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Culture · France's transportation system
Grammar · -uire verbs
-uire verbs are conjugated irregularly.
Formation
conduire  | to drive |
|---|---|
| je conduis /kɔ̃.dɥi/ (koh(n)-dewee) | I drive |
| tu conduis /kɔ̃.dɥi/ (koh(n)-dewee) | you drive |
| il conduit /kɔ̃.dɥi/ (koh(n)-dewee) | he drives |
| nous conduisons /kɔ̃.dɥi.zɔ̃/ (koh(n)-dewee-zoh(n)) | we drive |
| vous conduisez /kɔ̃.dɥi.ze/ (koh(n)-dewee-zay) | you drive |
| ils conduisent /kɔ̃.dɥiz/ (koh(n)-deweez) | they drive |
| conduit /kɔ̃.dɥi/ (koh(n)-dewee) | driven |
Supplementary vocabulary · Other -uire verbs
| produire |  | to produce | |||
| traduire | | to translate | |||
| réduire | | to reduce | |||
| réduire à | to reduce (someone) to | Je l'ai réduit à l'obéissance. | I reduced him to slavery. | ||
| réduire en | to reduce (something) to | Il l'a réduit en cendres. | He reduced it to ashes. |
Examples
| Il conduit la voiture. | He is driving the car. |
Vocabulary · Driving
| la voiture | the car |
| le trajet | the journey |
| la rue | the road |
| la station d'essence | the petrol/gas station |
| loin de | far from |
| près | near |
| ouvrir | to open | j'ai ouvre la porte | I opened the door | ||
| fermer | to close |
Grammar · Passé composé with être
Most verbs form the passé composé with avoir, however there are a small number of verbs that are always conjugated with être. In a general case, these verbs indicate a change in state or position.
List of verbs
| aller | Je suis allé au cinéma. | I went to the cinema. | |||
| venir | Je suis venu en France. | I came to France. | |||
| arriver | Le train est arrivé. | The train has arrived. | |||
| partir | Elle est partie travailler. | She left to go to work. | |||
| rester | Je suis resté à la maison. | I stayed (at) home. | |||
| retourner | Il est retourné au restaurant. | He returned to the restaurant. | |||
| tomber | Je suis tombé dans la piscine. | I fell into the pool. | |||
| naître | Je suis né en octobre. | I was born in October. | |||
| mourir | Il est mort en 1917. | He died in 1917. | |||
| passer | Il est passé devant la maison. | He went past in front of the house. | |||
| monter | Je suis monté au sommet. | I climbed to the top. | |||
| descendre | Il est descendu du train. | He got out of the train. | |||
| sortir | Je suis sorti avec mes amies. | I went out with my friends. | |||
| entrer | Je suis entré dans ma chambre. | I entered my room. | |||
| rentrer | Il est rentré tôt de l'école. | He came back early from school. |
The verbs that take être can be easily remembered by the acronym MRS. DR VANDERTRAMP:
| M | R | S | D | R | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| monté | resté | sorti | devenu | revenu | ||||||
| V | A | N | D | E | R | T | R | A | M | P |
| venu | arrivé | né | descendu | entré | rentré | tombé | retourné | allé | mort | parti |
Direct objects
These verbs take their conjugated avoir when they are immediately followed by a direct object
For Example,
- Je suis descendu.
with the direct object mes bagages becomes
- J'ai descendu mes bagages.
As another example,
- Je suis monté.
with the direct object mes bagages becomes
- J'ai monté mes bagages.
As another example, but with ils instead of je,
- Ils sont sortis.
with direct object leur passeport becomes
- Ils ont sorti leur passeport.
Subject-past participle agreement
When conjugating with être, the past participles of the above verbs must agree with the subject of a sentence in gender and number. Note that there is no agreement if these verbs are conjugated with avoir.
- If the subject is masculine singular, there is no change in the past participle.
- If the subject is feminine singular, an -e is added to the past participle.
- If the subject is masculine plural, an -s is added to the past participle.
- If the subject is feminine plural, an -es is added to the past participle.
| Je suis allé(e). | Nous sommes allé(e)s. |
| Tu es allé(e). | Vous êtes allé(e)(s). |
| Il est allé. | Ils sont allés. |
| Elle est allée. | Elles sont allées. |
Vocabulary · Trains and stations
| la gare | the train station |
| le train | the train |
| conducteur de train | the train driver |
| le trajet | the journey |
| le quai | the platform |
Grammar · The pronoun y
Indirect object pronoun - to it, to them
The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by à.
- Je réponds aux (à les) questions. - J'y réponds.
- I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.
Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the object refers to a person or people.
Replacement of places - there
The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preposition except de (for which en is used).
- Les hommes vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.
- The men go to France - The men go there.
Note that en, and not y is used when the preposition of the object is de.
Idioms
- Ça y est! - There we go!, There you have it.
- J'y suis! - I get it!
Vocabulary · Taking a taxi · Prendre un taxi
Supplementary grammar · -rir verbs
These verbs are conjugated irregularly, and normally follow the -er conjugation scheme. In past participle form, -ir is replaced with -ert for these verbs.
Formation
A common -rir verb is ouvrir:
| ouvrir | to open |
|---|---|
| j'ouvre /uvʁ/ | I open |
| tu ouvres /uvʁ/ | you open |
| il ouvre /uvʁ/ | he opens |
| nous ouvrons /u.vʁɔ̃/ | we open |
| vous ouvrez /u.vʁe/ | you open |
| ils ouvrent /uvʁ/ | they open |
| ouvert | opened |
The noun ouvertureopening /u.vɛʁ.tyʁ/ is derived from ouvrir, and the adjective ouvertopen /u.vɛʁ/ is derived from its past participle.
Other standard -rir verbs
| couvrir | | to cover, to cover up |
| découvrir | | to discover |
| offrir | | to offer |
| recouvrir | | to cover again |
| rouvrir | | to reopen, to open again |
| souffrir | | to suffer, to endure |
-rir verb exceptions
To run · Courir
| courir | to run |
|---|---|
| je cours | I run |
| tu cours | you run |
| il court | he runs |
| nous courons /ku.ʁɔ̃/ | we run |
| vous courez /ku.ʁe/ | you run |
| ils courent /kuʁ/ | they run |
| couru /ku.ʁy/ | run |
To die · Mourir
| mourir | to die |
|---|---|
| je meurs /kuʁ/ | I die |
| tu meurs /kuʁ/ | you die |
| il meurt /kuʁ/ | he dies |
| nous mourons /ku.ʁɔ̃/ | we die |
| vous mourez /ku.ʁe/ | you die |
| ils meurent /kuʁ/ | they die |
| mort | died |
1Mourir is the only -ir verb that takes être as its helping verb in perfect tenses (and therefore agrees with the subject as a past participle in a perfect tense).
The word mort /mɔʁ/ is also used as a noun, meaning death or dead person, or as an adjective, meaning dead:
- Le roi est mort. - The king is dead.
The derived word mourant /mu.ʁɑ̃/ means dying or person who is dying.
To acquire · Acquérir
| acquérir | to acquire |
|---|---|
| j'acquiers /a.kjɛʁ/ | I acquire |
| tu acquiers /a.kjɛʁ/ | you acquire |
| il acquiert /a.kjɛʁ/ | he acquires |
| nous acquérons /a.ke.ʁɔ̃/ | we acquire |
| vous acquérez /a.ke.ʁe/ | you acquire |
| ils acquièrent /a.kjɛʁ/ | they acquire |
| acquis | acquired |
Acquis is also a noun, meaning asset.
Examples
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Exercises
French : Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts