French grammar

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“ French grammar ” (French: grammaire française, grammaire de la langue française, grammaire du français ) refers to 1. the grammar of the French language and 2. a work in which this grammar is described.

One differentiates:

  • 1. The descriptive grammar of the French language, which describes the respective language level of French at a certain point in time (synchronous language consideration).
  • 2. The historical grammar of the French language, which describes the historical development of the grammatical forms and structures of French (diachronic consideration of the language).
  • 3. The text grammar of the French language, which on the basis of text linguistics not only gives a descriptive description of the French language, but also, according to Harald Weinrich , instead of using the single word or the single sentence as the starting point of the investigation, is based on more comprehensive units of meaning as they occur in texts (in the meaning that text linguistics gives the word text).

This article essentially gives a descriptive presentation of the grammar of the modern French language.

syntax

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Word order in the statement and question sentence

The basic word order in the sentence is subject-verb-object (SVO), similar to the other Romance languages ​​and English. The basic word order can be retained in the question and the question can be identified by intonation :

The second method of questioning is to put an est-ce que in front of the statement . It is the most neutral type of question and can be used in any language register, whether colloquial or slightly raised. If a question word introduces the sentence, it comes before est-ce que .

The third possibility of asking the question is inversion , i.e. the reversal of the sentence position of personal pronouns and the corresponding verb:

  • Qu'est-ce que vous faites? - [ ↗ kɛskəvuˈfɛt ] - What are you doing? / What are you doing?

becomes

  • Que faites-vous? - [ ↗ kəfɛtˈvu ] - What are you doing? / What are you doing?

becomes

negation

The negative is formed with "ne" and another filler word.

  • no ... pas - not
  • ne ... rien - nothing
  • ne ... jamais - never , never
  • ne ... personne - nobody
  • ne ... plus - no more
  • ne ... pas you tout - not at all, not at all
  • ne ... pas encore - not yet
  • ne ... pas non plus - not either
  • ne ... ni ... ni - neither ... nor
  • ne ... aucun (e) - no (e) at all
  • ne ... nulle part - nowhere
  • ne ... que - only , first

"Ne" comes before the verb, "pas" etc. behind it. In the compound tenses (e.g. passé composé) the auxiliary verb is negated. Examples:

  • Il ne vient pas “He's not coming”.
  • Il n ' est pas venu “He did not come”.
  • Tu n ' as rien fait "You haven't done anything".

Before vowels and h muet (silent h) ne is apostrophized:

“Ne” is often left out in everyday language. Example: Il fume pas “He doesn't smoke”.

noun

Genera

There are two grammatical genera (genders), the masculine and the feminine; the most striking difference is the article corresponding to the gender. Unlike other Romance languages, it is difficult to find out the gender of the noun from the word endings if one does not know the etymology of a word. The words garçon 'boy', poisson 'fish' and hérisson 'hedgehog' are masculine , the words chanson 'song', leçon 'lesson' and boisson 'drink' are feminine ( féminin ).

Unlike in German (e.g. the girl ), nouns with natural gender in French always have the corresponding grammatical gender ( la fille ).

The gender of a French word often does not match the gender of the corresponding word in other languages, especially in languages ​​that are not closely related, such as German.

Since there is no neuter in French, words that have the neuter gender in German can only be male or female in French. Noun adjectives are masculine, i.e. le beau 'the beautiful'.

The noun amour is masculine in the singular, but mostly feminine in the plural. Examples: “Je n'arrive pas à oublier mon premier amour” “I can't forget my first love.” And “On revient toujours à ses premières amours”, literally: “You always return to your old loved ones”, “Old ones Love doesn't rust. "

items

There are three articles in French:

  • the definite article ( l'article défini ): le (masculine = m), la (feminine = f), l ' (for masculine and feminine nouns that begin with a vowel or a silent h . The plural means les for both genders .

Examples: le livre "the book", la maison "the house", l' e nfant (m) "the child", l ' é chelle (f) "the ladder", l' h ôtel (m) "the hotel"

  • the indefinite article ( l'article indéfini ): un (masculine), une (feminine).

Examples: un livre “a book”, une maison “a house”, un enfant “a child”, une échelle “a ladder”.

  • the article of division ( l'article partitif ): du (masculine), de la (feminine), de l ' (masculine and feminine for nouns that start with a vowel), des (plural for both genders).

Examples: du pain “bread” (an indefinite amount), de la viande “meat”, de l'eau “water”, des maisons (f) “houses”, des jardins (m) “gardens”.

Plural formation

As in English and Spanish, in most cases an s is added to the end of the word in the plural , which is generally silent during pronunciation. There is a connection between article and noun (liaison).

  • l'heure - [ lœʁ ] - the hour
  • les heures - [ leˈzœʁ ] - the hours

Nouns that end in -eau in the singular form the plural with x . Words ending in -al end in -aux in the plural. Examples: le journ al "the newspaper", les journ aux "the newspapers". Exceptions: le festival, les festivals. Nouns that end in s , z or x in the singular form are identical with the plural form.

  • la voix - [ laˈvwa ] - the voice
  • les voix - [ leˈvwa ] - the voices

The words œil 'eye' and œuf [œf] 'egg' have an irregular plural : les yeux 'the eyes', les œufs [lezø] 'the eggs'.

In the end, only the article in pronunciation usually marks the difference between singular and plural.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

person Personal pronouns être ' to be'
1. Sg. ever suis
2nd Sg. do it
3rd Sg. il 'he', elle 'she', on 'man' est
1st pl. nous sommes
2nd pl. vous' you; She' êtes
3rd pl. ils, elles sont

Object pronouns

person direct object pronoun indirect object pronoun
1. Sg. me 'me' me 'me'
2nd Sg. te 'you' te 'you'
3rd Sg. le 'him', la 'she' lui 'him, her'
1st pl. nous 'us'
2nd pl. vous' you; She' vous' you; Them'
3rd pl. read 'she' leur 'them'
  1. ↑ The French pronoun on does not correspond to the German es , but it can be translated both with 'man' and with 'we'. However, replacing nous with on is considered colloquial.
  2. ↑ a b c vous corresponds not only to the German you , but also to the polite you . In French it is written in lower case.
  3. ↑ There is a difference between French and German with regard to the 3rd person plural that elles must be chosen if the objects in question consist only of feminine nouns. However, if the objects are only masculine or feminine and masculine nouns, ils are used .

Verbs with direct and indirect object:

direct: aider, attendre, craindre, croire (quelqu'un), raconter, rappeler, rencontrer, suivre. The pronouns are: me, te, le / la, nous, vous, les.

indirect: s'attendre, croire (à quelque chose), demander, s'intéresser, parler, penser, réfléchir, renoncer, répondre. The pronouns are: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur.

Verbs with être: rester, partir, sortir, retourner, revenir, passer, tomber, descendre, monter, rentrer, entrer, arriver, aller, venir. All reflexive verbs are also formed with être. The participle is always adapted to the subject, never to the object.

Verbs with avoir: appeller, avoir, battre, boire, connaître, courir, croire, devoir, dormir, écrire, tenir. The participle is adapted to the object pronoun, never to the subject (only for direct object pronouns).

Object pronouns come before the verb in the infinitive. If there are several verbs in the infitive, the object pronoun comes after the conjugated verb. The object pronoun only comes before the conjugated verb if there is no infinitive.

Adverbial pronouns

Adverbial pronouns are y and en .

y denotes places that are not introduced with de. y denotes indirect objects that are introduced by à, chez, dans, and things, never people.

en denotes location information that is introduced with de. en denotes indirect objects only for things, never for people.

Order of object and adverbial pronouns

Here is the usual representation of the order of all object and adverbial pronouns in the sentence.

person Object pronouns Adverbial pronouns
1. Sg. me le, la, les lui, leur y en
2nd Sg. te
3rd Sg./Pl. se
1st pl. nous
2nd pl. vous

Emphasis on personal pronouns

person Indirect object pronoun Pronouns used for emphasis
1. Sg. me moi
2nd Sg. te toi
3rd Sg. lui lui, elle, il 1)
1st pl. nous nous 2)
2nd pl. vous vous
3rd pl. leur eux, elles 1)

1) The emphasis on the pronouns elle / elles by converting them to "elle elle" / "elles elles" occurs only in the spoken language.

2) When emphasizing, always put the personal pronoun "on" after the emphasizing "nous". As follows: Nous, on a joué au football. = " We played soccer."

Since the pronouns are the only ones to be declined in the French language, inflections also exist like the indirect objects. Example: Tu me donnes un cadeau. = "You are giving me a present."

In French, as in Spanish , the pronouns are sometimes emphasized within the sentence if they are to be emphasized (including unrelated, independent personal pronouns , as opposed to the unstressed, connected personal pronouns) or if a contradiction between the actions of different subjects is made clear should. You do this by putting the emphasis in front of the personal pronoun. The example shows the sentence “Je suis allé (e) à l'école” (= I went to school).

Sentence without emphasis Sentence with emphasis Translation of the emphasis
Je suis allé (e) à l'école. Moi, je suis allé (e) à l'école. I went to school (unlike someone else).

Demonstrative companion

The demonstrative companions are ce (mask.) And cette (fem.). Male nouns that start with an unspoken sound such as h or a vowel are given the pronoun cet . This rule only applies to masculine nouns; cette is always used for feminine nouns . The demonstrative companion of the majority is basically ces .

number for masculine for feminine
Singular ce, cet cette
Plural ces ces

Demonstrative companions have an accompanying function: J'aime bien cet ordinateur . - "I like this computer." You can add -ci (here) or -là (there) after the noun . These specify the statement.
Example: "Ce livre-là." (= That book) is not equal to "Ce livre-ci" (= this book)

Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are not only used as articles, they replace the noun. Unlike in the rest of the world, a distinction is made between three genders.

number Masculine Feminine Indefinite
Singular celui cell ce
Plural ceux celles ce

In order to define these demonstrative pronouns more precisely, you can add a
-ci or a -là (or a ci or a la if it is the indefinite demonstrative pronoun) to the respective pronoun. Ci describes nearby objects, while là describes objects further away.

The resulting cela is often replaced by ça in everyday language .

Examples: "Quel livre préfères-tu?" - "Je préfère celui-ci ." - "I prefer this one (here)."
"Quelles chansons aimes-tu le mieux?" - "J'aime bien celles-là ." - "I like those (there) with pleasure."
"Que ont-ils dit?" - "Ils ont dit ceci ." - "You said this (here)."

Possessive companion

The possessive companions always come before the word they are referring to. A counterpart is not assigned to each individual personal pronoun. The companion is based on two things: the personal pronoun to which it belongs and the gender and number of the reference word. Possessive companions in the French language are:

person for mask. Sg. for Fem. Sg. for pl. (m / f)
ever mon ma mes
do volume ta tes
il / elle / on son 1) sa ses
nous notre notre nos
vous votre votre vos
ils / elles leur 1) leur leurs

1) These possessive companions apply to "il" and "elle" as well as to "ils" and "elles".
Due to an exception, nouns that begin with a vowel or h must be preceded by the possessive companion for masculine nouns, even if they are feminine. Example: mon amie = my girlfriend.

possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns, like demonstrative pronouns, replace a noun and are not placed in front of it. These possessive pronouns are to be declined according to person and number.

Singular Plural
person Masculine Feminine Masculine Feminine
1. Sg. le mien la mienne les miens les miennes
2nd Sg. le tien la tienne les tiens les tiennes
3rd Sg. le sien la sienne les siens les siennes
1st pl. le notre la nôtre les nôtres
2nd pl. le vôtre la vôtre les vôtres
3rd pl. le leur la leur les leurs

Example: "Est-ce que c'est ton livre?" - "Oui, c'est le mien"

The adjective

Most adjectives come after the noun they are referring to:

C'est un livre interesting . It's an interesting book.

However, some adjectives come before the respective noun. These include, for example, bon, grand, petit, joli, autre, mauvais, gros, beau, nouveau, vieux.

Elle a un grand livre. She has a great book.
Elle a de grands livres. (In the case of presented adjectives, "des" becomes "de") She has great books.

Depending on the gender of the noun, the adjective is changed:

Singular Plural
male Female male Female
grand (large) grand e grand s grand it
joli (pretty) joli e joli s joli it
blanc (white) blanch e blanc s blanch it
visible (visible) 1) visible visible s visible s
intelligent intelligent e intelligent s intelligent it

1) Adjectives that already have the ending -e in the masculine form in the singular do not have an additional -e appended in the feminine form and adjectives that already have the ending -s or -x in the singular do not have an additional -s in the plural attached.

In the formation of the feminine forms, irregularities caused by linguistic developments (especially in Old French ) can occur, such as bon bonne (good) (n becomes nn so that it can be pronounced); fou folle (crazy) (the final l became u, cf. Kastell ↔ Château); blanc blanche (white) (c before Latin a became ch, cf. Latin caro ↔ chair meat ); bref brève (short) (the Old French was hardening to the end ); faux fausse (x became ss to emphasize).

Some color adjectives are completely unchangeable, especially those that are formed from two other color adjectives (example: bleu-vert [blue-green]) or from one color adjective and a clarifying addition (example: rouge sang [blood red]) and most of them from one Noun are derived (examples: marron (marron, from the noun marron, chestnut), orange (orange, from the noun orange, orange)). Equally unchangeable is super (super).

In addition, it should be noted with beau, nouveau and vieux that they have a third form, if they are in front of a masculine noun that begins with a vowel or h, it says: beau, bel, belle - nouveau, nouvel, nouvelle - vieux, vieil, vieille.

increase

Unlike in German, the French adjective is not increased by endings , but by adding the word “plus” (= more) in front of it. Example: profond → plus profond; deep → deeper. The German word “als”, which is used to describe a comparison, is “que” in French. Example: Je suis plus grand que mon frère . = “I'm bigger than my brother.” Exceptions include bon → meilleur (= good → better) or mauvais → pire (= bad → worse).

The superlative corresponds to the comparative, supplemented by the definite article before “plus” . Example: C'est la plus grande personne du monde. = "That is the tallest person in the world."

In French, you also have the option of giving expressions such as “very good”, “very large” or “very rich” their own form. To do this, you sometimes add -issime to the adjective, i.e. riche (rich) → richissime (steinreich). This form has developed from the Latin superlative, which, however, already has this meaning, i.e. H. as an absolute superlative.

verb

person

Like all Indo-European languages, French distinguishes three people . The first person is the speaking, the second is the person spoken to, and the third is the person being discussed. On does not only mean 'one', but also colloquially 'we'. In the 3rd person in the plural, ils is used for pure groups of male persons and for groups with male and female persons, elles is used for pure groups of female persons. The 2nd person plural vous is used as a polite form.

Infinitive

Officially, the French verbs are divided into three regular groups according to their ending. The 1st group contains the verbs ending in -er (90% of all verbs, or about 4320) except "aller", the second those which end in -ir and have the ending "-issons" in the 1st person plural, ( about 300, with or without stem extension) and the third the verbs ending in -re (about 180) and all other possible endings (e.g. -oir , -eindre , -endre etc.)

auxiliary verbs

The most important auxiliary verbs (French [verbes] auxiliaires ) are être , to be 'and avoir , to have'. In contrast to Spanish, avoir is also used in French in the sense of 'possess'. With the help of these two auxiliary verbs, tenses such as the perfect tense can be formed; the use of avoir or être depends on the individual verb, but transitive verbs are always used with avoir and reflexive verbs always with être .

Participles

French knows three participles (French participes ), i.e. H. the present participle ( participe présent ), the past participle (participe passé) and the compound participle (participle I + participle II). The present participle is formed by removing the infinitive ending and adding -ant instead . For verbs like placer [plase] 'place', the cedilla ç is used to preserve the sound : pla ç ant [plasɑ̃], otherwise the letter sequence <ca> would have to be pronounced as [ka].

The perfect participle corresponds to that of German, i.e. placer → placé 'placed'. The third is made by writing the present participle of the verb avoir (→ ayant ) and the perfect participle one after the other; Example: placer → ayant placé . This compound participle is used as a prematurity form relative to the verb in the main clause.

gerund

The gerund (French gérondif ) is formed with the preposition en 'in' and the so-called ant form: en plaçant . It has the same form as the present participle (participe présent) because the Latin gerund has coincided with the present participle in historical development. It does not express time itself, but is always on the same temporal level as the corresponding main clause. It expresses a simultaneity (temporal use), an intention (instrumental use) or a possibility (conditional use). The sentence Elle sort de la chambre en claquant la porte has the translation in German "She leaves door slamming d the room" (temporal). The sentence En claquant la porte elle énervait les voisins corresponds to the German sentence "By (always) slamming the door, she annoyed the neighbors" (instrumental). “If you slam the door, you break it” can be translated as En claquant la porte tu l'abîmeras in French . The conditional sentence Si tu claques la porte, tu l'abîmeras serves the same purpose .

Modes

Schematic representation of the function of the times in the French indicative

In French there are the indicative , subjunctive , conditional and imperative modes .

  • The indicative (French indicative ) describes the actions that take place in reality and rationality. It can occur at any time.
  • The subjunctive or subjunctive (French subjonctif ) occurs most often in subordinate clauses . It is compulsory after certain subjunctions as well as after verbs of preference, aversion, expression of will, doubt or necessity. In the main clause, the subjunctive expresses a wish or an assumption assumed for the following, sometimes also the uncertainty of a statement and thus distinguishes itself from the indicative. In the subjunctive mode, only the present, perfect, imperfect and past perfect tense exist. To form the subjunctive of a verb, take the 3rd person plural of the present indicative and use it to form the forms of the present subjunctive. The 3rd person plural is the same in both modes. As an example, the following table shows the formation of the subjunctive of the irregular verb venir ' to come':
person indicative person conjunctive
ever viens que je vienne
do viens que do viennes
il, elle, on vient qu ' il vienne
nous venons que nous venions
vous venez que vous veniez
ils, elles viennent qu ' ils viennent
  1. ↑ In French conjugation books such as Bescherelle , que / qu ' , that' is always placed in front of the pronoun in the subjunctive mode . This indicates that the pronoun and the verb in the subjonctif must always be behind this conjunction.
  2. ↑ This technique cannot be used on the 1st and 2nd person plural. Instead, you take the indicative form and add an i between the word stem and the ending.
  • The conditional (French conditionnel ) contains actions that only occur under certain conditions. The conditional only exists as a conditional present (conditional I) and conditional perfect (conditional II). In English there are the if- sentences as a counterpart ; the principle of formation of the si clauses and the if clauses is similar.
The tenses of the conditional clauses below are made up of the verbs venir ' to come' and être ravi ' to be happy'.
1. Realis of the present (present tense + future tense I): Si tu viens, je serai ravi .
→ If you come, I'll be happy.
2. Unrealis of the present ( past tense + conditional I): Si tu venais, je serais ravi .
→ If you came, I would be happy.
3. Unrealis of the past (past perfect + conditional II): Si tu étais venu (e), j ' aurais été ravi .
→ If you had come, I would have been happy.
  • The imperative (French impératif ) is the form of command . It also exists in both the present and the perfect tense, with three imperative forms in both tenses; they correspond to the personal pronouns tu , nous and vous . To create the tu form, the s is removed in some places , which is typical for the 2nd person singular in the present indicative. However, it stays the same for other verbs. For nous and vous , the imperatives are always identical to the forms of the indicative present, except of course for verbs like “sein” or “haben”. The forms of the imperative perfect are formed with the present subjunctive of the verb avoir / être and the perfect participle. The avoir imperatives are aie, ayons, and ayez .

Times

Overall, in the French language, the times present, there are perfect , imperfect , pluperfect , past tense , Präteritumperfekt , passé récent , Present , Future Perfect and Futur proche .

  • The French present tense (frz. Présent ) corresponds to the German present tense to denote the present, the forms are often irregular. It is used both orally and in writing. Example: je regarde = I look (→ regarder ); je finis = I finish (→ finir ); je vends = I sell (→ vendre ).
  • The perfect tense (French: passé composé ) corresponds formally to the German perfect and is generally used to express completed actions. It is used both orally and in writing. It is formed by putting a present tense of either être or avoir after the pronoun and then using the past participle. Example: j'ai regardé = I have looked; j'ai fini = I have finished; j'ai vendu = I have sold; je suis allé (→ aller ).
  • The past tense (fr. Imparfait ) like the Latin imperfectum and has a similar function as the past tense (past tense) in English. It describes an unfinished (repetitive or ongoing) action in the past. It is used both orally and in writing. The endings of this period are the same for all verb groups, although not as uniform as in English, as there are still differences between the individual pronouns. Example: je regard ais = I looked; je finiss ais = I finished; je vend ais = I sold.
  • The past perfect (French: plus-que-parfait ) is the normal previous past and corresponds to the German past perfect . It is used both in writing and orally. It is formed by putting a past tense of être or avoir and the perfect participle after the pronoun. Example: j'avais regardé = I had looked; j'avais fini = I had finished; j'avais vendu = I had sold.
  • The past tense (French: passé simple ) is the main narrative time in written language and is mainly limited to history, fiction and fairy tales. It is considered the most difficult of all French tenses, which is due to the massive changes in the verb stems. However, it also happens that some people are identical to those in the present tense. This time refers to actions that have no repetition in the past, have no effect on later actions and break into a long-lasting action. The passé simple is only used in writing. Like the past tense, it is also translated with the German past tense . Example: je regardai = I looked; je finis = I finished; je vendis = I sold.
  • The past perfect tense (French: passé antérieur ) has the same prematurity relationship to the past tense as the past perfect tense to the past tense and is also only used in writing. It is formed by putting être or avoir in the past tense and adding the past participle. To translate it one uses the German past perfect. Example: j'eus regardé = I had looked; j'eus fini = I had finished; j'eus vendu = I had sold.
  • The passé récent embodies actions that occurred shortly before the moment when the speaker started speaking. It is formed by a present tense of the verb venir ' to come', supplemented by the preposition de and concluded with the infinitive. je viens de regarder = I just looked; je viens de finir = I have just finished; je viens de vendre = I have just sold. If the following infinitive begins with a vowel, the de becomes a d ' , hence je viens d'a rriver = I have just arrived.
  • The future tense I (French: futur ) as future time corresponds to the German future tense I , so it is part of the future tense. It is used both in writing and orally. It is formed by adding a small suffix to the infinitive of a verb. Example: je regarderai → I will look; je finirai = I will finish; je vendrai = I will sell.
  • The future perfect (future II; French futur antérieur ) as an anticipated future corresponds to the German future II . It is formed by putting être or avoir in the future tense I and adding the perfect participle. Example: j'aurai regardé → I will have looked; j'aurai fini = I will have finished; j'aurai vendu = I will have sold.
  • The conditional can also have temporal (future) meaning when used in indirect speech, e.g. B. il dit qu'il partira → 'he says that he will go away'; il a dit qu'il partirait → 'he said that he would go away'
  • In terms of form, the future tense proche (also called the modal future tense) resembles the German future tense I even more than the French future tense I. In conjugation books, like the passé récent, it is not mentioned in the verb tables because it is not a separate form and of no composed tense such as B. the perfect is accompanied. In contrast to the future tense I, the future tense proche is mostly only mentioned in everyday language. It is formed by taking a present tense form of the extremely irregular verb all 'go' and putting the infinitive behind it. Example: je vais regarder → 'I will see'; je vais finir → 'I will finish'; je vais vendre → 'I will sell'. In the cases of the Passé récent and Future proche, the verbs venir and aller are referred to as semi- auxiliary verbs (French semi-auxiliaires ).

Forming

Simple times in the active

Verbs on - he
regarder 'consider'
Present Past tense preterite Future tense I. Conditional I. Present subjunctive Imperfect subjunctive
ever regarde regardais regardai regarderai regarderais regarde regardasse
do regardes regardais regardas regarderas regarderais regardes regardasses
il regarde regardait regarda regardera regarderait regarde regardât
nous regardons regardions regardâmes regarderons regarderions regardions regardassions
vous regardez regardiez regardâtes regarderez regarderiez regardiez regardassiez
ils regardent regardaient regardèrent regarderont regarderaient regardent regardassent
Likewise: all regular verbs ending in -er
acheter 'buy'
j ' oh è te achetais achetai oh è terai oh è terais oh è te Acheter cup
nous achetons achetions achetâmes oh è terons oh è terions achetions achetassions
ils oh è tent achetaient achetèrent oh è teront oh è teraient oh è tent achetassent
Likewise, some of the verbs in e -Konsonant- he (the other part is as appeler conjugated), z. B. enlever 'take away', se lever 'stand up', relever 'straighten up', se promener 'go for a walk', ramener (someone) 'bring back', peser 'weigh'
préférer 'prefer'
ever préf è re préférais préférai préf é rerai préf é rerais préf è re préférasse
nous préférons préférions préférâmes préf é rerons préf é rerions préférions préférassions
ils préf è rent préféraient préférèrent préf é reront préf é reraient préf è rent préférassent
Likewise, all the verbs in é -Konsonant- it such. B. compléter 'complete', desécher 'dry out', espérer 'hope', exagérer 'exaggerate', s'inquiéter ' worry ', (se) protéger 'protect (oneself)', répéter 'repeat'
appeler 'call'
j ' appe ll e appelais appelai appe ll erai appe ll erais appe ll e appelasse
nous appelons appelions appelâmes appe ll erons appe ll erions appelions appelassions
ils appe ll ent appelaient appelèrent appe ll eront appe ll eraient appe ll ent appelassent
Likewise, the other part of verbs ending in e -Konsonant- it such. B. épeler 'spell', jeter 'throw'
employer 'use'
j ' emplo i e employais employai emplo i erai emplo i erais emplo i e employasse
nous employons employions employâmes emplo i erons emplo i erions employions employassions
ils emplo i ent employaient employèrent emplo i eront emplo i eraient emplo i ent employassent
Likewise, all verbs ending in - yer , z. B. essayer 'try', payer 'pay', tutoyer 'duzen', envoyer 'send'
manger 'eat'
ever lack mang e ais mang e ai mangerai mangerais lack mangeasse
nous mang e ons mangions mang e âmes mangerons mangerions mangions mang e assions
ils lacking mang e aient mangèrent mangeront mangeraient lacking mang e assent
Likewise, all verbs to - ger , z. B. arranger , put in order ', changer , change', corriger , correct ', déménager , move', déranger , Disturb, interroger , surveys ' mélanger , upset', ranger , clean it up ', rodents , swimming', songer ,think'
commencer 'start'
ever commence commen ç ais commen ç ai commencerai commencerais commence commen ç asse
nous commen ç ons commencions commen ç âmes commencerons commencerions commencions commen ç assions
ils commencent commen ç aient commencèrent commenceront commenceraient commencent commen ç assent
Likewise, all verbs ending in - cer , e.g. B. relancer ' pressurize ', lacer 'lace'
Verbs ending in - ir
dormir 'sleep'
Present Past tense preterite Future tense I. Conditional I. Present subjunctive Imperfect subjunctive
ever dors dormais dormis dormirai dormirais dorme dormisse
do dors dormais dormis dormiras dormirais dormes dormisses
il there dormait dormit dormira dormirait dorme dormit
nous dormons dormions dormîmes dormirons dormirions dormions dormissions
vous dormez dormiez dormîtes dormirez dormiriez dormiez dormissiez
ils dorment dormaient dormirent dormiront dormiraient dorment dormissent
Likewise, all verbs ending in - ir without stem extension: mentir 'lie', partir 'go away', sentir 'feel, smell', servir 'serve', sortir 'go out'
finir 'end'
ever finis finissais finis finirai finirais finisse finisse
do finis finissais finis finiras finirais finisses finisses
il finite finissait finite finira finirait finisse finît
nous finissons finissions finîmes finirons finirions finissions finissions
vous finissez finissiez finîtes finirez finiriez finissiez finissiez
ils finissent finissaient finirent finiront finiraient finissent finissent
Likewise, all verbs ending in - ir with a stem extension: choisir 'choose', nourrir 'feed', punir 'punish', réagir 'react', réfléchir 'think', réussir 'succeed', saisir 'seize'
Verbs - re
répondre 'answer'
Present Past tense preterite Future tense I. Conditional I. Present subjunctive Imperfect subjunctive
ever réponds repondais répondis répondrai répondrais réponde répondisse
do réponds repondais répondis repondras répondrais répondes répondisses
il répond repondait répondit répondra répondrait réponde répondît
nous répondons répondions répondîmes répondrons répondrions répondions répondissions
vous répondez répondiez répondîtes répondrez répondriez répondiez répondissiez
ils répondent repondaient repondirent répondront répondraient répondent répondissent
Likewise: attendre ‚wait ', correspondre ‚ correspond', descendre ‚get off, descend ', perdre ‚ lose', rendre ‚give back '
Irregular verbs
all 'go'
Present Past tense preterite Future tense I. Conditional I. Present subjunctive Imperfect subjunctive
je / j ' vais allais allai irai irais a i lle allasse
do vas allais all iras irais a i lles everything
il / elle va allait alla ira irait a i lle allât
nous allons allions allâmes irons irions allions allassions
vous all alliez allâtes irez iriez alliez allassiez
ils / elles vont allaient allèrent iront iraient a i llent allassent
s'ass e oir 'sit down'
ever m'assois / m'ass ied s m'asso y ais
m'ass ey ais 		m'assis m'assoirai
m'ass ié rai 		m'assoirais
m'ass ié rais 		m'assoie / m'ass ey e m'assisse
do t'assois / t'ass ied s t'asso y ais / t'ass ey ais t'assis t'assoiras / t'ass ié ras t'assoirais / t'ass ié rais t'assoies / t'ass ey it t'assisses
il / elle s'assoit / s'ass ied s'asse y ait / s'asso y ait s'assit s'assoira / s'ass ié ra s'assoirait
s'ass ié rait 		s'assoie / s'ass ey e s'assît
nous nous asso y ons / nous ass ey ons nous asso y ions / nous ass ey ions nous assîmes nous assoirons / nous ass ié rons nous assoirions / nous ass ié rions nous asso y ions / nous ass ey ions nous assissions
vous vous asso y ez / vous ass ey ez vous asso y iez / vous ass ey iez vous assîtes vous assoirez / vous ass ié rez vous assoiriez / vous ass ié riez vous asso y iez / vous ass ey iez vous assissiez
ils / elles s'assoient / s'ass ey ent s'asso y aient
s'ass ey aient 		s'assirent s'assoiront
s'ass ié ront 		s'assoiraient
s'ass ié raient 		s'assoient / s'ass ey ent s'assissent
avoir 'have'
j ' ai avais eus aurai aurais aie eusses
do as avais eus auras aurais aies eusses
il / elle a avait eut aura aurait ait eût
nous avons avions eûmes aurons aurions ayons eussions
vous avez aviez eûtes aurez auriez ayez eussiez
ils / elles ont avaient yours auront auraient aient eussent
boire 'drink'
ever bois b uv ais bus boirai boirais boi v e buses
do bois b uv ais bus boiras boirais boi v es busses
il / elle boit b uv ait but boira boirait boi v e bût
nous b uv ons b uv ions bûmes boirons boirions b uv ions bussions
vous b uv ez b uv iez bûtes boirez boiriez b uv iez bussiez
ils / elles boi v ent b uv aient burent boiront boiraient boi v ent bussent
être ' to be'
je / j ' suis étais fus serai serais sois feet
do it étais fus seras serais sois feet
il / elle est était fut sera serait soit fût
nous sommes étions fûmes serons serions soyons fussions
vous êtes étiez fûtes serez seriez soyez fussiez
ils / elles sont étaient furent seront seraient soient fussent

Irregular are z. B. still:

  • apercevoir 'notice': aperçois, aperçois, aperçoit, apercevons, apercevez, aperçoivent
  • battre 'beat': bats, bats, bat, battons, battez, battent
  • commencer 'begin, begin': commence, commences, commence, commençons, commencez, commencent
  • conduire 'drive, direct': conduis, conduis, conduit, conduisons, conduisez, conduisent
  • connaître ' to know': connais, connais, connaît, connaissons, connaissez, connaissent
  • conquérir ' to conquer': conquiers, conquiers, conquiert, conquérons, conquérez, conquièrent
  • coudre 'sew': couds, couds, coud, cousons, cousez, cousent
  • courir ' to run': cours, cours, court, courons, courez, courent
  • craindre 'fear': crains, crains, craint, craignons, craignez, craignent
  • croire 'believe': crois, crois, croit, croyons, croyez, croient
  • dire 'say': dis, dis, dit, disons, dites, disent
  • écrire ' to write': écris, écris, écrit, écrivons, écrivez, écrivent
  • essayer 'try': essaie / essaye, essaies / essayes, essaie / essaye, essayons, essayez, essaient / essayent
  • faire 'make': fais, fais, fait, faisons, faites, font
  • falloir 'must': il faut
  • for ' to flee': fuis, fuis, fuit, fuyons, fuyez, fuient
  • interrompre ' to interrupt': interromps, interromps, interrompt, interrompons, interrompez, interrompent
  • lire 'read': lis, lis, lit, lisons, lisez, lisent
  • mettre 'put, put, lay': mets, mets, met, mettons, mettez, mettent
  • mourir ' to die': meurs, meurs, meurt, mourons, mourez, meurent
  • offrir ' to offer': offre, offres, offre, offrons, offrez, offrent (also couvrir, ouvrir, souffrir)
  • ouvrir 'open': ouvre, ouvres, ouvre, ouvrons, ouvrez, ouvrent
  • plaire 'fallen': plais, plais, plaît, plaisons, plaisez, plaisent
  • pleuvoir ' to rain': il pleut
  • pouvoir 'can': peux, peux, peut, pouvons, pouvez, peuvent
  • prendre 'take': prends, prends, prend, prenons, prenez, prennent
  • rire 'laugh': ris, ris, rit, rions, riez, rient
  • savoir ' to know': sais, sais, sait, savons, savez, savent
  • suffire 'suffice': suffis, suffis, suffit, suffisons, suffisez, suffisent
  • suivre 'follow': suis, suis, suit, suivons, suivez, suivent
  • se taire ' to be silent': tais, tais, tait, taisons, taisez, taisent
  • tenir 'hold': tiens, tiens, tient, tenons, tenez, tiennent
  • vaincre 'defeat': vaincs, vaincs, vainc, vainquons, vainquez, vainquent
  • venir 'come': viens, viens, vient, venons, venez, viennent
  • vivre ' to live': vis, vis, vit, vivons, vivez, vivent
  • voir 'see': vois, vois, voit, voyons, voyez, voient
  • vouloir 'want': veux, veux, veut, voulons, voulez, veulent

Compound times in the active

For every simple tense in every mode there is a tense composed of the simple tense of the auxiliary verbs être or avoir and the past participle of the verb, which expresses prematurity as opposed to the simple tense.

The “house diagram” can be used to visualize which French verbs go with être .

Also called the English acronym DR and MRS VAN DERTRAMP .

  • D evenir - to become - (être) devenu (e) (s)
  • R evenir - to come back - (être) revenu (e) (s)
  • A ller - to go - (être) allé (e) (s)
  • N aître - to be born - (être) né (e) (s)
  • D escendre - to descend - (être) descendu (e) (s)
  • M onter - to go up - (être) monté (e) (s)
  • R ester - to stay - (être) resté (e) (s)
  • S ortir - to exit - (être) sorti (e) (s)
  • V enir - to come - (être) venu (e) (s)
  • E ntrer - to enter - (être) entré (e) (s)
  • R etourner - to return - (être) retourné (e) (s)
  • T omber - to fall - (être) tombé (e) (s)
  • R entrer - to re-enter - (être) rentré (e) (s)
  • A rriver - to arrive - (être) arrivé (e) (s)
  • M ourir - to die - (être) mort (e) (s)
  • P artir - to leave - (être) parti (e) (s)
Easy time Compound time Compound time formation Examples
Present Perfect Present of être / avoir + participle II il regarde il a regardé
Past tense past continuous Past tense of être / avoir + past participle II il regardait il avait regardé
preterite Past perfect Past tense of être / avoir + past participle II il regarda il eut regardé
Future tense I. Future tense II Future I of être / avoir + participle II il regardera il aura regardé
Conditional I. Conditional II Conditional I of être / avoir + participle II il regarderait il aurait regardé
Present subjunctive Subjunctive perfect Present subjunctive of être / avoir + participle II qu'il regarde qu'il ait regardé
Imperfect subjunctive Subjunctive past perfect Imperfect subjunctive of être / avoir + participle II qu'il regardât qu'il eût regardé

passive

The French passive voice is formed with a form of the verb être ' to be' and the past participle. As in German, the passive voice can only be formed from transitive verbs, i.e. with verbs that have a direct object after them. Example: Les hommes te voient “The men see you” (voir qn). Do it vu (e) par les hommes “You are seen by men”. Verbs that form the passé composé with être are intransitive and have no passive.

active passive
Les hommes te voient . Do it vu (e) 1) par les hommes .
The Men you see. You will seen from the Men.

1) It is only necessary to add the e if “tu” refers to a female person.

All tenses of the active can also be found in the passive:

  • Present tense: il est regardé
  • Past tense: il était regardé
  • Perfect: il a été regardé
  • Past perfect: il avait été regardé
  • near future tense: il va être regardé
  • Future tense I: il sera regardé
  • Future tense II: il aura été regardé
  • Simple past: il fut regardé
  • Past perfect: il eut été regardé
  • Conditional I: il serait regardé
  • Conditional II: il aurait été regardé
  • Present subjunctive: qu'il soit regardé
  • Subjunctive perfect: qu'il ait été regardé

The past participle is always aligned with the subject if it is feminine or feminine plural or masculine plural. Example:

  • La pure est aimé e par tous ses sujets .
  • The cambrioleurs onté arrêté s par la police .

The number system

The standard French number system is partly a vigesimal system in which twenty serves as the base number for the numbers 80 to 99. For example, the number 80 is referred to as quatre-vingts (four-twenty). In addition, there are separate expressions for the numbers from zero to 16 ( seize; in German only up to "twelve"), the other numbers are then essentially formed as in German ( dix-sept, seventeen).

0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9
zero U.N deux trois quatre cinq six sept huit neuf
10 11 12 13 14th 15th 16 17th 18th 19th
dix our douze treize quatorze quinze seize dix-sept dix-huit dix-neuf
20th 21st 22nd 23 ...
vingt vingt-et-un vingt-deux vingt-trois ...

As with 20, it continues up to 69 with trente (30), quarante (40), cinquante (50) and soixante (60).

From 60, steps of twenty follow: the numbers 70, 80 and 90 are called soixante-dix (60 + 10), quatre-vingts (4 * 20) and quatre-vingt-dix (4 * 20 + 10).

60 61 62 63 ... 69
soixante soixante-et-un soixante-deux soixante-trois ... soixante-neuf
70 71 72 73 ... 79
soixante-dix soixante-et-onze soixante-douze soixante-treize ... soixante-dix-neuf
80 81 82 83 ... 89
quatre-vingts quatre-vingt-un quatre-vingt-deux quatre-vingt-trois ... quatre-vingt-neuf
90 91 92 93 ... 99
quatre-vingt-dix quatre-vingt-onze quatre-vingt-douze quatre-vingt-treize ... quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

National and regional differences

In contrast to this, in Belgium , Switzerland , parts of France and in Jèrriais, which is spoken in Jersey , the numbers 70 and 90 are referred to as septante and nonante . In these areas, apart from Belgium, 80 is also referred to as huitante or octante . In Belgium the name quatre-vingt (s) is kept for 80 . To avoid confusion, are in French-speaking countries in Criée trading and floor trading , the number name septante and nonante instead of soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix used.

Numbers from 100

In principle, larger numbers are formed as in German.

100 101 102 ... 200 201 202 ... 300 400 ...
cent cent-un cent-deux ... deux cents deux-cent-un deux-cent-deux ... trois-cents quatre-cents ...
1,000 1,001 ... 2,000 3,000 ... 100,000 ... 1,000,000 ... 1,000,000,000
mille mille-un ... deux-mille trois-mille ... cent-mille ... un-million ... un-billion

Quantities

According to the quantities, the French “de” is. J'ai acheté and kilo of fries . Il reste encore trois bouteilles d' eau.

Division article

The article partitif is used to denote an indefinite amount. It is formed with de + certain articles. De + le become "you" and de + les become "des". De + l 'is retained.

Examples:

  • Je voudrais du fromage (originated from de + le fromage) "I would like cheese".
  • Je voudrais de la bière “I would like to have beer”.
  • Je voudrais de l ' eau minérale “I would like mineral water”.
  • Je voudrais des pommes (originated from de + les pommes).

numbers

There is neither de nor the division article after numbers:

  • J'ai deux voitures. Trois mille habitants (mille "thousand" never receives a plural s).

After the noun “million” there is de.

  • Dans ce pays il ya dix millions de voitures.

Details on grammar and pronunciation

Zéro, cent, million and milliard are nouns and usually have a plural s, except for hundreds if followed by another number (deux-cent-un). The same applies to quatre-vingts ( quatre-vingt-un etc.). Mille is not changed, but dates can be shortened to mil ( mil-neuf-cent-cinquante, 1950).

In contrast to German, the following nouns on zéro do not receive a plural s: zéro point, zero points.

In compounds with tens, une is used in front of feminine nouns : vingt-et-une pages .

The usual ellipsis is not used for basic numbers that begin with a vowel or a silent h: le un, le huit .

The final consonants of the basic numbers are pronounced ( six / sis /), unless it is followed by a noun that begins with a consonant ( six pages / si paʒ /).

In addition, no binding is allowed in front of huit and onze ( les huit pages / le ɥi paʒ /).

Spoken language grammar

If you were to describe French grammar solely on the basis of the spoken language, regardless of the orthography, the presentation of large parts of the grammar would be considerably different from what you are used to and often much simpler. For this reason, when learning the language, it can be useful to look at grammar from this point of view. Only two sub-areas are to be demonstrated here as examples.

Plural: Nouns usually do not have a special plural form when pronounced. However, nouns that start with a vowel take a prefix / z- /, e.g. For example: / ɔm / “man”, / zɔm / “men” (for example in / lez‿ɔm / “the men”, / dø zɔm / “two people”, / le bɔ̃z‿ɔm / “the good men” etc .). In the traditional description, this / z / is rated as the normally unspoken part of the preceding attribute, which is due to a "liaison" rule before the noun. Both of these contradictory approaches to description are possible because in French practically every noun has to be preceded by an attribute (article etc.), and almost all attributes that occur before the plural end in a written - s . Only in very few cases do discrepancies arise, for example with the numerical word / katrə / “four”, which does not end in - s in script . “Four people” therefore means / katʁ‿ɔm / in correct French, but in colloquial language one hears / katzɔm / according to the rule given here.

As a consequence of the rule presented here, it should also be said that adjectives do not normally form a plural form at all; the concept of the “liaison” can largely be dispensed with in this approach.

Irregular verbs in the indicative present tense: If the description was consistently based on the pronunciation, the verbs traditionally regarded as irregular could be described as regular to a large extent. For the verbs of the conjugations to -oir / -war / and -re / -rə /, the rule can essentially be formulated that if the stem ends in a consonant, this consonant in the singular of the present indicative is omitted. So it is called from battre / batrə / "to beat", stem / bat /, in the plural / bat-õ / (1st pl.), / Bat-e / (2nd pl.), / Bat / (3rd pl.) .), in the singular (1st, 2nd, 3rd person) but only / ba / with the omission of / t /.

The verb vouloir / vul-war / “to want” can be well described by adding a stem / vøl /. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd sg. / vø / (with the omission of -l) and the 3rd pl. / vœl / (œ as an automatic variant of ø in a closed syllable). For the forms with an ending (1. pl. / Vul-õ /, 2. pl. / Vul-e /, as well as the infinitive) you need the additional rule that / ø / is reduced to / u / in an unstressed position. Even with a particularly irregular verb such as avoir / av-war / "haben", the 2nd, 3rd sg. / a /, 1st pl. / av-õ / and the 2nd pl. / av-e /; really "irregular" are only the 1st sg. / e / (instead of the expected * / a /) and the 3rd pl. / õ / (instead of the expected * / av /).

literature

See also

Remarks

  1. ↑ In a comparison with some other Romance languages, the Spanish presente corresponds to the sp. Presente simple and the it. Presente indicativo . In English it corresponds approximately to the simple present .
  2. ↑ In a comparison with some other Romance languages, the Spanish. Pretérito perfecto or Pretérito perfecto compuesto corresponds to the sp. Pretérito perfecto and the it. Passato prossimo . In English , it roughly corresponds to the present perfect simple .
  3. ↑ In a comparison with some other Romance languages, the Spanish Pretérito imperfecto corresponds to the sp. Pretérito imperfecto it. Indicativo imperfetto and the rum. Perfect Simplu .
  4. ↑ In a comparison with some other Romance languages, the Spanish. Pretérito indefinido or Pretérito perfecto simple corresponds to the sp. Pretérito indefinido and the it. Passato remoto . In English , it roughly corresponds to the Simple Past or Past Tense.
  5. ↑ In a comparison with some other Romance languages, the Spanish Pretérito anterior corresponds to the French Passé antérieur and the It. Trapassato remoto .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Harald Weinrich: Text grammar of the German language . Third revised edition. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim 2005. Licensed edition for the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, order number: 18662-1. Page 16.
  2. ↑ Pronunciation: [prəmjɛramur]
  3. ^ Organization et gestion des risques en salle des marchés financiers (PDF, p. 47; 2.3 MB).