Time (L’Heure) In French

Quelle heure est-il?

IL est quelle heure?

What is the Time?

Excusez-moi monsieur
Avez-vous l’heure?
Excuse me Mister
Do you have IL
the time?
est neuf heures
It is 9 o’clock
Merci Beaucoup Derien
 Telling time
 To tell time in French use the subject “il” the verb “est” then
the number, and then heures
Example: one o’clock = Il est une heure(ill A youn euhrh).
 L’heure (f.) = hour
 Heure is always used in telling time.
 The word heure is feminine
 Use ‘une’ instead of ‘un’ for one
When the time is on the hour you follow this
example:-
 It is two o’clock = il est deux heures(deuhz euhrh)
 notice the ‘s’ because you are talking about more
than one hour!
 Three o’clock = il est trois heures

Based on this,Let’s write the following:-

 Six o’clock
 Four o’clock
 Midi et Minuit
In English we use expressions for 12:00pm
and12:00am
 12:00pm = noon
 12:00am = midnight
 In French :-
 Noon = midi
 Midnight = minuit
 It’s midnight = Il est minuit
 12 hrs vs. 24 hrs
 In France, many people use the 24 hr clock instead of
the 12 hr.
Example: 1:00pm = 13:00
 11:00pm = 23:00
 Il est quatorze heures = 2:00pm

 Write what the following times would be in French:-

 4pm
11pm
 7pm 9pm
 When not using the 24 hr clock the vocabulary below can
be used to determine morning or evening
 Du(dyu) matin = morning
 De l’après midi = afternoon
 Du soir = evening
 Example il est deux heures de l’après midi (its 2:00pm)
 Lets write the following using the above example:-
 Its one am
 Its seven pm
 Telling time past the hour
 When talking about time past the hour, just add the minutes
number after heures
 Ex: 1:10 = il est une heure dix
 Ex: 3:26 = il est trois heures vingt-six.

 If you want to specify morning,afternoon, evening etc

 Il est une heure dix du matin
 Fifteen, Thirty and Fourty Five
 Fifteen and Thirty past the hour have special expressions
 15 after = et quart (A car)
 30 after = et demie (A deuh me)
 Ex: 1:15 = il est une heure et quart
 Ex: 2:30 = il est deux heures et demie

 Just like fifteen after, forty five minutes also has a special
expression
 10:45= il est onze heures moins (muaa) le quart
and a quarter et quart

quarter to moins le quart

and a half et demie

in the morning du matin

in the afternoon de l'après-midi

in the evening du soir

Important note:- “moins le quart” , “et quart”, “et demie” is
only used with the 12-hours system.
At 6:45 in the morning, we might say, "Il est sept heures
moins le quart."
but if we use the 24-hours system, at 6:45 in the evening
(18:45),
we may not say "Il est dix-neuf heures moins le quart."
 8:10am –
8:00am –
IL est Huit heures
IL est huit heures(du matin)
dix(minutes)
 8:15am – 8:30am –
IL est Huit heures et quart/IL est Huit heures et demie/
IL est huit heures quinze IL est huit heures trente
 12:45pm –
12:00pm – IL est midi IL est une heure moins
le quart/
IL est midi quarante cinq
 19:50/7:50pm –
13:00/1:00pm – IL est huit heures moins dix
IL est une heure (du soir)/
(de l’après midi)/ IL est dix neuf heures
IL est treize heures cinquante
 12:15am –
00:00/12:00am –
IL est minuit et quart/
IL est minuit
IL est minuit quinze
Les Nombres Ordinaux (Ordinal Numbers)
1st un premier
2nd deux deuxième
3rd trois troisième
4th quatre quatrième
5th cinq cinquième
6th six sixième
7th sept septième
8th huit huitième
9th neuf neuvième
10th dix dixième
Les Nombres Ordinaux (Ordinal Numbers)
11th onze onzième

12th douze douzième

13th treize treizième

14th quatorze quatorzième

15th quinze quinzième

16th seize seizième

17th dix-sept dix-septième

18th dix-huit dix-huitième

19th dix-neuf dix-neuvième

20th vingt vingtième

101e cent unième or cent-unième 365e trois cent soixante-cinquième

111e cent onzième 500e cinq centième

121e cent vingt et unième 546e cinq cent quarante-sizième

133e cent trente-troisième 649e six cent quarante neuvième

245e deux cent quarante-cinquième 999e neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-

neuvième

308e trois cent huitième 1550e mille cinq cent cinquantième

 Ordinal numbers are usually formed by adding the ending -
 ”ième” to the cardinal number.
 Trois = troisième, vingt et un = vingt et unième(vaen te uni m)

 Numerals ending in “e” lose the e : quatre = quatrième,

 mille = millième,
 Cinq adds a “u” : cinq = cinquième
 The ‘f’ on neuf becomes a ‘v’ : = neuvième

 Ordinals are also used to express fractions but not dates

 (except the first of the month)
  Eg:- Le (1e) premier Juillet

 Le premier if masculin, La première if

féminin
 Eg:- La première chanson – the first song

 Cardinal Numbers – un,deux,trois,…. Etc

 Ordinal Numbers – premier, deuxième,troisième,….etc
 Accents in French
The Aigu Accent (L’accent aigu (A gyu) (´):- placed only on
vowel ‘e’
Eg – Journée, Désolé

The Grave Accent (L’accent grave (graav) (`):- placed on

many vowels, a,e,i,o,u
Eg – Très, Problème

The Cedilla (La Cédille) (say dee) (ç):- placed only below
the letter C
Eg – Ça va
 Accents in French

The Circumflex (Le Circonflexe (seer conflex)(^):-

placed on a,e,i,o,u
Eg – Bientôt, Août

The Trema (Le tréma(¨) (trey ma):- rarely used

Eg – Noël (no L) - Christmas
La situation géographique ( Geographical Directions)
North – le Nord (Nor)(au nord)

Le nord ouest Le nord

est
West – l’oust East – l’est (Layst)
(Low ayst) (à l’est)
(à l’ouest)
Le sud ouest Le sud
est
South – le sud (syud)
(au sud)
 Les Articles
Nouns are generally used with articles
Every noun in French is either masculine or feminine

Indefinite Articles
Indefinite articles is used to refer to an
unspecified thing or person
In English we have the indefinite article ‘a’, which
changes to ‘an’ in front of a word that starts with a
vowel.
In the plural we say ‘some’.
 In French, you choose from un, une and des,
depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine,
and singular or plural

Important Note:-
In english, Articles are not necessarily used before a noun.
But in French, nouns are usually preceded by an article
 Les Articles Indéfinis (Indefinite Articles)
‘A’, ‘AN’, ‘Some’
Singular Plurial

Masculine Noun Un (euh) Des (dey)

Feminine Noun Une (you n) Des

‘un’ is used in front of masculine singular nouns

‘une’ is used in front of feminine singular nouns.
‘des’ is used in front of plural nouns, whether they are
masculine or feminine, and whatever letter they start with.
 Singular Plurial

Masculine “Un” “Des”

Noun Eg:- Eg:-
Un Homme – A man Des Hommes – (Some) men
(euhn om) (deyz om)
Un Document - A document Des Documents – (Some) Documents
(euh dokyumo) (dey dokyumo)

Feminine “Une” “Des”

Noun Eg:- Eg:-
Une étudiante – A student Des étudiantes – (Some) Students
(deyz Atyudiyant)
 Definite Articles
Definite articles is used to refer to an Specific thing or
person
In English we only have one definite article: the.
In French, there is more than one definite article to
choose from.
The word you choose for the depends on whether
the noun it is used with is masculine or feminine, singular
or plural.
Les Articles Définis (Definite Articles)
‘THE’
Singular Plurial

Masculine Noun Le Les

(Leuh) (Lay)
Feminine Noun La (Laa) Les

All singular nouns L’ Les

beginning with a vowel
 Singular Plurial
Masculine Le Les
Noun Eg:- Eg:-
Le Garçon – The Boy Les Garçons – The Boys
(gaarso)
Feminine La Les
Noun Eg:- Eg:-
La Fille – The Girl Les Filles – The Girls
(fee)
Singular L’ Les
nouns Eg:- Eg:-
beginning L’homme – The man Les hommes – The men
with a (Lowm) (Layz om)
vowel
 Specific uses of definite articles in french

While writing Dates

Eg:- Aujourd’hui, c’est le 10 juin – today, it is the 10 th June
(ojhordvi , say leuh….)

Names of countries, continents, regions and water bodies

Eg:- River – La Loire (Luaar)
Country – La France (Fraws)

Names of cities, people are not preceded by articles

Eg:- Paris, Mumbai (Aditi, Harsh)
 Expressions ‘C’est’ et ‘Ce sont’
C’est (say) = It is, This is Plural form – Ce sont = These are
(seuh saw)
These two expessions are used to designate (Present or point
out) people or things.
Eg:- C’est un étudiant – this is a student (sayt euhn Atyudiyaw)
C’est une étudiante – this is a student (sayt you n Atyudiyawnt
Ce sont des étudiants(m)/étudiantes(f) – these are Some
students
 Qu’est-ce que c’est? (kais k say)
What is that/this?
A Textbook
C’est un livre

A Pen

Un Stylo (steelo)
Un Livre
(Leevr)
 A Bag A Mobilephone
A Cinema

Un Portable Un Cinéma
Un Sac (saak) (portaabL) (cinema)
 A Hotel A Notebook

Un Cahier
Un Hôtel (otell) (kaa e yay)
 A Restaurant A Computer

Un Restaurant Un Ordinateur
(restoraw) (euhn ordi naateur)
 A Pencil
A CD

Un CD Un Crayon (krayo)
A Chair A Lamp
A Television

Une Chaise Une Télévision Une Lampe

(shayz) (Taylayv zeeyo) (Lowmp)
 A Key A Cassette

Une Clé (klay) Une Cassette

(Kasaytt)
A Class A City

Une Classe (class) Une Ville (wheel)

 A Disco

Une Discothèque
(disco theyk)
Qui est - ce? Who is that?
(Ki s)

C’est Manish C’est un touriste

C’est un touriste Anglais
 Expressions ‘Voici’ et ‘Voilà’
Voici une gomme (gom)
Voici = Here is/Here are
(Vuaasi)
Voilà = There is/there are
(Vo laa)

These are used to point at a person or a

thing.
They are always placed at the start of the
sentence.
 Icecreams
A credit card

Une carte
de credit
Des Glaces (f.plu) (kaart deuh
(glass) Craydi)
Wallet/Purse Calculator

Un Portefeuille Une Calculatrice

(Porteuhfeuhy) (Kalqlaatreec)
 Sunglasses

Water Bottle

Des Lunettes
Une Bouteille d’eau de soleil (f.plu)
(buteuhy do) (Lyunat deuh soleuhy)
 Les Pronoms Sujets (Subject Pronouns)
Singulier (Singular) Pluriel (Plural)

st
Je(jh) = I Nous(nu) = We
1 Person

nd
Tu(tyu) = You Vous(vu) = You
2 Person

rd
IL(ill) = He/It Ils(ill) = They
3 Person Masculine

rd
Elle(L) = She/It Elles(L) = They
3 Person Feminine

rd
On(aww) = One
3 Person (indefinite pronoun)
‘Je’ - changes to J’
before a vowel
‘Tu’ is used to address one person. It is used for
informal conversation
‘Vous’ - is used to address many people as well as
for formal conversation
‘On’ is used for general statements where the
subject is not clearly defined.
Eg:- On est attentif dans la classe
(Awwn Ayt aatawnteef daww laa class)
(One is attentive in the class)
 Verbs - Le verbe
Verb = action
In all languages verbs are conjugated to apply them to
the subject of the sentence
Conjugation means unifying or joining - to come together to
form a single unit
Eg:- the verb swim, we would conjugated with the subject I as
I swim, the verb swim remains unchanged
We need to know that there is a big difference between
French and English verbs conjugation
To conjugate regular English verbs, you only add 's' to the verb.
In the above example - the verb swim is conjugated with subject
he as he swims, here we add s to the verb swim while
conjugating

Whereas conjugating French verbs requires changing the

endings for each subject(I,you,he/she,we,etc).
Whether there are regular or irregular verbs.
 Le verbe “Être”

La Nationalité La Profession La Description

La Situation
de famille
 Le verbe “Être”(Aytr) – to be
Pronom Suject Verbe “Être”

Je suis (sviz*) indien/indienne

(svi)
Tu es (A) étudiante?

IL/On est (Ayt*) indien/marié (mariyay)

(A)
Elle/On est (Ayt*) Indienne/mariée
(A)
Nous sommes(soam) indiens/indiennes
Vous êtes(zayt) indien/indienne/indiens/
indiennes
ILs sont (sawnt*) indiens
(saw)
Elles sont indiennes
 La Description (deyskripsiyo)
Masculine Feminine

IL est grand (graww) - tall Elle est grande(grawwnd)

IL est petit (pti) - small Elle est petite(ptit)

IL est gros (grow) - fat Elle est grosse(gross)

IL est mince (mess) - thin Elle est mince (mess)

IL est beau (bow) - handsome Elle est belle(beautiful) (bell)

 Le verbe “Avoir” - to have

L’âge (aajh) - Age) La description

Quel âge avez-vous? (formel)/
(Kell aajh aaway vu?) What is your age?/
Quel âge as-tu? (informel) How old are you?
(Kell aajh aa tyu?)
 Le verbe “Avoir” (euhvuaar)
Pronom Suject Verbe “Avoir”

Je J’ ai (jhay) 21 ans (aww) – years

old
Tu as (aa) 60 ans

IL/On a (aa) 13 ans

Elle/On a (aa) 43 ans

Nous (Nuz aavo) avons 10 ans

Vous (Vuz aaway) avez 88 ans

Ils (ill zow) ont 35 ans

Elles (L zow) ont 77 ans

 La description
Elle a des Lunettes (Lyunaytt)(Spectacles)
IL a une moustache (mustaash)(mustache)
IL a une barbe (baarb)(beard)
Elle a les cheveux(sheuh veuh) longs (lo)(long hair)
Elle a les cheveux courts (kurr) (short hair)

Elle a les cheveux raides (rayd) (straight)

Elle a les cheveux frisés (freezay) (curly)
 La Négation(naygasiyo) - Negative
Rule:- Add Ne+verbe+pas
(neuh wayrb paa)

Je suis marié Je ne suis pas marié

(neuh svi paa)

Tu es méxicain Tu ne n’ es pas méxicain

(nay paa)
IL est mince IL ne n’ est pas mince
Elle est grande Elle ne n’ est pas grande
ILs sont indiens ILs ne sont pas indiens
Elles sont étudiantes Elles ne sont pas étudiantes
 While making any sentence into negative, all indefinite articles (un,une,des) and partitive articles
(du, de la, de L’, Des) will convert to “de”

Rule:- Add Ne+verbe+pas

J’ai un sac Je ne n’ ai pas de sac
Tu as 20 ans Tu ne n’ as pas 20 ans
IL a des lunettes IL ne n’ a pas de lunettes
Elle a les cheveux longs Elle ne n’ a pas les cheveux longs
Ils ont 3 livres Ils ne n’ ont pas 3 livres
Elles ont une clé Elles ne n’ ont pas de clé
(aa) (deuh) (daww)

(aawayk) (saw) (purr)

(deuhvo) (deuhriyayr) (awwntr)

(aawo) (aapray) (sof)

(syur) (su) (shay)

 Les adjectifs démonstratifs
(Layz aadjhaykteef deymonstrateef)

(Demonstrative Adjectives)
Les adjectifs démonstratifs are used when you want to
point out a specific thing or person or to emphasise something.

A demonstrative adjective is one of the words ‘this, that, these

and those’ used with a noun in English to point out a particular
thing or person,
Eg:- this woman, that dog.
 Singular Plural

Masculine Ce (seuh) Ces (say)

Eg:- Ce livre Eg:- Ces livres
(This book) (These books)
Masculine+ Cet (sayt) Ces
Vowel Eg:- Cet Homme Eg:- Ces hommes
including ‘h’ (This man) (These men) (sayz om)
Cet étudiant Eg:- Ces étudiants
(This student) (These students)
Feminine Cette (sayt) Ces
Eg:- Cette femme Eg:- Ces femmes
(This woman) (These women)
In French we use ce to point out a particular thing or person.
Like all adjectives in French, ce changes its form depending on
whether you are referring to a noun that is masculine or feminine,
singular or plural.

Eg:- Ce livre est très bon (trey bow).

(This/That book is really good)
Eg:- J'aime ces pommes (pom)
(I like these apples)

Eg:- Cette robe (rowb) est belle

(That dress is beautiful)
 Important:- Cet is used in front of masculine singular nouns
which begin with a vowel and most words beginning with h.

Eg:- Cet homme - (This/That man)

Eg:- Cet ami (aami) - (This/That friend)

Eg:- Ces voitures (votyur) - these cars (voitures = feminine plural)

Ces amis - these friends (amis = masculine plural/mixed group)
Ces hommes - these men (hommes = silent -h and plural)
Ces oranges - these oranges (oranges = vowel and plural)
 “C’est” vs “il est”

“C’est = used to present or point out

“il est” = used for description

Eg:- C’est Jules. Eg:- Ce sont des étudiants.

IL est musicien ILs sont intelligents.
Important
Note: “C’est” + article + noun or adjective
il est + (no article) + noun(which acts as adjective)

Eg: 1. C’est un médicin

2.C’est une touriste anglaise
3. C’est génial

Eg: 1. il est grand

2. Elle est médicin
 “ER” verbs

To conjugate regular “er” verbs, drop “er” from

the infinitive to get the stem, and then add the endings
to the the stem: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent
Regarder(reuhgaardey) - to watch, to look at
x (infinitive)
Regarder

Regard (reuhgaard) = stem

 Regarder(L’infinitif) - to watch, to look at
Pronom sujet Conjugated verb Examples
Je regarde (reuhgaard) Deepa
Tu regardes (reuhgaard) un film
IL/Elle/On regarde (reuhgaard) la télévision

Nous regardons un monument

(reuhgaardaw) (mownyumo)
Vous regardez un programme de
(reuhgaardey) danse (dawws)
ILs/Elles regardent un garçon
(reuhgaard)
 Visiter (V zeetey) - to visit -(un lieu (li yeuh)
Pronom sujet Conjugated verb Examples
Je visite Delhi

Tu visites un restaurant

IL/Elle/On visite un club

Nous visitons une discothèque

Vous visitez un monument

ILs/Elles visitent un hôtel

 Arriver(aariway) - to arrive - (à + L’heure (Leuhr)
Pronom sujet Conjugated verb Examples
Je J’ arrive à 2 heures

Tu arrives à midi (noon)

IL/Elle/On arrive

Nous arrivons

Vous arrivez

ILs/Elles arrivent
 Habiter (aabeetey) - to live - (à + ville)
Pronom sujet Conjugated verb Examples
Je J’ habite à Mumbai

Tu habites à Delhi

IL/Elle/On habite

Nous habitons

Vous habitez

ILs/Elles habitent
 La négation
J’habite à Mumbai Je n’habite pas à Mumbai
Tu arrives à 8 heures Tu n’arrives pas à 8 heures
IL/Elle visite Paris (paari) IL/Elle ne visite pas Paris
On regarde la télé On ne regarde pas la télé
Nous parlons anglais Nous ne parlons pas anglais
Vous donnez une clé à Vous ne donnez pas de clé
Sophie à Sophie
ILs/Elles cherchent un stylo ILs/Elles ne cherchent pas
de stylo
 “ER” verbs
danser (dawwsay) to dance manquer (mawwkey) to miss
demander to ask monter (mawwntey) to climb
(dawwsay)

coûter (kutey) to cost marcher (maarshay) to walk,

to function
détester (deytestey) to hate penser (pawwsay) to think
donner (doney) to give adorer (aadoray) to adore
étudier (AyudiA) to study montrer (mawntrey) to show
féliciter (faylisitey) to congratulate présenter (prayzawntey) to introduce
fêter (faytey) to celebrate aider (A dey) to help
gagner (gaaniyay) to win, to earn cuisiner (kvi zee ney) to cook
chercher (shayrshay) to search parler (parlay) to speak
 Expression “IL y a”

IL y a (ill yaa) = There is/There are

“Il y a” is one of the most important expressions in the

French language.
It means ‘there is’ or ‘there are’ - it is exactly the same
in front of singular and plural nouns
* IL y a is most commonly used as follows:-

1. IL y a + indefinite article + noun

Eg:- IL y a un chat (shaa) dans la voiture (votyur)
(There is a cat in the car)

Eg:- IL y a des étudiants dans le jardin (jhaarda)

(There are some students in the garden)

2. Il y a + number + noun
Eg:- Dans ma maison, il y a cinq pièces (pi Ace).
(In my house, there are five rooms)
* La Negation:-
To use “il y a” in a negative construction, place ne in front of y
(ne becomes n' in front of y) and pas after a.
The indefinite article will change to de due to the
negative construction.

* Rule = IL n’ + y + a + pas + de (ill nya paa deuh)

Eg:- IL n’y a pas de chat dans la voiture

(There is not a cat in the car)
Eg:- IL n’y a pas d’étudiants dans le jardin
(There are’nt any students in the garden)
* L’Interrogation:-
To make a question, you can either use ‘est-ce que’ or
‘inversion’.

1. Est-ce que :-
When using est-ce que, the que will become qu' in front of il.
Eg:- Est-ce qu'il y a un chat ?
(Is there a cat?)

Eg:- Est-ce qu'il y a des enfants (awwfo) ?

(Are there any kids?)
2. L’Inversion:-
For inversion, place the pronoun ‘y’ in front, then invert il and a.
Because you will end up with two vowels side by side, you must
add a t between them

Eg:- Y a-t-il un chat ?

(Is there a cat?)

Eg:- Y a-t-il des enfants ?

(Are there any kids?)
Important:- Il y a can also be used with interrogatives
(question words):

Eg:- Combien d'étudiants y a-t-il ?

(How many students are there?)

Eg:- Qu'est-ce qu'il y a ?

(What's wrong?)

Note:- IL y a is also used with definite articles + noun

Eg:- À Paris, il y a la Tour Eiffel (tur A fell).

(In Paris, there is the Eiffel Tower)
 Les Adjectifs interrogatifs
(Layz aadjhaykteef aanteyrogaatif)

(Interrogative Adjectives)
French Interrogative Adjectives (les adjectifs interrogatifs)
are words that are used to ask questions.
Interrogative adjectives allow you to ask questions
distinguishing between multiple possible answers,
Eg. 'Which supermarket do you prefer?' or
'Which brands do you like?'
When asking someone to make a choice between two or
more things, you need the interrogative adjective Quel,
meaning "which" or "what."
Interrogative Adjectives (les adjectifs interrogatifs) are words
that are used to ask for more detail than simply “yes” or “no”.
(They interrogate!)

The interrogative adjectives (question words) in French are:

QUEL? : which? / what? (masculine singular)

QUELS? : which? / what? (masculine plural)

QUELLE? : which? / what? (feminine singular)

QUELLES? : which? / what? (feminine plural)

French interrogative adjectives often – but not always –
appear at the beginning of the sentence.

While pronouncing “Quel/Quelle/Quels/Quelles”,

all these are pronounced as 'kell.'

Eg:- Quel sport (spowr) aimes-tu?

(Which sport do you like?)

Eg:- Quels sacs aimes-tu?

(What bags do you like?)
 Eg:- Quelle heure est-il?
(What time is it?)

Eg:- Quelles villes visitent-ils?

(Which cities do they visit?)

Note:- The adjective interrogative ‘Quel’ in all its forms is

used to frame an exclamatory sentence.

Eg:- Quelle grande surprise! (syurpreez)

(What a great surprise!)
 Eg:- Quel bruit! (bru e)
(What a noise!)

Important:- Adjective interrogative might come after

the subject and verb

Eg:- Tu aimes quels films?

(You like which films?)

Eg:- Vous parlez quelle langue (long)?

(You speak which language?)
 Les Adverbes interrogatifs
(interogatives adverbs)
1. Qui (ki) - Who?
Eg: - a) Qui est-ce?
b) Qui est le professeur de français?

2. Comment - How?
Eg: - a) Comment allez vous?
Note: - In certain cases, comment is used as “what”
Eg: - a) Comment vous appelez vous?
3. Où (ou) - Where? 4. Quand (Koww)- When?
Eg: - a) Où habites-tu? Eg: - a) Quand arrive le train?
(traa)
5. Combien (kombiya) - how much
Eg: - a) Combien ça (sa) coûte (kut)?
(How much does it cost?)
b) Le portable, c’est combien?

Combien de (kombiya deuh) – how many?

Eg: - a) Combien de livres avez-vous?
6. Pourquoi (purkwa) - Why?

Eg: - a) Pourquoi aimes-tu la télé?

Ans: Parce que (paars keuh)....(la raison (laa rayzo)
(because)………(reason)
7. Que (keuh) - What?
Eg: - a) Qu’est ce que c’est?
b) Que regarde-tu à la télé?
L’interrogation - Interrogation(Questions)
The interrogative sentence (la phrase interrogative (laa fraaz
aainteyrogaateev) is used to ask a question. It ends with a
question mark (?)
The forming of questions in French is similar to the way we
form questions in English. Although French has several ways of
asking questions
In French, there are three types of questions:-
 intonation questions
 questions with est-ce que
 questions with inverted word order
1. Intonation Questions:-
The simplest kind of question is an intonation question.
The order of the words doesn’t change — we keep “the subject” –
“verb” – “object” order the same as it is in a sentence.

The only difference is the rising intonation(tone),

which shows that it’s a question.
Eg:- Tu aimes le chocolat = Tu aimes le chocolat?
(Do you like chocolate?)
2. Questions with “est-ce que” (s keuh):-
The Rule here is simple.
Add “est-ce que” at the beginning of a sentence to make it
interrogative.

After “est-ce que”, the sentence keeps its regular form

(subject – verb – object).
Eg:- Vous écoutez de la musique =
Est-ce que vous écoutez de la musique?
(Do you listen to music?)
3. Questions with Inversion:-

An easy, and possibly more formal, way to ask a question

in French is through inverting the subject and the verb.

Interchange the position of the subject and the verb and

introduce a hyphen in between

Eg:- Vous écoutez de la musique =

Écoutez-vous de la musique?
(Do you listen to music?)
 rd
Important:- Note the changes in the 3 person singular form
“il” and “elle”
Eg:- IL parle = Parle-t-il?
st
Note:- To form the interrogative of 1 person singular form
“je”, use the phrase “est-ce que” and rest could be done
using the same rule of inversion.
Eg:- the verbe “arriver” - to arrive
Est-ce que j’arrive?
 Interrogation of verb ‘Arriver’

Je Est-ce que j’arrive?

Tu Arrives-tu?

Il/elle/on Arrive-t-il/elle/on?

Nous Arrivons-nous?

Vous Arrivez-vous?

Ils/elles Arrivent-ils/elles?
4. When the subject is a noun:-
French uses a different structure if the subject is a noun.
In French, we repeat the subject - firstly as a noun,
then as a pronoun, on the structure:
* With Inversion:-

Eg:- Les étudiants arrivent à l’heure

Les étudiants, arrivent-ils à l’heure?
 Le verbe S’appeler - to call oneself

The verb s'appeler is the reflexive form of verb appeler.

In grammar, a reflexive verb is a verb whose direct object is
the same as its subject, for example, "I wake up myself".

S’appeler (saapeuhlay)- to be called

Eg:- Comment tu t’appelles ? What’s your name? -
(What are you called?)
Eg:- Elle s’appelle Gabrielle. Her name is Gabrielle -
(She’s called Gabrielle).
 S’appeler - to call oneself
Pronom sujet Conjugated verb
Je m’appelle (meuhpell)

Tu t'appelles (tapell)

IL/Elle/On s'appelle (sapell)

Nous nous appelons (nuz aapeuhlo)

Vous vous appelez (vuz aapeuhlay)

ILs/Elles s'appellent (zapell)

 Le Pluriel des noms (Plural of nouns)
In English we usually make nouns plural by adding
an -s to the end
(Eg:- garden → gardens; house → houses), although
we do have some nouns which are irregular and do not follow
this pattern (mouse → mice; child → children).

In french, the plural form of a noun is usually formed by

changing the article to les/des and adding an -s to the end of
the word, however there are many exceptions!
Most French nouns also form their plural by adding
an -s to their singular form.
This -s is silent: it is almost never pronounced aloud

Important:- We have to use les/des with plural nouns in French

1 Plurals ending in -s:-
Eg:- Un jardin = a garden Eg:- Une voiture = a car
Des jardins = gardens Des Voitures = cars

Eg:- Un hôtel = a hotel

Des hôtels = hotels

If the singular noun ends in -s, -x or -z, no further -s is

added in the plural
Eg:- Un fils = a son
Eg:- Un nez = a nose Eg:- Un prix = a prize
Des prix = prizes Des fils (fees) =
Des nez = noses
(pree)
sons
(nay)
2 Plurals ending in -x:-
The following nouns add an -x instead of an -s in the plural:

Nouns ending in -eau:-

Eg:- Un bureau = a office
Des bureaux = offices

Most nouns ending in -eu:-

Eg:- Un jeu (jh) = a game
Des jeux = games
A FEW nouns ending in -ou (MOST nouns ending
in -ou add -s as usual)
Eg:- Un bijou (bi jhu) = a jewel Eg:- Un genou (jh nu) = a knee
Des bijoux = jewels Des genoux = knees

Important:- Adding an -s or -x to the end of a noun does not

usually change the way the word is pronounced.
For example, professeur and professeurs and
Bijou and bijoux sound just the same when
you say them out loud.
If the singular noun ends in -al or -ail,
the plural usually ends in -aux.
Eg:- Le journal (jhur naal) = a Eg:- Le travail (tr vaay) = a job
newspaper Les travaux (tra vo) = jobs
Les journaux (jhur no) =
newspaper
Important:- The plural of un œil (euhy)(an eye) is des yeux
(deyz e yeuh) (eyes).

Exceptions:-
Eg:- madame = mesdames
monsieur = messieurs
mademoiselle = mesdemoiselles
3 Plural versus singular:-
A few words relating to clothing are plural in English
but NOT in French.
Eg:- Un short (showrt) = shorts
Un pantalon (pawntalo) = trousers

A few common words are plural in French but NOT in

English.
Eg:- Les affaires (aafair) = business
Les cheveux = hair