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Grammar · -ger verbs
-ger verbs are regular -er verbs that are also stem changing. The most common -ger verb is manger.
For manger and all other regular -ger verbs, the stem change is the addition of an e after the g. This only applies in the nous form. In this case, the change is made to preserve the soft g pronunciation rather than the hard g that would be present if the e were not included.
Formation
manger  | to eat |
|---|---|
| je mange /mɑ̃ʒ/ (mah(n)zh) | I eat |
| tu manges /mɑ̃ʒ/ (mah(n)zh) | you eat |
| il mange /mɑ̃ʒ/ (mah(n)zh) | he eats |
| nous mangeons /mɑ̃.ʒɔ̃/ (mah(n)zhoh(n)) | we eat |
| vous mangez /mɑ̃.ʒe/ (mah(n)zhay) | you eat |
| ils mangent /mɑ̃ʒ/ (mah(n)zh) | they eat |
| mangé /mɑ̃.ʒe/ (mah(n)zhay) | eaten |
Other -ger verbs
| changer |  | to change |
| exiger | | to require |
| nager | | to swim |
| soulager | | to relieve |
| voyager | | to travel |
Examples
| Nous mangeons dans une heure. | We eat in an hour. | |
| C’est le soir qui soulage les esprits. | It’s the evening which soothes the spirits. |
Vocabulary · Common foods
| la banane | | banana | |||
| la pomme | | apple | Je vais m'étendre dans la prairie, sous un pommier aux pommes vertes et dures. | I'll lie down in the meadow, under a tree with green apples. | |
| la viande | | meat | |||
| le poulet | | chicken | Je vais faire du poulet rôti. | I'm going to make roasted chicken. | |
| le bœuf | | beef | |||
| le poisson (frais, salé, mariné, sec, frit, grillé) | | (fresh, salted, pickled, dried, fried, grilled) fish | |||
| le bonbon | | candy | Je vous ai apporté des bonbons. | I brought you some candy. |
Grammar · To drink · Boire
The verb boire, meaning to drink, is irregularly conjugated (it is not a regular -re verb).
Formation
| boire | to drink |
|---|---|
| je bois /bwɑ/ (bwah) | I drink |
| tu bois /bwɑ/ (bwah) | you drink |
| il boit /bwɑ/ (bwah) | he drinks |
| nous buvons /by.vɔ̃/ (bew-voh(n)) | we drink |
| vous buvez /by.ve/ (bew-vay) | you drink |
| ils boivent /bwav/ (bwahv) | they drink |
| bu /by/ (bu) (bew) | drunk |
Vocabulary · Drinks · Les boissons
| la bière | | beer | |||
| le café | | coffee | Je vais boire une tasse de café. | I'll drink a cup of coffee. | |
| le chocolat (chaud) | | hot chocolate | Quand j’ai froid, je bois un chocolat chaud. | When I'm cold, I drink a hot chocolate. | |
| le coca | | Coke, soda | Nous avons bu un coca dans ce bar après le travail. | We drank a Coke in the bar after work. | |
| la limonade | | lemonade, lemon soda | La limonade est rafraîchissante en été. | Lemonade is refreshing in the summer. | |
| l'eau (f) | | water | Je vais boire un verre d’eau fraîche. | I'm going to drink a cool glass of water. | |
| le jus (d'orange, de pomme, de raisin, de tomate) | | (orange, apple, grape, tomato) juice | Garçon, deux jus de pomme, s’il vous plaît ! | Waiter, two apple juice, please! | |
| le thé (vert, noir, rouge) | | (green, black, red) tea | Mon frère n'aime pas le thé noir. Il boit toujours du thé vert. | My brother does not like black tea. He always drinks green tea. | |
| le vin (blanc, rosé, rouge) | | (white, rosé, red) wine | As-tu bu ? J'ai bu deux verres de vin. | Have you been drinking? I have drunk two glasses of wine. |
Grammar · The partitive article
The partitive article de indicates, among other things, the word some. As learned earlier, de and le contract (combine) into du, as de and les contract into des. Also, instead of du or de la, de l' is used in front of vowels.
When speaking about food, the partitive article is used at some times while the definite article (le, la, les) is used at other times, and the indefinite article (un, une) in yet another set of situations. In general de refers to a part of food (a piece of pie) whereas the definite article (le) refers to a food in general (I like pie (in general)). The indefinite article refers to an entire unit of a food (I would like a (whole) pie).
When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:
| J'aime la glace. | I like ice cream. | |
| Nous préférons le steak. | We prefer steak. | |
| Vous aimez les frites. | You like French fries. |
When speaking about eating or drinking an item, there are specific situations for the use of each article.
| Definite article (specific/whole items) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| J'ai mangé la tarte. | I ate the (whole) pie. | ||||
| Indefinite article (known quantity) | |||||
| J'ai mangé une tarte. | I ate a pie. | ||||
| Partitive article (unknown quantity) | |||||
| J'ai mangé de la tarte. | I ate some pie. | ||||
In the negative construction, certain rules apply. Un or une changes to de in a negative construction, meaning, in this context, any. Similarly, du, de la, or des change to de in negative constructions.
| Nous avons mangé une tarte. | We ate a pie. | |
| Nous n'avons pas mangé de tarte. | We did not eat a pie. We did not eat any pie. | |
| Nous avons mangé de la tarte. | We ate some pie. | |
| Nous n'avons pas mangé de tarte. | We did not eat some pie. We did not eat any pie. |
Grammar · Some of it · En
To say some of it without specifying the exact object, the pronoun en can be used. Additionally, en can mean of it when it is not specified. For instance, instead of saying J'ai besoin d'argent, if the idea of money has already been raised, it can be stated as J'en ai besoin. This is because en replaces du, de la or des when the noun is not specifically mentioned in the sentence.
Like with me, te and other pronouns, en (meaning some) comes before the verb.
| Tu joues du piano? Non, je n'en joue pas. | Do you play piano? No, I don't play it. | |
| Vous prenez du poisson? Oui, j'en prends. | Are you having fish? Yes, I'm having some. | |
| Vous avez commandé de l'eau? Oui, nous en avons commandé. | Did you order some water? Yes, we ordered some. |
Vocabulary · Cooking
Grammar · To put · Mettre
Formation
| mettre | to put |
|---|---|
| je mets | I put |
| tu mets | you put |
| il met /mɛ/ (meh) | he puts |
| nous mettons /mɛ.tɔ̃/ (meh-toh(n)) | we put |
| vous mettez /mɛ.te/ (meh-tay) | you put |
| ils mettent /mɛt/ (meht) | they put |
| mis /mi/ (mee) | put |
Supplementary vocabulary · Derived words
| admettre | | to admit, to accept | On va admettre Georges dans la compagnie. | We'll admit George in the company. | |
| commettre | | to commit, to entrust | Il a commis un crime. | He committed a crime. | |
| compromettre | | to compromise, to jeopardize | Il n'a pas compromis sa dignité. | He did not compromise his dignity. | |
| démettre | | to dismiss, to discharge | Il a été démis de ses fonctions de préfet. | He was dismissed from his position as prefect. | |
| se démettre | to resign | Il s’est démis de sa charge. | He resigned from his office. | ||
| émettre | | to emit, to express, to issue | Le gouvernement émit du papier-monnaie. | The government issued paper money. | |
| omettre | | to omit | Il a omis une formalité nécessaire. | He omitted a necessary formality. | |
| permettre | | to allow | Vous me permettrez de le faire? | Will you allow me to do that? | |
| promettre | | to promise, to be promising, to be hopeful | |||
| réadmettre | | to readmit | |||
| remettre | | to put back, to replace | |||
| soumettre | | to submit | Je soumets cette proposition à votre agrément. | I submit this proposal for your approval. | |
| transmettre | | to transmit | Le télégraphe a transmis cette dépêche. | The telegraph sent this dispatch. |
Supplementary vocabulary · Related expressions
| mettre à jour | | to update | |||
| mettre au jour | to bring to light, to uncover | Les autorités policières ont mis au jour des opérations illégales. Les archéologues travaillent à mettre au jour les vestiges d'un oppidum. | The police have uncovered illegal operations. Archaeologists work to uncover the remains of an oppidum. | ||
| mettre au monde | | to give birth | |||
| mettre à profit | | to benefit, to gain | C’est un homme qui met tout à profit. | This is a man who benefits from everything. | |
| mettre de côté | | to put aside, to save (money, etc.) | C'est un homme d'une grande économie et qui met tous les ans quelque chose de côté. | This is a man of great economy who saves something every year. | |
| mettre en cause | to suspect; to accuse, blame | ||||
| mettre en marche | | to start | |||
| mettre en œuvre | | to implement, to carry out | On mets du bois en œuvre. | We put wood to work. | |
| mettre en place | to put in place, to set up | ||||
| mettre en route | | to start | |||
| mettre fin (à) | to put an end (to) | Il a mis fin au contrat. | He terminated the contract. | ||
| mettre l'accent sur | to highlight | ||||
| mettre la main à la pâte | to pitch in | ||||
| mettre le couvert | to set the table | ||||
| remettre en route | | to resume | |||
| se mettre à | to start (to do something) , to take up | Elles s'est mis à sortir les weekends. | The girls started going out on weekends. | ||
| se mettre à table | | to sit down to eat | |||
| se mettre d'accord | | to settle on, to agree |
Supplementary examples
| C’est un fait que je n’admets pas. | It's a fact that I do not accept. | |
| Je vous en ai commis le soin. | I entrusted the care of it to you. | |
| J’ai commis cela à vos soins. | I committed that to your care. | |
| Cette compagnie de chemin de fer a émis un grand nombre d’obligations. | This railway company has issued a large number of bonds. | |
| C’est un homme qui promet toujours et qui ne tient rien. | This is a man who always promises and does nothing. |
Supplementary usage notes · Mettre
Supplementary usage notes · Remettre
Supplementary vocabulary · Fruits and vegetables
| les fruits (fruits) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| la banane | | banana | |||
| la cerise | | cherry | |||
| le citron | | lemon | |||
| la fraise | | strawberry | |||
| l'orange (f) | | orange | Il a pressé l’orange afin d’en extraire du jus. | He squeezed the orange to extract juice from it. | |
| la pomme | | apple | |||
| le raisin | | grape | Quentin cueille des raisins. | Quentin's picking the grapes. | |
| le pamplemousse | | grapefruit | |||
| les légumes (vegetables) | |||||
| la carotte | | carrot | |||
| les épinards (m) | | spinach | |||
| l'oignon (m) | | onion | |||
| les petits pois (m) | | peas | |||
| la pomme de terre | | potato | Faites cuire des pommes de terre à l'eau salée. | Cook potatoes in salted water. | |
| la tomate | | tomato | |||
| les asperges (f) | | asparagus | Je vais semer des asperges. | I'm going to plant asparagus. | |
| les haricots (m) | | beans | |||
Supplementary vocabulary · Meat and seafood
| la viande (meat) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| l'agneau (m) | | lamb | |||
| la dinde | | turkey | |||
| le jambon | | ham | |||
| le porc | | pork | |||
| le poulet | | chicken | |||
| le bœuf | | beef | |||
| la saucisse | | sausage | |||
| les fruits de mer (m) (shellfish, seafood) | |||||
| la coquille Saint-Jacques | | scallop | |||
| le crabe | | crab | |||
| le poisson (fish) | |||||
| les anchois (m) | | anchovies | |||
| le saumon | | salmon | |||
| l'anguille (f) | | eel | |||
Supplementary vocabulary · Dessert · Le dessert
| le bonbon | | candy | Je vous ai apporté des bonbons. | I brought you some candy. | |
| le chocolat | | chocolate | |||
| le gâteau (au chocolat, au fromage, de pommes de terre) | | cake | |||
| la glace (à la vanille, au citron, au chocolat) | | (vanilla, orange, chocolate) ice cream | La glace est un met très apprécié en été. | Ice cream is a dish popular in summer. | |
| la mousse | | mousse | J’adore les mousses au chocolat avec des biscuits. | I love chocolate mousse with crackers. | |
| la tarte (aux cerises, aux abricots, aux pommes, aux fraises) | | (cherry, apricot, apple, strawberry) pie | Noémie apprécie la tarte aux myrtilles et la tarte aux pommes. | Noémie likes blueberry pie and apple pie. |
Supplementary vocabulary · Other foods
| le croissant | | crescent roll | |||
| les frites (f) | | French fries | |||
| la crêpe | | pancake | |||
| la mayonnaise | | mayonnaise | |||
| la moutarde | | mustard | |||
| le pain | | bread | |||
| la pâtisserie | | pastry | Regardez les belles pâtisseries dans la vitrine. | Look at the beautiful pastries in the window. | |
| le poivre | | pepper | |||
| le riz | | rice | Adèle cultive du riz. | Adele grows rice. | |
| le sel | | salt | |||
| le sucre | | sugar | |||
| la confiture | | jam | |||
| les produits laitiers (dairy products) | |||||
| le beurre | | butter | |||
| le fromage | | cheese | |||
| le lait | | milk | |||
| le yaourt | | yogurt | |||
Text
Exercises
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