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Lawless French » Frequently Asked Questions » Lessons by Level

French grammarA2 Grammar

Low-Intermediate French Lessons

Grammar Lessons

Adjective Position

French adjective positionFrench adjectives may be found before or after the nouns they modify, depending on various factors. Generally speaking, descriptive adjectives follow nouns, while limiting adjectives precede nouns.
Grammar Lessons

Adverbs of Frequency

French adverbs of frequencyAdverbs of frequency express how often the action of a verb occurs.
Grammar Lessons

Adverbs of Manner

French adverbsAdverbs of manner express how the action of a verb occurs. In English, the vast majority of adverbs of manner end in -ly, whereas in French, they mostly end in -ment. They are usually created from adjectives.
Grammar Lessons

Adverbs of Place

French adverbs of placeAdverbs of place express where the action of a verb occurs.
Grammar Lessons

Adverbs of Quantity

French adverbs of quantityAdverbs of quantity express how much, how many, or to what extent.
Grammar Lessons

Adverbs of Time

French adverbs of timeAdverbs of time express when the action of a verb occurs.
Grammar Lessons

Agreement with Subjects

French agreement with subjectsThe three French verb constructions which include some form of être plus a past participle usually require grammatical agreement of the past participle with the subject.
Grammar Lessons

Après vs Derrière

Après vs derrière - French prepositionsThe prepositions après and derrière have somewhat similar meanings, which of course means that students sometimes get them confused. Learn the difference between après and derrière to put all of this confusion behind you.
Grammar Lessons

Article Comparison

Comparison of French articlesThere are three types of French articles (definite, indefinite, and partitive), and it's not always easy to know which one you need. Here's a detailed comparison to help you decide.
Grammar Lessons

Auxiliary Verbs – Avoir vs Être

French auxiliary verbsAuxiliary verbs are also known as helping verbs, because they help form compound conjugations. The key thing to remember about compound conjugations is that it's the auxiliary verb which conjugates for the required tense or mood; the main verb is always a past participle.
Grammar Lessons

Avant vs Devant

French grammarThe prepositions avant and devant have somewhat similar meanings, which of course means that students sometimes get them confused. Learn the difference between avant and devant to get in front of any potential confusion.
Expressions

C’est vs Il est

C'est vs il estThe French expressions c'est and il est can be tricky because they are synonymous but not interchangeable. Which one to use depends less on meaning than it does on grammar.
Grammar Lessons

Comparative Adverbs

French comparative adverbsComparative adverbs are used to compare the relative superiority or inferiority of two or more things. This superior lesson will keep you from getting an inferiority complex. ;-)
Grammar Lessons

Conditional Mood

French conditionalIn English, we use the modal "would" plus a verb to talk about actions that may or may not take place, usually depending on whether a certain condition is met. The French equivalent to this construction is a conditional mood with a full set of conjugations for every verb. The uses of these two constructions are very similar.
Grammar Lessons

Conjunctions

French conjunctionsOne of the eight parts of speech, conjunctions are used as connectors between grammatically related words or phrases. There are two kinds of conjunctions, depending on whether that relationship is equal or unequal.
Grammar Lessons

Contre

Contre - French prepositionThe preposition contre usually means "against," but it has other meanings in certain contexts.
Grammar Lessons

Coordinating Conjunctions

French coordinating conjunctionsCoordinating conjunctions are small words that connect two or more grammatically equivalent words or phrases. The connected words might be adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, or even independent clauses; the important thing is that they're equal and each one serves the same function in the sentence.
Grammar Lessons

Croire – to believe

Croire - to believeCroire literally means "to believe" but has somewhat varying meanings depending on the preposition used. Learn the difference between croire à and croire en, plus other uses of croire.
Grammar Lessons

Demonstrative Adjectives

French demonstrative adjectivesDemonstrative adjectives (this, that) are used to indicate a specific noun or nouns. In French, they must agree with the noun(s) in number and sometimes gender: ce, cette, cet, ces.
Grammar Lessons

Depuis vs Il y a

Depuis vs Il y aWhen talking about something that happened in the past, the correct verb tense isn't always enough - sometimes you need a temporal expression to state just when it happened. The most common French temporal expressions are depuis and il y a, and they are not interchangeable.
Grammar Lessons

Devoir – must, to have to

Devoir - French verbDevoir is a very common French verb with irregular conjugations and an unusual relationship to some of its English equivalents. It has several meanings related to obligation, supposition, and expectation.
Grammar Lessons

Direct Objects

French direct objectsA direct object is a noun, whether person or thing, that someone or something acts upon or does something to. In both French and English, direct objects are often replaced with direct object pronouns (COD): me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les.
Grammar Lessons

En

French preposition enThe preposition en can be summarized as "to or in," but it's a bit more complicated than that.
Grammar Lessons

Euphonic Adjectives

French euphonic adjectivesFrench grammar is sometimes trumped by pronunciation, as in the case of euphonic adjectives. Because French does not like the hiatus created when a word ending with a vowel precedes a word that begins with a vowel or mute h, a few adjectives change their spelling—and thus their pronunciation—for purely euphonic reasons.
Grammar Lessons

Euphonic Inversion

French euphonic -t inversionWhen inversion results in a hiatus (two vowel sounds together), the letter -t must be added for euphony, but only under two conditions.
Grammar Lessons

Falloir

Falloir - to needThe irregular French verb falloir means "to need," "to be necessary," or "to be lacking." Since falloir is an impersonal verb, it has only one conjugation in each tense and mood: the third person singular; for example, the present tense il faut.
Grammar Lessons

Feminine Nouns

Feminine French nouns
There's no simple trick to knowing the gender of every single French noun (other than looking in a dictionary), but there are several categories of words that are always or usually feminine.
Grammar Lessons

Future Tense

French future tenseIn English, we use the modal "will" plus a verb to talk about actions that will take place in the future, but in French there's a future tense with a full set of conjugations for every verb. The uses of these two constructions are very similar.
Grammar Lessons

Habiter vs Vivre

Habiter vs vivreBelieve it or not, life in France is so great that one verb just isn't enough: "to live" may be equivalent to habiter or vivre, depending on what exactly you want to say.
Grammar Lessons

Imperative Mood

French imperativeIt's imperative to understand the imperative mood if you want to give orders, make requests, express desires, provide recommendations, offer advice, and prohibit actions.
Grammar Lessons

Imperfect

French imperfectThey say practice makes perfect, so how can one of the most common French past tenses be imperfect? In grammatical terms, "perfect" means "complete," so the imperfect tense is used to describe an incomplete or ongoing action or state of being.
Grammar Lessons

Impersonal Verbs

Impersonal French verbsMost verbs are personal: they must be conjugated for different grammatical persons. But some verbs are used impersonally, meaning they have only one conjugation, the third person singular.
Grammar Lessons

Indirect Objects

French indirect objectsAn indirect object is a person that someone or something does something to indirectly. In both French and English, indirect objects are often replaced with indirect object pronouns.
Grammar Lessons

Infinitive

French infinitiveThe French infinitive, which always ends in -er, -ir, or -re, serves as the name of any given verb. It's what you look up in dictionaries and verb conjugation tables, so it's important to learn the infinitive of every new verb you see or hear.
Grammar Lessons

Intermediate French for Dummies

Get up to speed in the usage and grammar of French and improve your writing - by Laura K Lawless.
Grammar Lessons

Interrogative Adjective

French interrogative adjectiveWhen asking someone to make a choice between two or more things, you need the interrogative adjective quel, meaning "which" or "what."
Grammar Lessons

Interrogative Adverbs

French interrogative adverbsWhen, where, why, how? Use interrogative adverbs to ask these informational questions.
Grammar Lessons

Interrogative Pronouns

French interrogative pronounsWho, what, which one? Use interrogative pronouns to ask these questions, which are a little more complicated in French than in English.
Grammar Lessons

Inversion

French inversionThe normal word order in French and English is subject + verb, as in vous êtes - you are. Both languages also have what is known as inversion, where the verb and subject pronoun switch places, resulting in êtes-vous - are you. In English, inversion is used only to ask questions, but in French it has several different purposes.
Grammar Lessons

Irregular -er Verbs

Irregular French verb conjugationsTechnically, there is only one irregular -er verb, aller. But there are three patterns in the conjugation of so-called regular -er verbs that set them apart from the rest.
Grammar Lessons

Irregular Adjectives

French irregular adjectivesFive French adjectives (beau, fou, mou, nouveau, vieux) are particularly tricky because they have very irregular feminine forms as well as a special form used only for certain masculine nouns.
Grammar Lessons

Jouer

Jouer - to playJouer is a regular -er French verb that can be a bit confusing when it comes time to decide which preposition should follow. Here's everything you need to know.
Grammar Lessons

Lequel – Interrogative Pronoun

Lequel - interrogative French pronounLequel, "which one," is the pronominal equivalent of the interrogative adjective quel, meaning that quel + noun can be replaced by lequel. It has different forms depending on the gender and number of the noun it replaces.
Grammar Lessons

Manquer – to miss

Manquer - to missThe regular -er French verb manquer means "to miss," which seems straightforward enough, and yet it causes no end of confusion due to a strange turnaround it requires in a certain construction. Don't miss this lesson!
Grammar Lessons

Masculine Nouns

French gender
There's no simple trick to knowing the gender of every single French noun (other than looking in a dictionary), but there are several categories of words that are always or usually masculine.
Grammar Lessons

Negative Adjectives

French negative adjectivesFrench negative adjectives are used to negate or refuse nouns. Like other negative structures, negative adjectives have two parts.
Grammar Lessons

Negative Pronouns

French negative pronounsFrench negative pronouns (ne ... personne, ne ... rien) replace and simultaneously negate nouns. They may be the subject or object of the verb they're used with.
Grammar Lessons

Nouns and Adjectives: Irregular Plurals

Irregular French pluralsMost French nouns and adjectives become plural with the addition of -s, but of course there are exceptions.
Grammar Lessons

Par

Par - French prepositionThe French preposition par generally means "by," "through," or "per."
Grammar Lessons

Parts of Speech

French parts of speechParts of speech are the building blocks of everything you say, write, hear, and read. Even if you hate the thought of learning any grammar terms, knowing the difference between these eight basic parts of speech is essential for improving your French ability.
Grammar Lessons

Passé composé

Passé composéThe passé composé is the most important French past tense, and just to make things interesting, it has three possible English equivalents.
Grammar Lessons

Past Participle

French past participleThe past participle is essential in the creation of compound verb tenses/moods and the passive voice, and it can also be used as an adjective.
Grammar Lessons

Possessive de

French possessive deIn English, we use 's (apostrophe s) to indicate that one noun possesses another. The French equivalent is the preposition de, with the order of the nouns reversed.
Grammar Lessons

Possessive Adjectives

French possessive adjectivesFrench possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes, ton, ta ...) are used in front of nouns to indicate to whom or to what those nouns belong. They are considerably more complicated than English possessive adjectives because French has several different forms depending on the gender and number of the possessed noun.
Grammar Lessons

Possessive Pronouns

French possessive pronounsFrench possessive pronouns (le mien, la tienne, les siens ...) are used in place of nouns to indicate to whom or to what those nouns belong.
Grammar Lessons

Pour

Pour - French prepositionThe preposition pour usually means "for" and may be followed by a noun, pronoun, or infinitive.
Grammar Lessons

Pouvoir – can, to be able

Pouvoir - an able French verbPouvoir is a very common irregular French verb with an unusual relationship to some of its English equivalents. It generally means "can" or "to be able" but it's a bit more complicated in certain tenses.
Grammar Lessons

Prendre

Prendre - French verbThe irregular French verb prendre literally means "to take" but also has a number of additional meanings and is used in many idiomatic expressions.
Grammar Lessons

Present Participle / Gerund

French present participleThe French present participle, which always ends in -ant, may be used as a verb, gerund, noun, or adjective. Structurally, French present participles are equivalent to "verb + ing" in English, but grammatically there are many differences between them.
Grammar Lessons

Present Participle: Adjectives and Nouns

French present participleWhen used as a noun or adjective, the present participle follows the same agreement rules as other nouns and adjectives, and some verbs have a different present participle conjugation for these usages.
Grammar Lessons

Progress with Lawless French

Progress with Lawless FrenchProgress with Lawless French is an adaptive, test-driven French learning system that will help you learn more efficiently with personalized kwizzes, writing challenges, and dictées.
Grammar Lessons

Pronominal Verbs

French pronominal verbsThe grammatical term "pronominal" means "relating to a pronoun." You know that conjugated verbs (almost) always need a subject pronoun, but pronominal verbs need a reflexive pronoun as well.
Grammar Lessons

PwLF Super Study Lists

Progress with Lawless FrenchTake your Progress with Lawless French account to the next level with these super study lists that bring together all the lessons on a particular grammar topic.
Grammar Lessons

Reflexive Verbs

French reflexive verbsFor reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun indicates that the subject of the verb is performing the action on him/her/itself, rather than on someone or something else. The majority of reflexive verbs have to do with one's body, clothing, or relationships.
Grammar Lessons

Savoir – to know

Savoir - French verbThe French verb savoir usually means "to know." It has irregular conjugations in just about every tense and mood, and somewhat different meanings in a couple of those.
Grammar Lessons

Savoir vs Connaître (and Ignorer)

Savoir vs connaîtreDo you know how to say "know" in French? There are two verbs with distinct meanings, and just to keep things interesting, there are also two overlapping meanings. Confused? After you read this lesson, you'll know all you need to know.
Grammar Lessons

Semi-Auxiliary Verbs

French semi-auxiliary verbsSemi-auxiliary verbs are used with infinitives to influence their meaning, tense, mood, or aspect. Some French semi-auxiliaries are equivalent to English modal verbs, and most of the top 10 French verbs can or must be used as semi-auxiliaries.
Grammar Lessons

Sentences

French sentencesA sentence is a group of words that form a complete unit of meaning. Sentences can be as short as a single word or as long as the Seine; the minimum criterion is that they contain a subject and verb.
Grammar Lessons

State-of-Being Verbs

French state-of-being verbsState-of-being verbs have various names but no action. These verbs create a link between their subject and a noun or adjective that describes or defines it.
Grammar Lessons

Stressed Pronouns

French stressed pronounsAs indicated by the name, stressed/disjunctive/emphatic pronouns are used for emphasis. Stressed pronouns exist in English, but they are not always used in the same ways or for the same reasons as French stressed pronouns.
Grammar Lessons

Sur

French preposition surThe preposition sur is often equivalent to "on" but has many other possible translations.
Grammar Lessons

Tenir – to hold, to keep

Tenir - French verbTenir is an irregular -ir verb with a multitude of meanings. The most common are "to hold" and "to keep."
Grammar Lessons

Top 10 Verbs

French verbsHere are the 10 most common and useful French verbs, with example sentences and the full set of simple and compound conjugations, with sound files.
Grammar Lessons

Variable Negative Pronouns

French negative pronounsVariable negative pronouns are used in place of a negative adjective + noun, and must agree with the noun in gender.
Grammar Lessons

Verb Tense

French verb tensesThe grammatical term "tense" comes from Latin tempus, meaning "time." So a verb tense refers to the time that the action of a verb occurs. French has three tenses: present, past, and future.
Grammar Lessons

Voir – to see

Voir - French verbThe French verb voir usually means "to see" and has irregular conjugations in just about every tense and mood.
Grammar Lessons

Vouloir – to want

Vouloir - French verbThe French verb vouloir usually means "to want" and has irregular conjugations in just about every tense and mood.

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Parts of Speech

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French Verbs

Most common verbs

aller
avoir
croire
devoir
dire
être
faire
falloir
manquer
pouvoir
savoir
tenir
vivre
voir
vouloir

Verb lessons and tools

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Lessons by Level

A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C1    Find your level

Coups de cœur

  • Aller (to go) - Verb Tables
  • Être (to be) - Verb Tables
  • Subjunctive
  • French for Beginners
  • Pick-Up Lines
  • Avoir (to have) - Verb Tables
  • Faire (to do, to make) - Verb Tables
  • Telling Time
  • Partitive Article - du, de la, de l', des
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