French Grammar Basics: A Quick Introduction

Preface

Use this page as a quick reference when a French sentence puzzles you. It covers noun gender, articles, pronouns, common verb forms, word order, questions and formality, with examples you can return to while reading.

You do not need to memorize every table at once. Combine explanations with reading, listening and practice. For vocabulary review in context, see Vocaber’s French vocabulary app; for sounds and spelling, start with French minimal pairs and E accents.

Nouns and Gender

Every French noun is either:

• Masculine: le livre, un château.
• Feminine: la table, une chanson.

Some endings suggest a gender, but a final consonant or an -e alone is not a dependable rule. See the French noun gender endings reference and learn the article with each noun.

Notes:

• Adjectives agree with the noun’s gender and number (see Adjectives).
• There are patterns, but there is no strict logic to genders. You just have to accept it.
• Grammar genders are not the same as human genders. Table being feminine does not mean that tables are girls.
• If the word gender confuses you, think of it as type (which is also what it used to mean in English, and what it meant in Latin).

Plural Forms

The plural forms of nouns depend on the ending of the original word:

• Add -s: le livre → les livres
• Most -eau, -eu nouns add -x: le château → les châteaux; exceptions include un pneu → des pneus.
• Many -al nouns change to -aux: un journal → des journaux; exceptions include un bal → des bals.

Articles change: le/la/l’ → les, un/une → des (see Articles).

Pronouns

on is a common substitute for nous in informal speech.

Tu/vous can both refer to a single individual, but they indicate different levels of formality (see Formality).

• ils is used to denote a group of mixed gender or male-only people.
• elles is used for a female-only group of people.

This rule is sometimes ignored, but this is the standard usage.

Articles

English has definite (the) and indefinite articles (a/an). French also has articles, and they change depending on the number and gender:

Definite Article

Used when talking about something specific or already known.

Before a vowel sound, le/la contract to l’: l’arbre, l’idée.

Definite article is also used for something abstract. Because of this, it is usually used even when it’d be omitted in English:

J’aime le chocolat.
I like chocolate.

Le français est difficile au début.
French is hard at first.

Indefinite Article

Used when talking about something general or not previously mentioned.

Partitive Article

Used with uncountable or mass nouns. Could be generally translated as “some”.

Noun Stand-in

Direct object pronouns can replace a noun already mentioned. Although le, la and les also occur as articles, they are pronouns in these examples. They normally go before the conjugated verb, or before the infinitive they belong to. See the University of Texas guide to direct object pronouns.

Tu as vu mon téléphone ? - Oui, je l’ai mis sur la table.
Did you see my phone? - Yes, I put it on the table. (l’ stands for le téléphone)

J’ai fini le livre. Tu veux le lire ?
I finished the book. Do you want to read it? (le stands in for le livre)

*Elle adore cette chanson. Elle **l’*écoute toujours. She loves that song. She always listens to it. (l’ replaces la chanson)

The pronoun en can replace a phrase introduced by de or refer to a quantity:

Je me souviens de cette chanson. - Je m’en souviens.
I remember that song. - I remember it.

Nous avons trois chiens. - Nous en avons trois.
We have three dogs. - We have three of them.

It is more complicated than in English, but you’ll quickly get used to it if you consume enough material.

Verbs

Tenses

Verb forms express time, completion and other distinctions. Start with the present, passé composé and imparfait, then return to the other forms as you encounter them.

There are two key differences between English and French tense usage worth noting.

Use of the Simple Past. English commonly uses the simple past in everyday speech. Counter-intuitively, in French the compound past (passé composé) is used in conversation:

J’ai parlé.
I spoke.

Lack of Progressive Forms in French. English uses continuous tenses:

Je parle.
I speak, I am speaking.

Regular Verbs

The first group contains -er verbs except aller. The second contains -ir verbs with a present participle in -issant, such as finir → finissant. Other -ir verbs, such as partir, belong to the third group.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs in French are the third group, they do not follow the regular conjugation patterns of -er or -ir verbs. Here are some common examples:

In reality you won’t have too much trouble with them, because many irregular verbs are very common and you’ll see them a lot.

Auxiliary Verbs

You’ll see avoir and être more than other irregular verbs, because they often function as auxiliary verbs in some tenses, similarly to how auxiliary verbs to have/to be are used in English.

Subjonctif

Subjonctif (or Subjunctive) is a topic that often scares English-speaking learners. But it is simply a mood that modifies the verb to give additional nuance, specifically to express:

• uncertainty
• emotion
• desire
• doubt
• necessity

It usually appears in sentences with “que” and another subject.

Je veux que tu viennes.
I want that you come. (literal)
I want you to come. (natural)

Je suis content qu’elle soit là.
I’m happy that she be here. (literal)
I’m happy that she is here. (natural)

Je ne pense pas qu’il ait compris.
I don’t think that he have understood. (literal)
I don’t think he understood. (natural)

Il faut que nous partions.
It is necessary that we leave. (literal)
We must leave. (natural)

This “that + subjunctive verb” structure used to exist in older English (e.g. I demand that he be silent), but in modern English it’s mostly replaced by infinitives or standard present tense. French still uses this structure often and naturally.

For regular verbs such as parler, form the present subjunctive from the third-person plural present stem: ils parlent → parl- plus the endings below. Some verbs use a different stem for nous and vous, and common verbs such as être and avoir are irregular. Consult the regular and irregular subjunctive guides for those patterns.

The present subjunctive is a useful starting point. The past subjunctive also occurs in ordinary French; the imperfect subjunctive is mainly literary.

Notice the whole expression that triggers the subjunctive, then practice it in a sentence.

Adjectives

Adjectives usually follow the noun and match gender/number:

• masc. sg.: base form → un livre intéressant
• fem. sg.: -e → une fille intelligente
• masc. pl.: -s → des enfants curieux
• fem. pl.: -es

Une voiture rouge.
A red car.

Some common adjectives come before the noun (see the BANGS rule: Beauty, Age, Number, Goodness, Size):

Un petit garçon.
A little boy.

Sentence Structure

Word Order

Just like in English, the usual word order in French is:

Subject + Verb + Object

Je mange une pomme.
I’m eating an apple.

Negative sentences

Ne … pas around the verb:

Je ne mange pas de viande.
I do not eat meat.

In speech, ne is often dropped:

Je mange pas de viande. (informal)

Questions

There are three main ways to ask yes/no questions:

1. Raising your voice (informal)

   Tu viens ?
   Are you coming?

2. Using “est-ce que”

   Est-ce que tu viens ?
   Are you coming?

3. Inversion (formal or written)

   Viens-tu ?
   Are you coming?

Formality

Modern English normally uses “you” regardless of the relationship between speakers. French distinguishes familiar tu from polite or plural vous. English once had a related distinction:

• tu is used in informal situations: with family, peers, children, or when a sense of familiarity is implied.
• vous is used in formal situations: with strangers, older people, in general situations where you are not close socially. It is conjugated the same way as plural vous.

Tu vas bien ?
Are you doing well? (informal)
Vous allez bien ?
Are you doing well? (formal or plural)

Tu aimes ce livre ?
Do you like this book? (informal)
Vous aimez ce livre ?
Do you like this book? (formal or plural)

Sometimes it is not obvious which form to use. The rule of thumb is to err on the side of caution and go with vous. You can switch to tu after rapport has been established.