Conceived to meet the essential need for oral communication, French
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a textual description.
Intermediate-Lesson 1
The basic sentence
Three (3) components are usually enough to form a
simple sentence
1- The subject
2- The verb
3- The complement
ex
-Le français est une langue merveilleuse.
-J'étudie le français.
nb: when the subject is a personal pronoun, it is called
subject personal pronoun and it concerns people.
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Intermediate-Lesson 2
The possessive adjectives
The possessive adjectives refer automatically to the
possessor(s) / possession(s) and they agree in gender and
number with the possession which is the noun contrary
to english in case of the following specific possessive
adjectives:
son; sa; ses; ses
So, they are not connected with the possessor but with
the following possession.
le père d'Andréa; son père
la femme de John; sa femme
It will be similar for the plural possessive adjectives, in
the masculine(ses) or in the feminine(ses) eventhough
the difference is not obvious.
les vêtements de Madame Frey; ses vêtements.
les habitudes de Monsieur Cole; ses habitudes
Intermediate-Lesson 3
The relatives pronouns ''Qui'' and ''Qu'(e) ''
As the name indicates, the relative pronouns establishes a
link between at least two parts of the sentence and makes
them become only one.
The usual relative pronouns are: Qui and Qu'(e)
-Qui is used as the subject of the verb in the relative clause
and it refers to somebody or something.
ex: Nous avons un oncle;
il habite aux îles de la madeleine.
Nous avons un oncle qui habite aux îles de la madeleine.
ex: Le café est une boisson;
elle est délicieuse.
Le café est une boisson qui est délicieuse.
-Qu'(e) is used as the object of the verb in the relative clause
and there is another subject applied to the verb of the
relative clause. It refers also to somebody or something.
ex: Elle rencontre un homme dans le métro;
c'est son voisin.
L'homme qu'elle rencontre dans le métro est son voisin.
ex: Le chocolat est un produit;
j'adore !
Le chocolat est un produit que j'adore.
Note 1 :
Contrary to ''Qui'' where the verb agrees with the
antecedent which means the preceding word of the relative
pronoun,
it doesn't in case of ''Que'' because there is another
subject in the relative clause.
Note 2 :
Que becomes Qu' before vowel or silent h
Intermediate-Lesson 4
The simple and compound tenses
Seven (7) tenses can be considered as simple tenses
including the imperfect which refers to the past.
The simple tense implies only one verb without any
auxiliary
ex:
Le matin, elle prend son déjeuner à dix heures (10h00)
When there is an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) with a
following past participle, the whole tense will form part of
the compound tenses category
ex:
Ce matin, elle a pris son déjeuner à onze heures (11h00)
Note 1
If the perfect tense is a compound tense, the compound
tense include not only the perfect tense but also the
pluperfect, the past conditional, the future perfect, the
perfect subjunctive...
auxiliary verb + past participle = compound tenses
(present indicative) + past participle = perfect tense
(imperfect) + past participle = pluperfect
(present conditional) + past participle = past conditional
(future) + past participle = future perfect
(present subjunctive) + past participle=perfect subjunctive
Intermediate-Lesson 5
The reported speech
To report the speech or the thought of someone to others,
the reported speech is necessary in the present or in the past:
-Qu'est-ce que ? ---------------- ce que
ex: ''Je suis jeune'' (Amy)
Qu'est-ce qu'elle dit ? (Peter)
Elle dit qu'elle est jeune (John)
-Qu'est-ce qui ? -------------------ce qui
ex: ''Qu'est-ce qui se passe ?'' (Amy)
Qu'est-ce qu'elle demande ?(Peter)
Elle demande ce qui se passe (John)
-Est-ce que ? ---------------------si
ex: ''Est-ce que tu travailles ?'' (Amy)
Qu'est-ce qu'elle te demande ? (Peter)
Elle me demande si je travaille (John)
nb: Remember that The following interrogative words:
qui ?; où ?; comment ? etc... have to be replaced in the
answers.
ex: Qui es-tu ? Où habites-tu ? et Comment vas-tu ? (Amy)
Qu'est-ce qu'elle te demande ? (Peter)
Elle me demande qui je suis, où j'habite, et
comment je vais.(John)
nb: On ne demande pas une question but
On pose une question
Intermediate-Lesson 6
The subject personal pronouns are six(6):
1- Je but J' before vowel or silent h
2- Tu
3- Il/Elle/On
1- Nous
2- Vous
3- Ils/Elles
1- Je: the first person in the masculine or in the feminine
It refers to me
2- Tu: the second person in the masculine or in the
feminine
It refers to you
3- Il: the third person exclusively in the masculine.
It refers to him
-Elle: the third person exclusively in the feminine
It refers to her
-On: the indefinite pronoun
It refers to us
1- Nous: the first person in the masculine or in the feminine
It refers to us
2- Vous: the second person in the masculine or in the
feminine
It refers to you
3- Ils: the third person exclusively in the masculine
It refers to them
- Elles: the third person exclusively in the feminine
It refers to them
be singular when you adress only one person in the
purpose to be formal
infinitive endings determine each category
conjugation
silent e with the first person
j'étudi(e)
silent es with the second person
tu étudi(es)
silent e with the third person
il/elle/on étudi(e)
pronounced ons with the first person
nous étudi(ons)
pronounced ez with the second person
vous étudi(ez)
silent ent with the third person
ils/elles étudi(ent)
danser, garder, téléphoner
first person, the second group verbs require the same
conjugation
ex: finir
silent s at the the first person
je fini(s)
silent s at the second person
tu fini(s)
silent t at the third person
il/elle/on fini(t)
pronounced issons at the first person
nous fin(issons)
pronounced issez at the second person
vous fin(issez)
silent ent at the third person
ils/elles fin(issent)
choisir, punir
and almost require the same conjugation.
ex: souri(re)
The common endings are:
silent s at the first person
je souri(s)
silent s at the second person
tu souri(s)
silent t at the third person
il/elle/on souri(t)
pronounced ons at the first person
nous souri(ons)
pronounced ez at the second person
vous souri(ez)
silent ent at the third person
ils/elles souri(ent)
plural first person is different than issons, it is a third group
verb.
ex: offrir
silent e at the first person
j' offr(e)
silent es at the second person
tu offr(es)
silent e at the third person
il/elle/on offr(e)
pronounced ons at the first person
nous offr(ons)
vous offr(ez)
silent ent at the third person
ils/elles offr(ent)
rire, ouvrir
take
-d at the third person (singular)
ex: vendre s; s; d; ons; ez; ent
object which is direct or indirect
The direct object refers to someone or something and it is
located directly after the verb without any linking
preposition.
The indirect object refers exclusively to someone with the
linking preposition before the object which is a person.
indirect object, some others will be direct and indirect at
the same time.
Intermediate 
