French classes Melbourne

  • imperative mood

    The imperative mood in French is used to give commands, make requests, or offer advice. It is only conjugated in the second-person singular (tu), first-person plural (nous), and second-person plural (vous). A key distinction exists between affirmative (eg, Do something) and negative (eg Don’t do something) imperatives, affecting both conjugation and word order. Affirmative Imperative…

  • il reste

    The French verb rester (“to remain”) gives rise to several useful impersonal constructions that express what is left or remaining. An impersonal construction means the subject of the verb is “il,” which normally means “he,” but instead translates to “it.” So instead of meaning “he remains,” it means “it remains” or “there remains.” 1. The Basic…

  • reflexive verbs imperative

    The imperative mood in French is used to give commands, make requests, or offer advice. When using reflexive verbs (verbes pronominaux) in the imperative, the word order and placement of reflexive pronouns change depending on whether the command is affirmative or negative. 1. Affirmative Imperative with Reflexive Verbs In affirmative commands, the reflexive pronoun follows…

  • adjective position

    In French, most adjectives come after the noun they describe. But some common adjectives come before the noun. How do you know which is which? A good way to remember is with the BAGS rule. đŸ”€ Most Adjectives Come After the Noun In French, the normal position of an adjective is after the noun. Examples:…

  • object pronoun position in passĂ© composĂ©

    In French, when a sentence uses the passĂ© composĂ© (the past tense formed with avoir or ĂȘtre), object pronouns still come before the verb. The verb in the passĂ© composĂ© includes both the auxiliary verb (avoir or ĂȘtre) and the past participle. The object pronoun is placed directly before the auxiliary verb. This rule applies…

  • cours vs corps

    One of the classic pronunciation pitfalls for French learners is the word “cours” (as in un cours de français)—which is often confused with “corps” (as in le corps humain). Although these words are spelled similarly, they sound quite different in French. 1. The Basics: What Do These Words Mean? 2. Pronunciation Breakdown “Cours” [kuʁ] ✅…

  • direct object pronouns

    In French, a direct object is a noun that receives the action of the verb directly, without a preposition. The French term is complĂ©ment d’objet direct, often abbreviated as COD. To avoid repeating the noun, we use direct object pronouns to replace it. A pronoun is a word that replaces a noun (ie a naming…