Unité 1 La grammaire d’Unité 1

Les accents l‘accent aigu – é: makes an “ay” sound. l‘accent grave – è: makes an “euh” sound. Also seen as ù / à to distinguish between words. l‘accent circonflexe – ^: this can occur over any vowel (â / ê / î / ô / û). le tréma – ‘’: this shows that two vowels are pronounced seperately (ë / ï / ü). la cédille - ç: is used under a c before an a, o, u to turn the c into an s sound.

Les nationalités You must make agreement between masculine and feminine, singular and plural. Adjectives are learned in masc. sing. forms, from there you add “e” for the fem. sing. and “s” for the plural. If there is already an “e” or “s” at the end of a nationality, then do not add another.

La politesse Being polite is very important in France. You would address people older or those you don’t know with Bonjour Monsieur / Madame / Mademoiselle. Also, you would use the vous form when you address them. With one’s friends you can be more informal, using Salut for hello and the tu form when you address them.

La politesse When asking how someone is, there are different ways to ask: - Comment allez-vous? (formal or plural) - Comment vas-tu? (singular and informal) - (Comment) Ça va? (informal, but may be heard while the vous is used)

L’Usage des articles indéfinis Indefinite articles are used when you are not talking about a specific item. In English we use a, an, or some while in French we use un, une, or des. - un – used for masculine words - une – used for feminine words - des – used for plural words (no matter if they are masculine or feminine)

Des exemples a boy – un garçon a pen – un stylo a girl – une fille a chair – une chaise some gentlemen – des messieurs some hamburgers – des hamburgers some ladies – des mesdames some pizzas – des pizzas

L’Usage des articles définis Definite articles are used when you are talking about specific items. In English we use the while in French we use le, la, l’ or les. - le – used for masculine singular words - la – used for feminine singular words - l’ – used for singular words that start with a vowel - les – used for plural words (no matter if they are masculine or feminine)

Des exemples the boy – le garçon the pen – le stylo the girl – la fille the chair – la chaise the computer – l’ordinateur the gentlemen – les messieurs the hamburgers – les hamburgers the ladies – les mesdames the pizzas – les pizzas

Souvenez que… Remember that there is no way to know if a noun is masculine or feminine. You just have to memorize the article along with the noun. Remember also that if a noun begins with a vowel, you will need to link the article with the first letter of the noun. Whether it is with an l’, un, une, des, les.

L’usage Possessive adjective - describes that someone owns/has a relation to an object/being. Steps to finding correct possessive adjective: 1st: find who is owning the item 2nd: is object masculine or feminine? singular or plural?

Les adjectifs possessifs Here are the possessive adjectives for each of the singular “owners”: subject masculine feminine plural pronoun je mon ma mes tu ton ta tes il/elle/on son sa ses

Les adjectifs possessifs Here are the possessive adjectives for each of the plural “owners”: subject singular plural pronoun nous notre nos vous votre vos ils/elles leur leurs