French Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about French grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak French and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words French and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in French.

Prepositions - French
and et
above au-dessus
under sous
before avant
after après
in front of en face de
behind derrière
far from loin de
near près de
in dans
inside à l'intérieur
outside à l'extérieur
with avec
without sans
about sur
between entre
but mais
for pour
from à partir de
to à

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - French
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] je mange sans couteau
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] elle vit près de l'église
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] il est plus grand qu'elle
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] il est venu avec son petit chien
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] pouvez-vous venir avec moi ?

Negation in French

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - French
I understand you [affirmative form] je vous comprends
I don't understand you [negation + verb] je ne vous comprends pas
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] ce n'est pas le mot correct
don't leave me [imperative negation] ne me quittez pas
no problem [negation + noun] aucun problème

Negative Sentences - French
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] je ne parle pas français
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] elle n'est pas allée en allemagne
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] il ne peut pas nous voir
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] elle ne peut pas jouer aux échecs ?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] nous n'arriverons pas en retard

Questions in French

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - French
how? comment ?
what? quoi ?
who? qui ?
why? pourquoi ?
where? où ?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - French
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] où habitez-vous ?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] parle-t-elle chinois ?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] combien est-ce ?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] je peux vous aider ?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] quel est votre nom ?

Adverbs in French

It's time to learn the adverbs in French. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - French
now maintenant
yesterday hier
today aujourd'hui
tonight ce soir
tomorrow demain
soon bientôt
quickly rapidement
slowly lentement
together ensemble
very très
almost presque
always toujours
usually habituellement
sometimes parfois
rarely rarement
never jamais

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - French
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] me comprenez-vous maintenant ?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] j'ai besoin d'aide immédiatement
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] elle est très intelligente
I will always love you [verb + adverb] je t'aimerai toujours
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] pouvons-nous apprendre l'allemand ensemble ?

Pronouns in French

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in French. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - French
I je
you tu (friendly), vous (polite)
he il
she elle
we nous
they ils (masc.), elles (fem.)

Object Pronouns - French
me moi
you vous
him lui
her elle
us nous
them les

Possessive Pronouns - French
my mon
your ton (sing.), votre (sing. polite), vos (plur.)
his son
her sa
our notre
their leur

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - French
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] je suis ton ami
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] vous parlez très vite
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] il a trois chiens
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] elle peut parler allemand
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] nous n'arriverons pas en retard
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] ils ont acheté du lait et du pain

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - French
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] pouvez-vous me dire votre nom ?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] je vais vous donner de l'argent
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] elle lui a écrit une lettre
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] ils lui ont rendu visite hier
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] peut-elle nous aider ?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] il leur a donné de la nourriture

Possessive Pronouns - French
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] je m'appelle maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] votre frère vit ici
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] sa mère nous fait à manger
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] son hobby est la lecture
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] notre rêve est de visiter paris
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] leur maison n'est pas loin

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - French
this is my house voici ma maison
that restaurant is far ce restaurant est loin
these apples are delicious ces pommes sont délicieuses
those stars are shiny ces étoiles sont brillantes

I hope you learned a lot about the French grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!