French Grammar and Vocabulary: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners

Possessive Adjectives

Mon (masculine nouns), ma (feminine nouns), mes (plural nouns) = my
Ton (masculine nouns), ta (feminine nouns), tes (plural nouns) = your
Son (masculine nouns), sa (feminine nouns), ses (plural nouns) = his/her
Notre (masculine and feminine nouns), nos (plural nouns) = our
Votre (masculine and feminine nouns), vos (plural nouns) = your
Leur (masculine and feminine nouns), leurs (plural nouns) = their

Remember: The use of possessive adjectives is influenced by the gender of the noun and NOT the gender of the person it belongs to. For example: Je m’appelle David, c’est ma chaise. As you can see, even though David is a boy, the possessive adjective is feminine because the noun is ‘une chaise’.

Demonstrative Adjectives

Ce (used with masculine nouns) = this, i.e. ce crayon – this pencil
Cette (used with feminine nouns) = this, i.e. cette gomme – this eraser
Ces (used with plural nouns, regardless of gender) = these, i.e. ces crayons – these pencils, ces gommes – these erasers
Cet (only used with masculine nouns which start with a vowel) = this, i.e. cet homme – this man

Question Words

Est-ce que … ? = is it that?
Qu’est-ce que? = what?
Qui? = who?
Pourquoi? = why?
Quand? = when?
Quel (used with masculine nouns), quels (used with masculine plural nouns), quelle (used with feminine singular nouns), quelles (used with feminine plural nouns) = they all mean ‘which’
Où? = where?

Use of the Imperative

The use of the imperative is the command form of the verb, which indicates you are giving someone an instruction or an order.

-er verbs:

parle (when talking to someone you know very well or younger than you) – speak! (Note that the ‘s’ in the present tense form in the ‘tu’ form is omitted)
parlez (when talking to a stranger, being more respectful or talking to more than one person) – speak!
parlons – let’s speak!

-ir verbs

finis (when talking to someone you know very well or younger than you) – finish!
finissez (when talking to a stranger, being more respectful or talking to more than one person) – finish!
finissons – let’s finish!

-re verbs

attends (when talking to someone you know very well or younger than you) – wait!
attendez (when talking to a stranger, being more respectful or talking to more than one person) – wait!
attendons – let’s wait!

You can also add direct/indirect object pronouns onto the imperative:

i.e. parle-moi – speak to me, regardez-le – look at it, attendons-la – let’s wait for her

Direct object pronouns are used with the verb associated with the pronoun which is not followed by ‘à’. In this case, if you want to express ‘him/her’, it would be expressed as:

regarde-la – look at her
attends-le – wait for him

Indirect object pronouns are used with the verb which is followed by ‘à’. You have to know these. For example:

parler à quelqu’un – to talk to someone, i.e. parle-lui – talk to him/her, parlons-leur – let’s talk to them
donner à quelqu’un – to give someone, i.e. donne-leur – give them, donnons-lui – give him/her
téléphoner à quelqu’un – to phone someone, i.e. téléphonez-lui – phone him/her, téléphonons-leur – let’s phone them

Vocabulary

In an apartment:

• La chambre – the bedroom
• La salle de bains – the bathroom
• La salle à manger – the dining room
• Le salon – the living room/lounge
• La cuisine – the kitchen
• Le jardin – the garden
• Le parking – the car park

Prepositions:

• devant – in front of
• derrière – behind
• dans – in
• sur – on
• sous – under
• entre – between
• contre – against
• à gauche du / de la / de l’ / des – at/to the left of (followed by the gender and number of the noun)
• à droite du / de la / de l’ / des – at/to the right of (followed by the gender and number of the noun)
• à côté du / de la / de l’ / des – next to (followed by the gender and number of the noun)
• au bout du / de la / de l’ / des – at the end of (followed by the gender and number of the noun)
• en face du / de la / de l’ / des – opposite (followed by the gender and number of the noun)
• au coin du / de la / de l’ / des – at the corner of (followed by the gender and number of the noun)
• près du / de la / de l’ / des – near to (followed by the gender and number of the noun)

Directions:

• Tourne / tournez à gauche – turn left
• Tourne / tournez à droite – turn right
• Continue / continuez à gauche – continue left
• Continue / continuez à droite – continue left
• Va / allez tout droit – keep going straight ahead

Places in the town:

Masculine words:

• le supermarché – the supermarket
• l’hôtel – the hotel
• l’hôtel de ville – the townhall
• le musée – the museum
• un magasin – a shop
• le café – the coffee shop
• un pont – a bridge

Feminine words:

• la poste – the post office
• la banque – the bank
• l’école – the school
• une rue – a street

Means of transport:

• le vélo – bicycle, à vélo – by bicycle
• le bus – bus, en bus – by bus
• le métro – subway, en métro – by subway
• le taxi – taxi, en taxi – by taxi
• les rollers – roller skates, en rollers – by roller-skating
• la voiture – car, en voiture – by car
• le moto – motorbike, à moto – by motorbike
• à pied – on foot

Things in the hotel room:

Masculine words:

• le téléphone – telephone
• le lit – bed
• l’ordinateur – computer
• le mur – wall
• le restaurant – restaurant
• le bar – bar
• l’air conditionné – air conditioner
• le bord de la mer – the seaside

Feminine words:

• la salle de bains – the bathroom
• la télévision – the TV
• la piscine – the swimming pool
• la plage – the beach
• la salle de sport / la gym – the gym

Grammar

The use of the preposition ‘à’

• à + le = au
  example: at the supermarket – au supermarché
• à + la = à la
  example: at the beach – à la plage
• à + l’ = à l’
  example: at the hotel – à l’hôtel
• à + les = aux
  example: at the shops – aux magasins

The pronoun ‘y’

We use the pronoun ‘y’ to simply say ‘there’.

We can ask the question”Est-ce que tu vas à l’école?” (Are you going to school?)

Now, when we answer the question, of course we can say ‘Oui, je vais à l’école‘, however the answer sounds boring because the words ‘à l’école’ that was used in the question has been repeated in the answer.

To make the answer more interesting, we can simply replace ‘à l’école’ with the pronoun ‘y’, however the pronoun ‘y’ is placed before the verb and after the subject:

Example: oui, je vais à l’école (yes, I am going to school but let’s make this more interesting, shall we?)
oui, j’y vais (yes, I am going there)

Imperatives using the ‘tu’ and the ‘vous’ form:

Imperatives are used when we give orders, commands or tell something to do something, like for example ‘stand up’, ‘sit down’, ‘listen’, etc.

Imperatives with ‘-er’ verbs, i.e. manger:

Mange – ‘eat!’ in the ‘tu’ form (note the ‘s’ has been dropped in ‘-er’ verbs
Mangez – ‘eat!’ in the ‘vous’ form

Imperatives with ‘-ir’ verbs, i.e. finir:

Finis – ‘finish!’ in the ‘tu’ form
Finissez – ‘finish’ in the ‘vous’ form

Imperatives with ‘-re’ verbs, i.e. attendre:

Attends – ‘wait!’ in the ‘tu’ form
Attendez – ‘wait!’ in the ‘vous’ form

Imperatives with a reflexive verb, i.e. se laver

Lave-toi – ‘get washed!’ in the ‘tu’ form (which is followed by ‘toi’ as it is reflexive, also note the ‘s’ has been dropped in the word ‘lave’ as it is an ‘-er’ verb)
Lavez-vous – ‘get washed’ in the ‘vous’ form (which is followed by ‘vous’ as it is reflexive)

Irregular imperatives:

Aller: va – ‘go’ in the ‘tu’ form, allez – ‘go’ in the ‘vous’ form

Distinction in meaning of the use of ‘on’

‘On’ can have several meanings but generally it means ‘one’ or ‘we’

On va aller au cinéma ce soir – We are going to the cinema tonight
On parle le français au Maroc – Literally: One speaks French in Morocco (‘On’ here refers to ‘the people’ so we can say ‘the people speak French in Morocco)
On n’a pas le droit de parler au cours d’un examen – Literally: One does not have the right to talk during an exam (‘On’ here refers to ‘you’ so we can say ‘you cannot talk during an exam’)

Telling the time:

Il est une heure – It is 1 o’clock
Il est une heure cinq – It is five past one
Il est une heure dix – It is ten past one
Il est une heure et quart – It is a quarter past one
Il est une heure vingt – It is twenty past one
Il est une heure vingt-cinq – It is twenty-five past one
Il est une heure et demie – It is half past one
Il est deux heures moins vingt-cinq – It is twenty-five to two
Il est deux heures moins vingt – It is twenty to two
Il est deux heures moins le quart – It is quarter to two
Il est deux heures moins dix – It is ten to two
Il est deux heures moins cinq – It is five to two
Il est deux heures – It is two o’clock

Dates in French:

le premier – the first
le deux – the second
le trois – the third
le quatre – the fourth
le cinq – the fifth
le six – the sixth
le sept – the seventh
le huit – the eighth
le neuf – the ninth
le dix – the tenth
l’onze – the eleventh
le douze – the twelfth
le treize – the thirteenth
le quatorze – the fourteenth
le quinze – the fifteenth
le seize – the sixteenth
le dix-sept – the seventeenth
le dix-huit – the eighteenth
le dix-neuf – the nineteenth
le vingt – the twentieth
le vingt et un – the twenty-first
le vingt-deux – the twenty-second
le vingt-trois – the twenty-third
le vingt-quatre – the twenty-fourth
le vingt-cinq – the twenty-fifth
le vingt-six – the twenty-sixth
le vingt-sept – the twenty-seventh
le vingt-huit – the twenty-eighth
le vingt-neuf – the twenty-ninth
le trente – the thirtieth
le trente et un – the thirty-first

janvier – January
février – February
mars – March
avril – April
mai – May
juin – June
juillet – July
août – August
septembre – September
octobre – October
novembre – November
décembre – December

Remember, we always use a small letter with months of the year, unlike English where we use a capital letter.

Names of professions in French:

• un acteur / une actrice – an actor / an actress
• un informaticien / une informaticienne – a computer scientist
• un musicien / une musicienne – a musician
• un vendeur – une vendeuse – a seller / shop-keeper
• un serveur / une serveuse – a waiter / waitress
• un photographe / une photographe – a photographer
• un infirmier / une infirmière – a nurse
• un professeur – a teacher (there is no female equivalent, we always say ‘un professeur’, whether the teacher is male or female)
• un joueur de tennis / une joueur de tennis – a tennis player

General activities on a Sunday morning:

• faire du footing – to go jogging
• aller au marché – to go the market
• prendre le petit déjeuner – to have breakfast
• aller à la campagne – to go to the countryside
• dormir – to sleep
• se reposer – to relax
• écouter de la musique – to listen to music
• faire le ménage – to do the housework
• préparer les enfants – to get the children ready
• faire de la lecture – to do some reading
• écrire une lettre – to write a letter
• faire des courses – to do some shopping
• jouer au football – to play football
• jouer au tennis – to play tennis
• aller en boîte tous les samedis soirs – to go to a nightclub every Saturday night
• rentrer à la maison vers 5 ou 6 heures du matin – to come home around 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning

Grammar

Present tense of écrire:

j’écris
tu écris
il écrit
elle écrit
on écrit
nous écrivons
vous écrivez
ils écrivent
elles écrivent

Present tense of ‘prendre’:

je prends
tu prends
il prend
elle prend
on prend
nous prenons
vous prenez
ils prennent
elles prennent

Present tense of lire:

je lis
tu lis
il lit
elle lit
on lit
nous lisons
vous lisez
ils lisent
elles lisent

Present tense of ‘faire’:

je fais
tu fais
il fait
elle fait
on fait
nous faisons
vous faites – NOT ‘faisez’
ils font
elles font

Present tense of ‘partir’:

je pars
tu pars
il part
elle part
on part
nous partons
vous partez
ils partent
elles partent

Questions using ‘est-ce que’:

When we ask questions in French, we use ‘est-ce que’ in them to show it is a question and they are placed at the beginning of the question.

i.e. est-ce que tu aimes le chat – do you like the cat?

When we have a question word, the question word comes first and then the expression ‘est-ce que’,

Pourquoi est-ce que tu aimes le chat? – why do you like the cat?
Où est-ce que le chat mange? – where is the cat eating
Avec qui est-ce que le chat joue? – Who is the cat playing with?

Question words are as follows:

• Qu’est-ce que – what
• Pourquoi est-ce que – why
• Où est-ce que – where
• Quand est-ce que – when
• Avec qui est-ce que – who with
• Comment est-ce que – how
• Combien de temps est-ce que – how long
• À quelle heure est-ce que – At what time

Reflexive verbs in the present tense:

Se laver – to get washed
Se réveiller – to wake up
Se lever – to get up
Se coucher – to go to bed
S’habiller – to get dressed
Se dépêcher – to hurry up

When the ‘se’ article is placed in front of the infinitive, that means the verb is reflexive.

When we conjugate reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun (the article in front of the verb) changes also, according to the subject:

Je me lave – I get washed
Tu te lave – You get washed
Il se lave – He gets washed
Elle se lave – She gets washed
On se lave – One gets washed
Nous nous lavons – we get washed
Vous vous lavez – You get washed
Ils se lavent – They get washed
Elles se lavent – They get washed

Le petit déjeuner:

Masculine words:

• le lait chaud – hot milk
• le pain grillé – toast
• le café – coffee
• le thé – tea
• le jus d’orange – orange juice
• un oeuf – an egg
• un oeuf à la coque – a boiled egg
• des oeufs brouillés – scrambled egg
• un croissant – a croissant

Feminine words:

• une orange – an orange
• une crêpe – a pancake

Packed lunch:

Masculine words:

• du riz – some rice
• un poisson – a fish
• un sandwich – a sandwich
• du pain – some bread
• du fromage – some cheese

Feminine words:

• de l’eau – some water
• une pomme – an apple
• une salade – a salad

Activities that one did in the past:

• Faire les magasins – to go shopping (literally – to do the shops)
• acheter des vêtements / des chaussures / un pull – to buy some clothes / some shoes / a pullover
• dîner dans un restaurant – to dine in a restaurant
• déjeuner – to have lunch
• prendre le train / le bus – to take the train / bus
• visiter le musée – to visit the museum
• passer une soirée excellente – to spend a wonderful evening

Grammar – the perfect tense:

Transitive verbs – verbs that use a direct object:

Helping verb is avoir: j’ai, tu as, il a, elle a, on a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont, elles ont

Regular verbs that end in ‘-er’: é

Example: j’ai parlé, tu as parlé, il a parlé, elle a parlé, on a parlé, nous avons parlé, vous avez parlé, ils ont parlé, elles ont parlé

parler – to talk/speak, manger – to eat, regarder – to watch/look at, partager – to share, écouter – to listen, porter – to carry/to wear, travailler – to work, acheter – to buy

Regular verbs that end in ‘-ir’: i

Example: j’ai fini, tu as fini, il a fini, elle a fini, on a fini, nous avons fini, vous avez fini, ils ont fini, elles ont fini

finir – to finish, vieillir – to grow old, ralentir – to slow down, bleuir – to turn blue, bâtir – to build, rougir – to blush, noircir – to darken, blanchir – to whiten, rétrécir – to shrink

Regular verbs that end in ‘-re’: u

Example: j’ai attendu, tu as attendu, il a attendu, elle a attendu, on a attendu, nous avons attendu, vous avez attendu, ils ont attendu, elles ont attendu.

attendre – to wait for, vendre – to sell, rendre – to give back, entendre – to hear, perdre – to lose, répondre – to answer, tendre – to stretch, fondre – to melt, pendre – to hang

Irregular verbs past participles:

• boire (to drink) – bu
• prendre (to take) – pris
• voir (to see) – vu
• faire (to do / make) – fait
• être (to be) – été
• vouloir (to want) – voulu
• lire (to read) – lu
• dire (to say/tell) – dit
• mettre (to put) – mis
• savoir (to know) – su

Grammar – the perfect tense:

Intransitive verbs – verbs that cannot use a direct object:

Helping verb is être: je suis, tu es, il est, elle est, on est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont, elles sont

Remember to show agreement when forming intransitive verbs in the perfect tense:

Marc est allé
Julie est allée
Marc et David sont allés
Julie et Marie sont allées
Marc et Julie sont allés (if the subjects are mixed gender, the masculine form ALWAYS takes place)

Remember the DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP code:

• D – Devenir (to become), past participle: devenu(e)(s)
• R – Rentrer (to come home), past participle: rentré(e)(s)
• &
• M – Mourir (to die), past participle: mort(e)(s)
• R – Retourner (to return), past participle: retourné(e)(s)
• S – Sortir (to go out), past participle: sorti(e)(s)
• V – Venir (to come), past participle: venu(e)(s)
• A – Arriver (to arrive), past participle: arrivé(e)(s)
• N – Naître (to be born), past participle: né(e)(s)
• D – Descendre (to come down), past participle: descendu(e)(s)
• E – Entrer (to come in), past participle: entré(e)(s)
• R – Rester (to rest/stay), past participle: resté(e)(s)
• T – Tomber (to fall), past participle: tombé(e)(s)
• R – Revenir (to come back), past participle: revenu(e)(s)
• A – Aller (to go), past participle: allé(e)(s)
• M – Monter (to go up), past participle: monté(e)(s)
• P – Partir (to leave), past participle: parti(e)(s)

The use of ‘de’:

• de + le (masculine noun) = du, example: J’ai du pain (le pain)
• de + la (feminine noun) = de la, example: J’ai de la confiture (la confiture)
• de + l’ (nouns which begin with a vowel or the silent ‘h’) = de l’, example: J’ai de l’huile
• de + les (plural nouns – doesn’t matter whether the noun is masculine or feminine) = des, example: J’ai des livres

The adjective ‘beau’ (beautiful, handsome)

Un beau vélo – a beautiful bike
Une belle maison – a beautiful house
De beaux vélos – some beautiful bikes
De belles maisons – some beautiful houses
Un bel homme – a handsome man (‘beau’ changes to ‘bel’ as the noun begins with a vowel or the silent ‘h’)

The use of ‘pour’ and ‘dans’ when talking about a duration of time in the future:

Ils sont partis pour combien de temps? Pour deux jours – How long are they away for? For 2 days
Ils rentrent dans combien de temps? Dans une semaine – When will they come home/When are they coming home? In a week.

Use of the imperative in the negative:

The use of the imperative in the negative is simply the first half of the negative ‘ne’ and the other half ‘pas’ placed on either side of the verb. For example

-er verbs:

ne parle pas – don’t speak (in the ‘tu’ form)
ne parlez pas – don’t speak! (in the ‘vous’ form)
ne parlons pas – let’s not talk!

-ir verbs

ne finis pas – don’t finish! (in the ‘tu’ form)
ne finissez pas – don’t finish! (in the ‘vous’ form)
ne finissons pas – let’s not finish!

-re verbs

n’attends pas – don’t wait!
n’attendez pas – don’t wait!
n’attendons pas – let’s not wait!

Pouvoir in the present tense:

je peux – I can
tu peux – you can
il peut – he can
elle peut – she can
on peut – one can / we can
nous pouvons – we can
vous pouvez – you can
ils peuvent – they can
elles peuvent – they can

Expressions of not being able to do something in French:

On ne peut pas – One cannot / You cannot
Il est impossible de + infinitive – It is not possible to
On n’a pas le droit de + infinitive – one does not have the right to / you do not have the right to

Connaitre in the present tense:

(connaitre also means ‘to know’ in the sense of a person or a place)

Je connais – I know
Tu connais – I know
Il connait – he knows
elle connait – she knows
on connait – one knows / we know
nous connaissons – we know
vous connissez – you know
ils connaissent – they know
elles connaissent – they know

Beaucoup de – a lot of
Peu de – a few of
assez de – quite a bit of

Use of ‘en’ and ‘ça’

‘En’ means ‘some’, ‘of them’ and sometimes ‘it’

Est-ce que tu fais du vélo? Oui, j’en fais – Do you go cycling? Yes, I do some / I do it (note that ‘en’ is placed before

the verb)

Je vais leur en parler – I am going to speak to them about it

J’en ai trois – I have three of them

‘ça’ means ‘that’
Est-ce que tu fais du vélo? Oui, je fais ça – Do you go cycling? Yes, I do that (note that ‘ça’ is placed after the verb)

Use of ‘tout’
There are four different ways of saying ‘all’ in French but the formation differs according to the gender and plurality of the noun:

Tout (used with masculine singular nouns) – tout le monde – everybody
Tous (used with masculine plural nouns) – tous les jours – everyday
Toute (used with feminine singular nouns) – toute la semaine – all week
Toutes (used with feminine plural nouns) – toutes les filles – all the girls

Reflexive verbs in the present tense:
Reflexive verbs are actions that you do to yourself and the difference between ordinary verbs is that reflexive verbs use a reflexive pronoun in front of the verb and they change according to the subject:

Je me lave – I wash myself / I get washed
Tu te laves – You wash yourself / you get washed
Il se lave – He gets washed / He washes himself
Elle se lave – She gets washed – she washes herself
On se lave – One gets washed
Nous nous lavons – We wash ourselves
Vous vous lavez – You wash yourself / you get washed
Ils se lavent – They wash themselves / they get washed
Elles se lavent – They wash themselves / they get washed


That is the last of the grammar / vocabulary to revise over and feel free to try out my resources and re-do the activities to help you revise.

I wish you all the very best of luck for the end of year exam! Good luck!

If you need any more resources, please don’t hesitate to ask me!