French Grammar - Blog Posts

French Prepositions

and how else they can be used

I don’t know about y’all, but prepositions are the WORST. They hardly ever directly translate between languages and when they do, there are so many exceptions it doesn’t even matter. So, I’ve done some research and I’ll try to make the list as comprehensive as possible :) 

OKAY ! So here is the most basic “to and from” list. 

But as you know, French is not that easy. You will also see de and à frequently interspersed between verbs and even used as adverbs and adjectives. Below I have listed a few verbs that take these prepositions. 

Verbs that require the preposition à

Aider (quelqu'un) à (to help someone to)

S’amuser à (to amuse oneself)

Avoir à (to have to)

Apprendre à (to learn how to)

Avoir de la peine à (to have difficulty)

Commencer à

Continuer à

The preposition à can also be used to indicate place, time, manner or possession

À droite (on the right)

À loisir (at leisure)

À la compagne (in the mountains)

À la française ([in] the french way)

Cette voiture est à toi? (This car is yours?)

Verbs that require the preposition de

S’arreter de

Cesser de

Choisir de

Décider de

Se dépêcher de (to be in a hurry

Essayer de

Finir de

Oublier de

Refuser de

Verbs that can be followed by both

Conseiller à (quelqu’un) de (faire quelque chose)

Défendre à… de

Demander à…de

Dire à… de

Offrir à … de

Permettre à… de

Promettre à… de

Proposer à… de

Suggérer à…de

Hope this helps !!

What is the difference between Est-ce que and Qu'est-ce que?

Asking questions is something fundamental in French, especially if you want to know more about something or get more information.

French people use Est-ce que and Qu'est-ce que to start their questions. They look alike but are not used the same way.

So, what is the actual difference between both question words? Find out more here and also practice with the Quiz at the end of the lesson.

Learn French With Chanty

Possessive Adjectives

16/3/2019

In English, possessive adjectives function differently than they do in French. In French, the adjective has to agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. For example, the word “maison” is feminine so the possessive adjective is going to use the feminine version of the adjective. First, we take the version of “my” and translate it: “mon” (m.), “ma” (f.), or “mes” (m.&f.pl.). Now you have to choose which one to modify the noun with since the noun is feminine. The correct choice is “ma maison.” Here is a list of the possessive adjectives.

My:

Mon (m.)

Ma (f.)

Mes (m.&f.pl.)

Your (informal):

Ton (m.)

Ta (f.)

Tes (m.&f.pl.)

His/Her:

Son (m.)

Sa (f.)

Ses (m.&f.pl.)

Our:

Notre (m.&f.)

Nos (m.&f.pl.)

Your (formal):

Votre (m.&f.)

Vos (m.&f.pl.)

Their:

Leur (m.&f.)

Leurs (m.&f.pl.)

In my opinion, the trickiest one to remember is “leur/leurs” because you have to make sure the possessive adjective agrees with the noun it modifies and not the people involved. 

Example: Ils ont leur propre maison. > They have their own house. 

Example: Ils ont leurs propres maisons. > They have their own houses. 

Bien à vous !

DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP

I dunno if you ever heard of this couple before but they are legendary for French langblrs and any student studying French. 

Now who are they? 

Well, it’s more like what are they. DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP is a popular acronym and mnemonic to help students remember the verbs that use être for passé composé instead of avoir.

Ex:

      J’ai reçu mes cadeaux .

      I received my presents. 

However for Vandertramp verbs, être is their player.

Ex:

      Je suis sorti mon lycée. 

      I left my highschool. 

Which verbs are Vandertramp verbs?

D - devenir ( to become ) 

R - revenir ( to come back ) 

&

M - monter ( to go up)

R - rentrer ( to return ) 

S - sortir ( to leave )

V - venir ( to come )

A - aller ( to go )

N - naître ( to be born )

D - descendre ( to descend / to go down )

E - entrer ( to enter )

R - retourner ( to return )

T - tomber ( to fall )

R - rester ( to remain )

A - arriver ( to arrive )

M - mourir ( to die )

P - partir ( to leave / to part )

When using these verbs in passé composé, remember that these verbs are être ( to be ) exempted from using avoir in this tense. I really hope this helps you guys in your language journey, trust me, this mnemonic saved me in many paragraphs and papers I had to submit in my French classes. Let me know if you have any questions or if you want to add onto this !

Hoping for better days,

Kopi <3