Action vs Being Verbs
With regard to how they function in a sentence, verbs can be divided into three categories: action, state-of-being, and auxiliary. Grammar Lessons
French Grammar
Grammaire
Learn about French grammar: parts of speech, negation, verb conjugations, and a whole lot more.
French Workbook for Dummies
Learn and practice with my fun French workbook.
Lessons by level
A1 grammar | A2 grammar | B1 grammar | B2 grammar | C1 grammar
Lessons by part of speech
| Adjectives | Â | Adverbs |
| Articles | Â | Conjunctions |
| Nouns | Â | Prepositions |
| Pronouns | Â | Verbs |
With regard to how they function in a sentence, verbs can be divided into three categories: action, state-of-being, and auxiliary. Adjective Position
French 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. A2 - Low-Intermediate French • word order
Adjective Types
An adjective is something like "a word that describes a noun." If asked to name some adjectives, you might come up with words like small, pretty, and blue - in other words, descriptive adjectives. But did you know that there are many other types of adjectives as well? Adjectives
One of the eight parts of speech, adjectives are a type of modifier; that is, they modify or describe nouns in a certain way, letting you know the size, shape, weight, color, nationality, or any of a myriad other possible qualities of nouns. A1 - Beginning French • adjectives • agreement • lesson plans
Adjectives Functioning as Adverbs
By definition, adjectives modify nouns. But more than 30 French adjectives can sometimes modify verbs instead, thus taking on the role and characteristics of adverbs, including the fact that they are invariable. adjectives • adverbs • agreement
Adjectives Used as Nouns (Nominal Adjectives)
In both French and English, many adjectives can be used as nouns as a sort of shorthand to reference what you'd otherwise need an adjective + noun to refer to. adjectives • nouns • plurals
Adjectives vs Pronouns
At first glance, adjectives and pronouns might seem to have very little in common, since adjectives are used with nouns, while pronouns replace nouns. But there is an interesting relationship that can help you use both parts of speech more effectively: there are six French adjective / pronoun pairs, where an adjective + noun can be replaced by a corresponding pronoun. adjectives • B1 - Intermediate French • pronouns
Adjectives with Prepositions
When describing someone as capable of doing or determined to do something, a preposition is required between the adjective and verb. In French, the choice of preposition depends on the adjective that precedes it, not the verb that follows. Advanced Indirect Objects
Some French verbs do not allow their indirect objects to be replaced by pronouns; instead, the preposition must be maintained after the verb along with the indirect object. B2 - Upper-Intermediate French • pronouns • verbs
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. adverbs • B1 - Intermediate French • pronouns • word order