French Grammar

French Verbs

The verb is the key word in the sentence that expresses:

• An action (manger, courir, écrire)
• A state (être, paraître, sembler)
• A change (devenir, rester)

Conjugation consists of changing the form of a verb according to:

• The subject (I, you, he/she, we, you, they)
• The tense (present, imperfect, compound past, future, etc.)
• The mood (indicative, imperative, subjunctive, conditional)

French verbs are classified into three groups according to their infinitive ending:

1. First group: Verbs ending in -er (90% of all verbs, but excluding aller)
   Ex: parler (to speak), manger (to eat), aimer (to love/like)
2. Second group: Verbs ending in -ir (with an -issons ending in the present tense for "we")
   Ex: finir (to finish), grandir (to grow), choisir (to choose)
3. Third group: All the others (irregulars). The verbs in the third group require special attention when conjugating them.
   • Verbs ending in -ir (partir - to leave), -re (prendre - to take), -oir (voir - to see)
   • The most important ones are: être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), faire (to do/make), dire (to say)

Pronominal Verbs in French
Some French verbs are only used in the pronominal form, like "se méfier", while others can take on a different meaning when they become pronominal. They often express an action that the subject performs on themselves (like "se laver") or reciprocal actions (like "s’aimer").
In our conjugator, you can specify "se" before a verb to force its pronominal form and see the conjugation with the corresponding pronouns in all forms.

Verbs with Multiple Auxiliaries
Most verbs have a set auxiliary (avoir or être). Verbs that can take either auxiliary (avoir or être) depending on their meaning are called double-auxiliary verbs. The choice of auxiliary changes the meaning of the verb. For these verbs, our conjugator provides both auxiliaries for the compound tenses.

Verb Negation in French
In French, negation is generally formed with two parts: "ne" (or "n’" before a vowel) + a negative word (like pas, jamais, plus, rien, etc.). This structure wraps around the conjugated verb (or the auxiliary verb in compound tenses).

• Basic structure: ne + verb + pas (or other negative word)
  Example: Je ne veux pas (I do not want)
• Compound tenses: ne + auxiliary + pas + past participle
  Example: Je n’ai pas voulu (I did not want)
• Informal Spoken French: The "ne" is often dropped.
  Example: Je veux pas

The Interrogative Form of Verbs in French
In French, there are three main ways to ask a question with a verb. The choice depends on the register (formal, neutral, or informal).

Register	Method	Example
Formal (written)	Inversion	Parles-tu français ?
Neutral (spoken/written)	Using "Est-ce que" (Simple and widely used)	Est-ce que tu parles français ?
Informal (spoken)	Rising intonation	Tu parles français ?

Note on inversion: If the subject is a pronoun (je, tu, il…), the inversion is straightforward. However, if the subject is a noun, a repeating pronoun must be added.

• Pierre a-t-il mangé ? (and not A Pierre mangé ?).

For compound tenses:
The auxiliary verb (être or avoir) is the part that is inverted or that follows "est-ce que":

• T’es-tu lavé ? (pronominal inversion)
• Est-ce que tu as fini ?

French Adjectives

The descriptive adjective is a word used to describe, qualify, or specify a noun (or a pronoun) to which it refers. It provides information about its characteristics, qualities, flaws, etc.
Adjective Agreement: The adjective agrees in gender (masculine or feminine) and in number (singular or plural) with the noun or pronoun it modifies.
Forming the Feminine: An -e is added to the masculine adjective, but there are special cases. Please read the full article.
Forming the Plural: An -s is added to the singular adjective (masculine or feminine), but there are also special cases. Please read the full article.
Adjective Placement: Generally AFTER the noun. This is the most common case, especially for adjectives of color, shape, religion, nationality, and those derived from participles (past or present).
Degrees of Comparison: In French, adjectives can express different degrees of a quality. We mainly distinguish between the comparative (to compare two elements) and the superlative (to express the highest or lowest degree of a quality within a group or in absolute terms).
Possessive Adjectives: Besides descriptive adjectives, there are non-descriptive adjectives (or adjectival determiners) that also agree. Possessive adjectives indicate ownership (mon, ton, son, notre, votre, leur).
Demonstrative Adjectives: These indicate proximity (ce, cet, cette, ces ).
Mastering the agreement and placement of adjectives is essential for correct and nuanced expression in French. They significantly enrich discourse. We are happy to offer you a tool with which you can learn all the forms of adjectives.