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Accueil / A l'écoute de la langue française / Cours Débutant / 1. Une dame et un petit garçon regardent tranquillement le paysage
1. Une dame et un petit garçon regardent tranquillement le paysage

1. Une dame et un petit garçon regardent tranquillement le paysage

Cours Débutant

Sommaire

  • Masculine and feminine nouns
  • How adjectives behave
  • Verbs from the first group
  • Verbs and prepositions

French is not so very far from English. Both languages have the same historical origins and this is a great help for learners, especially when it comes to acquiring vocabulary.

But there are important differences in the structures of the two languages. And if you understand those from the beginning, you’ll build your knowledge on a firm foundation.

Let’s start with the simple sentence :

Une dame et un garçon regardent tranquille­ment le paysage.

The basic elements are the same in French as in English :

Subject | Verb | Adverb | | Object

Une dame et un garçon | regardent | tranquillement | le paysage

A lady and a boy | look | peacefully | at | the countryside

Now let’s look at the differences.

1 The masculine and feminine genders

Le genre masculin et le genre féminin

Where in English we have a lady and a boy, in French we have :

une dame et un garçon

Une is French for a – the indefinite article – when the noun that follows is feminine.

Un is French for a when the noun that follows is masculine.

And in French, all nouns are either masculine or feminine.

une fleur et un arbre

a flower and a tree

une maison ou un appartement

a house or a flat

As for the word the – the definite article – in French it’s la for feminine nouns and le for masculine nouns :

la péniche et le bateau

the barge and the boat

la dame et le monsieur

the lady and the gentleman

le chat et la souris

the cat and the mouse

When you learn a noun, memorise the article that goes with it at the same time : « la maison » and not simply « maison ». Confidence over the gender of nouns will greatly improve your fluency.

Plural nouns take the same indefinite article whether they are masculine or feminine – des :

un café des cafés

a coffee – some coffees

une voiture des voitures

a car – some cars

And plural nouns also take the same definite article whether they are masculine or feminine – les :

les chats et les souris

the cats and the mice

2 How adjectives behave

Le comportement des adjectifs

Adjectives must agree with nouns in terms of number, singular or plural, and gender, masculine or feminine.

More often than not, making an adjective feminine involves adding an e to the masculine version.

noir

is masculine for black and

noire

is the feminine for black.

Sometimes you will find the root of the word changes a little too, for example :

le mur blanc

the white wall

la maison blanche

the white house

When you learn an adjective, learn its two gender forms at the same time.

blanc | blanche

white

heureux | heureuse

happy, lucky

Often, making nouns and adjectives plural involves adding an s.

le chat noir les chats noir s

the black cat – the black cats

la voiture noire les voitures noire s

the black car – the black cars

Sometimes though, particularly when there is a group of vowels at the end of the word, making a word plural involves adding an x :

Les bateaux noirs quittent le port

The black ships leave the port.

Neither the s for the plural nor the x for the plural is pronounced.

The adjective noir goes after the noun

le café noir

the black coffee

la marée noire

the black tide: the oil slick

unlike the English black, which goes before coffee or tide. This isn’t a rule for all adjectives – but in spoken French the adjectives of colour go after the noun.

For other adjectives, it’s a question of learning by experience. Sometimes the word order changes the meaning :

un homme grand

a tall man

un grand homme

a great man

3 The conjugation of verbs

La conjugaison des verbes

La Rochelle – la côte atlantique

Verb endings change according to whether the subject is singular or plural :

Le sujet | Le verbe | L’objet

Le bateau noir | quitte | le port.

The black boat | leaves | the port.

Les bateaux | quittent | le port.

The boats | leave | the port.

Verb endings also change according to whether the subject is the first person

je

I

nous

we

the second person

tu

you (singular)

vous

you (plural or formal)

or the third person

il

he, it

elle

she, it

ils, elles

they

Here are the endings for the verb parler – to speak :

parler | to speak

je parle

I speak

tu parles

you speak

il parle

he speaks (masculine)

elle parle

she speaks (feminine)

nous parlons

we speak

vous parlez

you speak

ils parlent

they speak (masculine)

elles parlent

they speak (feminine)

With the verb parler – and all regular verbs ending in er – the pronunciation is the same for the first, second and third person singular and the third person plural.

je parle
tu parles
il parle
elle parle
ils parlent
elles parlent

4 The construction of verbs

La construction des verbes

Look again at the sentence which began this lesson.

Subject | Verb | Adverb | | Object

Une dame et un garçon | regardent | tranquillement | | le paysage

A lady and a boy | look | peacefully | at | the countryside

In English there is the additional word at. The sense of at is included in the French verb regarder. There are some verbs in French which stand on their own, where in English you need a preposition :

regarder

to look at

Nous regardons la rivière.

We look at the river.

chercher

to look for

Elle cherche le journal.

She looks for the newspaper.

And there are some verbs in French which take a preposition, where the English equivalent stands alone :

entrer dans

to enter

Il entre dans le bureau.

He enters the office.

And sometimes the meaning of a verb can change when it’s followed by a preposition :

chercher

to look for

chercher à

to try to

Elle cherche à comprendre.

She tries to understand.

When you learn a verb, always learn the construction that goes with it at the same time.

Les Exercices

After each lesson, you will find exercises to test what you’ve learnt. To begin with they’re easy. As your knowledge builds up, they become more challenging.

1 Les adjectifs

a) For your first exercise, put the following adjectives into the feminine form.

Exemple

bleu

bleue

blue

À vous maintenant…

lent

lente

slow

grand

grande

big/ tall

blanc

blanche

white

petit

petite

small

court

courte

short

simple

simple

simple

magique

magique

magic

clair

claire

clear

français

française

French

anglais

anglaise

English

espagnol

espagnole

Spanish

Show the answers Hide the answers

b) Now put the following adjectives into the plural :

sympathique

sympathiques

nice

extraordinaire

extraordinaires

extraordinary

beau

beaux

beautiful

magnifique

magnifiques

magnificent

Show the answers Hide the answers

2 Les Verbes

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/frenchclasses/d01ex1.mp3

Mastering verbs is the key to speaking French fluently. Today we are going to learn the present indicative of group one verbs. These verbs have the infinitive -er . Listen to the following conjugations and repeat. Keep practising this exercise. When you feel confident enough, repeat out loud the conjugation without looking at the words on the screen. Listen back to the French reading to make sure you have it correct.

regarder

to look at

je regarde

I look at

tu regardes

you look at

il regarde

he looks at

elle regarde

she looks at

nous regardons

we look at

vous regardez

you look at

ils regardent

they look at (masc.)

elles regardent

they look at (fem.)

jouer

to play

je joue

I play

tu joues

you play

il joue

he plays

elle joue

she plays

nous jouons

we play

vous jouez

you play

ils jouent

they play (masc.)

elles jouent

they play (fem.)

3 Les expressions vivantes

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/frenchclasses/d01ex3.mp3

Listen well and you will pronounce well. Listen and repeat the following sentences. Keep practising them until you can say them off by heart. Equip yourself with a microphone. Record your voice and compare it with the French.

Une dame et un garçon regardent tranquillement le paysage.

A lady and a boy look peacefully at the countryside.

La voiture noire quitte le garage.

The black car leaves the garage.

Le bateau noir quitte le port.

The black boat leaves the port.

4 Vocabulaire

To finish, some vocabulary. Many words have the same meaning in French and English. So a quick way to build up your vocabulary is to recognise types of words which are often the same in the two languages.

Careful though with the pronunciation, which is not identical. Repeat after each word. Keep a notebook and jot down words which you’re likely to use in the future.

To begin with some words ending in -tion . Nearly all French nouns ending in -tion are feminine.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/frenchclasses/d01ex4.mp3

Féminin

l’information

la solution

la révolution

l’intonation

l’intention

la résolution

l’évolution

la génération

la présentation

la séparation

la création

l’adoption

la négation

And now some words ending in -ment . Nearly all nouns ending in -ment are masculine.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/frenchclasses/d01ex5.mp3

Masculin

le gouvernement

l’élément

le département

l’appartement

le développement

le parlement

l’agrément

le compliment

le complément

le sentiment

Now it’s time for the next lesson.

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