QCAA French flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Definite article contractions

In French, à + le becomes au, à + les becomes aux; de + le becomes du, and de + les becomes des; l' replaces le or la before a vowel or mute h.

Regular -er present endings

Regular -er verbs drop -er and add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent to the stem; parler gives je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent.

Adjective agreement basics

French adjectives normally agree in gender and number with the noun: add -e for feminine and -s for plural; beau becomes belle, vieux becomes vieille, and nouveau becomes nouvelle.

Possessive adjective agreement

Possessive adjectives agree with the possessed noun, not the owner: mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses; notre/nos, votre/vos, and leur/leurs each match the noun's number.

Reflexive verb negation

With pronominal verbs, the reflexive pronoun stays before the verb, and ne...pas surrounds the verb: je ne me lève pas; in the passé composé, ne surrounds the auxiliary: je ne me suis pas levé.

Three question structures

French forms questions by rising intonation (Tu viens?), by est-ce que (Est-ce que tu viens?), or by inversion (Viens-tu?); question words precede est-ce que or follow inversion.

Passé composé auxiliary choice

Most verbs use avoir plus past participle; movement and pronominal verbs generally use être, and with être the participle agrees with the subject: elle est allée, ils sont partis.

Comparative forms

Use plus, moins, or aussi + adjective/adverb + que for comparisons; meilleur is the comparative adjective, while mieux is the comparative adverb; que becomes qu' before a vowel.

Partitive articles

Use du, de la, de l', or des for an unspecified quantity; after a negative or a quantity expression such as beaucoup, the article usually becomes de or d'.

Object pronoun position

Direct and indirect object pronouns normally precede the conjugated verb; in the passé composé they precede the auxiliary; in an affirmative imperative they follow the verb with a hyphen.

Y replaces a place

The pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase of place or a thing introduced by à: Je vais à Paris becomes J'y vais; Il pense à son travail becomes Il y pense.

En replaces de phrase

The pronoun en replaces a noun phrase introduced by de or a quantity: Je bois du café becomes J'en bois; J'ai trois frères becomes J'en ai trois.

Depuis versus pendant

Depuis expresses an action continuing from a past point to now and takes the present; pendant states a completed duration in the past; il y a marks when an action happened.

Relative pronouns qui and que

Qui replaces the subject of the dependent clause; que replaces the direct object; que becomes qu' before a vowel; both link information to a preceding noun.

Futur proche formation

The futur proche is formed with aller in the present plus an infinitive: je vais partir; the negative places ne...pas around the conjugated aller, not the infinitive.

Prepositions with places

Use à for cities, en for feminine countries, au for masculine countries, aux for plural countries, and chez for a person's home or workplace; de contracts similarly.

Futur simple endings

Add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont to the future stem; regular -er and -ir verbs use the infinitive, while many -re verbs drop final e.

Irregular future stems

Common future stems include ser- for être, aur- for avoir, ir- for aller, fer- for faire, pourr- for pouvoir, voudr- for vouloir, and viendr- for venir.

Conditional present formation

Form the conditional with the future stem plus imperfect endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient; use it for polite requests and hypothetical outcomes.

Si clause sequence

Si plus present leads to future; si plus imperfect leads to conditional; si plus plus-que-parfait leads to past conditional; never use future or conditional directly after si.

Present subjunctive endings

For most verbs, take the ils/elles present stem and add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent; triggers include il faut que, bien que, and pour que.

Verbs with à or de

Some verbs require à before an infinitive, such as commencer à, apprendre à, and réussir à; others require de, such as décider de, essayer de, and éviter de.

Gerund formation

Form the gerund with en plus the present participle, based on the nous stem plus -ant; it expresses simultaneous action or manner and normally shares the main clause subject.

Depuis with present tense

Depuis plus the present describes an action or state begun in the past and still continuing: J'habite ici depuis trois ans; the English translation often uses the present perfect.

Passive voice formation

Form the passive with être conjugated in the required tense plus a past participle; the past participle agrees with the subject, and the agent follows par.

Plus-que-parfait formation

Use avoir or être in the imperfect plus a past participle; it marks an action completed before another past action; with être, the participle agrees with the subject.

Reported speech tense shift

After a past reporting verb, present becomes imperfect, passé composé becomes plus-que-parfait, and future becomes conditional; time words such as demain become le lendemain.

Subjunctive irregular stems

Common subjunctive stems include aill- for aller, soi- for être, ai- for avoir, fass- for faire, puiss- for pouvoir, sach- for savoir, and voul- for vouloir.

Ce qui, ce que, ce dont

Ce qui is the subject of the relative clause, ce que is the direct object, and ce dont replaces de plus a noun; these forms mean what or which.

Advanced negation forms

Ne...ni...ni means neither...nor; ne...que means only; ne...aucun means not any; ne...personne means nobody; ne...rien means nothing; ne...jamais means never.

Formal register markers

Formal French uses vous, fuller negation, and polite formulas such as je vous prie de bien vouloir; informal French uses tu, dropped ne, and shorter questions.

Connectors for argument

Use cependant and pourtant for contrast, donc and ainsi for consequence, en effet for confirmation, and par ailleurs for an additional point; d'une part...d'autre part structures two sides.