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🗣️ French
Final consonants are usually silent in French
French Pronunciation Rule #1
Silent final consonants — the most important French pronunciation rule
Most final consonants in French are not pronounced. "Vous" = voo. "Beaucoup" = boh-koo. Exception: C, R, F, L are often pronounced (think CaReFuL). The S on plural words is never pronounced.
🗣️ French
Le/La (singular) → Les (plural)
French Articles
Definite articles in French — four forms, one rule
Masculine singular: le. Feminine singular: la. Before a vowel/h: l'. Plural (both genders): les. Indefinite: un (masc), une (fem), des (plural). Partitive: du (masc), de la (fem).
🗣️ French
Adjectives follow nouns in French (usually)
French Adjective Placement
French adjective order — opposite of English, mostly
In English: "a red car." In French: "une voiture rouge" (a car red). Most adjectives follow the noun. Exception — BAGS adjectives go before: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size (belle, vieille, bonne, petite).
🗣️ French
Imparfait = was ___-ing. Passé composé = did / has done.
French Past Tenses
Two past tenses — when to use which
Passé composé: completed, specific past actions ("I ate"). Imparfait: ongoing, habitual, or background past ("I was eating" / "I used to eat"). Same rule as Spanish preterite/imperfect.
French Noun Gender
French gender: most words ending in -e are feminine. Most ending in consonant are masculine. Many exceptions.
French Noun Gender
Patterns for guessing the gender of French nouns
Feminine endings: -tion, -sion, -ure, -ence, -ance, -ette, -euse, -rice. Masculine endings: -ment, -isme, -age, -eur, -oir. Exceptions everywhere: le silence (m), la main (f), le problème (m). Learn gender with each noun. Memorize: le/un = masculine, la/une = feminine.
French Negation
Negation: ne...pas wraps around the verb. Ne...jamais (never). Ne...rien (nothing). Ne...plus (no more).
French Negation
How to make sentences negative in French
Place ne before the verb and pas (or other negative word) after. Je ne sais pas (I don't know). In spoken French, ne is often dropped: Je sais pas. Passé composé: ne wraps around the auxiliary: Je n'ai pas mangé. Jamais (never), rien (nothing), plus (no longer), personne (no one).
The Subjunctive Mood
Subjunctive triggers: il faut que, vouloir que, bien que, douter que — doubt, wish, necessity, emotion
The Subjunctive Mood
When to use the subjunctive — the mood of uncertainty and emotion
Use subjunctive after expressions of: wish/desire (je veux que tu viennes), necessity (il faut que), doubt (je doute que), emotion (je suis content que), certain conjunctions (bien que, avant que, pour que). Indicators: que + subjunctive. If both clauses have same subject, use infinitive instead.
Direct Object Pronouns
Direct object pronouns: me, te, le/la, nous, vous, les. Go BEFORE the verb in French.
Direct Object Pronouns
Replacing direct object nouns with pronouns — placed before the verb
Je mange la pomme → Je la mange (I eat it). Il voit les enfants → Il les voit. In passé composé, pronoun goes before the auxiliary: Je l'ai mangée (agreement with preceding direct object!). With infinitive: Je veux le manger (before the infinitive).
Depuis with Present Tense
Depuis + present tense = has been doing (still ongoing). J'étudie depuis deux heures = I've been studying for two hours.
Depuis with Present Tense
French expresses ongoing past actions differently from English
English uses past perfect continuous ('I have been studying'). French uses present tense + depuis. J'habite ici depuis cinq ans = I have been living here for five years (and still do). If the action is completed, use passé composé + pendant: J'ai étudié pendant deux heures.
Liaison
Liaison: final consonant normally silent becomes pronounced before a vowel sound. Les enfants = lay-zon-fon.
Liaison
When normally silent consonants are pronounced in French
Liaison is required in certain contexts: determiner + noun (les amis, des enfants), pronoun + verb (nous allons, ils ont), adjective + noun (petit enfant). Forbidden after et. The s or x becomes a /z/ sound, n becomes /n/. Makes French flow as one continuous stream of sound.
Comparative: Il est plus grand que moi (He is taller than me). Elle est moins sportive que lui. Je suis aussi fatigué que toi. Superlative: le/la/les + plus/moins + adjective + de: C'est le plus beau pays du monde. Irregular: bon → meilleur (better), bien → mieux.
Irregular Verbs Big 4
BEAT — Être (to be), Avoir (to have), Aller (to go), Faire (to do/make) — the four most essential French verbs
The four irregular verbs that appear in almost every French sentence
Memorize these four cold — they are also the auxiliary verbs for all compound tenses
Être: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont. Avoir: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont. Aller: vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont. Faire: fais, fais, fait, faisons, faites, font. Être and Avoir are auxiliary verbs for passé composé. Aller + infinitive = immediate future (je vais manger = I am going to eat). Faire appears in dozens of expressions: faire la cuisine, faire du sport, il fait chaud.
Être
suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont — auxiliary for DR MRS VANDERTRAMP
Avoir
ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont — auxiliary for most passé composé
Aller + infinitive
Je vais + verb = I am going to — easy near future tense
Indirect Object Pronouns
IOP: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur — placed BEFORE the verb. Lui and leur for people only.
Indirect object pronouns replace nouns that follow à — they go BEFORE the conjugated verb
Lui replaces both il and elle (to him / to her). Leur replaces both ils and elles (to them).
Indirect object pronouns: me (to me), te (to you), lui (to him/her), nous (to us), vous (to you), leur (to them). Placement: before the conjugated verb. Je lui parle = I speak to him/her. With infinitive: before the infinitive. Je vais lui parler. Do not use lui/leur with things — use y instead. Common verbs taking indirect objects: parler à, donner à, téléphoner à, écrire à, répondre à.
Lui
Replaces both him and her (to him / to her) — one word does both
Leur
To them — for people only, not things
Y
Replaces à + place or thing — je vais à Paris → j y vais
Si + imparfait → conditionnel — if I had... I would...
Future Tense
Future = infinitive + avoir endings (-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont). Drop the -e from -re verbs first.
The simple future tense expresses will — built on the infinitive as a stem
Regular future is easy — just attach the avoir endings to the infinitive
Regular formation: parler → parlerai, parleras, parlera, parlerons, parlerez, parleront. -RE verbs: drop the e first — prendre → prendr- → prendrai. Irregular stems (same as conditional): être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-, vouloir → voudr-, pouvoir → pourr-, venir → viendr-. Near future alternative: aller + infinitive (je vais manger) — more common in spoken French. Use simple future for planned events and predictions.
Regular
Infinitive + -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont
-RE verbs
Drop the final -e before adding endings — prendre → prendrai
Irregular stems
Same as conditional: ser-, aur-, ir-, fer-, voudr-, pourr-
Question Formation
Three ways to ask: (1) Rising intonation. (2) Est-ce que + statement. (3) Inversion (verb-subject). Formal to informal: 3→1.
Three levels of question formation in French — from formal inversion to casual intonation
Question words: Qui (who), Quoi/Que (what), Où (where), Quand (when), Pourquoi (why), Comment (how), Combien (how much)
Method 1 (informal): just raise intonation — Tu viens? Method 2 (neutral): Est-ce que + normal word order — Est-ce que tu viens? Method 3 (formal): invert verb and subject, add hyphen — Viens-tu? With nouns: restate noun then invert with pronoun — Marie vient-elle? Inversion with il/elle: add -t- if verb ends in vowel — Parle-t-il? Question words combine with all three methods.
Intonation
Tu viens? — most casual, just raise your voice
Est-ce que
Est-ce que tu viens? — safe for all situations
Inversion
Viens-tu? — formal writing and speech
Gustar-type Verbs
French equivalent: plaire, manquer, falloir. Subject and object flip — it pleases ME not I like IT.
Verbs that work backwards — the thing liked is the subject, the person is the indirect object
Ça me plait = It pleases me (I like it). Tu me manques = You are missing to me (I miss you).
Plaire (to please/to like): ça me plaît (I like it), ça lui plaît (he/she likes it). Manquer (to miss): tu me manques = I miss you (literally: you are missing to me — subject is reversed from English). Falloir (to be necessary, impersonal): il faut + infinitive = it is necessary to / one must. Il me faut = I need. These verbs require indirect object pronouns (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur), not direct ones.
Plaire
Ça me plaît = It pleases me = I like it
Manquer
Tu me manques = You are missing to me = I miss you
Falloir
Il faut + infinitive = one must / it is necessary to
🎓 Common Exam Questions
Q: Explain the passé composé vs imparfait distinction with examples.
A: Passé composé: completed actions with a clear endpoint — specific events, sequences, sudden changes. J ai mangé une pomme. Je suis allé au cinéma. Uses avoir or être + past participle. Agreement: past participle agrees with subject when using être, and with preceding direct object when using avoir. Imparfait: ongoing past states, habitual actions, background descriptions, interrupted actions. Je mangeais quand il est arrivé (I was eating when he arrived — imparfait is the background, passé composé is the interruption). Je jouais au football tous les samedis (habitual). Signal words for passé composé: hier, une fois, soudain, d abord, puis. Signal words for imparfait: toujours, souvent, tous les jours, chaque, quand j étais enfant.
Q: How does French noun gender work and what are the key patterns?
A: Every French noun is either masculine or feminine — there is no neuter. Articles agree: le/un (masculine), la/une (feminine), les/des (plural). Key endings that suggest feminine: -tion/-sion (la nation), -ité (la liberté), -ure (la voiture), -ée (l idée), -ie (la vie), -ise (la surprise), -esse (la richesse). Key endings suggesting masculine: -age (le garage), -ment (le mouvement), -eau (le chapeau), -isme (le tourisme). Exceptions exist. Memorize gender with the noun from the start — always learn le/la with each new word rather than just the word alone. When in doubt: words of Greek origin ending in -me, -ge, -ème tend to be masculine.
Q: What are the rules for French pronoun placement with simple verbs, compound tenses, and infinitives?
A: With simple tenses: pronouns go BEFORE the conjugated verb. Je le vois. Je lui parle. Reflexive: Je me lève. Multiple pronouns: me/te/se/nous/vous before le/la/les before lui/leur before y before en. With compound tenses (passé composé): pronoun goes before the auxiliary. Je l ai vu. Elle lui a parlé. With infinitives: pronouns go before the infinitive. Je vais le voir. Il veut lui parler. Exception — affirmative imperative: pronouns go AFTER the verb with a hyphen. Dis-le moi. Parle-lui. Negative imperative returns to normal order: Ne le dis pas. Direct vs indirect: le/la/les replace direct objects (nouns without à). Lui/leur replace indirect objects (nouns with à referring to people).
Q: Explain the French subjunctive — when it is used and how it is formed.
A: The subjunctive is a mood (not a tense) expressing subjectivity, doubt, wish, emotion, or necessity. Formation: take the ils/elles present tense form, remove -ent, add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. Parler → parlent → parle → que je parle. Triggered after: expressions of wish/desire (vouloir que, désirer que), emotion (être content que, avoir peur que), doubt/denial (douter que, ne pas croire que), impersonal expressions (il faut que, il est important que, c est dommage que), certain conjunctions (bien que = although, pour que = so that, à moins que = unless, avant que = before). Not triggered by: espérer que (hope) — uses indicative. Irregular subjunctives: être → que je sois, avoir → que j aie, aller → que j aille, faire → que je fasse, vouloir → que je veuille, pouvoir → que je puisse, savoir → que je sache.
Q: Describe the main French tenses and when to use each one.
A: Present (présent): current actions, habitual actions, general truths. Passé composé: specific completed past events. Imparfait: past habits, states, background, interrupted actions. Plus-que-parfait: had done — past perfect, action before another past action. Futur simple: will do — predictions, future certainty, formal. Futur proche (aller + inf): going to do — immediate future, spoken French. Conditionnel présent: would do — politeness, hypothetical, reported speech. Subjonctif présent: subjunctive for present/future after triggers. Subjonctif passé: subjunctive for past actions after triggers. Key overlap to know: present tense with depuis for ongoing states (j attends depuis une heure = I have been waiting for an hour). Conditional in si clauses: si + imparfait → conditionnel (hypothetical). Si + passé composé → futur (real future condition).