A2

Lecon 13
-EAU : MASCULIN → FÉMININЖ - elle
◦ beau → belle (beautiful)
◦ nouveau → nouvelle (new)
*Please note that adjectives which end in -eau take an -x in their plural form (beau = beaux)
-EUX : MASCULIN → FÉMININ - euse
◦ heureux → heureuse (happy)
-IF : MASCULIN → FÉMININ - ive
◦ sportif → sportive (sporty)
◦ agressif → agressive (aggressive)
-EIL/-EL/-ET/-EN/-IEN/-ON/-S : MASCULIN → FÉMININ - e
◦ pareil → pareille (similar)
◦ actuel → actuelle (current)
◦ violet → violette (purple)
◦ méditerranéen → méditerranéenne (Mediterranean)
◦ ancien → ancienne (ancient, former)
◦ bon → bonne (good)
◦ gros → grosse (big)
-EUR : MASCULIN → FÉMININ - euse
rêveur → rêveuse (dreamy)
COMPARATIFS SIMPLES
◦ Superiority is expressed with plus… que (more… than).
◦ Inferiority is expressed with moins… que (less… than).
◦ Equality is expressed with aussi or autant… que (as… as, as much, as many…).
COMPARATIFS AVEC UN ADJECTIF OU UN ADVERBE
Comparison on an adjective: plus/moins/aussi + adjective + que
◦ Superiority: Lucie est plus drôle que Tom. - Lucie is funnier than Tom.
◦ Inferiority: Lucie est moins drôle que Tom. - Lucie is less funny than Tom.
◦ Equality: Lucie est aussi drôle que Tom. - Lucie is as funny as Tom.
Comparison on adverbs*: plus/moins/aussi + adverb + que
◦ Superiority: Lucie court plus vite que Tom. - Lucie runs faster than Tom.
◦ Inferiority: Lucie court moins vite que Tom. - Lucie runs slower than Tom.
◦ Equality: Lucie court aussi vite que Tom. - Lucie runs as fast as Tom.
Comparison on verbs: verb + plus/moins/autant + que
◦ Superiority: Je mange plus que mon frère. - I eat more than my brother.
◦ Inferiority: Je mange moins que mon frère. - I eat less than my brother.
◦ Equality: Je mange autant que mon frère. - I eat as much as my brother.
COMPARATIFS IRRÉGULIERS
The adjective bon/bonne (good) becomes meilleur/meilleure (better). We do not say plus bon.
The adjective mauvais (bad) becomes pire (worse) in its comparative form, although the two
forms can be used: pire but also plus mauvais/plus mauvaise.
The adverb bien (good) becomes mieux (better)
SUPERLATIFS
◦ Superiority is expressed with the definite article + plus + adjective (the most + adjective)
◦ Inferiority is expressed with the definite article + moins + adjective (the least + adjective)
BON - ADJECTIF
Bon is primarily used as an adjective meaning "good", "right", "correct", "nice" (agrees on
gender & number).
BON - ADVERBE
But bon can also be used as an adverb, meaning "good", "pleasant", "nice", especially after
verbs such as sentir, faire, tenir. In that case it remains unchanged. Bon is also used as an
adverb in some expressions such as pour de bon and bon marché.
BON - NOM
Bon can be used as a noun, meaning "voucher", "coupon", "form".
BIEN - ADVERBE
Bien is primarily used as an adverb meaning "well".
BIEN - ADJECTIF
Bien can be an adjective, although it unchanged, even if the noun it qualifies is femin. or plural.
BIEN - NOM
When used as a noun, bien means "good", or "goods/possessions".
plus… que (more… than) which indicates superiority.
◦ moins… que (less… than) which indicates inferiority.
◦ aussi… que (as… as) which indicates equality.
The comparative of superiority of bon is meilleur (better), while its other comparatives are
regular (moins bon que: less good than, aussi bon que: as good as).
The comparative of superiority of mauvais is pire (worse), although plus mauvais, is also
accepted. Its other comparatives are regular (moins mauvais: less bad than, aussi mauvais: as
bad as).
Both meilleur and pire follow the agreement rule.
Tout means “everything”, “all”, “any”, “every” or “the whole”. It can be an indefinite adjective,
an adverb or a pronoun.
◦ tout: masculine singular
◦ toute: feminine singular
◦ tous: masculine plural
◦ toutes: feminine plural
Used as an indefinite adjective, tout needs to agree in gender and number with the noun.

▸ Tous les garçons et toutes les filles de ma classe.

▹ All the boys and all the girls in my class.
Lecon 14
LES ADJECTIFS POSSESSIFS
Masculine singular Feminine singular Plural
◦ mon - my ◦ ma - my ◦ mes - my
◦ ton - your ◦ ta - your ◦ tes - your
◦ son - his/her/its ◦ sa - his/her/its ◦ ses - his/her/its
◦ notre - our ◦ notre - our ◦ nos - our
◦ votre - your ◦ votre - your ◦ vos - your
◦ leur - their ◦ leur - their ◦ leurs - their
The possessive adjective agrees with the noun it qualifies, not the gender of the owner.
▸ C’est son manteau. ▹ It is her coat.
Lecon 15
The passé composé is a equivalent to the present perfect, simple past or past emphatic.
Exceptions: vendre (to sell) → vendu (sold), apprendre → appris (learnt), attendre (to wait)
→ attendu, avoir (to have) → eu, boire (to drink) → bu, comprendre (to understand)
→ compris, croire (to believe) → cru, recevoir (to receive) → reçu, rire (to laugh) → ri, devoir
(to have to) → dû, dire (to say/tell) → dit, être (to be) → été, faire (to do/make) → fait,
mettre (to put) → mis, prendre (to take) → pris, entendre (to hear) → entendu, tenir (to hold)
→ tenu.
Movement verbs use the auxiliary être: DR and MRS VANDERTRAMP
Devenir (to become) → je suis devenu(e) (I became)
Revenir (to come back) → je suis revenu(e) (I came back)
Monter (to go up → je suis monté(e) (I went up)
Rester (to stay) → je suis resté(e) (I stayed)
Sortir (to go out) → je suis sorti(e) (I went out)
Venir (to come) → je suis venu(e) (I came)
Aller (to go) → je suis allé(e) (I went)
Naître (to be born) → je suis né(e) (I was born)
Descendre (to go down) → je suis descendu(e) (I came down)
Entrer (to go in) → je suis entré(e) (I went in)
Rentrer (to come back) → je suis rentré(e) (I came back)
Tomber (to fall) → je suis tombé(e) (I fell down)
Retourner (to return) → je suis retourné(e) (I returned)
Arriver (to arrive) → je suis arrivé(e) (I arrived)
Mourir (to die) → je suis mort(e) (I died)
Partir (to leave) → je suis parti(e) (I left)
Note: marcher could be considered as a movement verb, it is conjugated with avoir. Some
movement verbs can also be used with avoir depending on what you want to express.
Sortir and rentrer can be conjugated with être or avoir depending on whether the verb comes
with a complement or not, and on the context.
The structure ne pas + infinitive is sometimes used to give instructions:
Ne pas marcher sur la pelouse - Do not walk on the grass
Ne pas déranger - Do not disturb
Lecon 16
ADVERBES INTERROGATIFS
◦ où - where
◦ quand - when
◦ comment - how
◦ pourquoi - why
◦ combien - how much
◦ combien de - how many
Note that inversion with je is not normally used in French. The question Mange-je avec toi à
midi ? is not correct.▸ Est-ce que je mange avec toi à midi ?
However, avoir (to have), être (to be), devoir (to have to/must) and pouvoir (to be able to/can)
are the four verbs which can be inverted with je.
◦ ai-je... ? (have I? ◦ suis-je... ? (am I?) ◦ dois-je... ? (must I?) ◦ puis-je... ? (can I?)*
*Peux becomes puis when we invert the verb pouvoir.
Combien de + pluriel
▸ Combien d'élèves y a-t-il dans cette classe ?
▸ Combien est-ce qu'il y a d'élèves dans cette classe ?
▸ Il y a combien d'élèves dans cette classe ? (informal)
▹ How many apples have you got?
▸ Combien de pommes as-tu ?
▸ Combien de pommes est-ce que tu as ?
Combien
▸ Combien cette maison a-t-elle coûté ?
▸ Combien est-ce que cette maison a coûté ?
▸ Cette maison, elle a coûté combien ? (informal)
▸ Cette maison a coûté combien ? (informal)
Combien de + pluriel
▸ Combien de bonbons as-tu mangé ?
▸ Combien de bonbons est-ce que tu as mangé ?
▸ Tu as mangé combien de bonbons ? (informal)
c’est is followed by an article + noun, or an adjective in the masculine singular form.
Il est is followed by an adj. or a profession without article le, la, un etc., or express the time.
Lecon 17
Qui/que/quoi/qu' means 'who' or 'what'. Quoi is an indefinite interrogative pronoun.
Use qui when referring to a person and que or quoi when referring to an object.
Which one? Lequel is a more complex interrogative pronoun.
◦ lequel (masculine singular)
◦ laquelle (feminine singular)
◦ lesquels (masculine plural or mixed masculine/feminine)
◦ lesquelles (feminine plural)
INFORMAL QUESTION TAGS
◦ hein ? = huh?
◦ pas vrai ? = isn't it true ?
◦ c'est bien ça/cela ? = right?
Both quel and que mean what so what is the difference?
Quel is an interrogative adjective, means which or what and as all adject. it relates to a noun.
Que is an interrogative pronoun, which means what. It can be followed by a verb or est-ce que.
SI
Can be an adverb or a conjunction. It can mean so as in “I am so tired - je suis si fatigué”.
It can also mean if as in “I will come if I can - je viendrai si je peux”.
It can mean as as in “he is not as funny as he thinks - il n’est pas si drôle qu’il croit”.
Si can also means yes, but is not interchangeable with oui. Si is used to answer a negative
question or statement, to contradict the other person.

Lecon 18. NOMS

Nouns ending in -ou usually take an -s in the plural form. But the 7 nouns end with -x.
un bijou (jewel) → des bijoux (jewels)
◦ un caillou (stone) → des cailloux (stones)
◦ un chou (cabbage) → des choux (cabbages)
◦ un genou (knee) → des genoux (knees)
◦ un hibou (owl) → des hiboux (owls)
◦ un joujou (toy) → des joujoux (toys)
◦ un pou (louse) → des poux (lice)
Nouns ending in -al usually take -aux in the plural form.
un journal (a newspaper) → des journaux.
Nouns ending in -au or -eau in the singular usually take an -x in the plural form.
Nouns ending in -eu in the singular usually take an -x in the plural form.
Exceptions: ◦ un pneu (a tyre) → des pneus (tyres)
◦ un bleu (a bruise) → des bleus (bruises)
Nouns ending in -s, -x or -z in the singular form do not change in the plural form.
Some nouns change spelling or form, sometimes completely, in the plural form.
◦ un œil (an eye) → des yeux (eyes)
◦ un monsieur (a man, a gentleman) → des messieurs (men, gentlemen)
◦ madame (Mrs/lady) → mesdames (ladies)
SOME NOUNS CHANGE PRONUNCIATION WHEN IN THE PLURAL FORM
◦ un os (a bone) (pronounce the s in os) → des os (bones) (don’t pronounce the s in os)
◦ un œuf (pronounce the f) (an egg) → des œufs (eggs) (don’t pronounce the f and s)
◦ un bœuf (pronounce the f) (a beef/an ox) → des bœufs (oxen) (don’t pronounce the f and s)
LES ADJECTIFS IRRÉGULIERS AU PLURIEL
normal ◦ jaloux (masculine plural)
◦ normal (masculine singular) ◦ jalouses (feminine plural)
◦ normale (feminine singular) better
◦ normaux (masculine plural) ◦ meilleur (masculine singular)
◦ normales (feminine plural) ◦ meilleure (feminine singular)
light ◦ meilleurs (masculine plural)
◦ léger (masculine singular) ◦ meilleures (feminine plural)
◦ légère (feminine singular) soft
◦ légers (masculine plural,) ◦ doux (masculine singular)
◦ légères (feminine plural) ◦ douce (feminine singular)
handsome ◦ doux (masculine plural)
◦ beau/bel (masc. sing./in front of a masc. ◦ douces (feminine plural)
noun starting with an h or a vowel) good
◦ belle (feminine singular) ◦ bon (masculine singular)
◦ beaux (masculine plural) ◦ bonne (feminine singular)
◦ belles (feminine plural) ◦ bons (masculine plural)
old ◦ bonnes (feminine plural)
◦ vieux (masculine singular) false
◦ vieil (masculine singular when followed by ◦ faux (masculine singular)
a vowel or a silent h) ◦ fausse (feminine singular)
◦ vieille (feminine singular) ◦ faux (masculine plural)
◦ vieux (masculine plural) ◦ fausses (feminine plural)
◦ vieilles (feminine plural) happy
new ◦ heureux (masculine singular)
◦ nouveau/nouvel (masc. sing./in front of a ◦ heureuse (feminine singular)
masc. noun starting with an h or a vowel) ◦ heureux (masculine plural)
◦ nouvelle (feminine singular) ◦ heureuses (feminine plural)
◦ nouveaux (masculine plural) dreamy
◦ nouvelles (feminine plural) ◦ rêveur (masculine singular)
fresh ◦ rêveuse (feminine singular)
◦ frais (masculine singular) ◦ rêveurs (masculine plural)
◦ fraîche (feminine singular) ◦ rêveuses (feminine plural)
◦ frais (masculine plural) new (as in an object)
◦ fraîches (feminine plural) ◦ neuf (masculine singular)
jealous ◦ neuve (feminine singular)
◦ jaloux (masculine singular) ◦ neufs (masculine plural)
◦ jalouse (feminine singular) ◦ neuves (feminine plural)
 fat mad
◦ gros (masculine singular) ◦ fou (masculine singular)
◦ grosse (feminine singular) ◦ folle (feminine singular)
◦ gros (masculine plural) ◦ fous (masculine plural)
◦ grosses (feminine plural) ◦ folles (feminine plural)
sporty soft
◦ sportif (masculine singular) ◦ mou (masculine singular)
◦ sportive (feminine singular) ◦ molle (feminine singular)
◦ sportifs (masculine plural) ◦ mous (masculine plural)
◦ sportives (feminine plural) ◦ molles (feminine plural
Some adj. can be placed either before or after the noun and may take a different meaning.
ancien ◦ strange (before the noun)
◦ former, ex- (before the noun) ◦ inquisitive (after the noun)
◦ old, ancient (after the noun) pauvre
grand ◦ poor - in the sense of 'wretched' (before
◦ great (before the noun) the noun)
◦ tall (after the noun) ◦ poor - in the sense of 'not rich' (after the
brave noun)
◦ fine, amiable (before the noun) propre
◦ brave, courageous (after the noun) ◦ own (before the noun)
cher ◦ clean (after the noun)
◦ dear, true (before the noun) seul
◦ expensive (after the noun) ◦ only, sole (before the noun)
curieux ◦ lonely (after the noun)
Lecon 19
Trop – too
Lentement – slowly
adverbs of manner (doucement - gently)
◦ adverbs of place (nulle part - nowhere)
◦ adverbs of quantity (assez - enough)
Regular adverbs are formed from adj. in the fem. Sing. form + ment. Mostly adverbs of manner
(they indicate how something is done).
When an adj ends with a vowel in the masc. sing. form, add -ment to it to form the adverb.
rapide (quick) → rapidement (quickly)
When an adj ends in -ent in the masc sing form, the adverb is formed by replacing -ent with -
emment. ◦ patient (patient) → patiemment (patiently)
When an adj ends in -ant in the masc. sing. form, the adverb is formed by replacing -ant with -
amment. ◦ courant (fluent) → couramment (fluently/commonly)
◦ gentil/gentille → gentiment better → better
brief → briefly ◦ meilleur/meilleure → mieux
◦ bref/brève → brièvement
bon can be used as an adverb, after the verbs faire, sentir, tenir. It remains unchanged.
After adverbs peu (little), assez (enough), trop (too much), beaucoup, plus (more), moins (less),
de la, du, des, de l' become de or d'. ◦ j’ai des amis → j’ai beaucoup d’amis
If the adverb modifies a simple verb, it appears directly after the verb:▸ Il court vite.
If the adverb modifies an adj/ another adverb, it appears directly before the adj adverb:
▸ Elles sont très gentilles.▸ Elles partent très souvent en France.
A compound tense, some adverbs bien, mal, assez, toujours, souvent appear between the
auxiliary and the past participle of the verb.▸ J’ai souvent joué au tennis quand j’étais jeune.
Adverbs of place are always placed after the verb, including in the compound tense such
as passé composé.▸ Il est parti ailleurs.▹ He went somewhere else.