Connectives

French connectivesConnectives are links: they combine words, phrases, or sentences. Connectives do not constitute a single part of speech, but rather a category of terms including all conjunctions and prepositions as well as certain types of adverbs and pronouns used in this way.

   

Contre

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

   

Croire – to believe

Croire - to believeCroire is one of the most common and useful French verbs and has irregular conjugations in most tenses and moods. Croire literally means "to believe," has somewhat varying meanings depending on the preposition used, and is found in many idiomatic expressions.

   

Dans

Dans - French prepositionThe preposition dans usually means "in," but as always there are exceptions. Dans can't be followed directly by a noun - it's always followed by some kind of determiner, such as an article or possessive adjective.

   

De

French preposition deThe French preposition de is generally summarized as "of, from, or about," but it has quite a few more meanings and uses than that.

   

De vs Du, de la, des

De vs du, de la, desThe preposition de can be very difficult for French students, even at advanced levels. Knowing whether to use du, de la, or des rather than just de can be a real challenge! This lesson is a detailed explanation of when to use the preposition de all by itself and when to use the indefinite article, partitive article, or de + definite article (which looks like the partitive - but isn't. Ugh!)

   

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.

   

   

Direct vs Indirect Objects

French direct vs indirect object pronounsDirect objects and indirect objects can be tricky to understand and use, but it's essential to know the difference in order to speak and write French correctly. Here are some tips to help you figure out which type of object you're dealing with.

   

En

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