French For Football/Notes/Introductory Material

Material for New Lessons
This is NOT a lesson page - it contains NOTES for lesson material for the Introductory Modules. It is being produced by adapting the text from the Introductory and Level One sections of the French Wikibook. As the new material is generated, the corresponding old material is deleted.

Grammar: The French alphabet
In addition, French uses several accents which are worth understanding. These are: à, è, ù, (grave accents) and é (acute accent) which only applies to e. A circumflex applies to all vowels as well: â, ê, î, ô, û. And also a tréma (French for diaerasis) for vowels: ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ and combined letters:  æ and œ

Vocabulary: Cardinal numbers
Things of note about numbers:


 * For 70-79, it builds upon "soixante" but past that it builds upon a combination of terms for 80-99
 * Only the first (21,31,41,51,61 and 71, but not 81 nor 91) have "et un" without a hyphen; but past this it is simply both words consecutively (vingt-six, trente-trois, etc) with a hyphen in between.
 * For 100-199, it looks much like this list already save that "cent" is added before the rest of the number; this continues up to 1000 and onward.
 * Many speakers of French outside of France refer to the numbers 70 to 99 in the same pattern as the other numbers. For instance, in Switzerland and Belgium, seventy is "septante," 71 is "septante et un," 72 "septante deux," and so on.    Ninety is "nonante". In Switzerland, Eighty is "huitante" or "octante".

Vocabulary: The days of the week.
Notes:
 * What day is it today? is equivalent to Quel jour sommes nous aujourd'hui?, Quel jour est on aujourd'hui? or On est quel jour aujourd'hui? (last one is less formal but more common)
 * Quel jour sommes nous aujourd'hui? can be answered with Aujourd'hui c'est..., C'est... or Nous sommes ... / On est...
 * Nous sommes... is not used with hier, aujourd’hui, or demain. C'était (past) or C'est (present/future) must be used accordingly.
 * The days of the week are not capitalized in French.

Vocabulary: The months of the year

 * The months of the year are not capitalized in French.
 * For phrases relating to the months of the year, see the phrasebook

Vocabulary: Time
In French, “il est” is used to express the time; though it would literally translate as “he is”, it is actually, in this case, equivalent to “it is” (impersonal "il"). Unlike in English, it is always important to use “heures” (“hours”) when referring to the time. In English, it is OK to say, “It’s nine,” but this wouldn’t make sense in French.

G: The verb avoir
"Avoir" can be translated as "to have".

Expressing Age
Avoir is used to express age.
 * Tu as quel âge? - How old are you? [lit: You have what age?]
 * J'ai trente ans. - I'm thirty (years old). [lit: I have thirty years]

There is/are - Il y a
The expression il y a means there is or there are.
 * Il y a un livre. - There is a book.
 * Il y a des livres. - There are books.

Grammar: Direct Object Pronouns le, la, and les
le, la, and les are called direct object pronouns, because they are pronouns that are, you guessed it, used as direct objects. A direct object is a noun that is acted upon by a verb. In the above sentence la balle is the direct object.
 * Il lance la balle. - He throws the ball.

You have learned earlier that names and regular nouns can be replaced by the subject pronouns (je, tu...). Similary, direct objects, such as "la balle", can be replaced by pronouns.
 * le - replaces a masculine singular direct object
 * la - replaces a feminine singular direct object
 * l' - replaces le and la if they come before a vowel
 * les - replaces plural direct objects, both masculine and feminine

The direct object pronouns come before the verb they are linked to.
 * Il la lance. - He throws it.
 * Il les lance. - He throws them.

Le, la, and les can replace either people or inanimate objects.

Grammar: Subject pronouns
French has six different types of pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural.

When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, “vous” must be used. When referring to a single person, “vous” or “tu” may be used depending on the situation; see notes in the introductory lessons.

The pronoun it does not exist in French. Il replaces all masculine nouns, even those that are not human. The same is true with elle and feminine nouns.

In addition to the nuances between vous and tu, as discussed earlier, French pronouns carry meanings that do not exist in English pronouns. The French third person "on" has several meanings, but most closely matches the now archaic English "one". While in English, "One must be very careful in French grammar" sounds old-fashioned, the French equivalent "On doit faire très attention à la grammaire française" is quite acceptable. Also, while the third person plural "they" has no gender in English, the French equivalents "ils" and "elles" do. However, when pronounced, they normally sound the same as "il" and "elle", so distinguishing the difference requires understanding of the various conjugations of the verbs following the pronoun. Also, if a group of people consists of both males and females, the male form is used, even with a majority of females — however, this sensibly yields to overwhelming majority: given a group of only one male to thousands of females, the female form would be used.

In everyday language, “on” is used, instead of “nous”, to express “we”; the verb is always used in the 3rd person singular. For example, to say "We (are) meeting at 7 o'clock", you could say either “On se rencontre au cinéma à sept heures.” (colloquial) or “Nous rencontrons au cinéma à sept heures.” (formal). For more, see the Wikipedia entry.

G: Introduction to Verbs
A verb is a word that describes an action or mental or physical state.

Tenses and Moods
French verbs can be formed in four moods, each of which express a unique feeling. Each mood has a varying number of tenses, which indicate the time when an action takes place. In the next section, we will look at the conjugations in the present tense of the indicative mood, more commonly called the present indicative. There is one conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns.

Infinitives
The infinitive form is the basic form of a verb. It does not refer to a particular tense, person or subject. In this book, the infinitive form of the verb is used to identify it. In English, the infinitive form is to ___. In French, the infinitive is one word. For example, parler translates to to speak, finir translates to to finish, and aller translates to to go.

Conjugation
French verbs conjugate, which means they take different shapes depending on the subject. English verbs only have one conjugation; that is the third person singular (I see, you see, he/she sees, we see, they see). The only exception is the verb "to be" (I am; (thou art); you are; he/she is; we are; they are;). Most French verbs will conjugate into many different forms. Most verbs are regular, which means that they conjugate in the same way. The most common verbs, however, are irregular.

G: Être - To Be
Être translates as to be in English. It is an irregular verb, and is not conjugated like any other verb.

Examples
Try to learn all these conjugations. They will become very useful in forming tenses.

Idioms

 * Ça y est! - I've done it! Finished!
 * J'y suis! - I get it!
 * Vous y êtes? - Are you ready?

Expressing Agreement
Tu es d’accord ou pas?, Tu es d’accord? (lit: You are of agreement?), or simply D'accord? is used informally to ask whether someone agrees with you.

To respond positively, you say Oui, je suis d'accord. or simply D'accord. D'accord corresponds to the English okay.

Grammar: Cities and Nationalities
To say what city you are from, you use the preposition de. When stating your nationality or job, it is not necessary to include the article. This is an exception to the normal rule. There is both a masculine and feminine form of saying your nationality - for males and females respectively. In the next lesson, you will learn how to say the nationality of more than one person.
 * Il est de Paris.
 * Je suis Australien(ne). - I am [an] Australian.
 * Il est Australien. - He is [an] Australian.
 * Elle est Australienne. - She is [an] Australian.

Grammar: Adjectives - Les adjectifs
Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in gender and plurality.

Regular Formation
Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:
 * Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form
 * un garçon intéressant --> une fille intéressante
 * un ami amusant --> une amie amusante
 * un camion lent --> une voiture lente
 * Plural: add an -s to the singular form
 * un garçon intéressant --> des garçons intéressants
 * une fille intéressante --> des filles intéressantes

Pronunciation
Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e. Most adjectives, such as those above, are affected by this rule. With plural adjectives, the -s ending is not pronounced, so the adjective will sound exactly the same as the singular form.
 * Masculine Pronunciation: intéressan, amusan, len
 * Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent

Exceptions and Irregularities
Adjectives that end in e in the masculine form do not change in gender. When an adjective, such as gros, ends in -s, it does not change in the masculine plural form. Sometimes the final consonant is doubled in the feminine form. See French/Grammar/Adjectives for more.

Grammar: Adverbs Expressing Degree

 * assez - rather, enough
 * Il est assez intelligent. - He is rather intelligent.
 * très - very
 * Il est trèszintelligent. - He is very intelligent.
 * vraiment - truly, really
 * Il est vraiment intelligent. - He is really intelligent.

Often when a vowel sound comes after a consonant, the usually unpronounced s and z change to a sharp z sound and link to the next syllable. This process is called liaison. In this book, will will show that the sound is connected using z. Trèszin is pronounced trayzahn.

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.

Elision and Liaison
In all conjugations, je changes to j ' when followed by a vowel. Example: J'attends. Also, as a rule of thumb: h is considered a vowel; as in J'habite.... If a phrase is negative, ne changes to n'.

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.

S'amuser
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.

Conjugated Verb + Infinitive
Like in English, some verbs can be followed by infinitives. The most common -er verbs used in this manner are aimer and détester. When negating a sentence, remember that the negative goes around the conjugated verb.
 * J'aime parler. - I like to speak.
 * Nous détestons travailler. - We hate working.
 * Je n'aime pas parler. - I don't like to speak.

D: Recreation
Here is a short dialog about people planning/doing leisure activities. Besides the new vocabulary you should also have a look at how the verbs are conjugated depending on the subject of the sentence.


 * Jean-Paul : Qu'est-ce que vous faites ?
 * Marc et Paul : Nous jouons au tennis.
 * Marie : Je finis mes devoirs.
 * Michel : J'attends mon ami.
 * Pierre : Je vais au parc.
 * Christophe : Je viens du stade.

V: Recreation
Finir and attendre are not -er verbs. You will learn their conjugation in a later lesson.

Tu rigoles! means You’re joking! or You don’t mean it!

Mon is often substituted for ma when the following word begins with a vowel. Thus, mon amie is used instead of ma amie, while ma bonne amie would be okay.

G: Indirect Object Pronouns lui and leur
Indirect objects are prepositional phrases with the object of the preposition, a direct object is a noun that receives the action of a verb.
 * Il jette la balle à Jacques. - He throws the ball to Jack.
 * Il jette la balle à Marie. - He throws the ball to Mary.
 * Il jette la balle à Jacques et Marie. - He throws the ball to Jack and Mary.

Lui and leur are indirect object pronouns. They replace nouns referring to people and mean to him/her and to them respectively.


 * lui - replaces a singular masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human
 * leur - replaces a plural masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a human

An example follows:


 * Il lui jette la balle. - He throws the ball to him.
 * Il lui jette la balle. - He throws the ball to her.
 * Il leur jette la balle. - He throws the ball to them.

Whether lui means to him or to her is given by context.

In English, "He throws him the ball" is also said, and means the same thing.

When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, lui and leur come after those pronouns.


 * Il la lui jette. - He throws it to him.

Note that while le, la, and les are used to replace people or inanimate objects, lui and leur are not used to replace innanimate objects and things.

Also note that unlike le and la, which are shortened to l' when followed by a vowel, lui is never shortened

V: Jouer
The verb jouer is a regular -er verb meaning to play. It can be used to refer to both sports and instruments.

When referring to sports, use jouer à, but when referring to instruments, use jouer de...

As always, jouer must be conjugated rather than left in the infinitive.

V: The House
To express to live on ____ street, you say habiter rue ____
 * J'habite Rue Lecourbe. - I live on Lecourbe Street.
 * Il habite Rue de Rennes. - He lives on Rennes Street.

Quitter must be followed by a direct object, usually a room or building.. Partir is used in other phrases. You will learn how to conjugate these verbs in a future lesson.

G: Faire
The verb faire is translated to to do or to make. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -re verb).

Uses For Faire

 * sports (in French you do sports rather than play them)
 * weather
 * tasks
 * le faire causatif
 * faire (conjugated) + infinitive - to have something done for oneself
 * Je fais réparer le fourneau. - I make/have the stove repaired.

Related Words

 * défaire - to demolish
 * malfaire - to do badly
 * refaire - to remake

Expressions with Faire

 * faire attention - to pay attention
 * faire connaissance - to get acquainted
 * faire la morale - to scold
 * faire la queue - to wait in line
 * s'en faire - to worry

G: me, te, nous, and vous

 * Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

Meanings

 * me - me, to me
 * te - you, to you (singular, informal)
 * nous - us, to us
 * vous - you, to you (plural, formal)

Place in sentences

 * These pronouns are placed before the verb that they modify
 * Je te vois. - I see you.
 * Je veux te voir. - I want to see you.
 * If a perfect tense is used, these pronouns go before the auxillary verb.
 * Je t'ai vu. - I saw you.

Direct Object Replacement

 * Il me voit. - He sees me.
 * Il te voit. - He sees you.
 * Il nous voit. - He sees us.
 * Il vous voit. - He sees you.

Indirect Object Replacement

 * Il m'appelle. - He calls to me.
 * Il te le jette. - He throws it to you.
 * Il nous le jette. - He throws it to us.
 * Il vous le jette. - He throws it to you.

G: Standard Negation
In order to say that one did not do something, the ne ... pas construction must be used. The ne is placed before the verb, while the pas is placed after.

Formation and Rules

 * Simple negation is done by wrapping ne...pas around the verb.
 * Je ne vole pas. - I do not steal.
 * In a perfect tense, ne...pas wraps around the auxillary verb, not the participle.
 * Je n'ai pas volé. - I have not stolen.
 * When an infinitive and conjugated verb are together, ne...pas usually wraps around the conjugated verb.
 * Je ne veux pas voler. - I do not want to steal.
 * ne pas can also go directly in front of the infinitive for a different meaning.
 * Je veux ne pas voler. - I want to not steal.
 * ne goes before any pronoun relating to the verb it affects.
 * Je ne le vole pas. - I am not stealing it.

Negation of Indefinite Articles
The indefinite articles un, une, and des change to de (or d’) when negating a sentence.
 * J'ai un livre. - I have a book.
 * Je n'ai pas de livre. - I don't have any book.
 * J'ai des livres. - I have some books.
 * Je n'ai pas de livres. - I don't have any books.

V: Weather - Le temps
Le temps means both the weather and the time.

G: Aller
The verb aller is translated to to go. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -er verb).

Formation
In the present indicative, aller is conjugated as follows:

Usage
There is no present progressive tense in French, so aller in the present indicative is used to express both I go and I am going.

Aller must be used with a place and cannot stand alone.

The preposition à, meaning in, at, or to, is used, followed by the place. Remember that à le contracts to au and à les contracts to aux. Instead of a preposition and place, you can use the pronoun y, meaning there. Y comes before the verb. Remember that aller must be used with a place (there or a name) when indicating that you are going somewhere, even if a place wouldn't normally be given in English.
 * Tu vas a l'école? - You're going to school.
 * Je vais au stade. - I'm going to the stage.
 * J'y vais. - I'm going there.
 * Tu y vas. - You're going there.
 * Nous y allons. - We're going there.

Futur Proche
The structure aller + infinitive is used to say that something is going to happen in the near future. Remember that the negative goes around the conjugated verb.
 * Il va pleuvoir demain. - It's going to rain tomorrow.
 * Il va faire froid. - It's going to be cold.
 * Il ne va pas pleuvoir demain. - It's not going to rain tomorrow.

Idioms

 * Allons-y - ahlonzee - Let's go! (impératif)
 * Ça va? - How are you? (lit: It goes?)
 * On y va! - Let's get going!
 * On y va? - Should we go?

Liaison
Usually, whenever a vowel sound comes after ...ons or ...ez, the usually unpronounced s and z change to a sharp z sound and link to the next syllable. (This process is called liaison.) However, since allons and allez begins with vowels, nous allons is pronounced nyoozahloh and vous allez is pronounced voozahlay. In order to have a pleasing and clean sound, two liaisons should not go connsecultively. There is therefore no liaison in allons à when it comes right after nous and allez à when it comes after vous.
 * In the phrase Vous allez à l'école?, vous allez à is pronounced vouzahlay ah.
 * In the phrase vous et Marie allez à l'école?, allez à is pronounced ahlayzah.

G: Regular -ir Verbs
The second category of regular French verbs is -ir verbs. To conjugate, drop the -ir to find the "stem" or "root". Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.

Usage
As you can probably tell from their name, possessive adjective are used to express possession of an object. In English the possessive adjective agrees with the subject (his sister, her brother). But in French, possessive adjectives act like all other adjectives: they must agree with the noun they modify. Whether the third person singular possessive adjectives son, sa and ses are his or her is indicated by context.
 * C'est mon livre. - It's my book.
 * Elle lit son livre. - She reads her book.

Liaison and Adjective Changes
Liaison occurs when mon, ton, and son are followed by a vowel. Liaison also occurs with all plural forms, since they all end in s. Mon, ton, and son are used before a feminine singular noun. Elision (to m', t', or s') does not occur.
 * Il est monnami. - He is my friend.
 * Il est tonnami. - He is your friend.
 * Il est sonnami. - He is his/her friend.
 * Ils sont meszamis. - They are my friends.
 * Ils sont noszamis. - They are our friends.
 * Elle est monnamie. - She is my friend.

G: Regular -re Verbs
The third category of regular verbs is made up of -re' verbs. To conjugate, drop the -re to find the "stem" or "root". Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense, as demonstrated below for the present tense.

Vendre
The verb vendre is a regular -re verb:

Common -re Verbs
Compared to -er verbs, -re verbs are not very common. You will however see the following verbs fairly often.

Sentences Placement
As you have already learned, most adjectives come after the noun they modify in French. However, some common French adjectives, including beau, nouveau, and vieux come before the noun. Des is replaced with de when an adjective comes before the noun. Note that in informal speech, des in very often used in place of de.
 * un homme intelligent - an intelligent man
 * des hommes intelligents - intelligent men
 * une jolie voiture - a pretty car
 * de jolies voitures - pretty cars

G: Prendre
Prendre is not a regular -re verb, and is conjugated differently.

Related Words

 * prendre - to take
 * apprendre - to learn
 * comprendre - to comprehend/understand
 * se méprendre - to be mistaken
 * surprendre - to surprise

Idioms and Related Expressions

 * prendre - to take, to have something to eat
 * prendre conscience (de) - to become aware (of)
 * prendre la correspondance - to change trains
 * prendre une décision - to make a decision
 * prendre des kilos - to gain weight
 * prendre part (à) - to take part (in)
 * prendre la parole - to start talking
 * prendre le pas sur - to surpass
 * prendre le petit déjeuner - to eat breakfast
 * prendre rendez-vous - to make an appointment