Les négatifs et l’interrogation Grammaire

A. L’élision/La liaison When a verb begins with a vowel or a silent h, “je” is shortened to j’. This is known as elision which means that the vowel has been eliminated. For plural forms, you will make a liaison or a link when the next word begins with a vowel.

Ex. - J’aime la classe de science. (elision) J’habite à Paris. (elision) z Nous aimons la musique. (liaison)

B. Les négatifs You will use the “sandwich” formula to make negatives in French. Sandwich your verb between your bread… “ne” and “pas.” ne verbe pas

The sandwich formula… Subject + ne + verb + pas + rest of sentence n’ Before a vowel

Ex. – Je ne parle pas anglais. Il n’habite pas à Paris.

C. L’interrogation There are four (4) different ways to form a question in French. These ways are…

1. L’intonation Raise your voice at the end of a sentence. Put a question mark at the end. (*This is the easiest way to ask a question.) Ex. – Paul regarde la télé? Ex. – Tu parles français?

2. L’inversion Invert the subject and verb and place a hyphen between them. (*More common in written French! Less frequently used in spoken French!)

Statement Question Tu écoutes la radio. Écoutes-tu la radio? Vous mangez une pizza. Mangez-vous la pizza? Ils voyagent à Paris. Voyagent-ils à Paris?

NOTE: Only subject pronouns are used as subjects with this form! For inversion with il or elle forms, a -t- is inserted between the verb and the subject pronoun. This aids in pronunciation. No other form will take this addition! Ex. – Dîne-t-il au restaurant? Ex. – Joue-t-elle au football?

3. Est-ce que Add this expression before any statement. Before a vowel sound…it will shorten to Est-ce qu’ Ex. – Est-ce que Paul danse bien? Ex. – Est-ce qu’elle chante beaucoup?

4. n’est-ce pas Add this expression after any statement. Like a tag question in English. NOTE: Use a comma to separate! You are asking for confirmation. Ex. – Il travaille beaucoup, n’est-ce pas? Ex. – Anne parle anglais, n’est-ce pas?

FIN!