Grammar Hints & Tips

Definite articles

le, l (masculine)
la, l (feminine)
les (plural)

Usage of the definite article:

Indicates a specific
thing, person
Indicates the general
sense of the noun

Forming the negative

ne, n
pas

first part of negation

second part of negation

Normally the first part goes before the

verb and the second part after:
affirmative
je comprends
jaime

negative
je ne comprends pas
je naime pas

Indefinite articles

Forming plurals

un (masculine)
une (feminine)
des (plural)

Regular plurals:
Normally you add -s at the end of the word to get the plural.

Usage of the indefinite article:

singular
fils
pays
gars
choix

Refers to an unspecified
person, thing
Indicates that theres just one
of something
The plural indefinite
article refers to a group of
unspecified persons, things

Words ending in -s, -x or -z do not change in plural:

plural
fils
pays
gars
choix

Adjectives in the feminine form

You add -e at the end of the adjective to get the feminine form.

Personal pronouns

je, j
tu
il
elle
on
nous
vous
ils
elles

I
you (singular)
he
she
impersonal
we
you (plural or formal)
they (masculine)
they (feminine)

masculine
bon
petit
grand
meilleur
tout
premier
dernier

feminine
bonne
petite
grande
meilleure
toute
premire
dernire

A number of adjectives are irregular.

masculine
beau
nouveau

feminine
belle
nouvelle

Stressed personal
pronouns

Stressed forms are used to
emphasise the pronoun:
moi me
toi you (singular)
lui him
elle her
soi oneself
nous us
vous you (plural)
eux them (masculine)
elles them (feminine)

Pronouns ce & cela

ce, c is followed by the verb tre
cela, a is followed by any other verb
Ce before a noun:
ce, cet (masculine)
cette (feminine)
ces (plural)

Prepositions of place

Prepositions regarding places
normally correspond to:
de, d from
to
en in

Numbers 0 to 10

Numbers 10 to 20

dix
onze
douze
treize
quatorze
quinze
seize
dix-sept
dix-huit
dix-neuf
vingt

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17 (ten-seven)
18 (ten-eight)
19 (ten-nine)
20

Numbers 10 to 99

dix 10
vingt 20
trente 30
quarante
40
cinquante
50
soixante 60
soixante-dix
70 (sixty-ten)
quatre-vingts 80 (four-twenty)
quatre-vingt-dix 90 (four-twenty-ten)

Hundred, thousand, million

cent
deux cents
mille
deux mille
dix mille
cent mille
million
deux millions

100
200
1,000
2,000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
2,000,000

zro 0
un 1
deux 2
trois 3
quatre 4
cinq 5
six 6
sept 7
huit 8
neuf 9
dix 10

There is, there are:

Il y a du caf - There is some coffee
Il y a des possibilits - There are possibilities

Plural nouns are used with all

numbers except 1(un ami, deux amis).

Some time ago:

Il y a trois heures - Three hours ago

Il y a - a very frequently used

expression (literally: it there has)

The difference between

an and anne

An, ans is used after a cardinal number:
Mon frre a cinq ans - My brother is five years old
Anne, annes is used after ordinal numbers and adjectives:
Pendant de longues annes - During long years
Ma troisime anne dtudes - My third year of studies

The difference between

jour and journe

Jour is a calendar day, 24h day. It also means daylight:
Les jours de la semaine - The days of the week
Voir le jour - To see the light of day
Journe is the time between sunrise and sunset:
Belle journe dautomne - A beautiful autumn day

The difference between matin,

soir and matine, soire

Matin and soir indicate the division of time, the general sense:
Il est six heures du matin - Its six in the morning
Je sors tous les soirs - I go out every evening
Matine and soire indicate the duration:
Jai travaill toute la matine - I worked all morning
Elle passe ses soires lire - She spends her
evenings reading

The difference between

devoir and falloir

Devoir can be used with all personal pronouns:
Je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles:
Je dois partir - I have to leave
Nous devons attendre - We have to wait
Falloir can only be used with one pronoun: il (impersonal it):
Il faut partir - Must go
Il faut que je te parle - I have to talk to you
(literally: It has to that I speak to you)

More hints
and tips are
available in
the application

Including the forming

of future tense,
present tenses and the
conjugation of verbs.