FRENCH GRAMMAR
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PREPOSITIONS OF PLACES
Places ending in E = féminine = use EN eg; je suis en France
Places ending in any other vowel = masculine = use AU eg; je vais au Canada
Places ending in a consonant = masculine = use AU eg; je vais au Japon
Places ending in S = usually masculine = use AUX eg; je vais aux Etats-Unis
Places starting with a vowel or silent H = use EN eg; je vais en Iran , je vais en Haïti
For cities = use À eg; je suis à Paris
….when saying suis, vais, viens
for feminine countries or starts with a vowel or silent H for masculine countries
Je suis en France Je suis au Maroc
Je vais en France Je vais au Maroc
Je viens de France Je viens du Maroc
for countries ending in S for cities
Je suis aux Maldives Je suis à Paris
Je vais aux Maldives Je vais à Paris
Je viens des Maldives Je viens de Paris
HOW TO USE THE PRONOUN Y
1. Y replaces a place
➔ a place is introduced by a preposition of a place, eg; à, it translates to
‘‘there’’
➔ je vais à Paris, I am going to Paris → j’y vais, I am going there
2. Y also replaces a thing introduced by à, au, aux, à l’, à la
➔ when a verb follows à you replace the phrase and à to y so it translates
to ‘‘it’’
➔ je pense à mon travail, I am thinking about my work → j’y pense, I am
thinking about it
so to summarise… y can replace à or a phrase after a verb that follows à to mean
either ‘’there’’ or ‘’it’’
ADJECTIVE PLACEMENT
● as a general rule adjectives are placed after the noun, eg; un chat noir
● however some adjectives are placed before the noun
● these adjectives refer to the acronym BAGS
*remember adjectives must agree with the noun*
, BEAUTY- joli {pretty}, beau {beautiful}
AGE- jeune {young}, vieux {old}, nouveau {new}
GOODNESS- bon {good}, mauvais {bad}, gentil {kind}, meilleur {better}
SIZE- petit {small}, grand {tall}, haut {tall}, gros {fat}
however there are some exceptions (BAGS) that come after the noun… méchant
{mean}, laid {ugly}, affreux {atrocious}, âgé {old}
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
➔ you need to focus on the thing that you are describing
➔ they can also be used to shorten a sentence by replacing someone’s name
masculine singular feminine singular plural
My mon ma mes
your ton ta tes
his/her son sa ses
ours notre notre nos
your votre votre vos
their leur leur leurs
Eg; le livre de Sophie → son livre , you use son not sa because you are describing
the book not Sophie
C’EST VS. IL EST
➔ In french both c’est and il est translate to both it is and he is, il est/ils sont is
followed by an adjective, c’est/ce sont is followed by a noun and it can also be
followed by a masculine adjective
➔ it mainly depends on the context there are no exact rules, c’est turns to ce
sont if the noun following is plural
People…
❏ c’est un homme/une femme, ce sont des hommes/des femmes
❏ il est grand, elle est grande, ils sont grands, elles sont grandes, elle est belle
...
PREPOSITIONS OF PLACES
Places ending in E = féminine = use EN eg; je suis en France
Places ending in any other vowel = masculine = use AU eg; je vais au Canada
Places ending in a consonant = masculine = use AU eg; je vais au Japon
Places ending in S = usually masculine = use AUX eg; je vais aux Etats-Unis
Places starting with a vowel or silent H = use EN eg; je vais en Iran , je vais en Haïti
For cities = use À eg; je suis à Paris
….when saying suis, vais, viens
for feminine countries or starts with a vowel or silent H for masculine countries
Je suis en France Je suis au Maroc
Je vais en France Je vais au Maroc
Je viens de France Je viens du Maroc
for countries ending in S for cities
Je suis aux Maldives Je suis à Paris
Je vais aux Maldives Je vais à Paris
Je viens des Maldives Je viens de Paris
HOW TO USE THE PRONOUN Y
1. Y replaces a place
➔ a place is introduced by a preposition of a place, eg; à, it translates to
‘‘there’’
➔ je vais à Paris, I am going to Paris → j’y vais, I am going there
2. Y also replaces a thing introduced by à, au, aux, à l’, à la
➔ when a verb follows à you replace the phrase and à to y so it translates
to ‘‘it’’
➔ je pense à mon travail, I am thinking about my work → j’y pense, I am
thinking about it
so to summarise… y can replace à or a phrase after a verb that follows à to mean
either ‘’there’’ or ‘’it’’
ADJECTIVE PLACEMENT
● as a general rule adjectives are placed after the noun, eg; un chat noir
● however some adjectives are placed before the noun
● these adjectives refer to the acronym BAGS
*remember adjectives must agree with the noun*
, BEAUTY- joli {pretty}, beau {beautiful}
AGE- jeune {young}, vieux {old}, nouveau {new}
GOODNESS- bon {good}, mauvais {bad}, gentil {kind}, meilleur {better}
SIZE- petit {small}, grand {tall}, haut {tall}, gros {fat}
however there are some exceptions (BAGS) that come after the noun… méchant
{mean}, laid {ugly}, affreux {atrocious}, âgé {old}
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES
➔ you need to focus on the thing that you are describing
➔ they can also be used to shorten a sentence by replacing someone’s name
masculine singular feminine singular plural
My mon ma mes
your ton ta tes
his/her son sa ses
ours notre notre nos
your votre votre vos
their leur leur leurs
Eg; le livre de Sophie → son livre , you use son not sa because you are describing
the book not Sophie
C’EST VS. IL EST
➔ In french both c’est and il est translate to both it is and he is, il est/ils sont is
followed by an adjective, c’est/ce sont is followed by a noun and it can also be
followed by a masculine adjective
➔ it mainly depends on the context there are no exact rules, c’est turns to ce
sont if the noun following is plural
People…
❏ c’est un homme/une femme, ce sont des hommes/des femmes
❏ il est grand, elle est grande, ils sont grands, elles sont grandes, elle est belle
