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Demonstrative adjectives: (this/these) (that/those)
masculine: ce (singular, before a consonant)
masculline: cet (singular, before a vowel)
masculine: ces (plural)
feminine: cette (singular, before a consonant & vowel)
feminine: ces (plural)
- Ce copain organise une fête.
- -- This friend is organizing a party.
- Cet hôpital est trop loin du centre-ville.
- -- That hospital is too far from downtown.
- Cette glace est excellente.
- -- This ice cream is excellent. Je préfère ces cadeaux.
- -- I prefer those gifts.
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To make is especially clear that you are referring to something near versus far, add -ci or -là, respectively, to the noun following the demonstrative adjective.
- ce couple-ci
- -- this couple (here)ces biscuits-ci
- -- these cookies (here)cette invitée-là
- -- that guest (there)
- ces bières-là
- -- those beers (there)
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Use -ci and -là in the same sentence to contrast similar items.
- On prend cette glace-ci, pas cette glace-là.
- -- We'll have this ice cream, not that ice cream.
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Passé composé with avoir:
the passé composé is formed with a present-tense form of avoir (the auxiliary verb) followed by the past participle of the verb expressing the action.
- Nous avons fêté.
- -- We celebrated/have celebrated.
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The past participle of a regular -er verb is formed by replacing the -er ending of the infinitive with -é.
Infinitve -- Past Participle
- fêter-- fêté
- oublier-- oublié
- chercher-- cherché
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Most regular -er verbs are conjugated in the passé composé as shown below for the verb parler.
- j'ai parlé
- tu as parlé
- il/elle a parlé
- nous avons parlé
- vous avez parlé
- ils/elles ont parlé
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To make a verb negative in the passé composé, place the ne/n' and pas around the conjugated form of avoir.
- On n'a pas fêté mon anniversaire.
- -- We didn't celebrate my birthday.
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To ask questions using inversion in the passé composé, invert the subject pronoun and the conjugated form of avoir.
- Avez-vous fêté votre anniversaire?
- -- Did you celebrate your birthday?
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The adverbs hier (yesterday) and avant-hier (the say before yesterday) are used often with the passé composé.
Place the adverbs déjà, encore, bien, mal, and beaucoup between the auxiliary verb or pas and the past participle.
- Tu as déjà mangé ta part de gâteau.
- -- You already ate your piece of cake.
- Elle n'a pas encore visité notre ville.
- -- She hasn't visited our town yet.
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The past participles of most -ir verbs is formed by replacing the -ir ending with -i.
- Sylvie a dormi jusqu'à dix heures.
- -- Sylvie slept until 10 o'clock.
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Irregular Past Participles:
apprendre-- apris
avoir-- eu
boire-- bu
comprendre-- compris
courir-- couru
être-- été
faire-- fait
pleuvoir-- plu
prendre-- pris
surprendre-- surpris
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The passé composé of il faut is il a fallu; that of il y a is il y a eu.
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