Lessons and resources to challenge advanced French students: types of discourse, parts of speech, and more.
The difference between the two main French past tenses, the passé composé and the imparfait, is a constant struggle for many French students. In this advanced lesson, you will learn about the particularities of certain verbs, including those that are usually in the imperfect and those that have different meanings depending on which tense is used.
Some verbs have to agree with their subjects in the compound verb tenses and moods, while others require agreement with the direct object. This issue of agreement can be rather tricky; this lesson is a thorough but accessible explanation.
The subjunctive is a fairly difficult verb mood for many students of French. Between the conjugations and deciding when to use it, the subjunctive can be very tricky. Although the subjunctive is commonly used in French, there are numerous ways to avoid it.
The French words bon and bien, mauvais and mal are often mixed up - study this lesson to straighten them out.
When speaking French, it is important to use the correct sequence of tenses. In complex sentences, there is a relationship between the verb in the main clause and the verb in the subordinate clause. Using the correct sequence of tenses is just as important as conjugating the verbs correctly and using the appropriate mood.
Deciding whether to use de, du, de la, or des can be a real challenge! This lesson is a summary of when to use de and when to use the indefinite article, partitive article, or de + definite article (which looks like the partitive - but isn't. Ugh!)
Grammarians insist that two negatives make a positive. While this may be true in English, in French two negatives make a stronger negative. Double negation is very common in French, particularly informal French. However, there are some rules and regulations when using double negatives in French.
The French adverbs encore and toujours can be confusing, because they each have several meanings that partially overlap. After studying this lesson, you'll remember the differences
toujours.
Exclamations are words or phrases that express a desire, an order, or a strong emotion. There are several different French grammatical structures that can be used as exclamations.
In French, there are a number of words which are not actually adjectives but may be used as adjectives. These "faux adjectives" or "occasional adjectives" are always invariable - they do not agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. There are three different types of words that may be used as adjectives.
Selected lessons on grammar and other language issues that are particularly difficult for students of French, including more than a dozen confusing pairs or groups of French words, expressions, and grammatical structures.
There are three negative structures particular to formal French. While they are not unheard of in spoken French, they are most commonly found in writing, especially literature.
There are hundreds of French grammar books - how can you know which is the best? That's where I come in - here my votes for the best grammar books, including those used by native speakers.
French negation can be tricky. Normally, to make a statement negative you need to surround the conjugated verb with the French pair ne... pas. However, if you've ever watched French movies or television, or chatted with native speakers, you have almost certainly heard pas (or another negative adverb) without ne, as this is a typical characteristic of informal and familiar French. Although it is nearly always written, ne is often dropped in spoken French.
If you've ever listened to native French speakers talk to friends or family, you've almost certainly noticed that they don't sound like your French teacher or audio tapes. In this lesson you will learn about how pronouns are used informally.
The ne explétif is used after certain verbs and conjunctions. It has no negative value in and of itself and is used in situations where the main clause has a negative meaning.
Even though the French infinitive translates as "to + verb," the French sometimes needs to be preceded by a preposition. This is the case with the passive infinitive, which is commonly used with indefinite and negative words.
There are four different ways to express possession in French. This lesson provides a summary of each construction and has links to more detailed information.
A summary table of every kind of pronoun, with links to detailed lessons on each one.
In addition to the auxiliary verbs avoir and être, French has a number of semi-auxiliary verbs. Semi-auxiliary verbs are conjugated in order to express various nuances of time, mood, or aspect and are followed by an infinitive.
The French word si can be an adverb or a conjunction. Either way, si has several meanings and is used in numerous French constructions.
The French word tout can be a noun, pronoun, adjective, or adverb, and can take four different forms. Learn all you need to know about tout.
What's the difference between un and l'un? Isn't the second one kind of redundant? Learn about when and why to use l'un in place of un in this lesson.
When you understand subject pronouns, tenses, moods, and how to conjugate French verbs, you're in great shape. There are however some grammatical subjects which make conjugation a bit more difficult.
Many French verbs require a certain preposition, and the prepositions required for French verbs are often not the same as the ones required in English. Also, some verbs that require a preposition in English don't take one in French, and vice versa.
French learners often have trouble deciding how to translate "what" into French. Should it be que or quoi, or maybe that pesky quel? Understanding the difference between these terms is critical to knowing how to use them correctly.
Hundreds of French lessons on everything from adjectives to the pronoun Y.
Additional information and exercises to be used in conjunction with
Le Bon Usage by Grevisse.
Learn how to analyze and understand French sentences with subordinate clauses. Detailed information about subordination, coordination, and more. French only.
