French II Key Points

Unit 1

Lesson 1.01 – Regular Verbs in the Present Tense

• -ER verb endings: e, es, e, ons, ez, ent

• -IR verb endings: is, is, it, issons, issez, issent

• -RE verb endings: s, s, nothing, ons, ez, ent

• Two pronouns for "you":

  • $tu$ = informal, singular

  • $vous$ = formal, plural

Lesson 1.02 – Cognates, Accent Marks, Numbers

• Cognate: A word similar in two languages (e.g., French and English), with similar spelling and meaning.

• Five accent marks in French: aigu, grave, tréma, circonflexe, cédille

• Numbers by 10s:

  • 10 = dix

  • 20 = vingt

  • 30 = trente

  • 40 = quarante

  • 50 = cinquante

  • 60 = soixante

Lesson 1.03 – Forming Questions

• Two ways to form yes/no questions: est-ce que (or) inversion

• Question words (qui, quand, comment, pourquoi, etc.) are placed at the beginning of the question.

Lesson 1.04 – Irregular Verbs

• $être$ – suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont

• $avoir$ – ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont

• $aller$ – vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont

• $mettre$ – mets, mets, met, mettons, mettez, mettent

Lesson 1.05 – Telling Time

• Traditional: 2:40 p.m. = Il est trois heures moins vingt de l’après-midi

• 24 Hour Clock: 2:40 p.m. = Il est quatorze heures quarante

Lesson 1.06 – Days, Months, Dates

• mardi, le 18 juin (18/6)

• samedi, le premier octobre (1/10)

Lesson 1.07 – Reflexive Verbs

• Reflexive verbs: Used when a person is performing and receiving the action of the verb, reflecting back on oneself.

• Used with a reflexive pronoun: me (m’), te (t’), se (s’), nous, vous, se (s’)

Unit 2

Lesson 2.01 – Articles and Numbers

• Definite articles (the) – le, la, l’, les

• Indefinite articles (a, an, some) – un, une, des

• Numbers:

  • 70 = soixante-dix

  • 80 = quatre-vingts

  • 90 = quatre-vingt-dix

  • 100 = cent

  • 200 = deux cents

  • 1.000 = mille

Lesson 2.02 – Negative Sentences

• Two words to form a negative sentence (ne…pas, ne…jamais, ne…plus, etc.)

• Negative expression surrounds the conjugated verb

• Indefinite article changes to de or d’.

Lesson 2.03 – Combien de, Il y a, à + the definite article

• Combien \de / d’ = How much or how many

• Il \y \a = there is or there are

• à + le = au

• à + la = à la

• à + l’ = à l’

• à + les = aux

Lesson 2.04 – Regular Adjectives

• Adjectives must agree with the nouns they describe in gender and number

• The letter E will make them feminine, and the letter S will make them plural.

• Majority of adjectives are placed after the nouns they describe

Lesson 2.05 – BANGS Adjectives

• BANGS adjectives are placed in front of the nouns they describe.

  • B = beauty

  • A = age

  • N = numbers

  • G = goodness

  • S = size

Lesson 2.06 – Comparative

• Comparing two items with an adjective: plus / moins / aussi + adjective + que / qu’

• Comparing two nouns: plus de / moins de / aussi de + noun + que / qu’

Lesson 2.07 – Superlative

• Comparing three or more items with an adjective: le plus / le moins + adjective + de (optional)

• Comparing three or more nouns: le plus de / le moins de + noun + de (optional)

Unit 3

Lesson 3.01 – Demonstrative and Interrogative Adjectives

• Demonstrative (this / that / these / those) = ce / cet / cette / ces optional –ci (or) – là

• Interrogative (which / what) = quel / quelle / quels / quelles

Lesson 3.02 – Faire vs. Jouer

• For sports, games, or instruments you play, use jouer + à / de

• For activities you do, use faire + de

• $Faire$ = fais, fais, fait, faisons, faites, font

Lesson 3.03 – Avoir Expressions

• Examples: avoir froid, chaud, faim, soif, peur

• $Avoir$ is used for these expressions rather than être

Lesson 3.04 – Direct Object Pronouns

• Direct object: the word that receives the action from the verb.

• Direct object pronouns = me, te, le, la, l’, nous, vous, les

• If there is only one verb in the sentence, the direct object pronoun should be placed before the verb

Lesson 3.05 – Direct Object Pronouns – Two Verbs

• If there are two verbs in the sentence (a conjugated and an infinitive), the direct object pronoun should be placed between the verbs

Lesson 3.06 – Commands and Direct Object Pronouns

• A command or a request can be directed toward tu, nous, or vous

• If a command has a direct object pronoun, it should be placed after the verb connected with a hyphen

• If the command is negative, the direct object pronoun should be placed before the verb

Unit 4

Lesson 4.01 – Avoir mal à

• Avoir \mal \à is used to describe an ache or a pain. (J’ai mal à la tête.)

Lesson 4.02 – Indirect Object Pronouns

• Indirect objects = à + a person

• Indirect object pronouns = lui (or) leur

• Placement rules for indirect object pronouns are the same as the rules for direct object pronouns

Lesson 4.03 – Passé Composé with –ER verbs

• The passé composé is formed by using a helping verb (avoir for now) and a past participle.

• The past participle of ER verbs is formed by dropping the ER and adding é. (parler = parlé)

Lesson 4.04 – Passé Composé with –IR verbs

• The past participle of IR verbs is formed by dropping the IR and adding i. (choisir = choisi)

Lesson 4.05 – Passé Composé with –RE verbs

• The past participle of RE verbs is formed by dropping the RE and adding u. (vendre = vendu)

Lesson 4.06 – Passé Composé with irregular verbs

• Irregular verbs typically have irregular past participles, so they must be memorized (faire = fait / mettre = mis)

Unit 5

Lesson 5.01 – Weather

• Faire and il y a are often used in weather expressions

Lesson 5.02 – Venir, Revenir, Devenir

• $venir$ – viens, viens, vient, venons, venez, viennent ; past participle = venu

• $devenir$ – deviens, deviens, devient, devenons, devenez, deviennent ; past participle = devenu

• $revenir$ – reviens, reviens, revient, revenons, revenez, reviennent ; past participle = revenu

• The verb faire can be used in a variety of expressions

Lesson 5.03 – Sortir, Partir, Naître, Mourir

• $sortir$ – sors, sors, sort, sortons, sortez, sortent ; past participle = sorti

• $partir$ – pars, pars, part, partons, partez, partent ; past participle = parti

• $naître$ – nais, nais, naît, naissons, naissez, naissent ; past participle = né

• $mourir$ – meurs, meurs, meurt, mourons, mourez, meurent ; past participle = mort

Lesson 5.04 – Passé Composé with Etre

• The Dr. Mrs. Vandertrampp acronym will help you remember which verbs take être as the helping verb in the passé composé.

• When the helping verb is être, there must be agreement between the subject and past participle.

Lesson 5.05 – Passé Composé with Reflexive Verbs

• Reflexive verbs also take être as the helping verb in the passé composé.

• There will be agreement between the subject and the past participle as long as the subject is performing the action to or for himself.

Lesson 5.06 – Adverbs

• Many adverbs end in the letters -ment

• Most adverbs typically follow the conjugated verb they describe

Unit 6

Lesson 6.01 – The House

• Vocabulary related to the house

Lesson 6.02 – Direct Object Pronouns in the Passé Composé

• In a passé composé sentence, the object pronoun is placed before the conjugated helping verb

• There must be agreement between the direct object pronoun and the past participle

Lesson 6.03 – Possessive Phrases and Possessive Adjectives

• There is no apostrophe S in French (‘s). Instead, the phrase object + de / d’ + owner is used

• Possessive adjectives can also be used to show possession (example: mon, ma, mes)

• The possessive adjective must agree in gender and number with the object rather than the owner

Lesson 6.04 – Possessive Pronouns

• Possessive pronouns can be used to show possession (example: le mien, la mienne)

• The possessive pronoun must agree in gender and number with the object rather than the owner

Lesson 6.05 – Large Numbers and Idiomatic Expressions

• 1.000 = mille

• 5.000 = cinq mille

• 100.000 = cent mille

• 1.000.000 = un million

• An idiom has a different meaning than what the individual words imply

Lesson 6.06 – Savoir, Connaître, Vouloir, Pouvoir, Devoir

• $savoir$ = sais, sais, sait, savons, savez, savent ; past participle = su

• $connaître$ – connais, connais, connaît, connaissons, connaissez, connaissent ; past participle = connu

• $vouloir$ – veux, veux, veut, voulons, voulez, veulent ; past participle = voulu

• $pouvoir$ – peux, peux, peut, pouvons, pouvez, peuvent ; past participle = pu

• $devoir$ – dois, dois, doit, devons, devez, doivent ; past participle = dû

Unit 7

Lesson 7.01 – How to Form the Imparfait

• Use the stem from the nous form of the present tense

• The endings are – ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, aient

Lesson 7.02 – Irregular Verbs with the Imparfait

• Etre is the only verb whose stem is irregular in the imparfait (ét-)

• For –CER verbs, keep the ç in the stem for je / tu / il / ils, but it will NOT be in the stem for nous or vous.

• For –GER verbs, keep the e in the stem for je / tu / il / ils, but it will NOT be in the stem for nous or vous.

Lesson 7.03 – Imparfait vs. Passé Composé

• The imparfait is used for actions that happened in the past, but they were on-going; actions that were done on a regular basis; giving someone’s age in the past; describing background information

• The passé composé is used for a single event or actions that happened in the past, and they have ended.

• The passé composé and the imparfait can be used together if one action was in progress (imparfait) when another action happened (passé composé).

Lesson 7.04 – Voir, Rire, Boire

• $voir$ – vois, vois, voit, voyons, voyez, voient ; past participle = vu

• $rire$ – ris, ris, rit, rions, riez, rient ; past participle = ri

• $boire$ – bois, bois, boit, buvons, buvez, boivent ; past participle = bu

Lesson 7.05 – Pronoun Y

• The pronoun Y typically replaces a prepositional phrase that refers to a place or a direction

• The placement rules are the same as those used for direct and indirect object pronouns