Back to the

Future

THE FUTURE

In French, the future may be expressed in three possible ways: by using

the present, by using

aller

+ infinitive, and by using the future tense.

Using the Present to Express the Future

The present tense may be used to imply the future when you’re asking

for instructions or referring to an action that will take place in the immediate

future. You will know when the future is implied by the present

through the context of the conversation.

Je mets le livre ici?

(Shall I put

the book here?)

Elle arrive bientôt.

(She will arrive soon.)

Aller

+ Infinitive

In French, as in English, the near future may be expressed with a form

of the present tense of the verb

aller

(to go) plus the infinitive referring

to the action that the speaker will perform. The near future is generally

used for an action that is imminent—that

to happen soon.

The irregular present tense of

aller

is conjugated as follows:

je vais (zhuh veh) nous allons (noo zah-lohN)

tu vas (tew vah) vous allez (voo zah-lay)

il va (eel vah) ils vont (eel vohN)

Add an infinitive to get the near future:

Je vais aller à Paris

. (I’m going

to go to Paris.)

Nous allons prendre l’avion

. (We’re going to take the

plane.)

The Future Tense of Regular Verbs

The future tense tells what the subject

will do

or what action

will

take

place in a future time. The future tense of all regular verbs is formed by

adding the endings indicated in bold to the infinitive of the verb.

-ER VERBS -IR VERBS -RE VERBS

parler (to speak) finir (to finish) rendre (to return)

je parler

ai

je finir

ai

je rendr

ai

tu parler

as

tu finir

as

tu rendr

as

il parler

a

elle finir

a

on rendr

a

nous parler

nous finir

nous rendr

vous parler

ez

vous finir

ez

vous rendr

ez

ils parler

ils finir

elles rendr

NOTE

If you look carefully at the future endings, you should notice that, except

for the nous and vous forms (where the av beginning is dropped), you are

looking at the conjugation of the verb avoir.

It is important that you note the following idiosyncrasies about the formation

of

the

future

of

regular

verbs:

•

-re

verbs drop the final

before adding the appropriate future ending:

répondre

,

il

répondra

vendre

,

nous

vendrons

•

The

of the -

infinitive remains silent in the future tense:

Il travaillera. eel trah-vahy-rah He will work.

Nous en parlerons. noo zahN parhl-rohN We’ll speak about it.

The Future Tense of Shoe Verbs

Only two categories of shoe verbs use the changes that were made within

the shoe for regular verbs to form all forms of the future tense. All

other shoe verbs follow the rules for future formation listed earlier in this

section. (For more information on shoe verbs, see Chapter 22:00.)

-yer

Verbs.

Because verbs ending in

-yer

change

y

in all forms of the

future, there is no longer a need for the shoe:

j’emplo

erai nous emplo

tu emplo

eras vous emplo

erez

il emplo

era elles emplo

-ayer

Verbs.

With verbs ending in

-ayer

, you have the option of changing

y

in all future forms:

je paierai (payerai)

,

nous paierons (payerons)

.

It is probably easier, however, to remember the

y

-to-

change for all

-yer

verbs, including those ending in

-ayer

.

+ Consonant +

Verbs.

Because verbs ending in

+ consonant +

(but

é

+ consonant +

) change the silent

in the syllable before the

infinitive ending to

è

in all forms of the future, there is no longer a need

for a shoe.

j’ach

è

terai nous ach

è

tu ach

è

teras vous ach

è

terez

il ach

è

tera elles ach

è

Verbs with silent

(those verbs ending in

-eler

and

-eter

) like

appeler

and

jeter

double the consonant in the future:

appeler

, to call

jeter

, to throw

j’appe

ll

erai nous appe

ll

erons je je

erai nous je

tu appe

ll

eras vous appe

ll

erez tu je

eras vous je

erez

il appe

ll

era ils appe

ll

eront elle je

era ils je

The Future Tense of Irregular Verbs

The verbs below have irregular future stems, which always end in

-r

-rr

. Just add the future endings to these stems to get the correct future

form:

INFINITIVE STEM INFINITIVE STEM

aller (to go) ir- pouvoir (to be able to) pourravoir

have)

aur- recevoir (to receive) recevrdevoir

have

devr- savoir (to know) saurenvoyer

send)

enverr- venir (to come) viendrêtre

ser- voir (to see) verrfaire

make,

do) fer- vouloir (to wish, want) voudr-

Uses of the Future

•

The future tense, as in English, is used to express what will happen:

Il partira demain

. (He will leave tomorrow.)

Nous irons en France

.

(We will go to France.)

•

The future is used after

quand

(when),

lorsque

(when),

dès que

(as

soon as), and

aussitôt que

(as soon as), if the action refers to the

future, even though the present tense may be used in English.

Because the action will be completed at some later time, the French

construction seems to be more logical:

Quand j’aurai beaucoup d’argent, When I have a lot of money,

je m’achèterai une villa. I’ll buy myself a villa.

Elles travailleront lorsqu’elles They will work when they

habiteront à Montréal. live in Montreal.

Dès que nous arriverons à la As soon as we arrive home,

maison, nous te téléphonerons. we will call you.

Il regardera la télévision aussitôt He will watch television as

qu’il arrivera. soon as he arrives.

THE FUTURE PERFECT

You use the future perfect (

le futur antérieur

) to describe an action or

event that will have been completed in the past. Because you are expressing

what

will

have

happened

,

you

will

need

the

future

of

the

helping

verb

+

the

past

participle

of

the

verb

that

shows

the

action

event

have

completed.

The

futur

antérieur

is formed, then, as follows: future

of helping verb (

avoir

être

) + past participle.

Il aura fini le travail avant la fin He will have finished the work

de la journée. before the end of the day.

The

futur antérieur

is used:

•

After

quand

,

lorsque

,

dès que

, and

aussitôt que

in many situations:

Nous partirons dès qu’ils We will leave as soon as

auront mangé. they (will) have eaten.

Je travaillerai lorsque j’aurai I will work when I (will)

fini mes études. have finished my studies.

•

To express probability or supposition in the past:

Il n’a pas téléphoné. Il aura perdu He didn’t call. He must

mon numéro de téléphone. have lost my phone number.

Il sera arrivé quelque chose. Something must have

happened.

THE CONDITIONAL

The conditional is not a tense, because it does not indicate a time period.

It is, instead, a mood that expresses what the speaker

would

do or what

would

happen under certain circumstances or conditions.

The Conditional of Regular Verbs

You form the conditional with the same stem that you used to form the

future, whether you are using a regular, a shoe, or an irregular verb. Add

the endings (the same endings used to form the imperfect) indicated in

bold in the table below.

-ER VERBS -IR VERBS -RE VERBS

parler (to speak) finir (to finish) rendre (to return)

je parler

ais

je finir

ais

je rendr

ais

tu parler

ais

tu finir

ais

tu rendr

ais

il parler

ait

elle finir

ait

on rendr

ait

nous parler

nous finir

nous rendr

vous parler

iez

vous finir

iez

vous rendr

iez

ils parler

aient

ils finir

aient

elles rendr

aient

NOTE

The stems for the conditional are exactly the same as the stems for the

future. The endings for the conditional are exactly the same as those for

the imperfect. Learn those two tenses and you will have all you need to

form the conditional.

The Conditional of Irregular Verbs

Since the future and the conditional of verbs use the same stem, regular,

shoe verbs, and irregular verbs can be distinguished in the conditional by

their endings.

INFINITIVE (TO) FUTURE (WILL) CONDITIONAL (WOULD)

employer (use) j’emploier

ai

j’emploier

ais

acheter (buy) tu achèter

as

tu achèter

ais

appeler (call) il appeller

a

il appeller

ait

jeter (throw) elle jetter

a

elle jetter

ait

aller (go) on ir

a

ait

avoir (have) nous aur

nous aur

devoir (have to) vous devr

ez

vous devr

iez

envoyer (send) ils enverr

ils enverr

aient

être (be) elles ser

elles ser

aient

faire (make, do) elles fer

elles fer

aient

pouvoir (be able to) je pourr

ai

je pourr

ais

recevoir (receive) tu recevr

as

tu recevr

ais

savoir (know) il saur

a

il saur

ait

venir (come) elle viendr

a

elle viendr

ait

voir (see) on verr

a

on verr

ait

vouloir (wish, want) nous voudr

nous voudr

NOTE

1. The conditional of the verbs vouloir (to want) and aimer (to like, love)

is frequently used to express what the speaker would like:

Je voudrais aller en France. I would like to go to France.

J’aimerais partir maintenant. I would like to leave now.

2. The irregularities in the future and conditional of the verbs listed on

page 66 also occur in related verbs:

appeler: vous appellerez vous r

eppellerez

envoyer: il enverrait il r

enverrait

Uses of the Conditional

The conditional is used as follows:

•

To express what would happen under certain conditions:

Je voyagerais en Europe si j’avais assez d’argent.

I would travel to Europe if I had enough money.

When

would

has the sense of “used to” or “to be willing”

(“to want”), the imperfect or the

passé composé

of

vouloir

is used:

Je voyageais souvent en Europe. I would (used to) travel to

Europe often.

Je voulais voyager en Europe./ I wanted to travel to Europe.

J’ai voulu voyager en Europe.

When

could

has the sense of “should be able to,” the conditional of

pouvoir

is used:

Tu pourrais faire ce travail

. (You could [should be

able to] do this work.)

When

could

means “was able to,” the imperfect or

passé composé

of

pouvoir

is used:

Il pouvait faire ce travail./ He could (was able to)

Il a pu faire ce travail. do this work.

•

To make a request or a demand more polite:

Je voudrais vous parler

.

(I would like to speak to you.)

THE PAST CONDITIONAL

The past conditional (

le conditionnel passé

) is used to describe an action or

event that would have taken place in the past had something else happened.

Because you are expressing what

would have happened

, you will need

the conditional of the helping verb + the past participle of the verb that

shows the action or event that would have been completed. The past

conditional is formed, then, as follows: conditional of helping verb (

avoir

être

) + past participle.

Avec un peu plus de temps, With a little more time, I would have

j’aurais fini le travail. finished the work.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

Conditional sentences consist of two clauses: a condition (subordinate

clause) or

clause and a result (main) clause. There are two types of con-

ditional sentences: those expressing real conditions and those expressing

contrary-to-fact conditions.

Real Conditions

A real condition describes what is possible or likely. Real conditions are

expressed in French by using the present tense in the

clause and the

present, future, or imperative (command form) in the result clause:

Si vous voulez apprendre, If you want to learn, you have

vous devez étudier. to study.

Si vous utilisez ce livre, If you use this book,

vous apprendrez le français. you will learn French.

Si vous avez un problème, If you have a problem,

téléphonez-moi. call me.

Contrary-to-Fact Conditions

A conditional sentence that describes an unlikely situation is called “unreal”

or “contrary-to-fact.” French uses the imperfect in the

clause and the

conditional in the result clause to express a contrary-to-fact condition:

S’il faisait beau, nous sortirions. If it were nice weather,

we would go out.

Il achèterait une voiture à sa He would buy his wife a car

femme s’il gagnait le gros lot. if he won the lottery.

A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence may also contain the

plus-queparfait

(pluperfect) in the

clause and the

conditionnel passé

in the

result clause:

S’il avait fait beau, nous If it had been nice weather,

serions sortis. we would have gone out.

Il aurait acheté une voiture He would have bought his

à sa femme s’il avait gagné wife a car if he had won

le gros lot. the lottery.

When forming conditional sentences, keep the following in mind:

•

Si

elides with

il

and

ils

to become

s’il

and

s’ils,

respectively. There is

no elision with

and

elle

:

Je te téléphonerai s’il arrive I will call you if he arrives

avant midi. before noon.

Je te téléphonerai si elle arrive I will call you if she arrives

avant midi. before noon.

•

The

clause may occur at the beginning or in the middle of the

sentence:

Je le ferai s’ils m’aident. I will do it if they help me.

Si elle était en vacances, If she were on vacation,

elle voyagerait. she would travel.

This table summarizes the tenses that may be used after

when

means

“if”:

SI

(SUBORDINATE) CLAUSE RESULT (MAIN) CLAUSE

Present Present

Future

Command (Imperative)

Imperfect Conditional

Pluperfect Past Conditional

NOTE

In conditional sentences, si always means “if.” When si means “whether,” it

may be followed by any tense, just as in English:

Je ne sais pas s’il viendra. I don’t know whether he will come.

Sais-tu si elle l’a fini? Do you know whether she finished it?

TIME’S UP!

Choose the verb form that correctly completes these conditional sentences,

which discuss the choices of different people.

1. S’il ses examens, il deviendrait docteur.

a. réussissait

b. réussira

c. réussirait

d. réussit

2. Je/J’ contente si je rencontrais l’homme de mes

rêves (dreams).

a. étais

b. suis

c. serais

d. serai

3. Si elle avait gagné beaucoup d’argent, elle en France.

a. était allée

b. serait allée

c. va

d. sera allée

4. Ils grossiraient s’ils trop.

a. mangeaient

b. ont mangé

c. mangeraient

d. mangeront

5. Si nous voulions guérir les malades, nous docteurs.

a. devenons

b. devenions

c. deviendrions

d. étions devenus

6. Elles auraient pu voir le film si elles à l’heure.

a. seraient arrivées

b. arrivent

c. étaient arrivées

d. arriveront

7. Si vous attention, vous apprendrez beaucoup.

a. ferez

b. faites

c. faisiez

d. feriez

8. Tu l’avion si tu avais l’argent nécessaire.

a. aurais pris

b. prenais

c. prendrais

d. avait pris

9. S’il trouvait un poste, il travailler à Paris.

a. allait

b. serait allé

c. a allé

d. irait

10. J’ le français si je travaille beaucoup.

a. apprendrai

b. apprends

c. aurai appris

d. avais appris

Using Adjectives

and Adverbs

MAKING ADJECTIVES FEMININE

All French adjectives agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number

(singular

plural)

with

the

nouns

they

describe.

Most

French

adjectives

form

the

feminine

singular

by

adding

to the masculine form, as

shown in the center column of the following table. This table, and the

ones that follow, will give you a good working adjective vocabulary.

MASCULINE FEMININE MEANING

américain américaine American

(ah-may-ree-kaN) (ah-may-ree-kehn)

amusant (ah-mew-zahN) amusante (ah-mew-zahNt) amusing, fun

bleu (bluh) bleue (bluh) blue

blond (blohN) blonde (blohNd) blond

brun (bruhN) brune (brewn) brunette

charmant (shahr-mahN) charmante (shahr-mahNt) charming

content (kohN-tahN) contente (kohN-tahNt) glad, happy

court (koor) courte (koort) short

élégant (ay-lay-gahN) élégante (ay-lay-gahNt) elegant

fort (fohr) forte (fohrt) strong

français (frahN-seh) française (frahN-sehz) French

grand (grahN) grande (grahNd) big, tall

haut (o) haute (ot) tall, big

intelligent intelligente intelligent

(aN-teh-lee-zhahN) (aN-teh-lee-zhahNt)

intéressant intéressante interesting

(aN-tay-reh-sahN) (aN-tay-reh-sahNt)

joli (zhoh-lee) jolie (zhoh-lee) pretty

lourd (loor) lourde (loord) heavy

ouvert (oo-vehr) ouverte (oo-vehrt) open

parfait (pahr-feh) parfaite (pahr-feht) perfect

petit (puh-tee) petite (puh-teet) small

poli (poh-lee) polie (poh-lee) polite

prochain (proh-shaN) prochaine (proh-shehn) next

vrai (vreh) vraie (vreh) true

NOTE

A pronunciation change occurs when an e is added after a consonant.

That consonant, which was silent in the masculine, is now pronounced

in the feminine form. When the e is added after a vowel, there is no

change in pronunciation.

Adjectives Ending in

-é

Singular adjectives ending in -

é

also form the feminine by adding

:

MASCULINE FEMININE PRONUNCIATION MEANING

âgé âgée ah-zhay old, aged

dévoué dévouée day-voo-ay devoted

fatigué fatiguée fah-tee-gay tired

occupé occupée oh-kew-pay busy

situé située see-tew-ay situated

Adjectives Ending in Silent -

Singular adjectives ending in silent

-e

do not change in the feminine. Both

masculine and feminine forms are spelled and pronounced exactly the

same way:

MASCULINE

AND FEMININE PRONUNCIATION MEANING

aimable eh-mahbl kind, pleasant

célèbre say-lehbr famous

célibataire say-lee-bah-tehr single

confortable kohN-fohr-tahbl comfortable

drôle drohl funny

facile fah-seel easy

faible fehbl weak

formidable fohr-mee-dahbl great

honnête oh-neht honest

maigre mehgr thin

malade mah-lahd sick

mince maNs thin

moderne moh-dehrn modern

pauvre pohvr poor

propre prohpr clean

sale sahl dirty

sincère saN-sehr sincere

sympathique saN-pah-teek nice

triste treest sad

vide veed empty

PAST PARTICIPLES USED AS ADJECTIVES

When a past participle is used as an adjective, it agrees with the noun it

describes:

La porte est fermée

. (The door is closed.)

Les livres sont

ouverts

. (The books are open.)

FORMING IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES

If a masculine singular adjective ends in -

x

, the feminine is formed by

changing -

x

to -

, which gives the feminine ending a

z

sound, as shown

below. You will not need the meanings for most of them because they

are cognates, with these exceptions:

chanceux

—lucky,

heureux

—happy,

malheureux

—unhappy,

paresseux

—lazy,

peureux

—fearful.

Adjectives Ending in -

eux

and -

euse

MASCULINE FEMININE

affectueux (ah-fehk-tew-uh) affectueuse (ah-fehk-tew-uhz)

ambitieux (ahN-bee-syuh) ambitieuse (ahN-bee-syuhz)

chanceux (shahN-suh) chanceuse (shahN-suhz)

consciencieux (kohN-syahN-syuh) consciencieuse (kohN-syahN-syuhz)

courageux (koo-rah-zhuh) courageuse (koo-rah-zhuhz)

curieux (kew-ryuh) curieuse (kew-ryuhz)

dangereux (dahNzh-ruh) dangereuse (dahNzh-ruhz)

délicieux (day-lee-syuh) délicieuse (day-lee-syuhz)

furieux (few-ryuh) furieuse (few-ryuhz)

généreux (zhay-nay-ruh) généreuse (zhay-nay-ruhz)

heureux (uh-ruh) heureuse (uh-ruhz)

malheureux (mahl-uh-ruh) malheureuse (mahl-uh-ruhz)

paresseux (pah-reh-suh) paresseuse (pah-reh-suhz)

peureux (puh-ruh) peureuse (puh-ruhz)

sérieux (say-ryuh) sérieuse (say-ryuhz)

Adjectives Ending in

-f

Masculine singular adjectives ending in

-f

form the feminine singular by

changing

-f

-ve

and changing the pronunciation accordingly, as illustrated

below.

MASCULINE FEMININE

actif (ahk-teef) active (ahk-teev)

attentif (ah-tahN-teef) attentive (ah-tahN-teev)

imaginatif (ee-mah-zhee-nah-teef) imaginative (ee-mah-zhee-nah-teev)

impulsif (ahN-pewl-seef) impulsive (ahN-pewl-seev)

intuitif (ahN-tew-ee-teef) intuitive (ahN-tew-ee-teev)

naïf (nah-eef) naïve (nah-eev)

neuf (nuf) neuve (nuhv)

sportif (spohr-teef) sportive (spohr-teev)

vif (veef) vive (veev)

Adjectives Ending in

-er

Masculine singular adjectives ending in

-er

form the feminine by changing

-er

to -

ère

:

MASCULINE FEMININE MEANING

cher (shehr) chère (shehr) dear, expensive

dernier (dehr-nyay) dernière (dehr-nyehr) last

entier (ahN-tyay) entière (ahN-tyehr) entire

étranger (ay-trahN-zhay) étrangère (ay-trahN-zhehr) foreign

fier (fyehr) fière (fyehr) proud

léger (lay-zhay) légère (lay-zhehr) light

premier (pruh-myay) première (pruh-myehr) first

Here are some masculine singular adjectives that form the feminine by

doubling the final consonant before adding

:

MASCULINE FEMININE MEANING

ancien (ahN-syaN) ancienne (ahN-syehn) ancient, old

bas (bah) basse (bahs) low

bon (bohN) bonne (bohn) good

cruel (krew-ehl) cruelle (krew-ehl) cruel

européen européenne European

(ew-roh-pay-aN) (ew-roh-pay-ehn)

gentil (zhahN-tee-y) gentille (zhahN-tee-y) nice, kind

gros (gro) grosse (gros) fat, big

mignon (mee-nyohN) mignonne (mee-noyhn) cute

sot (so) sotte (soht) foolish

NOTE

In these tables, notice how the pronunication of feminine adjectives

changes only if the masculine singular form ends in a vowel sound or nasal

sound. Although some words end in a consonant, the final consonant may

be silent. Generally, the only final consonants that are pronounced are c, r,

f, and l (remember the word careful). When there is a final consonant

sound, the masculine and feminine singular adjectives sound the same.

The adjectives in the following table have irregular feminine forms that

must be memorized.

MASCULINE FEMININE MEANING

*beau (bo) belle (behl) beautiful

blanc (blahN) blanche (blahNsh) white

complet (kohN-pleh) complète (kohN-pleht) complete

doux (doo) douce (doos) sweet, gentle

faux (fo) fausse (fos) false

favori (fah-voh-ree) favorite (fah-voh-reet) favorite

*fou (foo) folle (fohl) crazy

frais (freh) fraîche (frehsh) fresh

inquiet (aN-kee-yeh) inquiète (aN-kee-yeht) worried

long (lohN) longue (lohNg) long

*mou (moo) molle (mohl) soft

*nouveau (noo-vo) nouvelle (noo-vehl) new

public (poo-bleek) publique (poo-bleek) public

sec (sehk) sèche (sehsh) dry

secret (suh-kreh) secrète (suh-kreht) secret

*vieux (vyuh) vieille (vyay) old

SPECIAL FORMS

Five adjectives in French have special forms when used before masculine

nouns beginning with a vowel or vowel sound. These adjectives are indicated

by

an

asterisk

(*)

the

table

above.

The

special

forms

are

bel

,

folmol

,

nouvel

, and

vieil

. This change prevents a clash between two pronounced

vowel

sounds

and

allows

the

language

flow:

un bel homme (a good-looking man)

un fol espoir (a crazy hope)

un mol oreiller (a soft pillow)

If the adjective comes after the noun, then the regular masculine form is

used:

L’homme est beau. The man is good-looking.

L’espoir est fou. Hoping is crazy.

L’oreiller est mou. The pillow is soft.

L’appartement est nouveau. The apartment is new.

L’arbre est vieux. The tree is old.

MAKING ADJECTIVES PLURAL

The plural of most adjectives is formed by adding

to the singular of the

masculine or feminine adjective (feminine form shown in parentheses):

SINGULAR PLURAL SINGULAR PLURAL

âgé(e) âgé(e)s fort(e) fort(e)s

bon(ne) bon(ne)s long(ue) long(ue)s

cher (chère) cher (chère)s sincére sincéres

un nouvel appartement

(a new apartment)

un vieil arbre (an old tree)

Don’t add the

if a masculine singular adjective ends in -

or -

x

:

SINGULAR PLURAL SINGULAR PLURAL

bas bas heureux heureux

frais frais

Most masculine adjectives ending in

-al

change -

al

to -

aux

in the plural:

MASCULINE MASCULINE MASCULINE MASCULINE

SINGULAR PLURAL SINGULAR PLURAL

spécial spéciaux national nationaux

social sociaux

Both masculine forms of

beau

bel

),

fou

fol

),

mou

mol

), and

nouveau

nouvel

) have the same plural forms: they add an -

x

vieux

is the

exception because it already ends in

-x

). The addition of an -

x

when

the plural is formed eliminates the potential problem of having two

conflicting vowel sounds, one at the end of the adjective and the other at

the beginning of the noun that follows:

un beau film

,

de beaux films

un

bel appartement

,

de beaux appartements

.

NOTE

The plural des (some, any) becomes de before an adjective that precedes

the noun: As-tu des conseils? (Do you have any advice?) As-tu de bons

conseils? (Do you have any good advice?)

POSITION OF ADJECTIVES

The position of adjectives in French follows different rules from those

with which you may be accustomed in English:

•

Unlike English, most descriptive adjectives in French follow the

noun they modify:

une cérémonie publique

(a public ceremony).

•

Some short descriptive nouns, usually expressing beauty, age,

goodness, and size (known as the BAGS adjectives), generally

precede the nouns they modify:

Beauty: beau, joli

Age: nouveau, vieux, jeune (young)

Goodness (or lack of it): bon, gentil, mauvais (bad), vilain (nasty, ugly)

Size: grand, petit, court (short), long, gros (fat, thick), large (wide)

Elle porte une jolie robe. She’s wearing a pretty dress.

C’est un bon livre. It’s a good book.

Other common adjectives that precede the noun are:

FRENCH PRONUNCIATION MEANING

autre otr other

chaque shahk each, every

dernier dehr-nyay last

plusieurs plew-zyuhr several

quelques kehl-kuh a few

tel tehl such

tout too all, whole, every

un autre homme another man

plusieurs amis several friends

une telle histoire such a story

Tout precedes both the noun and the definite article (le, la, l’, les):

toute la famille (the whole family), tous les garçons (all the boys)

NOTE

The adjective tout (all) is irregular in the masculine plural:

Singular: tout Plural: tous

When more than one adjective is used in a description, put each adjective

in its proper place according to the rules in the preceding bullets.

Two adjectives in the same position are joined by

(and):

une petite

maison bleue

(a small, blue house),

un garçon fort et athlétique

(a strong,

athletic boy),

une jeune et gentille fille

(a kind, young girl).

An adjective describing two or more nouns of different genders is

masculine plural:

Le garçon et la fille sont intelligents

. (The boy and the

girl are intelligent.)

ADJECTIVES WITH DIFFERENT MEANINGS

Some adjectives have different meanings, depending on whether they are

positioned before or after the noun they modify. Adjectives before the

noun tend to have a more literal meaning. When they follow the noun,

the meaning changes:

une coutume ancienne an old (ancient) custom

une ancienne coutume a former custom

une femme brave a brave woman

une brave femme a good woman

une voiture chère an expensive car

un cher ami a dear friend

la semaine dernière last week (just passed)

la dernière semaine the last week (of a series)

un garçon honnête an honest boy

un honnête garçon a virtuous boy

une fille méchante a nasty (wicked) girl

une méchante fille a bad (naughty) girl

la chose même the very thing

la même chose the same thing

les gens pauvres the poor people (without money)

les pauvres gens the unfortunate people

mon sac propre my clean handbag

mon propre sac my own handbag

un chien sale a dirty dog

un sale chien a nasty dog

une femme seule a woman alone (by herself)

une seule femme one woman only

une figure triste a sad (unhappy) face

une triste figure a long face (appearance)

ADVERBS

An adverb often describes how well the subject performs an action.

In English, many adverbs end in

-ly

. The French equivalent ending is

-ment

. Because adverbs modify verbs, you don’t need to worry about the

agreement of adverbs.

Formation of Adverbs

Adverbs are formed by adding

-ment

(mahN) to the masculine singular

form of an adjective ending with a vowel:

MASCULINE ADJECTIVE ADVERB MEANING

poli poliment (poh-lee-mahN) politely

rapide rapidement (rah-peed-mahN) rapidly

sincère sincèrement (saN-sehr-mahN) sincerely

vrai vraiment (vreh-mahN) really, truly

If the masculine singular adjective ends in a consonant,

-ment

is added

to the feminine singular:

ADJECTIVE ADVERB MEANING

Masculine Feminine

actif active activement (ahk-teev-mahN) actively

cruel cruelle cruellement (krew-ehl-mahN) cruelly

doux douce doucement (doos-mahN) softly

franc franche franchement (frahNsh-mahN) frankly

heureux heureuse heureusement (uh-ruhz-mahN) happily

léger légère légèrement (lay-zhehr-mahN) lightly

seul seule seulement (suhl-mahN) only

Two irregular adverbs are:

ADJECTIVE ADVERB MEANING

Masculine Feminine

bref brève brièvement (bree-ehv-mahN) briefly

gentil gentille gentiment (zhahN-tee-mahN) gently

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES

The following groups of adjectives are exceptions to the rule:

A few adjectives change the feminine silent

-e

ending to

é

before adding

-ment

:

FEMININE ADJECTIVE ADVERB MEANING

aveugle aveuglément (ah-vuh-glay-mahN) blindly

énorme énormément (ay-nohr-may-mahN) enormously

intense intensément (aN-tahN-say-mahN) intensely

précise précisément (pray-see-zay-mahN) precisely

profonde profondément (proh-fohN-day-mahN) profoundly

Adjectives ending in

-ant

and

-ent

have adverbs ending in

-amment

and

-emment,

respectively:

ADJECTIVE ADVERB MEANING

constant constamment (kohN-stah-mahN) constantly

courant couramment (koo-rah-mahN) fluently

différent différemment (dee-fay-rah-mahN) differently

évident évidemment (ay-vee-dah-mahN) evidently

récent récemment (ray-sah-mahN) recently

NOTE

An exception is lent: lentement (lahNt-mahN), slowly.

The expressions

d’une façon

and

d’une manière

are often used with a

modifying adjective in place of an adverb or where no adverb exists:

Elle parle d’une façon intelligente.

(She speaks intelligently.)

Il agit d’une

manière enthousiaste.

(He acts enthusiastically.)

Some adverbs have forms that are distinct from adjectives:

ADJECTIVE ADVERB

French English French English

bon (bohn) good bien (byaN) well

mauvais (mo-veh) bad mal (mahl) badly

meilleur (meh-yuhr) better mieux (myuh) better

moindre (mwaNdr) less moins (mwaN) less

petit (puh-tee) little peu (puh) little

M. Dupont est un bon professeur Mr. Dupont is a good teacher who

qui enseigne bien le français. teaches French well.

ADVERBS NOT FORMED FROM ADJECTIVES

Some adverbs and adverbial expressions are not formed from adjectives

and, therefore, do not end in

-ment

. The most common adverbs that follow

this

rule

are

listed

below:

alors (ah-lohrs) then

après (ah-preh) afterward

assez (ah-seh) enough

aujourd’hui (o-zhoord-wee) today

auparavant (o-pah-rah-vahN) before

aussi (o-see) also, too

beaucoup (bo-koo) much

bientôt (byaN-to) soon

cependant (suh-pahN-dahN) meanwhile

comme (kohm) as

d’habitude (dah-bee-tewd) usually, generally

davantage (dah-vahN-tahzh) more

de nouveau (duh noo-vo) again

dedans (duh-dahN) inside

dehors (duh-ohr) outside

déjà (day-zhah) already

demain (duh-maN) tomorrow

encore (ahN-kohr) still, yet, again

enfin (ahN-faN) finally, at last

en retard (ahN ruh-tahr) late (in arriving)

ensemble (ahN-sahNbl) together

ensuite (ahN-sweet) then, afterward

environ (ahN-vee-rohN) about

exprès (ehks-preh) on purpose

hier (yehr) yesterday

ici (ee-see) here

jamais (zhah-meh) never

là (lah) there

loin (lwaN) far

maintenant (maNt-nahN) now

même (mehm) even

parfois (pahr-fwah) sometimes

partout (pahr-too) everywhere

peut-être (puh-tehtr) perhaps, maybe

plus (plew) more

plutôt (plew-to) rather

près (preh) near

presque (prehsk) almost

puis (pwee) then

quelquefois (kehl-kuh-fwah) sometimes

souvent (soo-vahN) often

surtout (sewr-too) especially

tard (tahr) late

tôt (to) soon, early

toujours (too-zhoor) always, still

tout (too) quite, entirely

tout à coup (too tah koo) suddenly

tout à fait (too tah feh) entirely

tout de suite (toot sweet) immediately

très (treh) very

trop (tro) too much

vite (veet) quickly

ADVERBS OF QUANTITY

This list gives frequently used adverbs of quantity, which are always followed

by

the

de

:

assez de (ah-say duh) enough of

autant de (o-tahN duh) as much, many

beaucoup de (bo-koo duh) much, many

combien de (kohN-byaN duh) how much, many

moins de (mwaN duh) less, fewer

peu de (puh duh) little, few

plus de (plew duh) more

tant de (tahN duh) so much, many

trop de (tro duh) too much, many

POSITION OF ADVERBS

In simple tenses (no helping verb), adverbs are generally placed directly

after the verbs they modify. Sometimes, however, the position is variable

and the adverb is placed where you would logically put an English

adverb:

Elle parle couramment

. (She speaks fluently.)

D’habitude il arrive

à l’heure

. (Usually he arrives on time.)

In compound tenses, adverbs generally follow the past participle.

However, a few common ones, such as

,

mal

,

souvent

,

toujours

,

déjà

,

and

encore

, as well as adverbs of quantity, usually precede the past participle:

Nous sommes venus immédiatement

. (We came immediately.)

J’avais beaucoup mangé

. (I had eaten a lot.)

TIME’S UP!

Rewrite each sentence by putting the correct form of the adjective shown

in parentheses in its proper place. Be careful: sometimes you will simply

need to make agreement of the adjective and sometimes you will have to

change it to an adverb.

Example: (courant) Il parle. Il parle couramment.

(petit) Anne est une fille. Anne est une petite fille.

1. (profond) Il pense.

2. (bon) Mme Dutour est une femme.

3. (loyal) Ce sont des hommes.

4. (récent) Ils sont arrivés.

5. (doux) Il parle.

6. (attentif) Le professeur préfère les étudiantes.

7. (beau) Je cherche un hôtel.

8. (bref) Elle chante.

9. (gentil) Voici des filles.

10. (parfait) Elles dansent.