Grammar Features Summary

Unit 1
Reflexive verbs are verbs where the subject
performs the action on themselves rather than
something else e.g. Je mappelle
Some verbs can be both reflexive and non-reflexive
e.g Je me lave or Je lave la voiture
The infinitive of a reflexive verb has the pronoun
se in front of it e.g. se laver
Reflexive verbs use the reflexive pronouns; they
are: me, te, se, vous, nous, se
Before a vowel of the letter h, me, te, and se
become m, t, and s.
The pass compos of all reflexive verbs is formed
with tre. The correct form of tre is placed
between the pronoun and participle e.g. Il sest
reveill 6h00
The past participle of a reflexive verb agrees with
the reflexive pronoun like an adjective e.g. Elle
sest reveille 6h00
However, there is no agreement when the object of
the action follows the reflexive verb e.g. Elle sest
bross les dents
But in the circumstance that the object is a
pronoun, the participle does agree with it e.g. Elle
se les est brosses
Some verbs can become reciprocal by adding the
reflexive pronoun, meaning they to each other
e.g. Ils se parlent
Sasseoir is a reflexive verb meaning to sit down.
It is irregular.
Je
Massieds
Tu
Tassieds
Il/elle/on Sassied

Nous
Nous asseyons
Vous
Vous asseyez
Ils/elles Sasseyent
Past
Assis(e)(s)
participle
Future stem AssirVenir is an irregular verb meaning to come. These
other irregular verbs follow the same pattern as it:
devenir, revenir, tenir, and se tenir (to behave)
Je
Tu
Il/elle/on
nous
Vous
Ils/elles
Past
participle
Future stem

Viens
Viens
Vient
Venons
Venez
Viennent
Venu(e)(s)
Viendr-

Unit 2
The imperfect (imparfait) is used:
- To say what was happening, what you were
doing at
some point in time
- To describe a habitual or repeated activity in
the past
e.g. Nous habitions dans un petit village, we used
to live in a little village
To form the imperfect, take the present tense
nous form of a verb, remove ons and add the
imperfect endings.
The imperfect endings are:
Je ais

Tu ais
Il/elle/on ait
Nous ions
Vous iez
Ils/elles aient
There is one exception to this rule, tre, which
forms its imperfect from the stem t
The imperative (imperatif) is used to give orders,
instructions, and to make suggestions. To form an
imperative to order or instruct, use the tu or vous
forms of the present tense without the subject
pronouns e.g Viens avec moi!
To form the imperative to make a suggestion that
includes the speaker, use the nous form instead
e.g.
Allons-y!
All verbs follow this pattern except three: tre,
avoir, and savoir. However, all er verbs lose the s
in their tu form, even aller e.g. Parle!
The three exceptions instead conjugate like thus:
tre
Avoir
Savoir
Sois!
Aie!
Sache!
Soyons!
Ayons!
Sachons!
Soyez!
Ayez!
Sachez!
Reflexive verbs form their imperative with the
correct pronoun at the end e.g. lve-toi!, asseyezvous!, levons-nous!
If the imperative is negative the pronoun comes
before the verb e.g. ne te lve pas!, ne vous
asseyez pas!
You can use il faut to say you have to when you
are trying to say one must, or it is necessary to.
Il the impersonal pronoun, and the construction in
either the negative or positive is always followed
by the infinitive.

The past participle is fallu, the inperfect fallait, the

inifinitive falloir, and the future stem faudrAvant de/d is used to express when something
comes before something else, but it only works if
the subject of both actions is the same e.g. Avant
de me coucher, je me douche Before I go to bed, I
have a shower
The use of faire and laisser followed by an infinitive
show that you are making or letting something
happen e.g Je fait mijoter les legumes or Je laisse
reposer la semoule (semolina)
The verb boire means to drink, and is irregular
Je
Tu
Il/elle/on
Nous
Vous
Ils/elles
Past participle
Future stem

Bois
Bois
Boit
Buvons
Buvez
Boivent
Bu(e)(s)
Boir-

Unit 3
Indirect object pronouns replace indirect objects
(those preceded by the preposition ), in the same
way direct object pronouns replace direct objects
e.g Je dois tlphoner mes parents Je dois leur
tlphoner
The pronouns are as follows: me, te, lui, nous,
vous, and leur
In the imperative, the indirect object pronoun goes
after the verb, e.g. parle-lui!

Like reflexive verbs, however, in the negative, the

pronoun goes beore the verb e.g. ne lui parle pas!
If one wants to say X has just done this, one uses
venir de/d + infinitive, but only in the present or
imperfect tenses e.g. Je viens de me doucher I
have just showered, or Je venais de me doucher
quand jai senti la fume I had just showered when
I smelt the smoke
One way to make a suggestion is to use the nous
form of the imperative. Another, more informal,
way is to use si followed by the imperfect e.g. Si on
y allait maintenant? How about we go there now?
The pronoun en replaces things that follow de or
des. It is often the equivalent of of it/them or
some of it/them e.g. Tu veux des chips? Oui, jen
veux bien.
The order of pronouns before a verb is as follows:
reflexive, direct object, indirect object, y, en, with
the ne before all of them.
In the negative, reflexive verbs have ne before the
pronoun and pas after the verb e.g. Elle ne
sintresse pas toi.
In the pass compos put ne before the reflexive
pronoun and pas after the auxiliary verb e.g. Je ne
me suis pas entendue avec Henri
Manquer means to miss but in English syntax it
means to be missed. The person or the thing that
is missed is the subject of the verb e.g. Il me
manque I miss him
Plaire works the same way e.g. Elle me plait I
like her