ADVERBS SAYING HOW THINGS ARE DONE:
We often need to describe how things are done, e.g. : rapidly, admirably, carefully.
In French, adverbs are formed by adding “-ment” to the adjective, which is the equivalent of ‘-ly’ in English:
rapide=‘rapid’ becomes rapidement=‘rapidly’;
admirable=‘admirable’ becomes admirablement=‘admirably’;
rare=‘rare’ becomes rarement=‘rarely’.
If the adjective ends in a consonant, e.g. malheureux=’unfortunate’, “-ment” is added to the feminine form.
immédiat
immédiate (f.)
immédiatement
général
générale (f.)
généralement
malheureux
malheureuse (f.)
malheureusement
VOCABULARY :
attentif, attentive (f.)=careful
normal, normale=normal
complet, complète=complete
temporaire, temporaire=temporary
lent, lente=slow
principal, principale=main
Form adverbs from the following adjectives :
1. rapide 2. facile 3. final 4. heureux 5. attentif 6. lent 7. complet 8. normal 9. principal 10. temporaire
11. délicat 12. naïf 13. majestueux 14. seul 15. parfait 16. assuré 17. sincère 18. doux 19. positif 20.
prudent 21. actuel 22. absolu 23. correct 24. grave 25. gai 26. précis 27. franc 28. complet 29. évident
30. sot
I. THE PRONOUN “IT”:
When “it” refers to something which has just been mentioned, we use the same word in French as for “he”
or “she”, depending on the gender of the noun : “Le vin? Il est très bon.”=The wine? It’s very good.
“La voiture? Elle est chère.”=The car? It’s expensive.
Referring to things, “they” is expressed by “ils” or “elles” :
“Les trains? Ils sont rapides.”=The trains? They’re fast.
“Les places? Elles sont réservées.”=The seats? They’re reserved.
VOCABULARY :
l’appareil (m.)=the machine
le restaurant=the restaurant
le produit=the product
le message=the message
la poche=the pocket
la qualité=the quality
clair=clear
l’explication(f.)=the explanation
excellent=excellent
le répondeur automatique=telephone answering machine
en anglais=in English
Translate : 1. The report? It’s very important. 2. The beer? It’s bad. 3. The pocket? It’s full. 4. The
machine? It’s excellent. 5. The restaurant? It’s closed. 6. The quality? It’s very good. 7. The products?
They’re French. 8. The messages? They’re in English. 9. The explanation? It’s not clear. 10. The
answering machine? It’s not expensive.
OBJECT PRONOUNS : “ME”,“HIM”,“HER”, “IT”, “YOU”,“US”,“THEM”,“TO ME”,“TO HIM”,“TO HER”,“TO
YOU”,“TO US”,“TO THEM”,“TO IT”, etc.:
Study the following : Michel le rencontre.= Michel meets him.
Michel la rencontre.= Michel meets her.
Michel les rencontre.= Michel meets them.
Hélène le vend (masculine word).=Hélène sells it.
Hélène la vend (feminine word).=Hélène sells it.
Paul nous félicite.=Paul congratulates us.
Paul vous félicite.=Paul congratulates you.
Sophie me choisit.=Sophie chooses me.
Sophie te choisit.=Sophie chooses you.
Sophie vous comprend.=Sophie understands you.
You will have noticed that :
(1) ‘me’, ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘us’, ‘them’, etc. come BEFORE the verb.
(2) the words for ‘him’, ‘her’, ‘it’ and ‘them’ are just like the words for ‘the’.
(3) the words for ‘us’ and ‘you’ are just like those for ‘we’ and ‘you’ (subject).
(4) ‘me’ in French is me; ‘you’ (familiar singular) is te; ‘you’ (familiar plural/formal singular) remains vous.
INDIRECT object pronouns :
(1) Me, nous, vous and te can also mean ‘to me’, ‘to us’ and ‘to you’:
il me parle=he speaks to me ; il nous répète=he repeats to us ;
elle vous répond=she replies to you ; elle te vend=she sells to you (familiar)
(2) Both ‘to him’ and ‘to her’ are translated by lui : je lui répète=I repeat to him/to her.
‘to them’ is expressed by leur : je leur parle=I speak to them.
(3) Sometimes the ‘to’ is not expressed in English, although clearly intended. Compare the French and the
English : Je lui vends la voiture.=I sell him the car. Nous leur téléphonons.=We telephone them.
(4) Note : me, le, la and te become m’, l’, l’ and t’ in front of a vowel or inaspirate ‘h’ : il m’invite ; elle
l’écoute ; je t’invite.
(5) In the NEGATIVE sentences, note that the 'NE' is always placed before ALL of the direct and indirect
object pronouns (but not the subject pronoun) and the 'PAS' is placed after the verb.
e.g. 1. Je NE le lui donne PAS. 2. NE le lui donne PAS!
However, in the past tenses where an auxiliary verb is required, the 'NE' is again placed before ALL the
direct and indirect object pronouns (but not the subject pronoun) and the 'PAS' is placed after the
AUXILIARY verb. e.g. Je NE le lui ai PAS donné.
ORDER OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS : TABLE TO BE USED EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF
IMPERATIVES IN THE AFFIRMATIVE (For that order, see second table in this handout.)
ME
TE
LE
SE
before :
LA
before : LUI
before : Y before : EN before : VERB
NOUS
L’
LEUR
VOUS
LES
VOCABULARY :
le client=the client
l’ami (m.)=the friend
l’amie (f.)=the friend
la leçon=the lesson
la commerçante=the shopkeeper
brancher=to plug in
mettre en marche=to start, to set going
le mode d’emploi=the operating instructions
Answer the questions using pronouns, as follows : “Vous me comprenez?”=Do you understand me?
“Oui, je vous comprends.”=Yes, I understand you.
1. Elle me cherche? 2. Elle vous consulte? 3. Vous rencontrez le client? 4. Vous copiez la leçon? 5. Il invite
Nicole? 6. Il exporte les voitures? 7. Comprenons-nous le mode d’emploi? 8. Branchons-nous la radio? 9.
Mettons-nous l’appareil en marche? 10. Copions-nous le document? 11. Elles nous répondent en français?
12. Ils téléphonent à Pierre? 13. Ils téléphonent à Nicole? 14. Ils téléphonent à Pierre et à Nicole? 15.
Vous parlez à la commerçante? 16. Vous répondez à vos amis? 17. Vous défendez à vos enfants de rentrer
tard?
II. DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS WITH THE PERFECT TENSE :
When you use a DIRECT object pronoun with the perfect tense, the PAST PARTICIPLE of the verb has to agree
in gender and number with the pronoun :
je l’ai invité= I (have) invited him.
je l’ai invitée= I (have) invited her.
je les ai invités= I (have) invited them [men OR: men and women]
je les ai invitées= I (have) invited them [women]
vous l’avez copié=you (have) copied it [i.e. le document or noun with masculine gender]
vous l’avez copiée= you (have) copied it [i.e. la leçon or noun with feminine gender]
vous les avez copiés= you (have) copied them [i.e. les documents or nouns with masculine gender]
vous les avez copiées= you (have) copied them [i.e. les leçons or nouns with feminine gender]
vous les avez copiés= you (have) copied them [i.e. les documents et les leçons or nouns of both genders]
il m’a trouvé=he (has) found me [man speaking]
il m’a trouvée= he (has) found me [woman speaking]
il nous a trouvés= he (has) found us [men speaking]
il nous a trouvées= he (has) found us [women speaking]
il nous a trouvés= he (has) found us [men and women speaking]
elle vous a consulté= she (has) consulted you [i.e. male doctor]
elle vous a consultée= she (has) consulted you [i.e. female doctor]
elle vous a consultés= she (has) consulted you [i.e. male doctors]
elle vous a consultées= she (has) consulted you [i.e. female doctors]
elle vous a consultés= she (has) consulted you [i.e. male and female doctors]
NOTE that this past participle agreement with the gender and number of the pronoun does NOT apply
when the pronoun is the INDIRECT object pronoun, meaning “to me”, “to him”, “to her”, “to us” etc.
The pronunciation of all these endings is the same, i.e. “ay”. However, when the past participle ends in a
consonant, for example : ‘compris’, the addition of the feminine ending “e” or “es” results in this consonant
being sounded : je l’ai comprise [zher lay kong-preez]=I (have) understood her;
je les ai apprises [zher lay zay ah-preez]=I (have) learnt them [i.e. les leçons=feminine gender in plural]
Answer the questions as follows :
Avez-vous rencontré le client ?=Have you met the client ? Oui, je l’ai rencontré.=Yes, I (have) met him.
1. Avez-vous invité Pierre? 2. Avez-vous invité Nicole? 3. Avez-vous invité Pierre et Nicole? 4. A-t-il
exporté les voitures? 5. A-t-elle consulté le médecin? 6. A-t-elle consulté la diététicienne? 7. A-t-elle
consulté le médecin et la diététicienne? 8. Ont-ils branché la radio? 9. Ont-ils réservé les chambres?
10. Ont-ils perdu la clé? 11. Avons-nous compris le mode d’emploi? 12. Avons-nous compris la leçon? 13.
Avons-nous compris les leçons? 14. Avons-nous compris les livres? 15. Avez-vous mis le CD dans votre
poche?
VERB
ORDER OF DIRECT AND INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS : AFFIRMATIVE IMPERATIVES
MOI, M’
LE
TOI, T’
before :
LA
before :
LUI
before :
Y
before :
EN
L’
NOUS
LES
VOUS
LEUR
In the above positive imperatives (orders/commands) the direct and indirect object pronouns are always
attached to the verb by hyphens, e.g. "Donnez-les-lui!" = "Give them to him/her."
Note that the table immediately above is only used for the imperative mood in the AFFIRMATIVE.
"Eat it !" = "Mange-le!"
For the NEGATIVE imperative, use the first table in this handout : Don't eat it ! = Ne le mange pas!"