Friday, June 10, 2016

Double Pronoun Order/Ordre de deux pronoms compléments



https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/double-pronoun-order/


http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/objectpronouns_4.htm

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Ending patterns to determine noun genders

http://renatrafikov.com/frenchfm/


FeminineMasculine
-cé -tié -sé -té
 -e
-be
-ce -ace -ance
 -ade  -nde  -ude
 -ee -ée
-fe

 -ie
-ale  -ole -lle  -ule
 -mme
 -ine -nne
 -ire  -iére  -rre  -ure
 -se  -ise  -esse
 -ite
 -ue -ique






-ion -sion -son -tion  


-b
-c
-d -de


-age -ége

-ble -cle
-me -isme
-one
-tre
-ste


-f
-ing
-i
-k
-l
-m
-n
-o
-p
-r -oir -eur
-s
-t -et -ment
-u
-ou
-eau
-x
These endings are 100% feminine: -ance -ise -esse -nne -tié -sion
and these are 100% masculine: -isme -one -oir -b -d -ing -k -p -et -ou

Hope I can remember these.

http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/genderpatterns.htm

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Angry, Fear, Tired, Hate

Fear:
J'ai peur = I'm afraid

Je suis effrayé = I am scared, more than just afraid.

je crains = I fear


Anger:

Il est fâché = he's angry

Il est en colère = he is in anger

Tired:
Il sent la fatigue (noun) = he feels the fatigue

Il se sent fatigué (adjective) = he feels tired

Je ne suis pas fatigué = I am not tired

Hate:
J'ai horreur des haricots (from avoir horreur de) = I hate beans
Elle doit me haïr = she must hate me

Embarrassed:
Elle est gênée = she is embarrassed


Saturday, May 14, 2016

A PARIS, ON AIME MANGER...

À Paris, on aime manger.

In Paris, we like to eat.


- Les Parisiens vont beaucoup au restaurant.

Parisians like eating out (go to restaurant a lot).


- On compte plus de quatorze mille restaurants dans la capitale française.

We count more than 14,000 restaurants in the french capital.


- Les habitants de Paris aiment aussi se faire plaisir et s'accorder une pause sucrée dans les boulangeries, pâtisseries, salons de thé et glaciers de la ville.

The residents of Paris also like to to have fun and and treat themselves to a sweet snack (break) in the bakeries, pastry shops, tea rooms and ice cream parlors in the city. 


- Il y en a dans tous les quartiers de la capitale française.

There are these in all the quarters of the french capital.


- Les spécialités pâtissières typiquement parisiennes ne sont cependant pas nombreuses.

The typically Parisian bakery specialties are however not many. 


- La plus connue est le Paris-Brest.

The best known (the most well-known/famous) is the Paris-Brest.


- C'est un gâteau qui a été créé en 1881, à l'occasion d'une course cycliste entre Paris et Brest.

It's a cake that was created in 1881 on the occasion of a bicycle race between Paris and Brest.


- Pour rappeler cet événement, un pâtissier a imaginé un gâteau qui ressemble à une roue de vélo.

To commemorate this event, a pastry chef imagined a cake that looks like a bicycle wheel.


- Il y a aussi le financier, petit gâteau inventé par le pâtissier Lasne, vers 1890.

There is also the financial cupcake invented by the pastry chef Lasne, around 1890.


- Son magasin était tout près de la Bourse.

His store was very close to the Stock Exchange.


- Et ses clients étaient souvent des financiers qui voulaient manger vite, sans se salir les mains.

And his clients were often financial people who wanted to eat fast, without dirty their hands.


- Alors, il a trouvé l'idée de faire un petit gâteau de la forme d'un lingot d'or.

So, he found (got) the idea of making a cupcake in the shape of a gold bar.


- Le Saint-Honoré est le gâteau du dimanche préféré des grand-mères.

The Saint-Honoré is the favorite Sunday cake for grandmothers.


- C'est un jeune pâtissier qui s'appelait Auguste Julien qui a imaginé ce délicieux gâteau à la crème vers 1850.

It's a young pastry chef named Auguste Julien that imagined (thought of) this delicious creme cake around 1850.


À ce moment-là, il travaillait dans la plus célèbre pâtisserie de l'époque qui se trouvait dans la rue Saint-Honoré.

At that moment, he worked in the most famous pastry shop of the time (found) on the Saint-Honoré street.


- Il a alors donné le nom de la rue à son gâteau.

He then gave the name of the street to his cake (he gave his cake the street name).


- Le gâteau parisien le plus à la mode aujourd'hui, est probablement le macaron lisse.

The most popular Parisian cake today is probably the smooth macaron.


- Des milliers de macarons sont vendus chaque jour à Paris.

Thousands of macarons are sold each day in Paris.


- Les pâtissiers proposent à leurs clients gourmands, pleins de parfums différents qui donnent de jolies couleurs à leurs gâteaux.

The pastry chefs offer to their foodie-clients full of different favors that give their cakes pretty colors.


- Un vrai plaisir pour la bouche.

A true pleasure for the mouth.


- Et pour les yeux.

And for the eyes.

Monday, April 11, 2016

Imperative Mood

For -ER verbs:

The imperative conjugations for nous and vous are the same as the present indicative, minus the final s for the tu form.

Verbs which are conjugated like -ER verbs (the indicative tu ends in -es), such as ouvrir and souffrir, follow the same rules as -ER verbs and drop the final s for tu

The imperative conjugations for all regular and most irregular -IR and -RE verbs are the same as the present indicative conjugations (meaning keep the s for tu).

Four irregular imperative verbs:
avoir
   (tu) aie
   (nous) ayons
   (vous) ayez

être
   (tu) sois
   (nous) soyons
   (vous) soyez

savoir
   (tu) sache
   (nous) sachons
   (vous) sachez

vouloir
   (tu) veuille
   (nous) n/a
   (vous) veuillez

http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/imperative_2.htm



Sunday, April 10, 2016

Future Tense

For future tense, all we need to do is use the infinitive form as root for -ER or -IR verbs and for -RE verbs, remove the final -e and add the future tense endings:

je          -ai
tu          -as
il           -a
nous     -ons
vous     -ez
ils         -ont


InfinitiveFuture RootMeaningSimilar Behaving Words
acheter achèter- to buy achever, amener, emmener, lever, promener
acquérir acquerr-to acquire conquérir, s'enquérir
appeler appeller- to call épeler, rappeler, renouveler
aller ir- to go
avoir aur- to have
courir courr- to run concourir, discourir, parcourir, more
devoir devr- must
envoyer enverr- to send
essayer essaier- to try balayer, effrayer, payer
essuyer essuier- to wipe appuyer, ennuyer
être ser- to be
faire fer- to do, to make
falloir faudr- have to
jeter jetter- to throw feuilleter, hoqueter, projeter, rejeter
nettoyernettoier-to clean employer, noyer, tutoyer, more
pleuvoirpleuvr-to rain
pouvoirpourr-can
savoirsaur-to know
tenirtiendr-to holdmaintenir, obtenir, soutenir
valoirvaudr-to be worth
venirviendr-to comedevenir, parvenir, revenir
voirverr-to seerevoir
vouloirvoudr-to want

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

express need or obligation

the essential semi-auxiliary verb devoir, which means "must", "have to", or "need to" when placed before another verb.
  • Je dois manger plus de légumes. — I must eat more vegetables.
  • Ils doivent acheter plus de livres. — They need to buy more books.
Remember that the impersonal expression il faut + infinitive can also express a need or obligation.
  • Il faut manger. — It is necessary to eat.
  • Il nous faut payer des taxes. — We have to pay taxes.
You can also use the impersonal construction from the last unit, il est + adj + de.
  • Il est nécessaire de reprendre le travail. — It is necessary to return to work.
  • Il est nécessaire de faire attention. — It is necessary to pay attention.
Another way to express obligation is avoir à, though this is rarely used by French speakers because it tends to create vowel conflicts.
  • Je sais ce que j'ai à faire. — I know what I have to do.
  • J'ai quelque chose à vous dire urgemment. — I have something to tell you urgently.
What about when you want to say that you need something (instead of having to do something)? One way you learned previously is to use il faut with a noun instead of a verb.
  • Il faut du lait. — Milk is needed.
  • Il faut un début à tout. — A beginning is needed for everything.
A more common expression for need is avoir besoin de quelque chose. While this literally translates as "to have need of something", a better translation is "to need something".
  • J'ai besoin d'un stylo. — I need a pen.
  • Il a besoin d'eux. — He needs them.
  • Elles ont besoin de magazines en anglais. — They need magazines in English.
  • Vous avez besoin de ce produit. — You need this product.
You can also use this expression with verbs.
  • Vous avez besoin de gagner plus d'argent. — You need to earn more money.
  • Mes amis ont besoin de manger. — My friends need to eat.
Notice that besoin is invariable in this expression, but the noun besoin ("need") is just a standard masculine noun that does have a plural form.
  • Il a des besoins importants. — He has important needs.
  • Il y a un besoin urgent d'agir. — There is a pressing need to act.
Consider the difference between "I don't have to" and "I must not". The former expresses a lack of obligation, while the latter expresses an obligation to avoid an action. In French, to express a lack of obligation, use a negation with avoir besoin de or avoir à.
  • Je n'ai pas besoin d'un stylo. — I don't need a pen.
  • Nous n'avons pas besoin de votre permission ! — We don't need your permission!
  • Elle n'a pas à parler. — She doesn't have to speak.
  • On n'a pas à manger maintenant. — We don't have to eat right now.
To express "must not" in French, use a negation with devoir or il faut.
  • Elle ne doit pas manger de poisson. — She must not eat fish.
  • Nous ne devons pas nous mentir. — We must not lie to each other.
  • Il ne faut pas réfrigérer les tomates. — One must not refrigerate tomatoes.
  • Il ne faut jamais oublier les leçons de l'histoire. — We must never forget the lessons of history.