Review of A1 French Level Grammar

In this unit, we will review the basic grammar rules of the French language. This will serve as a refresher and ensure that you have a solid foundation before we delve into more advanced topics.

Basic Sentence Structure

In French, the basic sentence structure is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), similar to English. For example:

• "Je mange une pomme." (I eat an apple.)
• "Elle lit un livre." (She reads a book.)

Present Tense of Regular Verbs

French verbs are divided into three groups based on their infinitive endings: -er, -ir, and -re. Here's how to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense:

• -er verbs (e.g., Parler - to speak)

  • Je parle (I speak)
  • Tu parles (You speak)
  • Il/Elle/On parle (He/She/One speaks)
  • Nous parlons (We speak)
  • Vous parlez (You speak)
  • Ils/Elles parlent (They speak)

• -ir verbs (e.g., Finir - to finish)

  • Je finis (I finish)
  • Tu finis (You finish)
  • Il/Elle/On finit (He/She/One finishes)
  • Nous finissons (We finish)
  • Vous finissez (You finish)
  • Ils/Elles finissent (They finish)

• -re verbs (e.g., Vendre - to sell)

  • Je vends (I sell)
  • Tu vends (You sell)
  • Il/Elle/On vend (He/She/One sells)
  • Nous vendons (We sell)
  • Vous vendez (You sell)
  • Ils/Elles vendent (They sell)

Basic Negation

In French, to make a sentence negative, you place "ne" before the verb and "pas" after it. For example:

• "Je ne mange pas." (I do not eat.)
• "Elle ne lit pas." (She does not read.)

Gender and Number Agreement

In French, nouns have a gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). The articles "le" (masculine), "la" (feminine), and "les" (plural) are used to indicate the gender and number of the noun. For example:

• "Le chat" (The cat - masculine singular)
• "La voiture" (The car - feminine singular)
• "Les livres" (The books - plural)

Basic Prepositions

Prepositions are small words that link elements of a sentence together. They indicate the relationships between different parts of the sentence. Here are some basic French prepositions:

• "À" (to, at)
• "De" (of, from)
• "En" (in, on)

By the end of this unit, you should be comfortable with basic French sentence structures, verb conjugations, negation, gender and number agreement, and prepositions. This will set the stage for more complex conversations and grammatical structures in the following units.