Learn French Grammar

Names people (Marie), objects (livre – book), places (Paris), or ideas (liberté – freedom). Every noun in French has a gender — masculine or feminine — and a number — singular or plural.

Shows actions (parler – to speak, manger – to eat), states of being (être – to be, sembler – to seem), or occurrences (arriver – to happen). Verbs change form depending on tense, subject, and mood.

Describes a noun or pronoun (petit – small, intéressant – interesting). In French, adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun and often come after it.

Modifies verbs (parle doucement – speaks softly), adjectives (très beau – very beautiful), or other adverbs (assez vite – quite fast). Most adverbs end in -ment.

Replaces or refers to a noun (il – he, elle – she, ceci – this). Pronouns change form depending on their function—subject, object, or reflexive.

Shows relationships in time (avant – before, après – after) and space (sur – on, sous – under). Many prepositions combine with articles (e.g., au, du).

Connects words or clauses (et – and, mais – but, parce que – because). It helps form more complex sentences.

Expresses emotion or reaction (oh !, zut !, tiens !). Common in spoken French and informal writing.

Introduces a noun and shows specificity or quantity. It includes: Definite (le, la, les—the), indefinite (un, une, des—a, some), and partitive (du, de la, de l’, des—some of). These categories work together to give French its structure, rhythm, and expressiveness.

The foundational structure for a simple French declarative sentence is SVO (Subject-Verb-Object). Example: Je (subject) lis (verb) un livre (complement). (“I read a book.”)

A group of words that includes a subject and a verb. A complete French sentence has at least one independent clause, though it can also include subordinate ones. Example: Je mange parce que j’ai faim (I eat because I’m hungry).

French sentences can express statements, questions, commands, or emotions—these are called declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamative forms.

French sentences can be simple (one clause), complex (a main and subordinate clause), or joined (two clauses linked by punctuation or conjunctions).

Reported speech is used to repeat what someone said in French. It can be direct, quoting exact words (Il dit : “Je viens.”), or indirect, rephrasing with a conjunction (Il dit qu’il vient.), often with tense changes depending on context.

Verbs must agree with their subjects in person and number. Example: Elle parle vs. Elles parlent. (She speaks / They (feminine) speak)

Smooth sentence flow often depends on linking words (et, donc, puis, ensuite) and liaisons, where sounds connect between words (vous avez → [vu.za.ve]).

French punctuation uses marks like the period (.), comma (,), exclamation mark (!), question mark (?), and semicolon (;). Note: some marks, like “!” or “?”, require a space before in French typography.

Extra information is placed between commas, dashes, or parentheses. Example: Paris, la capitale de la France, est magnifique (Paris, the capital of France, is magnificent.)

Used to emphasize a specific part of the sentence. Example: C’est Marie qui a gagné. (It’s Marie who won.)

Voice in French shows whether the subject performs or receives the action: in the active voice, the subject acts (Le chat mange la souris), while in the passive voice, the subject receives the action (La souris est mangée par le chat).

These are the non-finite forms of the verb. The infinitive (parler) is the dictionary form; participles are used to form compound tenses and adjectives. For example: Elle veut parler. (She wants to speak.)

Describes actions happening now or habits. For example: Je vis en France. (I live in France.)

Describes ongoing or habitual past actions, or background situations. For example: Quand j’étais enfant, je jouais dehors. (When I was a child, I used to play outside.)

Describes actions that will happen later. For example: Je vivrai en France un jour. (I will live in France one day.)

Used mainly in literature and formal writing to describe completed actions. For example: Il entra dans la pièce et s’assit. (He entered the room and sat down.)

Used for completed actions in the past, often with avoir or être as auxiliary verbs. For example: J’ai mangé une pomme. (I ate an apple.)

Refers to actions that happened before another past event. For example: J’avais déjà mangé quand il est arrivé. (I had already eaten when he arrived.)

Refers to an action that will be completed before another future event. For example: J’aurai fini mes devoirs avant dix heures. (I will have finished my homework before ten o’clock.)

Expresses possibility, politeness, or hypothetical actions. For example: Je voyagerais si j’avais de l’argent. (I would travel if I had money.)

Refers to what would have happened under different conditions. For example: J’aurais appris le français si j’avais eu le temps. (I would have learned French if I had had time.)

Used after certain expressions to show doubt, desire, or emotion. For example: Il faut que tu viennes. (You must come.)

Describes past actions in a subjunctive context. For example: Je suis content qu’elle soit venue. (I’m glad she came.)

Used to give direct commands or instructions (only has forms for tu, nous, vous). For example: Mange ta soupe! (Eat your soup!)

French learners often make mistakes with gender (le / la), agreements (beau / belle), and verb conjugations (je suis allé / je suis allée). Paying attention to these details as you go through French grammar practice helps your speech and writing sound natural.

In French grammar, most words must agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural). This applies to adjectives, past participles, and articles. Learning agreement rules is essential for writing correctly and speaking fluently.

Certain words look or sound similar but mean different things, such as son (his/her) and sont (are), or ces / ses / c’est. Learning their differences helps you avoid confusion.

Most nouns form the plural with -s (livre → livres), but some are irregular (cheval → chevaux). Adjectives and articles must also agree in number: un chat noir → des chats noirs (a black cat → black cats). 

French sentences usually follow a Subject–Verb–Object order but can change for questions or emphasis. For example, in a statement: Tu manges une pomme (You eat an apple), the subject comes first. In a question, the order can shift: Manges-tu une pomme ? (Do you eat an apple?).

Negation in French is formed with ne... pas around the verb, with other variations including ne... jamais (never), ne... plus (no longer), and ne... rien (nothing).

French questions can be formed in several ways: by using intonation, with est-ce que, or through inversion. All forms are correct, but est-ce que is the most common in everyday speech.

Instead of “isn’t it?” or “don’t you?”, French uses short tags like n’est-ce pas?, hein?, or non?

Used to express doubt, emotion, desire, or necessity. Triggered by phrases like il faut que, bien que, or pour que (it is necessary that, although, so that).

French verbs appear in different forms to express meaning. The indicative is used for stating facts, the subjunctive for doubt or emotion, the conditional for possibility or politeness, and the imperative for giving commands. The passive voice is used when the subject receives the action.

A simple subject has one noun or pronoun (Marie chante.), while a compound subject connects two or more with et or ou (Marie et Paul chantent.). The verb must agree with the full subject.

In French, direct objects receive the action directly, while indirect objects follow a preposition, usually à or pour. Pronouns can replace these objects: Je le vois (I see him) for a direct object, and Je lui parle (I talk to her) for an indirect object.

Common French verbs often have irregular conjugations—être, avoir, aller, faire, venir, pouvoir, savoir, voir. These appear frequently in daily use, so memorizing their forms is essential.

French punctuation has some key differences from English. A space is always placed before punctuation marks like ; : ! ?. Days of the week, months, and national adjectives are not capitalized (e.g., lundi, janvier, français). Also, commas are used instead of decimal points, as in 2,5 euros.