Aide-mémoire file in doc form

1. Tu/vous = you
"Tu" means "you". It is familier. It's used with family and friends.
It is a subject pronoun.
"Vous" means "you", "y'all" or "you guys". It is Formel or pluriel.
It's used to show respect, anger, or isolation OR to talk to a group of
people.
2. Les pronoms sujets = Subject pronouns
 Pronouns replace nouns
 Subject pronouns are the nouns doing the action in the
sentence
 Note: ONLY 3rd person pronouns will actually replace nouns!
Singulier
Pluriel
1ere personne
je/ j' = I
nous = we
2eme personne
tu = you (friendly,
familier)
vous = y’all or
vous = you (Formel)
3eme personne
il = he/it, elle = she/it
on = one, we (slang),
people (in general),
qui = who, tout le
monde = everybody
ils = they (masculine or
mixed group)
elles = they (feminine
group only)
3. L'élision=Words that must contract
L’élision = the act of making 2 words into one, by dropping the last
letter of the first word and replacing it with an apostrophe.
In French, ONLY the following words will drop their last letter in
front of a word starting with a vowel or silent h.
ce (it) -> c' ne (part of not) -> n'
de (of, from) -> d' que (that or what) -> qu'
je (I subject pronoun) -> j' se (one, to oneself)-> s'
le, la (the) -> l' si (if) in front of IL only-
> s’il
me (me, to me) -> m' te (you, to you) -> t'

Notice that all these words are “petits”, and almost all of them
end in "e"!
4. Question words - les mots interrogatifs
1. Qui = who (answer with a person!)
2. Comment = how
3. Où = where
4. D'où = from where (answer with de + place)
5. Qu'est-ce que c'est? = What is it? (answer with c'est...)
6. Quel(le)(s) + noun = What, which
7. qu'est-ce que + sujet + verbe = what
8. Quoi = what (comes after conjugated verb)
9. Que = what (before inversion)
10. à quelle heure = at what time (answer with à + specific time)
11. quand = when (answer does NOT have to be specific)
12. est-ce que + sujet+ verbe = is it that? , Do? (oui/non answer)
13. combien = how many/much (give a quantity answer)
14. pourquoi = why (answer with parce que OR pour+infinitif)
5. Comment poser les questions
1. Raise your voice.
2. Add "n'est-ce pas" to the end of the statement.
3. Add "Est-ce que" to the beginning of the statement.
4. Inversion: flip the pronoun and the conjugated verb, and add a
hyphen.
5. Use a question word.
Ex. Tu es content? Tu es content, n'est-ce pas? Est-ce que tu es
content? Es-tu content? Qui est content?
6. Comment répondre aux questions
If the question subject is:
Then the answer subject is:
Tu
Je
3rd person
3rd person
On
On
Vous (singulier, Formel)
Je
Vous pluriel
Nous
Je
Tu or vous
Nous
Nous or vous

7. Answer words vs. question words
If the answer is....
then use the Question word
(c'est) + person
qui
à + person
à qui
avec+ person
avec qui
(à) +place
où
de + place
d'où
à + specific time
à quelle heure
approximation of time
quand
number or quantity (+ noun)
combien
parce que, pour + infinitive or
pour + a thing
pourquoi
Tells how you are feeling/ How
you did something, especially
transportation
comment
gives you the answer to a "what"
question
quoi (always follows verb)
quel + noun
qu'est-ce que + subject + verb
que + inversion
8. Inversion: sophisticated way of asking ?
 Inversion is not generally used with "je"
 Inversion is the act of swapping the pronom et le verbe conjugué
and adding a hyphen to form a question. Ex. Tu as faim -> As-tu
faim?
 Note: For prononciation purposes, if the 3rd person singular
verbe conjugué form ends in a vowel, you place -t- instead of -.
Ex. Il a soif. A-t-il soif?
 Inversion cannot be used with a noun or a proper noun. Use the
noun, followed by a comma, and then make inversion using a
corresponding pronoun. Ex. Sylvie habite ici. Sylvie, habite-t-
elle ici?
9. Verb vocabulary
 Conjugation (conjugaison) = changing the infinitive to agree with its
subject (ie. subject-verb agreement)
 Infinitive (infinitif) = The untouched form of the verb. This is the verb
form you will find in the French dictionary. In English, it starts with "to
___". ex. to run, to sing. It can be either irregular* or regular.
 Conjugated verb (verbe conjugué) = the verb form after it has been
changed to agree with the subject
 Irregular verb*: Does not follow a pattern for conjugation.

 Regular verb: Follows a pattern for conjugation. This pattern is
always: 1. Drop the last 2 letters of the infinitive and 2. Add the
personal endings to the stem.
10. Les noms = nouns (and clues)
 Nouns are people, places, things or ideas.
 In French, they always have GENDER (m/f)
 You MUST memorize gender when you learn the noun.
Here are some clues to help you. If then noun ends in:
-eau, -one, -c, -oir, -ier, -d,
- ment, -l, -f , -b, -et, -ing,
-isme, -k, -ou, -p, -cle
EXCEPT: eau , peau, soif,
boucle
-ille, -ise, -rie, -ique, -ette,
-sion, -tion, -ue , –ace, -ance,
-esse, -fe, -nne, tié
EXCEPT: squelette, golfe,
bastion
Assume masculine
Assume feminine
11. Les articles indéfinis = indefinite articles
SINGULIER: un = (m) a, an, one
une = (f) a, an, one
PLURIEL: des = some (use for all plural)
AFTER A NEGATIVE: de or d' = any (follows "pas de" rule)
Articles are called "gender markers".
ALWAYS use un/une after c'est.
12. L'article défini = the definite article
 Definite article = the
 Describes a specific object
 Used MUCH more in French than English
SINGULIER: le : before masculine singular noun
la: before feminine singular noun
l': before any singular WORD starting with a vowel sound
(vowel/silent h)

PLURIEL: les: before ALL plural nouns
13. The non-silent "h"
The non-silent "h" in French is called le h aspiré. It is shown in the
dictionary as an apostrophe ex. ['ariko] = haricot
There is a break between it and the word before. Therefore instead of l' ou
d' ou cet, we use le or la, de and ce or cette.
In 7th grade, you will only learn 4 French words with the non-silent
"h": le haricot vert (green bean), le haut parleur (loudspeaker), le hot
dog, le hamburger
However, feel free to look up words in the dictionary if you want to
learn more!
14. Les noms pluriels= Plural nouns
To make nouns plural in French:
1. Change the article
 Definite article changes to "les"
 Indefinite article changes to "des"
2. Add "s" to the noun UNLESS*
- it ends with an "s" or an "x" --> then do NOT do anything!
- it ends with a "u"--> then add an "x" (EXCEPT: pneu= pneus)
Ex. la gomme = les gommes, le drapeau = les drapeaux, le cours = les
cours, l'élève = les élèves, une gomme = des gommes, un bureau = des
bureaux
15. 3rd person singulier
All of the following subjects will take the 3rd person singular form when
conjugating your verb:
il = he
elle = she
on = we (slang, spoken French), one, people (in general)
qui = who
tout le monde = everybody
any singular proper noun: Robert, Paris, New York
any singular noun: la fête, la cassette
la famille = the family This is a single unit, or a "collective noun". Just