8F French April 24th Cheat Sheet

A Education › French cheat sheet in English and français (French) by Phoebe12

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PRs

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Verbs

AVOIR	to have
j'ai	nous avons
tu as	vous avez
il/elle/ont a	ils/elles ont
ALLER	to go
je vais	nous allons
tu vas	vous allez
il/elle on va	ils/elles vont
FAIRE	to do
je fais	nous faisons
tu fais	vous faites
il/elle/on fait	ils/elles font
ÊTRE	to be
je suis	nous sommes
tu es	vous êtes
il/elle/on est	ils/elles sont
The Preposition À	to, in, at
à + le	au
à + les	aux
à + la	à la
Negation	add "ne (n')" before, and pas after

Conjugation of Verbs

-ER
je -e	nous -ons
tu -es	vous -ez
il/elle/on -e	ils/elles -ont
-IR
je -is	nous -issons
tu -is	vous -issez
il/elle/on -it	ils/elles -issent
-RE
je -s	nous -ons
tu -s	vous -ez
il/elle/on -it	ils/elles -ent

First find the stem of the word, then add the correct ending

Position of Adjectives

In French, most adjectives come after the noun. However, some very common French adjectives come before the noun. For example:
petit(e)	grand(e)
joli(e)	beau/bel/belle
nouveau/nouvel/nouvelle	vieux/vieil/vieille

Imperative form

Vous répétez! ->	Répétez!
Tu regardes le livre. ->	Regarde le livre.
Notice that if the tu form ends in -es (this includes all er verbs), you also drop the s from the ending of the verb.
To give a negative instruction, just use ne... pas either side of the verb in the usual way.

Remember that aller also drops the -s from the tu ending of the verb.

Ordinal numbers

To change a regular number into an ordinal number, you usually just add -ième to the normal number.

The word for 'first', premier (première) is an exception.
It is the only ordinal to have a masculine and feminine form.

Talking about pastimes

Use jouer à... to talk about games you play.
Use jouer de... to talk about musical instruments you play.
Use faire de... to talk about most other sports and recreational activties that you do.
à + la = à la	de + la = de la
à + l' = à l'	de + l' = de l'
à + le = au	de + le = du
à + les = aux	de + les = des

When faire de and jouer de are used negatively, just use de (d') instead of de la, du, (de l') or des.
Tu fais de la boxe? -> Non, je ne fais pas de boxe.
Tu joues du violon? -> Non, je ne joue pas de violon.

Which or what?

The word quel(le)(s) means 'which' or 'what' and is always followed by a noun.
It can also be used in exclamations to mean 'What (a)...!'
Qu'est-ce que is another way of saying 'what', but:
-it is only used in questions
-it is always linked to a conjugated verb, not a noun.
Examples:
Tu joues de quel instrument?	Which instrument do you play?
Qu'est-ce que tu fais le weekend?	What are you doing on the weekend?

Notice that qu' is used if que is followed by a vowel.

There is, there are

Il y a means both 'there is' and 'there are'.
The negative form is il n'y a pas (de)...
(n' is used because y is a vowel in French.)
Voilà can also be used to mean 'there is' or 'there are', but only when you are pointing out someone or something.

Possessive Adjectives

Masculine	Feminine	Plural	English
Mon	Ma	Mes	My
Ton	Ta	Tes	Your
Son	Sa	Ses	His/Her/Its
Nôtre	Nôtre	Nos	Our
Vôtre	Vôtre	Vos	Your
Leur	Leur	Leurs	Their

1). The possessive agrees with the noun, not the subject.
2). If a noun starts with a vowel and is feminine, use mon, ton, son form.
3). 's in English = Use "of" in French (de)
eg. Bob's dad = Pere de Bob

Irregular Adjectives

Invariable adjectives: Adjectives that don't change. For example:
cool	super
orange	marron
Adjectives that don't add an extra 'e' for feminine as they already end in 'e'. For example:
bizarre	adorable
horrible	timide
rouge
Irregular adjectives: Adjectives that change irregularly.
Type of noun	Adjective
masc. sing.	beau nouveau vieux
masc. sing starting with vowel sound	bel nouvel vieil
fem. sing.	belle nouvelle vieille
masc. pl.	beaux nouveaux vieux
fem. pl.	belles nouvelles vielles
Other examples: australien, vietnamien, mignon, affectueux, dangereux, généreux, studieux, spacieux, nul, violet, blanc
These adjectives are regular for masc. sing. and mask. plural but at fem. sing. they double the last letter and then add an 'e'. At fem. plural, they add an 's' to their fem. plural form (except blanc which changes into blanche for fem.sing.)
masc. sing.	australien
masc. plural	australiens
fem. sing.	australienne
fem. plural	australiennes

N'est-ce pas?

N'est-ce pas is used to confirm what you've just said is correct. There is no single English equivalent.

Time

The expressions 'am' and 'pm' are not used in France. Instead, 24-hour clock times are widely used. However, if the time is on the hour, people sometimes use the 12-hour clock times and add the words:
du matin (in the morning)
de l'après-midi (in the afternoon)
du soir (in the evening).

Notice that to say what time it is, you use il est, not c'est.

Ne... jamais

You can use ne... jamais the same way to say what never happens. For example:
Je ne fais pas de babysitting.	I don't babysit.
Je ne fais jamais de babysitting.	I never babysit.

After ne... jamais (as with ne... pas), de la, de l', du and des change to de.

Reminders

Oui is not the only way to say 'yes' in French. If you're answering 'yes' to a negative question, you use si instead of oui.
Using the definite article le before a day of the week shows that the event always happens on that day of the week.

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