Nature and function of French words
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The words (French: les mots) are classified into different categories. Every word in a sentence has a very specific role. This role is called "function".
Example: → Mon amie travaille en France (my friend works in France)
In this example, "amie" and "France" are nouns and "travaille" is the verb.
- "Mon amie" is undergoing the action with the verb "travailler", Its function is "subject of the verb" (sujet du verbe)
- "En France" indicates where the action is happening. Its function is "complement of the verb" (complément du verbe)
Lesson outline
Hide- 1.Grammatical category of French words
- 2.French determinants
- 2.1.Examples
- 3.French adjectives
- 3.1.Examples
- 4.French nouns
- 4.1.Types of nouns
- 5.French verbs
- 5.1.Examples
- 6.French pronouns
- 6.1.Examples
- 7.French conjunctions
- 7.1.Examples
- 8.French prepositions
- 8.1.Example
- 9.French adverbs
- 9.1.Examples
- 10.Grammatical function of French words
- 11.Exercises
- 11.1.Multiple choice exercise about the nature of French words
- 11.2.Multiple choice questions about the function of French words
Grammatical category of French words
The grammatical nature (French: la nature grammaticale) of a word is the category to which it belongs. Indeed, all the words can be grouped in the same category according to the characteristics that are similar to them.
Among them you can find
- Determinants
- Adjectives
- Nouns
- Verbs
- Pronouns
- Conjunctions
- Prepositions
- Adverbs
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French determinants
The determinant (French: le déterminant) is part of the nominal group (the subject). It agrees in gender and number with the subject. It usually places in front of the noun, sometimes separed by a qualifying adjective.
Examples
- Ces belles chaussures. (These beautiful shoes)
- Mon enfant. (My child)
- Quel bel homme ! (What a beautiful man !)
There are many types of determinants:
| Determinants | Examples |
|---|---|
| Articles | le, la, les, un, une, des, du, de la, de l' |
| Possesives | mon, ton, son, notre votre, leur |
| Demonstratives | cet, cette, ces,ce |
| Indefinite | tout, aucun, chaque, certains, plusieurs |
| Interrogatives | Quel ? Quelle ? Quelles ? Quels ? |
| Exclamatives | Quel ! Quelle ! Quelles ! Quels ! |
| Cardinal numbers | sept, douze, un, quatre, cinq |
French adjectives
Adjectives (French: les adjectifs) describe the nouns or pronouns to which they refer. They agree in gender and number with the noun or pronoun they qualify.
The French has two types of adjectifs: the attribute (l'attribut du sujet) and the epithet (l'épithète du sujet).
- The attribute, which has direct links to the noun through a state verb (verbes d'états).
- The epithet, which has direct links to the noun.
Examples
| Adjectives | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| L'attribut du sujet | Elle reste jolie | (She remains beautiful) |
| L'étpithète du sujet | Une fille jolie | (A beautiful girl) |
The French state verbs are: être (to be), devenir (to become), paraître, passer pour, avoir l'air, sembler (to seem), demeurer, rester (to stay).
French nouns
The noun (French: le nom) is a word that agrees in gender and number usually with a determinant that inform about it. It can also be used with an epithet adjective.
| Gender and number | Noun | translations |
|---|---|---|
| Des | oiseaux | (birds) |
| Un | homme | (a man) |
| Ma | grande soeur | (my big sister) |
Types of nouns
- The common nouns (les noms communs), which use a tiny letter, and correspond to a concept and individuals.
- The proper nouns (les noms propres), which use a capital letter and has no meaning, it applies to a person, a place, an unique or collective things.
- The compound nouns (les noms composés), which are lexical units and operate autonomously. They can be united, a nominal phrase or separated by an hyphen (-) or an apostrophe (').
| Nouns | Examples | Translations |
|---|---|---|
| Common nouns | un bureau | (a desk) |
| Proper nouns | France | (France) |
| Compound nouns | mademoiselle chemin de fer nord-est | (miss) (railway) (Northeast) |
French verbs
The verb (French: le verbe) expresses the state of a subject or an action performed by the subject (active voice) or reflexive voice if it does the action itself or undergoes by him (passive voice).
It has a stem and many endings. Therefore, it conjugates according to the group, the subject, the mood and the tense.
In grammar, there are
- Defective verbs, which do not conjugate in all personal pronouns and all tenses.
- Transitive verbs, which use a direct object.
- Intransitive verbs, which do not use a direct object.
Examples
- Verifier le résultat (Check the answer)
- Partir à Paris (Go to Paris)
French pronouns
The pronoun (French: le pronom) replace the noun. It can have all the grammatical functions of the noun.
Examples
- La femme qui m'a donné l'argent. (the woman that gave me the money)
- Celui-là part en Grèce. (This one goes to Greece)
- La nôtre est en vacances. (Ours is in holidays)
There are many types of pronouns, in the French grammar:
| Pronouns | Examples |
|---|---|
| Personal | je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles |
| Possessives | le mien, le tien, le sien, le nôtre, le vôtre, le leur |
| Interrogatives | lequel, duquel, auquel, laquelle, de laquelle, à laquelle |
| Demonstratives | celui, cela, celle, ceci, ce, ça |
| Relatives | qui, que, quoi, dont, où, lesquels, desquels, auxquels |
To distinguish from the possessive determinant, it is important that you write the circumflex accent in 'nôtre' 'vôtre'.
French conjunctions
The conjunction (French; la conjonction) is an invariable word whose function is to join words, or groups of words.
There are two types of conjunction: the conjunctions of coordination (les conjonctions de coordinations) and the conjunctions of subordination (les conjonctions de subordinations), which function is to link two propositions: the principal sentence and the conjunction
| Conjunctions | Examples |
|---|---|
| Subordinations | que, quand, comme, si, lorsque, puisque, quoique |
| Coordinations | mais, ou, est, donc, or, ni, car |
Examples
- Je souhaite que tu reste ici. (I wish you could stay)
- Je voulais partir à Rome mais il n'y a pas de vol pendant cette période. (I wanted to go in Rome but there is no flight during this period)
French prepositions
The preposition (French: la préposition) is an invariable word without a grammatical function in the sentence, but which makes it possible to join two words.
Some prepositions can also be used as an adverb like devant.
The are many types of prepositions:
- Those used as an complement to define the place, the way, the time, the goal, the state, the reason or the movement.
- Those used as a noun, a pronoun, an infinitive verb, an adverb or a group words.
| Prepositions |
|---|
| à, de, sans, pour, chez, dans, |
| entre, jusque, hors, par, vers, après, en |
| dès, devant |
Example
- La maison à Samantha. (Samantha's house)
- Je pars chez ma mère. (I am going at my mom's)
- Je partirai après toi. (I will leave after you)
French adverbs
The adverb (French: l'adverbe) is an invariable word. Most of them serve to clarify or modify the meaning of a verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole proposition.
Examples
- Je parle doucement. (I speak slowly)
- Il nettoie avec tant de force. (He cleans with so much strengh)
- Ils sont rentrés très tard, hier. (They came back very late, yesterday)
There are many types of adverbs
| Adverbs | Example |
|---|---|
| Time | tard, alors, après, après-demain, aujourd'hui, auparavant, aussitôt, autrefois, avant, avant-hier, bientôt, déjà, demain, depuis, désormais, dorénavant |
| Way | calmement, doucement, rapidement, ainsi, bien, comme, debout, ensemble, exprès, mal, mieux, plutôt, vite, |
| Place | loin, ailleurs, alentour, arrière, autour, avant, contre, dedans, dehors, derrière, dessous, dessus, devant, ici, là, où, partout, près proche. |
| Quantity | beaucoup, assez, autant, beaucoup, combien, davantage, environ, guère, mais, moins, pas mal, peu, plus, presque, quelque, si, tant, tout, tout à fait, tellement, très, trop |
Grammatical function of French words
Grammatical functions (French: la fonction grammaticale) are the role played by words in a sentence relative to other words. The same word can have different functions according to the sentences.
Among them you can find:
- The subject
- The complement
- The attribute
- The epithete
- The antecedent
- The apposition
- The apostrophe
- The expletive
| Function | Examples | Translations |
|---|---|---|
| Sujet | Jeanne mange une pizza | (Joanne is eating a pizza) |
| Complement | Je vais à la pharmacie | (I am going to the pharmacy) |
| Attribut | Ils restent positifs | (They remain optimistic) |
| Epithète | Un bel homme | (A beautiful man) |
| Antécédent | Ma mère, elle est partie au marché | (My mom, she went to the market) |
| Apposition | La capitale de l'Italie, Rome accueille des réfugiés | (Italy's capital, Rome welcome refugees) |
| Apostrophe | Toi, dis nous ce que tu en penses ? | (You tell us what you think ?) |
| Explétif | Je crains qu'il ne se perde | (I am afraid he get lost) |
Exercises
- Multiple choice exercise about the nature of French words
- Multiple choice questions about the function of French words
Multiple choice exercise about the nature of French words
Multiple choice questions about the function of French words
Exercises
- Multiple choice exercise about the nature of French words
- Multiple choice questions about the function of French words
Multiple choice exercise about the nature of French words
Multiple choice questions about the function of French words
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Hello,
My name is Tiska. I am a French Teacher with experiences with adults and teenagers in Public Education (USA) and Language Schools. I am holding a Master Degree in FLE (Teaching French as a Foreign Language).
Join a small group of learners of 2 or 3 for conversation lessons with me. An article or video to watch before the lesson and a conversation with personalized corrections during the lesson. This option saves you at least 10 euros per lesson on Colanguage.
Group opening:
Monday and/or Wednesday from 17:30 to 18:30 (French time).
Level: intermediate (B1)
Also, standard French lessons
- level A2 (low intermediate)
- 2 hours a week
- ask for schedule
Don’t know your level? Ask for a free level test.
I give Skype lessons to people who need or want to improve their French language. I like to use material from the internet (videos, article etc.) to introduce a theme which leads to a lesson and a conversation.
I like to create engaging learning with my students. I will give as homework a document to watch or to read with comprehension exercises so the time we have on skype is only speaking practice and explanation if needed.
I can help you prepare DELF-DALF Exams or work on specific needs (as professional French).
Really like to speak about all the subjects with the student especially those the student like so it gives the motivation to speak in the foreign language.
The free first lesson is organize to know your tastes, your level and your needs so we can plan the next lessons about the objectives you fixed.
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