Gig A French 2016

Marie de France
gigafrench.com
GigaFrench / 2016~1
God, abortion and climate change

GigaFrench is for elite learners. The free
multimedia fast track course into the
heart of France and the French offers a
refreshingly new approach to one of the
most beautiful languages in the world.
The focus is on enthusiasm and
efficiency. If you further agree to daily
study sessions of at least 30 minutes,
GigaFrench is the place to be.
GigaFrench will help you. In addition
to the free PDF, you have free access to
the website www.gigafrench.com and all
audio files.
Print copies of GigaFrench are
available at Amazon.
ISBN 978-3-924774-97-4
Flying PublisheR
9 783924 774974 >
{2016~1}
GigaFrench
Flying PublisheR
Marie de France
GigaFrench / God, abortion and climate change / 2016 ~ 1
Download Free PDF

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Marie de France
Flying PublisheR
Marie de France
GigaFrench
2016 Edition
This PDF is the second edition of

GigaFrench 2016, presenting Level 13. More
levels will be published in May 2016. For
future updates, please check
www.GigaFrench.com/updates.
Youll find many xxx in this manual. These

are links to future chapters.
Marie de France
GigaFrench
2016 Edition
Flying Publisher
Cover Design:
Oliver Barbagallo Milan
Illustration:
N. Allan New York
Copy-Editing:
N.N. Boston
Disclaimer
Language and grammar is an ever-changing field. The publishers and
the author of GigaFrench have made every effort to provide information
that is accurate and complete as of the date of publication. However, in
view of the rapid changes occurring in language teaching, as well as the
possibility of human error, this guide may contain technical
inaccuracies, typographical or other errors. The information contained
herein is provided as is and without warranty of any kind. The
contributors to this book, including Flying Publisher and the author,
cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions or for results
obtained from the use of information contained herein.
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2016 by Flying Publisher & MDF
ISBN: 978-3-924774-97-4
Published on April 6, 2016
About
GigaFrench is for dedicated students. The free multimedia fast
track course right into the heart of French and the French
people offers a refreshingly new approach to one of the most
beautiful languages in the world. Your enthusiasm for exploring
new worlds will finally meet up with efficiency. If you devote at
least 30 minutes daily to serious study sessions, GigaFrench will
be yours.
Of all language skills, reading is the crucial skill because
everything else springs from that - writing is a direct result of
reading, listening can be outsourced to almost effortless
exercises (see page 151), and speaking is the consequence of
reading and listening. GigaFrenchs focus is therefore on
accelerating your transformation from a French illiterate to a
French scholar. Our goal: to put you into an orbit of
independent reading as quickly as possible. Whatever your
favourite subject is biology, medicine, earth sciences, literature,
economics, law, architecture, history, psychology, sociology, or
any other topic youll be able to read any text about it within
months.
GigaFrench is free. In addition to the free PDF, you have free
access to the website www.GigaFrench.com and all audio files.
Welcome to France, welcome to the French language!
Marie de France
2 Germinal 224 22 March 2016
GigaFrench.com
How to use GigaFrench

France is one of the most beautiful countries and French one of
the most beautiful languages in the world wonderfully precise
and pleasing to the ear. If you plan a trip to France, dont miss
out on the opportunity to acquire some language skills.
GigaFrench (www.GigaFrench.com) is a versatile multimedia
language course. Depending on your time and previous
knowledge, you can choose between a short overview and full
immersion:
1.
If you learned French earlier in life and if your time is

limited, go through the main text at the beginning of each
Level (page 19, 109, and 185) and listen to the audio until you
understand every single words.
2.
If you have time for an in-depth discovery of the French

language, go through each level until the end.
Use GigaFrench if
1.
You learned French in the past.

GigaFrench will complete your knowledge with a vast range
of subjects (God, climate change, abortion, junk food etc).
New and powerful vocabulary will enable you to have
passionate discussions with friends, family and colleagues.
2.
You learned French many years ago but feel that you have
forgotten almost everything.
Things weve learned in the past never disappear. They leave
traces in your brain you can quickly reactivate. GigaFrench
will help you retrieve your past knowledge, explaining
everything from the beginning, though progressing at a pace
that is never boring.
|
3.
You have never learned French before but you are Spanish,
Portuguese or Italian or you are fluent in one of these
languages.
French is a Romance language that descended primarily
from Vulgar Latin as did Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and
Rumanian. The differences between the four languages are
certainly important, but the similarities are more important
yet. For example, if you are familiar with Spanish,
Portuguese or Italian, you know or can guess the meaning of
more than 7,000 French words. Grammar, too, has more
similarities than differences. In other words: GigaFrenchs
fast track approach will suit your needs and help you make
quick progress.
4.
You have never learned French before but you have learned
English (because you are Chinese, Indian, Russian,
Indonesian, Egyptian etc) and you are fluent in English.
As you have become fluent in English over the years, you
know about the time scales, difficulties and pitfalls of
learning a second or third language. With GigaFrenchs
rationale and economic approach of French words and
grammar, you will make extensive use of the language skills
you have developed throughout your life.
Dont use GigaFrench if you are a native English speaker and have
never learned another language. GigaFrenchs fast-track grammar
presentation is too fast for you. We recommend you to use first
other language manuals and come back later.
GigaFrench.com
Table of Contents
1 God ................................................................................................ 19
Words ................................................................................... 21
1.1
Timeline and Sextets ................................................. 28
1.2
First steps .................................................................... 33
1.3
Avoir ............................................................................ 37
1.3.1
Avoir: Prsent (present tense)................................ 37
1.3.2
All you can have ................................................. 38
1.3.3
Action word timeline ............................................ 40
1.3.4
Avoir: Imparfait (imperfect tense) ......................... 40
1.3.5
Avoir: Futur (future tense) ..................................... 42
1.3.6
if)
Avoir: Prsent conditionnel (hypothetical what

43
1.3.7 Avoir: Subjonctif prsent (present subjunctive

tense) 44
1.3.8
Summary ................................................................ 45
1.3.9
Avoir (table) ........................................................... 46
1.4
Toolbox........................................................................ 48
1.5
Intermezzo .................................................................. 49
1.5.1
on (1) ..................................................................... 49
1.5.2
Stranger vs. Family (1) .......................................... 49
1.6
Avoir: Composed tenses ............................................ 50
1.6.1
Introduction ........................................................... 50
1.6.2
Faire to do/make ................................................... 53
1.6.3
Expressions with faire .......................................... 56
1.6.4
Past participles: how to get them........................ 57
1.6.5
Forty-nine action words ....................................... 59
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1.6.6
eu ............................................................................. 61
1.6.7
Toolbox 2 ................................................................ 65
1.7
Full timeline ............................................................... 66
1.8
Prsent ........................................................................ 66
1.9
Negation (I) ................................................................. 68
1.10
Summary + Outlook ................................................... 69
1.11
Word classes ............................................................... 71
1.12
One-word sentences .................................................. 72
1.13
Adjectives and Nouns ................................................ 73
1.13.1
Possessive adjectives ........................................ 74
1.13.2
Adjectives .......................................................... 75
1.13.3
Nouns ................................................................. 77
1.14
Articles ........................................................................ 78
1.14.1
Definite article .................................................. 78
1.14.2
Indefinite article ............................................... 80
1.14.3
Partitive article ................................................. 81
1.14.4
Pronunciation Pitfalls ...................................... 82
1.15
Outlook: Nouns and Adjectives ................................ 83
1.16
Jokers ........................................................................... 83
1.16.1
Adverbs .............................................................. 84
1.16.2
Conjunctions ..................................................... 85
1.16.3
Prepositions....................................................... 87
1.16.4
Pronouns ............................................................ 89
1.16.5
Outlook: Adv., Conj., Prep. and Pron. ............. 94
1.17
Bits and Pieces ............................................................ 94
1.17.1
Telling the hour ................................................ 94
1.17.2
Cardinals and Ordinals ..................................... 95
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1.17.3
Silent Letters (1) ............................................... 96
1.17.4
Toolbox 3 ........................................................... 97
1.18
Reading the newspaper ............................................. 98
1.18.1
Words ............................................................... 100
1.19
Deconstructing God ................................................. 101
1.20
Bonjour ...................................................................... 102
1.21
Free-Climbing ........................................................... 103
2 Climate Change ......................................................................... 109

2.1
tre to be (Introduction) ........................................ 119
2.1.1
Prsent .................................................................. 121
2.1.2
Il est / Elle est ...................................................... 122
2.1.3
Cest / Ce sont ...................................................... 122
2.2
The tre Biotope ...................................................... 122
2.3
tre Timeline ............................................................ 126
2.3.1
tre: Imparfait (imperfect tense) ......................... 127
2.3.2
tre: Futur (future tense) ..................................... 128
2.3.3
tre: Prsent conditionnel ................................. 130
2.3.4
Summary .............................................................. 131
2.3.5
tre (table) ........................................................... 133
2.4
tre: Composed tenses ............................................ 134
2.4.1
Overview ............................................................... 134
2.4.2
Sexual connotation ............................................. 137
2.5
Pass compos versus imparfait ............................ 138
2.6
Forty-nine action words (2) .................................... 139
2.7
Preview of Group 1 action words ........................... 144
2.8
Irregular Future Stems (1) ...................................... 145
2.9
on (2)........................................................................ 146
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2.10
Negation (2) .............................................................. 147
2.11
Y avoir: There is .................................................... 150
2.12
Articles (2)................................................................. 153
2.13
Nouns (2) ................................................................... 154
2.13.1
Nationalities and languages .......................... 154
2.13.2
Feminine nouns .............................................. 157
2.13.3
s, x, or z ...................................................... 161
2.13.4
-eau, -eu, or au .............................................. 161
2.14
Adjectives (2) ............................................................ 163
2.14.1
Adjectives ending with a consonant ............ 163
2.14.2
Adjectives ending in -e ................................... 165
2.14.3
Irregular adjectives: Categories .................... 166
2.14.4
Irregular plural of adjectives ........................ 166
2.15
Jokers (2) ................................................................... 167
2.15.1
Adverbs (2)....................................................... 167
2.15.2
Conjunctions (2) .............................................. 168
2.15.3
Prepositions (2) ............................................... 169
2.15.4
The word de ................................................. 170
2.16
Numbers 13-79 ......................................................... 172
2.17
Asking a question ..................................................... 173
2.17.1
Raise the pitch................................................. 173
2.17.2
Est-ce que ......................................................... 173
2.17.3
Inversion .......................................................... 173
2.18
Bits and Pieces .......................................................... 175
2.18.1
Question words ............................................... 175
2.18.2
Magic Words .................................................... 176
2.18.3
Silent letters (2) .............................................. 177
13
2.18.4
Toolbox 4 ......................................................... 177
2.18.5
Social Vocabulary ........................................... 178
2.19
Reading...................................................................... 179
3 Abortion ..................................................................................... 185

Words ................................................................................. 188
3.1
Faire ........................................................................... 194
3.1.1
Expressions with faire (2) ................................... 196
3.2
Subjonctif .................................................................. 197
3.3
Action words, Group 1: Petting .............................. 198
3.3.1
Prsent .................................................................. 199
3.3.2
Imparfait............................................................... 200
3.3.3
Futur ..................................................................... 201
3.3.4
Conditionnel prsent .......................................... 202
3.3.5
Subjonctif prsent ............................................... 203
3.3.6
Pass simple ......................................................... 206
3.3.7
Subjonctif imparfait ............................................ 207
3.3.8
24 Endings ............................................................ 212
3.3.9
Caresser: simple tenses ....................................... 213
3.3.10
Caresser: composed tenses ............................ 214
3.3.11
Most frequent Group 1 action words ........... 215
3.3.12
Mental acrobatics ........................................... 215
3.4
Forty-nine action words (3) .................................... 216
3.5
Irregular Future Stems (2) ...................................... 219
3.6
Importance of the Prsent ...................................... 220
3.7
Prsent: Ten Action Words (1) ............................... 220
3.8
Stranger vs. Family (2) ............................................ 226
3.8.1
Adjectives ............................................................. 227
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3.8.2
3.9
Past Participles .................................................... 227

Possessive adjectives ............................................... 228
3.9.1
Singular ................................................................ 228
3.9.2
Plural..................................................................... 230
3.9.3
Exception .............................................................. 230
3.10
Personal pronouns ................................................... 231
3.10.1
Personal subject pronouns ............................ 231
3.10.2
Personal object pronouns .............................. 232
3.11
Nouns (3) ................................................................... 239
3.11.1
Masculine nouns ............................................. 239
3.11.2
Plural: ou, al, ail ........................................ 241
3.12
Adjectives (3) ............................................................ 243
3.13
Jokers (3) ................................................................... 244
3.13.1
Adverbs (3)....................................................... 244
3.13.2
Conjunctions (3) .............................................. 246
3.13.3
Prepositions (3) ............................................... 248
3.14
Numbers 80-100 ....................................................... 248
3.15
Bits and Pieces .......................................................... 249
3.15.1
Days of the Week............................................. 249
3.15.2
Months of the Year ......................................... 250
3.15.3
Silent letters (3) .............................................. 251
3.16
Reading...................................................................... 252
4 Junk Food ................................................................................... 257

5 Appendix .................................................................................... 259
5.1
Aller ........................................................................... 260
5.2
Action words, Group 1 ............................................. 261
5.3
Dormir ....................................................................... 263
15
5.4
Venir .......................................................................... 264
5.5
Agir: simple tenses ................................................... 266
5.6
Vouloir ...................................................................... 267
5.7
Group 3: Prendre ...................................................... 268
5.8
Dire ............................................................................ 270
5.9
Group 3: Ouvrir ........................................................ 271
5.10
Savoir......................................................................... 272
5.11
Group 3: Attendre .................................................... 273
5.12
Group 1: sucer........................................................... 274
5.13
Sen aller ................................................................... 275
5.14
Pouvoir ...................................................................... 276
5.15
Group 3: Recevoir ..................................................... 277
5.16
Group 1: Manger ...................................................... 278
5.17
Voir ............................................................................ 281
5.18
Group 1: Mener......................................................... 282
5.19
Croire ......................................................................... 284
5.20
Group 1: Prfrer ..................................................... 285
5.21
Connatre .................................................................. 290
5.22
Group 1: Appeler ...................................................... 291
5.23
Mettre ........................................................................ 293
5.24
Group 1: Jeter............................................................ 294
5.25
Boire .......................................................................... 296
5.26
Group 1: Acheter ...................................................... 297
5.27
Conduire .................................................................... 299
5.28
Group 1: Payer .......................................................... 300
5.29
Vivre .......................................................................... 302
5.30
Group 1: Envoyer...................................................... 303
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5.31
Craindre .................................................................... 306
5.32
Rire ............................................................................ 307
5.33
Courir ........................................................................ 308
5.34
Feminine nouns ending in ion.............................. 309
5.35
Masculine nouns ending in ism............................ 311
God
Pronunciation rules for word endings

{AUDIO}
1.
or mute
2. e
3.
4.
5. o
-e
-
-s
-e
-es
-er (verb)
-ez
-ai (verb)
-ais
-ait
-aient
-aie
-aies
-u
-us
-ue
-ues
-au
-aux
-eau
-eaux
12. r
13. r
14.
15.
16. j
6. u
7.
8. i
9. i
10. or
11. wa
2016 Edition
-ou
-oup
-oups
-out
-ous
-eu
-eux
-eue
-eues
-ie
-ui
eu, u
-oi
-ois
17.
19. j
20. u
-oix
-oie
-oit
-eur
-eurs
-re
-air
-aire
-airs
-an
-en
-ant
-ants
-ent
-ents
-and
-ands
-end
-ends
-on
-om
-ons
-ond
-ont
-ion
-ions
-un
-in
-ain
-ein
-ien
-iens
-ient
-uin
17
18
GigaFrench.com
By Marie de France
God
God
Copyright 2016 N. Allan Paris
2016 Edition
19
20
GigaFrench.com
{AUDIO1} {AUDIO2} Dieu | Dieu

existe-t-il ? Ingalits,
injustices, violences, tortures,
viols, meurtres, guerres,
gnocides, la shoah,
lesclavage Impardonnable,
nest-ce pas ? On vous dira que
Dieu se planque pour mettre
les hommes lpreuve et les
amener choisir entre le bien
et le mal. En tout cas, si moi je
vous jouais des tours pareils,
vous me traiteriez de sadique !
Does God exist? Inequality,

injustice, violence, torture,
rape, murder, war, genocide,
the Holocaust, slavery...
Unpardonable, isnt it? People
will tell you that God hides to
put men to the test and get
them to choose between good
and evil. In any case, if I played
those tricks on you, you would
call me a sadist.
Regardez lhistoire de
lhumanit et les innombrables
crimes commis au nom de
Dieu ! Et regardez le prsent :
des tats qui perscutent au
nom dun Dieu, torturent et
tuent au nom dun Dieu, et
refusent aux femmes le droit
davorter, toujours au nom
dun Dieu.
Look at the history of

humanity and the countless
crimes committed in the name
of God! And look at the
present: States that persecute
in the name of a God, torture
and kill in the name of a God,
and deny women the right to
abortion, always in the name
of a God.
Pauvre Dieu, nom de Dieu,

aurait-il tout foir ?
Souhaitons-lui ce petit Dieu
qui ne serait quun pauvre
diable de ne pas exister car
nous le jugerions pour crimes
contre lHumanit. Nous avons
guillotin Louis XVI pour
moins que cela.
Poor God, bloody hell, would

he have screwed it up all? Lets
wish him this little God who
would just be a poor devil not
to exist because we would put
him on trial for crimes against
humanity. We guillotined Louis
XVI for less than that.
By Marie de France
God
21
Words
{AUDIO}
le dieu
exister
god
to exist
existe-t-il?
une ingalit
une injustice
la violence
la torture
does he exist?
disparity
injustice
violence
torture
le viol
le meurtre
la guerre
le gnocide
la shoah
lesclavage (m.)
impardonnable
nest-ce pas?
rape
murder
war
genocide
holocaust
slavery
unpardonable
isnt it?
on
vous
on vous dira
here: people
you
people will tell
you
that
to hide
que
se planquer
(fam.)
pour
mettre
lpreuve
un homme
les hommes
les
amener
choisir
entre
2016 Edition
in order to, to
to put to the
test
man
here: people
here: them
here: to get
here: to
to choose
between
le bien
et
le mal
en tout cas
si
si moi je
jouer
the good
and
the evil
in any case
if
if I (stressed)
to play
jouer des tours

si je vous jouais
des tours
pareil
me
traiter de
vous me
traiteriez de
le sadique
to play tricks
if I played
tricks on you
such, like that
me
to call
you would call
me
sadist
regarder
regardez !
une histoire
de
lhumanit f.
innombrable
le crime
to look at
look!
history; story
of
humanity
countless
crime
commis
au nom de
le prsent
un tat
qui
perscuter
torturer
committed
in the name of
present
state
who
to persecute
to torture
refuser
la femme
to deny
woman
22
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le droit
avorter
toujours
pauvre
nom de Dieu !
(fam., vulg.)
right
to abort
always
poor
bloody hell!
foirer
tout
souhaiter
souhaitons-lui
ce
petit
il ne serait que
to screw up
everything
to wish
lets wish him
this
little
he would only
be
le diable
devil
car
as, because
pour
for
juger
to put on trial
nous le jugerions we would put
him on trial
guillotiner
to guillotine,
decapitate
Louis XVI (1754- King of France
1793)
until 1791
moins
less
moins que cela less than that
Cloud 1.1. The most frequent words
By Marie de France
God
23
For each text, we recommend that you

1.
Download the corresponding audio file (see

http://www.gigafrench.com/audio) to your mobile
device.
2.
Put your earphones on.
3.
Start the audio.
4.
Activate the replay button (or loop button) on your

audio player that repeats the audio continuously.
While hearing the audio again and again (at first, you dont need
to listen attentively, just use the audio as background music),
perform the following steps, either in this order or in any order
you prefer:
1.
Read the English translation at least once.
2.
Read the word list at least once.
3.
Read the French text at least once.
4.
Listen to the text without reading it.
The last point is the most important one because youll probably
need quite a few listening rounds today, tomorrow, next
week until you can distinguish every single word! Dont be
surprised if you need to listen 10, 20 or even 50 times such
intense repetition is perfectly normal. In the meantime, check
and re-check the word list until you know all the words (yes,
100%).
If you just want to expand your French vocabulary, you can go
straight ahead to the next level and find a text about climate
change (see page 109). This is GigaFrench light. If you are more
serious about learning French, go through the following pages.
Again, listen to the audios until you can discern every single
word and you know the examples and dialogues by heart. Burn
2016 Edition
24
GigaFrench.com
the sentences into your brain. Being at ease with hundreds of

sentences will soon make French feel strangely familiar to you
Further reading
Moralistic gods, supernatural punishment and the

expansion of human sociality. Nature 2016.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v530/n7590/full/n
ature16980.html accessed 18 March 2016.
Why big societies need big gods. Science Magazine 2015.

http://news.sciencemag.org/archaeology/2015/08/featurewhy-big-societies-need-big-gods accessed 18 March 2016.
Complex societies evolved without belief in all-powerful

deity. Nature 2015. http://www.nature.com/news/complexsocieties-evolved-without-belief-in-all-powerful-deity1.17040 accessed 18 March 2016
Global Strategies (1)

You are anxious to start and you want to know it all but hold
on a minute. First, step back and look at the language mountain
in front of you. Learning French can be split into three distinct
tasks:
1.
Learning 5,000 to 10,000 words: 90%
2.
Managing action words (verbs): 7%
3.
Studying the rest of grammar: 3%

(nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions,
prepositions etc)
The percentages indicate roughly how much time you will

dedicate to each of these tasks. The bulk of your study time,
around 90%, will be dedicated to learning thousands of new
By Marie de France
God
25
words. Far behind, at 7%, ranges the management of verbs, or

action words as we prefer to call them. The rest of grammar
shrinks to a mere 3%. That the management of nouns, adjectives,
articles, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions should
account for only 3% of your total effort seems counter-intuitive,
especially if you remember years of grammar exercises at school,
but you will understand...
Learning 5,000 to 10,000 words will take you between 500 and
1,000 hours. Thats an awful lot of time and youll need strategies
to memorize 20, 30, 50 or more new words every day. You will
also have to find a way to check that these new words are firmly
anchored in your memory. Well help you to devise these
strategies.
Please realize that you will spend most of your study time
alone (!) over books, tablets or smartphones. French will enter
your brain via your eyes and be processed at the back of your
head in the so-called occipital brain area. As you will soon see,
this anatomical detail has important and far-reaching
implications.
In the following lessons, we will present you more tips and
tricks. If you want a detailed preview, open
www.thewordbrain.com and download the free 81-page PDF of
the outstanding Word Brain, a short guide to fast language
learning. If you dont have an entire afternoon to read the full
text, download the Short Edition (PDF, 10 pages) or the
MicroEdition (PDF, 1 page).
Finally, let me say that language learning is daily learning of at
least 30 minutes (better one to five hours). If you cannot arrange
for daily study time, GigaFrench wont be for you.
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Outlook
Your very first task will be to deconstruct the French language.
If you take a sledgehammer and smash a text into single words,
youll find that you can divide them into 8 different classes (or
parts of speech). These classes are action words (verbs), nouns,
adjectives, articles, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions and
prepositions:
1. Action word
4. Article
7. Conjunction
2. Noun
5. Pronoun
8. Preposition
3. Adjective
6. Adverb
An example from Le Monde, Frances best newspaper, shows the

disconcertingly chaotic result of such sledgehammering:
{AUDIO} C'est fait. Aprs sept mois de dbats intenses, la
France est devenue, avec le vote solennel du mardi 23 avril,
l'Assemble nationale, le 14e pays au monde autoriser deux
personnes de mme sexe se marier.
La loi sur le mariage et l'adoption marque une nouvelle tape
dans la banalisation d'une orientation sexuelle, autrefois juge
contre-nature, aujourd'hui reconnue "autre mais normale",
selon l'expression de l'anthropologue Maurice Godelier. Elle
est toujours rprime dans 80 pays, dont 7 la punissent de
mort. La mesure restera certainement comme l'une des plus
marquantes du bilan de Franois Hollande.
Le Monde 2013. Find the entire text at
http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/04/23/vote-historique-de-laloi-sur-le-mariage-pour-tous_3164513_3224.html Accessed March 30,
2016.
By Marie de France
God
27
Dont worry, you are not meant to understand these two

paragraphs now. Currently, chaos reigns, and over the next 70+
pages well help you put order into the chaos. One by one, well
work our way through all 8 classes of words. At the end of
Level 1 you will be familiar with the meaning and function of
action words (verbs), nouns, adjectives, articles, pronouns, adverbs,
conjunctions and prepositions.
Follow me.
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1.1
Timeline and Sextets
Qui es-tu?
Do viens-tu?
Que fais-tu ici?
Who are you?
Where do you come from?
What are you doing here?
These are the questions you are likely to hear at the beginning of
your French genesis as soon as the people around you notice that
you speak some French. To answer them, you will end up talking
not only about your present, but also about past experiences and
your future projects. Past, Present, Future your life is a
timeline.
Past
Present
Future
Of course, life has been, is and will be a succession of entangled

and complex events, and youll need precise instruments to
narrate them. French action words (or verbs) have 14 time
slots to describe the events of your life. Fortunately, only 9 are
used in conversational French. You will see them all soon enough.
By Marie de France
God
29
To populate your timeline, you need people. Divide all the people
on Earth into three groups: In Group 1, the pole position, there is
nobody other than yourself and you refer to yourself as I. Now
divide the 7 billion other human beings into Groups 2 and 3. In
Group 2, put the person you are currently talking to (you refer to
him or her as you), whereas in Group 3 youll put the rest of the
world, the people you may be talking about with your
conversation partner (youll refer to them as he/she).
1. I
2. you
3. he/she/it
The result is a triangle. I talks to you, you responds; and I

and you talk about he/she/it (see the hollow arrows).
In these cases, only one person is involved, so we call I, you,
he/she/it singular personal pronouns. Here they are with their
French counterparts:
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je
tu
il/elle
I
you
he/she (it)
A second triangle describes situations with more than one

person. We talk to you, you responds, and together, we talk
about them. In these cases, we use the so-called plural personal
pronouns (we, you, they). Please note that the English
they translates into ils when talking about boys and men
(masculine) and into elles when talking about girls and women
(feminine):
1. we
2. you
3. they
By Marie de France
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nous
we
vous
you
ils/elles they
Taken together, the three singular forms and the three plural
forms condense into a sextet. Later, you will meet hundreds of
these sextets, so try to become familiar with their structure: first
the three singular forms je I tu you il/elle he/she and then
the three plural forms nous we vous you ils/elles they.
1st person singular
2nd person singular
3rd person singular
Singular
je/j*
[/]
tu
[ty]
il/elle
[il/l]
I
you
he/she (it*)
1st person plural

2nd person plural
3rd person plural
Plural
nous
[nu]
vous
[vu]
ils/elles [il/l]
we
you
they
* Whenever one of the two-letter words je, ce, de, le, me, ne, que, se, te
comes before a vowel (a,e,i,o,u,y) or a mute h, the final e is replaced by an
apostrophe: j, c, d, l, m, n, qu, s, t.
** The French language has no true equivalent for it. Animals and inanimate
objects are all either feminine or masculine.
{AUDIO} Please memorize je-tu-il/elle | nous-vous-ils/elles.

You have learned your first 8 French words.
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If you want to discover some more words, look at this:

{AUDIO} Je lis, jcoute, jcris, je questionne, je rponds, je narre,
je nomme, je discute, jinterpelle, je prie, je pense, japprends,
jenseigne, je jouis, je ris, je vis, donc je suis. (Stphane Zagdanski)
I read, I listen, I write, I question, I answer, I narrate, I name, I
discuss, I call out, I pray, I think, I learn, I teach, I enjoy, I laugh, I
live, therefore I am.
***
Now, lets start for real. In Level 1 the most demanding part of
this manual you will
1)
discover action words and the most important French

word avoir to have
2)
appreciate the essential tenses of the French timeline

(Prsent, Pass compos, Imparfait, Futur, Conditionnel)
and fuck the rabbit
3)
explore the other 7 word classes: nouns, adjectives,

articles, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions
The next 70 pages are a fast-track into the heart of French

grammar. Fast doesnt mean nonchalance, but efficiency. Fast
doesnt necessarily mean fun either, but conquering a
stronghold from where to explore the rest of French grammar. If
you get stuck, go back to the beginning and start all over again.
You may also ask your friends and teachers for help. In any case,
dont abandon. If your teacher tells you that you cant do it, fire
her.
By Marie de France
God
33
I. Action Words
1.2
First steps
With action words youll discover words that change the world,
for example faire to do/to make, vouloir to wish, savoir to know,
vivre to live. In grammar, these words are known as verbs. Well
call them action words and include in this category the so-called
auxiliary action words avoir to have and tre to be.
{AUDIO} Avoir to have is the most important word in French.
Please listen to the audio and learn the following four sextets
(the first 4 of about 100 youll need). First learn every single form,
then memorize the 6-word sequences (for example jai tu as
il/elle a | nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont).
Le Louvre | Copyright: Marie de France
If you dont know (or dont remember) what jai tu as il/elle

a | nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont mean, be patient
youll discover it in a few moments. For now just burn the
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sextets into your brain. If you are new to French, memorize the
first two sextets. If you learned French before, memorize them
all.
{AUDIO}
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
ai [e]
as [a]
a [a]
Imparfait
avais [av]
avais [av]
avait [av]
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons [av]
avez [ave]
ont []
avions [avj]
aviez [avje]
avaient [av]
j
tu
il/elle
Futur
aurai [oe]
auras [a]
aura [a]
Conditionnel prs.
aurais [o]
aurais [o]
aurait [o]
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurons [o]
aurez [oe]
auront [o]
aurions [oj]
auriez [oje]
auraient [o]
Alternative presentation:
Prsent
jai tu as il/elle a
nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont
Imparfait
javais tu avais il/elle avait
nous avions vous aviez ils/elles avaient
Futur
jaurai tu auras il/elle aura
nous aurons vous aurez ils/elles auront
By Marie de France
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Conditionnel prsent
jaurais tu aurais il/elle aurait
nous aurions vous auriez ils/elles auraient
Action words are the most important word class. They describe
actions (lire to read, crire to write, baiser to fuck), feelings or
sensory perceptions (sentir to feel, entendre to hear),
occurrences (devenir to become), or states of being (tre to be,
exister to exist).
Note that action words are denser than other words because
they convey three layers of information: 1) the action, 2) the
time of the action and 3) the person who does it. They are also
perfidious because when you see them in a word list for
example avoir to have, tre to be, caresser to caress all you see
is the tip of an iceberg. What you dont see and sense, at least not
during your first weeks of French training, is the icebergs
hidden part which is immense! For example, the hidden part of
avoir to have consists of 40 different forms, 34 of which are
essential: eu, ayant, ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont, avais, avait,
avions, aviez, avaient, aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez,
auront, aurais, aurait, aurions, auriez, auraient, aie, aies,
ait, ayons, ayez, aient, eus, eut, emes, etes, eurent, eusses,
et, eussions, eussiez, eussent.
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Cloud 1.2. The 14 most important French action words
In the coming hours you will learn the 34 words shown in bold
1) because they are the heart of French action words and
2) because action words are the heart of French grammar. You
will do it step by step and
1.
Discover the biotope of avoir
2.
Check the simple tenses of avoir and realize the beauty of

your first summary table
3.
Use avoir to build the hugely powerful composed tenses

and fuck the rabbit
4.
Investigate the fabulous action word faire to do/make
5.
Discover the all-important participes pass past

participles
By Marie de France
God
37
6.
Revisit your avoir biotype with the power of composed

tenses
7.
Put 12 important French tenses (time slots) on a

timeline
8.
Explore in more detail the prsent present tense of a few

important French action words.
Just 40 pages of action words basics. You can!
1.3
Avoir
{AUDIO} As all action words, avoir to have has different tenses

(dimensions of time, time slots; see below). Lets start with the
most important one, the present tense, in French prsent. The
prsent, like all other tenses youll come across later, has three
forms for the singular (when you name only one person: I, you, she
or he) and three forms for the plural (when you talk about more
than one person: we, you, they).
1.3.1 Avoir: Prsent (present tense)

Singular
j
tu
il/elle
ai
as
a
Plural
nous
avons
vous
avez
ils*/elles** ont
I
you
he/she
have
have
has
we
you
they
have
have
have
* ils is masculine and used for boys, men or other masculine words
** elles is feminine and used for girls, women or other feminine words
This 2 x 3 scheme well call it a sextet is all-important because

youll have to become familiar with around 100 of them (20 by
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the end of Level 1 and 40 by the end of Level 3). If you feel uneasy
with it, check page 28 again, Timeline and Sextets.
1.3.2 All you can have

Lets briefly check the biotope of avoir. Youll use avoir to
designate family and friends, material goods, helpful people,
problems etc. In the following examples, you will find a lot of
new words such as pnis, sur, amant, matresse, chat, chien,
etc. Try and memorize as many of them as you can and come
back later for the words that wont enter your brain immediately.
In any case, concentrate on jai tu as il/elle a | nous avons
vous avez ils/elles ont.
1.
Family, friends, pets etc
jai
tu as
il/elle a
un petit pnis
deux surs
trois amants
nous avons quatre matresses

vous avez
cinq chats
ils/elles ont six chiens
2.
I have
you have
he/she has
a small penis
two sisters
three lovers
we have
you have
they have
four mistresses
five cats
six dogs
I have
you have
he/she has
seven cars
eight apartments
nine cell phones
we have
you have
they have
ten thousand euro

eleven tablets
twelve video games
Material goods
jai
tu as
il/elle a
sept voitures
huit appartements
neuf portables
nous avons dix mille euros

vous avez
onze tablettes
ils/elles ont douze jeux vido
By Marie de France
God
3.
39
Helpful people
jai
tu as
il/elle a
un boulanger
extraordinaire
un mdecin comptent
un boucher de
confiance
nous
avons
vous avez
un pharmacien tout
prs
le meilleur chocolatier
du monde
ils/elles ont un marchand de fruits
et lgumes
exceptionnel
4.
I have
you have
he/she has
we have
you have
they have
an extraordinary
baker
a skilful doctor
a trusted butcher
a pharmacist
nearby
the best chocolate
maker in the world
a remarkable
greengrocer
Hunger, thirst, fear etc
jai*
tu as
il/elle a
faim
soif
du retard
nous
peur
avons
vous avez
raison
ils/elles ont tort
I am*
you are
he/she is
hungry
thirsty
late
we are
afraid
you are
they are
right
wrong
* In these expressions, French uses avoir to have while English uses to be.
5.
Problems etc
jai
jai
un problme
mes rgles
I have
I have
tu as
il/elle a
une hpatite
le sida
you have
he/she has
a problem
my menstrual
period
hepatitis
AIDS
we have
a depression
you have
they have
a religious neurosis
food poisoning
nous
une dpression
avons
vous avez
une nvrose religieuse
ils/elles ont une intoxication
alimentaire
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Remember that in French, inanimate objects are all either

feminine or masculine.
1.3.3 Action word timeline

Now lets do some time travel. The most fascinating aspect of
action words is their extension in time. With action words, you
time travel from things happening in the present, here and now,
back to your experiences in the past, and fast-forward to your
ideas for the future. Imparfait, prsent, futur and
conditionnel prsent (hypothesis) are the most important time
slots on your life timeline.
Imparfait
Prsent
Futur
Hypothse
Lets make a short trip into the past, the future and the what if
(the hypothetical). All you need is brain storage capacity for
another 18 words. Are you ready? Lets travel back into the past.
1.3.4 Avoir: Imparfait (imperfect tense)

{AUDIO} The imparfait expresses habits, states of mind,
environmental descriptions and how people and the world were
in the past:
By Marie de France
God
javais
tu avais
il/elle avait
un petit pnis
deux surs
trois amants
I had
you had
he/she had
a small penis
two sisters
three lovers
nous avions
vous aviez
ils/elles avaient
quatre matresses
cinq chats
six chiens
we had
you had
they had
four mistresses
five cats
six dogs
41
The last letters of the avoir forms appear in bold, they are called
fittingly enough endings. For the imparfait, these endings are
ais, - ais, - ait | -ions, -iez, -aient. All you need to do is attach
them to the stem av.
While reading and listening to the imparfait of avoir youll
establish the following rules:
1.
The first-person singular (javais) and the secondperson singular (tu avais) are identical.
2.
The pronunciation of the three singular forms (avais

avaisavait) and the third-person plural (avaient) is
identical [av].
Please memorize the endings ais, - ais, - ait | -ions, -iez, -aient
now! The investment is worth it 1) because they are identical for
all French action words in the imparfait tense; and 2) because
youll soon use them again to build the conditionnel prsent
(the hypothetical; see below, page 43). In synthesis:
Singular
avais
j
avais
tu
avait
il/elle
I
you
he or she
had
had
had
Plural
nous
vous
ils/elles
we
you
they
had
had
had
avions
aviez
avaient
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Now combine javais tu avais il/elle avait | nous avions

vous aviez ils/elles avaient with everything youve seen above
(material goods, helpful people, hunger, problems, etc; see page
38) and lets fast-forward into the future.
1.3.5 Avoir: Futur (future tense)

{AUDIO} The futur describes events that have not happened yet,
but are expected to happen:
jaurai
tu auras
il/elle aura
sept voitures
huit appartements
neuf portables
Ill have
seven cars
youll have eight apartments
he/shell have nine cell phones
nous aurons
vous aurez
ils/elles auront
dix mille euros

onze tablettes
douze jeux vido
well have
youll have
theyll have
ten thousand euro

eleven tablets
twelve video games
The endings of the future tense are ai, -as, -a | -ons, -ez, ont
and youll attach them to aur-, the future stem of avoir (more
about future stems later).
While reading and listening to the futur of avoir youll find that
1.
The first-person singular (jaurai) and the secondperson plural (vous aurez) sound identical [oe].
2.
The second-person singular (tu auras) and the thirdperson singular (il/elle aura) sound identical [oa].
3.
The first-person plural (nous aurons) and the thirdperson plural (ils/elles auront) sound identical [o].
Memorize the 6 future endings ai, -as, -a | -ons, -ez, ont now,
because they are identical for all French action words in the
futur. In synthesis:
By Marie de France
God
Singular
aurai
j
auras
tu
il/elle aura
I will have
you will have
he or she will have
Plural
nous aurons
vous aurez
ils/elles auront
we will have
you will have
they will have
43
Again, you can combine jaurai tu auras il/elle aura | nous

aurons vous aurez ils/elles auront with the words you
discovered earlier (family, friends, pets, helpful people, hunger,
problems, etc; see page 38).
By the way, have you noticed the similarity between the future
endings ai, -as, -a | -ons, -ez, ont and the present tense of
avoir: jai tu as il/elle a | nous avons vous avez ils/elles
ont?
1.3.6 Avoir: Prsent conditionnel (hypothetical

what if)
{AUDIO} Sometimes we talk about things that havent happened
and arent real but could happen or become real in the future.
The French prsent conditionnel expresses these hypothetical
situations. Si ctait vrai if it were true
jaurais
tu aurais
il/elle aurait
un problme
une hpatite
le sida
I would have
you would have
he/she would
have
a problem
hepatitis
AIDS
nous aurions
vous auriez
une dpression
une nvrose
religieuse
une intoxication
alimentaire
we would have
you would have
a depression
a religious neurosis
they would
have
food poisoning
ils/elles
auraient
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The endings of the prsent conditionnel are the same ais, - ais,
- ait | -ions, -iez, aient you used with the imparfait. The only
difference is that now youll attach them to the future stem aur.
While reading and listening to the conditionnel prsent of
avoir youll find that
1.
The first-person singular (jaurais) and the secondperson singular (tu aurais) are identical.
2.
The pronunciation of the three singular forms (aurais

auraisaurait) and the third-person plural (auraient) is
identical [o].
In synthesis:
Singular
aurais
j
aurais
tu
il/elle aurait
I would have
you would have
he/she would have
Plural
nous aurions
vous auriez
ils/elles auraient
we would have
you would have
they would have
Combine jaurais tu aurais il/elle aurait | nous aurions vous

auriez ils/elles auraient with everything you saw earlier
(family, friends, pets, material goods, helpful people, etc; page
38).
1.3.7 Avoir: Subjonctif prsent (present

subjunctive tense)
{AUDIO} Now take a one-minute look at the subjonctif prsent.
We cant tell you now why French needs it or what it means. Just
make sure to have seen the sextet que jaie que tu aies
quil/elle ait | que nous ayons que vous ayez quils/elles
aient.
By Marie de France
God
Singular
que j
que tu
que il/elle
aie
aies
ait
Plural
que nous
ayons
que vous
ayez
que ils/elles aient
45
that I have
that you have
that he/she has
that we have
that you have
that they have
Note that the pronunciation of the three singular forms (aie

aiesait) and the third-person plural form (aient) is identical: s
simple [].
1.3.8 Summary
Lets summarize the first four avoir sextets. The 24 words are a
pillar of the French language, so no need to wait until tomorrow,
memorize them now! Remember also to still know them in a
week, and a month from now!
Prsent
jai tu as il/elle a | nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont
I have, you have, he or she has | we, you, they have
Imparfait
javais tu avais il/elle avait | nous avions vous aviez
ils/elles avaient
I, you, he or she had | we, you, they had
I, you, he or she used to have | we, you, they used to have
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Futur
jaurai tu auras il/elle aura | nous aurons vous aurez
ils/elles auront
I, you, he or she will have | we, you, they will have
Conditionnel prsent
jaurais tu aurais il/elle aurait | nous aurions vous auriez
ils/elles auraient
I, you, he or she would have | we, you, they would have
1.3.9 Avoir (table)

Lets put prsent, imparfait, futur and conditionnel prsent in
a table. The table shows you also the subjonctif prsent and the
pass simple, two tenses well discuss later. Just take a quick
glimpse at them. For the sake of completeness we also include
the subjonctif imparfait, which is extremely rare.
By Marie de France
God
{AUDIO}
Prsent
Present: I have
j
tu
il/elle
ai
as
a
Imparfait
Imperfect:
I had, I used to
have
avais
avais
avait
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons
avez
ont
avions
aviez
avaient
Futur
Future: I will
have
j
tu
il/elle
aurai
auras
aura
Conditionnel
prs.
Present conditional
I would have
aurais
aurais
aurait
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurons
aurez
auront
aurions
auriez
auraient
Subjonctif
prsent
Present
subjunctive
que j
que tu
quil/elle
aie
aies
ait
Subjonctif
imparfait
Imperfect
subjunctive
(extremely rare)
eusse
eusses
et
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
ayons
ayez
aient
eussions
eussiez
eussent
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Pass simple
Simple past
emes
etes
eurent
eus
eus
eut
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1.4
Toolbox
Simple tenses
{AUDIO} You cannot continue studying French without being
familiar with these 7 technical terms:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Prsent
Imparfait
Pass simple
Futur
Conditionnel prsent
Subjonctif prsent
Subjonctif imparfait
Present
Imperfect
Simple past
Future
Present conditional
Present subjunctive
Imperfect subjunctive
In a dialogue with your friends and colleagues youll hear or

use these tenses either every minute (prsent, imparfait,
futur) or at not even 5-minute intervals (conditionnel
prsent, subjonctif prsent).
The Pass simple and subjonctif imparfait are used in
writing only; the latter is rare even in writing.
Outlook
Go briefly back to the avoir table and familiarize yourself with
the layout. Fully dressed action words are the cornerstone of
GigaFrench and require an exceptional degree of flexibility and
vivacity. To be in total control of French action words, youll
have to know around a hundred action words and their tables.
Fortunately, they are only apparently hostile and forbidding.
The more you see of them, the easier it will be to memorize the
distinguishing features.
Progression will be dynamic. In Level 2, youll repeat the timeline exercise with tre to be; in Level 3 comes caresser to
caress; in Level 4 sucer to suck. The earlier you are able to sense
By Marie de France
God
49
(without thinking) the tenses (prsent imparfait pass

simple futur conditionnel prsent subjonctif prsent),
the faster will you master French. Invest now and start
harvesting as soon as tomorrow!
1.5
Intermezzo
Before cashing in your fresh knowledge of jai tu as il/elle a

etc and discover sexually promising composed tenses, lets
quickly deal with two of Frenchs important and easy
eccentricities.
1.5.1 on (1)
{AUDIO} The two-letter word on is a so-called indefinite
pronoun. Most often, it means we. Note that it is always
accompanied by the 3rd person singular (in red):
On a faim !
(children coming home)
On y va ?
On a eu de la chance.
Quest-ce quon peut faire ?
We are hungry!
Shall we go?
We were lucky..
What can we do?
See more uses of on at page 144.
1.5.2 Stranger vs. Family (1)

You is not only you, and if you have learned any other language
than English, youll know that. In French, when you speak to just
one person, you is tu, but when you speak to more than one
person, you becomes vous. Thus, you are crazy translates into tu
es fou [ty fu] when you talk to a crazy man and vous tes fous
[vuz-t fu] when you deal with two or more crazy men.
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In French, things are even more complicated because tu is for

family members, children or close friends only. When speaking
to a person you dont know (especially older people), or in
formal situations, you must always use vous (+ the 2nd person
plural of the action word) for both male and female, singular or
plural: vous avez [vuz-ave] you have, vous tes [vuz-t] you are,
vous caressez [vu kaese] you caress, vous aimez [vuz-eme] you
love, vous faites [vu ft] you do.
Find more on talking to strangers at page 226.
1.6
Avoir: Composed tenses
1.6.1 Introduction
Now make a giant leap forward. The action word avoir has a
double life. First, as we have seen after page 38, youll use it to
designate family and friends, material goods, helpful people,
problems etc. More often, however, you will use avoir in
combination with so-called past participles, for example fait
done/made, vu seen, pris taken, t been. The trick is hilariously
productive: take any of the forms from the avoir table above
(jai, tu as, il/elle a etc on page 46) and combine them with the
past participle of ANY French action words.
How powerful this procedure is can be seen from the following
table. With just 9 past participles (connu known, embrass kissed,
dshabill undressed, chatouill tickled, bais fucked, oubli
forgotten, etc) and 7 professions you can form 4.032 sentences or
clauses.
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{AUDIO}
Pass
comp.
Plusqueparfait
Cond.
prsent
jai
tu as
il a
elle a
I have
you have
he has
she has
nous avons
vous avez
ils ont
elles ont
we have
you have
they have
they have
javais
tu avais
il avait
elle avait
I had
you had
he had
she had
nous avions
vous aviez
ils avaient
elles avaient
we had
you had
they had
they had
jaurais
tu aurais
il aurait
elle aurait
I would
have etc.
nous aurions
vous auriez
ils auraient
elles auraient
we would
have etc.
connu
known
embrass
kissed
le lapin
the rabbit
la lapine
the lady rabbit
le prof
the teacher (m.)
la prof
the teacher (f.)
caress
caressed
dshabill
undressed
chouchout
pampered
chatouill
tickled
aim
loved
le directeur
the director (m.)
la directrice
the director (f.)
le journaliste
the journalist (m.)
la journaliste
the journalist (f.)
le boulanger
the baker
la boulangre
the lady baker
le boucher
the butcher
la bouchre
the lady butcher
Dommage
Its a pity that
que jaie
que tu aies
quil ait
quelle ait
I have
you have
he has
she has
que nous ayons

que vous ayez
quils aient
quelles aient
we have
you have
they have
they have
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Participe
pass
bais
fucked
Subj.
pass
oubli
forgotten
le fromager
the
cheesemonger
la fromagre
the lady
cheesemonger
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You may find it useful to open the webpage

www.hiv.net/pastparticiple, which will gradually introduce you
to the magic of the rabbit table.
To get the full power out of the remarkable composed tenses,
lets again procede step by step:
1.
Explore the full picture of avoir + fait (past participle of

faire to do/make)
2.
Discover frequent expressions with faire
3.
Finding out how to produce past participles
4.
Inspect the famous 7x7, the 49 most frequent action

words
5.
Complete the picture with the composed tenses of avoir
Attention
Please note that the past participle is the single most
important feature of French grammar. It must therefore be as
familiar to you as milk, bread and butter. So please repeat
three times:
past participle participe pass
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1.6.2 Faire to do/make

The next table shows the so-called composed tenses for the
action word faire. The past participle of faire is fait done/made.
Concentrate on the three highlighted boxes showing the tenses
of prime importance: the pass compos, the plus-que-parfait
and the conditionnel pass.
Composed tenses consist of
1)
derivatives of avoir (ai-as-a | avons-avez-ont etc) or,

rarely, tre (see Level 2, page 119)
+
2)
a past participle participe pass.
You have previously seen the simple avoir tenses prsent,

imparfait, conditionnel prsent etc. The corresponding
composed tenses are pass compos, plus-que-parfait and
conditionnel pass. It wont take you more than a minute to get
familiar with them.
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{AUDIO}
Plus-que-parfait
Past perfect:
I had done
j
tu
il/elle
Pass compos
Perfect:
I have done
+ I did
ai fait
as fait
a fait
avais fait
avais fait
avait fait
Pass antrieur
Preterit perfect:
I had done
(only in writing)
eus fait
eus fait
eut fait
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons fait
avez fait
ont fait
avions fait
aviez fait
avaient fait
emes fait
etes fait
eurent fait
Futur antrieur
Future perfect:
I will have done
j
tu
il/elle
aurai fait
auras fait
aura fait
Conditionnel
pass
Past conditional:
I would have done
aurais fait
aurais fait
aurait fait
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurons fait
aurez fait
auront fait
aurions fait
auriez fait
auraient fait
Subjonctif
pass
Past
subjunctive:
that I did
que j
que tu
quil/elle
aie fait
aies fait
ait fait
Subjonctif
plus-que-parfait
Past perfect
subjunctive:
that I had done
(extremely rare)
eusse fait
eusses fait
et fait
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
ayons fait
ayez fait
aient fait
eussions fait
eussiez fait
eussent fait
In other words: As you become familiar with the prsent,

imparfait and conditionnel prsent of the auxiliary action
word avoir
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jai tu as il/elle a | nous avons vous avez ils/elles

ont
ils/elles avaient
jaurais tu aurais il/elle aurait | nous aurions vous
auriez ils/elles auraient
you can build immediately the pass compos, the plus-queparfait and the conditionnel pass of faire by just adding
fait
Pass compos :
jai fait tu as fait il/elle a fait
nous avons fait vous avez fait ils/elles ont fait
I, you, he/she did/made | we, you, they did/made
+
I, you have done/made, he/she has done/made |
we, you, they have done/made
Plus-que-parfait :
javais fait tu avais fait il/elle avait fait
nous avions fait vous aviez fait ils/elles avaient fait
I, you, he/she had done/made | we, you, they had done/made
Conditionnel pass :
jaurais fait tu aurais fait il/elle aurait fait
nous aurions fait vous auriez fait ils/elles auraient
fait
I, you, he/she would have done/made |
we, you, they would have done/made
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1.6.3 Expressions with faire

{AUDIO} The French faire is used in a huge variety of
expressions. As you see, faire is often used in combination with
love, sport, housework no need to say which action the French
prefer.
faire lamour
faire la sieste
faire un pompier
faire les devoirs
faire du sport
faire du vlo
faire du bateau
faire des courses
faire la cuisine
faire la vaisselle
faire la lessive
faire le mnage
faire le lit
faire une promenade
faire la fte
faire le plein
to make love
to take a nap
to give a blow job
to do homework
to do sports
to go biking
to go boating
to go shopping
to cook
to do the dishes
to do the laundry
to clean the house
to make the bed
to go for a walk
to party
to refuel
Lets do a final check of the three most important composed

tenses pass compos, plus-que-parfait, conditionnel pass
in Frances preferred action:
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{AUDIO}
j
tu
il/elle
Pass compos
Perfect: I have made
love (+ I made love)
ai fait lamour
as fait lamour
a fait lamour
Plus-que-parfait
Past perfect:
I had made love etc
avais fait lamour
avais fait lamour
avait fait lamour
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons fait lamour

avez fait lamour
ont fait lamour
avions fait lamour

aviez fait lamour
avaient fait lamour
j
tu
il/elle
Conditionnel pass
Past conditional:
I would have made
love
aurais fait lamour
aurais fait lamour
aurait fait lamour
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurions fait lamour

auriez fait lamour
auraient fait lamour
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1.6.4 Past participles: how to get them

{AUDIO} As explained earlier, you will hear in a 10-minute
dialogue the single elements of the various avoir sextet dozens
of times, most often in combination with past participles. It is
therefore crucial to understand how to form the past participles.
As so often in French, you will just change the endings. For the
biggest group of action words, those of Group 1 which end in er
(there are more than 6,000 of them!), remove the er to obtain
the so-called root; then add . (Note that this does not change
the pronunciation.) Some examples:
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Infinitive
to love
to excuse
to hope
aimer
excuser
esprer
Je lai aim.
Elle la excus.
Nous lavons espr.
Root
aimexcusespr-
Past participle
aim
loved
excus
excused
espr
hoped
I loved him.
She excused him.
We hoped so.
For Group 2 action words (fewer than 300 words which comprise
some of the words ending in ir, see 266), cut the r.
Infinitive
to think, to reflect rflchir
ragir
to react
russir
to succeed
Jai bien rflchi.
Elle a trs mal ragi.
Nous avons russi en tout.
Past participle
rflchi
reflected, thought
ragi
reacted
russi
succeeded
I thought well about it.
I have given it some thought.
She reacted very badly.
We succeeded in everything.
Group 3 actions words are heterogeneous (see page xxx) and

have many different past participles. There are about 350 words
in this third group.
Infinitive
to want
to put
to open
vouloir
mettre
ouvrir
Je lai voulu et je lai eu.

Jai mis le pain sur la table.
Avez-vous ouvert la fentre ?
Past participle
voulu
wanted
mis
put
ouvert
opened
I wanted it and I got it.
I put the bread on the table.
Have you opened the window?
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1.6.5 Forty-nine action words

Now for the cherry on top. If you have the power and
determination to learn the 49 most frequent French action
words, do it now because soon you must know them all (yes,
100%). The following 7x7 words represent about 10% of the
action words you will have to learn over the next months. The
relative importance of the Top 49 is shown in the word cloud.
Cloud 1.3. The Top 49 action words
{AUDIO} If you are tired, learn at least 2x7 words because they
represent 30% of all French action words you will hear througout
your entire life. The percentages in the table indicate the
cumulative frequency. Group 3 participes pass are shown in
blue.
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Group*
Infinitive
Past participle
Infinitive
Past participle
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
faire
dire
aller (tre**)
pouvoir
voir
savoir
vouloir
20.9%
fait
dit
all
pu
vu
su
voulu
to do/make
to say
to go
can
to see
to know
to want
done/made
said
gone
could
seen
known
wanted
3
3
3
3
1
1
3
venir (tre)
prendre
devoir
falloir
passer
parler
mettre
29.5%
venu
pris
d
fallu
pass
parl
mis
to come
to take
must
to have to
to pass
to speak
to put
come
taken
must
had to
passed
spoken
put
1
1
1
3
3
1
1
regarder
demander
trouver
suivre
croire
donner
penser
35.9%
regard
demand
trouv
suivi
cru
donn
pens
to look
to ask
to find
to follow
to believe
to give
to think
looked
asked
found
followed
believed
given
thought
1
1
1
3
1
3
3
laisser
aimer
rester (tre)
tenir
arriver (tre)
entendre
sentir
41.0%
laiss
aim
rest
tenu
arriv
entendu
senti
to leave
to love
to stay
to hold
to arrive
to hear
to feel/smell
left
loved
stayed
held
arrived
heard
felt/smelled
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3
3
3
3
1
3
3
attendre
connatre
sortir (tre)
comprendre
sembler
devenir (tre)
ouvrir
45.1%
attendu
connu
sorti
compris
sembl
devenu
ouvert
to wait
to know
to get out
to understand
to seem
to become
to open
waited
knew
got out
understood
seemed
become
opened
3
3
1
3
3
1
1
revenir (tre)
partir (tre)
porter
rendre
rpondre
appeler
arrter
48.3%
revenu
parti
port
rendu
rpondu
appel
arrt
to come back
to leave
to carry
to give back
to answer
to call
to stop
come back
leaved
carried
given back
answered
called
stopped
3
1
3
1
1
1
2
vivre
chercher
paratre
tomber (tre)
lever
commencer
finir
51.2%
vcu
cherch
paru
tomb
lev
commenc
fini
to live
to search for
to appear
to fall
to raise
to begin
to end
lived
searched for
appeared
fallen
risen
begun
ended
* The Top 10 French action words are all from Group 3 although this group
comprises only around 350 words. Group 2 action words are rare.
** These action words form the composed tenses with tre. See the details
at page 134.
1.6.6 eu
Finally, well complete our past participle exercise with jai eu (I
had, I have had). Eu is the past participle of avoir. A quick look is
sufficient. Dont spend more than a minute on the following
table:
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{AUDIO}
Pass compos
Perfect: I had or
I have had
Plus-que-parfait
Past perfect:
I had had
j
tu
il/elle
ai eu
as eu
a eu
avais eu
avais eu
avait eu
Pass antrieur
Preterit perfect:
I had had
(only in writing)
eus eu
eus eu
eut eu
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons eu
avez eu
ont eu
avions eu
aviez eu
avaient eu
emes eu
etes eu
eurent eu
Futur antrieur
Future perfect:
I will have had
j
tu
il/elle
aurai eu
auras eu
aura eu
Conditionnel
pass
Past conditional:
I would have had
aurais eu
aurais eu
aurait eu
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurons eu
aurez eu
auront eu
aurions eu
auriez eu
auraient eu
Subjonctif
pass
Past
subjunctive:
that I had
que j
que tu
quil/elle
aie eu
aies eu
ait eu
Subjonctif
plus-que-parfait
Past perfect
subjunctive:
that I had had
(extremely rare)
eusse eu
eusses eu
et eu
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
ayons eu
ayez eu
aient eu
eussions eu
eussiez eu
eussent eu
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Again: having seen the simple tenses of the auxiliary action word
avoir
jai tu as il/elle a | nous avons vous avez ils/elles

ont
ils/elles avaient
jaurais tu aurais il/elle aurait | nous aurions vous
auriez ils/elles auraient
you can build the pass compos, the plus-que-parfait and the
conditionnel pass within seconds. Just add eu
Pass compos :
jai eu tu as eu il/elle a eu
nous avons eu vous avez eu ils/elles ont eu
I, you, he/she had | we, you, they had
or
I, you have had, he/she has had | we, you, they have had
Plus-que-parfait :
javais eu tu avais eu il/elle avait eu
nous avions eu vous aviez eu ils/elles avaient eu
I, you, he/she had had | we, you, they had had
Conditionnel pass :
jaurais eu tu aurais eu il/elle aurait eu
nous aurions eu vous auriez eu ils/elles auraient eu
I, you, he/she would have had | we, you, they would have had
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The following examples make it immediately clear.

1.
Family, friends, pets etc
jai eu
tu as eu
il/elle a eu
un petit pnis
deux surs
trois amants
nous avons eu quatre matresses

vous avez eu
cinq chats
ils/elles ont eu six chiens
2.
I had
you had
he/she had
a small penis
two sisters
three lovers
we had
you had
they had
four mistresses
five cats
six dogs
Hunger, thirst, fear etc
javais eu*
tu avais eu
il/elle avait eu
faim
soif
du retard
I had been*
you had been
he/she had
been
hungry
thirsty
late
nous avions
eu
vous aviez eu
ils/elles
avaient eu
peur
we had been
afraid
raison
tort
you had been right

they had been wrong
* In these examples, French uses avoir to have while English uses to be.
3.
Problems etc
jaurais eu
un problme
tu aurais eu
une hpatite
il/elle aurait eu
le sida
nous aurions
eu
vous auriez eu
une dpression
ils/elles
auraient eu
une nvrose
religieuse
une intoxication
alimentaire
I would have
had
you would have
had
he/she would
have had
a problem
we would have
had
you would have
had
they would
have had
a depression
hepatitis
AIDS
a religious
neurosis
food poisoning
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Hold on a minute this is a watershed in your life! For the first

time ever, you have seen the complete picture of one single
French action word. Were you prepared for that? Did anyone tell
you that French could be that complicated? Probably not. The
French system of 14 tenses is shocking, indeed. But the worst is
over. From now on, actions words will be yours!
1.6.7 Toolbox 2
Composed tenses
{AUDIO} Please dedicate a few minutes to these 7 technical
words:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Pass compos
Plus-que-parfait
Pass antrieur
Futur antrieur
Conditionnel pass
Subjonctif pass
Subjonctif plus-que-parfait
Perfect
Past perfect
Preterit perfect
Future perfect
Past conditional
Past subjunctive
Past perfect subjunctive
The pass compos (for example jai fait, in English I did or

I have done) is the most commonly used past tense in French.
Youll choose it to express an action that has been completed
either at the time you speak or at some known or unknown
time in the past.
The plus-que-parfait (for example, javais fait I had made)
and the conditionnel pass (for example, jaurais fait I
would have made) are also frequently used.
The futur antrieur (for example, jaurai fait I will have
made; see Level xxx) is less common, as is the subjonctif pass
(for example que jaie fait that I made; see Level xxx).
The pass antrieur and the subjonctif plus-que-parfait are rare
and used almost only in literature and historical accounts. It
is enough that you know that they exist.
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1.7
Full timeline
Time for a summary: The following illustration puts the 12

important French tenses (time slots) on a timeline. If you feel
confused, come back later; after a few weeks, the 12 tenses will
look familiar. Seven tenses are an absolute must now, today,
before midnight. These are the glorious prsent, pass
compos, imparfait, plus-que-parfait, futur, conditionnel
prsent and conditionnel pass.
Some of the names sound complicated, but there are only 12 of
them. In comparison with the thousands of French words you
will learn in the future, thats next to nothing.
(The rare subjonctif imparfait and subjonctif plus-que-parfait are
not included in the figure).
Plus-que-parfait
Pass antrieur
Conditionnel
pass
Pass compos
Pass simple
Futur antrieur
Conditionnel
Imparfait
Prsent
Futur
prsent
Subjonctif
pass
1.8
Subjonctif
prsent
Prsent
Of the 7 glorious tenses, one tense stands out and will require
your constant attention: the prsent. In French grammar, the
present is far more diversified than all other 13 tenses combined.
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Pay particular attention to tre to be and caresser to caress. tre

is almost as important as avoir (see page 119) and caresser is
the prototype for more than 95% of all French action words, the
so-called Group 1 action words ending in er (see page 198).
{AUDIO}
tre to be
caresser to caress
I am, you are, he/he is

we, you, they are
I caress, you caress, he/she

caresses
we, you, they caress
je
tu
il/elle
suis
es
est
caresse
caresses
caresse
nous
vous
ils/elles
sommes
tes
sont
caressons
caressez
caressent
Part. pass
See page
t
119
caress
198
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
Faire to do/make is the third most important action word (see

page 53); agir to act is a prototype for Group 2 action words (see
page 266).
faire to do/make
agir to act
I do, you do, he/she does

we, you, they do
I act, you act, he/she acts

we, you, they act
je/j
tu
il/elle
fais
fais
fait
agis
agis
agit
nous
vous
ils/elles
faisons
faites
font
agissons
agissez
agissent
Part. pass
See page
fait
194
agi
266
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I
you
he/she
we
you
they
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aller to go
savoir to know
I go, you go, he/she goes

we, you, they go
I know, you know, he/she

knows
we, you, they know
je
tu
il/elle
vais
vas
va
sais
sais
sait
nous
vous
ils/elles
allons
allez
vont
savons
savez
savent
Part. pass
See page
all
134
su
271
1.9
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
Negation (I)
{AUDIO} Finally go a tiny step further. Put n and pas around aias-a | avons-avez-ont. That gives you nai pas nas pas na
pas | navons pas navez pas nont pas. By doing so, you
negate what you said earlier:
Singular
nai pas
je
nas pas
tu
na pas
il/elle
I
you
he/she
do not have
do not have
does not has
Plural
nous
vous
ils/elles
we
you
they
do not have
do not have
do not have
navons pas
navez pas
nont pas
Note that whenever a French two-letter word ending in e (je, ce, de, le, me,
ne, que, se, te) comes before a vowel (a,e,i,o,u), the semi-vowel y or a mute
h (more on that later), the final e is replaced by an apostrophe: j, c, d, l,
m, n, qu, s, t. This is true also for que which becomes qu.
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Some examples:
Dieu existe.
Dieu nexiste pas.
Dieu a cr lhomme
son image.
Dieu na pas cr
lhomme son image.
Lhomme a cr Dieu
son image.
Lhomme a invent
lamour.
Dieu est Amour.
God exists.
God doesnt exist.
God created man in his own
image.
God didnt create man in his
own image.
Man created God in his own
image.
Man invented love.
God is Love.
Statement is
wrong
right
wrong
right
right
right
right
In Level 2 (page 147), well go into the details of negatives.
1.10 Summary + Outlook

Summary
Exploding an action word into 40 pieces is called conjugation.
Avoir, the tip of the iceberg, is the unconjugated form; this
unconjugated form is called the infinitive. The 40 forms eu,
ayant, ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont, avais, avait, avions, aviez,
avaient, aurai, auras, aura, aurons, aurez, auront, aurais,
aurait, aurions, auriez, auraient, aie, aies, ait, ayons, ayez,
aient, eus, eut, emes, etes, eurent, eusses, et, eussions,
eussiez, eussent are conjugated forms of avoir. French is clearly
more complicated than English as it needs 40 words where
English needs just a judicious and fine-tuned cocktail of 12
words (have, has, having, had, will, would, am, are, is, was,
were, been).
Note that French infinitives are always single words while
English infinitives are accompanied by the word to:
aller to go, venir to come.
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Outlook
The bad news: youll have to master more than 30 different
forms for every single action word, be it faire to do/make, aller
to go, venir to come, vouloir to want, savoir to know, pouvoir to
be able to, voir to see or any other of the 500 to 1000 French
action words youll learn over the coming months. Although
precise rules describe how to obtain these 30 different forms, it
will take you months to interiorize them to a point where you
can build them in auto-pilot mode, on-the-fly, without even
thinking about it.
The good news: you cannot fail. Our brain is hard-wired to
accomplish these acrobatic auto-pilot grammar tasks.
Persevere and youll succeed faster than you can imagine.
Today, you have learned 20 sextets (the 7 single and the 7
composed tenses of avoir + the prsent sextets of tre,
caresser, faire, agir, aller and savoir. As the number of
entirely distinct sextets does not exceed 100, you have already
gotten 20% of all action word roadblocks out of your way. Well
keep you updated on your progress.
II. Grammar
We said earlier that learning French consists of three fairly
distinct tasks:
1.
Memorizing the meaning of thousands of words. On page

xxx, well present you with more details.
2.
Mastering French action words. The last 40 pages have

shown you the complete picture of avoir. At every level well
By Marie de France
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repeat the exercise with other action words. Mastering them

is the most painstaking part of French grammar.
3.
French rest grammar. All other aspects of French

grammar taken together are less demanding than French
action words.
From left to right: Montmartre, Champs-lyses, Tour Montparnasse

Copyright: Marie de France
1.11 Word classes
Grammar is about 1) words being stitched together to form

sentences and 2) how some of the words get modified in the
process. Lets start by grouping words into classes (you may also
call them parts of speech). All French words belong to one of the
following 8 classes:
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1.
action words (7,000)
2.
articles (10)
3.
adjectives (11,000)
4.
nouns (31,000)
5.
adverbs (basic adverbs: 100)
6.
conjunctions (50)
7.
prepositions (40)
8.
pronouns (170)
The numbers indicate how 50,000 words of a medium-sized

dictionary would distribute among the 8 word classes. Note that
action words, nouns and adjectives represent more than 99% of
all French words. Adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions and pronouns
technical terms you will soon be familiar with total less than
400.
The coming 20 pages will give you a short introduction to each
word class.
1.12 One-word sentences
One-word sentences are the easiest part of grammar. Almost all

of them are orders:
Viens ! [vj]
Come!
Arrte ! [at]
Stop!
Mange ! [m]
Eat!
Silence ! [sils]
Silence!
Used both in a spatial sense and figuratively

(orgasm etc)
Used to stop an action (cars approaching,
children running, lovers coming)
Frequently used in stressed parent-child
relationship
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1.13 Adjectives and Nouns
First, some English examples for adjectives and nouns:
Adjectives: legal, fundamental, big, green
Nouns: abortion, right, door, apple
You are about to discover a fundamental principle of French

grammar the gender and number variability of some (not all)
nouns and adjectives and to learn that an e designates a
feminine gender and an s a plural. Here is a table you will see
again and again:
Number
(How many?)
Singular
Plural
Gender (Sex)
Masculine
Feminine
e
s
es
Well call this scheme the ES rule. That sounds complicated, so

lets do it step by step.
Imagine a simple sentence about your tired darling
Mon petit chri est fatigu.
My little darling is tired.
and lets do a preliminary analysis:
1.
mon my is a so-called possessive adjective which is used to

declare ownership of things. When referring to people,
possessive adjectives indicate relationship.
2.
petit little is an adjective which describes qualities of people,

animals and things;
3.
chri darling is a noun, a word that usually refers to a person,

place, thing, or idea;
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4.
est means is; and
5.
fatigu tired is, again, an adjective.
Now change gender and number of your little darling and see
how the noun and the adjectives change. Note that
the final s is never pronounced
all four variations of chri (chri, chrie, chris, chries)

and fatigu (fatigu, fatigue, fatigus, fatigues) have
the same pronunciation
{AUDIO}
1. One male
Mon petit chri est fatigu.
2. One female
Ma petite chrie est fatigue.
3. More than one male
Mes petits chris sont fatigus.
My little darlings are tired.
4. More than one female
Mes petites chries sont fatigues.
My little darlings are tired.
Depending on the situation, the tone of these sentences may
vary from sorrow to sympathy or veiled reproach. Typical
situations include hard physicial work, tough jobs, or sex.
1.13.1 Possessive adjectives

Managing possessive adjectives in French is only slightly more
tricky than in English. Where English has one word my ,
French has three: mon ma for singular nouns and mes for
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nouns in the plural. Youll use mon when your darling is a boy or
a man (or for other masculine nouns); ma when your darling is a
girl or a woman (or for other feminine nouns); and mes for
nouns in the plural, regardless of their gender.
Mon petit chri !
Ma petite chrie !
Mes petits chris !
Mes petites chries !
Number
(How many?)
My little darling!
My little darling!
My little darlings!
My little darlings!
Singular
Plural
boy or man
girl or woman
boys or men
girls or women
Gender (Sex)
Masculine
Feminine
mon
ma
mes
You will see later (page 228)
ton, ta, tes your

and
son, sa, ses his/her.
1.13.2 Adjectives
Lets analyse the word petit little in our four sentences.
Mon petit chri !
Ma petite chrie !
Mes petits chris !
Mes petites chries !
My little darling!
My little darling!
My little darlings!
My little darlings!
boy or man
girl or woman
boys or men
girls or women
As you see, little remains unchanged throughout the four

sentences because English adjectives are invariable and
unaffected by gender or number.
Not so in French. In adjectives like petit, different endings
indicate gender (sex) and number (how many?). Youll add
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e when the corresponding noun is feminine singular

(one female darling: petite)
s when the corresponding noun is masculine plural

(two or more darlings: petits)
es when the corresponding noun is feminine plural

(two or more female darlings: petites)
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
petite
petit
petits
petites
Or just the endings:
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
e
s
es
Final reminder
Singular: one person, one thing, one idea, one place etc.
Plural: more than one person, more than one thing, more than one
idea etc.
Masculine: a boy, a man or another masculine person, thing, idea etc.
Feminine: a girl, a woman or another feminine person, thing, idea
etc.
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1.13.2.1
77
Demonstrative adjectives
{AUDIO} A sub-species of adjectives are the so-called

demonstrative adjectives, the equivalent of the English this and
these. Youll use them to emphasize one specific person, animal,
place, thing or idea.
ce petit Dieu
cette vierge
ces petits Dieux
ces vierges
this little God

this virgin
these little Gods
these virgins
masculine singular
feminine singular
masculine plural
feminine plural
cet homme, cet ange
this man, this angel
masculine singular
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
ce (cet*)
cette
ces
* Use cet before masculine nouns beginning with a vowel (a,e,i,o,u), the
semi-vowel y or a mute h: ange, homme, htel, hpital etc.
1.13.3 Nouns
Finally, lets check the noun in our four sentences: chri darling.
In French, as in English, you usually add an s to mark the plural.
Some (but not all) words add an e to distinguish the feminine
form.
Mon petit chri est fatigu !
Ma petite chrie est
fatigue !
Mes petits chris sont
fatigus !
Mes petites chries sont
fatigues !
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My little darling is tired!

My little darling is tired!
boy or man
girl or woman
My little darlings are tired!
boys or men
My little darlings are tired!
girls or women
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Again, add
e when the noun is feminine singular (one lady darling:

chrie)
s when the noun is masculine plural (two or more

darlings; in our case chris)
es when the noun is feminine plural (two or more lady

darlings: chries)
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
chrie
chri
chris
chries
Exception. Words ending with an s dont change in the plural:

Singular
le pnis
le clitoris
penis
clitoris
Plural
les pnis
les clitoris
penises
clitorises
1.14 Articles
{AUDIO} English has one definite article the and the indefinite
articles a, an. French has three definite articles (le, la | les) and
three indefinite articles (un, une | des).
1.14.1 Definite article

The English definite article the has three equivalents in French.
In the plural (whenever you have more than one person, thing,
idea, or place), the definite article is les, no matter if the gender
is masculine or feminine. In the singular (when you have only
one person, thing, etc), the definite article is le for masculine
words and la for feminine words.
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Number
le lit
la chambre
les lits
les chambres
Singular
Plural
79
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
le
la
les
the bed
the bedroom
the beds
the bedrooms
Exception. Because le and la dont like to be in front of a vowel

(a, e, i, o, u, y) or a mute h, youll use l in these cases:
lhtel m.
lhistoire f.
lamour m.
lorgasme m.
ljaculation f.
leau f.
hotel
history
love
orgasm
ejaculation
water
Note that every French noun is either masculine or feminine and

that you cannot guess the gender. The only reliable way to know
the gender is memorizing the article while learning a noun:
le pied
la main
foot
hand
When a noun begins with a vowel or a mute h (lami, lhtel),

memorize the indefinite article un une a, an instead:
un amour
un orgasme
une jaculation
une histoire
une eau
un ami
une amie
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love
orgasm
ejaculation
history
water
friend (male)
friend (female)
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un htel
une htesse de lair
hotel
stewardess
Important preview: You will soon encounter the words le, la

and les in the completely different context of so-called personal
object pronouns:
Je le vois.
Je la vois.
Je les vois.
I see him.
I see her.
I see them.
For details, see page 232.
1.14.2 Indefinite article

un prservatif
un orgasme
une jaculation
des prservatifs
des orgasmes
des jaculations
a condom
a orgasm
an ejaculation
(some) condoms
(some) orgasms
(some) ejaculations
The indefinite article (English: a, an) is un for masculine nouns and

une for feminine nouns. The plural for both genders is des (a
contraction of de+les). Des can be translated into English as some
but is often omitted.
The indefinite article is commonly used for persons or objects
that can be counted (girls, apples, boys).
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
un
une
des
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1.14.3 Partitive article

Je veux du sexe.
Je vais boire du lait.
Je vais prendre de la bire.
Je prendrai de leau.
I want sex.
(du is not translated in English)
Im going to drink milk.
(du is not translated in English)
I am going to have (some) beer.
Ill take (some) water.
In contrast, the so-called partitive article refers to non-countables,

for example sex. You can measure sex, but you cannot count it
(Two or three sexes, please?) Other examples for noncountables are argent (m.) money, lait milk, eau (f.) water, sucre
sugar.
The partitive article consists of two words: de + article. Note
that
1.
de + le always contract to du
2.
de + les always contract to des
Singular
Number
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
du*
de la
de l**
des*
* de + le is not allowed by French grammar; instead, youll condense it to

du; for the same reason, de + les become des.
** Use always de l before nouns starting with a vowel or a mute h, be they
masculine or feminine.
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Exception: In negative constructions, the default partitive

articles (du de la de l' | des) all change to de/d. (In the
following examples, de l becomes d and des becomes de:
Affirmative
Negative
Affirmative
Negative
Jai de lexprience.
Je nai pas dexprience.
Jai des prservatifs.
Je nai pas de prservatifs.
I have experience.
I dont have (any) experience.
I have condoms.
I have no condoms.
1.14.4 Pronunciation Pitfalls

Please note that adding an s to form a plural doesnt change the
pronunciation of the noun.
Singular
lingalit f.
linjustice f.
la violence
le meurtre
la guerre
le gnocide
lhomme m.
lhistoire
inequality
injustice
violence
assassination
war
genocide
man
history
Plural
les ingalits
les injustices
les violences
les meutres
les guerres
les gnocides
les hommes
les histoires
So how do you know if a word is singular or plural? In writing,

the final s gives you the clue. In hearing, only the article can
tell you the difference, le and la indicating a singular noun and
les indicating a plural noun.
Note how crucial the correct pronunciation of le and les is. Look
at this:
Jai fait lamour avec le garon.
Jai fait lamour avec les garons.
I made love with the boy.

I made love with the boys.
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In English, everythings straight: you make love with one boy or

more than one boys. The final s tells it all. Not so in French.
When you hear these sentences, the difference between
romantic love and group sex depends entirely on the definite
article if it is the singular le, it could be love, if it is the plural
les, it might be more randy sexual behaviour. Students from
Italy and Spain typically have problems differentiating le and
les. Please refer to the video xxx to percieve the difference
between true love and group sex. Your future might depend on
it.
1.15 Outlook: Nouns and Adjectives

Basics solved
In the coming levels, we will present more nouns and more
adjectives. Dont expect anything fundamentally new. The only
(minor) roadblocks to the full understanding of these word
classes are plural irregularities (example: le cheval horse | les
chevaux horses) or, in the case of adjectives, gender
irregularities (cruel is cruel in the masculine and cruelle in the
feminine). Compared to the complexity of a fully expanded
action word table, these are ethereal subtleties. Consider the
problem of nouns and adjectives as basically solved.
1.16 Jokers
You are now familiar with action words (verbs), nouns, and
adjectives. More than 99% of all French words are from these
word classes.
We shall not end Level 1 without talking about the remaining
four word classes. The approximate number of these words is
indicated in parentheses:
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Adverbs (basic adverbs: 100)
Conjunctions (50)
Prepositions (40)
Pronouns (170)
o
personal (I, me, you, he, him, she)
possessive (mine, yours, his)
demonstrative (this, that, these, those)
interrogative (who, what, which)
relative (who, whom, which)
Taken together, well call them jokers because they are contentinsensitive and youll use them everywhere, anytime and
independent of the subject you are talking or writing about.
For each class, well show you a few examples. If your word brain
has some storage capacity left, learn them today; otherwise,
come back later. The important thing is that you 1) know what
adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions and pronouns are and
2) remember that their number is limited and can be mastered in
a few weeks.
1.16.1 Adverbs
{AUDIO} Adverbs are invariable words that provide additional
information for
an action word
an adjective
or another adverb
The additional information covers a wide range of phenomena:

time and space (when and where), manner (how), quantity (how
often) and degree (comparison).
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Lets start with 11 extremely common words:

Adverb of
hier
aujourd'hui
demain
ici
l
bien
mal
peu
beaucoup
plus
moins
yesterday
today
tomorrow
here
there
well
poorly
few, little
a lot
more
less
time
time
time
place
place
manner
manner
quantity
quantity
comparison
comparison
1.16.2 Conjunctions
{AUDIO} Conjunctions (literally: joining together) link similar
words or groups of words. French uses two types of
conjunctions:
1. Coordinating conjunctions join elements with an equal
importance. There are only 7 of them:
et
ou
mais
donc
car
or
ni
and
or
but
thus, therefore
for, because
yet
neither
For today, please memorize at least et and, ou or, mais but, and
donc thus, therefore.
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2. Subordinate conjunctions link dependent clauses to main

clauses. The most important one is que that:
Dis-lui
Main clause
Tell him
que
Subordinate
conjunction
that
Dieu est un sadique.

Dependent clause
God is a sadist.
There are about 50 subordinate conjunctions. You will easily

identify them because most finish with que (parce que because,
alors que while, whereas) or incorporate que (lorsque when,
puisque since [reason]).
Here are 7 important subordinate conjunctions:
parce que
pendant que
ds que
si
mme si
au moment o
because
while
as soon as
if
even if
(at the moment) when
Check these sentence fragments:

parce quil est bte
pendant que nous faisions
lamour
si tu viens tout de suite
ds que nous aurons fini
mme si ce nest pas
possible
au moment o il est rentr
because hes stupid

while we made love
if you come right now
as soon as we have finished
even if it isnt possible
when he came back
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1.16.3 Prepositions
Prepositions are short words such as at, of, in, on, to, with which
link words in a sentence. They are usually used in front of
nouns (boy, girl, flower, tree) or pronouns (him, her, them) and
show, for example,
1. Where something takes place (at my friends place)
2. When something happens (before making love)
3. Descriptive information (the doctor with the pony tail)
{AUDIO} The most common French prepositions are
de
dans
avec
sans
entre
pour
of, from
at, in, to, on, from, until
in
with
without
between
for
The five prepositions dans, avec, sans, entre and pour are
shown below in proportion to their frequency of use. The even
more frequent de and which have multiple translations are not
shown.
Cloud 1.4. Dans, avec, sans etc.

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As de and have multiple functions and meanings, well present

them in more detail.
1.16.3.1
de
Youll use the preposition de/d to define possession, origin,

content, cause or other defining features. Depending on the
context, English translations include of, from, in, about and by.
Use
Possession or belonging le palais du (de+le)
prsident
le portable dOscar
Origin or starting point Je suis de Paris.
une assiette de riz
Material or content
mourir damour
Cause or authorship
un livre de BSK
il parle de sa femme
about
un pice dor
Matter
un livre de 200
Price
the Presidents palace

Oscars mobile
Im from Paris.
a plate of rice
to die from love
a book by BSK
he talks about his wife
a golden coin
a 200 book
Remember what we said about the partitive article above (page

80):
1.
2.
Singular
Number
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
du*
de la
de l**
des*
* de + le is not allowed by French grammar; instead, youll condense it to

du; for the same reason, de + les condenses to des.
** Use always de l before nouns starting with a vowel or a mute h, be they
masculine or feminine.
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89
The preposition , too, has many different uses.

Use
Location, destination
Distance
Time
Possession
In some infinitive
constructions
Jhabite Paris.
Je vais Londres.
Le Louvre est dix
minutes dici.
Il viendra midi.
Cette maison est JeanClaude.
Tu nas rien dire.
I live in Paris.
Im going to London.
The Louvre is 10
minutes from here.
Hell come at noon.
This is Jean-Claudes
house.
You have nothing to say
(object).
When the preposition is followed by the definite articles le or

les, the following simple rules apply:
1.
+ le always contract to au
2.
+ les always contract to aux
Singular
Number
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
au*
la
l**
aux
* au is the contraction of + le; aux is the contraction of + les.

** Use l before nouns starting with a vowel or a mute h, be they masculine
or feminine.
1.16.4 Pronouns
Pronouns are great simplifiers of speech because they replace
nouns (Felix, Charlotte, brother, sister, tree, car) with the
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simpler and shorter words he, she, it. You already know 8 French
pronouns: je tu il/elle | nous vous ils/elles. Remember:
1st person singular

2nd person singular
3rd person singular
Singular
je/j
I
tu
you
il/elle
he/she (it*)
1st person plural

2nd person plural
3rd person plural
Plural
nous
we
vous
you
ils/elles they
These are the so-called personal subject pronouns. You will soon
meet the personal object pronouns (POPs: me, te, le/la | nous,
vous, les + lui, leur) which are only slightly more difficult to
manage (see page 232). Take a short preview of so-called direct
POPs:
{AUDIO}
Tu me vois.
Je te vois.
Je le vois.
Je la vois.
You see me.

I see you.
I see him.
I see her.
Tu nous vois?
Je vous vois.
Tu les vois?
Do you see us?

I see you.
Do you see them?
Before action words starting with a vowel, me, te, le/la become
m, t, l/l:
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Tu maimes ?
Je taime.
Je laime.
Je laime.
Do you love me.

I love you.
I love him.
I love her.
Tu nous aimes?
Je vous aime.
Tu les aimes?
Do you love us?

I love you.
Do you love them?
91
We will go into more detail on page 232. Today, you need to

know just two more words that are ubiquitous in French: the
relative pronouns qui and que.
1.16.4.1
Relative pronouns: Qui & Que
{AUDIO} Look at the sentence Let me present you my friend Laurent

who was president of the COP21. The sentence can be split into two
parts:
Main clause
Relative clause
Let me present you my friend Laurent

who was the president of the COP21.
Who is the so-called relative pronoun which refers to your friend

Laurent. Most importantly, who is the subject of the following
relative clause! In French, who would be translated as qui.
Now look at the following sentence:
Main clause
Relative clause
Let me present you my friend Laurent

whom I met at ENA (one of the most prestigious
and elite French schools) in 1971.
As you see, the main clause is identical, but the relative clause is
radically different. Who has become whom, and the subject of the
relative clause is I. In French, whom would be translated with
que.
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In other words: relative pronouns introduce relative clauses and

link them to previously mentioned words. The difference
between qui and que is simple: qui functions as the subject of
the relative clause whereas que (qu before vowel and mute h)
functions as the direct object of the relative clause. See first qui
as subject of the relative clause:
Main clause
Relative clause; qui/who is the subject of

the relative clause.
Je te prsente mon ami Laurent
qui
a t le prsident de la COP21
(Conference Of the Parties,
Confrence sur les
Changements Climatique
2015).
Let me present you my friend

Laurent
who
was the president of the

COP21 (Conference on
Climate Change).
Second, see que as object of the relative clause:

Main clause
Relative clause; que is the object of the

relative clause because the subject is je
/ I.
Je te prsente mon ami Laurent
que
jai connu lENA (cole

nationale dadministration) en
1971 (mille neuf cents
soixante-onze).
Let me present you my friend

Laurent
whom
I met at ENA (one of the most

prestigious French elite
schools) in 1971.
By Marie de France
God
93
Note that
qui never contracts with other words.
que becomes qu' before a word beginning with a vowel, most
frequently with the personal pronouns il/elle and ils/elles:
quil
quelle
quils
quelles
In English, you can often omit whom in French, you cant ever
leave it out:
Je te montrerai la femme quil a
aime.
Je te montrerai lhomme quelle a
aim.
2016 Edition
Ill show you the woman (whom) he

loved.
Ill show you the man (whom) she
loved.
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1.16.5 Outlook: Adv., Conj., Prep. and Pron.

Outlook
At every new level, you will discover more adverbs,
conjunctions, and prepositions. It is superb news that their
number is limited (<400), although it may take you
substantially longer to memorize quoique even though, de
faon que in such a way that, jusqu ce que until than simple
nouns such as le pain bread, le fromage cheese and le vin wine.
In any case, mastering adverbs, conjunctions, and prepositions
is an immediate task. Remember that they are contentinsensitive and youll use them everywhere, anytime and
independent of the subject you are talking or writing about.
My advice: devote particular attention to these few hundred
words. Youll continue at page 167.
1.17 Bits and Pieces

1.17.1 Telling the hour
{AUDIO} While exploring jai tu as il/elle a | nous avons
vous tes ils/elles ont, (see page 38), you met the numbers
from 1 to 12. Now tell the time until noon.
By Marie de France
God
un, une
deux
trois
quatre
cinq
six
sept
huit
neuf
dix
onze
douze
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Quelle heure est-il?

Il est une heure.
Il est deux heures.
Il est trois heures et quart.
Il est quatre heures et demie.
95
What time is it?

Its one oclock.
Its two oclock.
Its a quarter past three.
Its half past four.
Il est six heures moins le quart. Its a quarter to six.
Il est onze heures.

Il est midi.
Its eleven oclock.

Its noon.
How would you say, Its four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten oclock?
Right: Il est quatre | cinq | six | sept | huit | neuf | dix | onze
heures. Excellent!
And how would you say at two, at three, at four, at five oclock? Just
combine + [number] + heures: deux | trois | quatre | cinq |
six | sept | huit | neuf | dix | onze heures. Magnifique!
1.17.2 Cardinals and Ordinals

{AUDIO} The numbers shown above are cardinal numbers (one, two,
three etc), as opposed to so-called ordinal numbers (first, second,
third, etc) In French, youll use cardinal numbers to indicate dates,
kings and queens:
French: Cardinal numbers
le deux janvier
Louix XVI (seize)
Henri VIII (huit)
2016 Edition
English: Ordinal numbers

January 2nd
Louis the Sixteenth
Henry the Eighth
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The exception to the rule: use the ordinal number premier

(masculine) / premire (feminine) to translate first:
January 1st
Francis the First
le premier janvier
Franois premier
1.17.3 Silent Letters (1)

{AUDIO} French doesnt like consonants at the end of words.
(Remember: consonants are all letters which are not the vowels
a, e, i, o, u or the semi-vowel y). The distaste is so sincere that
they almost never pronounce final consonants. In the following
examples stop reading where the bold letters finish, and youll
start pronouncing perfect French:
les
ces petits Dieux
ils perscutent
ils torturent
ils tuent
toujours
[le]
[se pti dj]
[il psekyt]
[il tty]
[il ty]
[tuu]
the (plural)
these little Gods
they persecute
they torture
they kill
always
An exception to this rule is the famous liaison. Liaisons are

bridges between two words. The most common bridge is the zbridge which you build when the first word ends with an s and
the second word starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u) or a mute h. In
these cases, the final mute s of the first word comes to life. In
the following examples, pronounce the s as a [z]:
lestats
cesamis
[lez-eta]
[sez-ami]
the states
these friends
Finally, some letters like C, R, F, L (careful), B, K and Q are

usually pronounced at the end of a word. Lets start with the
letter C and check some exceptions:
By Marie de France
God
Pronounce the final C

avec
with
le parc
park
donc
therefore, so
le flic (fam.)
cop
turc
Turkish
97
Dont pronounce the final C

blanc
white
le porc
pig
un estomac
stomach
le tabac
tobacco
le banc
bench
1.17.4 Toolbox 3
Remember that you need about 60 technical words to describe
the phenomena of French grammar. Make yourself comfortable
with the following list.
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Word classes and subclasses

Definite article
Indefinite article
Partitive article
Adjective
Noun
Adverb
Conjunction
Coordinating conjunction
Subordinate conjunction
Preposition
Pronoun
le, la, les (the)

un, une (a/an)
du, de la, des (some)
Describes qualities of people, animals,
things etc.
A word that refers to a person, place, thing,
or idea.
An invariable words which provides
additional information for
an action word
an adjective
another adverb
Links similar words or groups of words.
Joins elements with an equal importance.
Links dependent clauses to main clauses
Usually used in front of nouns (boy, girl,
flower, tree) or pronouns (him, her, them)
and show, for example,
1. Where something takes place
2. When something happens
3. Descriptive information
Simplifiers of speech:
I, you, he/she | we, you, they
me, you, him/her | us, you, them
etc.
1.18 Reading the newspaper
Remember the chaos of the first 100 words of an article

published by Le Monde where we presented action words (verbs),
nouns, adjectives, articles, pronouns, adverbs, conjunctions, and
prepositions for the first time. Now look again:
By Marie de France
God
1. Action word
4. Article
7. Conjunction
2. Noun
5. Pronoun
8. Preposition
3. Adjective
6. Adverb
99
{AUDIO} C'est fait. Aprs sept

mois de dbats intenses, la
France est devenue, avec le
vote solennel du mardi 23
avril, l'Assemble nationale,
le 14e pays au monde
autoriser deux personnes de
mme sexe se marier.
Its done. After seven months

of intense debate, France has
become, with the solemn vote
on Tuesday, April 23 at the
National Assembly, the 14th
country to allow people of the
same sex to get married.
La loi sur le mariage et

l'adoption marque une
nouvelle tape dans la
banalisation d'une orientation
sexuelle, autrefois juge
contre-nature, aujourd'hui
reconnue "autre mais normale",
selon l'expression de
l'anthropologue Maurice
Godelier. Elle est toujours
rprime dans 80 pays, dont 7
la punissent de mort. La
mesure restera certainement
comme l'une des plus
marquantes du bilan de
Franois Hollande.
The law on marriage and

adoption marks a new stage in
the trivialization of sexual
orientation, once judged
against nature, today
recognized as "different but
normal," in the words of
anthropologist Maurice
Godelier. It is still repressed in
80 countries, of which 7 apply
the death penalty. The
measure will certainly remain
as one of the most striking of
Francois Hollandes term.

http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2013/04/23/vote-historique-de-la-loisur-le-mariage-pour-tous_3164513_3224.html Accessed March 30, 2016.
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1.18.1 Words
{AUDIO}
cest fait !
aprs
its done!
after
le mois
month
le dbat
debate
elle est devenue she has
become
le vote
vote
solennel, -le
solemn
le mardi
avril m.
une assemble
national, -e
le pays
le monde
autoriser
la personne
Tuesday
April
assembly
national
country
world
to authorize
person
mme
le sexe
se marier
la loi
sur
le mariage
une adoption
same
sex, gender
to get married
law
on, about
marriage
adoption
marquer
nouveau,
nouvelle
une tape
la banalisation
une orientation
sexuel, -le
autrefois
to mark
new
stage
trivialization
orientation
sexual
in the past,
formerly
juger
contre
la nature
aujourdhui
reconnatre
reconnu, -e
autre
to judge
against
nature
today
to recognize
recognized
other, another,
different
normal, -e
selon
une expression
un
anthropologue
rprimer
normal
according to
expression
anthropologist
dont
punir
la mort
la mesure
rester
certainement
comme
plus
marquant, -e
le bilan
to repress,
crack down
of which,
whose
to punish
death
measure
to remain
certainly
like, as
here:: most
striking
record,
assessment
By Marie de France
God
101
1.19 Deconstructing God
Lets deconstruct the God article in the same way:

1. Action word
4. Article
7. Conjunction
2. Noun
5. Pronoun
8. Preposition
3. Adjective
6. Adverb
{AUDIO} Dieu existe-t-il ? Ingalits, injustices, violences,

tortures, viols, meurtres, guerres, gnocides, la shoah,
lesclavage Impardonnable, nest-ce pas ? On vous dira que Dieu
se planque pour mettre les hommes lpreuve et les amener
choisir entre le bien et le mal. En tout cas, si moi je vous jouais
des tours pareils, vous me traiteriez de sadique !
Regardez lhistoire de lhumanit et les innombrables crimes
commis au nom de Dieu ! Et regardez le prsent : des tats qui
perscutent au nom dun Dieu, torturent et tuent au nom dun
Dieu, et refusent aux femmes le droit davorter, toujours au nom
dun Dieu.
Pauvre Dieu, nom de Dieu, aurait-il tout foir ? Souhaitons-lui
ce petit Dieu qui ne serait quun pauvre diable de ne pas exister
car nous laurions jug pour crimes contre lHumanit. Nous
avons guillotin Louis XVI pour moins que cela.
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1.20 Bonjour
After more than 70 pages of rough grammar, it is time for some

social vocabulary.
{AUDIO}
bonjour
good morning
good afternoon
bonjour
Madame
When meeting a lady, a gentleman or

a young woman, add Madame,
Monsieur and Mademoiselle when
you are not familiar with a person.
bonjour
Monsieur
bonjour
Mademoiselle
bonsoir
good evening
(Madame,
Monsieur,
Mademoiselle)
bonne nuit
good night
(Madame,
Monsieur,
Mademoiselle)
At the end of the evening; when going

to bed
salut
Use salut when you are familiar with

a person and when you call them by
their first name. Dont use salut with
the family name, and not with
Monsieur, Madame, and
Mademoiselle!
good morning
good afternoon
good evening
sil vous plat please

enchant (m.) hello
enchante (f.)
merci, cest
gentil
au revoir
When asking for something

Formal situation when you are
introduced
thank you, very kind

goodbye
By Marie de France
God
103
1.21 Free-Climbing
Now leave the GigaFrench track and stray out into unchartered
language territory on your own. Open
www.lemonde.fr/international and check the headlines. Of
course, you wont understand them all, but some are short and
use words similar to English.
Do you want to hear the sound of those headlines? Google
provides it. Open www.hiv.net/googletts in your Firefox browser
and install the Google Text-To-Speech add-on. The add-on
converts text to speech in natural sounding voices. Once
installed, double-click with your mouse on any word (or tripleclick on sentences) and hear it instantly. Google TTS is not 100%
perfect, but immensely helpful. Use it regularly. Well revisit it
later.
III. Results & Preview

Thats it for Level 1. You have taken your first steps in French
with the longest grammar section of the entire manual. A small
step for a teacher, a giant leap for you. Now listen to the audio
files and read the French sentences until you know them by
heart.
{AUDIO} Lets do a short test. Can you say
jai tu as il/elle a | nous avons vous avez ils/elles ont?
ils/elles avaient
jaurai tu auras il/elle aura | nous aurons vous aurez
ils/elles auront
jaurais tu aurais il/elle aurait | nous aurions vous auriez
ils/elles auraient
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Have you become accustomed to the layout of the action word

tables?
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
ai
as
a
Imparfait
avais
avais
avait
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons
avez
ont
avions
aviez
avaient
j
tu
il/elle
Futur
aurai
auras
aura
Conditionnel prs.
aurais
aurais
aurait
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurons
aurez
auront
aurions
auriez
auraient
{AUDIO} Did you appreciate mastering the three most important

composed tenses in Frances favourite action?
j
tu
il/elle
Pass compos
Perfect: I have made
love (+ I made love)
ai fait lamour
as fait lamour
a fait lamour
Plus-que-parfait
Past perfect:
I had made love etc
avais fait lamour
avais fait lamour
avait fait lamour
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons fait lamour

avez fait lamour
ont fait lamour
avions fait lamour

aviez fait lamour
avaient fait lamour
By Marie de France
God
j
tu
il/elle
Conditionnel pass
Past conditional:
I would have made
love
aurais fait lamour
aurais fait lamour
aurait fait lamour
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurions fait lamour

auriez fait lamour
auraient fait lamour
105
Finally, did you savour the fundamental difference between

these two sentences?
Jai fait lamour avec le garon.
Jai fait lamour avec les garons.
and have you integrated the all-important gender-number
ES rule?
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
e
s
es
Well, then you have been promoted to Level 2! You know 20 out
of 100 key action word sextets!
* * *
You have climbed the French Mount Everest! Congratulations!
Only looking back will you fully appreciate what you have
accomplished: conquering the fundamentals of one single French
action word, avoir. You have observed how avoir exploded into
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40 pieces (eu-ayant-ai-as-a-avons-avez-ont-avais-avaitavions-aviez-avaient-aurai-auras-aura-aurons-aurez-aurontaurais-aurait-aurions-auriez-auraient-aie-aies-ait-ayonsayez-aient-eus-eut-emes-etes-eurent-eusse-eusses-eteussions-eussiez-eussent). This was French hard core in

comparison, every other aspect of French grammar will appear
simple and transparent.
Congratulations also for discovering the other 7 word classes
(parts of speech) of nouns, adjectives, articles, pronouns,
adverbs, conjunctions and prepositions. It was a rough initiation,
but like all initiation rites, you only have to do it once!
Outlook
In Chapter 2, well present the full picture of tre to be. You
will happily discover that you can manage it in pretty much
the same way as you managed avoir. As a preview, take a peek
at the futur future:
{AUDIO}
Singular
serai
j
seras
tu
il/elle sera
I
will be
you
will be
he/she will be
Plural
nous serons
vous serez
ils/elles seront
we
you
they
will be
will be
will be
By Marie de France
God
107
Thank you to us!

Would you help us? We have the usual social media pages for
GigaFrench (Facebook: www.facebook.com/GigaFrenchParis;
Instagram: www.instagram.com/gigafrench; Twitter:
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https://www.snapchat.com/add/gigafrench), but we dont use
them. Some people tell us that we are missing out on a major
contemporary experience and that we might be lagging behind
others.
Sacr Cur, Montmartre | Copyright: Marie de France
Can we ask you a favour? If you are happy with GigaFrench, would
you be a mindful Social Media Ambassador and tell the world
about your GigaFrench experience on your channels using
@GigaFrench and #GigaFrench? Saying that GigaFrench comes
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www.GigaFrench.com link? In exchange, we promise you that
GigaFrench will remain free for everyone, for always. Why? The
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GigaFrench.com
reason is simple: Whoever is willing to spend hours and hours on

studying French does not need to pay!
Thank you!
Marie
By Marie de France
Climate Change
Climate Change
2016 Edition
109
110
GigaFrench.com
Copyright 2016 N. Allan New York
{AUDIO1} {AUDIO2} Le
changement climatique existet-il ? Ou le rchauffement
climatique provoqu par
lhomme nest-il quune
mystification ? Louragan Sally
de New York en 2012 un
dtail ? 15 000 morts en France
en 2003 pendant la canicule
peanuts ? Paris Plage Nol ?
La chance !
Does climate change exist? Or

is 'global warming caused by
man' only a hoax? Hurrican
Sally in New York in 2012 a
small detail? 15,000 deaths in
France during the 2003 heat
wave peanuts? Paris Plage
at Christmas? What luck !
Et pourtant, notre Terre a des

bouffes de chaleur. Chaque
anne, la concentration de CO2
dans l'atmosphre atteint de
nouveaux records. Nous en
sommes dj plus de 400
parties par million (ppm) du
jamais-vu depuis plus de
800 000 ans. Et a continue, car
nous brlons tout ce qui nous
tombe sous la main, du
charbon, du ptrole, du gaz,
des voitures dans nos
banlieues.
And yet our Earth has hot

flashes. Each year, the
concentration of CO2 in the
atmosphere reaches new
records. We are already at
more than 400 parts per
million (ppm) an
unprecedented fact in 800,000
years. And it all continues
because we burn anything we
can put our hands on, coal, oil,
gas, and cars in our suburbs.
O allons-nous ? Peut-tre
vers une venisation du
monde. Ainsi, nos petitsenfants pourront-ils un jour se
dplacer Manhattan,
Bombay, Calcutta, New Orleans
ou Miami en barque comme
Where are we going? Perhaps

to a venicisation of the world.
Our grandchildren will thus
one day be able to move
around Manhattan, Bombay,
Calcutta, New Orleans or
Miami in a boat like in Venice
By Marie de France
Climate Change
111
Venise pendant lacqua alta. Et

Venise svira la malaria.
during the acqua alta. And

malaria will rage in Venice.
Allons-nous droit dans le

mur ? O iront, par exemple,
des dizaines de millions de
Bangladais chasss par la mer ?
Tout simplement en Inde
comme les Syriens qui
dbarquent en Allemagne ? Si
au moins, cela en finissait l
mais non, notre futur propose
au menu ouragans plus
violents, famines globales et
nouvelles maladies
infectieuses. Bonjour les
dgts !
Are we going straight into the

wall? Where, for example, will
tens of millions of
Bangladeshis expelled by the
sea go? Just to India, the same
as Syrians who are landing in
Germany? If at least it all
ended there but no, our
future proposes more violent
hurricanes, global famines and
emerging infectious diseases
on its menu. What a mess!
Lavenir vous chappe, lair

vous manque ? Ne vous
inquitez pas, il y a un
remde : les ngationnistes !
(Aux tats-Unis il y en a en
pagaille.) En deux coups de
cuillre pot ils vous
expliquent que rien de tout a
narrivera. Il suffit de les
couter pour avoir tout de
suite chaud au cur. Le monde
est beau, le soleil brille, les
ressources sont infinies et le
gnie humain ne connat pas
de limites. Quelle vitalit
solaire ! Vivent les lobbies du
ptrole !
Does the future escape you, is

air missing? Dont worry, there
is a remedy: negationists! (In
the US there are loads of
them.) With two shakes of a
lambs tail they tell you that
none of all this will happen.
Just listen to them and it will
immediately make your heart
feel good. The world is
beautiful, the sun is shining,
resources are infinite and
human ingenuity knows no
limits. What a solar vitality!
Long live the oil lobbies!
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Words
{AUDIO}
le changement
climatique
change
climate adj.
le rchauffement warming
le rchauffement global warming
climatique
provoquer
to cause, bring
about
un homme
homme;
mankind
nest-il pas
isnt it
la mystification mystification
un ouragan
hurricane
2012 :
detail
deux mille douze
le dtail
detail
15 000 :
quinze mille
le mort
dead (person)
pendant
during
la canicule
Paris Plage
Nol
la change
pourtant
notre
la Terre
avoir des
bouffes de
chaleur
chaque
une anne
heatwave
temporary
artificial
beaches along
the Seine; see
Wikipedia
at Christmas
luck
yet, however
our
Earth
to have hot
flushes
every, each
year
la concentration
dans
une atmosphre
atteindre
concentration
in
atmosphere
to reach
de nouveaux
new records
record
nous en sommes to get to the
point where
dj
already
plus de 400
more than 400
(quatre cents)
la partie
part
par
here: per
le million
million
du jamais vu
depuis
800 000
un an
a = cela
continuer
car
brler
tout ce qui
tomber
sous
la main
tomber sous la
main
le charbon
thats never
been seen,
thats unheard
of
since
such, like that
year
that, this
to continue
because, as
to burn
everything
(that)
to fall
under
hand
to come to
hand
coal
By Marie de France
Climate Change
le ptrole
le gaz
la voiture
la banlieue
peut-tre
vers
venisation
oil
gas
car
suburb
perhaps
toward
things
becoming like
Venice
le monde
ainsi
world
thus, in this
way
le petit-enfant
grandchild
pouvoir
can, to be able
to
ainsi pourront-ils theyll thus be
able to
un jour
one day
se dplacer
to move
la barque
comme
lacqua alta
(italian)
svir
la malaria
le mur
droit
small boat
like, just as
high water
to hit, strike
malaria
wall
straight, right
aller droit dans le to be heading

mur
for disaster
o iront
where will go
par exemple
for example
une dizaine
(around) ten
le Bangladais
Bangladeshi
chasser
here : to chase
away
la mer
sea
tout
simple
all, every, each

simple
tout simplement
lInde f.
le Syrien
dbarquer
en Allemagne
quite simply
India
Syrian
to land; here:
to arrive
in Germany
si
au moins
finir
l
mais non
le futur
proposer
if
at least
to end
there
but no
future
to propose
le menu
plus violent
la famine
menu
more violent
famine,
starvation
global,
worldwide
disease
infectious
hello
global
la maladie
infectieux, -se
bonjour
bonjour les
dgts
un avenir
chapper
sinquiter
ne vous
inquitez pas !
il y a
le remde
what a mess
future
to escape
to worry, to be
anxious
dont worry!
there is
remedy,
solution
le ngationniste negationist
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aux tats-Unis
in the United
States
en pagaille fam. lots of, loads of
il y en a en
there are loads
pagaille
of them
en deux coups with two
de cuillre pot shakes of a
lambs tail
le coup
knock, blow
la cuillre
spoon
le pot
expliquer
rien
rien de tout a
arriver
suffire
il suffit de les
couter
pot
to explain
nothing
none of all this
to arrive; here:
to happen
to be enough
just listen to
them
tout de suite
avoir chaud au
immediately
to make your
cur
beau, belle
le soleil
briller
la ressource
infini
heart feel good

beautiful
sun
to shine
resource
endless
le gnie
humain
connatre
genius
human
to know, be
acquainted
with
limit
what a
vitality
solar
la limite
quel, quelle
la vitalit
solaire
vive ! sing.
vivent ! pl.
le lobby
long live!
lobby
Cloud 2.1. Climate change
By Marie de France
Climate Change
115
Again,
1.

device.
2.
3.
Start the audio.
4.

you prefer:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Close your eyes and listen to the audio until you

understand every single word. Do some words still
escape your understanding? Open your eyes again and
read, then close your eyes again.
The last point is the most important one because youll probably
need quite a few rounds of listening today, tomorrow, next
week until you can distinguish every single word! Dont be
surprised if you need to listen 10, 20 or even 50 times such
intense repetition is perfectly normal. In the meantime, check
and re-check the word list until you know all the words (100%!).
If you just want to expand your French vocabulary, go straight
ahead to the next level and find a text about abortion (page 185).
If you are more serious about learning French, go through the
following pages. On todays menu: the second most important
French word, tre to be.; a new set of 7 x 7 past participles; a
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preview of irregular future stems; and more nouns, adjectives,

adverbs, conjunctions and prepositions.
Again, listen to the audios until you can discern every single
word and you know the examples and dialogues by heart. Burn
the sentences into your brain.
Further reading:
Climate change threatens Europe's living standards,
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110131/full/news.2011.60.html (accessed
10 March 2016).
Merchants of Doubt, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_of_Doubt and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T4UF_Rmlio (both accessed 10 March
2016)

Its 3 o'clock in the morning and youre profoundly asleep. You
dont hear me when I enter your room and slowly come up to
your bed. When I suddenly turn on the lamp and grab your
shoulder, you jump out of bed, frightened and panicked. I show
you something and bellow one single question: What is this?
You answer A corkscrew!; or Ein Korkenzieher! if you are
German; or Un cavatappo! if you are Italian, Un sacacorchos!
if you are Spanish, Un tire-bouchon! if you are French, and so
on.
Good, I say, and you close your eyes and fall directly,
contentedly, back to sleep within seconds.
Why did I construct this surreal nocturnal encounter? Because it
illustrates the way we know words spontaneously, in the most
extreme of situations, and without giving a second thought to it.
And that's the way youll have to know French words. To get
By Marie de France
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117
there is usually the result of multiple exposures to every single

word (see below).
***
The following table shows a list of 8 major parts of speech (or
word classes; second column): article, noun, adjective, pronoun,
action word (verb), adverb, preposition, conjunction. The
sentence Le garon espagnol te contactera gives an example of
the first five parts of speech.
Total
Words
Transfer into
your brain
(hours)
Grammar
(hours)
Le
Article
10
0.5
garon
Noun
3500
350
4.0
espagnol
Adjective
1000
100
2.0
te
Pronoun
50
4.0
contactera.*
Action word
(verb)
500
50
Months
Adverb
100
10
50
50
5000
>500
Preposition
Conjunction
* The Spanish boy will contact you.
The third column (Words) shows the number of truly new

words you need to learn before being comfortable in French.
Truly new means that you cannot easily deduce them from
words you know from your native language or from languages
you learned later during your life. The total of around 5000
words is a good guess for speakers of other Romance languages
such as Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. If you are English or
German, add a few more thousand words. Note that nouns,
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adjectives and action words represent the bulk of the words

youll have to learn.
In column four (Transfer into your brain), we translate the
number of words into hours of study (transferring new words into
your brain = memorizing). Youll soon find out that learning a
word almost always requires multiple exposures (or learning
sessions) and that these multiple sessions add up to an average
of 3 to 6 minutes per word. For the hours indicated in column 4,
we have chosen a conservative average value of 6 minutes per
word.
The fifth column (Grammar) should reassure you. Here we
indicate the time you need to understand the functioning of each
part of speech. Some, such as adverbs, prepositions and
conjuctions, hardly need any particular instruction; in most
cases, you learn the meaning of the words, and thats it. Other
word classes, such as articles, nouns, adjectives and pronouns,
need some instructions before you can fully appreciate how they
work. The true surprise of column 5 is the action words. It will
take you months to domesticate them. Time will tell you why.
In summary, memorizing new words is by far the most timeconsuming task; next comes the management of the action
words; and finally, the rest of the grammar, which astonishingly,
is the least time-consuming part. How your first 5000 words
distribute among different word classes is nicely demonstrated
in the following box. For more information about the importance
of words, check Chapter 1 of The Word Brain, starting on page 15.
Download the free 81-page PDF from www.TheWordBrain.com.
By Marie de France
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119
500 action words (verbs)
3500 nouns
1000 adjectives
100 adverbs, 50 conjunctions,

50 prepositions, < 10 articles
I. Action Words
2.1
tre to be (Introduction)
{AUDIO} tre to be is the second most important word in French.

As with avoir, take all the time you need to get familiar with it.
First learn every form, then memorize the 6-word sextets (for
example, je suis tu es il/elle est | nous sommes vous tes
ils/elle sont). If you are new to French, memorize the first two
sextets. If you learned French before, memorize them all.
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Saint-Eustache | Copyright: Marie de France
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
suis
es
est
Imparfait
tais
tais
tait
nous
vous
ils/elles
sommes
tes
sont
tions
tiez
taient
j
tu
il/elle
Futur
serai
seras
sera
Conditionnel prs.
serais
serais
serait
nous
vous
ils/elles
serons
serez
seront
serions
seriez
seraient
By Marie de France
Climate Change
2.1.1 Prsent
{AUDIO} The prsent present tense is, as always, the most
important tense.
Singular
j
suis [si]
tu
es []
il/elle est []
I
am
you
are
he/she is
Plural
nous sommes [sm]
vous tes [t]
ils/elles sont [s]
we
you
they
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are
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2.1.2 Il est / Elle est

The most important element of the sextet is il/elle est which
means he/she/it is. In any conversation, youll hear il est or elle
est at intervals of minutes, sometimes even seconds. Here are
some common words in combination with il/elle est:
Il est magnifique!
Elle est fantastique!
Il/Elle nest pas ici.
Il/Elle est l.
Il est srieux.
Elle est srieuse.
Il est compltement fou.
Elle est compltement folle.
Hes beautiful!
Shes fantastic!
He/She is not here.
He/She is there.
Hes serious.
Shes serious.
He is completely crazy.
She is completely crazy.
2.1.3 Cest / Ce sont

Equally important is cest this is or thats.
Cest insupportable!
Cest gentil.
Cest terrible !
Cest fantastique !
Cest vachement bien ! (fam.)
Thats unbearable!
Thats kind (of you).
Thats terrible!
Thats fantastic!
Thats great!
When combined with nouns, use cest in the singular and ce

sont in the plural. The English translation sometimes prefers
personal subject pronouns (he, she, it, they).
Cest un garon charmant.
Ce sont des garons
charmants.
2.2
He is a charming boy.
They are charming boys.
The tre Biotope
After the avoir biotope of Level 1 (page 38), lets explore the tre
biotope. First, youll use tre to locate persons or things in space
(il est sur la lune he is on the moon). Second, youll use tre in
By Marie de France
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combination with nouns (for example, professions), adjectives of

appearance, personality, feelings, quantity, sound, taste, touch,
colour, nationalities, as well as in numerous expressions.
In the following examples, learn as many words as you can today
(grand tall, petit small, beau handsome etc) and come back later
to repeat. In the meantime, concentrate on je suis tu es
il/elle est | nous sommes vous tes ils/elles sont.
{AUDIO}
1.
Location in space
je suis
tu es
il/elle est
nous sommes
vous tes
ils/elles sont
2.
au Louvre
Montmartre
sur la Tour Eiffel
aux Champslyses
aux Halles
au Luxembourg
I am
you are
he/she is
we are
at the Louvre
at Montmartre
on the Eiffel Tower
at the Champs-Elysees
you are in the Halles

they are at the Luxembourg Gardens
Appearance
je suis
tu es
il est
elle est
Masculine
grand
blond
petit
nous sommes grands

vous tes
blonds
ils sont
petits
elles sont
Feminine
grande
blonde
tall
blond
petite
I am
you are
he is
she is
grandes
blondes
we are
you are
tall
blond
they are
small
petites
small
P.S. Whenever tre is used with adjectives ending in a

consonant, the ES rule usually applies.
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Number
3.
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
e
s
es
Personality
je suis
tu es
il/elle est
Masculine
+
Feminine
calme
dbile
egoste
nous sommes calmes

vous tes
dbiles
ils/elles sont egostes
I am
you are
he/she is
calm
an idiot
selfish
we are
you are
they are
calm
idiots
selfish
P.S. An important group of adjectives end in e in the singular,

both for masculine and feminine words. To form the plural, just
add an s.
4.
Sex appeal
je suis
tu es
il est
elle est
Masculine
sduisant
excitant
attrayant
nous sommes sduisants

vous tes
excitants
ils sont
attrayants
elles sont
Feminine
sduisante
excitante
enticing
exciting
attrayante
I am
you are
he is
she is
sduisantes
excitantes
we are
you are
enticing
exciting
they are
attractive
attrayantes
attractive
P.S. Words ending in ant follow again the ES rule.
By Marie de France
Climate Change
5.
Profession
je suis
tu es
il/elle est
Masculine
+
Feminine
mdecin
cinaste
professeur
nous sommes artistes

vous tes
architectes
ils/elles sont ingnieurs
I am
you are
he/she is
a physician
a filmmaker
a teacher
we are
you are
they are
artists
architects
engineers
Some professions continue to use the same form for both men
and women.
6.
Nationalities
Note that adjectives which refer to nationalities are not

capitalized.
je suis
tu es
il est
elle est
Masculine
franais
anglais
allemand
nous sommes espagnols

vous tes
amricains
ils sont
mxicains
elles sont
2016 Edition
Feminine
franaise
anglaise
French
English
allemande
I am
you are
he is
she is
espagnoles
amricaines
we are
you are
Spanish
American
they are
Mexican
mxicaines
German
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7.
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Passive voice
Youll also use tre to express the passive voice of action words.
Prsent
I est poursuivi par la police.
He is (being) chased by the police.
Pass compos
I a t poursuivi par la police.
He was (being) chased by the police.
More about the passive voice in Level xxx.
2.3
tre Timeline
Lets time travel again. Do you remember the simple timeline

from Level 1, when you time-travelled from things in the present
back to the past and fast-forwarded to the future? Imparfait
imperfect, prsent present, futur future and conditionnel
prsent present conditional were the most important time slots on
your life timeline.
Imparfait
Prsent
Futur
Conditionnel
prsent
Lets explore the 18 words tre in the imparfait, the futur and
the conditionnel prsent.
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2.3.1 tre: Imparfait (imperfect tense)

{AUDIO} Remember: the imparfait imperfect tense expresses
habits, states of mind, environmental descriptions and how
people and the world were in the past.
Masculine
grand
blond
petit
jtais
tu tais
il tait
elle tait
nous tions
vous tiez
ils taient
elles taient
grands
blonds
petits
Feminine
grande
blonde
tall
blond
petite
I was
you were
he was
she was
grandes
blondes
we were
you were
tall
blond
they were
small
petites
small
The only new element is t to which youll add the well-known

imparfait endings ais, ais, ait | ions, iez, aient. While
reading and listening to the imparfait of tre youll see the
following rules:
1.
The first person singular (je tais) and the second

person singular (tu tais) are identical.
2.
The pronunciation of the three singular forms (tais

taistait) and the third plural form (taient) is
identical [et].
Remember: the imparfait endings ais, ais, ait | ions, iez,

aient are identical for all French action words! In synthesis:
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Singular
tais
j
tais
tu
il/elle tait
I
you
he or she
was
were
was
Plural
nous tions
vous tiez
ils/elles taient
we
you
they
were
were
were
Now combine je suis tu es il/elle est | nous sommes vous

tes ils/elles sont with everything youve learned above
(location in space, personality, sex appeal, profession, etc; see
page 122) and lets fast-forward into the future.
2.3.2 tre: Futur (future tense)

{AUDIO} The futur describes events that have not happened yet,
but are expected to happen in the future.
je serai
tu seras
il/elle sera
Masculine
+
Feminine
mdecin
cinaste
professeur
nous serons artistes

vous serez
architectes
ils/elles seront ingnieurs
I will be
a physician
you will be
a filmmaker
he/she will be a teacher
we will be
you will be
they will be
artists
architects
engineers
To get the futur of tre, all you need is the future stem ser and
attach the future endings ai, as, a | ons, ez, ont.
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While reading and listening to the futur of tre youll find that
1.
The first person singular (je serai) and the second

person plural (vous serez) sound identical [se].
2.
The second person singular (tu seras) and the third

person singular (il/elle sera) sound identical [sa].
3.
The first person plural (nous serons) and the third

person plural (ils/elles seront) sound identical [s].
Remember that the futur endings are identical for all French
action words! In synthesis:
Singular
serai
je
seras
tu
il/elle sera
I will be
you will be
he or she will be
Plural
nous serons
vous serez
ils/elles seront
we will be
you will be
they will be
Again, you can combine je serai tu seras il/elle sera | nous

serons vous serez ils/elles seront with everything you saw
above (location in space, appearance, personality, sex appeal, etc;
see page 122)
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2.3.3 tre: Prsent conditionnel

{AUDIO} The prsent conditionnel expresses hypothetical
situations and their consequences.
Masculine
sduisant
excitant
attrayant
je serais
tu serais
il serait
elle serait
nous serions
vous seriez
ils seraient
elles seraient
sduisants
excitants
attrayants
Feminine
sduisante
excitante
enticing
exciting
attrayante
I would be
you would be
he would be
she would be
sduisantes
excitantes
we would be
you would be
enticing
exciting
attrayantes
attractive
they would be attractive
The endings of the prsent conditionnel are ais, ais, ait |

ions, -iez, aient, the same as for the imparfait. The only
difference is that you attach them to the future stem ser.
caresser youll find that
1.
The first person singular (je serais) and the second

person singular (tu serais) are identical.
2.
The pronunciation of the three singular forms (serais

seraisserait) and the third plural form (seraient) is
identical [sr].
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In synthesis:
Singular
serais
je
serais
tu
serait
il/elle
Plural
nous serions
vous seriez
ils/elles seraient
I would have
you would have
he/she would
have
we would have
you would have
they would have
Now combine je serais tu serais il/elle serait | nous serions

vous seriez ils/elles seraient with with everything you saw
above (location in space, appearance, personality, profession,
etc; see page 122).
2.3.4 Summary
{AUDIO} Lets summarize your first four tre sextets:
Prsent
je suis tu es il/elle est | nous sommes vous tes ils/elles
sont
I am, you are, he/she is | we, you, they are
Imparfait
jtais tu tais il/elle tait | nous tions vous tiez
ils/elles taient
I was, you were, he/she was | we, you, they were
I, you, he/she used to be | we, you, they used to be
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Futur
je serai tu seras il/elle sera | nous serons vous serez
ils/elles seront
I, you, he or she will be | we, you, they will be
Conditionnel prsent
je serais tu serais il/elle serait | nous serions vous seriez
ils/elles seraient
I, you, he or she would be | we, you, they would be
By Marie de France
Climate Change
2.3.5 tre (table)

{AUDIO}
Prsent
Present: I am
je/j
tu
il/elle
suis
es
est
Imparfait
Imperfect:
I was, I used to be
tais
tais
tait
nous
vous
ils/elles
sommes
tes
sont
tions
tiez
taient
Futur
Future: Ill be
je
tu
il/elle
serai
seras
sera
Conditionnel prs.
Present conditional:
I would be
serais
serais
serait
nous
vous
ils/elles
serons
serez
seront
serions
seriez
seraient
Subjonctif
prsent
Present
subjunctive:
that I am
que je
que tu
quil/elle
sois
sois
soit
Subjonctif
imparfait
Imperfect
subjunctive: that I
was; extremely
rare)
fusse
fusses
ft
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
soyons
soyez
soient
fussions
fussiez
fussent
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Pass simple
fmes
ftes
furent
fus
fus
fut
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2.4
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tre: Composed tenses
Again, lets take a giant leap forward. Take the table above and
add all gone after each item. All is the participe pass (past
participle) of aller to go.
2.4.1 Overview
Again, we have highlighted the three composed tenses of prime
importance: the pass compos, the plus-que-parfait and the
conditionnel pass. Again, youll be able to memorize them
within a few minutes. There is only one complication: tre wants
to know if you are a boy or a girl.
Thats how it works: Having seen
je suis tu es il/elle est | nous sommes vous tes

ils/elles sont
ils/elles taient
je serais tu serais il/elle serait | nous serions vous
seriez ils/elles seraient
you can build the pass compos, the plus-que-parfait and the
conditionnel pass in seconds. Just add all.
By Marie de France
Climate Change
{AUDIO}
Pass compos
Perfect: I have
gone (+ I went)
Plus-que-parfait
Past perfect:
I had gone
Pass antrieur
Preterit perfect
(only in writing):
I had gone
je/j
tu
il/elle
suis all(e)
es all(e)
est all(e)
tais all(e)
tais all(e)
tait all(e)
fus all(e)
fus all(e)
fut all(e)
nous
vous
ils/elles
sommes all(e)s
tes all(e)s
sont all(e)s
tions all(e)s
tiez all(e)s
taient all(e)s
fmes all(e)s
ftes all(e)s
furent all(e)s
Futur antrieur
Future perfect:
I will have gone
je
tu
il/elle
serai all(e)
seras all(e)
sera all(e)
Conditionnel
pass
Past conditional:
I would have gone
serais all(e)
serais all(e)
serait all(e)
nous
vous
ils/elles
serons all(e)s
serez all(e)s
seront all(e)s
serions all(e)s
seriez all(e)s
seraient all(e)s
Subjonctif
pass
Past
subjunctive:
that I went
que je
que tu
quil/elle
sois all(e)
sois all(e)
soit all(e)
Subjonctif
plus-que-parfait
Past perfect
subjunctive:
that I had gone
(extremely rare)
fusse all(e)
fusses all(e)
ft all(e)
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
soyons all(e)s
soyez all(e)s
soient all(e)s
fussions all(e)s
fussiez all(e)s
fussent all(e)s
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The complication mentioned above: action words building the

composed tenses with tre apply the ES rule to the participe
pass past participle. If the corresponding noun is feminine, add
an e to the participe pass; and for all plurals add an s.
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
alle
all
alls
alles
Pass compos :
je suis all(e) tu es all(e) il/elle est all(e)
nous sommes all(e)s vous tes all(e)s ils/elles sont
all(e)s
I, you, he/she went | we, you, they made
Plus-que-parfait :
je tais all(e) tu tais all(e) il/elle tait all(e)
nous tions all(e)s vous tiez all(e)s ils/elles
taient all(e)s
I, you, he/she had gone | we, you, they had gone
Conditionnel pass :
je serais all(e) tu serais all(e) il/elle serait all(e)
nous serions all(e)s vous seriez all(e)s ils/elles
seraient all(e)s
I, you, he/she would have gone | we, you, they would have gone
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2.4.2 Sexual connotation

{AUDIO} Only a minority of action words (<2%) use tre to form
the composed tenses. These include venir to come, entrer to enter
and arriver to arrive (see the following box) and most indicate a
movement. It may not escape your attention that almost all
these words can assume a strong sexual connotation. Try and
figure out why.
Important French action words which form the
composed tenses with tre.
Infinitif
aller
venir
entrer
rentrer
sortir
arriver
rester
partir
tomber
passer
Participe pass
all
venu
entr
rentr
sorti
arriv
rest
parti
tomb
pass
retourner
natre
mourir
monter
retourn
n
mort
mont
descendre
descendu
Infinitive
to go
to come
to enter
to go back in
to go out, exit
to arrive
to stay
to leave
to fall
to go through (a
place)
to go back, return
to be born
to die
to go up, climb
to go down
(downstairs),
climb down
Past particple
gone
come
entered
gone back in
gone out
arrived
stayed
left
fallen
gone through
gone back
been born
died
gone up,
climbed
gone down,
climbed down
In all these cases, the participe pass is modified according to gender (add
e if it is a girl, a woman or another feminine noun) and number (add s if
there is more than one person or thing).
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2.5
Pass compos versus imparfait
At this point, we must briefly talk about the fundamental

difference between imparfait and pass compos.
Sometimes, these tenses are being translated with the English
perfect and imperfect. This is misleading because the use of the
imparfait and the pass compos is different in French (and
Italian, Spanish and Portuguese) from the use of the imperfect
and perfect in English (and German, Dutch, Norwegian and
Swedish):
The French imparfait expresses habits, states of mind,

environmental descriptions and how people and the
world were in the past (continuous actions or situations);
The French pass compos refers to completed actions
or a series of actions in the past.
Think of a theater. While the imparfait may describe the various

elements of a theater stage set or the background action, the
pass compos would describe a sudden action occuring on the
stage.
In addition to scenery descriptions and habits, youll also use the
imparfait to
tell time and age in the past

describe feelings in the past
{AUDIO}
Il tait 10 heures quand il est
finalement arriv.
Javais 17 ans quand nous nous
sommes rencontrs.
Jtais heureux comme un roi.
Nous tions tous les deux trs
heureux.
It was 10 oclock when he finally arrived.

I was 17 years old when we met.
I was happy as a king.
We were both very happy.
By Marie de France
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If you are Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, the difference between

jallais I went, I was going, I used to go and je suis all I went, I have
gone is immediately clear to you (Italian: andavo vs. sono andato;
Spanish: yo iba vs. fui; Portuguese: eu ia vs. fui); if you are not,
youll need time to understand and digest it. Well present you
more details in Level xxx.
2.6
Forty-nine action words (2)
Please check the word cloud and the table of the next 49ers.
While the first 49 words (see page 59) represent roughly 50% of
all action words youll see in your life, this second set represents
another 15%.
Cloud 2.2. Top action words
The percentages in the table indicate the cumulative frequency,

including the 7 x 7 words of Level 1. Group 3 participes pass
are shown in blue.
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Important note. Frequent and common action words have

generally a clear and unambiguous meaning: manger to eat,
boire to drink, dormir to sleep; however, most action words dont.
Take, for example, poser to put. Depending on the context, you
can translate poser into land, fix, pose etc.
to put money on the table
to land an aircraft
to fix your gaze upon a person
to pose for a magazine
In the 49er lists of this manual, we indicate only one translation.

Time and experience will give you the whole picture. In the
meantime, it is vital that you know that these words exist and
that you become familiar with the pronunciation.
{Second Round} Let me introduce you to the GigaFrench
second round smiley. It means that you can happily
skip the following paragraph if this is your first GigaFrench
round. During the second or subsequent study rounds, please
make sure to know it all.
{AUDIO}
Group
Infinitif
Participe pass Infinitive
Past participle
retrouver
retrouv
to find again
found again
poser
pos
to put
put
monter (tre)
mont
to go up
gone up
entrer (tre)
entr
to enter
entered
sasseoir
assis
to sit down
sat down
mourir (tre)
mort
to die
died
tirer
tir
to pull; shoot
pulled; shot
53.9%
By Marie de France
Climate Change
perdre
perdu
to lose
lost
tourner
tourn
to turn
turned
crire
crit
to write
written
reprendre
repris
to take back
taken back
jouer
jou
to play
played
jeter
jet
to throw
thrown
marcher
march
to walk
walked
141
56.3%
3
lire
lu
to read
read
rire
ri
to laugh
laughed
quitter
quitt
to leave
left
couter
cout
to listen
listened
descendre
(tre)
descendu
to go down
gone down
essayer
essay
to try
tried
retourner
(tre)
retourn
to turn around
turned around
58.4%
1
pousser
pouss
to grow; push
grown; pushed
oublier
oubli
to forget
forgotten
apprendre
appris
to learn
learned
servir
servi
to serve
served
continuer
continu
to continue
continued
manger
mang
to eat
eaten
rentrer (tre)
rentr
to go back
gone back
60.3%
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montrer
montr
to show
shown
boire
bu
to drink
drunk
courir
couru
to run
run
sourire
souri
to smile
smiled
raconter
racont
to tell
told
dormir
dormi
to sleep
slept
garder
gard
to keep
kept
62.1%
1
changer
chang
to change
changed
imaginer
imagin
to imagine
imagined
crier
cri
to shout
shouted
expliquer
expliqu
to explain
explained
apercevoir
aperu
to notice
noticed
glisser
gliss
to slip
slipped
reconnatre
reconnu
to recognise
recognised
ajout
reu
occup
agi
tendu
souvenu
dcid
to add
to receive
to occupy
to act
to stretch
to remember
to decide
added
received
occupied
acted
stretched
remembered
decided
63.7%
1
3
1
2
3
3
1
ajouter
recevoir
occuper
agir
tendre
se souvenir
dcider
65.1%
Lets compose the pass compos, plus-que-parfait and

conditionnel pass of vivre to live. The pass compos is vcu
lived (see page 59ff).
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{AUDIO}
vivre to live
j
ai vcu
tu
as vcu
il/elle
a vcu
I
lived
you
lived
he/she lived
nous
vous
ils/elles
we
you
they
avons vcu
avez vcu
ont vcu
lived
lived
lived
Now combine jai vcu, etc with a few possible life events:
J
Tu
Il/Elle
ai vcu une vie heureuse.

as vcu une priode faste.
a vcu un terrible traumatisme.
I lived a happy life

You lived a prosperous time.
He/She lived a terrible
trauma.
Nous
avons vcu une exprience

formidable.
avez vcu une soire inoubliable.
We had a wonderful
experience.
We had an unforgettable
evening.
They lived a fatal relationship.
Vous
Ils/Elles ont vcu une liaison fatale.
Of course, nothing is easier than transposing these examples into

the plus-que-parfait
J
Tu
avais vcu une vie heureuse.

avais vcu une priode faste.
Il/Elle
avait vcu un terrible

traumatisme.
avions vcu une exprience

formidable.
aviez vcu une soire
Vous
inoubliable.
Ils/Elles avaient vcu une liaison fatale.
Nous
2016 Edition
I had had a happy life

You had had a prosperous
period.
He/She had had a terrible
trauma.
We had had a wonderful
experience.
We had had an unforgettable
evening.
They had had a fatal
relationship.
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and the conditionnel pass.

J
Tu
aurais vcu une vie heureuse.

aurais vcu une priode faste.
Il/Elle
aurait vcu un terrible

traumatisme.
aurions vcu une exprience

formidable.
auriez vcu une soire
Vous
inoubliable.
Ils/Elles auraient vcu une liaison fatale.
Nous
I would have had a happy life

You would have had a
prosperous time.
He/She would have had a
terrible trauma.
We would have had a
wonderful experience.
We would have had an
unforgettable evening.
They would have had a fatal
relationship.
Please repeat this exercise with other action words of your

choice.
2.7
Preview of Group 1 action words
From the two 49er tables (page 59 and 139) you have learned
dozens of Group 1 action words, those ending in er and
representing more than 90% of all action words. You certainly
wonder how the simple tenses of Group 1 look. Youll find the
full discussion in Level 3 (page 198, Petting); in the meantime,
have an hors-duvre of caressing with caresser:
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Infinitif
Participe pass
Impratif
{AUDIO}
145
caresser
caress
caresse | caressons | caressez
Prsent
I caress etc
Imparfait
I caressed etc
je
tu
il/elle
caresse
caresses
caresse
caressais
caressais
caressait
nous
vous
ils/elles
caressons
caressez
caressent
caressions
caressiez
caressaient
Futur
I will caress etc
je
tu
il/elle
caresserai
caresseras
caressera
Conditionnel
prsent
I would caress etc
caresserais
caresserais
caresserait
nous
vous
ils/elles
caresserons
caresserez
caresseront
caresserions
caresseriez
caresseraient
2.8
Irregular Future Stems (1)
{AUDIO} You have already seen the irregular future stems of

avoir and tre:
Infinitive
Future
avoir
jaurai
I will have
tre
je serai
I will be
The following future stems are frequent and will be helpful. Find
the full picture at page 219.
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Infinitive
Future
faire
je ferai
I will do
aller
j'irai
I will go
vouloir
je voudrai
I will want
pouvoir
je pourrai
I will be
able
voir
je verrai
I will see
venir
je viendrai
I will come
savoir
je saurai
I will know
devoir
je devrai
I will have
to
falloir
il faudra
it will be
necessary
pleuvoir
il pleuvra
it will rain
mourir
je mourrai
I will die
envoyer
j'enverrai
I will send
Check the full picture of faire to do/make, aller to go, and voir to
see:
je
tu
il/elle
faire
I will do/make
etc
ferai
feras
fera
aller
I will go etc
je
tu
il/elle
irai
iras
ira
je
tu
il/elle
voir
I will see
etc
verrai
verras
verra
nous
vous
ils/elles
ferons
ferez
feront
nous
vous
ils/elles
irons
irez
iront
nous
vous
ils/elles
verrons
verrez
verront
2.9
on (2)
{AUDIO} In Level 1 you saw that the indefinite pronoun on is

generally translated with nous and that it is always accompanied
by action words in the 3rd person singular:
By Marie de France
Climate Change
On y va ?
On a faim !
(children coming home)
147
Shall we go?
We are hungry!
Less frequently, on can mean them. In other cases, it is best

translated by a passive construction:
On ma dit quil dprim..
They told me that he is depressed.

or
I was told he was depressed.
In these cases, on replaces the general sense of les gens people or

also quelquun someone.
Finally, on can be used to profess universal truths:
Quand on est con, on est
con.
Plus on devient vieux, plus
on devient con.
When you are stupid, you are

just plain stupid.
The older you get, the more
stupid you get.
Six more indefinite pronouns:

quelque chose
quelqu'un
plusieurs
tout
tout le monde
un(e) autre
something
someone
several
everything
everyone
another one
2.10 Negation (2)
{AUDIO} In Level 1 you put n and pas around the present tense
forms of avoir:
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Singular
nai pas
je
nas pas
tu
na pas
il/elle
I
you
he/she
dont have
dont have
doesnt have
Plural
nous
vous
ils/elles
we
you
they
dont have
dont have
dont have
navons pas
navez pas
nont pas
Remember the examples:

Je nai pas
tu nas pas
sept voitures
huit
appartements
neuf portables
I do not have
you do not
have
he/she does
not have
seven cars
eight
appartments
nine cellphones
nous navons
pas
vous navez pas
dix mille euros
we do not have
onze tablettes
ils/elles nont pas
douze jeux vido
you do not
have
they do not
have
ten thousand
euro
eleven tablets
il/elle na pas
twelve video
games
Now extend your knowledge of negatives to never/ever,

nothing/anything, nobody/anything and no more/anymore. The
procedure is simple: Keep the ne in front of the action word and
place jamais never/ever, rien nothing/anything, personne
nobody/anybody and plus no more/anymore after it.
Je ne taime pas.
I dont love you.
Il ne travaille jamais.
He/She never works.
Il/Elle ne sait rien.
He/She doesnt know anything (knows nothing).
Nous ne le ferons plus jamais. We wont do it again (never anymore).
Vous ne voyez personne.
You dont see anybody.
Ils/Elles ne maiment plus.
They dont love me anymore.
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In synthesis:
ne
ne ... jamais
ne ... rien
ne ... personne
ne ... plus
ne ... plus jamais
ne ... plus rien
ne ... plus personne
ne ... que*
not
never / ever
nothing / anything
nobody / anybody
no more / anymore
never again / ever again
nothing again / anything again
nobody again / anybody again
only
* ne que has the structure of a negation but is translated with only.
Things are slightly more knotty with compound tenses. To negate

je tai aim I loved you, ne goes before the avoir forms (and any
optional personal pronoun me/m, te/t, le/l, la/l etc):
Je ne tai pas aim.
Je nai pas compris.
I didnt love you.

I didnt understand.
But where shall we place the second element (pas, jamais, rien,
plus, personne, que)? There are two rules:
1)
In the presence of a past participle, pas, jamais, rien and plus
go after the avoir forms and before the past participle:
Il/Elle na jamais travaill.
Il/Elle na jamais rien vu.
He/She (has) never worked.

He/She never saw anything
or
He/She has never seen anything.
Tu ne mas jamais aid.
You (have) never helped me.
Nous ne lavons plus jamais fait. We never did it again.
Je naime que toi.
I love only you.
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2)
In the presence of a past participle, personne and que always go
after the past participle:
Je nai vu personne.
Je nai plus vu personne.
I didnt see anybody.

I havent seen anybody again.
Je nai aim que toi.
I have loved only you.
Do these sentences sound complicated? They ARE complicated.

Give them a few weeks to crystallize in your brain.
2.11 Y avoir: There is
{AUDIO} Lets take a quick look at a secondary function of avoir.

In combination with il y, youll use it to state the existence of
something: there is, there are, there was, there will be etc The two
magic formulae, one for the affirmative and one for the negative,
are il y [x] and il ny [x] pas. Here we go:
Prsent
il y a
il ny a pas
Imparfait
il y avait
il ny avait pas
Pass compos
il y a eu
il ny a pas eu
there is / there are

there isnt / there arent
there was / there were

(there used to be)
there wasnt/there werent
there was / there were

there has been / there have
been
there wasnt / there werent
there has not been / there
have not been
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Futur
il y aura
il ny aura pas
151
there will be
there will not be
Conditionnel prsent
il y aurait
there would be
il ny aurait pas
there would not be
Some examples:
Il y a un problme
There is a problem.
Il ny a pas de pain.
There is no bread.
Il y avait beaucoup de travail. There was much work (to do).
Il ny avait rien voir.
There was nothing to see.
Il y a eu un grand changement. There was a big change.
Il ny a pas eu de rvolte.
There was no insurrection.
Il y aura beaucoup de monde. There will be many people.
Il ny aura plus rien manger. There will be nothing left to eat.
Il y aurait une solution.
There would be a solution.
Il ny aurait pas de problmes There would be no problems at all.
du tout.

French will enter your brain via two (and only two) routes: your
eyes and your ears. Written language is for your eyes, (this
manual, newspapers, magazines, books etc) while spoken
language is for your ears (your friends and family speaking about
their work and life; strangers at meetings and conferences etc).
Two different entry routes mean that there are two different
brain areas in charge of processing the incoming signals. Signals
from the eyes are being processed at the back of your brain, in
the occipital brain region, whereas signals from the ear are being
processed in the so-called temporal brain lobe, located above
your ears. The consequence? You have two distinct construction
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sites inside your brain, one for French writing and one for
French speech, and youll need to work on both of them.
Astonishingly, training your ear demands at least as much
training as the training of your eye and your word memory. In
other words: Be prepared to spend about 1,000 hours in listening
to other people before being fluent in oral comprehension.
Thats why we recommend at the beginning of each level to
listen to the opening text 10, 20, 50, or even up to 100 times,
until you distinguish and understand every single word. The
earlier you start training your ear brain, the earlier youll reach
full understanding of spoken French.
Does the extra schedule of 1,000 hours of brain training scare
you? Dont worry, here is a piece of fabulous news. Listening can
easily be done in parallel to other activities, for example
commuting, doing sports, cooking, etc. That means that youll be
able to dissolve the bulk of your speech recognition programme
within your daily life (like a murderer dissolving a corpse in a
bath of acid!) just put your earphones on and sprinkle your ear
brain with hours of French every day, of course! Find detailed
information about training your ear in Chapter 2 of The Word
Brain, page 23ff. Download the free 81-page PDF from
www.TheWordBrain.com.
By Marie de France
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Lle Saint-Louis | Copyright: Marie de France
II. Grammar
2.12 Articles (2)
The definite articles le and la both become l when they precede

a noun that begins with a vowel or with a so-called mute h (see
details at page xxx): lhomme man, lheure hour, lil eye. The
following words are the most frequent - learn them together
with the indefinite article:
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{AUDIO}
Masculine
un homme
un il
un enfant
un air
un an
un amour
un ordre
un tat
un esprit
un arbre
man
eye
child (m.)
air, appearance
year
love
order
state
spirit
tree
argent (m.)
un effet
un htel
un escalier
money, silver
effect, result
hotel
stairs
Feminine
une heure
une enfant
une eau
une anne
une histoire
une ide
une paule
une envie
une affaire
une ombre
une odeur
une oreille
une image
une
impression
une habitude
une glise
hour
child (f.)
water
year
story, history
idea
shoulder
desire, longing
matter, affair
shade,
shadow
smell, perfume
ear
image
impression
habit, custom
church
2.13 Nouns (2)

2.13.1 Nationalities and languages
Planet Earth has around 200 countries and 7,000 languages. As
listing them all is impossible, well show the names of the people
who visit France most and those of the immediate geographic
surroundings. If your language and country doesnt appear in
this list, dont feel offended you are always in our thoughts. For
a complete list, check the Liste des pays du monde,
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_pays_du_monde
(accessed November 2, 2015).
By Marie de France
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While going through the following list, remember that
For nationalities, the proper noun (lAllemand the

German) and the masculine adjective (le garon
allemand the German boy) are identical. In English, both
are capitalized; in French, only the proper noun is
capitalized.
Some nationalities add e or ne in the feminine forms

(see parentheses).
The names of languages (ex: litalien [the] Italian

[language]) are always masculine and not capitalized.
They usually correspond to the masculine adjective
(italien Italian).
To say that you are from Country X, say je suis I am +

your nationality, for example: je suisanglais I am
English. If you are a woman, use the feminine form: je
suisanglaise I am English. (Dont forget to make the
liaison whenever your nationality starts with a vowel!)
In French, nationalities are not capitalized.
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France
Germany
England
Belgium
Italy
Spain
Netherlands
Switzerland
{AUDIO}
Nationality
France
Allemagne
Angleterre
Belgique
Italie
Espagne
les Pays-Bas (m.)
Suisse
Franais(e)**
Allemand(e)
Anglais(e)
Belge
Italien(ne)
Espagnol(e)
Nerlandais(e)
Suisse
Language*
le franais
l'allemand
l'anglais
le flamand, le franais
l'italien
l'espagnol
le nerlandais
l'allemand, le franais,
l'italien
United States les tats-Unis (m.) Amricain(e) l'anglais
Chine
China
Chinois(e)
le chinois
le Brsil
Brazil
Brsilien(ne) le portugais
le Canada
Canada
Canadien(ne) le franais, l'anglais
le Portugal
Portugal
Portugais(e)
le portugais
Irlande
Ireland
Irlandais(e)
l'anglais, l'irlandais
le Danemark
Denmark
Danois(e)
le danois
le Japon
Japan
Japonais(e)
le japonais
Sude
Sweden
Sudois(e)
le sudois
Norvge
Norway
Norvgien(ne) le norvgien (bokml
et nynorsk)
Autriche
Austria
Autrichien(ne) lallemand
Russie
Russia
Russe
le russe
Inde
India
Indien(ne)
le hindi, le bengali, le
marathi, lourdou, le
gujarati plus hundreds
of others
* In countries where multiple languages are being used, only the main
languages are listed.
** In the masculine form, a final d, n, or s is silent (Franais, Allemand,
Italien); in the feminine form, when followed by an -e, the d, n, and s are
pronounced.
By Marie de France
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Continent
Afrique
Amrique
Asie
Europe
Australie
Africa
America
Asia
Europe
Australia
157
Nationality
Language
Africain(e)
Amricain(e)
Asiatique
Europen(ne)
Australien(ne) langlais
2.13.2 Feminine nouns

{Second Round} {AUDIO} Remember the second round
smiley: The following paragraph is optional if you are
studying this manual for the first time; in this case, jump ahead
to page 161. Only in the second and third round do you need to
make sure to know all the words.
We advised you earlier to memorize the combination [article] +
[noun] because the gender of French nouns is not always
predictable. Fortunately, there are some helpful rules.
Females are usually feminine: la femme the woman, la fille

the girl.
Furthermore, the endings ion, ie, t, ure, ance, ence,

ade, ise, son, ude aison, ande and ti indicate a
feminine gender. Exceptions are rare.
o
ion (1800 words in a 45,000-word dictionary)

question question, impression impression, attention
attention. The extensive list at page 309 shows that
you have easy access to more than 1,500 French
words. All you need is the correct French
pronunciation. Check the audio file at xxx.
Gender exception: un avion aircraft, le million
million, le camion lorry, le lion lion, le champion
champion, un espion spy
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ie (1400 words)
vie life, envie wish, desire, partie part, section, pluie
rain, compagnie company, folie madness, maladie
disease, illness
Gender exception: le gnie genius, un incendie fire,
blaze, le parapluie umbrella
t (800)
vrit truth, volont will, desire, la sant health
Easy to memorize: libert, beaut, ralit,
autorit, socit, qualit, curiosit, difficult,
obscurit, unit, scurit, activit, dignit,
ternit, clart, possibilit, responsabilit
Gender exception: un t summer, le retrait
pensioner, le dput MP, Member of Parliament
ure (400)
heure hour, voiture car, peinture painting, allure
appearance; speed, couverture cover, coverage,
chaussure shoe.
Easy to memorize: mesure, nature, figure,
aventure, lecture, littrature, culture, crature
Gender exception: le murmure whisper, un augure
omen, soothsayer
ance (240)
impuissance impotence, avance head start, advance,
enfance childhood, vacances (plural) holiday,
connaissance knowledge, understanding, puissance
power, naissance birth, souffrance suffering, sance
session, ordonnance prescription; order, mfiance
suspicion, distrust, aisance ease
Easy to memorize: chance, confiance, importance,
distance, circonstance, rsistance, assurance,
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esprance, indpendance, alliance, lgance,

reconnaissance, tendance, nuance, assistance,
vengeance, ignorance, insistance
o
ence (200)
Most of these words are intelligible to English
native speakers : prsence, existence, conscience,
absence, exprience, violence, apparence,
diffrence, vidence, indiffrence, intelligence,
consquence, impatience, patience, science,
essence, confidence, influence, confrence,
prudence, innocence, agence, excellence,
indulgence, prfrence, adolescence, cadence,
permanence, transparence, rsidence, insolence,
audience, licence, occurrence, rfrence,
concidence, inconscience
Gender exception: le silence silence
ade (190)
ambassade embassy, croisade crusade, rade harbour,
rigolade laugh, joke, balade walk, stroll, bousculade
rush, crush.
Easy to memorize: promenade, faade, salade,
grenade, brigade, arcade, cascade, parade,
fusillade, barricade, esplanade, limonade
Gender exception: le camarade, le grade rank,
position, le stade stadium, stage
ise (100)
glise church, chemise shirt, valise suitcase, btise
nonsense, silly thing, sottise stupidity, cerise cherry,
matrise control, mastery, gourmandise love of good
food, convoitise desire, hantise obsession, fear
Easy to memorize: crise, marchandise, brise.
Gender exception: le pare-brise windscreen
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son (80)
gurison recovery, healing, boisson drink, chanson
song, trahison treason, mousson monsoon
Easy to memorize: prison, liaison, saison,
garnison
The following words are all masculine:
le poison poison, le poisson fish, le blouson jacket,
le buisson bush, le frisson shivers, le saucisson, le
chausson slipper, le nourrisson infant, le hrisson
hedgehog
ude (60)
une habitude habit, custom, une tude study, une
inquitude worry, anxiety, la certitude certainty, la
lassitude tiredness
Easy to memorize: solitude, attitude, altitude,
gratitude, and servitude,
Gender exception: le coude elbow, le prlude
prelude, introduction
aison (40)
maison house, raison reason, saison season, liaison,
combinaison, comparaison, livraison delivery,
cargaison cargo, freight, floraison flowering,
conjugaison conjugation, pendaison hanging
(punishment).
ande (25)
amande almond, bande group, band, viande meat,
amande almond, lavande lavender, contrebande
smuggling, tlcommande remote control
Easy to memorize: propagande, demande,
commande.
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ti (3)
la moiti half, una amiti friendship, la piti pity
Find typical masculine endings on page 239.
2.13.3 s, x, or z
{AUDIO} When a noun (or adjective) ends in s, x, or z in the
singular, dont add a further -s in the plural.
virus
son
price, prize
choice
gas
nose
Frenchman
an Englishman
Dutchman
Portuguese
Singular
le virus
le fils
le prix
le choix
le gaz
le nez
le Franais
lAnglais (m.)
le Hollandais
le Portugais
Plural
les virus
les fils
les prix
les choix
les gaz
les nez
les Franais
les Anglais
les Hollandais
les Portugais
2.13.4 -eau, -eu, or au

{Second Round} {AUDIO} Nouns ending in -eau, -au, or eu (all masculine with the exception of eau water) take
on an x in the plural. The x doesnt change the pronunciation.
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Singular
eau (f.)
peau
bureau
oiseau
morceau
tableau
chapeau
rideau
bateau
chteau
manteau
plateau
couteau
cadeau
niveau
gteau
cerveau
Plural
eaux
peaux
bureaux
oiseaux
morceaux
tableaux
chapeaux
rideaux
bateaux
chteaux
manteaux
plateaux
couteaux
cadeaux
niveaux
gteaux
cerveaux
water
skin
office, desk
bird
piece
painting; board
hat
curtain
boat, ship
castle
coat
plateau; tray
knife
present, gift
level
cake
brain
dieu
cheveu
lieu
milieu
feu
jeu
adieu
aveu
dieux
cheveux
lieux
milieux
feux
jeux
adieux
aveux
god
hair
place
middle, centre
fire
play, game
farewell
confession
tuyau
tuyaux
pipe, hose
pneus
tyre
Exception:
pneu
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2.14 Adjectives (2)
{AUDIO} Remember: adjectives describe qualities of
people,
animals
things
Remember also the petit chri example and that every French
noun is either masculine or feminine and either singular or
plural; remember finally that adjectives must agree in number
and gender with their nouns.
French adjectives can be divided into three groups, two big
groups and one small. Groups 1 and 2, of roughly equal size,
represent the bulk of French adjectives.
1.
Adjectives ending with a consonant (mostly d, t, r, s,

n, l)
2.
Adjectives ending in e
3.
Irregular adjectives
2.14.1 Adjectives ending with a consonant

For Group 1 adjectives, those ending with a consonant, lets
briefly recapitulate what we saw in Level 1. We add
e when the noun is feminine singular (one woman:

petite)

(two or more men; in the example above, petits)

(two or more women: petites)
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Singular
Plural
Number
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
e
s
es
Important note. In the petit chri example, ladjective came

before the noun. Thats not the rule! In French, adjectives
generally go behind the nouns. Exceptions are some short
adjectives such as grand tall, huge, petit small, jeune young,
vieux old.
In the following tables, youll pronounce the final consonants
only in the feminine forms (d, t, s shown in bold).
Remember: the French generally dont pronounce the last letters
of a word.
Singular
Plural
Masculine
Feminine
Masculine
Feminine
warm
chaud
chaude
chauds
chaudes
cold
froid
froide
froids
froides
short
court
courte
courts
courtes
strong
fort
forte
forts
fortes
ugly
laid
laide
laids
laides
heavy
lourd
lourde
lourds
lourdes
evil
mauvais
mauvaise
mauvais
mauvaises
high
haut
haute
hauts
hautes
perfect
parfait
parfaite
parfaits
parfaites
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Note that the plural s is always silent and doesnt change

pronunciation in the masculine or the feminine forms:
chaud=chauds [o] and chaude=chaudes [od].
In summary:
Final consonants (-d, -t, -n, etc) are generally silent.

After adding the e for the femenine forms, the final
consonants are pronounced.
Both masculine forms (example: chaud and chauds)

have the same pronounciation.
Both feminine formes (example: chaude and chaudes)

have the same pronounciation.
2.14.2 Adjectives ending in -e

Adjectives of group 2, those ending in e, are both masculine and
feminine. To form the plural of both masculine and feminine
forms, just add an s: pauvres, riches, imaginaires, etc.
Masculine or Feminine
Singular
Plural
poor
pauvre
pauvres
rich
riche
riches
imaginary
imaginaire
imaginaires
easy
facile
faciles
difficult
difficile
difficiles
slim
mince
minces
ridiculous
ridicule
ridicules
stupid
bte
btes
red
rouge
rouges
calm
calme
calmes
tiny
minuscule
minuscules
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clean
propre
propres
ironic
ironique
ironiques
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2.14.3 Irregular adjectives: Categories

Most irregular adjectives can be grouped into less than 20
categories. Lets start with the first three groups which have an
additional l in the feminine forms:
Masculine Feminine
ending
ending
Singular
Plural
-il
-ille
gentil / gentille
gentils / gentilles
kind, nice
-el
-elle
cruel / cruelle
cruels / cruelles
cruel
-eil
-eille
pareil / pareille
pareils / pareilles
similar
2.14.4 Irregular plural of adjectives

As we said earlier, almost all adjectives add s in the plural, both
to the masculine and the feminine forms. There are two major
exceptions:
Dont add s to masculine forms ending in x. In these

cases, the singular and plural forms are identical: un
imbcile heureux a happy idiot, deux imbciles heureux
two happy idiots.
The feminine form adds an s, though: une femme
heureuse a happy woman, deux femmes heureuses two
happy women.
Adjectives ending in al, for example international,
change to aux in the masculine plural form: un
champion international, deux champions
internationaux. The feminine forms are regular:
internationale, internationales.
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2.15 Jokers (2)

2.15.1 Adverbs (2)
Remember: adverbs are invariable words that provide additional
information about
a verb
an adjective
or another adverb
The additional information covers time and space (when and

where), manner (how), quantity (how often) and degree
(comparison). This is the cloud of adverbs youll learn over the
coming weeks. As you see, mastering adverbs is a fairly limited
task.
Cloud 2.3. Adverbs
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{AUDIO} The next 14 important words:

encore
aussi
toujours
trs
peut-tre
dj
maintenant
ensuite
tt
tard
partout
vite
assez
trop
still
also
always
very
maybe, perhaps
already
now
next, then
early
late
everywhere
quickly
quite, fairly
too much
Adverb of
time
comparison
time
quantity
probability
time
time
time
time
time
place
manner
quantity
quantity
2.15.2 Conjunctions (2)

{AUDIO} Remember: conjunctions (literally: joining together)
link similar words or groups of words. Of the two different
groups of conjunctions, you have already seen all so-called
coordinating conjunctions: et and, ou or, mais but, donc thus,
therefore, car for, because, or yet, and ni neither.
In the next levels, youll discover the remaining so-called
subordinating conjunctions. Remember the formula:
Dis-lui
Tell him
Main clause
que
that
Subordinating
conjunction
Dieu est un sadique.

God is a sadist.
Dependent clause
Most of the subordinating conjunctions finish with que (parce

que because, alors que while, whereas) or incorporate que
(lorsque when, puisque since [reason]).
By Marie de France
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Link
quand
when
simultaneity
lorsque
when
simultaneity
puisque
since
causality
tant donn que
given that
causality
alors que
while, whereas
alternative restriction
comme
because
causality
depuis que
since
posteriority
2.15.3 Prepositions (2)

{AUDIO} In Level 1 we presented you the most common French
prepositions de, , dans, avec, sans, entre and pour. The
remaining prepositions, presented again in different size
according to their frequency, are shown in the word cloud
below.
Cloud 2.4. Prepositions
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Lets continue with four prepositions: chez, jusque, par and

vers.
Ce soir, je dne chez mes parents. Tonight, Ill have supper at my parents
house.
On se voit chez moi ?
Lets meet at my place?
Attends jusque demain !
Wait until tomorrow!
Allons plutt vers Notre-Dame.
Lets go to Notre Dame (= take the
direction of).
Il arrive vers deux heures.
He is coming at around two oclock.
On peut passer par la rue SaintWe can go through Saint Denis street.
Denis.
Youll see later that every single preposition has multiple uses
requiring different translations.
2.15.4 The word de

{AUDIO} The tiny de is one of the most versatile and chameleonic
words of the French language. It is so frequent that you might
find it every 10 words:
Deux immenses explosions
provoques par lincendie dun
entrept contenant des
produits inflammables et
toxiques ont eu lieu, mercredi
12 aot au soir, dans une zone
industrielle de Tianjin, une
grande ville du nord-est de la
Chine. Plus de 24 heures plus
tard, le bilan humain est
lourd : au moins 50 morts, dont
Two huge explosions caused by

a fire in a warehouse
containing inflammable and
toxic products took place the
evening of Wednesday, August
12, in an industrial area of
Tianjin, a city in northeastern
China. More than 24 hours
later, the human toll is heavy:
at least 50 dead, including 12
firefighters, and more than 700
By Marie de France
Climate Change
12 pompiers, et plus de 700

blesss, dont 71 dans un tat
critique, selon un bilan
provisoire tabli par les mdias
dEtat.
171
injured, including 71 in critical

condition, according to a
provisional toll issued by the
state media.
Source and : Le Monde, http://hiv.net/kcl, accessed 14 August, 2015
Remember that youll also use de/d to define possession, origin,

content, cause or other defining features. Depending on the
context, English translations include of, from, in, about and by; in
some cases, de isnt translated at all.
Use
Description: in
Partitive article des
(de+les)
Geography: of
lincendie dun entrept

des produits inflammables
a fire in a warehouse
flammable products
zone industrielle de Tianjin
industrial area of
Tianjin
northeastern China
more than 24 hours
later
more than 700 injured
the state media
Geography: of
Quantity: than
nord-est de la Chine
plus de 24 heures plus tard
Quantity: than
Possession
plus de 700 blesss

les mdias dEtat
Final reminder
1.
2.
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2.16 Numbers 13-79
{AUDIO} Counting from 13-79 is inconspicuous, at least in the

beginning. From 13 to 16 you have compact one-syllable words,
then ten-seven, ten-eight, ten-nine nothing truly shocking.
From 20 to 69, things turn almost unfrenchily normal. Apart
from 21, 31, 41 etc (vingt et un, trente et un, quarante et un), the
numbers finally resemble rock-solid British numbers. Then,
suddenly, the truce ends: 60+10, 60+11, 60+12 itll take you
some time to open your eyes on such contorted math! Why the
hell do French make their life so complicated? However, if you
think we have reached the summit of French exceptionalism,
wait until Level 3. There, the nation of logic will top it all.
treize
quatorze
quinze
seize
dix-sept
dix-huit
dix-neuf
vingt
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
vingt et un
vingt-deux
vingt-trois
trente
trente et un
trente-deux
quarante
cinquante
soixante
soixante-neuf
21
22
23
30
31
32
40
50
60
69
soixante-dix (60+10)
soixante et onze (60+11)
soixante-douze (60+12)
soxante-treize (60+13)
soxante-quatorze (60+14)
soxante-quinze (60+15)
soxante-seize (60+16)
soxante-dix-sept (60+17)
soxante-dix-huit (60+18)
soxante-dix-neuf (60+19)
70*
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
* P.S. In Belgium, Luxemburg and Switzerland, native French speakers use

septante, septante et un, septante-deux etc. Phew!...
By Marie de France
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2.17 Asking a question

{AUDIO} When you ask a question in English, you usually add
do/did at the beginning of the sentence: Do you see this? Did you do
that? or invert you can into can you?, you will into will you? etc. In
French, you have three options to turn a statement into a
question:
2.17.1 Raise the pitch

Thats the simplest and most common way: Take a statement and
put a question mark at the end. In speech, just raise the pitch of
your voice at the end of the sentence:
Statement
Tu peux venir aujourdhui.
Tu viens.
You can come today.

You are coming.
Question
Tu peux venir aujourdhui ?
Tu viens ?
Can you come today?

Are you coming?
2.17.2 Est-ce que

Another simple way is to put est-ce que at the beginning of the
sentence:
Statement
Question
Est-ce que tu peux venir
aujourdhui ?
You can come today.

Can you come today?
Of course, before il/elle and ils/elles, youll drop the final e and
add a hyphen: est-ce quil, est-ce quelle etc.
2.17.3 Inversion
A third way of asking a question is the inversion of pronoun and
action word:
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Statement
You can come today.
Question
Peux-tu venir aujourdhui ?
Can you come today?
This is straightforward. You just introduce a hyphen between

action word and pronoun.
Matters are more complex when you have a composed tense:
Statement
Il a achet un lapin.
He bought a rabbit.
Question
A-t-il achet un lapin ?
Has he bought a rabbit?
What do you see? First, make the inversion between the pronoun
il and the auxiliary a; second, add a smoothing t because French
doesnt like two vowels (i and a) clashing into each other; third,
stitch everything together with hyphens: a-t-il.
There is yet another curiosity. Look at this:
Statement
Luc a achet un lapin.
He bought a rabbit.
Question
Luc a-t-il achet un lapin ?
Has Luc bought a rabbit?
If the sentence has a noun (instead of a pronoun il as in the

previous sentence), youll put the noun at the beginning of the
sentence: Luc a-t-il
Look at the following questions and give them time to settle into
your brain. Youll better understand them when you go through
this manual the second or third time.
By Marie de France
Climate Change
Ne travaille-t-il jamais?
Ne sait-il rien?
Ne voyez-vous personne?
Ne maimes-tu plus?
Ne le ferons-nous plus jamais?
Doesnt he ever work?

Doesnt he know anything?
Dont you see anybody?
Wont you love me anymore?
Wont we ever do it again?

2.18.1 Question words
{AUDIO} The most important question words are
qui?
que or quest-ce que?
quand?
comment?
o?
d'o?
pourquoi?
who, whom?
what?
when?
how?
where?
from where?
why?
Qui est l ?
Quest-ce que tu fais ?
O vas-tu ?
Quest-ce que vous avez ?
Pourquoi tu ne viens pas ?
Comment tu me trouves ?
Quand veux-tu venir ?
Qui es-tu ?
Quest-ce que tu veux ?
O tes-vous alls/alles ?
Do venez-vous ?
Pourquoi mas-tu embrass ?
Comment as-tu fait a ?
Quand est-ce quon se voit ?
Who is there?
What are you doing?
Where are you going?
Whats wrong with you?
Why dont you come?
How do you find me?
When do you want to come?
Who are you?
What do you want?
Where did you go?
Where are you coming from?
Why did you kiss me?
How did you do that?
When will we see each other (again)?
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2.18.2 Magic Words

{AUDIO} French has two truly magic expressions: sil vous plat
literally: if it pleases you and sil te plat.
Use vous
when you speak to more than one person, no matter if

youre close friends with them or not;
with single people in formal situations.
With single friends or family, use sil te plat instead.

Pourriez-vous me passer le beurre,
sil vous plat ? (formal)
Tu me passes le beurre, sil te
plat ? (informal)
Could you pass me the butter,

please?
Pass me the butter, please?
These formulae are evidently more dignified than a brutish

Passe-moi le beurre! Pass me the butter! In French, sil vous
plat and sil te plat are therefore as important as in English
the more often you use them, the easier life will be. When you
enter a boucherie butchers shop, a boulangerie bakers shop, or a
fromagerie cheesemongers shop, sil vous plat is de rigueur:
Je voudrais
I would like
une douzaine
dhuitres,
a dozen oysters
deux douzaines
descargots,
two dozen
escargots
une demidouzaine de
cuisses de
grenouille,
un bifteck de
cheval bien
juteux,
sil vous
plat.
half a dozen frogs

legs
a juicy horse steak
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2.18.3 Silent letters (2)

{AUDIO} Lets go back to the inconsistant way French treats
consonants at the end of a word. Remember that most of the
time, they are not pronounced, but sometimes they are. The
letters C, R, F, L (careful), B, K and Q are usually pronounced at
the end of a word. Lets look at the letter F:
Pronounce the final F

uf [f]
egg
chef [f]
boss
neuf [nf]
new
prservatif
condom
[pezvatif]
juif [if]
Jewish
positif
positive
[pozitif]
buf [bf]
beef
Dont pronounce the final F

ufs []
eggs
nerf [n]
nerve
clef [kle]
key
2.18.4 Toolbox 4
The 14 French tenses
By now you should know the meaning of definite, indefinite and
partitive articles; adjectives and nouns; and adverbs, conjunctions
and prepositions.
Lets repeat one last time the complete set of 14 French tenses.
Remember: in a conversation with your friends and colleagues
youll hear or use these tenses either every minute (prsent,
pass compos, imparfait, futur) or at intervals of less than 5
minutes (plus-que-parfait, conditionnel prsent,
conditionnel pass, subjonctif prsent). You cannot study
French without being familiar with these 14 technical terms:
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Simple tenses
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Prsent
Imparfait
Pass simple
Futur
Conditionnel prsent
Subjonctif prsent
Present
Imperfect
Simple past
Future
Present conditional
Present subjunctive
Composed tenses
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Pass compos
Plus-que-parfait
Pass antrieur
Futur antrieur
Conditionnel pass
Subjonctif pass
Subjonctif plus-que-parfait
Perfect
Past perfect
Preterit perfect
Future perfect
Past conditional
Past subjunctive
2.18.5 Social Vocabulary

First encounter
{AUDIO}
Pleased to meet you.
Whats your name?
My name is X.
Enchant(e).
Comment vous appelez-vous?
Comment tu tappelles ?
Je mappelle X.
Thank you very much.

Youre welcome.
Merci beaucoup.
De rien.
Good-bye. See you soon.
Au revoir. bientt.
polite
familiar
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Following encounters
How are you?
Its going well / bad.

Fine, thanks. And you?
Comment allez-vous ?
Comment vas-tu ?
Salut, a va ?
a va bien / mal.
Trs bien, merci, et vous ?
Trs bien, merci, et toi ?
polite
familiar
familiar
polite
familiar
2.19 Reading
{AUDIO} It is time for your second newspaper article. Lets cut

into pieces the 130 words about Barack Obamas election as the
44th president of the United States in 2008. We have highlighted
the three main word classes:
1. Action word
2. Noun
Aprs sa victoire, Barack

Obama sest adress son
pays et au monde.
peine lu, le 44e prsident
des Etats-Unis, Barack Obama
s'est hiss la hauteur de
l'vnement historique que
constitue son lection,
quarante ans aprs la fin de la
sgrgation raciale. ()
Premier prsident africainamricain de l'histoire des
Etats-Unis, Barack Obama a t
lu dans un raz de mare qui a
mis tout le pays en liesse. Du
New Hampshire Harlem, des
grilles de la Maison Blanche au
2016 Edition
3. Adjective
After his victory, Barack

Obama spoke to his country
and the world.
Barely elected the 44th
president of the United States,
Barack Obama has risen to the
height of the historic event of
his election, forty years after
the end of racial segregation.
(...)
The first African-American
president in the history of the
United States, Barack Obama
was elected in a tidal wave that
put the country into a state of
jubilation. From New
Hampshire to Harlem, from
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Grant Park de Chicago, les

Amricains ont repris sa
promesse : Yes we can!
(Oui, nous le pouvons !), tout
est possible un peuple
rconcili. Dans un pays
branl par les crises
conomique, morale,
identitaire , Barack Obama a
montr le chemin : Nous
sommes et nous serons
toujours les Etats-Unis
d'Amrique.
the gates of the White House to

Chicago's Grant Park,
Americans joined in with his
promise: Yes we can!,
everything is possible for a
reconciled people. In a country
shaken by crises economic,
moral, identity Barack
Obama has shown the way:
We are and always will be the
United States of America.

http://www.lemonde.fr/journalelectronique/donnees/libre/20081106/index.htm
l Accessed February 23, 2016.
Read the text several times. In particular, get accustomed to the

idea of analysing a text word by word and understanding the
function of every single word.
By Marie de France
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Montmartre | Copyright: Marie de France

{AUDIO} Thats it for Level 2. Can you say
Prsent
je suis tu es il/elle est | nous sommes vous tes ils/elles
sont
I am, you are, he/she is | we, you, they are
Imparfait
ils/elles taient
I was, you were, he/she was | we, you, they were
I, you, he/she used to be | we, you, they used to be
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Futur
je serai tu seras il/elle sera | nous serons vous serez
ils/elles seront
I, you, he or she will be | we, you, they will be
Conditionnel prsent
je serais tu serais il/elle serait | nous serions vous seriez
ils/elles seraient
I, you, he or she would be | we, you, they would be
Do you remember the strong sexual connotations of action
words using the auxiliary tre to form composed tenses (pass
compos, plus-que-parfait, conditionnel pass etc)?
Infinitif
aller
venir
entrer
rentrer
sortir
arriver
rester
partir
tomber
passer
retourner
natre
mourir
monter
descendre
Participe
pass
all
venu
entr
rentr
sorti
arriv
rest
parti
tomb
pass
retourn
n
mort
mont
descendu
to go
to come
to enter
to go back in
to go out, exit
to arrive
to stay
to leave
to fall
to go through (a place)
to go back, return
to be born
to die
to go up, climb
to go down (downstairs),
climb down
Example: je suis venu(e), je suis rentr(e), je suis

sorti(e), je suis arriv(e), je suis tomb(e), je suis
parti(e).
By Marie de France
Climate Change
183
And do you know these important action words with their past
participles:
devoir jai d
vivre jai vcu
connate jai connu
boire jai bu
croire jai cru
lire jai lu
rire jai ri
venir je suis venu(e)
devenir je suis devenu(e)
Do you know the meaning of at least 2 x 7 words of the following
word cloud?
Cloud 2.5. Action words
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Are you familiar with jamais, rien, personne and plus? Take a
second look:
ne
ne ... jamais
ne ... rien
ne ... personne
ne ... plus
ne ... plus jamais
ne ... pi rien
ne ... pi personne
ne ... que*
not
never / ever
nothing / anything
nobody / anybody
no more / anymore
never again / ever again
nothing again / anything again
nobody again / anybody again
only
Can you recite the surprising series of French numbers from 70

to 79? And do you know the meaning of maintenant, peut-tre,
aussi, dj, ensuite, tt, tard, partout, vite, assez, trs, trop,
encore?
Well then, you have been promoted to Level 3! You know 30 out
of 100 key action word sextets.
Outlook
Read the tre table again (page 133). Youll appreciate the now
familiar layout and remember that the tables with these fullydressed action words are the cornerstone of GigaFrench.
In Level 3, finally, comes the third most important French
word, caresser to pet/caress (a Group 1 action word), with
people petting animals and caressing each other. Youll also
find more nouns, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions,
prepositions and pronouns as always, well present you with
the most frequent French words.
By Marie de France
Abortion
Abortion
Copyright 2016 N. Allan Rio de Janeiro
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{AUDIO1} {AUDIO2}
Avortement | Pourquoi
lavortement lgal nexiste-t-il
pas au Nicaragua, au Chili et
Malte ? Pourquoi y a-t-il des
pays o une femme ne peut
avorter sans le consentement de
son mari ? Et pourquoi y a-t-il
dautres pays encore o
labomination dun viol ne
compte pas et nest pas une
raison suffisante pour avorter
lgalement? (Voir carte
dtaille sur hiv.net/1p7.)
Why doesnt legal abortion

exist in Nicaragua, Chile and
Malta? Why are there
countries where a woman
cannot abort without the
consent of her husband? And
why are there still other
countries where the
abomination of rape does
not count and is not a
sufficient reason for aborting
legally? (See detailed map on
hiv.net/1p7.)
Le chemin de la libert est-il si

difficile ? Pourquoi nier
lvidence : les femmes du
monde entier et de tous les
temps ont subi des grossesses
non dsires et se sont
retrouves contraintes
lavortement. Elles le faisaient
hier, elles le font aujourdhui, et
elles continueront demain,
partout, dans toutes les
socits, sous toutes les
religions, y compris dans les
pays o lavortement est illgal.
Beaucoup dentre elles en sont
mortes et dautres en mourront.
Is the path of freedom so

difficult? Why deny the
obvious: women of the entire
world and of all times have
experienced unwanted
pregnancies and found
themselves forced to
abortion. They did so
yesterday, they do it today
and will continue tomorrow,
everywhere, in all societies,
under all religions, even in
countries where abortion is
illegal. Many of them have
died and more will die.
Qui en est responsable ? Les

hommes, dincorrigibles
Who is responsible? The men

(or males?), incorrigible
By Marie de France
Abortion
187
machistes qui gouvernent ces

pays, soutenus par les religieux
de tout poil ? Ou bien les mres,
grand-mres et belles-mres
garantes, porteuses et
proslytes de valeurs
archaques ? En tout cas, trop
cest trop, il y en a marre !
machos governing these

countries, supported by the
religious of all kinds? Or the
mothers, grandmothers and
mothers-in-law, guarantors,
carriers and proselytes of
archaic values? Anyway, too
much is too much, were fed
up!
Reprenons depuis le dbut : Qui

porte les enfants pendant neuf
mois ? Qui accouche? Qui les
allaite et les protge pendant les
annes tendres de leur vie ? Et
les hommes, dans tout cela ? Un
spermatozode ! Quatre
milliards dannes dvolution,
certes, mais 5 minutes de travail
pour le mle. Nom de Dieu !
Nous sommes au 21me sicle !
Lets take it from the

beginning: Who bears
children for nine months?
Who gives birth? Who
breastfeeds and protects
them during the tender years
of life? And men, in all this?
One sperm! (or:
spermatozoon?) Four billion
years of evolution, certainly,
but 5 minutes of work for the
buck (or: male?). Bloody hell!
We are in the 21st century!
Tous les ans, plus de 40 millions

de femmes avortent, dont la
moiti dans des conditions
illgales et dangereuses.
LOrganisation Mondiale de la
Sant (OMS) estime que plus de
40 000 dentre elles meurent
d'hmorragies, d'infections et
des effets toxiques des
substances utilises pour
provoquer lavortement. La vie
de ces femmes nest-elle pas
Every year, more than 40

million women have
abortions, half in illegal and
dangerous conditions. The
World Health Organization
(WHO) estimates that more
than 40,000 of them die of
haemorrhages, infections and
toxic effects of substances
used to cause abortion. Arent
the lives of these women
more important than the
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plus importante que la vie

avorte dun ftus ?
aborted life of a foetus?
Prtres, politiciens et lobbyistes

anti-avortement de toutes les
religions, coutez : au jugement
dernier vous rpondrez de ces
40 000 mortes. Au nom de la
mre, de la fille et de la Sainte
Vierge, vous tes des assassins !
Clergymen, politicians and

anti-abortion lobbyists off all
religions, listen: at the last
judgment you will answer for
these 40,000 deaths. In the
name of the mother, and the
daughter, and of the Holy
Virgin: you are murderers!
Words
{AUDIO}
un avortement
lgal
abortion
legal
le Nicaragua
le Chili
le pays
o
la femme
avorter
Nicaragua
Chile
country
where
woman
to abort
elle ne peut
le consentement
le mari
dautres pays
encore
une abomination
le viol
compter
she cannot
consent
husband
still other
countries
abomination
rape
to count
la raison
suffisant
lgalement
voir
la carte
reason
sufficient
legally
to see
map
dtaill
le chemin
detailed
way, path
la libert
difficile
nier
une vidence
entier
le temps
de tous les
temps
liberty
difficult
to negate
evidence
whole, entire
time; weather
of all times
subir
to endure, be
subjected to
la grossesse
pregnancy
dsirer
to want, desire
non dsir
unwanted
se retrouver
to find yourself
contraint
forced to
elles le faisaient they did it
hier
elle le font
yesterday
they do it
By Marie de France
Abortion
aujourdhui
elles
continueront
demain
partout
toutes les
socits
today
theyll continue
sous
toutes les
religions
y compris
illgal
beaucoup
entre
beaucoup
dentre elles
189
tomorrow
everywhere
all societies
la mre
la grand-mre
la belle-mre
garant, -e
porteur, -se
proslyte
mother
grandmother
mother-in-law
guarantor
supporting
proselyte
under
all religions
la valeur
archaque
en tout cas
depuis
le dbut
value
archaic
anyway, in any
case
too
too much is too
much
were fed up
here: to start
again
since
beginning
porter
les enfants
neuf
le mois
accoucher
to bear, carry
children
9
month
to give birth
allaiter
protger
tendre
la vie
de leur vie
dans tout cela
le
spermatozode
to breast feed
to protect
tender, soft
life
of their life
in all this
sperm
quatre
le milliard
volution f.
certes
4
billion
evolution
of course,
certainly
work
including
illegal
many
among,
between
many of them
elles en sont
mortes
dautres
elle mourront
qui ?
en
responsable
incorrigible
they died of it
le machiste
gouverner
soutenir
soutenu par
le religieux
le poil
de tout poil
macho
to govern
to support
supported by
religious,
clergyman,
priest, etc.
hair; fur
of all kinds
ou bien
or else
others
they will die
who?
here: for that
responsible
incorrigible,
incurable
trop
trop cest trop
il y en a marre
reprendre
le travail
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5 minutes de
travail
le mle
5 minutes of
work
male
Nom de Dieu ! Bloody hell!

le sicle
century
nous sommes au we are in the
21me (vingt-et- 21st century
unime) sicle
tous les ans
every year
plus de
more than
quarante millions 40 million
dont
of whom
la moiti
la condition
dangereux, -se
une organisation
mondial, -e
la sant
OMS
half
condition
dangerous
organisation
global,
worldwide
health
WHO
estimer
une hmorragie
une infection
un effet
toxique
la substance
utiliser
to estimate
haemorrhage
infection
effect, result
toxic
substance
to use, employ
provoquer
to cause, bring
about
life
important
more important
than
foetus
priest
politician
la vie
important, -e
plus important
que
le ftus
le prtre
le politicien
le lobbyiste
la religion
couter
coutez !
le jugement
le jugement
dernier
rpondre de
lobbyist
religion
to listen
listen!
judgement
Last
Judgement
to be
accountable
for
au nom de
la fille
saint
la Sainte Vierge
un assassin
in the name of
daughter
holy
Holy Virgin
murderer
By Marie de France
Abortion
191
Cloud 3.1. Abortion
Again,
1.

device.
2.
3.
Start the audio.
4.

you prefer:
1.
2.
3.
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4.
Close your eyes and listen to the audio until you

understand every single word. Some words still escape
understanding? Open your eyes again and read, then
close your eyes again.
The last point is essential because you may need quite a few
rounds of listening today, tomorrow, next week until you can
distinguish every single word! Remember, there is no shame in
repeating the audio 10, 20 or even 50 times!
If your main interest is learning contemporary vocabulary,
memorize all words (100%) and go straight ahead to Junk Food on
page 257.
For a more thorough knowledge of French, please continue
below. The highlights of Level 3 are
the detailed description of faire to make/to do;
the intimate knowledge of the third most important

French word, caresser to caress, to pet;
possessive adjectives;
and, finally, your last big intellectual challenge of

French grammar: POPs, personal object pronouns.
As always, make extensive use of the audio files and listen to

them until you can distinguish every single word.

Time is money and learning languages is time-consuming. One
way of losing your precious time-money is having the wrong
teachers. Lets first see who they are and find out later which
services the ideal teacher should provide today, in the teens and
twenties of the 21st century.
By Marie de France
Abortion
193
Your teacher should in no case be monoglot who speaks only

her own language French and who never went through the
rough process of mastering another language. In front of a
moniglot teacher a series of questions will come into your
mind: Does she know what it means to absorb 5,000 to 10,000
words? Can she imagine how it is to memorize 20 to 50 new
words every day? Does she have the faintest idea of how
demanding it is to penetrate the dense thicket of high-speed
human speech? Does she presage the thrill of discovering a new
language? In summary, does she have an appropriate
comprehension of the complications and implications of
language learning? Probably not.
So if your language classes in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, or
Montpellier are meant to be more than meeting and mingling
opportunities with people from all over the world, double-check
that your teacher is a polyglot or would you want to take sex
lessons from Catholic nuns?*
Find more information about teachers in Chapter 4 of The Word
* Comment from our copy editor: They might know more than you think,
Marie!
I. Action Words
As some action words are more important than others, at the
beginning of each level well present one of them with the full
picture of simple tenses. Lets start with faire to make/to do:
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3.1 Faire
{AUDIO}
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
faire to do, to make

fait
faisant
fais | faisons | faites
Prsent
Present: I make
je
tu
il/elle
fais
fais
fait
Imparfait
Imperfect: I made,
I used to make
faisais
faisais
faisait
nous
vous
ils/elles
faisons
faites
font
faisions
faisiez
faisaient
Futur
Future: I will make
je
tu
il/elle
ferai
feras
fera
Conditionnel prs.
Present conditional:
I would make
ferais
ferais
ferait
nous
vous
ils/elles
ferons
ferez
feront
ferions
feriez
feraient
Subjonctif
imparfait
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
Present
subjunctive
fasse
fasses
fasse
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
fassions
fassiez
fassent
fissions
fissiez
fissent
Pass simple
fmes
ftes
firent
fis
fis
fit
fisse
fisses
ft
By Marie de France
Abortion
195
La Martinique | Copyright: Marie de France
The 30 words in the five highlighted boxes present minor

challenges:
1.
The prsent is irregular and requires attention.
2.
The imparfait stem is easily derived from the 1st person

plural nous faisons.
3.
The stem of the futur is fer. Just add the forever

identical endings of the futur (ai, as, a | ons, ez,
ont) and the conditionnel prsent (ais, ais, ait |
ions, iez, aient) to get the corresponding tenses.
4.
The stem of the subjonctif prsent is fass.

a.
The endings are regular: e, es, e | ions,

iez, ent.
b.
The pronunciation of the singular forms and

the 3rd person plural (fasse, fasses, fasse,
fassent) is identical: [fas].
Remember the composed tenses of faire from page 52.

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Important information
In the coming levels, youll find many more action word tables.
The default mode of action words is the so-called indicatif,
which expresses facts of life that really happened, are happening
right now or will be happening in the future; as the indicatif is
the default mode, we dont specify it and simply say prsent,
imparfait and futur.
The indicatif is also called mood. Other moods are 1) the
conditionnel (conditional), 2) the subjonctif (subjunctive), and
3) the impratif (imperative).
Finally, there are three indefinite moods which do not indicate the
person: infinitif (infinitive), participe (participle) and grondif
(gerund).
Does that sound confusing? Indeed it is, so come back later! For
now, just remember that there is a subjonctif which youll use to
express doubts, thoughts, wishes, beliefs, and worries.
3.1.1 Expressions with faire (2)

{AUDIO} French uses faire in every conceivable combination. In
Level 1 (page 56), you have seen a few, which described love,
sport, and housework. Here are some more:
faire des tudes
faire mdecine
faire droit
faire la fte
faire du ski
faire du tennis
faire du golf
faire du jogging
faire de la planche voile
faire de lquitation
faire une remarque
to study
to study medicine
to study law
to party
to go skiing
to play tennis
to golf
to go jogging
to go windsurfing
to ride horseback
to make a comment
By Marie de France
Abortion
faire des achats

faire du camping
faire un pique-nique
faire du feu
faire un gteau
faire bouillir
faire mal a quelquun
faire une faute
faire pleurer quelquun
faire les valises
faire de la moto
faire un voyage
197
to make purchases
to go camping
to go on a picnic
to make a fire
to bake a cake
to boil
to hurt someone
to make a mistake
to make someone cry
to pack ones bag
to ride a motorcycle
to take a trip
3.2 Subjonctif
Lets introduce the subjonctif prsent. Generally speaking,

youll use the subjonctif after action words (or expressions like
il est prfrable que), which express will/wanting, doubt,
emotion, possibility, necessity, or judgment. Well go into the
details later. Look at only one sentence:
Il faut que tu fasses ton lit.
You must make your bed.
[literally: It is imperative that you make your bed.]
As il faut expresses a necessity, the second part of the sentence
(introduced by que) cannot use the standard prsent (tu fais);
instead, it must use the subjonctif prsent: tu fasses.
Il faut
You must
que
tu fasses ton lit.

make your bed.
Main clause:
Necessity
Conjunction,
introducing the
dependent clause
Dependent clause:
Use the subjonctif
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Well present more expressions requiring the subjonctif at the

beginning of each new level.
3.3 Action words, Group 1: Petting
{AUDIO} Petting covers a broad range of sexual behaviors,

including deep kissing and sexual touching of your partner. Part
of petting is caressing. Sexual touching is best translated with
caresser. Note that Group 1 action words end in er.
Le garon caresse le chat.
La fille caresse le chien.
Le garon caresse la fille.
La fille caresse le garons.
Ils se caressent.
The boy pets the cat.

The girl pets the dog.
The boy caresses the girl.
The girl caresses the boy.
They caress each other.
As in Level 1 and 2, please start with the first four sextets of

caresser. Listen to the audio and learn the following sequences.
If you are new to French, memorize the first two sextets, if you
learned French before, memorize them all. Burn the 24 words
into your brain.
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
caresse
caresses
caresse
Imparfait
caressais
caressais
caressait
nous
vous
ils/elles
caressons
caressez
caressent
caressions
caressiez
caressaient
By Marie de France
Abortion
je
tu
il/elle
Futur
caresserai
caresseras
caressera
Conditionnel prs.
caresserais
caresserais
caresserait
nous
vous
ils/elles
caresserons
caresserez
caresseront
caresserions
caresseriez
caresseraient
199
Being able to express caresser in the prsent, imparfait, futur

and conditionnel prsent is clearly a major coup in life.
(Preview the full picture on page 213). All you need are 24
endings. Most of them are identical to those you used with avoir
(see page 46) and tre (page 133).
3.3.1 Prsent
Singular
caresse
je
caresses
tu
il/elle caresse
I
you
he/she
caress
caress
caresses
Plural
nous caressons
vous caressez
ils/elles caressent
we
you
they
caress
caress
caress
The prsent present tense is new. Heres the recipe: cut er from
the infinitif caresser and get the stem caress; then add e, -es,
-e | -ons, -ez, -ent.
While reading and listening to caresser youll establish the
following rules:
1.
The first person singular (je caresse) and the third

person singular (il/elle caresse) are identical.
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2.
The pronunciation of the three singular forms (caresse

caressescaresse) and the 3rd person plural form
(caressent) is identical [kas].
3.
The final ez of the 2nd person plural form (caressez) has

the same pronunciation as the infinitive (caresser) and
the past participle (caress) [kase].
The prsent is typically used
to describe the Here and Now: je t'aime I love you, je

t'adore I adore you, tu me rends fou/folle youre driving
me mad, je ne peux pas vivre sans toi I cannot live without
you
to conduct discussions about life in general: L'amour,
c'est... Love is..., La jalousie n'est pas... Jealousy is not...,
Pourquoi es-tu toujours... Why are you always....
3.3.2 Imparfait
Lets continue with the imparfait and express caressing in the
past. To get the imperfect stem
Take the 1st person plural of the prsent: nous

caressons
The imperfect stem of virtually all action words both regular and
irregular is formed in this way. An important exception: The
imperfect stem of tre is t: jtais tu tais il/elle tait etc. [see
page 133].
Drop the ons ending and get the imperfect stem: caress
Add the imperfect endings: je caressais, tu caressais,

il/elle caressait etc.
By Marie de France
Abortion
Singular
caressais
je
caressais
tu
il/elle caressait
I
you
he/she
caressed
caressed
caressed
Plural
nous caressions
vous caressiez
ils/elles caressaient
we
you
they
caressed
caressed
caressed
201
While reading and listening to the imparfait of caresser youll

remember that
1.
The 1st person singular (je caressais) and the 2nd person
singular (tu caressais) are identical.
2.
The pronunciation of the three singular forms

(caressaiscaressaiscaressait) and the 3rd person plural
form (caressaient) is identical [kas].
3.3.3 Futur
Now say that youll do some caressing in the future (I will caress).
Take the Futur endings (ai, -as, -a | -ons, -ez, ont) so familiar
from jaurai tu auras il/elle aura | nous aurons vous aurez
ils/elles auront; I, you, he/she will have etc.) and attach them to
the infinitive of caresser:
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Singular
caresserai
je
caresseras
tu
il/elle caressera
I will
you will
he/she will
caress
caress
caress
Plural
nous caresserons
vous caresserez
ils/elles caresseront
we will
you will
they will
caress
caress
caress
While reading and listening to the futur of caresser youll see

again that
1.
The 1st person singular (je caresserai) and the 2nd person
plural (vous caresserez) sound identical [kase].
2.
The 2nd person singular (tu caresseras) and the 3rd

person singular (il/elle caressera) sound identical
[kasa].
3.
The 1st person plural (nous caresserons) and the 3rd

person plural (ils/elles caresseront) sound identical
[kas].
Remember: The futur endings are identical for all French action
words!
3.3.4 Conditionnel prsent

Finally, try some hypothetical caressing (I would caress) and say
that peut-tre maybe you might caress in the future. Take the
endings of the conditionnel prsent ais, -ais, -ait | -ions, -iez,
aient (which you have met in jaurais tu aurais il/elle aurait
| nous aurions vous auriez ils/elles auraient; I, you, he/she
would have etc.) and attach them to the infinitive of caresser:
By Marie de France
Abortion
Singular
caresserais
je
caresserais
tu
il/elle caresserait
I would
you would
he/she would
caress
caress
caress
Plural
nous caresserions
vous caresseriez
ils/elles caresseraient
we would
you would
they would
caress
caress
caress
203

caresser youll find that the pronunciation of the three singular
forms (caresseraiscaresseraiscaresserait) and the 3rd plural
form (caresseraient) is identical [kas].
3.3.5 Subjonctif prsent

{AUDIO}
Singular
que je
que tu
que il/elle
caresse
caresses
caresse
Plural
que nous caressions
que vous caressiez
que ils/elles caressent
that I
caress
that you
caress
that he/she caress
that we
that you
that they
caress
caress
caress
The subjonctif prsent of Group 1 actions words is a chimaera

because it mixes up endings of the prsent and only for the the
1st and 2nd person plural the imparfait.
As in the prsent, youll observe that
1.
The endings of the 1st person singular (je caresse) and

the 3rd person singular (il/elle caresse) are identical.
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2.
The three singular forms (caressecaressescaresse) and

the 3rd person plural form (caressent) sound identical
[kas].
To obtain the stem of the subjonctif prsent
Take the 3rd person plural of the prsent: ils caressent
Drop the ent ending and obtain caress
Add the present subjunctive endings e, es e | ions,

iez, ent (que je caresse, que tu caresses, quil/elle
caresse etc.)
The subjonctif prsent of virtually all action words both

regular and irregular is formed like this. Important exceptions
are faire to do/make, savoir to know, pouvoir to be able to, can,
aller to go and vouloir to want.
As the endings of the subjonctif prsent are always the same, all
you need to do is learn the stems: fass, sach, puiss:
faire
Subjonctif prsent:
that I do etc.
savoir
Subjonctif prsent:
that I know etc.
que je
que tu
quil/elle
fasse
fasses
fasse
sache
saches
sache
pouvoir
Subjonctif prsent:
that I am able to
etc.
puisse
puisses
puisse
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
fassions
fassiez
fassent
sachions
sachiez
sachent
puissions
puissiez
puissent
The forms ending in red have all the same pronunciation: [fas],
[sa], [pis].
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The subjonctif prsent of aller (stem: aill) and vouloir (stem:

veuill) has two exceptions: the 1st and 2nd persons plural use the
standard stem (all and voul):
que j/je
que tu
quil/elle
aller
Subjonctif prsent:
that I go etc.
aille
ailles
aille
vouloir
Subjonctif prsent:
that I want etc.
veuille
veuilles
veuille
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
allions
alliez
aillent
voulions
vouliez
veuillent
Again, the forms ending in red have the same pronunciation [aj],
[vj].
Finally, two verbs are completely irregular, but you have already
seen them:
que j/je
que tu
quil/elle
avoir
Subjonctif prsent:
that I have etc.
aie
aies
ait
tre
Subjonctif prsent:
that I am etc.
sois
sois
soit
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
ayons
ayez
aient
soyons
soyez
soient
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While listening to the audio, youll hear that the pronunciation

of the three singular forms and the 3rd plural form is identical:
1.
avoir: aieaiesait | aient []
2.
tre: soissoissoit | soient [swa]
3.3.6 Pass simple

The pass simple is the literary equivalent of the pass
compos. It is almost exclusively used in literature and
historical accounts. The difference between the two tenses is
tenuous. While actions expressed with the pass simple are
finished, with a definite beginning and an end, the pass
compos may still be connected to the present or may even still
be happening. Dont get a headache over these finesses. When
writing a historical account, use the pass simple while in
spoken language and in standard journalism, use the pass
compos. Just keep in mind to never mix both tenses in the same
text because that is blasphemously bad style !
Singular
caressai
je
caressas
tu
il/elle caressa
I
you
he/she
caressed
caressed
caressed
Plural
nous caressmes
vous caresstes
ils/elles caressrent
we
you
they
caressed
caressed
caressed
While reading and listening to the pass simple of caresser

youll find that
1.
The second person singular (tu caressas) and the third

person singular (il/elle caressa) sound identical [kasa].
By Marie de France
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2.
The ai of the 1st singular form (caressai) is like the

brilliant final of the infinitive (caresser), the past
participle (caress) and the 2nd form plural of the
prsent (caressez) [kase].
3.
The first and second person plural have an at the end.
3.3.7 Subjonctif imparfait

Chances are excellent that it will take quite a bit of time before
you will ever come across any of the 6 following forms of
caresser. The subjonctif imparfait is almost extinct.
Remember that after main clauses, which express necessity such
as il faut que it is necessary to, the action word of the subordinate
clause must use a tense of the subjonctif, par example:
Main clause:
Prsent
Subordinate clause:
Subjonctif prsent
Il faut
que je le fasse.
I have to do it.
As il faut in the main clause is in the prsent, aller in the

subordinate clause has to be in the subjonctif prsent.
When the tense of the main clause is the imparfait (il fallait),
the action word in the subordinate clause should be in the
subjonctif imparfait, for example:
Main clause:
Imparfait
Subordinate clause:
Il fallait
que je le fisse.
I had to do it.
I say should be because thats exactly what does not happen,

because the subjonctif imparfait is going extinct. Today,
everyone would say or write Il fallait que je le fasse.
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Main clause:
Imparfait
Subordinate clause:
Subjonctif prsent
Il fallait
que je le fasse.
I had to do it.
While other Romance languages like Spanish, Portuguese and

Italian continue to use the subjonctif imparfait, France has
almost completely abolished it. Ask a French person if she can
recite que je caressasse que tu caressasses quil/elle caresst
| que nous caressassions que vous caressassiez quils/elles
caressassent and shell probably tell you that she cant.
Although the subjonctif imparfait is still being taught to 14year-olds, everyone seems to be eager to forget. Fortunately,
almost all French remember at least this one from school:
Il et fallu que je susse.
I should have known.
or even better
Il et fallu que je le susse.
I should have known it.
Well explain later why these sentences are considered obscenely

ambiguous. In the meantime, you may wish to ask close friends
about potential double entendres, but in no case should you do
so at a formal reception. Either youll provoke benevolent
hilarity and be the star of the event with people infallibly
recalling you years later or youll never be invited again.
{Second Round} To say the least, the subjonctif
imparfait is intriguing, so lets take a quick look at it. In
17 novels by mile Zola (more than 8000 pages, around 2,300,000
By Marie de France
Abortion
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words; see details on page xxx), you would find only 3200
occurences. 90% of these are 3rd person singular (for example,
caresst), and among the rest, almost all are 3rd person plural
(for example, caressassent). The total number of the four 1st and
2nd persons singular and plural is 8! In other words, the odds
are nil that youll ever be confronted with je caressasse, tu
caressasse, nous caressassions, vous caressassiez at least
not linguistically.
Singular
que je
que tu
que il/elle
caressasse
caressasses
caresst
Plural
caressassions
que nous
caressassiez
que vous
que ils/elles caressassent
that I
caressed
that you
caressed
that he/she caressed
that we
that you
that they
caressed
caressed
caressed
While reading and listening to the subjonctif imparfait of

caresser youll find that
1.
The 1st and 2nd person singular (que je caressasse, que tu

caressasses) and the 3rd person plural (quils/elles
caressassent) sound identical [kasas].
2.
The 3rd person singular has a circumflexed vowel: (or

or for other action words).
As we said, 9 out of 10 subjonctif imparfait forms you will ever

encounter are third-person singular. Of these, 40% were either
et (avoir) or ft (tre) in Zolas novels. Another 10% were pt
(pouvoir), st (savoir), ft (faire) and restt (rester).
Take a quick look at the following table. Although you wont
need to learn the subjonctif imparfait forms not even the 3rd
person singular youll soon need to learn the pass simple
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forms shown in the second column (find the in-depth discussion

of the pass simple on page xxx). Take a quick look today just to
know that these forms exist.
{AUDIO} From the pass simple to the subjonctif imparfait, it is
a tiny step: just add a circumflex accent (u , i ; for
example: il eut quil et, il fut quil ft) and an additional
t for Group 1 action words (a t; for example il resta quil
restt, il alla quil allt).
By Marie de France
Abortion
Infinitive
Pass
simple
avoir
tre
pouvoir
savoir
il eut
il fut
il put
il sut
faire
rester
mettre
Subjonctif
imparfait
quil et
quil ft
quil pt
quil st
il fit
il resta
il mit
he had
he was
he could
he knew, was
familiar with
he did
he remained
he put
aller
trouver
voir
paratre
laisser
apercevoir
prendre
il alla
il trouva
il vit
il parut
il laissa
il aperut
il prit
donner
vouloir
entrer
achever
oser
parler
passer
il donna
il voulut
il entra
il acheva
il osa
il parla
il passa
entendre
connatre
n*
703
433
163
50
23.90
14.72
5.54
1.70
quil ft
quil restt
quil mt
42
36
28
1.43
1.22
0.95
he went
he found
he saw
he seemed
he left
he noticed
he took
quil allt
quil trouvt
quil vt
quil part
quil laisst
quil apert
quil prt
26
25
24
24
24
19
19
0.88
0.85
0.82
0.82
0.82
0.65
0.65
he gave
he wanted
he entered
he finished
he dared
he talked
he passed
quil donnt
quil voult
quil entrt
quil achevt
quil ost
quil parlt
quil passt
18
18
17
14
14
14
13
0.61
0.61
0.58
0.48
0.48
0.48
0.44
il entendit
il connut
quil entendt
quil connt
13
12
0.44
0.41
tomber
manger
jeter
garder
dranger
he heard
he knew, was
acquainted
with
il tomba
he fell
il mangea
he ate
il jeta
he threw
il garda
he kept
il drangea he disturbed
12
12
12
11
11
0.41
0.41
0.41
0.37
0.37
toucher
manquer
il toucha
il manqua
quil tombt
quil manget
quil jett
quil gardt
quil
dranget
quil toucht
quil manqut
10
10
0.34
0.34
he touched
he was
missing
* Occurrence in 17 novels by mile Zola
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3.3.8 24 Endings
Summary
The endings of 6 single tenses for the vast Group 1 of French
action words (there are more than 6000 of them in a 45,000word dictionary!) are compressible. The endings of two tenses
prsent and subjonctif prsent are almost identical (see
below, series 1) and the endings of another two tenses
imparfait and conditionnel prsent ARE identical (2). Add
the futur (3) and the pass simple (4) (which have identical
singular endings: ai, as, a!) and you see that you can boil
down a complete French action word to a set of 24 endings:
1.
Prsent + Subjonctif prsent

e, es, e | (i)ons, (i)ez, ont
2.
Imparfait + Conditionnel prsent

ais, ais, ait | -ions, iez, aient
3.
Futur
ai, as, a | ont, ez, ont
4. Pass simple
ai, as, a | mes, tes, rent
Look at them for a minute then come back tomorrow, the day
after tomorrow and so on. This endings overview is one of the
most precious keys to French grammar. Youll love it!
By Marie de France
Abortion
3.3.9 Caresser: simple tenses

{AUDIO}
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
caresser to caress
caress
caressant
caresse | caressons | caressez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
caresse
caresses
caresse
Imparfait
caressais
caressais
caressait
Pass simple
caressai
caressas
caressa
nous
vous
ils/elles
caressons
caressez
caressent
caressions
caressiez
caressaient
caressmes
caresstes
caressrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
caresserai
caresseras
caressera
Conditionnel
prsent
caresserais
caresserais
caresserait
nous
vous
ils/elles
caresserons
caresserez
caresseront
caresserions
caresseriez
caresseraient
Subjonctif
prsent
que je
que tu
quil/elle
caresse
caresses
caresse
Subjonctif
imparfait
(extremely rare)
caressasse
caressasses
caresst
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
caressions
caressiez
caressent
caressassions
caressassiez
caressassent
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3.3.10 Caresser: composed tenses

{AUDIO}
Plus-que-parfait
Past perfect:
I had caressed
j
tu
il/elle
Pass compos
Perfect: I have
caressed (+ I
caressed)
ai caress
as caress
a caress
avais caress
avais caress
avait caress
Pass antrieur
Preterit perfect:
I had caressed
(only in writing)
eus caress
eus caress
eut caress
nous
vous
ils/elles
avons caress
avez caress
ont caress
avions caress
aviez caress
avaient caress
emes caress
etes caress
eurent caress
Futur antrieur
Future perfect:
I will have
caressed
j
tu
il/elle
aurai caress
auras caress
aura caress
Conditionnel
pass
Past conditional:
I would have
caressed
aurais caress
aurais caress
aurait caress
nous
vous
ils/elles
aurons caress
aurez caress
auront caress
aurions caress
auriez caress
auraient caress
Subjonctif
pass
Past
subjunctive:
that I caressed
que j
que tu
quil/elle
aie caress
aies caress
ait caress
Subjonctif
plus-que-parfait
Past perfect
subjunctive:
that I had
caressed
(extremely rare)
eusse caress
eusses caress
et caress
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
ayons caress
ayez caress
aient caress
eussions caress
eussiez caress
eussent caress
By Marie de France
Abortion
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3.3.11 Most frequent Group 1 action words

{AUDIO} The 10 most frequent action words of Group 1 are
aimer
to love
regarder
to look
penser
to think
parler
to talk, to speak
demander
to ask
laisser
to let
trouver
to find
donner
to give
passer (tre)
to pass
arriver
to arrive
Is it surprising to observe that these words, again, are exquisitely

fit to describe settings of sex and love? This is France!
3.3.12 Mental acrobatics

Whenever you see and learn the infinitive of an action word such
as caresser to caress, be extremely vigilant. Behind EVERY
SINGLE seemingly innocuous action word infinitive lies a
hidden world of some 40 variants. Please get into the habit of
expanding action words to a few sextets. Somebody talks about
aimer to love? Think jaime tu aimes il/elle aime | nous aimons
vous aimez ils/elles aiment. A person proposes caresser to caress?
Think je caresserais tu caresserais il/elle caresserait | nous
caresserions vous caresseriez ils/elles caresseraient. What sounds
terrifying is an extremely efficient exercise doubly so, because
youll revise the endings and, on the same occasion, nail the
action words into your brain. Do it! Do it! Do it! And become
comfortable with French action words in no time!
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3.4 Forty-nine action words (3)
{Second Round} Please check the word cloud and the

table of the next fortyniners. While the first 98 words
(see page 59 and 139) represent roughly 65% of all action words
youll see in your life, this third set represents 8%.
Cloud 3.2. Top action words
The percentages in the table indicate the cumulative frequency,

including the words of Level 1 and Level 2. Group 3 participes
pass are shown in blue.
By Marie de France
Abortion
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{AUDIO}
Group
Infinitif
Participe pass Infinitive
Past participle
offrir
offert
to offer
offered
serrer
serr
to tighten
tightened
compter
compt
to count
counted
travailler
travaill
to work
worked
remettre
remis
to put back
put back
rappeler
rappel
to call back
called back
traverser
travers
to cross
crossed
66.5%
1
rpter
rpt
to repeat
repeated
dcouvrir
dcouvert
to discover
discovered
manquer
manqu
to be lacking
been lacking
fermer
ferm
to close
closed
coucher avec
couch avec
to sleep with
slept with
approcher
approch
to approach
approached
avancer
avanc
to move
forward
moved forward
67.9%
1
toucher
touch
to touch
touched
rencontrer
rencontr
to meet
met
permettre
permis
to allow
allowed
disparatre
disparu
to disappear
disappeared
battre
battu
to beat
beaten
cacher
cach
to hide
hidden
gagner
gagn
to win; earn
won; earned
69.1%
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cesser
cess
to stop
stopped
envoyer
envoy
to send
sent
valoir
valu
to cost
cost
importer
import
to import
imported
foutre
foutu
to do
done
empcher
empch
to prevent
prevented
tuer
tu
to kill
killed
70.3%
1
frapper
frapp
to hit
hit
lancer
lanc
to throw
thrown
rouler
roul
to drive
driven
pleurer
pleur
to cry
cried
installer
install
to place
placed
remonter
remont
to go back up
went back up
suffire
suffi
to be enough
been enough
71.4%
1
apporter
apport
to bring
brought
apparatre
apparu (tre)
to appear
appeared
aider
aid
to help
helped
ressembler
ressembl
to look like
looked like
bouger
boug
to move
moved
parvenir
parvenu (tre)
to reach
reached
pencher
pench
to tilt
tilted
72.4%
1
oser
os
to dare
dared
prparer
prpar
to prepare
prepared
refuser
refus
to refuse
refused
payer
pay
to pay
paid
acheter
achet
to buy
bought
exister
exist
to exist
existed
accepter
accept
to accept
accepted
73.4%
By Marie de France
Abortion
3.5 Irregular Future Stems (2)
{AUDIO} The number of irregular future stems is limited. Lets

extend our list.
Infinitive Future
jaurai
avoir
je serai
tre
je ferai
faire
j'irai
aller
je voudrai
vouloir
je pourrai
pouvoir
je verrai
voir
revoir je reverrai
je viendrai
venir
revenir je reviendrai
devenir je deviendrai
je tiendrai
tenir
obtenir j'obtiendrai
maintenir je maintiendrai
soutenir je soutiendrai
je saurai
savoir
je devrai
devoir
il faudra
falloir
je courrai
courir
parcourir je parcourrai
concurir je concurrai
je recevrai
recevoir
il pleuvra
pleuvoir
je vaudrai
valoir
je mourrai
mourir
j'enverrai
envoyer
jacquerrai
acqurir
conqurir je conquerrai
2016 Edition
I will have
I will be
I will do
I will go
I will want
I will be able
I will see
I will see again
I will come
I will come back
I will become
I will hold
I will obtain
I will keep
I will support
I will know
I will have to
it will be necessary
I will run
I will browse, wander
I will compete
I will receive
it will rain
I will be worth
I will die
I will send
I will buy
I will conquer
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3.6 Importance of the Prsent
You are now master / mistress of four fully-dressed action

words: avoir (pages 46 and 61), tre (133 and 134), faire (194 and
53) and caresser (213). What seemed brutally labyrinthine in
Level 1 is slowly becoming comprehensible.
You have reached a threshold. The big obstacles are gone. From
now on, the remaining exploration of French action words will
essentially focus on slightly deviant present tenses (see the
vertical red ellipse) and a few irregular future stems (small
horizontal red ellipse; see also pages 144 and xxx). Your action
words cruise is reaching calm waters.
3.7 Prsent: Ten Action Words (1)
{AUDIO} Let me offer you the present tense of 10 important

action words. The investment is well worth it: 8 of them faire
to do/make aller to go, vouloir to want, pouvoir can/to be able to,
By Marie de France
Abortion
221
dire to say, venir to come, prendre to take, savoir to know are

among the 50 most frequent French words.
faire to do/make
aller to go
I do/make etc
I go etc
je
tu
il/elle
fais
fais
fait
vais
vas
va
nous
vous
ils/elles
faisons
faites
font
allons
allez
vont
Part. pass
See page
fait
194
tre + all(e)(s)
260
vouloir to want
pouvoir can
I want etc
I can etc
je
tu
il/elle
veux
veux
veut
peux
peux
peut
nous
vous
ils/elles
voulons
voulez
veulent
pouvons
pouvez
peuvent
Part. pass
See page
voulu
267
pu
276
2016 Edition
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
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dire to say
lire to read
I say etc
I read etc
je
tu
il/elle
dis
dis
dit
lis
lis
lit
nous
vous
ils/elles
disons
dites
disent
lisons
lisez
lisent
Part. pass
See page
dit
270
lu
voir to see
savoir to know
I see etc
I know etc
je
tu
il/elle
vois
vois
voit
sais
sais
sait
nous
vous
ils/elles
voyons
voyez
voient
savons
savez
savent
Part. pass
See page
pris
281
su
272
venir to come
tenir to hold
I come etc
I hold etc
je
tu
il/elle
viens
viens
vient
tiens
tiens
tient
nous
vous
ils/elles
venons
venez
viennent
tenons
tenez
tiennent
Part. pass
See page
tre + venu(e)(s)
264
tenu
264
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
I
you
he/she
we
you
they
By Marie de France
Abortion
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Use venir as a template for

revenir (tre) to come back (je reviens tu reviens il/elle revient etc.)
devenir (tre) to become (je deviens tu deviens il/elle devient etc.)
se souvenir (tre) to remember (je me souviens tu te souviens il/elle se
souvient etc.)
redevenir (tre) to become again (je redeviens tu redeviens il/elle
redevient etc.)
intervenir (tre) to intervene, to take part
prvenir (avoir) to let someone know, inform
Use tenir as a template for
appartenir to belong (jappartiens tu appartiens il/elle appartient etc.)
soutenir to support (je soutiens tu soutiens il/elle soutient etc.)
obtenir to obtain (jobtiens tu obtiens il/elle obtient etc.)
retenir to hold back, catch (je retiens tu retiens il/elle retient etc.)

Times have changed and language teaching is not what it used to
be. High-speed internet has revolutionized our way of life.
Consider the traditional six core areas of language teachers
vocabulary, understanding of speech, production of speech,
reading, writing, and grammar.
1. Vocabulary training is inherently a lonely job because
nobody except yourself can transfer thousands of words into
your brain. In what is the most important single task of
language learning, teachers can do nothing for you. (See The
Word Brain, page 15ff. Download the free 81-page PDF from
www.TheWordBrain.com.)
2. The second most important task is speech recognition. Over
centuries and until less than 15 years ago, language teachers
were often the only individuals at hand to produce human
speech in other languages. In modern times, human speech is
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on smartphones, tablets and computers. These devices are

supplanting teachers as prime speech sources (See The Word
Brain, page 21ff.)
3. The impact of teachers on the third, fourth and fifth tasks
speaking, reading, and writing is equally limited. Writing
comes as a bonus of reading, reading as a bonus of word
learning, and good pronunciation comes as a bonus of
hundreds of hours of listening.
4. Grammar is therefore the only domain where language
teachers will continue to play a certain role in the future. As
you have seen, grammar consists of a limited number of rules
that tell you how to modify words and how to arrange them
in sentences. Fortunately, a big chunk of grammar action
words such as avoir to have, tre to be, caresser to caress,
embrasser to kiss, baiser to fuck etc can be outsourced to
memory exercises on your smartphone. Grammar per se
therefore shrinks to a set of about 30 problems to settle.
5. The first round of grammar should provide a rapid overview
of the knowledge that is needed to recognise the most
frequent grammatical structures. (Thats what we did in Level
1). Just recognising grammar requires 10 times less training
than producing grammar.
6. The most important thing about grammar is to make sure
that you receive grammar lessons in your native language.
Reject all monoglot proposals such as being taught French
grammar in French (even worse: by a French teacher who
speaks nothing else than French). Dont complicate your life!
Your native language is by far the best tool for grasping and
understanding new concepts.
7. In todays environment, the best role for a language teacher
is probably that of a coach. Depending on your previous
exposure to your native and subsequent languages, your
coach will prepare an individual time schedule for your
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project; recommend books, podcasts, audio books, and

broadcasts; provide the first round of grammar; advise you
on how to manage your daily word quota; teach you how to
check that new words have arrived in your long-term
memory; and demonstrate common pronunciation pitfalls.
For the first few weeks, you should plan daily encounters or
two or three lessons per week. Thereafter, reduce to weekly
encounters. Finally, after the third or fourth month, one or
two meetings per month will be sufficient. During the entire
course, check the motivating power of your coach. If you
have the feeling that she doesnt motivate you or, worse,
wants to make you feel like a donkey, fire her.
Find more information about teachers in Chapter 4 of The Word
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Tour Eiffel | Copyright: Marie de France
II. Grammar
3.8 Stranger vs. Family (2)
Remember from page49 49: the English you is tu only for family
members, children or close friends; or when you and the person
you are speaking to agree on using you. In all other cases when
speaking to 1) a person you dont know or 2) more than one
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person, family or strangers you must use vous + the 2nd person
plural of the action word: vous avez you have, vous tes you are,
vous caressez you caress, vous aimez you love, vous faites you do.
In formal situations, you will need to adapt
1.
adjectives and
2.
past participles associated with tre (see page 137)
in gender and number to the real person.
3.8.1 Adjectives
You are crazy is translated with vous tes fou, vous tes folle,
vous tes fous, vous tes folles, depending on the gender and
how many are crazy.
One person
2 or more persons
1) Family and friends;

young people
Tu es fou (masc.).
Tu es folle (fem.).
Vous tes fous (masc.).

Vous tes folles (fem.).
2) People you dont

know


3.8.2 Past Participles

In the sentence Have you gone to the movies?, when using the
polite form (addressing people you dont know or who are much
older than you), youll have to change the ending of the past
participle all gone according to gender and number of the
people you are talking to. As always, use the ES rule:
Singular
Plural
2016 Edition
Masculine
tes-vous all au cinma ?
tes-vous alls au cinma ?
Feminine
tes-vous alle au cinma ?
tes-vous alles au cinma ?
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3.9 Possessive adjectives
{AUDIO} So-called possessive adjectives indicate ownership or

possession: my, your, his/her/its | our, your, their. French is trickier
than English because my has three translations: mon for
masculine nouns, for example pied foot, ordinateur computer, or
slip pants; ma for feminine nouns, for example chaussure shoe,
voiture car, or maison house; and mes for nouns in the plural,
regardless of gender.
3.9.1 Singular
1. Masculine singular: mon
mon pied
mon ordinateur
mon slip
my foot
my computer
my pants (which
are always singular
in French)
2. Feminine singular: ma
ma chaussure
ma voiture
ma maison
my shoe
my car
my house
3. Masculine and feminine plural: mes

mes pieds
mes ordinateurs
mes slips
mes chaussures
mes voitures
mes maisons
Number
my feet
my computers
my pants
my shoes
my cars
my houses
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
mon
ma
mes
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Your translates to ton ta | tes:

ton pied
ta chaussure
tes slips
your foot
your shoe
your pants
Singular
Plural
Number
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
ton
ta
tes
Up to here, things are straightforward, because
mon, ma, mes always translate into my
ton, ta, tes always translate into your
But now come son, sa, ses which translate into his and her, and
things get ticklish:
Whereas in English, the possessive adjectives depends
on the subject (=owner), in French, the possessive
adjectives depend on the object.
So if you talk in French about your fathers and your mothers
car, you would say in both cases sa voiture because voiture is
feminine and what counts in French is the object. In English, you
would distinguish between his car and her car.
More examples:
son ordinateur
son pied
sa voiture
sa maison
ses slips
ses chaussettes
2016 Edition
his/her computer
his/her foot
his/her car
his/her house
his/her pants
his/her socks
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3.9.2 Plural
The English our, your, and their have two translations each, one
for singular possessions (notre, votre, leur) and one for plural
possessions (nos, vos, leurs). Gender doesnt matter.
notre ordinateur
votre voiture
leur maison
our computer
your car
their house
nos ordinateurs
vos voitures
leurs maisons
our computers
your cars
their houses
The complete table:
my
your
his/her/its
our
your
their
Singular
Masculine Feminine
mon
ma
ton
ta
son
sa
Plural
Masc. + Fem.
mes
tes
ses
notre
votre
leur
nos
vos
leurs
3.9.3 Exception
The exception to the rule: as French doesnt like the clash of
vowels, ma, ta and sa cannot precede feminine words that start
with a vowel or a mute h. The solution: use mon, ton and son
instead. In the following examples, affaire, aventure and
angoisse are all feminine words.
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Abortion
mon affaire
ton attitude
son angoisse
231
my affair
your attitude
his/her anguish
3.10 Personal pronouns
{AUDIO} Now comes the last big chunk of French grammar:

managing the French equivalents of me, you, him/her | us, you,
them. We have condensed it into just 7 pages, but they demand a
bit of acrobatics. Clench your teeth and go all the way through!
Youll probably need to come back to view the full picture, but in
a few weeks, personal pronouns will be second nature.
3.10.1 Personal subject pronouns

Find the PSPs, the personal subject pronouns (jetuil/elle | nous
vousils/elles) in the second column of the following table. You
know them ad nauseam from multiple action words sextets.
PSP*
1st sing.
2nd sing.
3rd sing.
je/j
tu
il
elle
I
you
he
she
POP**
Weak forms
me
te
le | lui se
la | lui se
1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural
nous
vous
ils (m)
elles (f)
we
you
they
they
nous
vous
les | leur se
les | leur se
me
you
him
her
Stressed forms
moi
me
toi
you
lui soi
him
elle soi
her
us
you
them
them
nous
vous
eux
elles
us
you
them
them
* PSP: Personal subject pronouns

** POP: Personal object pronouns; before a vowel or a mute h, drop the e:
m, t, l, s.
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3.10.2 Personal object pronouns

In Level 1 (page 78), we briefly introduced the 3rd person
personal object pronouns (POPs) le, la, les (him, her, them):
Je le vois.
Je la vois.
Je les vois.
I see him.
I see her.
I see them.
or the variant l (for both le and la) before actions words

starting with a vowel:
Je laime.
Je laime.
Je les aime.
Number
I love him.
I love her.
I love them.
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
le / l
la / l
les
Note that object pronouns are placed immediately before the

action word.
Lets now extend the list and explore I love you, you love me etc.
From Column 3 above, weak POPs:
POPs
Weak forms
me
te
le | lui se
la | lui se
me
you
him
her
nous
vous
les | leur se
les | leur se
us
you
them
them
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Weak personal object pronouns can be divided into two classes:
direct object pronouns
indirect object pronouns
3.10.2.1
Direct object pronouns
What does direct object and indirect object mean? Lets start with
the direct object. The direct object is the recipient of the action.
(The bakers, butchers and cheesemongers of our sentence
generator www.hiv.net/pastparticiple are all recipients, direct
objects). The direct object answers therefore the question whom?
or what?
I love those girls.
Whom do I love?
The girls.
He writes a message.
What does he write?
A message.
In these sentences girls and message are direct objects. Action

words that take direct objects in our examples to love and to
write are called transitive action words (Action words that
CANNOT take a direct object, for example dormir to sleep, aller
to go, venir to come, are called intransitive action words).
1st singular
2nd singular
3rd singular
me/m
te/t
le/l
la/l
Tu maimes?
Je taime.
Je laime.
Je laime.
1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural
nous
vous
les
Tu nous aimes? Do you love us?

Je vous aime.
I love you. (plural or polite form)
Je les aime.
I love them. (masc. or fem.)
2016 Edition
Do you love me?

I love you.
I love him.
I love her.
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The direct weak POPs with their English translation in synthesis:

me/m
te/t
le/l
la/l
me
you
him
her
nous
vous
les
us
you
them
3.10.2.2
Indirect object pronouns
Some action words have indirect object nouns and pronouns. What
is an indirect object? An indirect object answers the question to
whom? or for whom? While the prepositions to and for are often
omitted in English, in French you must use the preposition :
Could you tell Marco this Pourrais-tu raconter
cette histoire Marco,
story, please?
sil te plat?
Indirect noun:
Marco
I gave the young girl my

mobile number.
Jai donn mon numro

de portable la jeune
fille.
Indirect noun:
la jeune fille
I explained the situation

to the physicians.
Jai expliqu la situation Indirect noun: les

aux mdecins.
mdecins
Using indirect POPs, heres what you get:

Ill tell him the story.
Je lui raconterai
lhistoire.
Indirect pronoun: lui
I gave her my mobile

number.
Je lui ai donn mon

numro de portable.
Indirect pronoun: lui
I explained the situation

to them.
Je leur ai expliqu la
situation.
Indirect pronoun: leur
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More examples:
1st singular
me/m
2nd singular
te/t
3rd singular
lui
1st plural
nous
2nd plural
vous
3rd plural
leur
Tu me donnes cette Are you giving me that

pomme?
apple?
Je ne te donne rien. I am not giving you
anything.
Tu lui donnes un
Are you giving him/her a
baiser?
kiss?
Tu nous racontera
tout?
Je ne vous
raconterai rien.
Donnez-leur une
gifle.
Will you tell us everything?

I wont tell you anything.
Give them (masc. + fem.) a
slap.
The indirect weak POPs with their English translation in synthesis

(in red, the pronouns which differ from the direct POPs):
me/m
te/t
lui
lui
me
you
him
her
nous
vous
leur
us
you
them
When you compare direct and indirect POPs, youll see that
1)
me, te, nous and vous are both direct and indirect
pronouns.
2)
le, la, and les are only direct pronouns.
3)
lui and leur are only indirect pronouns, lui for both
genders in the singular (to him/for him + to her/for her) and
leur for both genders in the plural (to them/for them).
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3.10.2.3
Reflexive object pronouns
The reflexive object pronoun is se, both for the singular and the
plural.
Il
Elle
Prsent
se lave.
se lave.
Ils/Elles
se lavent.
Il
Elle
Pass compos
sest lav.
sest lave.
He washed himself.
She washed herself.
Ils
Elles
se sont lavs.
se sont laves.
They washed themselves. (m.)

They washed themselves. (f.)
3.10.2.4
He is washing himself.
She is washing herself.
They are washing
themselves.
Stressed POPs
Stressed POPs are used to create emphasis. Put between cest

and que, they clarify that only one person is meant, excluding
all others; or only one group of persons, excluding all other
groups.
By Marie de France
Abortion
1st singular
moi
2nd singular
toi
3rd singular
lui
elle
1st plural
nous
2nd plural
vous
3rd plural
eux
Cest moi que

tu aimes?
Cest toi que
jaime.
Cest lui que
jaime.
Cest elle que
jaime.
Do you love me? (and nobody

else)
I love you. (and nobody else)
Cest nous que

tu aimes?
Cest vous que
jaime.
Cest eux que
jaime.
Do you love us? (and nobody

else)
I love you. (plural or polite form)
I love him. (and nobody else)

I love her. (and nobody else)
I love them. (masc.+fem.)
Stressed POPs
moi
me
toi
you
lui soi
him
elle soi
her
nous
vous
eux
elles
us
you
them
them
Youll also use stressed POPs after prepositions:

Je peux monter avec toi ?
Can I come up with you?
Bien sr, viens avec moi !
Certainly, come with me.
Jai fait tout a pour vous !
Ive done all this for you.

(plural or polite form)
Ils ne pensent qu eux.
They only think about

themselves.
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3.10.2.5
Managing two weak POPs: me le te le le lui, etc.
We wont go into the details of managing double POPs, for

example, I give it to you. However, you dont want to go to bed
before seeing this:
1.
Je te lexplique.
Im going to explain it to you.
Tu peux me lexpliquer?
Can you explain it to me?
2.
Je le lui donnerai.
Ill give it to him.
Je le leur enverrai.
Ill send it to them.
What do you see?

1.
2.
The Rule: First comes the indirect pronoun, then the

direct pronoun (see 1).
The exception to the rule: When one of the two
pronouns is lui or leur, it comes in the second position
(see 2): le lui, le leur.
More sentences:
Je te le donne tout de suite.
Tu me le donnes?
Il nous la donn hier.
Je vous lai dj expliqu.
Ill give it to you right away.

Can you give it to me?
He gave it to us yesterday.
I already explained it to
you.
Je le lui ai donn.
I gave it to him.
Je le leur ai envoy.
I sent it to them.
Please find more about the use of two personal pronouns in Level
xxx.
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239
3.11 Nouns (3)

3.11.1 Masculine nouns
{AUDIO} Apart from nouns referring to males, most words
ending in ment, nt, isme, in, et, eau, aire, ien, oir
and asm are usually masculine.
{Second Round}
ment (1000 words in a 45,000-word dictionary)
Some words are identical with or similar to English

words such as moment, mouvement, gouvernement,
appartement, lment, commandement,
changement, instrument, jugement, rgiment,
monument. However, most words of this group cannot
be easily guessed: vtement item of clothing, btiment
building, tonnement amazement, astonishment.
Gender exception: la jument mare
nt (300; other than ment)

enfant child, point, vent wind, argent money, front,
pont bridge, client, prsident, amant lover, lieutenant,
restaurant, accent, accident, chant song, singing,
agent, talent
Gender exception: la dent tooth
isme (500)
Words ending with ism are identical to English words
(see page 310). The pronunciation is clearly different.
Check the audio xxx.
organisme, mcanisme, communisme, gosme,
mutisme, socialisme, capitalisme, optimisme,
cynisme, hrosme, ralisme, scepticisme, tourisme,
marxisme, romantisme, rhumatisme, journalisme,
snobisme, rotisme, nationalisme, racisme,
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fanatisme, humanisme, pessimisme, sadisme,

surralisme, idalisme,
in (300)
matin morning, chemin path, track, jardin garden, vin
wine, cousin, mdecin physician, destin destiny, fate,
magasin shop, store, dessin drawing, picture, lapin
rabbit, bouquin book, mannequin model.
et (270)
No translation needed: effet, objet, intrt, projet,
cabinet, buffet, jet, pistolet
eau (200)
bureau office, desk, oiseau bird, morceau piece, bit,
tableau board, painting, chapeau hat, bateau boat, ship,
chteau castle
Gender exceptions: une eau water, la peau skin
aire (180)
Most words are similar to English words: secrtaire
secretary, commissaire superintendent, propritaire
owner, fonctionnaire civil servant, adversaire opponent,
commentaire comment, notaire solicitor, partenaire
partner, locataire tenant, maire mayor, salaire salary,
vestiaire cloakroom, dictionnaire dictionary,
pensionnaire lodger, boarder, itinraire route, itinerary,
vocabulaire vocabulary
Gender exceptions: une affaire affair, la grammaire
grammar, la chaire chair, la molaire molar
ien (145)
Many words are similar to English words: chien dog,
bien good, goods, lien link, connection, entretien
interview; maintenance, rien mere nothing, chirurgien
surgeon, mcanicien mechanic, pharmacien pharmacist,
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historien historian, collgien secondary-school pupil,

magicien magician, lectricien electrician, vaurien
good-for-nothing, acadmicien academician, physicien
physicist
oir (140)
soir evening, pouvoir power, couloir hallway, espoir
hope, trottoir pavement, miroir mirror, devoir duty,
dsespoir distress, despair, savoir knowledge, mouchoir
handkerchief, rasoir razor
asme (16)
Almost identical to English words (check the audio at
xxx): enthousiasme, spasme, fantasme, sarcasme,
orgasme, phantasme, ectoplasme, plonasme,
noplasme, cytoplasme, protoplasme, chiasme
3.11.2 Plural: ou, al, ail

{AUDIO} Most nouns ending in ou (normally masculine) take
the standard s in the plural:
Singular
cou
trou
sou
Plural
cous
trous
sous
clou
voyou
loulou
clous
voyous
loulous
verrou
verrous
2016 Edition
neck
hole
ancient coin
20 sous = 1 franc
nail
thug
thug;
familiar: darling
bolt (lock)
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Only seven nouns (all masculine) take on an x in the plural:

Singular
genou
caillou
chou
bijou
pou
hibou
joujou
Plural
genoux
cailloux
choux
bijoux
poux
hiboux
joujoux
knee
pebble
cabbage
jewel
louse
owl
toy (childish)
Nouns ending in -al or -ail (all masculine) generally take on -aux

in the plural.
Singular
journal
hpital
animal
cheval
travail
corail
vitrail
mail
Plural
journaux
hpitaux
animaux
chevaux
travaux
coraux
vitraux
maux
newspaper
hospital
animal
horse
work, job
coral
stained glass
enamel
Plural
festivals
carnavals
bals
festival
carnival
ball, dance
Exceptions:
Singular
festival
carnaval
bal
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3.12 Adjectives (3)

Final reminder
Adjectives describe qualities of people, animals and things;
remember also that adjectives must agree in number and
gender with their nouns (and that every French noun is either
masculine or feminine and either singular or plural).
{AUDIO} Lets take a final look at Group 1 adjectives (those
ending with a consonant). Remember the ES rule: Add
e when the noun is feminine singular (excitante)

(excitants)

(excitantes)
Number
Singular
Plural
Gender
Masculine
Feminine
e
s
es
Note that the plural s is always silent and doesnt change the
pronunciation in the masculine or the feminine:
excitant/excitants: ksit
excitante/excitantes: ksitt
In the following table, pronounce the final consonant only in the
feminine forms (here the t shown in bold).
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Singular
Masculine Feminine
excitant
excitante
exciting
content
contente
content
intelligent
intelligente
intelligent
stimulant
stimulante
stimulating
amusant
amusante
amusing
intressant intressante
interesting
mchant
mchante
mean
lent
lente
slow
puissant
puissante
powerful
Some adjectives have irregular feminine forms:

Masculine
Feminine
frais
frache
fresh
long
longue
long
doux
douce
soft
blanc
blanche
white
faux
fausse
false
public
publique
public
favori
favorite
favorite
fou
folle
crazy
3.13 Jokers (3)

3.13.1 Adverbs (3)
{AUDIO}
Adverb of
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longtemps
bientt
enfin
actuellement
l-bas
quelque part
heureusement
trop
moins
aussi
parfois
rarement
souvent
toujours
for a long time

soon
finally
currently
over there
somewhere
fortunately
too, too much
less
as
sometimes
rarely
often
always
245
time
time
time
time
place
place
manner
quantity
comparison
comparison
frequency
frequency
frequency
frequency
Important preview: Deceitful adverbs which are sometimes

difficult to memorize (for example, souvent often, parfois
sometimes, partout everywhere, dj already etc.) are fortunately a
minority. The vast majority of adverbs can be derived from
adjectives. The recipe: take the feminine form and add the suffix
ment. In general, these adverbs correspond to English adverbs
ending with -ly.
Adjective
lent
sexuel
heureux
simple
bte
facile
Feminine form
lente
sexuelle
heureuse
simple
bte
facile
Adverb
lentement
sexuellement
heureusement
simplement
btement
facilement
slowly
sexually
fortunately
simply
foolishly
easily
More about memory-friendly derivatives in Level 4, page xxx.
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Final reminder
Adverbs are invariable words which provide additional
information for
a verb
an adjective
or another adverb
The additional information covers time and space (when and

where), manner (how) and quantity (how often), comparison
and frequency.
3.13.2 Conjunctions (3)

{AUDIO} Nine more subordinating conjunctions.
Link
si
so much that
effect
tellement
so much that
effect
une fois que
once (indicative)
posteriority
vu que
seeing that
causality
aprs que
after that
posteriority
aussitt que
as soon as
posteriority
ainsi que
just as, so as
comparison
plus que
more than
comparison
moins que
less than
comparison
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Aussitt que tu auras fini ton

travail, nous irons nous promener
Vu que tu nas pas fait tes devoirs,
tu nauras pas de dessert.
Elle est tellement contente quelle
nen dort plus.
Une fois quelle aura avort, elle
pourra commencer une nouvelle
vie.
247
As soon as you have finished your

work, well go for a walk.
Seeing that you havent done your
homework, you wont have dessert.
She is so happy that she doesnt
sleep anymore.
Once she has had an abortion,
shell be able to start a new life.
Final reminder
Conjunctions (literally: joining together) link similar words or
groups of words. French uses two types of conjunctions:
1. Coordinating conjunctions join elements with an equal
importance. There are only 7 of them: et and, ou or, mais but,
donc thus, car for, because, or yet, ni neither.
2. Subordinating conjunctions link dependent clauses to main
clauses. The most important one is que that. There are about
50 subordinating conjunctions. You will easily identify them
because most finish with que (parce que because, alors que
while, whereas) or incorporate que (lorsque when, puisque since
[reason]).
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3.13.3 Prepositions (3)

{AUDIO} Eight more prepositions:
malgr
parmi
selon
voici
hors
par-dessus
afin de (=pour)
concernant
in spite of
among
according to
here is, here comes
except, not including
on top of
in order to
with regard to
Final reminder
Prepositions are short words such as at, of, in, on, to, with which
link words in a sentence. They are usually used in front of
nouns (boy, girl, flower, tree) or pronouns (him, her, them)
and show, for example:
1. Where something takes place (at my friends place)
2. When something happens (before making love)
3. Descriptive information (the doctor with the pony tail)
3.14 Numbers 80-100
{AUDIO} You are now seconds away from one of your most
invigorating French grammar chapters: the majestic 80 to 99.
Are you ready for really twisted math? Well, how would you
describe the innocent number 97? French people define it
mathematically by all means correctly as 4x20+17 and,
consequently, write and pronounce it quatre-vingt-dix-sept.
Aghast and speechless? You are not alone generations of
foreigners before you were as speechless as you are right now.
The complete sequence of French quatre-vingtners:
By Marie de France
Abortion
quatre-vingts*
quatre-vingt-un
quatre-vingt-deux
quatre-vingt-trois
quatre-vingt-quatre
quatre-vingt-cinq
quatre-vingt-six
quatre-vingt-sept
quatre-vingt-huit
quatre-vingt-neuf
quatre-vingt-dix**
quatre-vingt-onze
quatre-vingt-douze
quatre-vingt-treize
quatre-vingt-quartorze
quatre-vingt-quinze
quatre-vingt-seize
quatre-vingt-dix-sept
quatre-vingt-dix-huit
quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
cent
4*20
4*20+1
4*20+2
4*20+3
4*20+4
4*20+5
4*20+6
4*20+7
4*20+8
4*20+9
4*20+10
4*20+11
4*20+12
4*20+13
4*20+14
4*20+15
4*20+16
4*20+17
4*20+18
4*20+19
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
* Note that only quatre-vingts comes with a final s:

** In Belgium, Luxemburg and Switzerland, native French speakers use
nonante, nonante et un, nonante-deux etc.

3.15.1 Days of the Week
{AUDIO}
lundi
mardi
mercredi
jeudi
vendredi
samedi
dimanche
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Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
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Aujourdhui/Demain, cest
dimanche.
Quel jour on est (sommes-nous)
aujourdhui ?
Nous sommes lundi.
Le mardi, je joue au tennis.
Today/Tomorrow is Sunday.
What day is it today?
Its Monday.
On Tuesdays, I go to play tennis.
What do you see?
In French, days of the weeks are not capitalized.

For regular weekly activities (on Tuesdays), the French
use the definite article le (le mardi) + the singular of
the day.
3.15.2 Months of the Year

{AUDIO}
janvier
fvrier
mars
avril
mai
juin
January
February
March
April
May
June
juillet
aot
septembre
octobre
novembre
dcembre
Je viendrai en janvier.
Je viendrai au mois de janvier.
Le premier janvier est mon
anniversaire.
Mais clbrons toujours le trente et
un dcembre.
July
August
September
October
November
December
Ill come in January.

The first of January is my birthday.
But we always celebrate the thirtyfirst of December.
What do you see?
In French, months are not capitalized.

Youll use the proposition en or au mois de for the
English in.
For the first day of the month, youll use the ordinal
By Marie de France
Abortion
251
number premier first. For all other days of the month

and this is different from English youll use (simple)
cardinal numbers: le quartorze juillet (the 14th of July), le
huit mai (the 8th of May), le deux septembre (the 2nd of
September), le onze novembre (the 11th of November) etc.
3.15.3 Silent letters (3)

{AUDIO} The letters C, R, F, L (careful), B, K and Q are usually
pronounced at the end of a word. Lets continue with the letter
R:
Pronounce the final R

jour
air
soir
amour
cur
mur
agir
day
air
evening
love
heart
wall
to act
Dont pronounce the final R

Infinitives of
Group 1 action words:
caresser
to caress
donner
to give
Words ending in ier:
premier
dernier
monsieur
2016 Edition
first
last
Mr
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3.16 Reading
{AUDIO} Time for your third news article. Analyse the 55 words
about the liberalization of abortion in the world. We have
highlighted the three main word classes:
1. Action word
2. Noun
La bonne nouvelle : Dans le

monde entier, la tendance la
libralisation de lavortement
se poursuit. Les lois sur
l'avortement sont de plus en
plus permissives. 60% de la
population mondiale vit dans
des pays o lavortement est
lgal. Seulement 25% vit dans
des pays encore arrirs o
lavortement est gnralement
interdit.
3. Adjectif
The good news: Worldwide, the

trend toward liberalization of
abortion continues. Abortion
laws are more and more
permissive. 60% of the world
population lives in countries
where abortion is legal. Only
25% live in still backward
countries where abortion is
generally prohibited.
Read the text several times and analyse it word by word. For
more information about abortion in the world, check
http://www.reproductiverights.org
+
http://worldabortionlaws.com
The Worlds Abortion Laws 2016
+
http://reproductiverights.org/sites/crr.civicactions.net/files/documents/Abortio
nMap2014.PDF
By Marie de France
Abortion
253

Can you say:
Prsent
je fais tu fais il/elle fait | nous faisons vous faites ils/elles
font
I do, you do, he/she does | we, you, they do
Imparfait
je faisais tu faisais il/elle faisait | nous faisions vous
faisiez ils/elles faisaient
I, you, he/she did | we, you, they did
I, you, he/she used to do | we, you, they used to do
Conditionnel prsent
je ferais tu ferais il/elle ferait | nous ferions vous feriez
ils/elles feraient
I, you, he/she would do | we, you, they would do
Subjonctif prsent
que je fasse que tu fasses quil/elle fasse | que nous fassions
que vous fassiez quils/elles fassent
that I, you do, he/she does | that we, you, they do
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Can you say :

Prsent
je caresse tu caresses il/elle caresse | nous caressons vous
caressez ils/elles caressent
I, you caress, he/she caresses | we, you, they caress
Imparfait
je caressais tu caressais il/elle caressait | nous caressions
vous caressiez ils/elles caressaient
I, you, he/she caressed | we, you, they caressed
I, you, he/she used to caress | we, you, they used to caress
Conditionnel prsent
je caresserais tu caresserais il/elle caresserait | nous
caresserions vous caresseriez ils/elles caresseraient
I, you, he/she would caress | we, you, they would caress
Can you repeat the exercise with the following action words?
aimer
to love
regarder
to look
penser
to think
parler
to talk, speak
demander
to ask
laisser
to let
trouver
to find
donner
to give
passer
to pass
arriver
to arrive
By Marie de France
Abortion
255
Do you remember the present tense of aller to go, vouloir to

want, pouvoir to be able to, dire to say, lire to read, voir to see,
savoir to know, venir to come, tenir to hold?
Do you remember the possessive adjectives?
my
your
his/her/its
Singular
Masculine Feminine
mon
ma
ton
ta
son
sa
Plural
Masc. + Fem.
mes
tes
ses
notre
votre
leur
nos
vos
leurs
our
your
their
Do you remember the personal pronouns?

PSP*
1st sing.
2nd sing.
3rd sing.
je/j
tu
il
elle
I
you
he
she
POP**
Weak forms
me
te
le | lui se
la | lui se
1st plural
2nd plural
3rd plural
nous
vous
ils (m)
elles (f)
we
you
they
they
nous
vous
les | leur se
les | leur se
me
you
him
her
Stressed forms
moi
me
toi
you
lui soi
him
elle soi
her
us
you
them
them
nous
vous
eux
elles
us
you
them
them
* PSP: Personal subject pronouns

** POP: Personal object pronouns; before a vowel or a mute h, drop the e:
m, t, l, s.
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{AUDIO} And finally, are you at ease with 1789 (mil sept cents
quatre-vingt-neuf), the year of the French revolution, and the
following 10 years?
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-neuf
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-dix
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-onze
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-douze
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-treize
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-quartorze
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-quinze
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-seize
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-dix-sept
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-dix-huit
mil sept cents quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
1700+4*20+9
1700+4*20+10
1700+4*20+11
1700+4*20+12
1700+4*20+13
1700+4*20+14
1700+4*20+15
1700+4*20+16
1700+4*20+17
1700+4*20+18
1700+4*20+19
1789
1790
1791
1792
1793
1794
1795
1796
1797
1798
1799
Well, then you have been promoted to Level 4! You know 40 out
of 100 key action word sextets. Vive la rvolution!
Outlook
In Level 4, youll explore junk food; the first Group 3 action
words and irregulars from Group 1; suck, eat, buy, and pay;
give orders; and continue your regular explorations of the
subjonctif. On the menu
Je prfre que
I prefer
Jaime mieux que
I prefer
Jattends que
I am waiting
Jexige que
I demand that
Je veux que
I want
Persevere!
By Marie de France
Junk Food
257
Junk Food
Level 4 to 7 (460 pages) will be published in May 2016. The final

edition (700 pages) is scheduled for publication in summer 2016.
For future updates, please check www.GigaFrench.com/updates.
2016 Edition
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By Marie de France
Appendix
259
Appendix
{Second Round} The appendix includes material that will

be published in the May and in the July edition of
GigaFrench.
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5.1 Aller
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
aller to go
all(e)(s)
allant
va | allons | allez
je/j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
vais
vas
va
Imparfait
allais
allais
allait
Pass simple
allai
allas
alla
nous
vous
ils/elles
allons
allez
vont
allions
alliez
allaient
allmes
alltes
allrent
Futur
j
tu
il/elle
irai
iras
ira
Conditionnel
prsent
irais
irais
irait
nous
vous
ils/elles
irons
irez
iront
irions
iriez
iraient
Subjonctif
imparfait
que j
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
(irregular)
aille
ailles
aille
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
allions
alliez
aillent
allassions
allassiez
allassent
allasse
allasses
allt
By Marie de France
Appendix
261
5.2 Action words, Group 1

A small number of Group 1 action words (those ending in er like
caresser, see page 198) have spelling changes in the prsent.
These changes consist most often in the appearance of en
where you would expect a simple e or in the doubling of a
consonant (ll instead of l; tt instead of t). Here we give
you a quick overview of nine slightly different schemes.
Deviations from the norm are shown in red. For a complete
discussion, see the pages indicated between parentheses.
je
tu
il/elle
sucer (page 274)

to suck
suce
suces
suce
manger (278)
to eat
mange
manges
mange
se promener (282)
to go for a walk
me promne
te promnes
se promne
nous
vous
ils/elles
suons
sucez
sucent
mangeons
mangez
mangent
nous promenons
vous promenez
se promnent
je
tu
il/elle
considrer (285)
to consider
considre
considres
considre
sappeler (291)
to be called
mappelle
tappelles
sappelle
jeter (294)
to throw
jette
jettes
jette
nous
vous
ils/elles
considrons
considrez
considrent
nous appelons
vous appelez
sappellent
jetons
jetez
jettent
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j/je
tu
il/elle
acheter (297)
to buy
achte
achtes
achte
payer (300)
to pay
paie
paies
paie
envoyer (303)
to send
envoie
envoies
envoie
nous
vous
ils/elles
achetons
achetez
achtent
payons
payez
paient
envoyons
envoyez
envoient
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.3 Dormir
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
dormir to sleep
dormi
dormant
dors | dormons | dormez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
dors
dors
dort
Imparfait
dormais
dormais
dormait
Pass simple
dormis
dormis
dormit
nous
vous
ils/elles
dormons
dormez
dorment
dormions
dormiez
dormaient
dormmes
dormtes
dormirent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
dormirai
dormiras
dormira
Conditionnel
prsent
dormirais
dormirais
dormirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
dormirons
dormirez
dormiront
dormirions
dormiriez
dormiraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
dorme
dormes
dorme
Subjonctif
imparfait
dormisse
dormisses
dormt
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
dormions
dormiez
dorment
dormissions
dormissiez
dormissent
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5.4 Venir
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
venir to come
venu(e)(s)
venant
viens | venons | venez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
viens
viens
vient
Imparfait
venais
venais
venait
Pass simple
vins
vins
vint
nous
vous
ils/elles
venons
venez
viennent
venions
veniez
venaient
vnmes
vntes
vinrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
viendrai
viendras
viendra
Conditionnel
prsent
viendrais
viendrais
viendrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
viendrons
viendrez
viendront
viendrions
viendriez
viendraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
vienne
viennes
vienne
Subjonctif
imparfait
vinsse
vinsses
vnt
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
venions
veniez
viennent
vinssions
vinssiez
vinssent
By Marie de France
Appendix
Following the same pattern:

devenir (tre) to become
intervenir to intervene
prvenir to let someone know, inform
redevenir to become again
revenir to come back
se souvenir to remember
+
tenir to keep, hold
appartenir to belong
obtenir to obtain
retenir to hold back
soutenir to support
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5.5 Agir: simple tenses

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
agir
agi
agissant
agis | agissons | agissez
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
agis
agis
agit
Imparfait
agissais
agissais
agissait
Pass simple
agis
agis
agit
nous
vous
ils/elles
agissons
agissez
agissent
agissions
agissiez
agissaient
agmes
agtes
agirent
Futur
j
tu
il/elle
agirai
agiras
agira
Conditionnel
prsent
agirais
agirais
agirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
agirons
agirez
agiront
agirions
agiriez
agiraient
que j
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
agisse
agisses
agisse
Subjonctif
imparfait
agisse
agisses
agt
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
agissions
agissiez
agissent
agissions
agissiez
agissent
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.6 Vouloir
Infitinif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
vouloir to want
voulu
voulant
veuille | voulons | vueillez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
veux
veux
veut
Imparfait
voulais
voulais
voulait
Pass simple
voulus
voulus
voulut
nous
vous
ils/elles
voulons
voulez
veulent
voulions
vouliez
voulaient
voulmes
voultes
voulurent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
voudrai
voudras
voudra
Conditionnel
prsent
voudrais
voudrais
voudrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
voudrons
voudrez
voudront
voudrions
voudriez
voudraient
Subjonctif
imparfait
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
(irregular)
veuille
veuilles
veuille
voulions
vouliez
veuillent
voulussions
voulussiez
voulussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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voulusses
voult
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5.7 Group 3: Prendre

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
prendre to take
pris
prenant
prends | prenons | prenez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
prends
prends
prend
Imparfait
prenais
prenais
prenait
Pass simple
pris
pris
prit
nous
vous
ils/elles
prenons
prenez
prennent
prenions
preniez
prenaient
prmes
prtes
prirent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
prendrai
prendras
prendra
Conditionnel
prsent
prendrais
prendrais
prendrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
prendrons
prendrez
prendront
prendrions
prendriez
prendraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
prenne
prennes
prenne
Subjonctif
imparfait
prisse
prisses
prt
prenions
preniez
prennent
prissions
prissiez
prissent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix

comprendre to understand
apprendre to learn
surprendre to surprise
entreprendre to begin, start
reprendre to take back
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5.8 Dire
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
dire to say
dit
disant
dis | disons | dites
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
dis
dis
dit
Imparfait
disais
disais
disait
Pass simple
dis
dis
dit
nous
vous
ils/elles
disons
dites
disent
disions
disiez
disaient
dmes
dtes
dirent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
dirai
diras
dira
Conditionnel
prsent
dirais
dirais
dirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
dirons
direz
diront
dirions
diriez
diraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
dise
dises
dise
Subjonctif
imparfait
disse
disses
dt
que nous
que vous
quils/elles
disions
disiez
disent
dissions
dissiez
dissent
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.9 Group 3: Ouvrir

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
ouvrir to open
ouvert
ouvrant
ouvre | ouvrons | ouvrez
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
ouvre
ouvres
ouvre
Imparfait
ouvrais
ouvrais
ouvrait
Pass simple
ouvris
ouvrir
ouvrit
nous
vous
ils/elles
ouvrons
ouvrez
ouvrent
ouvrions
ouvriez
ouvraient
ouvrmes
ouvrtes
ouvrirent
Futur
j
tu
il/elle
ouvrirai
ouvriras
ouvrira
Conditionnel
prsent
ouvrirais
ouvrirais
ouvrirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
ouvrirons
ouvrirez
ouvriront
ouvririons
ouvririez
ouvriraient
que j
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
ouvre
ouvres
ouvre
Subjonctif
imparfait
ouvrisse
ouvrisses
ouvrt
ouvrions
ouvriez
ouvrent
ouvrissions
ouvrissiez
ouvrissent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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5.10 Savoir
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
savoir to know
su
sachant
sache | sachons | sachez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
sais
sais
sait
Imparfait
savais
savais
savait
Pass simple
sus
sus
sut
nous
vous
ils/elles
savons
savez
savent
savions
saviez
savaient
smes
stes
surent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
saurai
sauras
saura
Conditionnel
prsent
saurais
saurais
saurait
nous
vous
ils/elles
saurons
saurez
sauront
saurions
sauriez
sauraient
Subjonctif
imparfait
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
(irregular)
sache
saches
sache
sachions
sachiez
sachent
sussions
sussiez
sussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
susse
susses
st
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.11 Group 3: Attendre

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
attendre to wait
attendu
attendant
attends | attendons | attendez
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
attends
attends
attend
Imparfait
attendais
attendais
attendait
Pass simple
attendis
attendis
attendit
nous
vous
ils/elles
attendons
attendez
attendent
attendions
attendiez
attendaient
attendmes
attendtes
attendirent
Futur
j
tu
il/elle
attendrai
attendras
attendra
Conditionnel
prsent
attendrais
attendrais
attendrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
attendrons
attendrez
attendront
attendrions
attendriez
attendraient
que j
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
attende
attendes
attende
Subjonctif
imparfait
attendisse
attendisses
attendt
attendions
attendiez
attendent
attendissions
attendissiez
attendissent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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5.12 Group 1: sucer

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
sucer to suck
suc
suant
suce | suons | sucez
je
tu
il/elle
sucer
suce
suces
suce
Imparfait
suais
suais
suait
Pass simple
suai
suas
sua
nous
vous
ils/elles
suons
sucez
sucent
sucions
suciez
suaient
sumes
sutes
sucrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
sucerai
suceras
sucera
Conditionnel
prsent
sucerais
sucerais
sucerait
nous
vous
ils/elles
sucerons
sucerez
suceront
sucerions
suceriez
suceraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
suce
suces
suce
Subjonctif
imparfait
suasse
suasses
sut
sucions
suciez
sucent
suassions
suassiez
suassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.13 Sen aller

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
sen aller to go away

enall(e)(s)
sen allant
va-ten | allons-nous-en | allezvous-en
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
men vais
ten vas
sen va
Imparfait
men allais
ten allais
sen allait
Pass simple
men allai
ten allas
sen alla
nous
vous
ils/elles
nous en allons
vous en allez
sen vont
nous en allions
vous en alliez
sen allaient
nous en allmes
vous en alltes
sen allrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
men irai
ten iras
sen ira
Conditionnel
prsent
men irais
ten irais
sen irait
nous
vous
ils/elles
nous en irons
vous en irez
sen iront
nous en irions
vous en iriez
sen iraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
men aille
ten ailles
sen aille
Subjonctif
imparfait
men allasse
ten allasses
sen allt
nous en allions
vous en alliez
sen aillent
nous en allassions
vous en allassiez
sen allassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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5.14 Pouvoir
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
pouvoir to be able to
pu
pouvant
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
peux
peux
peut
Imparfait
pouvais
pouvais
pouvait
Pass simple
pus
pus
put
nous
vous
ils/elles
pouvons
pouvez
peuvent
pouvions
pouviez
pouvaient
pmes
ptes
purent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
pourrai
pourras
pourra
Conditionnel
prsent
pourrais
pourrais
pourrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
pourrons
pourrez
pourront
pourrions
pourriez
pourraient
Subjonctif
imparfait
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
(irregular)
puisse
puisses
puisse
puissions
puissiez
puissent
pussions
pussiez
pussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
pusse
pusses
pt
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.15 Group 3: Recevoir

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
recevoir to receive
reu
recevant
reois | recevons | recevez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
reois
reois
reoit
Imparfait
recevais
recevais
recevait
Pass simple
reus
reus
reut
nous
vous
ils/elles
recevons
recevez
reoivent
recevions
receviez
recevaient
remes
retes
reurent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
recevrai
recevras
recevra
Conditionnel
prsent
recevrais
recevrais
recevrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
recevrons
recevrez
recevront
recevrions
recevriez
recevraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
reoive
reoives
reoive
Subjonctif
imparfait
reusse
reusses
ret
recevions
receviez
reoivent
reussions
reussiez
reussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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5.16 Group 1: Manger

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
manger to eat
mang
mangeant
mange | mangeons | mangez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
mange
manges
mange
Imparfait
mangeais
mangeais
mangeait
Pass simple
mangeai
mangeas
mangea
nous
vous
ils/elles
mangeons
mangez
mangent
mangions
mangiez
mangeaient
mangemes
mangetes
mangrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
mangerai
mangeras
mangera
Conditionnel
prsent
mangerais
mangerais
mangerait
nous
vous
ils/elles
mangerons
mangerez
mangeront
mangerions
mangeriez
mangeraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
mange
manges
mange
Subjonctif
imparfait
mangeasse
mangeasses
manget
mangions
mangiez
mangent
mangeassions
mangeassiez
mangeassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix

1
partager
to share
changer
to exchange, trade
changer
to change
voyager
to travel
protger
to protect
encourager
to support, encourage
dranger
to disturb
2
juger
to judge
diriger
to guide
exiger
to demand, require
soulager
to relieve, ease
prolonger
to prolong, extend
envisager
to contemplate, consider
bouger
to move, move around
3
interroger
to question, examine
charger
to load, charge
obliger
to force, oblige
songer
to think, consider, dream
engager
to commit, engage
allonger
to lay down; make longer
plonger
to dive, plunge
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4
arranger
to arrange, settle
ranger
to clean, put away
dgager
to clear, unblock
loger
to stay, lodge
longer
to go along
figer
to immobilize, fix in place
merger
to surface, emerge
ronger
to gnaw, eat away at
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.17 Voir
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
voir to see
vu
voyant
vois | voyons | voyez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
vois
vois
voit
Imparfait
voyais
voyais
voyait
Pass simple
vis
vis
vit
nous
vous
ils/elles
voyons
voyez
voient
voyions
voyiez
voyaient
vmes
vtes
virent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
verrai
verras
verra
Conditionnel
prsent
verrais
verrais
verrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
verrons
verrez
verront
verrions
verriez
verraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
voie
voies
voie
Subjonctif
imparfait
visse
visses
vt
voyions
voyiez
voient
vissions
vissiez
vissent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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5.18 Group 1: Mener

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
mener to lead
men
menant
mne | menons | menez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
mne
mnes
mne
Imparfait
menais
menais
menait
Pass simple
menai
menas
mena
nous
vous
ils/elles
menons
menez
mnent
menions
meniez
menaient
menmes
mentes
menrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
mnerai
mneras
mnera
Conditionnel
prsent
mnerais
mnerais
mnerait
nous
vous
ils/elles
mnerons
mnerez
mneront
mnerions
mneriez
mneraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
mne
mnes
mne
Subjonctif
imparfait
menasse
menasses
ment
menions
meniez
mnent
menassions
menassiez
menassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix

1
se lever
relever
peser
soulever
to stand up, get

out of bed
to go for a walk
to burst, puncture ;
to die
to pick up
to weigh
to lift up
2
prlever
ramener
emmener
lever
amener
to remove, debit
to take back, bring
to take, drive
to raise, erect
to bring, carry
3
achever
enlever
semer
parsemer
malmener
sevrer
to finish, complete
to remove, kidnap
to sow
to scatter, sprinkle
to mistreat
to wean
se promener
crever
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5.19 Croire
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
croire to believe
cru
croyant
crois | croyons | croyez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
crois
crois
croit
Imparfait
croyais
croyais
croyait
Pass simple
crus
crus
crut
nous
vous
ils/elles
croyons
croyez
croient
croyions
croyiez
croyaient
crmes
crtes
crurent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
croirai
croiras
croira
Conditionnel
prsent
croirais
croirais
croirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
croirons
croirez
croiront
croirions
croiriez
croiraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
croie
croies
croie
Subjonctif
imparfait
crusse
crusses
crt
croyions
croyiez
croient
crussions
crussiez
crussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.20 Group 1: Prfrer

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
prefrer to prefer
prfr
prfrant
prfre | prfrons | prfrez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
prfre
prfres
prfre
Imparfait
prfrais
prfrais
prfrait
Pass simple
prfrai
prfras
prfra
nous
vous
ils/elles
prfrons
prfrez
prfrent
prfrions
prfriez
prfraient
prfrmes
prfrtes
prfrrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
prfrerai
prfreras
prfrera
Conditionnel
prsent
prfrerais
prfrerais
prfrerait
nous
vous
ils/elles
prfrerons
prfrerez
prfreront
prfrerions
prfreriez
prfreraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
prfre
prfres
prfre
Subjonctif
imparfait
prfrasse
prfrasses
prfrt
prfrions
prfriez
prfrent
prfrassions
prfrassiez
prfrassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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Only four forms in the prsent and the subjonctif prsent are
irregular. Note that the second in the futur and
conditionnel prsent forms is pronounced in an open manner
[pef].
Cloud 5.1. Rpter, esprer, prfrer etc.
Action words following the [_]er scheme are frequent. The

following list is ordered by frequency of use.
1
rpter
esprer
prfrer
considrer
pntrer
possder
inquiter
to repeat
to hope
to prefer
to consider
to penetrate
to possess
to trouble, disturb
By Marie de France
Appendix
2
cder
rvler
rgler
librer
rgner
prcder
scher
to give in, collapse

to reveal
to adjust
to release, free
to reign
to arrive ahead of
to dry
3
succder
rcuprer
reprer
procder
suggrer
oprer
lcher
to succeed, follow
to get back, recover
to notice, detect
to proceed
to suggest
to operate
to lick
4
exagrer
reflter
clbrer
exasprer
acclrer
imprgner
dsesprer
to exaggerate
to reflect
to celebrate
to exasperate
to accelerate
to impregnate
to despair
5
pter
desscher
complter
tolrer
confrer
accder
pcher
to fart
to dry out
to complete
to tolerate, permit
to award, impart
to access
to commit a sin
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6
interprter
dcrter
modrer
transfrer
insrer
prosprer
dlibrer
to interpret
to decree
to moderate
to transfer
to insert
to prosper
to deliberate
7
arer
adhrer
grer
persvrer
dcder
dpossder
dgnrer
to air, ventilate
to adhere, stick
to manage, handle
to persevere
to die
to rob, strip of
to degenerate
8
prolifrer
diffrer
excder
digrer
obsder
profrer
altrer
to proliferate, multiply
to differ
to exceed
to digest
to obsess
to proclaim, declare
to degrade, spoil
9
numrer
savrer
intgrer
dlguer
tter
concder
lguer
to enumerate, list
to prove to be
to include, incorporate
to delegate
to suck (at)
to concede, allow
to leave, bequeath
By Marie de France
Appendix
10
vnrer
rapicer
relguer
lacrer
vocifrer
temprer
rfrer
to honour, respect
to patch
to relegate
to rip, tear
to yell, shout
to temper, assuage
to refer, relate
11
asscher
vgter
ritrer
bcher
crcher
aliner
dissquer
to dry up, drain

to vegetate
to reiterate, repeat
to dig
to live, stay
to alienate
to dissect
12
obtemprer
sidrer
allcher
perptrer
blasphmer
dsaltrer
empiter
to comply, obey
to stupefy
to tempt, seduce
to perpetrate, commit
to blaspheme
to quench thirst
to encroach upon
13
refrner
macrer
incinrer
rouspter
agglomrer
to restrain
to macerate
to incinerate, burn
to grumble, moan
to aggregate, gather
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5.21 Connatre
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
connatre to know
connu
connaissant
connais | connaissons |
connaissez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
connais
connais
connat
Imparfait
connaissais
connaissais
connaissait
Pass simple
connus
connus
connut
nous
vous
ils/elles
connaissons
connaissez
connaissent
connaissions
connaissiez
connaissaient
connmes
conntes
connurent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
connatrai
connatras
connatra
Conditionnel
prsent
connatrais
connatrais
connatrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
connatrons
connatrez
connatront
connatrions
connatriez
connatraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
connaisse
connaisses
connaisse
Subjonctif
imparfait
connusse
connusses
connt
connaissions
connaissiez
connaissent
connussions
connussiez
connussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.22 Group 1: Appeler

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
appeler to call
appel
appelant
apple | appelons | appelez
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
appelle
appelles
appelle
Imparfait
appelais
appelais
appelait
Pass simple
appelai
appelas
appela
nous
vous
ils/elles
appelons
appelez
appellent
appelions
appeliez
appelaient
appelmes
appeltes
appelrent
Futur
j
tu
il/elle
appellerai
appelleras
appellera
Conditionnel
prsent
appellerais
appellerais
appellerait
nous
vous
ils/elles
appellerons
appellerez
appelleront
appellerions
appelleriez
appelleraient
que j
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
appelle
appelles
appelle
Subjonctif
imparfait
appelasse
appelasses
appelt
appelions
appeliez
appellent
appelassions
appelassiez
appelassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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sappeler
to be called (je mappelle

Marie my name is Marie)
rappeler
to call back, remind
renouveler
to renew
ruisseler
to flow, drip
chanceler
to stagger, totter
atteler
to harness, yoke
peler
to spell (out)
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.23 Mettre
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
mettre to put, place

mis
mettant
mets | mettons | mettez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
mets
mets
met
Imparfait
mettais
mettais
mettait
Pass simple
mis
mis
mit
nous
vous
ils/elles
mettons
mettez
mettent
mettions
mettiez
mettaient
mmes
mtes
mirent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
mettrai
mettras
mettra
Conditionnel
prsent
mettrais
mettrais
mettrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
mettrons
mettrez
mettront
mettrions
mettriez
mettraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
mette
mettes
mette
Subjonctif
imparfait
misse
misses
mt
mettions
mettiez
mettent
missions
missiez
missent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
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5.24 Group 1: Jeter

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
jeter to throw
jet
jetant
jte | jetons | jetez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
jette
jettes
jette
Imparfait
jetais
jetais
jetait
Pass simple
jetai
jetas
jeta
nous
vous
ils/elles
jetons
jetez
jettent
jetions
jetiez
jetaient
jetmes
jettes
jetrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
jetterai
jetteras
jettera
Conditionnel
prsent
jetterais
jetterais
jetterait
nous
vous
ils/elles
jetterons
jetterez
jetteront
jetterions
jetteriez
jetteraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
jette
jettes
jette
Subjonctif
imparfait
jetasse
jetasses
jett
jetions
jetiez
jettent
jetassions
jetassiez
jetassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix

rejeter
to reject, throw back
projeter
to project, launch
feuilleter
to leaf through
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5.25 Boire
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
boire to drink
bu
buvant
bois | buvons | buvez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
bois
bois
boit
Imparfait
buvais
buvais
buvait
Pass simple
bus
bus
but
nous
vous
ils/elles
buvons
buvez
boivent
buvions
buviez
buvaient
bmes
btes
burent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
boirai
boiras
boira
Conditionnel
prsent
boirais
boirais
boirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
boirons
boirez
boiront
boirions
boiriez
boiraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
boive
boives
boive
Subjonctif
imparfait
busse
busses
bt
buvions
buviez
boivent
bussions
bussiez
bussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.26 Group 1: Acheter

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
acheter to buy
achet
achetant
achte | achetons | achetez
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
achte
achtes
achte
Imparfait
achetais
achetais
achetait
Pass simple
achetai
achetas
acheta
nous
vous
ils/elles
achetons
achetez
achtent
achetions
achetiez
achetaient
achetmes
achettes
achetrent
Futur
j
tu
il/elle
achterai
achteras
achtera
Conditionnel
prsent
achterais
achterais
achterait
nous
vous
ils/elles
achterons
achterez
achteront
achterions
achteriez
achteraient
que j
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
achte
achtes
achte
Subjonctif
imparfait
achetasse
achetasses
achett
achetions
achetiez
achtent
achetassions
achetassiez
achetassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
2016 Edition
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298
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racheter
to buy (more)
marteler
to hammer, pound
geler
to freeze, be freezing
dceler
to detect, discover
tinceler
to sparkle, shine
harceler
to harass
modeler
to model
peler
to peel, strip
carteler
to quarter
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.27 Conduire
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
conduire to drive
conduit
conduisant
conduis | conduisons |
conduisez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
conduis
conduis
conduit
Imparfait
conduisais
conduisais
conduisait
Pass simple
conduisis
conduisis
conduisit
nous
vous
ils/elles
conduisons
conduisez
conduisent
conduisions
conduisiez
conduisaient
conduismes
conduistes
conduisirent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
conduirai
conduiras
conduira
Conditionnel
prsent
conduirais
conduirais
conduirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
conduirons
conduirez
conduiront
conduirions
conduiriez
conduiraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
conduise
conduises
conduise
Subjonctif
imparfait
conduisisse
conduisisses
conduist
conduisions
conduisiez
conduisent
conduisissions
conduisissiez
conduisissent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
2016 Edition
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300
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5.28 Group 1: Payer

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
payer to pay
pay
payant
paie | payons | payez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
paie
paies
paie
Imparfait
payais
payais
payait
Pass simple
payai
payas
paya
nous
vous
ils/elles
payons
payez
paient
payions
payiez
payaient
paymes
paytes
payrent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
paierai
paieras
paiera
Conditionnel
prsent
paierais
paierais
paierait
nous
vous
ils/elles
paierons
paierez
paieront
paierions
paieriez
paieraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
paie
paies
paie
Subjonctif
imparfait
payasse
payasses
payt
payions
payiez
paient
payassions
payassiez
payassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix

1
essayer
to try
monnayer
to make money out of
effrayer
to frighten, terrify
balayer
to sweep
rayer
to eliminate, draw lines
bgayer
to stutter
gayer
to amuse, brighten up
2
relayer
to take over from
dblayer
to clear up, out
dlayer
to mix, dilute
embrayer
to put in gear
enrayer
to jam, stop
3
frayer
to clear, open up
dfrayer
to be subject of gossip
dbrayer
to depress the clutch

pedal
pagayer
to paddle
zzayer
to lisp, have a lisp
2016 Edition
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302
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5.29 Vivre
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
vivre to live
vcu
vivant
vis | vivons | vivez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
vis
vis
vit
Imparfait
vivais
vivais
vivait
Pass simple
vcus
vcus
vcut
nous
vous
ils/elles
vivons
vivez
vivent
vivions
viviez
vivaient
vcmes
vctes
vcurent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
vivrai
vivras
vivra
Conditionnel
prsent
vivrais
vivrais
vivrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
vivrons
vivrez
vivront
vivrions
vivriez
vivraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
vive
vives
vive
Subjonctif
imparfait
vcusse
vcusses
vct
vivions
viviez
vivent
vcussions
vcussiez
vcussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.30 Group 1: Envoyer

Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
envoyer to send
envoy
envoyant
envoie | envoyons | envoyez
j
tu
il/elle
Prsent
envoie
envoies
envoie
Imparfait
envoyais
envoyais
envoyait
Pass simple
envoyai
envoyas
envoya
nous
vous
ils/elles
envoyons
envoyez
envoient
envoyions
envoyiez
envoyaient
envoymes
envoytes
envoyrent
Futur
j
tu
il/elle
enverrai
enverras
enverra
Conditionnel
prsent
enverrais
enverrais
enverrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
enverrons
enverrez
enverront
enverrions
enverriez
enverraient
que j
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
envoie
envoies
envoie
Subjonctif
imparfait
envoyasse
envoyasses
envoyt
envoyions
envoyiez
envoient
envoyassions
envoyassiez
envoyassent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
2016 Edition
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1
employer
to employ, use
renvoyer
to send again, back
noyer
to drown
dployer
to deploy, roll out
nettoyer
to clean
aboyer
to bark
tutoyer
to be on first-name
terms
2
vouvoyer
to use vous with
tournoyer
to swirl, whirl
foudroyer
to strike
broyer
to grind, crush
ctoyer
to mix, rub shoulders with
ployer
to bow, bend
sapitoyer
to feel pity
3
octroyer
to grant
rougeoyer
to glow (fire)
flamboyer
to flame
louvoyer
to hedge, equivocate
ondoyer
to undulate, ripple
fourvoyer
to mislead, misguide
choyer
to pamper, cosset
convoyer
to escort
By Marie de France
Appendix
4
larmoyer
to cry, snivel
rudoyer
to mistreat
guerroyer
to make war
soudoyer
to bribe
festoyer
to feast, celebrate
coudoyer
to rub shoulder with
2016 Edition
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5.31 Craindre
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
craindre to fear
craint
craignant
crains | craignons | craignez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
crains
crains
craint
Imparfait
craignais
craignais
craignait
Pass simple
craignis
craignis
craignit
nous
vous
ils/elles
craignons
craignez
craignent
craignions
craigniez
craignaient
craignmes
craigntes
craignirent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
craindrai
craindras
craindra
Conditionnel
prsent
craindrais
craindrais
craindrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
craindrons
craindrez
craindront
craindrions
craindriez
craindraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
craigne
craignes
craigne
Subjonctif
imparfait
craignisse
craignisses
craignt
craignions
craigniez
craignent
craignissions
craignissiez
craignissent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix
5.32 Rire
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
rire to laugh
ri
riant
ris | rions | riez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
ris
ris
rit
Imparfait
riais
riais
riait
Pass simple
ris
ris
rit
nous
vous
ils/elles
rions
riez
rient
riions
riiez
riaient
rmes
rtes
rirent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
rirai
riras
rira
Conditionnel
prsent
rirais
rirais
rirait
nous
vous
ils/elles
rirons
rirez
riront
ririons
ririez
riraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
rie
ries
rie
Subjonctif
imparfait
risse
risses
rt
riions
riiez
rient
rissions
rissiez
rissent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
2016 Edition
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GigaFrench.com
5.33 Courir
Infinitif
Participe pass
Participe prsent
Impratif
courire to run
couru
courant
cours | courons | courez
je
tu
il/elle
Prsent
cours
cours
court
Imparfait
courais
courais
courait
Pass simple
courus
courus
courut
nous
vous
ils/elles
courons
courez
courent
courions
couriez
couraient
courmes
courtes
coururent
Futur
je
tu
il/elle
courrai
courras
courra
Conditionnel
prsent
courrais
courrais
courrait
nous
vous
ils/elles
courrons
courrez
courront
courrions
courriez
courraient
que je
que tu
quil/elle
Subjonctif
prsent
coure
coures
coure
Subjonctif
imparfait
courusse
courusses
court
courions
couriez
courent
courussions
courussiez
courussent
que nous
que vous
quils/
quelles
By Marie de France
Appendix
309
5.34 Feminine nouns ending in ion

Words in bold are masculine (un avion, le million, le camion, le
lion, le champion, un espion).
1-100
question, impression, attention, conversation, direction,
occasion, situation, condition, passion, action, avion, expression,
opration, intention, position, dcision, motion, million,
rgion, relation, camion, imagination, mission, illusion, nation,
sensation, explication, rvolution, disposition, libration,
opinion, division, solution, vision, satisfaction, organisation,
fonction, gnration, conviction, rflexion, information,
prcaution, religion, tradition, population, discussion, lion,
admiration, apparition, respiration, affection, allusion, raction,
occupation, ambition, instruction, union, runion, possession,
ducation, communication, administration, collection, explosion,
hsitation, exception, tlvision, prcision, station, construction,
excution, disparition, dimension, vocation, rputation, section,
dclaration, pression, agitation, discrtion, conclusion,
tentation, confusion, rvlation, considration, proposition,
inscription, civilisation, pension, permission, reprsentation,
cration, invitation, inspiration, provision, protection,
composition, commission, institution, manifestation
101-200
dception, perfection, rception, signification, excitation,
dition, lgion, indignation, exaltation, intervention,
application, profession, obligation, invention, tension,
destruction, observation, expdition, champion, production,
circulation, sparation, rsolution, volution, concession,
lection, distraction, notion, exposition, aviation, humiliation,
protestation, communion, contradiction, version, rptition,
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GigaFrench.com
dlgation, proportion, convention, vibration, installation,

collaboration, indication, rdaction, obstination, dmonstration,
formation, proccupation, dcoration, exclamation, irruption,
conception, description, opposition, succession, espion,
ngociation, invasion, traduction, obsession, intuition,
provocation, soumission, mission, fraction, consolation,
prtention, association, prparation, mditation, concentration,
arrestation, apprhension, procession, destination, distinction,
vasion, autorisation, intonation, comprhension, confession,
rsignation, approbation, consommation, contemplation,
addition, vgtation, punition, maldiction, inspection,
irritation, sduction, dtonation, constitution, interrogation,
accusation, recommandation, distribution, condamnation,
transition
By Marie de France
Appendix
311
5.35 Masculine nouns ending in ism

organisme, mcanisme, communisme, gosme, mutisme,
socialisme, capitalisme, fascisme, optimisme, cynisme, hrosme,
ralisme, scepticisme, catchisme, tourisme, christianisme,
marxisme, romantisme, rhumatisme, patriotisme, journalisme,
snobisme, rotisme, conformisme, nationalisme, lyrisme,
racisme, fanatisme, exotisme, catholicisme, humanisme,
pessimisme, national-socialisme, sadisme, surralisme,
idalisme, mysticisme, bouddhisme, dynamisme, exorcisme,
fatalisme, athisme, nazisme, antismitisme, vandalisme,
antagonisme, mimtisme, euphmisme, libralisme, gaullisme,
matrialisme, prisme, imprialisme, paludisme, individualisme,
puritanisme, sisme, atavisme, nihilisme, terrorisme,
automatisme, judasme, narcissisme, psychisme, loyalisme,
modernisme, ostracisme, esthtisme, traumatisme, bolchevisme,
cyclisme, stalinisme, masochisme, gtisme, alcoolisme,
strabisme, totalitarisme, syndicalisme, banditisme, aphorisme,
anticommunisme, anachronisme, attentisme, schisme,
exhibitionnisme, despotisme, symbolisme, protestantisme,
obscurantisme, altruisme, militantisme, asctisme, paternalisme,
somnambulisme, infantilisme, colonialisme, chauvinisme,
machinisme, parasitisme, marxisme-lninisme
2016 Edition
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GigaFrench.com
By Marie de France
Appendix
2016 Edition
313
314
GigaFrench.com
By Marie de France
Index
Index
future stem 146
49ers 59, 139, 216

Abortion 185
Acheter 262, 297
Acrobatics 215
Action words 33, 117
1-49 59
50-98 139
99-147 216
group 1 198
group 1 preview 144
group 1, frequent 215
important 220
timeline 40
Adjectives 73, 117, 243

consonant 163
demonstrative 77
ending in -e 165
irregular 166
possessive 74, 228
Adverbs 84, 117, 167, 244

Agir 266
prsent 67
Aller
sen 275
Aller 221, 260

composed tenses 135
2016 Edition
prsent 68
Appartenir 265
Appeler 261, 291
Articles 117, 153
definite 78
indefinite 80
partitive 81
Attendre 273
Avoir 37
biotope 38
composed tenses 50, 61
future 42
imperfect tense 40
present conditional 43
present subjunctive 44
present tense 37
simple tenses 46
Barack Obama 179

Boire 296
Bonjour 102
Cest 122
Caresser 145, 198
composed tenses 214
prsent 67
simple tenses 213
315
316
GigaFrench.com
Catholic nuns 193

Charlie 121
Climate Change 109
Coach 224
Composed tenses 54, 62
action words 137

biotope 122
present 67
simple tenses 133
timeline 126
faire 54
Conduire 299
Conjunctions 85, 117, 168,
246
Connatre 290
Considrer 261
Contraction 88, 89, 93
Corkscrew 116
Courir 308
Craindre 306
Croire 284
Days of the week 249
de 170
Devenir 265
Devoir
future stem 146
Dire 222, 270

Dormir 263
Endings
group 1 212
Faire 53, 194

expressions with 55, 196
future stem 146
l'amour 57
prsent 67
Falloir
future stem 146
Formal you 226

adjectives 227
past participles 227
Free-Climbing 103
Fuck the rabbit 50
Future 177
irregular stems 145
Future perfect 177

Future Stems 219
Global Strategies 24, 116,
151, 192, 223
God 19
deconstructing 101
Envoyer 262, 303

future stem 146
tre 119
il y a 150
il y a eu 150
By Marie de France
Index
il y aura 151
il y aurait 151
il y avait 150
Imparfait
versus pass compos 138
Imperfect 177
Imperfect subjunctive 177
Intervenir 265
Jeter 261, 294
Jokers 83, 167, 244
Lire 222
Manger 261, 278
Mener 282
Mettre 293
Months of the year 250
Mourir
future stem 146
Negation 68, 147

Newspaper article 98
Nouns 77, 117, 154, 239
-eau, -eu, -au 161
feminine 157
feminine, -ion 309
masculine 239
masculine, -ism 311
2016 Edition
nationalities 154
ou, al, ail 241
-s, -x, -z 161
Numbers
1-12 94
13-79 172
80-100 248
cardinal 94
Obtenir 265
on 49, 146
Ouvrir 271
Parts of speech 117
Pass compos
versus imparfait 138
Past conditional 177

Past participles 50, 57
Past perfect 177
177
Past subjunctive 177
Payer 262, 300
Perfect 177
Personal object pronouns
232
direct 233
indirect 234
Personal pronouns 231
317
318
GigaFrench.com
Personal subject pronouns

231
Petting 198
Pleuvoir
future stem 146
Politeness 49
POPs 232
Possessive adjectives 228
Pouvoir 221, 276
future stem 146
Prfrer 285
Prendre 268
Prepositions 87, 117, 169
89
de 88
Present 177
importance 220
Present conditional 177

Preterit perfect 177
Prvenir 265
Promener 261
Pronouns 89, 117
object pronouns 90, 232
personal 231
reflexive pronouns 236
relative 91
subject pronouns 90, 231
two pronouns 238
Pronunciation 17
pitfalls 82
que 91
Question words 175
Questions 173
est-ce que 173
inversion 173
qui 91
Recevoir 277
Redevenir 265
Reflexive object pronouns
236
Relative clause 91
Results & Preview 103, 181,
253
Retenir 265
Revenir 265
Rire 307
Sen aller 275
Savoir 222, 272
future stem 146
prsent 68
Sextets 28
Sexual connotation 137
S'il te plat 176
S'il vous plat 176
Silent letters
c 96
f 177
By Marie de France
Index
r 251
Simple past 177

Soutenir 265
Souvenir, se 265
Subjunctive 197
sucer 274
Sucer 261
Toolbox 48, 65, 97, 177

Venir 222, 264
future stem 146
Vivre 302
Voir 222, 281
future stem 146
Vouloir 221, 267

Teacher 192
Tenir 222, 265
Time
telling 94
Timeline 28, 66
2016 Edition
future stem 146
Word classes 71
Y avoir 150
319
320
GigaFrench.com
By Marie de France

Gig A French 2016

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Marie de France

God, abortion and climate change

9 783924 774974 >

GigaFrench / God, abortion and climate change / 2016 ~ 1

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This PDF is the second edition of

Youll find many xxx in this manual. These

How to use GigaFrench

If you learned French earlier in life and if your time is

If you have time for an in-depth discovery of the French

You learned French in the past.

Timeline and Sextets ................................................. 28

First steps .................................................................... 33

Avoir: Prsent (present tense)................................ 37

All you can have ................................................. 38

Action word timeline ............................................ 40

Avoir: Imparfait (imperfect tense) ......................... 40

Avoir: Futur (future tense) ..................................... 42

Avoir: Prsent conditionnel (hypothetical what

1.3.7 Avoir: Subjonctif prsent (present subjunctive

Avoir (table) ........................................................... 46

Stranger vs. Family (1) .......................................... 49

Avoir: Composed tenses ............................................ 50

Faire to do/make ................................................... 53

Expressions with faire .......................................... 56

Past participles: how to get them........................ 57

Forty-nine action words ....................................... 59

Full timeline ............................................................... 66

Negation (I) ................................................................. 68

Summary + Outlook ................................................... 69

Word classes ............................................................... 71

One-word sentences .................................................. 72

Adjectives and Nouns ................................................ 73

Possessive adjectives ........................................ 74

Definite article .................................................. 78

Indefinite article ............................................... 80

Partitive article ................................................. 81

Pronunciation Pitfalls ...................................... 82

Outlook: Nouns and Adjectives ................................ 83

Outlook: Adv., Conj., Prep. and Pron. ............. 94

Bits and Pieces ............................................................ 94

Telling the hour ................................................ 94

Cardinals and Ordinals ..................................... 95

Silent Letters (1) ............................................... 96

Reading the newspaper ............................................. 98

Words ............................................................... 100

Deconstructing God ................................................. 101

Bonjour ...................................................................... 102

Free-Climbing ........................................................... 103

2 Climate Change ......................................................................... 109

tre to be (Introduction) ........................................ 119

Prsent .................................................................. 121

Il est / Elle est ...................................................... 122

Cest / Ce sont ...................................................... 122

The tre Biotope ...................................................... 122

tre Timeline ............................................................ 126

tre: Imparfait (imperfect tense) ......................... 127

tre: Futur (future tense) ..................................... 128

tre: Prsent conditionnel ................................. 130

Summary .............................................................. 131

tre (table) ........................................................... 133

tre: Composed tenses ............................................ 134

Overview ............................................................... 134