Lesson 2
- Gender in French
French word s do have gender . i.e Masculine and feminine.Distribution of gender doesn’t comply to any logic rule despite some rules put in place.
- Hence Learn the gender by heart(P;ar Coeur)
- The gender is determined by the article, either definite or indefinite
Ø Masculine Definite (Le)
Ø Feminine Definite (La)
Ø Masculine indefinite (un)
Ø Feminine indefinite (une)
The gender of the some words:-
La/une table | The /a table |
Le/un sac | The /a bag |
Le/un chat | The /a cat(male) |
La /une chatte | The /a cat (female) |
Le/un bras | The /an arm |
La /une Soeur | The /a sister |
La /une Bouche | The /a mouth |
La /une Jambe | The /a leg |
La /une Lampe | The /a lamp |
La /une Terre | The /a earth |
La /une Botte | The /a boot |
La /une Langue | The /a tongue |
Le/un langage | The /a language |
La /une Chambre | The /a room |
Le/un Vélo | The /a bike |
Le/un Jour | The /a day |
La /une Nuit | The /a night |
La /une Voiture | The /a car |
Le/un Pays | The /a country |
Le/un Frère | The /a brother |
Le/un Père | The /a father |
La /une Mère | The /a mother |
La /une Tête | The /a head |
La /une Maison | The /a house |
Le/un Main | The /a hand |
Le/un Pain | The /a bread |
La /une Tasse | The /a cup |
When a word begins with a vowel, the definite article(the) that precedes the word is contracted whatever gender it is.
Exemple:
Une assiettte ( a plate) | L’assiette (the plate) |
Un oiseau ( a bird) | L’oiseau (the bird) |
Un animal ( an animal) | L’animal (the animal) |
Une arraignée(a spider) | L’arraignée (the spider) |
Une auto (a car) | L’ auto (the car) |
Une école ( a school) | L’ école (the school) |
Une église ( a church) | L’ église |
We do have some logical rules,to find out the gender of French words:-
a)Professions
Almost every profession has two genders depending on whether it is a man or woman who is accomplishing the action/work.It also alters the pronunciation of the word
Exemple:
Un boulanger une boulangèrie ( a baker)
Un boucher {bushe} une bouchère {bushekh}( a butcher)The folowing list gives the masculine and femine form of some professions plus prononunciation in brackets where some have nasal sounds
English | French Masculine | French Feminine |
Director | Un directeur (dikhektokh) | Une directrice (dikhekt-khis) |
Actor | Unacteur (ak-tokh) | Une actrice (akt-khis) |
Airplane pilot | Un aviateur(aviatokh) | Une aviatrice(aviat-khis) |
Engineer | Un ingénieur(anjiniokh) | Une ingénieure (anjiniokh) |
Primary teacher | Un instituteur(ansti-tiutokh) | Une institutrice(ansti-tiutokh) |
President | Un président(pkhezidoh) | Une présidente(pkhezidont) |
Minister | Un minister (minist-kh) | Une minister (minist-kh) |
worker | Un ouvrier (uvkhie) | Une ouvrière (uv-khiekh) |
b)Animals
cat = un chat {sha}(m) ; une chatte {shat}
Dog = un chien {shia} (m) ; une chienne{shien}
Lion = un lion {lio} (m) ; une lionne {lion}
Tiger = un tigre {tig-kh} ; une tigresse {tig-khres}
Rabbit = un lapin {lapah}; une lapine{lapin}
Bull/Cow = un taureau {toro} ; une vache{vash}
Rat = un rat {kha} ; une rate {khat}
**Rule of adding “-e” to the masculine to form feminine form: It is formed by appending an “-e” to the masculine form of word. {This rule is general enough that you should learn it}
2)Plural Articles
The plural form do not vary as per the gender. That means the plural form is at least friendly because it has a general format
Definite articles use “les” whereas indefinite articles use “des”
Plural rule in French
Mostly built by appending “s” just like in English so long as the word does not end with “x” or “z”
Ex: un livre (a text book) = des livres(books)
However many cases this rule does not apply;-
a) Mostly When a noun ends with –al in plural it changes to – aux
Ex: un cheval(a horse) = des chevaux(horses)
Un animal(an animal) = des animaux (animals)
b) When a noun ends with – au it changes to – aux
Ex; un bateau (a boat) = des bateaux (boats)
Un oiseau (a bird) = des oiseaux(birds)
Lesson 3
French Pronouns & Verbs
In English infinite tense is formed by adding “to” in front ot the verb . For example:
To say; to eat; to play; to danse e.t.c
In French, the infinite tense is indicated by appending –er, -ir or –re too the verb.
- er verbs
Parler,chanter,manger,marcher,aller, écouter,laver(to wash), commencer,balayer(to sweep)
- ir verbs
Finir,mourir(to die), courir(to run),sentir(to feel),avoir (to have),venire(to come),savoir(to know), vouloir (to want)
- re verbs
Sourire (to smile), vivre (to live),boire (to drink),entendre(to hear), être(to be), conduire(to drive),vendre(to sell)
o Verbs ending with –er verbs are referred to as “1st group verbs”
o Verbs ending with –irr verbs are referred to as “2nd group verbs”
o Verbs ending with –re verbs are referred to as “3rd group verbs”
It is useful to distribute these verbs between three groups because different conjugations rules apply to each group.
THE PRONOUNS
Ø Je (I)
Ø Tu (You {informal form or «tutoiement» in french)
Ø Il/elle (He/She)
Ø Nous (We)
Ø Vous (You ; when talking to more than one person)
Ø ils/elles(They)
Notes :
In French, there is no neuter pronoun (it).That means things can either be masculine or feminine
*** Tu = same age/ social rank
Present Tense
A large number of verbs are rarely or never used in the spoken Language.
Present tense is the simplest tense to describe actions that occur in present.
Conjugation of 1st Group Verbs
Before conjugating these verbs you need to know how to get the root/stem of the verb (you remove the ending -er) and then add the following endings:-
1st person singular (je) – e
2nd person singular (tu) – es
3rd person singular (il/elle) – e
1st person plural (nous) - ons
2nd person plural (vous) - ez
3rd person plural (ils/elles) – ent
