
ipad lessons - Let Us Show You the Way

More Negatives
ne...plus no longer
ne...jamais never
ne...rien nothing
ne...aucun(e) not a single one
ne...que only
ne...personne nobody
ne...ni...ni neither...nor
ne...nulle part nowhere
The negatives are used exactly like ne...pas ; but que in ne...que is placed directly before the noun it
limits. Rien and personne may be used as subjects: Personne n' est ici. Aucun(e) by definition is
singular, so the verb and nouns must also be changed to the singular. With ni...ni , all articles are
dropped except definite articles. Je n'ai ni caméra ni caméscope , but Je n'aime ni les chats ni les
chiens.
Il n' aime plus travailler. He no longer likes to work. (Or: He doesn't like to work anymore)
Nous ne voulons faire des achats que lundi. We want to go shopping only on Monday.
Elle ne déteste personne . She hates no one. (Or: She doesn't hate anyone.)
Negatives with Passé Composé
1. Ne...pas, ne...plus, ne...jamais, and ne...rien
Ne comes before auxiliary verb, and the other part is between auxiliary and past participle.
Nous n'avons rien fait. We did nothing. Vous ne vous êtes pas ennuyés. You were not bored.
2. Ne...personne, ne...aucun, ne...ni...ni, ne...nulle part, and ne... que
Ne comes before the auxiliary verb, but the other part is after the past participle.
Il n'a écouté personne. He listened to no one . Il n'a fait aucune faute. He made not a single mistake.
* Use of ne ... pas de : In negative sentences, the partitives and indefinite articles become de before
the noun (unless the verb is être, then nothing changes.)
Partitive: Je prends du pain et du beurre. I'm having some bread and butter.
Negative: Je ne prends pas de pain ou de beurre. I am not having any bread or butter.
Indefinite: J'ai un chien. I have a dog.
Negative: Je n'ai pas de chien. I don't have a dog.
Verb is être: C'est une chatte brune. It's a brown cat.
Negative: Ce n'est pas une chatte brune. It's not a brown cat.
Commands
Use the vous, tu and nous forms for commands.
Vous form Polite and Plural Same as verb form Restez! Stay!
Tu form Familiar Same as verb form, but Regarde! Watch!
drop -s for -er verbs
Allons! Let's go! Nous form Let's... Same as verb form
Note: With using pronominal verbs as commands, the pronoun is placed after the verb connected by a
hyphen. Tu te dépêches becomes Dépêche-toi! And in negative commands, the pronoun precedes
the verb, as in Ne nous reposons pas.
Irregular Command Forms
être (be) avoir (have) savoir (know)
sois aie sache tu swah tu ay tu sahsh
nous soyons swah-yohn nous ayons ay-yohn nous sachons sah-shohn
vous soyez swah-yay vous ayez ay-yay vous sachez sah-shay
Ne sois pas méchant à ta sœur! Don't be mean to your sister!
N'ayez pas peur! Don't be afraid!
Sachez les mots pour l'examen demain! Know the words for the exam tomorrow!
Fruits, Vegetables and Meat
fruit un fruit fwee corn le maïs mah-eez
apple une pomme pohm cucumber un concombre cohn-cohn-bruh
apricot un abricot ah-bree-koh eggplant une aubergine oh-behr-zheen
banana une banane bah-nahn lettuce la laitue leh-tew
shahm-pee-
blueberry une myrtille meer-tee mushroom un champignon
nyohn
cherry une cerise suh-reez onion un oignon wawn-yohn
nwah duh koh-
coconut une noix de coco les pois pwah
koh peas
date une date daht pepper un piment pee-mawn
fig une figue feeg potato une pomme de terre pohm duh tehr
grape un raisin reh-zahn pumpkin une citrouille see-troo-ee
un pahm-pluh-
grapefruit le riz reez
pamplemousse moos rice
lemon un citron see-trohn spinach des épinards ay-pee-nar
lime un limon lee-mohn squash une courge koorzh
melon un melon mel-ohn tomato une tomate to-maht
olive une olive oh-leev turnip un navet nah-vay
orange une orange oh-ranzh zucchini des courgettes koor-zhett
peach une pêche pesh meat une viande vee-awnd
une poire du lard, du bacon pear pwahr bacon lar, bah-kohn
pineapple un ananas ah-nah-nah beef le bifteck beef-teck
plum une prune prewn chicken un poulet poo-lay
prune un pruneau proo-noh duck un canard kah-nar
raisin un raisin sec reh-zahn sek goat une chèvre shev-ruh
raspberry une framboise frwahm-bwahz ham le jambon zhahm-bohn
strawberry une fraise frez lamb l'agneau awn-yoh
watermelon une pastèque pah-stek liver le foie fwah
des boulettes de boo-lett duh vee-
vegetable une légume leh-goom meatballs
viande awnd
une côtelette de
artichoke un artichaut ar-tee-sho pork chop kote-lett duh pork
porc
asparagus des asperges ahs-pehrzh rabbit un lapin lah-pahn
beet une betterave bett-rahv T-bone une côte de bœuf kote duh buf
steak
broccoli le brocoli broh-coh-lee sausage la saucisse so-seess
cabbage un chou shoo turkey une dinde dahnd
carrot une carotte cah-roht veal le veau voh
cauliflower un chou-fleur shoo-flir venison un chevreuil shuv-ruh-ee
celery un céléri say-lay-ree
Food and Meals / La Nourriture et Les Repas
Breakfast le petit déjeuner puh-tee day-zhew-nay
Lunch le déjeuner day-zhew-nay
le dîner Dinner dee-nay
Cup la tasse tahss
Slice la tranche trawnsh
Bowl le bol bohl
Glass le verre verr
Salt and Pepper le sel et le poivre luh sell ay luh pwahv-ruh
Fork la fourchette foor-shett
Spoon la cuillère kwee-yehr
Knife le couteau koo-toh
Plate l'assiette (f) ah-syett
Napkin la serviette ser-vyett
Ice cream la glace glahss
Juice le jus zhew
Fruit le fruit fwee
Cheese le fromage froh-mawzh
Chicken le poulet poo-lay
Egg l'œuf (m) luff
le gâteau Cake gah-toh
Pie la tarte tart
Milk le lait leh
Coffee le café kah-fay
Butter le beurre burr
Water l'eau loh
Ham le jambon zham-bohn
Fish le poisson pwah-sohn
Tea le thé tay
Salad la salade sah-lahd
Jam la confiture kon-fee-chur
Meat la viande vee-awnd
French fries les frites (f) freet
Beer la bière bee-ehr
Wine le vin vahn
Sugar le sucre soo-kruh
Soup le potage poh-tawzh
Etre Verbs
Sixteen "house" verbs and all pronominal verbs are conjugated with être , and they must agree in
gender and number with the subject. The house verbs are:
aller-to go sortir-to go out venir-to come mourir-to die
arriver-to arrive partir-to leave devenir-to become monter-to go up
entrer-to enter tomber-to fall revenir-to come back rester-to stay
rentrer-to return home naître-to be born passer-to go by (pass) descendre-to go down
Most have regular past participles, except venir-venu, devenir-devenu, revenir-revenu, mourir-
mort, and naître-né. And five of these verbs, monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, and passer can
sometimes be conjugated with avoir if they are used with a direct object . Elle a rentré le livre à la
bibliothèque. She returned the book to the library.
Conjugation of an être verb
Je suis resté(e) Nous sommes resté(e)s
Tu es resté(e) Vous êtes resté(e)(s)
Il est resté Ils sont restés
Elle est restée Elles sont restées
You add the e for feminine and s for plural. Vous can have any of the endings.
Conjugation of a Pronominal Verb
Je me suis amusé(e) Nous nous sommes amusé(e)s
Tu t'es amusé(e) Vous vous êtes amusé(e)(s)
Il s'est amusé Ils se sont amusés
Elle s'est amusée Elles se sont amusées
There are only two cases with pronominal verbs where the past participle does not agree:
1. When the pronominal verb is followed by a direct object.
Compare: Elles se sont lavé es , but elles se sont lav é les mains.
2. With verbs where the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object, such as
se parler, se demander, se dire, s'écrire, se sourire , and se téléphoner .
Ils se sont téléphon éIrregular Past Participles
ouvert (oo-
avoir to have eu (ew) had ouvrir to open
vehr) opened
connaître to know connu known offrir to offer offert offered
croire to believe cru believed pouvoir to be able to pu was
able to
devoir to have to dû had to prendre to take pris (pree) taken
dire to tell dit said apprendre to learn appris learned
écrire to write écrit written comprendre to compris understood
understand
être to be été been surprendre to surprise surpris surprised
reçu (reh-
fait made recevoir to receive faire to do,
make sew) received
lire to read lu read rire to laugh ri laughed
mis
mettre to put su known
(me) put savoir to know
permettre to permit permis permitted voir to see vu seen
voulu (voo-
promettre to promise promis promised vouloir to want
lew) wanted
The Past Indefinite Tense or Passé Composé
You have learned the present indicative so far, which expresses what happens, is happening, or does
happen now; but if you want to say something happened, or has happened, you have to use the passé
composé. The passé composé is used for actions that happened only once, a specified number of
times or during a specified period of time, and as a result or consequence of another action. All you
need to learn are the past participles of the verbs.
Regular Verbs: Formation of the Past Participle
-er -é
-re -u
-ir -i
Then conjugate avoir and add the past participle:
J' ai aimé le concert. I liked the concert.
Tu as habité ici? You lived here?
Il a répondu au téléphone. He answered (or has answered) the telephone.
Nous avons fini le projet. We finished (or have finished) the project.
Elles ont rempli les tasses. They filled (or have filled) the cups.
To make it negative, put the ne and pas around the conjugated form of avoir .
Je n' ai pas aimé le concert. I didn't like the concert.
Il n' a pas répondu . He didn't answer (or hasn't answered) .
Elles n' ont pas rempli les tasses. They didn't fill (or haven't filled) the glasses.
Irregularities in Regular Verbs
1. Verbs that end in -ger and -cer : The nous form of manger isn't mangons, but mangeons. The e
has to stay so the g can retain the soft sound. The nous form of commencer isn't commencons, but
commençons. The c must have the accent (called a cedilla) under it to make the c sound soft.
manger-to eat commencer-to begin
mawn- koh- koh-mawn-
mange mawnzh mangeons commence commençons
zhohn mawnz sohn
koh- koh-mawn-
manges mawnzh mangez mawn-zhay commences commencez
mawnz say
koh-
mange mawnzh mangent mawnzh commence commencent koh-mawnz
mawnz
2. Verbs that add or change to an accent grave: Some verbs add or change to an accent grave ( è ) in
all the forms except the nous and vous .
acheter-to buy espérer-to hope
j'achète zhah-shet achetons ahsh-tohn j'espère zhess-pehr espérons ess-pay-rohn
achètes ah-shet achetez ahsh-tay espères ess-pehr espérez ess-pay-ray
achète ah-shet achètent ah-shet espère ess-pehr espèrent ess-pehr
3. Verbs that are conjugated as -er verbs: Some -ir verbs are conjugated with -er endings. For
example: offrir -to offer, give, ouvrir -to open, couvrir -to cover, découvrir -to discover and souffrir -to
suffer.
offrir-to offer
j'offre zhaw-fruh offrons aw-frohn
offres offrez aw-fruh aw-fray
offre aw-fruh offrent aw-fruh
4. Verbs that end in -yer : Change the y to an i in all forms except the nous and vous. Examples:
envoyer -to send , nettoyer -to clean , essayer -to try (awn-vwah-yay) (nuh-twah-yay) (ess-ah-yay)
envoyer-to send
j'envoie zhawn-vwah envoyons awn-vwah-yohn
envoies awn-vwah envoyez awn-vwah-yay
envoie awn-vwah envoient awn-vwah
5. Verbs that double the consonant: Some verbs, such as appeler -to call , and jeter -to throw (ahp-lay)
double the consonant in all forms except the nous and vous . (zheh-tay)
appeler-to call
j'appelle zhah-pell appelons ahp-lohn
appelles ah-pell appelez ahp-lay
appelle ah-pell appellent ah-pell
Pronominal (Reflexive) Verbs
These verbs are conjugated like normal verbs, but they require an extra pronoun before the verb.
Most indicate a reflexive action but some are idiomatic and can't be translated literally. The pronouns
are:
me nous
te vous
se se
Some Pronominal Verbs
s'amuser to have fun se reposer to rest
se lever to get up se souvenir de to remember
se laver to wash (oneself) s'entendre bien to get along well
se dépêcher to hurry se coucher to go to bed
se peigner to comb se brosser to brush
s'habiller to get dressed se maquiller to put on makeup
se marier to get married se casser to break (arm, leg, etc.)
Note: When used in the infinitive, such as after another verb, the reflexive pronoun agrees with the
subject of the sentence. Je vais me coucher maintenant . I'm going to go to bed.
Sample Irregular Pronominal Verb
s'asseoir - to sit down
je m'assieds mah-see-ay nous nous asseyons noo-zah-say-ohn
tu t'assieds tah-see-ay vous vous asseyez vous-zah-say-yay
il s'assied sah-see-ay ils s'asseyent sah-say-ee