Articles about French
720+ articles on French language topics!
-
er pronunciation
The group er in French changes pronunciation depending on where it appears in a word and what type of word it is. The spelling stays constant, but the spoken form differs between verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Er at the end…
-
par
The French word par is one of the most common and wide-ranging French prepositions. It often marks a path, means, cause, rate, distribution, or agent. English has no single word that matches it. Depending on the setting, par may mean…
-
as well as
English “as well as” has several meanings. In French, the right translation depends on the sense of the sentence. Sometimes it simply joins two things. Sometimes it means “in addition to.” Sometimes it compares skill, quality, or degree. The main…
-
past infinitive
The French past infinitive (infinitif passé) is a verb form used to show that one action happened before another action. It is the infinitive equivalent of a completed action. In English, it is often translated with forms such as: For…
-
vin pronunciation
The pronunciation of the French word vin (wine) is a classic example of the evolution of French nasal vowels. While the spelling has remained static for centuries, the actual sound produced by native speakers has shifted significantly, particularly in Metropolitan…
-
-itude nouns are the same
Many English nouns ending in -itude come from Latin or French. Often the spelling stays the same and only the pronunciation changes. All French nouns ending in -itude are feminine. Examples: Some English nouns ending in -itude do not match…
-
-me nouns are masculine
Most French nouns that end in the letters -me are masculine. This holds true even though the final e is silent. The pattern applies to common words and more technical terms alike. Examples of masculine -me nouns: Exceptions exist. Some…
-
-ism nouns become -isme
Many English nouns ending in -ism correspond directly to French nouns ending in -isme. This is one of the most stable and predictable conversion patterns between English and French. The words are usually shared international terms, often built on Greek…
-
-ate verbs become -er
Many English verbs ending in -ate have close French matches ending in -er. This is one of the most useful links between English and French verbs. In many cases the words come from the same Latin root, but French usually…
-
-ous becomes -eux
Many English adjectives ending in -ous have close French matches ending in -eux. This is one of the most useful word patterns in French. It can help with reading and guessing meaning, because a large number of English and French…
-
-ncy becomes -ance or -ence
Many English nouns ending in -ncy (usually -ancy or –ency) have close French matches ending in -ance or -ence. All French nouns ending in -ence or -ance are feminine. This is a useful pattern and can help with reading and…
-
-ty becomes -té
Many French nouns ending in -té match English nouns ending in -ty. Both often come from the same Latin source. The French form usually kept -té, while English often changed it into -ty. Because of this shared history, many pairs…
-
-al becomes -al or -el
Many English adjectives ending in -al have close French matches ending in -al or -el. This is a useful pattern because both languages inherited many of these words from Latin. In many cases, the English and French forms are almost…
-
articles – plural
French plural articles work in much the same way as singular articles, but with fewer forms. The plural definite article has one form for both masculine and feminine nouns. The plural indefinite article also has one form for both genders….
-
articles – singular
French has two main kinds of singular articles. The indefinite article points to one thing that is not yet known, not yet named, or not important to identify. The definite article points to one thing that is known, specific, already…
-
pronunciation of -er verbs in futur simple
Future simple pronunciation in French with -er verbs and the silent e The French future simple tense of most -er verbs is built by adding endings to the full infinitive. On paper, the infinitive stays whole. In speech, though, things…
-
mener vs porter
French has two large families of verbs that often cause trouble for learners: verbs built on mener and verbs built on porter. They often look alike because they take the same prefixes such as ap-, em-, ra-, and re-. Yet…
-
differently
English uses “differently” in many ways. French does not always use one direct match. The best choice depends on what “differently” means in the sentence. The main French words are: Each has its own use. Différemment Différemment is the most…
-
depending on
English uses “depending on” in many ways. It can mean “according to”, “based on”, “if this changes”, or “in relation to”. French does not use one fixed phrase for all these cases. The best choice depends on what follows, and…
-
vous êtes, vous faites, vous dites
Most French verbs use the ending -ez with vous in the present tense. Examples: Yet three very common verbs do not follow this pattern: These forms end in -tes instead of -ez. This is not a random quirk of modern…
