French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners - Beginner's Edition I, Basics: French for Ambitious Learners
By M. Rodary
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About this ebook
Step by step practice for beginners or for a fresh start!
This book offers:
=> beginner's knowledge, explained step by step;
=> exercises with solution keys;
=> a gradual increase in difficulty in each chapter; and
=> translations of the examples and translated vocabulary for each exercise.
=> Written and proofread by native speakers, French teachers and graduates in Romance languages and literature.
Choose yourself which exercises suit your level!
A. = Basic explanations, easy exercises.
B. = Explanations and exercises that build on the explanations in A., a bit more difficult.
C. = Even more difficult.
And so on.
Are you a real beginner?
This book has been written for you. Use it in addition to your course to practise on your own – choose the exercises that suit your needs.
You are not a beginner, but you want to make a fresh start?
You have forgotten a lot and you want to reactivate your skills? This book has been written for this purpose too.
Are you an advanced learner?
You want to review your knowledge of French and prefer a book in one volume? In this case, have a look at French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners – Advanced Learner's Edition. It contains a proficiency test to determine which topic to improve first, a complete overview of the fundamentals, additional paragraphs to extend your knowledge and lots of exercises along with their solutions.
Already available in this series of books:
French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners - Beginner's Edition II, Tenses and Complex Sentences
=> Follow-up to Beginner's Edition I covering the remaining fundamental yet more advanced topics. Review of basic grammatical structures allows learners to use it independently of Beginner's Edition I. Intended for anyone who has started to learn the imparfait.
French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners – Advanced Learner's Edition
=> A large volume that offers a proficiency test, a complete overview of the fundamentals, additional paragraphs to extend your knowledge and lots of exercises along with their solutions.
In progress:
Books about verbs and basic vocabulary.
Read more from M. Rodary
French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners - Advanced Learner's Edition: French for Ambitious Learners Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
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French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners - Beginner's Edition I, Basics - M. Rodary
Table of Contents
Preface: Is this the right book for you?
1. Articles
A. Definite and indefinite articles
A1. Definite articles
A2. Indefinite articles
A3. Definite or indefinite article?
B. Definite articles and the prepositions à and de
C. Partitive articles and expressions of quantity
C1. Partitive articles
C2. Expressions of quantity
D. Articles and negation
2. Personal pronouns
A. Subject forms (conjunctive)
B. Disjunctive personal pronouns
3. Verbs: présent and basic clauses
A. être and avoir, faire and aller
A1. être (to be)
A2. avoir (to have)
A3. faire (to do)
A4. aller (to go)
B. Verbs ending in –er
C. Basic sentences
D. Imperative
E. Verbs ending in –dre
F. Verbs ending in –ir
G. Peculiarities of some verbs ending in –er
H. Some other irregular verbs
H1. prendre, venir, tenir
H2. dire, lire, écrire
H3. devoir, vouloir, pouvoir, savoir
H4. mettre, voir, connaître
H5. boire, plaire, croire
H6. il faut (falloir)
I. Sentence construction: verbs with infinitives
4. Asking questions
A. Informal questions
B. Questions with est-ce que
C. quel
D. Questions with inversion
E. Other question words
E1. qui est-ce qui, qui est-ce que, qu’est-ce qui, qu’est-ce que
E2. Quoi? (What?)
E3. Questions with prepositions
5. Negation
A. Basic form: ne... pas (not)
B. ne... plus, ne... rien, ne... personne, ne... jamais
C. Rien ne... and personne ne... as subjects
D. Position with an infinitive or a participe passé
6. Numbers and time
A. Cardinal numbers from 1 to 20
B. Cardinal numbers from 21 to 69
C. Time
D. Cardinal numbers from 70 onwards
E. Ordinal numbers
F. Fractions
7. Nouns
A. Basics: gender and number
B. Special feminine forms
C. Special plural forms
8. Adjectives
A. Basics: agreement and position
A1. Agreement
A2. Position
B. Special forms
C. Colo(u)r adjectives
D. beau (beautiful), nouveau (new), vieux (old)
E. Comparison
E1. Comparatives
E2. Superlatives
9. Some prepositions
A. Places: à or chez?
B. Prepositions with country names
C. Time
C1. Prepositions with months, seasons, dates
C2. Points in time and periods
D. Avant or devant? Après or derrière?
E. More prepositions
10. Futur proche
11. Possessive adjectives
12. Demonstrative adjectives
A. ce, cette, cet, ces
B. -ci and -là
13. Reflexive verbs
A. Reflexive pronouns
B. Reflexive pronouns and the imperative
14. Object and adverbial pronouns
A. Object pronouns
A1. Direct object pronouns
A2. Indirect object pronouns
A3. Position in clauses of statement and questions
B. Adverbial pronoun en
B1. en
with quantities and numbers
B2. en
with complements with de
C. Adverbial pronoun y
C1. y
with places
C2. y
with indirect objects that are things
D. Pronouns and the imperative
E. Expansion: Which pronoun?
E1. Summary
E2. Exceptions with à
15. Indirect/reported speech
A. Indirect speech
B. Indirect questions
B1. Without a question word
B2. With a question word
C. Expansion
C1. Question words that need to be changed
C2. About questions with inversion
16. Passé composé
A. Basics
A1. Participe passé
A2. Passé composé with avoir
A3. Passé composé with être
A4. Position with negation and pronouns
B. Agreement of the participe passé
B1. Agreement with être
B2. Agreement with avoir
C. Agreement with reflexive verbs
D. Some intransitive verbs with transitive usage
17. Basic relative clauses
A. Relative clauses with qui, que and où
A1. Relative pronoun qui
A2. Relative pronoun que
A3. Passé composé in a sentence with que
A4. Relative pronoun où
B. Relative clauses with ce qui and ce que
C. Emphasis with c’est... qui/que
Appendix: Learn more irregular verbs
Abbreviations
Impressum
Preface: Is this the right book for you?
This book offers:
=> beginner’s knowledge explained step by step;
=> exercises with solution keys;
=> a gradual increase in difficulty in each chapter; and
=> translations of the examples and translated vocabulary for each exercise.
Are you a real beginner?
This book has been written for you. Use it in addition to your course to practise on your own – choose the exercises that suit your needs.
You are not a beginner, but you want to make a fresh start?
You have forgotten a lot and you want to reactivate your skills? This book has been written for this purpose too.
An exercise for each learning step:
In each chapter of this book the level of difficulty of exercises increases slowly. Choose which exercises suit your level!
A. = Basic explanations, easy exercises.
B. = Explanations and exercises that build on the explanations in A., a bit more difficult.
C. = Even more difficult.
And so on.
When you have finished this book:
Well done! You have mastered the basics and are now ready to take on more advanced subjects related to verb tenses and complex sentences. If you liked the structure of this book, please note that there is a second book with the same structure covering the rest of the fundamentals: French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners - Beginner’s Edition II, Tenses and Complex Sentences.
Are you an advanced learner?
The Beginner’s Edition books follow a step-by-step approach. If you are an advanced learner and would prefer a one-volume book which offers a condensed yet complete overview of French grammar, take a look at French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners – Advanced Learner’s Edition. It contains a proficiency test to determine which topic to improve first, an overview of the fundamentals, additional paragraphs to extend your knowledge and lots of exercises along with their solutions.
Should you get the e-book or the printed book?
The e-book contains links so that you can jump directly to chapters or from exercises directly to the solution. If you feel that reading on screens is not appropriate for such a topic, there is a print edition for you to obtain.
By the way: The e-book contains several small tables. If they are not displayed correctly on your reader, try reducing the font size. Also, try using very small devices horizontally (landscape mode).
Was this book useful to you? Then support it by writing a review!
Reviews are important for people who are interested in buying books. They also are very important for books to reach new readers. If this book was useful to you, consider writing a recommendation at your online retailer or wherever you see fit. Verbal recommendations to friends also are welcome. Thank you for your support!
Already available in this series of books:
French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners - Beginner’s Edition II, Tenses and Complex Sentences
Follow-up to Beginner’s Edition I covering the remaining fundamental yet more advanced topics. Intended for anyone who has started to learn the imparfait.
French Grammar Practice for Ambitious Learners – Advanced Learner’s Edition
A large volume that offers a proficiency test, a complete overview of the fundamentals, additional paragraphs to extend your knowledge and lots of exercises along with their solutions.
In progress:
A large table of verbs for quick reference (conjugations and complements of verbs with examples) and a book to acquire and practise basic vocabulary.
=> When books are available, they will be listed at https://ambitiouslearners.jimdo.com; there you can also sign up to be on a mailing list to get notified about new releases.
1. Articles
A. Definite and indefinite articles
A1. Definite articles
In French there are masculine (m.), feminine (f.), singular (sg.) and plural (pl.) articles.
If the next word starts with a vowel, le and la are both shortened to l’.
Examples:
une idée (f.) => l’idée (the idea)
un arbre (m.) => l’arbre (the tree)
This happens also if the next word starts with a silent h (you do not pronounce any h in French, but the h aspiré
takes le and la).
Examples:
=> Learn nouns with their articles!
Exercise A1.
Add the appropriate definite article. (solution)
Hint: Nouns ending in -s are plural.
1. Nadja aime ____ mer (f.) et ____ été (m.).
2. Elle adore ____ sable (m.), ____ vent (m.) et ____ soleil (m.).
3. Elle aime aussi ____ crêpes (f.) et _____ abricots (m.).
4. ____ vacances (f.) en Bretagne, c’est super!
5. ____ famille (f.) de Nadja habite toujours à ____ hôtel (m.).
Vocabulary:
aimer qn./qc. (here: to like s.o./s.th.), la mer (the sea), et (and), l’été (m.; the summer), adorer qn./qc. (here: to like s.o./s.th. very much), le sable (the sand), le vent (the wind), le soleil (the sun), aussi (also, too, as well), la crêpe (the pancake), un abricot (an apricot), les vacances (f.; holidays, vacation), la famille (the family), habiter (here: to stay), toujours (always)
A2. Indefinite articles
Did you notice the difference between the French and the English usage concerning the plural?
English: I’m eating noodles. (=> no article)
French: Je mange des nouilles (f.).
Exercise A2.
Add the appropriate indefinite article. (solution)
1. Au petit-déjeuner, je mange ____ croissant (m.).
2. Je bois aussi ____ tasse (f.) de café.
3. Maman mange toujours ____ fruits (m.): ____ oranges (f.) et ____ pommes (f.).
4. Elle boit ____ verre (m.) d’eau.
Vocabulary:
le petit-déjeuner (the breakfast), manger qc. (to eat s.th.), bois/boit => boire qc. (to drink s.th.), aussi (also, too, as well), la tasse de café (the cup of coffee), les fruits (m.; fruit, the fruits), la pomme (the apple), le verre d’eau (the glass of water), l’eau (f.; the water)
A3. Definite or indefinite article?
Definite articles:
They are used for things which have already been mentioned or which are known.
Examples:
the sun => le soleil
the neighbo(u)r’s dog => le chien du voisin (du
see 1 B.)
In French, definite articles also have a generalizing function.
English: I like apples.
French: J’aime les pommes.
English: Fruits are expensive.
French: Les fruits sont chers.
Indefinite articles:
They are used for indefinite or unknown but countable things.
Examples:
I’m looking for an idea. => Je cherche une idée.
I’m looking for ideas. => Je cherche des idées.
Exercise A3.
(a) Add the appropriate article. (solution)
1. M. Martineau aime _____ café (m.).
2. Au petit-déjeuner, il boit toujours _____ tasse (f.) de café au lait.
3. M. Martineau aime aussi _____ quiches (f.).
4. Au déjeuner, il mange toujours _____ quiche lorraine (f.).
(b) Translate:
5. I’m looking for the keys. (clés, f.)
=> Je cherche _______.
6. I’m looking for the key. (clé, f.)
=> Je cherche _______.
7. I’m looking for a key.
=> __________.
8. I’m looking for keys.
=> __________.
9. Friends (amis, m.) are important.
=> _______ sont importants.
10. Bastien is a friend (ami, m.) of Marc.
=> Bastien est _______ de Marc.
Vocabulary:
le petit-déjeuner (breakfast), le lait (the milk), le café au lait (coffee with milk), la quiche (a tart with eggs and usually ham), le déjeuner (lunch), chercher qn./qc. (to look/search for s.o./s.th.)
B. Definite articles and the prepositions à and de
When à or de are followed by le or les, the preposition and the article become contracted.
Vocabulary:
va => aller (to go, aller à + place = to go to a place, see chapter 9 A.), le bureau (the office), les toilettes (the WC, the bathroom), revenir de + place (to come back from a place)
La and l’ do not get contracted.
Examples:
Marc va à la bibliothèque. (Marc goes to the library.)
Amélie revient de l’école. (Amélie comes back from school.)
Examples that demonstrate ownership/belonging:
le chien du voisin (the neighbo(u)r’s dog)
l’entrée de la bibliothèque (the entrance of the library)
la bibliothèque de l’école (the library of the school)
la porte des toilettes (the door of the toilet)
! Watch out: While des
looks exactly like the indefinite article, it is still a definite one – it only got contracted with de
(de + les => des).
Exercise B.
Add the appropriate article and, if necessary, à or de. (solution)
Hint: Some verbs need a particular preposition. Just look at the vocabulary further below.
1. Bastien pose une question ______ boulanger (m.)
2. Isabelle aime ______ musique. Elle joue ______ piano (m.) et ______ guitare (f.).
3. Mme Dupuis travaille _____ bibliothèque (f.).
4. Le prof donne des devoirs _____ élèves (m.) et répond _____ questions (f.).
5. Les élèves rêvent _____ grandes vacances (f.). Mais ils sont _____ école (f.).
6. Benjamin regarde ______ film (m.) _____ télé (f.; on TV).
7. Ensuite, il raconte _____ histoire (f.) ______ film ______ enfants (m.) de la classe.
Vocabulary:
poser une question à qn. (to ask s.o. a question), le boulanger (the baker), jouer de qc. (to play s.th.: musical instrument), travailler (to work), la bibliothèque (the library), le prof (abbreviation of professeur = here: teacher), donner qc. à qn. (to give s.o. s.th./s.th. to s.o.), les devoirs (m.; the homework), un élève (a pupil), répondre à qc. (to respond/reply to s.th.), rêver de qc. (to dream of s.th.), les grandes vacances (the long vacation), une école (a school), regarder qc. (to look at s.th., to watch), le film (the film, the movie), raconter qc. à qn. (to tell s.o. s.th.), une histoire (a