À vs de
As if the myriad possible translations of à and de aren't enough, these two French prepositions also have complementary and contrasting uses. 
B1 Grammar
Intermediate French Lessons
As if the myriad possible translations of à and de aren't enough, these two French prepositions also have complementary and contrasting uses. Adjectives vs Pronouns
There are six French adjective / pronoun pairs, where an adjective + noun can be replaced by a corresponding pronoun. Adverbial Pronouns / Pronominal Adverbs
As you might guess from their name, adverbial pronouns are caught between two worlds: they are pronouns in the sense that they replace nouns, and at the same time they are adverbs representing a place, a quantity, or the object of a proposition. French has two adverbial pronouns: en and y. Agreement with vous
Vous can be every type of personal pronoun, but its role as a subject pronoun may be the trickiest because of agreement. An/jour/matin/soir vs
année/journée/matinée/soirée
Capitalization
The use of capital letters (les majuscules) is much less common in French than in English. Take a look at this summary of words that are capitalized in English but not in French. Chanson du subjonctif
Clauses
A clause is a grammatical unit of meaning containing, at minimum, a subject and verb. There are three different types of clauses. Conditional Perfect
To talk about something that would, could, or should have happened—but didn't—you need the conditional perfect, also known as the past conditional. Conjunctive Phrases
Two or more words often join to create a conjunctive phrase, which just means a series of words that acts like a conjunction. Most French conjunctive phrases end in que and all are subordinating conjunctions. Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns (celui, celle, ceux, celles) replace a specific noun that was mentioned previously. In French, they must agree with the noun(s) in number and gender. Determiners
Determiners are a category of grammatical terms that includes articles, numbers, and non-qualifying adjectives. Unlike qualifying adjectives, determiners serve two functions: they introduce and modify nouns at the same time. Devoir vs Falloir
Devoir and falloir are fairly synonymous, but these two French verbs are not interchangeable. Their meanings are slightly different, and they each have additional meanings, depending on how they're used. Double Pronoun Order
Sometimes one pronoun just isn't enough. A sentence might need both a direct and indirect object, or a reflexive pronoun as well as an adverbial. When this happens, word order becomes an issue: how do you know which pronoun to place first? It's actually pretty easy, once you learn the rules. En – Adverbial Pronoun
The adverbial pronoun en can replace a quantity, a place, or the object of the preposition de. This little word has many possible translations. Euphony
It's no accident that spoken French is beautiful - there are actually grammatical changes required to avoid hiatus in order to maintain euphony, so that words flow together like music. Exclamative Adjectives
To express admiration, surprise, contempt, or another strong feeling about a noun, you can use the exclamative adjective quel, meaning "what (a)." Faillir – to almost do
Faillir has no direct verbal English equivalent when used as a semi-auxiliary verb; English needs an adverb or a short phrase to capture the meaning, such as "to almost do." Faire – Causative Construction
The causative is a grammatical construction with a lazy subject who, rather than performing some action himself, is making someone or something else do it: to make something happen, to have something done. Fractions
Future Perfect
Wouldn't it be nice if you could plan a perfect future? Too bad that's not what the future perfect tense does. The grammatical term "perfect" means "completed," so the future perfect is used to talk about something that will have happened or will have been completed at some point in the future. Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs
Some French verbs use a reflexive pronoun to create a meaning different from (though often related to) the meaning of their non-pronominal siblings. Indefinite Adjectives
Indefinite adjectives like certains, divers, and quelques describe nouns in a general or non-specific way. Many indefinite adjectives indicate a vague quantity. Indefinite Adverbs
Talking about indefinite concepts can be tricky in a foreign language, yet indefinite adverbs are rarely covered as a specific topic in class. This lesson considers them as a group. Indefinite Demonstrative Pronouns
Indefinite demonstrative pronouns (ce, ceci, cela, ça) do not agree with the nouns they replace in gender or number. Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns are vague - they either refer to unspecific nouns (like un autre and quelque chose) or make sweeping generalizations (on, tout le monde). Informal Negation
The rule is that to make a French verb negative, you need ne in front of the verb and pas after it. The reality of how the French speak says otherwise. Intermediate French for Dummies
Get up to speed in the usage and grammar of French and improve your writing - by Laura K Lawless. Inversion with Nouns
Inversion is not limited to pronouns - it can also be done with nouns and proper names, though this is a bit more complicated. Irregular -ir Verbs
There are around 60 irregular -ir verbs, but that doesn't mean you have to memorize 60 different verb conjugation tables. Thanks to patterns in the conjugations of most of these verbs, you only need to learn 21. Irregular -re Verbs
Even though there are more than 100 irregular -re verbs, you don't have to learn a hundred conjugation tables. Since many of these verbs follow certain patterns, you only need to memorize about 20. Irregular Verbs
French grammarians classify verbs into three categories, but I don't like this system at all. Movable Adjectives
A number of French adjectives change meaning depending on whether they go before or after the noun. Non-adjectives
Adjectives comprise one of the eight French parts of speech, but certain members of other grammatical categories can sometimes be used as adjectives. These "non-adjectives" are invariable: there's no gender/number agreement with the nouns they modify. Object Pronoun Placement
The placement of object, reflexive, and adverbial pronouns depends on which of the four main verb constructions they're used with. On – Subject Pronoun
The indefinite French subject pronoun on literally means "one," but is usually translated by an indefinite subject. Agreement with the subject implied by on is optional - at least in theory. Passé composé vs Imparfait
The trickiest aspect of the two most important French past tenses is that they often work together, juxtaposed not only throughout stories, but even within individual sentences. Understanding the contrasting relationship between the passé composé and imparfait is essential to communicating in French. Passé composé vs Imparfait
When talking about the past in French, there are two different tenses that work together: the passé composé and the imparfait. Although English has verb forms that appear to be exact equivalents for each of these, they don't quite match up in the two languages. This video will help you understand when, why, and how to use each French tense. Passé simple
The passé simple is a single-word past tense, equivalent to English's simple past. However, the passé simple is a literary tense and is thus limited to formal writing, such as literature (including children's books), journalism, and historical accounts. Passive Voice
As seen in this sentence, the passive voice is used to indicate that something is being done to a subject by an agent. It's passive because the subject is being acted upon, rather than acting as in the active voice. Past Perfect aka Pluperfect
The past perfect, also called the pluperfect, is a verb tense that distinguishes between two related things that happened in the past, indicating which one occurred before the other. The use of the past perfect is very similar in French and English. Perfect Participle
When one thing leads to another, you can use the French perfect participle (e.g., ayant mangé, étant parti) to talk about the first action. In English, this construction is very stilted, so it's usually loosely translated into more idiomatic phrasing. Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns have different forms to match the different grammatical persons they replace. There are five kinds of French personal pronouns, some of which are identical, which can make it tricky to grasp which is which. Possession
French has four different possessive constructions, which can seem daunting until you realize that English does too - you've probably just never thought about them before. Possessive à
To emphasize to whom something belongs, you can use the possessive à in one of three constructions. Presentatives
French presentatives are words or short expressions that introduce something and draw attention to it at the same time. Progress with Lawless French
Progress 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. PwLF Super Study Lists
Take 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. Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are connectors - they link relative clauses to main clauses so that you don't have to repeat subjects and objects. There are five French relative pronouns: dont, lequel, où, que, and qui, which are equivalent to seven English relative pronouns and adverbs: that, when, where, which, who, whom, and whose. Si Clauses: Conditionals
Si clauses, also known as conditionals or conditional sentences, are if-then constructions that express a condition to be met in order for a certain result. They are divided into three types, depending on whether the condition is likely, unlikely, or impossible. Si Clauses: First Conditional
The first conditional is an if-then proposition that talks about a likely situation: if something happens (the condition), then something else happens (the result). The first conditional is constructed similarly in French and English and can be further divided into three subcategories. Si Clauses: Second Conditional
The second conditional is an if-then proposition that expresses an unlikely situation: if something happened (the condition), then something else would happen (the result). The condition is expressed with the imperfect, and the potential result is indicated with the conditional. Subjunctive
The French subjunctive is a special verb form, called a "mood," that is used in dependent clauses to indicate some sort of subjectivity, uncertainty, or unreality in the mind of the speaker. Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions connect two unequal clauses: a main clause and a dependent or subordinate clause. Superlative Adverbs
Superlative adverbs are used to profess absolute superiority or inferiority among two or more things. This superlative lesson will help you be the best at using them. Tonic Accent
There's no word stress in French, so you have two options for emphasizing a particular word. One has to do with pronunciation (affective accent) and the other is grammatical: the tonic accent. Using Impersonal Expressions
Impersonal expressions use an impersonal subject: "it" in English, and il or ce in French. The meaning of the two French pronouns is identical, but ce is a bit informal and therefore more common when speaking, whereas il is more common in writing. Variable Auxiliary Verbs
About two dozen intransitive French verbs require être as their auxiliary in the compound tenses and moods. Of these, eight can be used transitively, and when they are, two things happen. Verb Agreement
In French, the past participles in compound tenses and moods sometimes have to agree with another part of the sentence, either the subject or the direct object. Verb Mood
Verb mood is all about the 'tude; that is, the speaker's attitude about the verb, whether it's a fact, an opinion, a command, or a possibility. Verbs of Perception
Verbs of perception indicate that the subject is using sight, sound, or touch to perceive something, whether object or action. French has six common verbs of perception. Verbs with à
A number of French verbs require the preposition à in front of a noun or infinitive. Verbs with dans
Some French verbs need the preposition dans in front of a noun. Verbs with de
Many French verbs require the preposition de in front of a noun or infinitive. Verbs with Prepositions
Many French verbs require a specific preposition in front of a noun or infinitive. The choice of preposition depends on the verb before it, not whatever comes after, and there's no shortcut or trick to learning these - you just have to memorize each list. Verbs without Prepositions
While many French verbs require a specific preposition in front of a noun or infinitive, others don't - even when a preposition is needed in the English equivalent. Voice
The grammatical term voice refers to the relationship between a verb and its subject: whether it is active, passive, or pronominal (reflexive). Y – Adverbial Pronoun
The adverbial pronoun y can replace a place or the object of the preposition à. Y is most commonly equivalent to "there," but may also be translated by a preposition plus "it." Any Questions?
Get help on the forum.More Lawless French
Subscribe to my twice-weekly newsletter: