Par

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

   

Partitive Article – du, de la, de l’, des

French partitive articlesThe partitive article (du, de la, de l', des) refers to an unspecified quantity of food, liquid, or some other uncountable noun. English has no equivalent article - the partitive is usually translated by the adjectives "some" or "any," or may be left out entirely.

   

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.

   

Pas without ne

French negationThe first thing French students learn about negation is that the two parts of the negative adverb ne ... pas are required on either side of the verb. In fact, pas is very often used informally without ne with several different parts of speech.

   

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.

   

Passé composé Conjugations

Passé composéThe passé composé is a compound verb form, which means its conjugation has two components: an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and the past participle of the main verb.

   

Passé composé vs Imparfait

Passé composé vs imparfaitThe 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

Passé composé vs imparfaitFrench videoWhen 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 composé vs Imparfait Clues

Passé composé vs imperfectSome French words and phrases are virtually always used with the imparfait, while others seem to stick like glue to the passé composé. These lists can help you determine which tense you need in any given sentence.

   

   

Passé simple

Passé simpleThe 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.

   

   

Passer – to pass, go by

Passer - French verbThe regular -er French verb passer usually means "to pass" and may require either être or avoir as its auxiliary verb in compound tenses/moods, depending on how it's used.

   

Passive Constructions

French passive constructionsThe best-known passive construction is the passive voice, which has a verb performing on a subject (e.g., he is seen). But did you know that French has several other passive constructions that are just as important to recognize and use?