Expressions with Avoir and Faire
In English we say “I am hungry” or “I am 20 years old”. French does not use être-to be here. It uses avoir (to have): J’ai faim literally means “I have hunger”or J’ai vingt ans to say I am 20...
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French language learning courses
Partitive Articles in French: Du, De la, Des and Quantities
When you talk about food and drinks in French, you often need to say “some”: some bread, some water, some fruit. In English we can drop “some” (I eat bread), but in French the article is never dropped. French uses...
French Plus-Que-Parfait: Usage and Conjugation Guide
The French plus-que-parfait is a past tense used to describe an action that had already happened before another action in the past. It is usually translated into English as “had done”, “had gone”, “had eaten”, “had finished”, etc. It helps...
French Accents
French accents are an integral part of the French language and play an essential role in pronunciation, word meaning, and reading comprehension. For many learners, they may seem mysterious or intimidating at first, but they actually follow clear and logical...
Si Clauses in French (Conditional Sentences)
Si clauses, also known as conditional clauses, are used to express a condition and the result that follows from it. They allow speakers to talk about real, hypothetical, or unreal situations, depending on how likely the condition is. A sentence...
French Adjectives: Should They Go Before or After the Noun?
The placement of adjectives in French is one of the most characteristic, and often most confusing, features of the language for learners and linguists alike. Unlike English, which reliably places adjectives before the nouns they modify, French employs a far...
A Guide to French Comparatives and Superlatives
Learning how to compare people, places, ideas, or actions is essential in any language, and French is no exception. Whether you want to say “Paris is more expensive than Rouen” or “This is the best idea”, French comparatives and superlatives...
Direct Speech and Indirect Speech
Direct Speech (le discours direct) Direct speech is when you quote someone’s exact words. In French, you use quotation marks (« ») or sometimes dashes (—) and a comma before the quote. Structure: Subject + reporting verb + “que” (optional)...
Understanding Tout, Tous, Toute, Toutes in French
If you have been learning French for a while, you have probably come across the word “tout.” It’s everywhere — in songs, books, and everyday conversations. But then you suddenly see it change into tous, toute, and toutes… and wonder,...
Review tenses: présent, passé composé vs imparfait, passe recent
When learning French at the B1 level, it’s important to strengthen your A2 grammar foundations. This post will guide you through three key areas of French tenses – présent, passé composé vs imparfait and passé récent. Présent de l’indicatif The...