is un moulin rouge, a French car is une voiture franaise, and an
interesting book is un livre intressant.
More examples:
1. Colours:
vin rouge / blanc = red / white wine
tableau noir = black board
les cheveux blonds = blond hair
Mont Blanc = White Mountain

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2. Adjectives of nationality:
une actrice amricaine = an American actress
un vin italien = an Italian wine
la langue franaise = the French language
un livre anglais = an English book

3. Long adjectives:
mon restaurant prfr = my favourit restaurant
des spcialits locales = some local specialities
une question difficile = a difficult question
une personne extravagante = an extravagant person
un climat tropical = a tropical climate

Adjectives before the noun:

Short and frequently used adjectives like the ones below, come before the noun.
big / large = grand, grande. E.g. le grand prix (the big prize) / un grand lit (a big bed)
small / little = petit, petite. E.g. un petit peu (a little bit) / une petite ville (a little town)
good = bon, bonne. E.g. Un bon weekend ! (Have a nice weekend!) / Bonne nuit ! (Good night!)
first = premier, premire. E.g. le premier train (the first train) / la premire fois (the first time) / ma
premire visite (my first visit)
last = dernier, dernire. E.g. le dernier train (the last train) / la dernire fois (the last time)
young = jeune. E.g. un jeune homme (a young man) / une jeune femme (a young woman)
beautiful or nice = beau/bel, belle. E.g. un beau paysage (a beautiful landscape) / un bel appartement (a
beautiful appartment), une belle voiture (a beautiful car)

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4) Verbs
Here we look at some of the most important verbs: have, can, want, speak, be (am, are)
The verb have (with: I, you, we)
I have
je ai / jai
tu as
you have (informal)
you have (formal/plural) vous avez
we have
nous avons

(question: As-tu ... ?

= Have you ...?)
(question: Avez-vous ... ? = Have you ...?)
(question: Avons-nous ... ? = Have we ...?)

Another way of asking questions is by using Est-ce que. This has a similar function to Do or Does in
English questions:
Do you have ? = Est-ce que vous avez ?

Or informally :
Do you have ? = Est-ce que tu as ?

The use of the French on to replace you and we

In English we sometimes use the word one or you or we meaning people, e.g.:
To keep in good health, you should do regular sport.
To keep in good health, we should do regular sport.
To keep in good health, one should do regular sport.

The French use on (similar to one) for this:

Example 1. (translating the above)
Pour rester en bonne sant, on devrait faire du sport rgulirement.
Example 2.
How does one say Excuse me. in French? = Comment dit-on Excuse me. en franais ?

on is also used to replace we = nous in everyday spoken French:

On va au cinma (We're going to the cinema.)
Quand est-ce qu'on mange ? (When do we eat?)

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The negative
To make a negative add ne in front of the verb and pas after the verb.
Examples:
I have = jai
I dont have = je nai pas, e.g. Je nai pas trop faim.
we have = nous avons
we dont have = nous navons pas, e.g. Nous navons pas le temps.
Note: In colloquial French, one can also ommit the ne. Which makes life easier for us!
I have = jai
I dont have = j'ai pas (Jai pas trop faim.)
Summary:
Statement

Negative

Question

You have ...

You dont have...

Do you have...?

Vous avez ...

Vous navez pas

or colloquially:
Vous avez pas

Est-ce que vous avez ?

Avez-vous ... ?

The verb want (with: I, you, we)

I want
you want (formal/plural)
you want (informal)
we want

je veux
vous voulez
tu veux
nous voulons

(question: Voulez-vous ? = Do you want?)

(question: Veux-tu ?
= Do you want?)
(question: Voulons-nous ? = Do we want?)

For the Negative just add ne pas!

I dont want to leave = Je ne veux pas partir.

The verb speak (with: I, you, we)

I speak
you speak (formal/plural)
you speak (informal)
we speak

je parle
vous parlez
tu parles
nous parlons

(question: Parlez-vous ? = Do you speak?)

(question: Parles-tu ?
= Do you speak?)
(question: Parlons-nous ? = Do we speak?)

Negative: I dont speak Chinese = Je ne parle pas chinois.

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The verb can (with: I, you, we)

I can
you can (informal)
you can (plural /formal)
we can

je peux
tu peux
(question: Peux-tu ?
= Can you?)
vous pouvez
(question: Pouvez-vouz ? = Can you?)
nous pouvons (question: Pouvons-nous ? = Can we?)

Negative:
I cant come tomorrow = Je ne peux pas venir demain.

Do ? and Does ? (it, they):

The do and does in questions can be represented by the expression Est-ce que ?
(or Est-ce qu ?) in French.
Do you have a table for two? = Est-ce que vous avez une table pour deux ? Alternatively you can also
leave the Est-ce que ? out. So: Vous avez une table pour deux ?
How much does that cost? = Combien est-ce que a cote ? Alternatively you can also leave the estce que out. So: Combien a cote ?
It costs 10 euros = Il/Elle cote dix euros.
That costs 10 euros = a cote dix euros.
Does it cost 10 euros? = Est-ce quil cote 10 euros?
Does that cost 10 euros? = Est-ce que a cote dix euros ? Alternatively you can also leave the
Est-ce que out. So: a cote dix euros ?
Plural :
They cost 20 euros = Ils/Elles cotent 20 euros.
Do they cost 20 euros? = Est-ce quils cotent 20 euros ? Alternatively you can also leave the
Est-ce que out. So: Ils cotent 20 euros ?

Do they have?
they have = ils ont ...
Do they have fish? = Est-ce quils ont du poisson ? Alternatively you can also leave the
Est-ce qu out. So: Ils ont du poisson ? Of course you can also ask: Ont-ils du poisson ?
What sort of fish do they have? = Quelle sorte de poisson ont-ils ? (Vol 2. track 9)
or
What sort of fish do they have? = Quelle sorte de poisson est-ce quils ont ?

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The verb be (I am, you are, we are)

I am
je suis
tu es
(question: Es-tu ... ?
= Are you ...?)
you are (informal)
you are (formal/plural) vous tes
(question: tes-vous ... ?
= Are you ...?)
we are
nous sommes (question: Sommes-nous ... ? = Are we ...?)

5) Comparatives
more slowly bigger later more interesting, etc.
Comparatives are pretty simple in French. You only have to add 'plus' to the adjective or adverb.
E.g.:
slowly = lentement

more slowly = plus lentement

big = grand

bigger = plus grand

late = tard

later = plus tard

interesting = intressant

more interesting = plus intressant

expensive = cher

more expensive = plus cher

less expensive = moins cher

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earworms Rapid French Vol. 1

earworms Rapid French Vol. 2

earworms Rapid French Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 are your survival kit of immediately useful words and phrases
for your visit abroad.
Listen a few times to be able to ask for a table in a restaurant, order food and drink, take a taxi, rent a
car, buy tickets, deal with money, numbers, times and days, ask for directions, deal with typical
problems, hold a simple conversation and more.
Try the demos - experience something 'a little different'. After a few listenings, foreign words will be
popping out of your memory
... when you least expect them!
Read what other learners have said about how effective learning with earworms is and download a free
Sample album:
www.earwormslearning.com/set_reviews.php
Play a sample:

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