Bien entendu
formalities
Words and structures needed for formal situations
Bon gré mal gré
Châtier (formal) – to chastise, punish; to polish, refine
Simple and compound conjugations for the regular -er French verb châtier.
conjugation tables • formalities
Chérir (literary) – to cherish, treasure, hold dear
Simple and compound conjugations for the regular -ir French verb chérir.
conjugation tables • formalities
Conditional Perfect, Second Form
The second form of the conditional perfect is the literary equivalent of the conditional perfect. conjugation lessons • formalities • tenses moods voices
Croire Expressions
Décéder – (formal) to die, pass away
Décéder is a stem-changing French verb that requires être in the compound tenses.
conjugation tables • formalities
E instable
In many words the letter e is potentially silent, a characteristic which has three French names: e caduc, e instable, and e muet. Though e muet is the most common term, e instable is the most accurate.
C1 French Lessons and Practice - Advanced French • formalities • informalities
Falloir Expressions
Formal Negation
French has three negative constructions that are reserved for formal (usually written) French like literature and historical accounts. B2 French Lessons and Practice - Upper-Intermediate French • formalities • negation
Gager – (formal) to wager, bet; to guarantee (a loan)
Simple and compound conjugations for the spelling change French verb gager.
conjugation tables • formalities
Greetings
A1 French Lessons and Practice - Beginning French • formalities • informalities • lesson plans • politeness • travel French
Inversion
The 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. A2 French Lessons and Practice - Low-Intermediate French • formalities • word order
Inversion with je
Inversion with the first person singular je is a little trickier than with other subject pronouns. It's also very formal and therefore rare, so one of those grammar concepts you need to recognize but not necessarily use. accents • C1 French Lessons and Practice - Advanced French • formalities • pronouns • verbs • word order
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. B1 French Lessons and Practice - Intermediate French • formalities • nouns • word order
