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In this article I introduce you a few grammar rules and somes French idioms to get better in the language.
Do not forget to study with different kind of resources (texts in French with the translation in English) to know more things and feeling more comfortable : agreement, endings, the exceptions, the patterns, pronouns,… To know more French idioms you can use in different situations.
C’est / Il est
c’est (singular)- ce sont (plural)
il est (masculine singular) – elle est (feminine singular) – ils sont (masculine plural) – elles sont (feminine plural)
c’est / ce sont
We use c’est or ce sont to identify or introduce someone, to show someone
Let us see some examples :
C’est Mathieu
Mathieu is a proper name.
C’est Sophie
C’est une voiture → It is a car
voiture is a common name
C’est un billet → It is a money ticket
billet is a common name
Ce sont des billets → These are money tickets
Ce sont mes enfants → These are my children
We use it as well to introduce a date
Aujourd’hui c’est dimanche → Today is Sunday
Demain c’est le 15 juin → Tomorrow is June 15
We use it as well with a MASCULINE adjective
C’est génial → It is great
C’est beau → It is beautifulC’est belle
C’est sale → It is dirty
C’est propre → It is clean
Il est / elle est / ils sont / elles sont
We use adjectives MORE OFTEN with Il est
We use it to describe a person or a thing.
Let us see some examples :
Il est grand → He is tall
grand is an adjective
Elle est grande → She is tall
Elle est belle → She is beautiful
To say the nationality
Ils sont français → They are French
Elles sont anglaises → They are English
IMPORTANT
We do not use articles between the verb and the adjective.Ils sont des françaisElles sont des anglaises
To say the religion
Il est catholique → He is catholic
Elle est musulmane → She is muslim
To say the profession
Il est coiffeur → He is a hairdresser
Elles sont secrétaires → They are secretaries
Ils sont pilotes → They are pilots
Elle est serveuse → She is a waitress
IMPORTANT
We do not use articles between the verb and the adjective.Ils sont des pilotesElle est une serveuse
To say the time
Il est quelle heure → What time is it ?
Il est 10 heures → It is 10 am
How to pronounce Plus ?
Plus → not anymore, no more, no longer. In this case, we do not pronounce the letter s.
Je ne veux plus de soupe aujourd’hui → I do not want anymore soup today
Il n'y a plus de feuille de papier dans le placard → There is no more sheet of paper in the cupboard
Il n’y en a plus → There is none left
In spoken French we say y’en a plus.
Plus → more
In this case plus follow the rules of the liaison.
J’aime plus les chats que les chiens → I like cats more than dogs
In this case we pronounce the letter s like an s.
Il a les yeux plus gros que le ventre means he cannot eat as much as he thinks.
In this case we do not pronounce the letter s.
It depends on two things :
-what is the noun that follows the word plus
-what is the first letter of this word
For 99% of the cases when plus is followed by an adverb or an adjective, if there is a consonnant after plus (plus gros → bigger / plus petit → more little), we do not pronounce the s.
If there si a vowel after plus (plus élégant → more elegant / plus amical → more friendly), we do the liaison an the s is pronounced as a z.
Small sentences
Here are some sentences that we really use in everyday life, some typically French idioms you will hear in friendly conversations in the street.
Quoi de neuf
You can say it to a friend, not to your boss. It means « what’s up ». You say it just after greeting. It is casual and friendly. The answer could be pas grand-chose (not much) or rien de spécial (not much) or Je viens de sauver le monde (I just save the world).
Pas de souci
Pas de souci means no problem.
Let us see an example :
Vous pouvez m’aider à déplacer mon canapé ? → Can you help me move my sofa ?
Ok, pas de souci
Je suis désolé, je suis en retard → I am sorry, I am late
Pas de souci
Pas de souci has several synonymes : pas de problèmes, aucun problème, ça marche
You can use as well the longer form : Il n’y a pas de souci.
The unformal way to say it is Y’a pas de souci.
T’inquiète
T’inquiète means « do not worry ». It seems to mean the opposite of what it says. Ne t’inquiète pas becomes t’inquiète pas which becomes t’inquiète. It is the imperative of the verb inquiéter (to worry). You can add to this expressions c’est pas grave (it does not matter, it is ok).
Let us see an example :
Julien ta tête saigne → Julien your head is bleeding
T’inquiète pas. C’est pas grave → Don’t worry. It is ok
C’est juste une égratignure → It is just a scratch
Tu es sûr que c’est un raccourci ? → Are you sure this is a shortcut ?
T’inquiète
Comme d’habitude
Comme d’habitude means « as usual ». It is a useful idiom for day to day conversations. Sometimes we shorten it in comme d’hab.
Let us see some examples :
Qu’est-ce que tu fais samedi soir ? → What are you doing Saturday night ?
Comme d’habitude : pizza, bière et jeux de société avec des amis → As usual: pizza, beer and board games with friends
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Have a look at the others articles to get more resources, more knowledge of how to make a verb agreement (what are the endings) (conjugation) in a specific grammar situation. Knowing deeper some grammar points in specifi situations : pronouns, nouns, patterns, the exceptions. Learning French idioms, studying with texts with translation.
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Thank you for reading this article !
Thomas 😀
conjugation, speakers