les adjectifs de couleur

Bonjour!

Il fait beau aujourd'hui. J'aime les arbres verts et les fleurs roses dans le jardin.

"Colours" is one of the earliest topics in the Beginner courses because they are some essential vocabulary items. They can be nouns or adjectives:

le rouge (n) - rouge (adj.)

le blanc (n.) - blanc (adj. / m.) / blache (adj. / f.)

When we use adjectives, we have to make sure that they agree with the nouns they modify: masculine? feminine? singular? plural?

Look at the above example. The adjectives "verts" and "roses" are in the plural form because of the nouns "arbres" and "fleurs". 

However, this rule does not apply to "orange", "marron", "prune", "cerise", "banane" (usually it refers to the shape, i.e. banana-shaped, rather than the colour)..., for they are originally fruits.

des chaussures noires

des chaussures orange / marron

We don't put "e" or "s" after the "fruit" adjectives. The same rule can be applied to jewels, like "émeraude", "turquoise" and "saphir". They don't take "e" or "s", either.

Of course, not all fruits and jewels can be used as adjectives. Sometimes, even when they can, this rule may not be applied... Don't worry. You can always look up the dictionary. If it says "adjectif invariable".

C'est facile, non? Au revoir!

le gérondif

Bonjour à tout le monde!

Today's topic is not difficult - le gérondif, which means 2 actions en même temps   and  les 2 actions ont le même sujet (= "while verb+ing"). 

To be frank, I have not formally learnt this verb form yet, but I do know its basic use because two teachers have mentioned it before.

le gérondif = en + participe présent

It is easy to form le participe présent:

1. make sure you know the spelling of the present tense conjugations
2. take the root of the 1st person plural (nous)
3. - ons
4. + ant

For example:

parler => parlons - ons + ant => parlant

choisir => choisissons - ons + ant => choisissant

venir => venons - ons + ant => venant

Ok, let's take a look at the following examples to learn the usage:

ex. Nous déjeunons en regardant la télévision.

ex. Il lit en écoutant de la musique.

ex. Ils travaillent en discutant.

How easy this grammar rule is! (... because I introduced a difficult topic yesterday and I need a break! ^O^)

Merci et à bientôt!

Il faut que ... + le subjonctif présent

Bonjour! Comment ça va?

Aujourd'hui, je vais vous présenter le subjonctif présent qui est très difficile. 

Just like English, the subjunctive mood in French is used to express wish and opinion. However, unlike English, the spelling of the verbs au subjonctif présent is very tricky (You know, the English present subjunctive is very easy - bare infinitive!!!)

First of all, you have to know the spelling of the present form

This time, we pay attention to the roots: 

For je, tu, il and ils, we take the root of the 3rd person plural (ils) + e / es / e / ent
For nous and vous, we take the root of the 1st person plural (nous) + ions / iez 

We may think that the conjugations are not very complicated. This is NOT true!!! The above verbs are regular ones. There are always irregular ones. Take venir as an example:

See, it is more difficult! What's more, there are exceptions: avoir, être, aller, faire, pouvoir, savoir, vouloir... but I am not getting into those this time (I feel dizzy now...)

Before ending today's topic, let's read some sentences beginning with Il faut que:

ex. Il faut que tu manges ce plat de crabes. (manger)
ex. Il faut que vous mangiez ce plat de crabes. (manger)

ex. Il faut que tu aies un visa pour aller en Chine. (avoir)
ex. Il faut que vous ayez un visa pour aller en Chine. (avoir)

C'est tout. Merci et au revoir!

words with un accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û)

Bonjour à tous!

Hurray! There are no lessons this week, so I can have a mini break before the start of the new academic year (OMG! ANOTHER LONG YEAR TO GO!!!). Anyway, I am going to work on the blog again!!!

Today's topic is quite interesting - words with un accent circonflexe (â, ê, î, ô, û). Okok, when it comes to spelling, nothing is interesting... but did you know that this accent exists for a reason (or many reasons, but I only know one...) - it has replaced the letter "s".

You know, words in any language have changed a lot over time. Some French words like "hôpital", "forêt", "île" and "pâte" were originally spelt with an "s": "hospital", "forest", "isle" and "paste". However, as the "s" sound was no longer pronounced, the letter "s" was then deleted and the accent was added to indicate a longer vowel sound.  

feste => fête (holiday / party)

estre => être (be)

These are some other examples, but they don't resemble their English counterparts. 

On the other hand, some accents have replaced other letters:

aage => âge

meur => mûr

seur => sûr

Maybe I am a weirdo as I think the history of language is captivating (I am weak at spelling though...). Tomorrow, I am going to start a very difficult topic - le subjonctif présent. I have been avoiding this conjugation for some time (I first learnt about it in the last oral workshop and I found it super complicated), but the teacher of the regular class started this topic last Friday, so there is no way I can ignore it anymore...

Meric et  à demain!

grâce à? à cause de? en raison de?

Bonjour!

Je ne suis pas allée au bureau aujourd'hui grâce au typhon!!! (I did not go to work today thanks to the typhoon!!!) C'est magnifique!

Maybe let me talk about the prepositions we use to express reasons: "grâce à",  "à cause de" and "en raison de".

"Grâce à" means "thanks to", so it should be used to talk about the reasons leading to good results. 

In the above example, the reason is "le typhon" and the good result is "Je ne suis pas allée au bureau aujourd'hui". Don't forget to change "à" and "le" into "au".

ex. Nous somme arrivés à l'heure grâce à toi.

ex. Il a fini son travail grâce aux conseils de son professeur. 

Attention! à + les = aux

While "grâce à" is used to talk about something good, "à cause de" and "en raison de" are used to mention the reasons leading to bad consequences. 

ex. Nous ne sommes pas sortis à cause du / en raison du mauvais temps.

ex. J'ai perdu mon emploi à cause de / en raison de la mauvais économie.

ex. La chaise dans le jardin est cassée à cause des enfants.

There are several things we need to pay attention to:

1. de + le = du; de + les = des

2. It is said that it would be weird if "en raison de" is followed by people. (?)

3. Some people think it would be ok to use "en raison de" even when you are not blaming the cause, i.e. it can be used in all cases. (?)

Don't forget we have conjunctions "car" and "parce que" to talk about reasons. However, as they are conjunctions, they should be followed by a clause (subject + verb), but not a noun.

OK, that's all for today!

Merci et au revoir!

Le passé composé avec l'auxiliaire "avoir" et le COD

Bonsoir à tous!

Wow! I haven't written for nearly two weeks!!! Luckily, I have got some drafts, so I can write an article without taking me too much time!

C'est parti! 

Today's topic is about the use of le passé composé avec l'auxiliaire "avoir" et le COD. I always make mistakes on this one!!!! Let's read the following example first.

Quels sont les ingrédients que vous avez utilisés pour faire ce gâteau?

Pourquoi il y a un "s" après le participe passé "utilisé"? (Why is there an "s" after the past participle "utilisé"?)

Pour le passé composé avec l'auxiliaire "avoir":

1. Si le COD est après le verbe => pas de problème

2. Si le COD est devant le verbe, alors vous devez accorder le participe passé avec le COD

If the direct object goes before the verb, you have to pay attention to its gender and singularity, and make changes to the verb accordingly. This is just like what we have to do when the auxiliary verb is "être"! Let's read more examples:

Où as-tu mis les clés?

Je les ai mises dans ton sac.

In the question, the object is after the verb, so you can see that nothing is put after le participe passé "mis". 

In the answer, "les" (= les clés) is put before the verb; therefore, "e" and "s" should be added as the object is feminine and plural.

Est-ce que tu as regardé la télévision hier soir?

Oui, je l'ai regardée.

Again, in the question, the object is after the verb, so nothing is put after le participe passé "regardé". 

In this case, "l'" (= la télévision) is put before the verb; therefore, "e" should be added as the object is feminine.

Est-ce que tu as fini les exercises?

Oui, je les ai finis.

Non, je ne les ai pas finis.

I guess you understand the grammar point without reading my explanation...

Anyway, I am still happy to elaborate a little.

In this question, the object is after the verb, so nothing is put after le participe passé "fini". 

This time, "les" (= les exercises) is put before the verb; therefore, "s" should be added as the object is plural.

Actually, this grammar rule is not complicated at all, but I keep forgetting the "e" and "s"... because to me, the use of le passé composé is still difficult... Whenever I come across a sentence talking about the past, I have to think about:

1. le passé composé or l'imparfait?

2. If le passé composé, "avoir" or "être"?

3. the correct spelling of le participe passé

Then, I think I have already finished the question and move on to the next one... as a result, something is always missing... pathetic!

OK, I have finished explaining this grammar rule. I hope I can have time for the blog soon!