French for Beginners Read Free Page B

and une for feminine nouns.  Examples: un ticket (a ticket), une carte postale (a postcard).
    Adjectives
    “Je cherche un hôtel confortable.” (I am looking for a comfortable hotel.)
    In French, generally, an adjective comes after the noun, with a few exceptions.  The two practical exceptions you should know are “grand” (big) and “petit” (small) that are used before the nouns they describe.
    Unlike in English, French adjectives also have their plural forms.  This means that you need to use an adjective in plural form if you are describing nouns in plural form.  This gets more complicated because you also need to make sure that you are using the correct gender form of adjectives.  In general, adjectives in feminine form end in “-e”.  Examples: petit (masc.) and petite (fem.) ; both of which mean small.
    Future Tense
    “Je vais arriver demain.” (I am going to arrive tomorrow.)
    Just like in the English language, you can refer to the future by combining “go” in its present tense form with another verb.
I am going
Je vais
You are going
Tu vas (informal) or Vous allez (formal)
He/she is going
Il/elle va
We are going
Nous allons
They are going
Ils/elles vont
     
    Gender
    Nouns in French have a specific gender which is either feminine or masculine.  The gender assigned to a noun is not essentially related to the sex of the object.  For example, a table is feminine in French – une table.  The noun’s gender has a vital influence on the other elements of the sentence such as articles and adjectives.
    Have
    “J’ai deux frères.” (I have two brothers.)
    Just like in the English language, the verb form changes contingent on the subject used.
I have
J’ai
You have
Tu as (informal) or Vous avez (formal)
S/he has
Elle/Il a
We have
Nous avons
They have
Ils/Elles ont
    Locations
    “Mon passeport est dans mon sac.” (My passport is in my bag.)
    Just like in the English language, you can indicate the location of a particular thing by placing a preposition (such as “dans” or “in”) before the location or the place.
    My and Your
    “Voici mon mari et voici ma fille.” (This is my husband and this is my daughter.)
    Both “my” and “your” have different forms in French depending on the gender of the noun it is referring to and on whether the noun is singular or plural.
Mon passeport (masc.)
My passport
Ma voiture (fem.)
My car
Mes bagages (plural)
My luggage
Votre passeport (masc.)
Your passport
Votre voiture (fem.)
Your car
Vos bagages (plural)
Your luggage
    When the noun starts with an “h” or other vowel sounds, you should use “mon” and not “ma”, regardless of whether the noun is feminine or masculine.
    For the French words of the informal “your” (ton, ta and tes) and his/her (son, sa, ses), you can simply follow the rules for “my”.
     
    Negative Form
    “Je ne sais pas.” (I do not know.)
    To create a negative sentence in French, you simply need to add “ne” before the verb and “pas” after it.
    Plural Form
    “Je voudrais deux billets.” (I would like two tickets.)
    In written French, nouns in plural form end with an –s but is frequently silent when spoken.  The best ways to determine when a spoken French noun is plural is by noticing adjectives (such as “beaucoup de” or “a lot of”), numbers (such as “deux billets” or “two tickets) and plural articles (such as “les” which is the plural form of “the”).
    “Je voudrais deux billets mensuels.” (I would like two monthly tickets.)
    As discussed above, you need to change an adjective to its plural form when the noun it describes is plural.  You can normally do this by adding an –s at the end of the adjective.
    Pointing at something
    “C’est le bon train.” (That is the right train.)
    The simplest way to point at something is to use “c’est” which can be literally translated as “it is”.  You can also simply convert a sentence to a question answerable by a yes or a no by