You are about to start a course of French grammar based on a
comparison with the English language. The original prompt for building
this course was twofold. First, the proximity of the two languages is a
fact, closely studied and widely corroborated by linguists, and
certainly noticed by people studying or using either French or English.
The familiarity is partly due to a long socio-political and historical
development of the UK and France whose rivalries have become proverbial.
Second, the similarities between the two idioms can be used in teaching
and learning. Indeed, English has become THE foreign language to
acquire, and students usually have gained some knowledge of it when they
start studying French. However, the closeness of the two idioms can be
both beneficial and harmful. On the one hand, the large percentage of
everyday vocabulary (50% in the first 1000 English words stem from
French) and some grammar structures (e.g. conditionals) facilitate the
acquisition of French. On the other hand, the language elements are
closely related, but not identical, which can lead – and indeed leads –
to some degree of confusion at all language levels. This grammar aims to
clarify those dark zones.
The course is divided into 13 chapters covering the areas of
pronunciation, morphology, vocabulary and syntax, each of which contains
a brief explanation and a section with interactive exercises. The last
chapter offers a final test in the form of revision exercises.
There is no equivalent sound in English for the French letter U. The unaccented U and the U with an accent circonflexe Û or tréma Ü are all pronounced the same way: with the lips pursed.
Say E /i/ and purse your lips as tightly as you can.
cinq euros, dix euros, un million d’euros, en Europe, dans les pays européens, l’Union européenne, élire les eurodéputés, vaincre l’euroscepticisme, un climat d’euphorie boursière, une nouvelle loi sur l’euthanasie
La prononciation des nasales/Pronunciation of nasals
[œ̃] is being replaced with [ɛ̃] in European French (especially Parisians and younger people)
Nasal vowels are produced when air passes through the nose as well as the mouth. English has nasal-like vowels in words such as sing and impossible, but the nasal consonants /n/ and /m/ are still pronounced. These consonants are not pronounced in French when following a nasal vowel. The consonant is totally assimilated into the vowel pronunciation.
Exercises:
I. Repeat the following pairs of words contrasting oral and nasal vowels.
un bon artisan, une addition salée, une augmentation de la demande, la consommation des biens, des clients mécontents, une convention européenne, la documentation pour les dirigeants, un million de demandeurs d’emploi, on emploie 25 % (vingt-cinq pour cent) de jeunes, influencer la quantité, le fondateur de l’entreprise, l'ensemble de l'industrie, l’influence de l’inflation, les fonds de placement, financer la promotion de la science
Letters at the end: to pronounce or not to pronounce?
Most ending voices are not pronounced but they are pronounced very often in some words of Latin or Greek origin:
secret, contrat, art, budget, circuit, combat, transport mais audit
ton accent anglais, obtenir votre accord, des prospectus Carrefour, un circuit de distribution court, sous le contrôle direct de l’Etat, les transports publics, préparer le budget de votre projet, beaucoup de respect pour leur travail, employer des milliers de travailleurs, un impact positif sur l’impôt
Pronouncing well French words with the similar form
As you could see, many French words look like their English counterparts with the same or similar meaning. But beware, spelling and pronunciation are often different.
In French, you must conjugate verbs and use correct suffixes. The division of verbs into three groups will help you remember these suffixes.
Les verbes réguliers/Regular verbs
1st group
parler
2nd group
finir
3rd group
répondre
je parle
je finis
je réponds
tu parles
tu finis
tu réponds
il/elle/on parle
il/elle/on finit
il/elle/on répond
nous parlons
nous finissons
nous répondons
vous parlez
vous finissez
vous répondez
ils/elles parlent
ils/elles finissent
ils/elles répondent
The first group of verbs ends with –er, only the verb aller is irregular.
aller (je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont)
Pay also attention to the following changes:
acheter – j´achète, tu achètes, il achète, ils achètent
appeler – j´appelle, tu appelles, il appelle, ils appellent
envoyer – j´envoie, tu envoies, il envoie, ils envoient
payer – je paie/je paye, tu paies/tu payes, il paie/il paye, ils paient/payent
The second group of verbs ends with –ir (choisir, réfléchir, réussir, enrichir, garantir); however, there are some verbs ending with –ir which are irregular (partir, servir, ouvrir, tenir, venir, etc.)
The third group of verbs includes some verbs ending with –re (vendre, attendre, rendre, corrompre, interrompre), some others are irregular (prendre, mettre, etc.)
Les verbes irréguliers/Irregular verbs
être (je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont)
avoir (j’ai, tu as, il a nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)
faire (je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font)
servir, partir, suivre, dormir
je sers, je suis nous servons, nous suivons P.C. j´ai servi, j´ai suivi
tu sers, tu suis vous servez, vous suivez F.S. je servirai, je suivrai
il sert, il suit ils servent, ils suivent Subj. que je serve, que je suive
The English indefinite articles ‘a’ and ‘an’ correspond to the French ‘un’ (masculine, e.g. un café) or ‘une’ (feminine, e.g. une maison).
In French, the indefinite article fulfils the following two main roles.
1 Numerical (same as in English)
Français
Anglais
Il y a eu un incendie.
There was a fire.
2 General (same as in English)
Français
Anglais
Une banque poursuit divers objectifs.
A bank pursues various objectives.
One of the main differences in use concerns the job titles and professions:
Français
Anglais
Il est médecin.
He is a doctor.
BUT Ils sont ouvriers.
They are workers.
Also, in French, you will need to include the indefinite article ‘DES’, where English uses the ZERO article.
Français
Anglais
On a fait DES erreurs.
Mistakes have been made.
In other cases, the use of indefinite articles is nearly always equivalent in both languages.
Français
Anglais
Est-ce que tu as un stylo ?
Do you have a pen?
Elle a acheté une maison.
She has bought a house.
Les articles définis / Definite articles
The English definite article ‘the’ corresponds to the French triade ‘le’ (masculine), ‘la’ (feminine) and ‘les’ (both masculine and feminine, plural). If the article comes before a noun starting with a vowel, its
form changes into l‘, which is used for both genders (e.g. l’article, l‘image).
In French, however, the definite articles often merge with the preceding prepositions ‘à’ and ‘de’. Thus, there are further four forms that frequently appear in French (au, aux, du, des).
Preposition
Français
Anglais
À + LE :
Il s’intéresse au marché indien
He is interested in Indian market.
(À + LA/L’ – no changes)
Elle pense à l’avenir
She is thinking about the future.
À + LES
Ils vont aux Philippines
They are going to the Philippines.
DE + LE
Tu parles du contrat?
Are you speaking about the contract?
(DE + LA/L’ – no changes)
Ils discutent de l’allocation.
They are discussing the allowance.
DE + LES
On débat des conditions de la vente
We discuss the conditions of the sale.
1 Specific things & generic
In French, definite articles denote both specific and general objects. In English, however, the definite articles are commonly used only in the first case (specific items):
Français
Anglais
Le livre est sur la table.
The book is on the table.
J’aime la musique.
I like music. (BUT ALSO: I like the music (=the music they are playing right now)
L’argent est important pour moi.
Money is important to me.
2 Plural
Unlike in French, English does not use the definite article in cases of generic use.
Français
Anglais
Les femmes ont les mêmes droits que les hommes.
Women have the same rights as men.
If the article denotes specific items (animate or inanimate), both languages use the definite article.
Français
Anglais
Tu connais les nouveaux clients ?
Do you know the new clients?
3 Countries
In French, most European countries are in feminine form. In English, no article is used, even if the corresponding French noun is masculine.
Français
Anglais
La France
France
L’Italie
Italy
La Grèce
Greece
Le Portugal
Portugal
Le Danemark
Denmark
Non-European countries follow the same rule:
Français
Anglais
Le Canada
Canada
L’Afghanistan
Afghanistan
La Chine
China
Le Japon
Japan
If the noun consists of two parts, or if it is in plural, then articles are used even in English.
Français
Anglais
La République tchèque
the Czech Republic
Les Pays-Bas
the Netherlands
Les États-Unis
the United States
Les Philippines
the Philippines
4 Physical appearance
Unlike in French, there is usually no article in English when body parts are concerned.
Français
Anglais
C’est une femme avec des yeux bleus.
It is a woman with blue eyes. (She has blue eyes.)
C’est un enfant avec les cheveux roux.
It is a child with ginger hair. (The child has ginger hair.)
In other instances, articles are common in both languages.
Français
Anglais
C’est une jeune fille avec un regard moqueur.
She is a young girl with a mocking look.
5 Weight and length
Definite article in French corresponds to the English use of indefinite article.
Français
Anglais
Je l’ai acheté 5 euros le kilo.
I bought it 5 euros a kilogram.
L’article partitif / Partitive article
The partitive refers to a part of something, often food or drink. Using it indicates that the amount is unknown or uncountable.
Français
Anglais
Tu devrais gagner de l’argent tout d’abord.
You should earn (some) money first.
La négation / Negation
DE is a variant of the indefinite and partitive article which appears in certain syntactic structures.
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. The relative pronoun we use depends on the type of relative clause (subject or object/preposition with verbs). In English there is no relative pronoun when it defines the object of the clause but in French we must always use it.
We will take a look at simple relative pronouns.
qui – subject
Français
Anglais
C’est le collègue qui m’a beaucoup aidé. (le collègue aide…)
That is the colleague who helped me a lot.
Nous ne connaissons pas la personne qui a fait ce don. (la personne fait...)
We don’t know the person who donated this money.
que – object (transitive verb without preposition)
Français
Anglais
C’est le dernier salarié que l’entreprise a recruté. (recruter le salarié)
This is the last employee the company recruited.
L’ordinateur que j’ai acheté était cher. (acheter l’ordinateur]
The computer I bought was expensive.
où – place or time
Français
Anglais
Mon frère a travaillé dans l´entreprise où je travaille maintenant.
My brother worked for the company where I´m working now.
C’était le jour où j‘ai passé un entretien d’embauche sur Skype.
It was the day I had a Skype interview.
dont – object (expression with preposition de)
Français
Anglais
Faites une liste de fournitures dont vous avez besoin. (avoir besoin de)
Make a list of the office supplies you need.
C´est une entreprise dont les bénéfices augmentent chaque année. (les bénéfices de l’entreprise)
It is a company whose profits increase every year.
In this section, we will provide you with a short list of conjunctions with examples:
cause:
parce que/car
because
Je ne viendrai pas parce que mon fils est malade.
I will not come because my son is ill.
comme
since, because
Comme elle a beaucoup d’argent, elle peut acheter n’importe quoi.
Since she has lots of money, she can buy anything.
consequence:
c’est pourquoi
that is why
La graisse animale nuit à la santé. C'est pourquoi il est préférable de consommer des viandes maigres et des produits laitiers écrémés.
Animal fat is harmful to health. That is why it is better to consume lean meats and skimmed dairy products.
donc
therefore/so
J’ai fait le ménage, donc je peux aller au cinéma.
I cleaned so I can go to the movies.
opposition:
mais
but
C’est cher mais de très bonne qualité.
It’s expensive, but very good quality.
or/toutefois/cependant
now, yet, but, however
Il faut tenir les délais, or, ce n’est pas possible.
The deadlines must be met, now this is not possible.
C'est une solution possible au problème. Cependant, il y en a d'autres.
This is one possible solution to the problem. However, there are others.
bien que
although
Je ne peux pas te faire passer bien que tu aies fait des progrès.
I can’t let you pass although you have made progress.
condition:
si
if
Si tu arrives à l’heure je t’accepterai en cours.
If you come on time, I will accept you to class.
à condition que
on condition that
Je te laisserai entrer à condition que tu ne fasses pas de bêtises.
I will let you enter on condition that you do not stupidities.
purpose:
pour que
so
Je vous donne ce texte pour que vous puissiez le travailler à la maison.
I will give you this text so that you can work on it at home.
time:
quand
when
Je pars quand tu arrives.
I leave when you come.
ensuite/après
then
Je vais aller au travail et ensuite au magasin.
I’m going to go to work and then to the store.
avant que
before that
Il est parti avant que je vienne.
He left before I came.
addition:
de plus
in addition, moreover
Le candidat est diplômé et, de plus, il a de l'expérience.
The candidate is qualified and, in addition, he has some experience
Les pommes sont délicieuses et, de plus, bonnes pour la santé.
Apples are delicious and, moreover, good for your health.
Reminder
The word que has several functions:
relative pronoun
C’est la tâche que je déteste le plus.
interrogative pronoun
Que faire ?
exclamatory adverb
Que c’est beau !
conjunction
after verbs which require the use of the subjunctive (will, order, uncertainty, doubt, wish,...)
Nous voulons que tu viennes le plus vite possible.
Il est possible qu’il soit malade.
in comparisons
Cette route est plus longue que celle indiquée sur la carte.
as a part of other conjunctions (avant que, après que, pour que, à condition que,...)
after verbs to express opinion
Je pense que vous n’avez pas à vous plaindre.
Tu trouves que c’est un prix raisonnable ?
reported speech, indirect questions
On a annoncé que les impôts n’augmenteraient pas.
Savez-vous que Magali part à la retraite ?
In English, we often remove this « that » of subordination. Do not forget that in French you must use the conjunction que after the verbs penser, espérer, trouver...
Je pense/je trouve que ce boulot est une bonne expérience.
Due to historical, social and cultural factors, French and English share a substantial part of vocabulary. However, numerous words that look and sound similar, differ in meaning, sometimes considerably. These words are called false friends (faux-amis). In this chapter you are going to learn to distinguish between a selection of these.
First, a short overview of some common false friends is given, in three parts: nouns, adjectives/adverbs, and verbs. The items, headed by English terms, are in alphabetic order. For each item, its English form is given first, the French false friend is given in second line.
Finally, three exercises will test your knowledge. Good luck!