Glossary

symbol placed on certain letters to indicate pronunciation; French has three accents: acute accent (l’accent aigu), grave accent (l’accent grave) and the circumflex (l’accent circonflexe)

actif/la voix active; sentence where the subject performs the verb

Compare: Passive

adjectif; describing word; agrees in gender and number with the noun it is modifying

adverbe; describes a verb, adjective or an entire clause; gives more information about place, time, manner or reason; French adverbs don’t change their form

accord; when we change the ending of a word to agree in terms of number (singular/plural) and gender (masculine/feminine); adjectives, past participles and verbs change their endings

small word used before a noun; can be masculine or feminine, singular or plural, definite or indefinite

attribut; a noun, adjective, pronoun or entire clause that gives information about a noun; attached to a linking verb like être

Compare: Épithète

verbe auxiliaire; help verb; the French auxiliaries are avoir and être; they form the compound tenses and the passive

Compare: Main Verb

nombres cardinaux; cardinal numbers are numbers in their basic form; used for counting, prices, calculations, etc.

Compare: Ordinal Numbers

cédille; a hook or tail added to the bottom of the letter c to show that it is pronounced as [s]; without the cedilla, c is pronounced as [k]

proposition; part of a sentence, usually containing a subject and a verb

See also: Main Clause, Subordinate Clause

interrogation totale; question that does not contain a question word and can be answered with oui or non

comparatif; when we compare two people or things; there are three structures we use to make comparatives in French: plus … que (= more … than), moins … que (less … than) and aussi … que (= just as … as)

See also: Superlative

conditionnel; can be a tense or a mood and is often translated with would/could; as a tense it expresses the future in the past; as a mood it expresses a hypothetical situation in the future, a wish, a potential outcome, etc.

proposition conditionnelle; clause that begins with si and expresses a condition

verbe conjugué; when the verb’s ending has been changed to match the subject and reflect the mood and tense

Compare: Infinitive

conjonction; linking word that connects two words or clauses; there are two types of French conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating

proposition consécutive; subordinate clause that expresses a consequence or result

consonne; letter that isn’t a vowel

Compare: Vowel

déterminant démonstratif; similar to this/these/that/those in English; they allow us to identify a noun more specifically in relation to the distance from the speaker(s); the demonstrative determiners are: ce, cette, ces

Compare: Demonstrative Pronoun

pronom démonstratif; replaces a previously mentioned noun and identifies it more specifically in relation to the distance from the speaker(s)

Compare: Demonstrative Determiner

déterminant; word used before a noun to identify it more specifically or assign it a specific quality; determiners agree in gender and number with the noun they modify

Compare: Pronoun

See also: Demonstrative Determiner, Indefinite Determiner, Possessive Determiner

tréma; two dots placed above the letters e, i or u to alter their pronunciation; can also appear above the letter y but only in proper nouns

complément d’objet direct; the direct object receives the action of the verb; never introduced by a preposition and stands immediately after the verb; often abbreviated to CD or COD

Compare: Indirect Object

discours direct; repetition of a statement in its original wording; indicated by quotation marks («…») and introduced by a reporting verb (dire, affirmer …) and a colon

Compare: Indirect Speech

adjective or past participle that comes immediately after a noun; unlike an attribute, it is not introduced by a linking verb

Compare: Attribute

future tense formed with aller + infinitive; expresses actions and intentions expected to happen in the near future

futur antérieur; tense that expresses an action that will have already happened prior to a second point in the future; can also express assumptions about the present

futur simple; tense used for projects, intentions, assumptions and plans for the future

genre; whether a noun is grammatically masculine (un, le) or femenine (une, la)

gérondif; the gerund is en + participe présent; it shows that two actions are carried out simultaneously by the same subject; can sometimes be translated with while/when …ing

Compare: Present Participle

impératif; mood used to give orders and commands

imparfait; expresses repeated past actions as well as actions that were in progress at a certain moment in the past; often used to set the scene

déterminant indéfini; comes before a noun to express an unspecific or unknown quantity; allows us to speak generally

Compare: Indefinite Pronoun

pronom indéfini; allows us to talk generally or vaguely about an unknown quantity; similar to something/nothing/anything etc. in English

Compare: Indefinite Determiner

indicatif; the default grammatical mood in French; expresses facts and events in the past present and future tenses

Compare: Subjunctive, Imperative

complément d’objet indirect; the indirect object receives the direct object of the sentence; in our example; the boy (indirect object) receives the apple (direct object); always introduced by a preposition; abbreviated to CI or COI

Compare: Direct Object

interrogation indirecte; question that is contained within a clause; not set off by quotation marks; introduced by si or a question word like quel, comment …

discours indirect; when we report what someone has said without repeating their exact words; introduced by a reporting verb (dire, affirmer, prétendre …) but without quotation marks; the tense, pronouns and time/place references must be adapted from the original

infinitif; base form of the verb ending in er, -ir, -oir

Compare: Conjugated Verb

a word is invariable when it does not alter its form to agree in terms of gender or number; prepositions and adverbs are invariable, as are certain nouns

question avec inversion du sujet; question formed by inverting the order of the subject and the verb so that the verb comes first

verbe irrégulier; a verb that doesn’t follow the typical conjugation patterns

Compare: Regular Verb

when a word ending in a consonant is followed by a word starting with a vowel or silent h, we link their pronunciation; this linking is called liaison;

• the final consonants s and x become [z]
• the final consonant d becomes [t]
• no linking when an s is followed by a silent h

proposition indépendante; clause that can stand alone; it does not rely on another clause to complete its meaning

Compare: Subordinate Clause

verbe principal; in compound tenses, the main verb carries the meaning of the sentence

Compare: Auxiliary Verb

expressions that allow us to emphasise a certain word or phrase; use c’est … qui to emphasise the subject and c’est … que to emphasise the object

verbe modal; type of help verb that alters the meaning of the main verb; modal verbs can express certainty, possibility, necessity, wishes, etc.; always followed by an infinitive

See also: Auxiliary Verb, Infinitive, Main Verb

mode; the mood of the verb reflects the speaker’s intention or attitude towards the information being presented; French has four personal moods: the indicative (standard mood), the subjunctive (doubt, obligation, impossibility …), the conditional (wishes, conditions …) and the imperative (orders)

See also: Indicative, Subjunctive, Conditional Imperative

nasale; group of letters (vowel + n) that are pronounced with a nasal sound; French has four nasal vowels: [õ], [œ̃], [ɛ̃], and [ɑ̃], although [œ̃] is mostly pronounced as [ɛ̃]

nom or nom commun; naming word; can be masculine or feminine; singular or plural; often introduced by an article (un/une, le/la, les/des) or determiner

See also: Singular, Plural, Gender

complément du nom; when we use de + noun to express possession or belonging; similar to ’s or of in English

nombre; whether a word is singular or plural

Compare: Singular, Plural

pronom complément d’objet direct/indirect; replaces the noun that is the object of the sentence; can be direct or indirect

See also: Direct Object, Indirect Object

interrogation partielle; question with a question word

nombres ordinaux; ordinal numbers are used to put things in order

Compare: Cardinal Numbers

participe; impersonal form of the verb; can be present, past or perfect; used to form compound tenses, the gerund, adjectives, etc.

See: Present Participle, Past Participle, Perfect Participle

proposition participiale; subordinate clause where the verb is in the present, past or perfect participle

See also: Present Participle, Past Participle, Perfect Participle

most important French past tense; expresses completed past actions and emphasises their results or consequences in the present; formed with avoir/être + past participle

also: past historic; past tense that has the same meaning as the passé composé, but is only used in written language

passif, la voix passive, sentence that focuses on the recipient of the verb (the object); the person or thing performing the action (the subject) is unknown, unimportant or obvious

Compare: Active Voice

verbe pronominal de sens passif; verb that takes the reflexive pronoun se and whose subject is non-living; has a passive meaning

participe passé; impersonal form of the verb used with être and avoir to form compound tenses

Compare: Present Participle, Perfect Participle

participe composé; compound form of the participle formed with ayant/étant + past participle; similar meaning to the English having said/done/been …

Compare: Past Participle, Present Participle

pronom personnel; replaces a previously mentioned noun in a sentence to avoid repetition

pluriel; word form that refers to more than one person or thing

Compare: Singular

past tense that refers to an action that had already taken place prior to another past action

déterminant possessif; comes before a noun to indicate possession; agrees in gender and number with said noun; the possessive determiners are: mon/ma/mes, ton/ta/tes, son/sa/ses, notre/nos, votre/vos, leur(s)

Compare: Possessive Pronoun

pronom possessif; replaces a previously mentioned noun and indicates possession/belonging; equivalent to mine/yours/his etc. in English

Compare: Possessive Determiner

préposition; short word that gives information about place or time

présent; tense that refers to facts and things that are currently true; sometimes refers to future actions

participe présent; impersonal verb form ending in -ant; can be used as an adjective, verb or as the subject of a clause; it is also used to form the gerund

See also: Gerund

verbe pronominal; a verb that takes a reflexive pronoun; French has different types of pronominal verbs

See also: Reflexive Verb, Reciprocal Verb, Passive Pronominal Verb

pronom; word used in place of a noun to avoid repetition

See: Demonstrative Pronoun, Indefinite Pronoun, Object Pronoun, Personal Pronoun, Possessive Pronoun, Reflexive Pronoun, Relative Pronoun, Subject Pronoun

question avec intonation montante; when use use rising intonation to turn an affirmative sentence into a question

questions with est-ce que are used in spoken language; they may or may not contain a question word; their form is always the same: est-ce que + affirmative clause

verbe réciproque; a verb that takes a reflexive pronoun and a plural subject; describes something two or more people do with/for/to each other

See also: Pronominal Verb, Reflexive Pronoun

pronom réfléchi; pronouns used with pronominal verbs

See also: Pronominal Verb

verbe réfléchi; verb where the subject and the object is the same; the action 'reflects back' on the person(s) performing it; always used with a reflexive pronoun

See also: Reflexive Pronoun, Pronominal Verb

verbe régulier; verb that follows standard conjugation rules

Compare: Irregular Verb

proposition relative; type of subordinate clause that gives additional information about a noun from the main clause (the antecedent)

pronom relatif; introduces a relative clause

See also: Relative Clause

mot-clé; words that help us determine which tense to use; usually adverbs of time

singulier; word form that refers to only one person or thing

Compare: Plural

sujet; the subject of a clause is the person or thing that performs the action; usually placed first in a sentence directly before the verb

pronom sujet; replaces a noun that is the subject of the sentence

subjonctif; grammatical mood that indicates subjectivity or unreality; used in subordinate clauses with que; expresses possibilities, hypotheticals, wishes, doubts, advice, etc.

Compare: Indicative, Imperative

proposition subordonnée; clause that cannot stand alone; it relies on the main clause to complete its meaning; introduced by a subordinating conjunction or a relative pronoun

Compare: Main Clause

See also: Conditional Clause, Consecutive Clause, Participle Clause, Relative Clause

superlatif; expressing the highest degree of a particular quality; the superlative structures are le/la/les plus … and le/la/les moins …

Compare: Comparative

syllabe; singular unit of pronunciation; one unbroken sound usually made up of a vowel or vowel sound and a surrounding consonants

temps; form of a verb that indicates whether the action takes place in the past, present or future

See also: Present, Passé composé, Imperfect, Plus-que-parfait, Futur proche, Future Simple, Future Perfect

verbe; doing word, French verbs end in -er, -ir or -re

See also: Main Verb, Auxiliary Verb, Modal Verb

périphrase verbale; grammatical structure made up of two or more verbs

voyelle; letter that isn’t a consonant

Compare: Consonant