French/Lessons/Recreation

Formation
Most French verbs fall into the category of -er verbs. To conjugate, drop the -er to find the stem or root. Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.

Pronunciation, elision and liaison
The -e, -es, and -ent endings all have the same silent pronunciation. The -er and -ez endings are pronounced, and the -ons ending is pronounced.

In all conjugations, je changes to j ' when followed by a vowel or silent h:

In all plural forms, the s at the end of each subject pronoun, normally unpronounced, becomes a z sound and the n of on becomes pronounced when followed by a vowel.



The direct object pronoun, meaning it or him, replaces masculine singular direct objects:



, meaning it or her, replaces feminine singular direct objects:

, meaning them, replaces plural direct objects:

Le and la become l '  before a vowel:

Le, la, and les can replace either people or things:

The verb is a regular -er verb meaning to play. It can be used to refer to sports, games, and instruments.

When referring to sports or games, jouer à … is used; recall that replaces à le, and  replaces à les:

When referring to instruments, jouer de … is used; recall that replaces de le, and  replaces de les:

The indirect object pronoun  means to him or to her:

Likewise, the indirect object pronoun means to them:

Lui replaces à [person]:

Likewise, leur replaces à [people]:

Lui and leur usually only refer to people; they will sometimes also be used in reference to things.

Like in English, some verbs can be followed by infinitives. Three -er verbs used in this manner are aimer, adorer, and détester:



The verb s'amuser means to have fun in English. It is a type of pronominal verb (a verb that includes a pronoun as part of it) called a reflexive verb, which means that the action of the verb is reflected back onto the subject. Literally translated, the verb means To amuse oneself.