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French

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Grammar review · From · De

The preposition de /də/ means from:

Il est de Paris.^{He is from Paris.}

De becomes d' before a vowel, due to elision:

Nous sommes d'Orléans.^{We are from Orléans.}

The definite article is included with countries:

Vous êtes de la Suisse ?^{Are you from Switzerland?}

The contraction du /dy/ is used in place of de le:

Elles sont du Luxembourg.^{They are from Luxembourg.}

Likewise, the contraction des /dɛ/ is used in place of de les:

Nous sommes des Pays-Bas.^{We are from the Netherlands.}

De also has other translations, which depend on context. For example, it is used to indicate an amount:

5 kilos de pommes^{5 kilograms of apples}

Grammar review · Possessive adjectives · Les adjectifs possessifs

Formation

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	First person			Second person			Third person
Singular	mon (m) ma (f) mes	/mɔ̃/ /ma/ /me/	my	ton (m) ta (f) tes	/tɔ̃/ /ta/ /te/	your (tu form)	son (m) sa (f) ses	/sɔ̃/ /sa/ /sɛ/	his her its
Plural	notre nos	/nɔtʁ/ /no/	our	votre vos	/vɔtʁ/ /vo/	your (vous form)	leur leurs	/lœʁ/ /lœʁ/	their

Usage

Possessive adjectives are used to express possession of an object:

C'est mon passeport.^{It's my passport.}

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.

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Masculine noun le frère		Feminine noun la sœur
le frère de Marc Marc's brother	son frère his brother	la sœur de Marc Marc's sister	sa sœur his sister
les frères de Marc Marc's brothers	ses frères his brothers	les sœurs de Marc Marc's sisters	ses sœurs his sisters
le frère de Marie Marie's brother	son frère her brother	la sœur de Marie Marie's sister	sa sœur her sister
les frères de Marie Marie's brothers	ses frères her brothers	les sœurs de Marie Marie's sisters	ses sœurs her sisters

Whether son, sa and ses translate to his or her is indicated by context:

Oui, elle a son billet.^{Yes, she has her ticket.}

Notre, votre, and leur modify singular nouns, regardless of gender; nos, vos, and leurs modify plural nouns:

le chalet (m) : C'est notre chalet.^{It's our chalet.}

la caravane: C'est notre caravane.^{It's our caravan.}

Examples

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Ton auberge de jeunesse est bruyante.		Your youth hostel is noisy.	auberge is feminine, but begins with a vowel
J’ai son billet.		I have his/her ticket.	le billet is masculine
Elle est la femme de mon ami.		She's my friend's wife.	l'ami is maculine

Dialogue · vacations · vacances

Monuments, visited, travelled, eated...

Grammar · Regular -ir verbs · Les verbes en -ir

The second category of regular French verbs is -ir verbs.

Formation

To conjugate, drop the -ir to find the stem or root. Add endings to the root based on the subject and tense.

finir^{to finish} /finiʁ/

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Pronoun	Ending	Verb	Pronunciation
je	-is	finis	/fi.ni/
tu	-is	finis	/fi.ni/
il/elle	-it	finit	/fi.ni/
nous	-issons	finissons	/fi.ni.sɔ̃/
vous	-issez	finissez	/fi.ni.se/
ils/elles	-issent	finissent	/fi.nis/

Supplementary vocabulary · Example -ir verbs

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abolir	/a.bɔ.liʁ/	to abolish		Il faut abolir l'esclavage.	Slavery needs to be abolished.
approfondir	/a.pʁɔ.fɔ̃.diʁ/	to deepen, to consider more thoroughly		Je vais approfondir ce sujet.	I 'm going to consider more thoroughly this subject.
choisir	/ʃwaziʀ/	to choose		Je vais choisir pour toi.	I'll choose for you.
convertir	/kɔ̃.vɛʁ.tiʁ/	to convert		Comment tu convertis les mètres en pieds?	How do you convert meters to feets?
investir	/ɛ̃.vɛs.tiʁ/	to invest		Je vais investir dans cette entreprise.	I'll invest in this enterprise.
obéir	/ɔ.be.iʁ/	to obey		Tout corps matériel obéit à la loi de gravitation universelle.	Any material body obeys the law of universal gravitation.
polir	/pɔ.liʁ/	to polish, to refine		J'ai poli cette pière.	I polished this stone.
établir	/e.ta.bliʁ/	to establish, to prove		J'ai établit ce fait.	I established this fact.
refroidir	/fʁwa.diʁ/	to cool, to cool off		Le congélateur est en train de refroidir la viande.	The freezer is cooling off the meat.
affaiblir	/a.fe.bliʁ/	to weaken		L’âge affaiblit la mémoire. Les débauches affaiblissent le corps.	Age weakens the memory. Debauchery weaken the body.

Vocabulary

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l'aéroport (m)	/a.e.ʁɔ.pɔʁ/	airport
le billet	/bi.jɛ/	ticket	for train, airplane
la poste	/pɔst/	post office
la station	/sta.sjɔ̃/	station
le métro	/met.ʁɔ/	subway, underground
les bagages	/ba.ɡaʒ/	baggage
le ticket	/ti.kɛ/	ticket	for bus, métro
la valise	/va.liz/	suitcase
Vehicles
l'auto (f)	/o.to/	car
l'avion (m)	/a.vjɔ̃/	airplane
l'autobus (m)	/o.to.bys/	bus
le bateau	/bato/	boat
le train	/tʁɛ̃/	train
le taxi	/tak.si/	taxi
la voiture	/vwa.tyʁ/	car
Hotels
la chambre	/ʃɑ̃bʁ/	room
la chambre de libre		free room

Grammar · To take · Prendre

Prendre is an irregular -re verb, and is conjugated differently.

Formation

prendre  /pʁɑ̃dʁ/ (prah(n)dr)	to take
je prends /pʁɑ̃/ (prah(n))	I take
tu prends /pʁɑ̃/ (prah(n))	you take
il prend  /pʁɑ̃/ (prah(n))	he takes
nous prenons  /pʁə.nɔ̃/ (pruh-noh(n))	we take
vous prenez  /pʁǝ.ne/ (pruh-nay)	you take
ils prennent  /pʁɛn/ (prehn)	they take
pris /pʁi/	taken

Examples

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Prends ma main.		Take my hand.
Ils ont pris mon chien.		They took my dog.
Nous prenons, c'est tout.		We take, that's all.
Je prends ce que je veux.		I take what I want.
Qu'allez vous prendre?		What are you going to take?
Il a pris une bouteille d'eau.		He took a bottle of water.
Tu prends quoi?		What are you taking?

Supplementary vocabulary · Related words

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apprendre	/a.pʁɑ̃dʁ/	to learn
comprendre	/kɔ̃.pʁɑ̃dʁ/	to comprehend/understand
méprendre	/me.pʁɑ̃dʁ/	to make a mistake
surprendre	/syʁ.pʁɑ̃dʁ/	to surprise

Supplementary vocabulary · Related expressions

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prendre	/pʁɑ̃.dʁə/	to have something to eat, to buy
prendre en compte		to take into account
prendre fin		to come to an end
prendre conscience (de)		to become aware (of)
prendre position		to make a stand (of)
prendre des mesures		to take steps (to initiate a course of action)
prendre des kilos		to gain weight
prendre part (à)		to take part (in)		prendre part au vote	take part in the vote
prendre la parole		to start talking
prendre le pas sur		to surpass
prendre rendez-vous		to make an appointment
prendre un verre		to have a drink		On va prendre un verre en ville.	We’re going to have a drink in town.
prendre un café		to have a coffee

Vocabulary · Directions

Sometimes when you go out, you may get lost, or come across someone who is lost. This should help you ask for and give directions.

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Pardonnez-moi/Excusez-moi, mademoiselle/madame/monsieur.		Excuse me, Miss/Mrs/Mr.
Je suis perdu.		I am lost.
Je cherche…		I'm looking for…
la poste	/pɔst/	the post office
la gare	/ɡaʁ/	the train station
le supermarché	/sy.pɛʁ.maʁ.ʃe/	the supermarket
le stade	/stad/	the football stadium
le camping	/kɑ̃.piɳ/	the camping grounds
la plage	/plaːɡə/	the beach
le parc	/paʁk/	the park
Vous prenez…		You take…
la première rue		the first street
à gauche	Fr-à gauche.ogg	to the left
à droite		to the right
tout droit		straight ahead
Merci beaucoup!		Thanks so much!
De rien.	/də ʁjɛ̃/	You're welcome / No worries.

Exercises

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