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    Grammar: Gender of Nouns

    In French, all nouns are masculine or feminine.

    Most nouns that express entities with gender (people and animals) use both a feminine form and a masculine form (e.g., “acteur” (m.), “actrice” (f.)).

    The nouns that express entities without gender (e.g., objects and abstract concepts) have only one form. This form can be masculine or feminine.

    There are some nouns that express entities with gender for which there is only one form, which is used regardless of the actual gender of the entity (e.g., “personne” (always f.), “professeur” (always m.)).

    Examples:

    Masculine

    le cheval the horse
    le chien the dog
    le livre the book
    le bruit the noise


    Some endings that are usually used with masculine nouns are:

    -age le fromage the cheese
    -r le professeur the teacher
    -t le chat the cat


    Feminine

    la colombe the dove
    la chemise the shirt
    la maison the house
    la liberté liberty


    Some endings that are usually used with feminine nouns are:

    -ie la boulangerie the bakery
    -ion la nation the nation
    -ite/-ité la fraternité brotherhood


    Grammar: Definite and Indefinite Articles

    The Definite Article

    In English, the definite article is always “the”.

    In French, the definite article is different, depending on whether the noun is feminine, masculine, singular, or plural, as well as whether the noun begins with a vowel (“a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, “u”, or silent “h”).


    singular feminine la la fille the daughter
    masculine le le fils the son
    singular, starting with a vowel sound l’ l’enfant the child
    plural les les filles the daughters
    les fils the sons


    The Indefinite Article

    In English, the indefinite articles are "a" and "an" (both singular, there being no plural indefinite article—you'd say "articles", not "an articles").

    In French, there are different forms for feminine, masculine, singular, and plural indefinite articles.


    singular feminine une une fille a daughter
    masculine un un fils a son
    plural des des filles daughters
    des fils sons


    Grammar: Subject pronouns

    French has six different types of pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural.


    1st person singular je I
    plural nous we
    2nd person singular tu you
    plural vous you
    3rd person singular il, elle, on he, she, one
    plural ils, elles they (masculine), they (feminine)


    When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, “vous” must be used. When referring to a single person, “vous” or “tu” may be used; “vous” is used to show respect (e.g., to a teacher) or formality (e.g., between businessmen), while “tu” is used informally (e.g., between friends).

    When using the 3rd person plural and referring to a group of both males and females, the male form is used.

    In everyday language, “on” is used, instead of “nous”, to express “we”; the verb is always used in the 3rd person singular. For example, (colloqial) “On se rencontre au cinéma à sept heures.” (cf. (formal) “Nous nous rencontrons au cinéma à sept heures.”)

    Grammar: The verb être

    “Être” can be translated to “to be”. Here, we will look at the conjugations in the present indicative. There is one conjugation for each of the six subject pronouns. (For all conjugations shown in this book, the “il” conjugation is the same as the “elle” conjugation, and the “ils” conjugation is the same as the “elles” conjugation.)

    Être

    1st person singular (je) suis
    plural (nous) sommes
    2nd person singular (tu) es
    plural (vous) êtes
    3rd person singular (il/elle/on) est
    plural (ils/elles) sont


    Examples


    Je suis avocat. I am (a) lawyer.
    Tu es à la banque. You are at the bank.
    Il est beau. He is handsome.
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