Sentences, categories and structures. Word order in a French sentence Sentences in French
Sometimes you may get the impression that learning French is beyond your capabilities, but you shouldn’t be upset at first. All over the world there is an opinion that the Russian language is the most difficult, and you are its native speaker, which means you can master the French language, you just have to be patient and at least half an hour a day. So, let's look at the basic rules.
1. The French sentence is characterized by direct word order, unlike the Russian one. This means that the subject will always come before the predicate and nothing else. Sometimes they can be broken up by another part of speech. For example:
Marie joue avec ses amies - Marie plays with her friends.
Je vaisà la gare. I'm going to the station. In Russian it is also possible to say: “I’m going to the station” if you slightly change the intonation, which in French would be a strict violation of the rules.
2. In French, a noun that is a direct object will appear immediately after the predicate. It looks something like this:
Marie chante une chanson. Marie sings a song.
A noun expressed by an indirect object will also appear in the sentence after the predicate. For example:
Marie parle à son mari - Marie talks to her husband.
If a sentence has both a direct and an indirect object, then the predicate is first followed by a direct object, followed by an indirect object. Example:
Marie lit un livre d`amour - Marie reads a book about love.
3. If there is a circumstance in a sentence, then it is placed either at the beginning of the sentence or at the end, if there is only one in the sentence. If there are two or more, then they are evenly distributed in meaning, some are placed in front, and some at the end. This rule does not apply to the Russian language, as you can see in the translation. Let's look at an example:
Mardi, je voudrais arriver l`aprés-midi - I would like to arrive on Tuesday afternoon.
4. In the French sentence, the impersonal phrase il est is used to indicate tenses. For example:
Il est dix heures - It's 10 o'clock.
Il est tard - It's late.
5. The impersonal phrase il y a is used to indicate the presence of something. In a sentence, this turn is expressed by a circumstance, and is located either at the beginning or at the end. It will be more clear if we consider an example:
Il y a une pomme sur la table. — There is (literally) an apple on the table.
Sur la table il y a une pomme.
6. A negative sentence is formed by adding negative particles to the verb. As a rule, the particles ne and pas are used. The first is placed before the verb, and the second after it, for example:
Marie travaille à l`usine. Marie ne travaille pas à l`usine.
Marie works at a factory. Marie doesn't work at the factory.
If the verb begins with a vowel, then according to the rules, the first particle “ne” has the “e” dropped, and it is written with the verb through an apostrophe. For example:
Marie arrive demain. Marie n'arrive pas demain.
Marie is coming tomorrow. Marie Not arrives tomorrow.
There are many different abbreviations in colloquial speech, so when studying classical French, it can be difficult to understand a fluent French speaker. One of the colloquial speech techniques regarding this rule is the omission of the particle “ne”. For example:
Marie travaille pas.
To enhance the meaning of a sentence, negative particles jamais - never, rien - nothing, personne - no one are used. In a sentence they take the place of the particle pas. For example:
Marie ne sais rien. - Marie doesn’t know anything.
Marie ne voit personne. - Marie doesn’t see anyone.
Marie n`a jamais été à Moscow. — Marie has never been to Moscow.
7. The construction of an interrogative sentence deserves special attention. The simplest education is carried out through inversion, that is, changing the order of words. In this case, the predicate is placed before the noun and a hyphen is placed between the words. For example:
Marie mange la pomme. Mange-Marie la pomme?
Marie eats an apple. If Marie is an apple.
In interrogative sentences, a “t” is often added to make the inversion sound if the verb ends in a vowel. Example:
Elle mange la pomme. Mange-t-elle la pomme?
There are two types of inversion: simple and complex. The above examples are variants of a simple inversion, and a complex one is an inversion where the subject of the sentence is expressed by the predicate. In this case, the subject remains before the predicate, and is also repeated after the verb in the form of a 3rd person pronoun, which agrees in gender and number with the preceding subject. For ease of understanding, here is an example:
Marie mange la pomme. Marie mange-t-elle la pomme?
If several subjects are used in a sentence, the pronoun is plural.
Marie et Jan vont vite. Marie et Jan vont-t-ils vite?
Marie and Jean are walking quickly. Are Marie and Jean walking fast?
The French especially love constructing questions using the interrogative phrase est-ce que. It can be used in any cases, and without fail, if the predicate is expressed by a verb of the 1st group in the 1st person singular and in the present tense. In this case, the word order is kept straight! Example:
Je mange la pomme Est-ce que je mange la pomme?
Very often you have to resort to interrogative words to construct interrogative sentences. There are a lot of such words. They are placed at the beginning of the sentence, and then it is built on the basis of inversion.
Elle regarde les images. Que regarde-t-elle?
She looks at the pictures. What is she considering?
The following question words can be used:
Quand? - When?
Où? - Where? Where?
Pourquoi? - Why?
Combien? - How many?
Comment? - How?
Quel? - Which? (changes by gender and number: Quels? - Which ones? Quelle? - Which one? Quell(e)s? - Which ones?)
Learning French is a fun, interesting, and most importantly useful activity. How? Have you probably noticed that all nationalities are different? The fact is that, depending on the culture, language, and field of activity, different brain structures are involved, which is why polyglots are considered one of the smartest representatives of the human population. Knowing a foreign language makes you smarter and gives you an advantage over your compatriots; even in small everyday situations, those who work on their development will find ways to solve a problem faster. We hope that this fact will serve as an incentive for you to study, good luck!
In French, as in many European languages, there is a verb “to be, is”, which in the present tense, as a rule, is not translated into Russian.
If in Russian sentences like “The house is big”, “The woman is very beautiful”, “She is sick” do without a verb, then in French the so-called connective will definitely appear - the verb “etre”. It is this linking verb that we will talk about in this lesson.
The verb “etre” is conjugated in persons and numbers.
Personal pronouns
To correctly conjugate this verb, check out the table of personal pronouns in French. As in Russian, in French there are three persons (1st, 2nd and 3rd) and two numbers (singular and plural) of pronouns. There is no neuter gender in French - only masculine and feminine.
Please note that in French there is no single pronoun for masculine and feminine plurals.
Each plural gender has its own pronoun.
Conjugation of the verb "Etre" (listen)
So, now let’s conjugate the verb “etre”. This verb has six different forms - for each pronoun.
| Singular | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| je | suis[sui] | nous | sommes[som] |
| tu | es[e] | vous | etes[this] |
| il | est[e] | ils | sont[sɔ̃*] |
| elle | elles | ||
*nasal sounds are indicated by transcription signs given in lesson 4. The remaining transcription sounds are indicated by Russian sounds.
It is important to note that when pronouncing the phrase "vous etes" the so-called binding occurs: [vuzet]. Phrases "il est" And "elle est" are also pronounced together: [tyue] and [ile].
To form a negation in French, the phrase is used "ne...pas", wherein "ne" must come before the verb, and "pas"- after.
For example: tu n'es pas malade(You are not sick).
As you noticed, the letter “e” before another vowel is shortened and replaced by an apostrophe “’”.
To ask a question, you can use not one, but three ways!
- First, you need to swap the subject and predicate, in this case, the pronoun and the desired form of the verb “etre”. In this case, a dash will be written between these two words.
For example:
Es-tu malade?[this little guy] (Are you sick?)
Est-il malade?[ethyl malyad] (Is he sick?)
Notice that the letter "t" before the vowel becomes pronounced.
- The second method is the easiest. There is no need to change anything, just add the intonation of the question to the sentence. Of course, this method is popular for colloquial speech.
- And finally, to ask a question in French you can use the popular phrase "Est-ce-que"[esko]. It is not translated into Russian, but allows you to preserve the direct word order of the French sentence.
For example:
Est-ce qu'il est malade?[eskile malyad] - Is he sick?
Est-ce que vous êtes malades?[esko vuzet malyad] - Are you sick?
Notice that the vowel “e” before the pronoun “il” is dropped again.
But where did the ending “s” in the word “malade” come from, you ask. This is another feature of the French language - coordination
. In Russian we do the same thing, we say “I’m sick,” “he’s sick,” “we’re sick.” In French, the masculine gender does not receive any endings, the feminine gender is added with the ending “e”, and the plural – the ending “s”.
For example:
Il est intelligent [ile ɛ̃telizhɑ̃]. - He is smart.
Elle est intelligente [ele ɛ̃telizhɑ̃t]. - She's smart.Elles sont intelligentes [el sɔ̃ ɛ̃telizhɑ̃]. - They are smart. (about women)
Please note that the final unpronounceable consonant “t” in the feminine gender is pronounced due to the addition of the letter “e”.
Ready to consolidate what you've learned? Do some exercises!
Lesson assignments
Exercise 1. Use the correct form of the verb "etre".
1. Il... fatigué (tired).
2. Je... étudiante (student).
3. Ma chambre (my room) ... grande (large).
4. Ils... charmantes.
5. Est-ce que tu… médecin? (doctor).
6. Nous... sûrs (sure).
7. Elle... désolées (sad).
8. Il...marié (married).
9. …-nous en retard?
10. Elle... brune (brunette).
Exercise 2. Make up questions for the sentences using inversion or the phrase “Est-ce que”.
1. Tu es mariée (married).
2. Il est libre (free).
3. Vous etes prêts.
4. Elle est triste (sad).
5. Nous sommes malades.
Exercise 3. Complete the sentences by matching adjectives with pronouns.
1. Ills sont…. (content - satisfied).
2. Elle est... (fatigué).
3. Elles sont…. (fort).
4. Il est... (grand).
5. Ills sont... (médecin).
Answer 1.
1st
2.suis
3.est
4. sont
5.es
6. sommes
7. sont
8.est
9. sommes
10.est Answer 2.
1. Est-ce que tu es mariee? - Es-tu mariee?
2. Est-ce qu’il est libre? - Est-il libre?
3. Est-ce que vous etes prêts? — Êtes-vous prêts?
4. Est-ce que elle est triste? - Est-elle triste?
5. Est-ce que nous sommes malades? - Sommes-nous malades? Answer 3.
1. contents
2. fatiguee
3.fortes
4.grand
5. medecins
This is when there is no person in the sentence who does something. That is why such sentences are called impersonal.
These include phrases: “it’s snowing”, “it was raining”, “need”, “maybe”, “hot”, “cold”. Such expressions are not just one word from the dictionary.
In French, to construct such phrases you need to use the pronoun il. It is not translated, it is needed to build a sentence.
The verb after the pronoun il is always in the form as for “he, she”. And the verb can be in any tense.
Verb falloir – to be required, to be required, to be needed
In impersonal terms, il faut is translated as “necessary, necessary, necessary.”
Il faut passer des examens. – We have to pass exams.
Il fallait répéter des regles. – We had to repeat the rules.
Il faudra telephoner à mes amis. – You will need to call your friends.
Il faut partir plus tard pour les voir. – Need to leave later to see them.
Il faut une autorisation pour y aller. – You need permission to go there.
Attention!
If after the expression “must” you put the word que, then the subjunctive mood will follow.
Il faut que vous passiez vos examens. - We need you to pass the exams.
Time is introduced using the verb être in the impersonal phrase il est:
Il est dix heures. – (Now) ten o'clock.
Il etait 10 heures. – Was ten o'clock.
Il sera 10 heures. – Will ten o'clock.
Expressions such as “important”, “sorry”, “necessary”, “naturally” are also introduced into the sentence through the phrase il est:
Il est nécessaire que (expression of will) tu prennes (subjunctive mood) ton medicine. – It is necessary that you take your medicine.
Il est certain qu"elle n"est pas chez elle, personne ne me répond. – She is definitely not at home, no one is answering (it is certain that she is not at home, no one is answering me).
Il est possible qu"ils jouent au tennis. – Perhaps they are playing tennis.
Il est important que tu réfléchisses avant d'agir. – It's important that you think before you act.
Il est naturel que nous rions, il est très marrant. – Naturally, we laugh, he is so funny.
But if after put these expressions Not que, and pretext de, then we will boldly put the usual infinitive (initial form of the verb).
Il est nécessaire de prendre ton médicament. – You need to take your medicine.
Il est important de réfléchir avant d'agir. – It is important to think before you act.
The verb faire forms a large number of impersonal expressions when talking about natural phenomena:
Il fait (faisait, fera) beau. – (Standing, standing, will stand) good weather.
Il fait (faisait, fera) mauvais. – (Standing, standing, will stand) bad weather.
Il fait (faisait, fera) chaud. – It's hot (it was, it will be hot).
Il fait (faisait, fera) froid. – It's cold (it was, it will be cold).
Il fait (faisait, fera) humide. – Damp (was, will be damp).
Il fait (faisait, fera) clair. – It was light (it was, it will be light).
Il fait (faisait, fera) sombre. – It was dark (it was, it will be dark).
Il fait (faisait, fera) 10 degrés au-dessus (au-dessous) de zéro. – Now (was, will be) 10 degrees above (below) zero.
Il fait (faisait, fera) du vent. – It is (was, will be) windy now.
Il fait (faisait, fera) du soleil. – The sun is shining (shone, will shine).
When talking about rain, snow, hail, frost, other verbs are used.
Pleuvoir:
Il pleut. - It's raining.
Il pleuvait. - It was raining.
Il pleuvra. - It will rain.
The verb neiger gives us the forms:
Il neige. - Snowing.
Il neigeait. - It was snowing.
Il neigera. - It will snow.
The verb grêler gives us the forms:
Il grêle. - It's hailing.
Il grêlait. - It was hailing.
Il grêlera. - It's going to hail.
The verb geler gives us the forms:
Il gèle. - It's freezing.
Il gelait. - It was freezing.
Il gèlera. - It will freeze.
To indicate availability one or more objects use an impersonal phrase with the verb avoir.
Il y a can be translated into Russian depending on the meaning of the sentence “is, is, exists, stands, lies, etc.”
Il y a des enfants dans cette salle. – In this room There is children.
Dans cette salle il y a un enfant. - There is a child in the hall.
Il n"y a pas de problèmes dans sa vie. – There are no problems in her life.
And in the same way, this construction can be used in the past and in the future tense.
Il y avait un bouquet de roses sur son bureau. – On his desk stood bouquet of roses.
Il y aura un cinéma près de notre maison. – There will be a cinema near our house.
Special attention must be paid for the difference in the use of the impersonal phrase il y a and the verb être.
In Russian it’s the same as saying: “the book is on the table” or “there is a book on the table.” The accents are different, of course, but the verb is the same.
In French, there is a difference in the use of être and il y a for this case.
If in a Russian sentence the subject (in this case “book”) comes at the beginning, the sentence is translated using the verb être:
Le livre est sur la table. – The book (lies, is, is...) on the table.
If the subject comes at the end, the phrase il y a is used:
Sur la table il y a un livre. - There is a book on the table.
If you need explanations of this grammar topic in voice, as well as an additional set of exercises, you can find it in our audio course
Sentences in the French language are divided into several categories in their structure, in particular, into simple ones - the presence of one subject and one predicate (Elle a terminé ses études à l'école polytechnique - she graduated from a polytechnic school) and complex ones - the presence of several subjects and/or predicates (il fait doux aujourd'hui et nous allons nous promener sur le boulevard - it’s warm outside today, and we’ll go for a walk along the boulevard) (as can be seen from the example, the sentence contains 2 clauses that could be used independently of each other) ; common - in a sentence, along with the subject and predicate, there are other members of the sentence (hier elles étaient fatiguées et chagrinées après le travail - yesterday they were very upset and tired) and uncommon - the sentence contains exclusively the main members (les enfants jouent - the children are playing) , as well as complete - the presence of at least one subject and one predicate (vous allez visiter le parc zoologique - you are going to visit the zoo) and incomplete - the absence of one of the main members (Allons au parc zoologique - let's go to the zoo).
Depending on the purpose of the statement, sentences in French are divided into the following types:
– narrative (Tu ne dois pas te coucher trop tard – you should not go to bed too late),
– interrogative (Dois –tu te coucher à 10 heures du soir? – should you go to bed at 10 o’clock in the evening?
– incentives (Allez au lit à 10 heures du soir! – go to bed at 10 pm!).
A declarative sentence, as its name implies, is used to narrate some events, to state a fact, and simply to express, convey, or convey something to someone. Unlike Russian speech, in which we can use any word order when constructing a sentence, in French the situation is the opposite - it is necessary to use exclusively direct word order, namely subject (usually expressed by a noun or pronoun) + predicate (usually expressed by a verb or in in complex times, an auxiliary verb is added to it, and it can also be a nominal one, that is, the verbal connective and the part itself (noun, adjective)) + direct object (basically, this is a noun or pronoun used in the accusative case (that is, it answers to question of whom? what?) without a preposition) + indirect object (various parts of speech used in other cases). As for the circumstance, it is usually used either at the beginning or at the end of a declarative sentence. For example,
Le dimanche les élèves visitent le musée – on Sundays students go to the museum.
Les élèves visitent le musée le dimanche – students go to the museum on Sundays.
Interrogative sentences are used to convey a question. This type of sentence is formed in several ways, in particular, through inversion (simple, if the subject is represented by a pronoun, for example, sais-tu lire vite? - can you read quickly? Or complex, if - by a noun, for example, Oleg et Daniel, aiment-ils manger le célery? – Oleg and Daniel like to eat celery?), interrogative phrases (the main interrogative phrase is the est-ce que phrase with direct word order, regardless of the way the subject is expressed, for example, est-ce que Daniel et Oleg aiment manger du céleri? – Daniel and Oleg like to eat celery?), intonation (extremely rare, in most cases in colloquial speech).
In French, in the subordinate clause the conditions (after the conjunction si - if) the future tense and conditional tenses are not used.
If a Russian phrase does not contain a particle would, construction No. 1 is used. If there is such a particle in a sentence, then in French there are 4 possible constructions Nos. 2-5; the choice of tense and mood will depend on the temporal relations between the actions in the main and subordinate clauses.
1. Si + present; futur simple / present / impératif
The action expressed in the main clause is real and will occur after the condition from the subordinate clause is fulfilled. In this case, Futur simple is used in the main sentence, and Présent in the subordinate clause.
Si tu me l'expliques, je resterai. — If you explain this to me, I will stay.
The action expressed in the main clause is real and occurs simultaneously with the action from the conditional clause. In this case, Présent is used both in the main clause and in the subordinate clause.
Si nous travaillons beaucoup, nous sommes fatugués. — If we work hard, we get tired.
The action expressed in the main clause is an incentive to do something and occurs against the background of the implementation of the action from the conditional subordinate clause. In this case, it is used in the main clause and Présent in the subordinate clause.
Si tu vas au magasin, achete du pain. — If you go to the store, buy bread.
2. Si + imparfait; conditionnel present
If we are talking about an action that may take place in the present or future if some condition is fulfilled, then in the main sentence the verb is placed in Conditionnel présent Imparfait.
Si j'avais le temps, je le ferais. — If I had time, I would do it.
Je le ferais, si j'avais le temps demain. — I would do itif I had time tomorrow.
3. Si + plus-que-parfait; conditionnel passé
If we are talking about an action that could have happened in the past, but did not happen (and will not happen), then Conditionnel passé is used in the main sentence, and in the subordinate clause (after si - if) - in Plus-que-parfait.
Si j'avais eu le temps hier, je l'aurais fait. — If I had time yesterday, I would have done it.
4. Si + plus-que-parfait; conditionnel present
If the action of the subordinate clause refers to the past, and the action of the main clause refers to the present, Plus-que-parfait is used in the subordinate clause, and in the main clause - Conditionnel present.
S'il avait voulu alors, il serait maintenant avec nous. — If he had wanted then, he would have been with us now.
On pourrait faire cette promenade ensemble si on les avait prévenus d’avance. — We could go for a walk together now if we warned them in advance.
5. Si + imparfait; conditionnel passé
If the action of the subordinate clause refers to the present, and the action of the main clause refers to the past, the subordinate clause uses
