Grammar

16 lessons

1. 1 Alphabet, accents and pronunciation The marks é, è, ê, ç, silent letters, liaison and elision (l', j').
2. 2 Subject pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on… Two words for «you», no word for «it», and the very common «on».
3. 3 The verbs être (to be) and avoir (to have) The two key verbs, and the expressions that use «avoir» where English uses «to be».
4. 4 Noun gender and plurals Every noun is masculine or feminine; endings that help you guess, and how plurals work.
5. 5 Articles: le, la, les – un, une, des Definite and indefinite articles, and why French uses them where English doesn't.
6. 6 Present tense of -er verbs The biggest verb group (parler, aimer, habiter), and why «je mange» means both «I eat» and «I am eating».
7. 7 -ir verbs and the key irregular verbs finir, aller, faire, venir, prendre, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir in the present tense.
8. 8 Negation: ne… pas No «don't / doesn't»: negation wraps around the verb, and un/une/des become de.
9. 9 Asking questions and question words Three ways to ask a yes/no question without «do», and qui, où, quand, comment, pourquoi, quel.
10. 10 Adjectives: agreement and position Adjectives change for gender and number, and most go after the noun.
11. 11 Possessive adjectives: mon, ma, mes… «His» and «her» are the same word: the possessive agrees with the thing owned, not the owner.
12. 12 Demonstratives: ce, cet, cette, ces «This / that / these / those» before a noun, and -ci / -là.
13. 13 Prepositions: à, de and the contractions au, du «to / at / in» and «from / of» with towns, countries and places, and when articles merge with prepositions.
14. 14 Il y a, c'est and il est «There is / there are», and the difference between «c'est» and «il est».
15. 15 Numbers, dates and time The unusual 70, 80 and 90, how to say the date and tell the time.
16. 16 Near future and recent past aller + infinitive (going to…), venir de + infinitive (have just…) and être en train de.