Intermediate French Grammar Lessons + Resources

The French adverbial pronouns y and en are so tiny that one might think their role in a sentence is not very important, but in fact quite the opposite is true. They are both extremely important in French.

Arriver is one of the most common French verbs. It is a regular -ER verb but takes être in the compound tenses. Arriver literally means "to arrive," but is also used in some idiomatic expressions and as an impersonal verb.

The French words bon and bien are often confused, because they have somewhat similar meanings and they can both be adjectives, adverbs, or nouns.

The French expressions c'est and il est are extremely important impersonal expressions. They can mean things like this is, that is, it is, they are, etc., but what's the difference betweeen them?

Chercher is a very common and useful French verb. It is a regular -ER verb and means "to look for." Chercher is commonly used like its English counterpart, but there are a few aspects that make it a little tricky.

The French adverb comment can interrogative or exclamative and is one of the most common French words. Learn how to use comment to mean "how" and "what," and which uses of "how" in English are not translated by "comment" in French.

Comparatives express relative superiority or inferiority; that is, that something is more or less than something else. In addition, comparatives can say that two things are equal.

Learn about both kinds of French conjunctions and how to use them, then memorize the most common ones.

Croire is one of the most common French verbs. It's irregular in conjugation and literally means "to believe," and is also used in many idiomatic expressions.

Dire is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation, means "to say" or "to tell," and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.

Direct objects are the people or things in a sentence which receive the action of the verb. To find the direct object in a sentence, ask the question Who? or What?

Nouns are not always singular in both French and English. Here is a list of words that are singular or uncountable in English but plural in French.

Learn which French verbs use être to form the passé composé and the other compound tenses.

Exclamative adverbs are placed in front of clauses to indicate shock, disbelief, awe, or some other strong emotion felt by the speaker. There are five French exclamative adverbs: comme, que, qu'est-ce que, ce que, and combien.

Faillir is a very interesting and useful French verb. It is irregular in conjugation and does not have an English equivalent; the simplest translation is "to almost do something."

Falloir is a very common and useful French verb. It is a regular -ER verb, can be personal or impersonal, and may be followed by the subjunctive.

Indirect objects are the people in a sentence to or for whom the action of the verb occurs. In French, indirect object pronouns can only refer to people, and they usually precede the verb.

In French, adjectives normally have to agree with the nouns they modify in gender and number. However, there are numerous adjectives which don't agree - they have a single form that does not change to reflect the gender or number of the noun. These are called invariable adjectives.

There is only one irregular French verb that ends in -er, but there are several groups of -er verbs that have some irregularities.

Laisser is a regular verb that means to leave. Laisser is also found in numerous expressions and is commonly used as a semi-auxiliary as well as a pronominal verb.

To make is a very general, very useful verb in English. Its French translations vary wildly, so take a look at this lesson to learn how to translate various meanings of "make" into French.

Mettre, which means to put, is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.

A summary of all the different negative structures and their uses in French, plus detailed explanations of each type.

Paraître is a very common and useful French verb. It is irregular in conjugation, can be impersonal, and means "to appear" or "to seem."

Partir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and requires être in the compound tenses.

Learning how to use French past tenses can be very tricky, because English has several tenses which either do not exist in or do not translate literally into French - and vice versa. Learn to distinguish between the French imparfait and passé composé.

Passer is a very common and useful French verb. It is a regular -ER verb but may be conjugated with avoir or être in the compound tenses, depending on whether it is transitive or intransitive.

Passive constructions are those in which a verb's action is performed on the subject, rather than the subject performing the action as in active (normal) constructions. The passive voice is the most common French passive construction, but there are a couple of others to watch out for as well.

Penser is a regular -ER verb and means "to think." Penser is commonly used like its English counterpart, but there are a few aspects that make it a little tricky. This lesson explains which verb mood to use with penser, the difference between penser à and penser de, the meaning of penser followed by an infinitive, and a few essential expressions with penser.

Possessive pronouns are the words which replace nouns modified by possessive adjectives. In French there are different forms of possessive pronouns depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, singular or plural.

Prendre, which means to take, is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.

Prepositions are words which link two related parts of a sentence. This lesson includes specific information about meaning and usage of the most common French prepositions.

Pronominal verbs, including reflexive verbs, need a reflexive pronoun to indicate that the subject is performing the action of the verb upon itself.

Lessons on possessive, relative, and all other types of pronouns, from your French Language Guide.

The French word que (which contracts to qu' in front of a vowel or mute h) has numerous uses and meanings

As interrogative pronouns, qui and que mean who and what, respectively, and can be used on their own or in larger constructions.

A relative pronoun links a dependent/relative clause to a main clause. There are no standard translations for these words; depending on context, there are a number of English equivalents. In French, relative pronouns are required, whereas in English, they are sometimes optional.

Sembler is a very common and useful French verb. It is a regular -ER verb, can be personal or impersonal, and may be followed by the subjunctive.

Sortiris one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation, and may require either être or avoir in the compound tenses, depending on whether it means "to go out" or "to take out."

Stressed pronouns, also known as disjunctive pronouns, are used to emphasize a noun or pronoun that refers to a person. There are 9 forms in French.

French students tend to agree that the subjunctive is the most difficult French verb form - here are over a dozen pages of lessons and info on the French subjunctive to help you learn all about it.

Superlatives express absolute superiority or inferiority, claiming that one thing is the most or least of all.

Tenir is an irregular -IR verb and usually means "to hold" or "to keep." Tenir has a number of other meanings, including some which depend on the preposition that follows.

Tout is one of the most common words in the French language, with four possible forms: tout, toute, tous, and toutes. It's also one of the most flexible French words, as it can be an adjective, adverb, noun, or pronoun.

Conjugation refers to the five possible inflections of a verb: Person, Number, Mood, Tense, and Voice. Once you've made a choice from each of these five, you have a conjugation or inflection.

French verbs of perception are verbs which indicate a perception or sensation: apercevoir, écouter, entendre, regarder, sentir, and voir. French verbs of perception may introduce a noun or an infinitive.

Voir is one of the most common French verbs. It is irregular in conjugation, means to see in most senses of the word, and is found in a number of idiomatic expressions.

Definition of dummy subject / sujet apparent.

Definition of real subject / sujet réel.