Important Things to Know

CHAPTER 1

• the letter H in most words is silent

• Th is pronounced t

• Ch in most words is pronounced sh (ex: shirt)

• J is pronounced [ž] (ex: division) and so is g when followed by e, i, or y

• accent aigu → é á í ó ú

• accent grave → è à ì ò ù

• accent circonflexe → ê â î û ô

• cédille → ç

• tréma → ë ï

• phone numbers are broken up into 5 sets of 2 numbers (01.23.45.67.89)

• when writing dates, the day comes before the month

• un individu is always masculine and une personne is always feminine

• des is plural form of un(e)

• des becomes d’ when coming before a vowel or h

• liaison: linking together of a normally silent final consonant and a vowel / h at the start of the following word

  • ex: des hommes

• when words end in s, x, or z, they don’t change in their plural form

  • ex: un mois → des mois

• ce sont: plural form of c’est

• most words that end in ou and all words that end in eau add an x for the plural form

  • ex: un bijou → des bijoux

  • ex: un bureau → des bureaux

• most words ending in al change to aux in plural form

  • ex: un journal → des journaux

• être conjugation

  • je suis

  • tu es

  • il/elle est

  • nous sommes

  • vous êtes

  • ils/elles sont

• ce/c’ is only used with être

• le/la/l’/les are used to describe a specific person, place, or thing

• when le is used with a day of the week or part of the day, it expresses that that activity always takes place on that day or that part of the day

CHAPTER 2

• masculine words ending with -e dont change in their feminine form

  • ex: jeune, modeste, belge

• when a masculine word ends in -é, -l, or -r, add an e to make it feminine

  • ex: fâché → fâchée / impoli → impolie /espagnol → espagnole / dur → dure

• masculine words that end in silent consonants like -d, -t, -n, or -s, add an e to make it feminine and change pronunciation

  • ex: grand → grande / amusant → amusante / marocain → marocaine / français → française

• some words you double the last letter and add an e

  • ex: bon → bonne / brésilien → brésilienne / gentil → gentille

• some words dont follow the same rules

  • ex: sportif → sportive / blanc → blanche / heureux → heureuse / travailleur → travailleuse / premier → première / dernier → dernière / beau → belle / vieux → vieille

• adjectives agree in both gender and number

  • ex: il est poli → ils sont polis

• avoir conjugation

  • j’ai

  • tu as

  • il/elle/on a

  • nous avons

  • vous avez

  • ils/elles ont

• on refers to a non-specific group of people

• ne proceeds the verb and pas / jamais comes right after

  • ne / n’ __ pas / ne / n’ __ jamais

  • ce n’est pas / jamais / ce ne sont pas / jamis

• negative sentences with verb avoir, un/une/des is changed to de/d’

  • le/la/l’/les are unaffected

  • ex: tu as un crayon? → non, je n’ai pas de crayon

• in informal speech, people sometimes us a tag question for confirmation / agreement of a statement

  • ex: c’est facile, non?

• sometimes yes or no questions can be used with a rising intonation at the end of a statement

  • ex: M. Rossi parle italien?

• formal way to ask questions is to add est-ce que/qu’ to the beginning of the question

  • ex: est-ce que M. Rossi parle italien?

• if a question is asked using negation, si is used in place of oui

  • ex: M. Rossi ne parle pas français? → si, il parle français.