JCE French 32 flashcards

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

Gender of French nouns

Every French noun is masculine or feminine, and the article usually signals it: le/un for masculine, la/une for feminine. Gender is memorized with the noun because it affects articles and adjective agreement.

Contracted article au

Au is the contraction of à + le, used with masculine singular nouns. With plural nouns à + les becomes aux, and with feminine nouns à + la stays unchanged.

Partitive article du

Du, de la, de l', and des express an unspecified quantity, as in 'Je bois du café.' After a negation or a quantity word, the partitive becomes de or d'.

Adjective position rules

Most French adjectives follow the noun, as in une voiture rouge. Short frequent adjectives such as grand, petit, jeune, beau, bon, and nouveau come before the noun.

Feminine adjective formation

Most adjectives add -e to the masculine form to make the feminine, and -s for plural. Irregular pairs include beau/belle, vieux/vieille, blanc/blanche, and heureux/heureuse.

Present tense -er verbs

Regular -er verbs drop the infinitive ending and add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent. The -ent ending is silent, so il parle and ils parlent sound the same.

Reflexive verb pronouns

Reflexive verbs take a pronoun matching the subject: me, te, se, nous, vous, se. Example: je me lave, nous nous levons, ils se couchent.

Passé composé with avoir

Most verbs form the passé composé with present-tense avoir plus a past participle: j'ai parlé, il a fini, nous avons vendu. The participle does not agree with the subject.

Être verbs in passé composé

A small set of movement and change verbs, plus all reflexives, use être as auxiliary, and the participle then agrees with the subject: elle est allée, ils sont partis.

Imparfait formation

Take the nous-form of the present, drop -ons, and add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. The imparfait describes background, habit, or ongoing past action.

Futur simple formation

Add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont to the infinitive, or to an irregular stem such as ser-, aur-, ir-, fer-, or pourr-. Example: je serai, nous ferons.

Negation with ne...pas

Place ne before the conjugated verb and pas after it: je ne parle pas. In passé composé, ne...pas surrounds the auxiliary: je n'ai pas parlé.

Other negative expressions

Jamais, plus, rien, personne, and que replace pas while keeping ne: je ne fume jamais, il n'y a rien, elle n'a que deux euros.

Direct object pronouns

Me, te, le, la, nous, vous, and les replace direct objects and go before the conjugated verb. In passé composé they precede the auxiliary: je l'ai vu.

Three question forms

French questions use rising intonation (Tu viens?), est-ce que (Est-ce que tu viens?), or inversion (Viens-tu?). Inversion joins verb and pronoun with a hyphen.

Relative pronouns qui and que

Qui replaces a subject (l'homme qui parle) and que replaces a direct object (le livre que je lis). Que becomes qu' before a vowel.

Subject pronoun on

On is a third-person singular subject pronoun meaning 'one,' 'we,' or 'people in general.' It takes singular verb agreement: on parle, on est allé.

Tu versus vous

Tu addresses one familiar person such as a friend, peer, or family member. Vous addresses one person formally or any group, and takes plural verb forms.

Stressed pronouns

Moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, and elles are stressed pronouns used after prepositions, for emphasis, and in short answers: avec moi, C'est lui.

Possessive adjectives

Possessives agree with the noun, not the owner: mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses, notre/nos, votre/vos, leur/leurs. Use mon before a feminine vowel-initial noun.

Demonstrative adjectives

Ce, cet, cette, and ces mean 'this' or 'these.' Add -ci or -là for closeness or distance: ce livre-ci, cette table-là. Cet precedes a masculine vowel-initial noun.

Comparatives in French

Plus...que, moins...que, and aussi...que form comparisons. Irregular forms are meilleur (better) for adjectives and mieux (better) for adverbs and verbs.

Superlative formation

Place le, la, or les plus or moins before the adjective and keep the adjective after the noun: le film le plus intéressant. Irregular: le meilleur, le mieux.

Adverbs in -ment

Most adverbs form by adding -ment to the feminine adjective: lent becomes lentement, heureux becomes heureusement. Adjectives ending in a vowel add -ment to the masculine.

Depuis with present tense

French uses the present tense with depuis for an action still continuing: J'habite ici depuis trois ans. English uses the perfect tense in this situation.

Near future with aller

The futur proche is aller in the present plus an infinitive: je vais partir, nous allons manger. It expresses events about to happen or intended.

Imperative formation

The imperative uses the tu, nous, and vous forms without the subject pronoun: Parle!, Finissons!, Écoutez! Regular -er verbs drop the -s in the tu form.

Conditional present

Add imparfait endings to the future stem: je parlerais, nous serions, ils auraient. It expresses hypotheticals and polite requests.

Si clauses with conditional

Si plus present tense pairs with the future or imperative: Si tu viens, nous partirons. Si plus imparfait pairs with the conditional: Si j'étais riche, je voyagerais.

Numbers 70 to 99

Soixante-dix is 60 plus 10, and 71 is soixante et onze. From 80, French uses quatre-vingts, and 81 is quatre-vingt-un, without et.

Telling time in French

Use Il est plus the hour plus heures: Il est trois heures. Add et quart, et demie, or moins le quart, and use midi and minuit without heures.

Prepositions with cities and countries

Use à with cities (à Paris) and en or au with countries depending on gender: en France, au Canada, aux États-Unis. Use de/d' for origin.