French Grammar and Usage French Grammar and Usage Second edition Roger Hawkins Senior Lecturer in Language and Linguistics, University of Essex Richard Towell Professor of French Applied Linguistics, University of Salford NATIVE SPEAKER CONSULTANT Marie-Noëlle Lamy Senior Lecturer, Open University A member of the Hodder Headline Group LONDON Contents Guide for the user xi Glossary of key grammatical terms xiv Acknowledgements xx Acknowledgements for the second edition xxi 1 Nouns 1 1.1 Types of noun 1 1.2 Gender 5 1.3 Number 17 2 Determiners 23 2.1 Articles 23 2.2 Typical use of the definite article 24 2.3 Typical use of the indefinite article 29 2.4 The partitive article: du, de l', de la, des 32 2.5 Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative forms ne... pas, ne... jamais, ne... plus, ne... guère 33 2.6 Omission of the article 34 2.7 Demonstrative determiners 37 2.8 Possessive determiners 39 3 Personal and impersonal pronouns 40 3.1 Subject pronouns 40 3.2 Object pronouns 53 3.3 Stressed pronouns 71 3.4 Demonstrative pronouns 75 3.5 Possessive pronouns 76 4 Adjectives 78 4.1 Adjectives modifying the noun 78 4.2 Adjectives which follow verbs or verbal expressions 83 4.3 Adjectives with complements 84 4.4 Indefinite and negative noun phrases with adjective complements 85 4.5 Adjectives used as nouns 85 4.6 Adjectives used as adverbs 86 4.7 Masculine and feminine forms of adjectives 86 4.8 Plural forms of adjectives 89 4.9 Adjective agreement with nouns 91 vi Contents 4.10 Invariable adjectives 91 4.11 Compound adjectives 92 4.12 Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives 93 4.13 Subjunctive versus indicative in clauses dependent on a superlative adjective 96 4.14 Absolute use of the superlative 97 5 Adverbs 98 5.1 Function of adverbs 98 5.2 Formation of adverbs with the ending -ment 98 5.3 Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of -ment 101 5.4 Phrases used as adverbs 102 5.5 English and French adverb formation 104 5.6 Types of adverbs 104 5.7 Location of adverbs 122 6 Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers 126 6.1 Cardinal numbers 126 6.2 Ordinal numbers 133 6.3 Fractions 134 6.4 Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers in French and English 135 6.5 Measurements and comparisons 138 6.6 Dates, days, years 140 6.7 Clock time 142 6.8 Money 143 6.9 Quantifiers 143 7 Verb forms 147 7.1 Introduction 147 7.2 Conjugations 148 7.3 Easy ways of generating some parts of the paradigms 149 7.4 Changes in the stem form of some -er conjugation verbs 152 7.5 Verbs whose stems end in c- or g- 153 7.6 Verb paradigms 154 8 Verb constructions 186 8.1 Relations between verbs and their complements 186 8.2 Intransitive constructions 186 8.3 Directly transitive verbs 188 8.4 Indirectly transitive verbs 190 8.5 Ditransitive verbs 192 8.6 The passive 194 8.7 Pronominal verbs 197 8.8 Impersonal verbs 204 8.9 Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements 207 Contents vii 9 Verb and participle agreement 208 9.1 Subject-verb agreement 208 9.2 Agreement of the past participle with the subject of être 212 9.3 Agreement of the past participle of verbs conjugated with avoir with a preceding direct object 213 9.4 Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in compound tenses 220 10 Tense 222 10.1 Introduction 222 10.2 The present 222 10.3 The past 223 10.4 The future 228 10.5 Other tenses indicating the time at which events occur relative to other events 232 10.6 Combining tenses 235 10.7 Tenses in direct and reported descriptions of events 238 10.8 Tenses with si 240 11 The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives 241 11.1 The attitude of the subject to events: the subjunctive 241 11.2 The use of devoir, pouvoir, savoir, falloir 258 11.3 The French equivalents of the English modal verbs: 'would', 'should', 'could', 'may', 'might', 'ought to', and 'must' 262 11.4 Exclamatives 267 11.5 Imperatives 269 12 The infinitive 273 12.1 Introduction: what are infinitives? 273 12.2 Infinitives as complements to other verbs 274 12.3 Verbs which take infinitive complements without a linking preposition 274 12.4 Verbs which take infinitive complements preceded by the preposition à 277 12.5 Verbs which take an infinitive complement preceded by de 282 12.6 Omission of objects before infinitives 288 12.7 Infinitives as complements to adjectives 289 12.8 Infinitives as complements to nouns 291 12.9 Infinitives in subordinate clauses 293 12.10 Infinitives as polite commands 294 12.11 Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive complements 294 13 Prepositions 301 13.1 Introduction 301 13.2- Prepositions listed alphabetically from à to vers 301 13.58 13.59 French translations for common English prepositions 325 viii Contents 14 Question formation 332 14.1 Introduction 332 14.2 Yes/no questions 332 14.3 Information questions 336 14.4 Order of object pronouns in questions involving inversion 341 14.5 Order of negative particles in questions involving inversion 341 14.6 Use of question words and phrases: qui?, que?, quoi?, quel?, de qui?, avec combien de? etc. 341 14.7 Indirect questions 346 15 Relative clauses 349 15.1 Introduction 349 15.2 Use of relative qui 350 15.3 Use of relative que 351 15.4 Preposition plus qui 352 15.5 Use of lequel in relative clauses 352 15.6 Use of dont, de qui, duquel/de laquelle/desquels/desquelles 354 15.7 The use of où as a relative pronoun 355 15.8 Use of relative quoi 356 15.9 Free relative clauses and the use of ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce à quoi, ce sur quoi, etc. 357 15.10 Translating 'whoever', 'whatever', 'wherever', 'whenever', 'however' 359 15.11 Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses 361 16 Negation 365 16.1 Introduction 365 16.2 Location of sentence negators 365 16.3 Order of negators in multiple negation 368 16.4 Omission of ne in sentence negation 368 16.5 Order of negative elements in questions and imperatives 369 16.6 ne... pas 369 16.7 ne... que 373 16.8 ne... aucun(e), ne... nul(le) 373 16.9 ne... jamais 374 16.10 ne... plus 375 16.11 ne... guère 376 16.12 ne... rien 377 16.13 ne... personne 378 16.14 ne... ni... ni 379 16.15 sans used with other negators 380 16.16 ne used alone 380 17 Conjunctions and other linking constructions 382 17.1 Introduction 382 17.2 Coordinating conjunctions 382 17.3 Subordinating conjunctions 384 Contents ix 17.4 Conjunctions sometimes confused by English speakers 394 17.5 Repeated subordinating conjunctions 395 17.6 Subordinating conjunctions used with infinitive clauses 396 17.7 après avoir/ être + past participle linking an infinitive clause to a main clause 397 17.8 Past participle phrases used as linkers 397 17.9 Present participles and gerunds 398 Appendix 402 Bibliography 405 Index 407 Glossary of key grammatical terms Items in bold in the definitions are also defined in the glossary. adjective - a class of words which modify nouns. Adjectives appear adjacent to nouns or separated from them by verbs like être, devenir, rester: e.g. un PETIT problème 'a small problem'; une boîte CARRÉE 'a square box'; Cette robe est CHÈRE 'This dress is expensive'. adverb - a class of words which modify words, phrases and sentences: e.g. Tout est si clair 'Everything is so clear'; Je fume MODÉRÉMENT 'I smoke mod erately'; JUSTE avant le départ du train 'Just before the train leaves'; SOUDAIN, j'ai entendu un bruit 'Suddenly I heard a noise'. adverbial - a word or phrase which can function as an adverb, although it also has other functions: e.g. parler BAS 'to talk quietly' (bas = an adjective); Je lui rends visite DE TEMPS EN TEMPS 'I visit her from time to time' (de temps en temps = a prepositional phrase); Elle travaille LE MATIN 'She works in the mornings' (le matin = a noun phrase). affirmative sentence - a sentence which is not a negative: e.g. Elle parle 'She is speaking'; Parle-t-elle? 'Is she speaking?'; Parle! 'Speak!' (as opposed to the negative sentences: Elle ne parle pas, Ne parle-t-elle pas? Ne parle pas!). agreement - a form the verb must take to be compatible with a given subject: e.g. NOUS mangeons 'We're eating'/Vous mangez 'You're eating'. A form a determiner and an adjective must take to be compatible with a given noun: e.g. UN BON REPAS 'A good meal'/UNE BONNE BIÈRE 'A good beer'. A form a past participle must take to be compatible with a preceding direct object: e.g. le coffre? Je L'AI OUVERT 'The car boot? I've opened it': La porte? Je L'ai OUVERTE 'The door? I've opened it'; and so on. article - definite article = le, la, les; indefinite article = un, une, des. The 'parti tive' article - du, de la, des - indicates that a noun refers to something which is part of a larger mass: e.g. du gâteau 'some (of the) cake'; des abeilles 'some bees'. auxiliary verb - the verbs avoir or être which accompany a past participle in compound tenses or the passive: e.g. Elle A mangé 'She has eaten'; Le vélo A ÉTÉ réparé 'The bike has been repaired'. cardinal number - a number in the series un (1), deux (2), trois (3), etc. clause - a string of words which contains just one verb phrase and a subject (whether overt or implied): e.g. ELLE PART 'She's leaving' - one clause; DEPUIS JANVIER LES PRIX ONT AUGMENTÉ 'Since January, prices have gone up' - one clause; IL EST HEUREUX/PARCE QU'IL EST RICHE 'He is happy because he is rich' - two clauses; ELLE EST PRÊTE/A PARTIR 'She is ready to leave' - two clauses Glossary of key grammatical terms xv (in à partir the subject is implied: She is ready, and she will leave); LES CIR CONSTANCES AIDANT/LE PARTI GAGNERA CES ÉLECTIONS 'If the conditions are right, the party will win this election' - two clauses; II DIT/QU'ON CROIT/QU'ELLE VA PARTIR 'He says that they think that she will leave' - three clauses. Also see coordinate clause, relative clause, subordinate clause. comparative - a way of modifying adjectives and adverbs to draw a com parison between one entity and another: // veut acheter une PLUS GRANDE/une MOINS GRANDE/une AUSSI GRANDE voiture 'He wants to buy a bigger car/a car which is not as big/a car which is just as big'; Cette voiture-ci roule PLUS VITE/MOINS VITE/AUSSI VITE QUE l'autre 'This car goes faster/slower/as quickly as the other one'. complement - any phrase which follows a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, to form an expression with a cohesive meaning: e.g. un appartement À LOUER 'a flat to let'; Ils se réunissent LE DIMANCHE AU STADE 'They meet on Sundays at the stadium'; Pierre est difficile À VIVRE 'Pierre is difficult to live with'. coordinate clause - a clause linked to another by et, ou, mais: e.g. Il est riche ET il est heureux 'He is rich and he is happy'. declarative sentence - a sentence which makes a statement (as opposed to a question or an imperative). demonstrative - demonstrative determiner = ce, cette, ces; demonstrative pro noun = celui, celle, ceux, celles. determiner - an article (un, une/le, la, les/des, etc.), demonstrative determiner (ce, cette, etc.) or possessive determiner (mon, ma/ton, ta, etc.) which modi fies a noun. direct object - see object. directly transitive verb - see transitive verb. ditransitive verb - see transitive verb. finite verb - a verb which is marked for tense and agreement, as opposed to non-finite forms like the infinitive, imperative, participles: e.g. Je PARLE 'I'm speaking'; J'AI PARLÉ T spoke'; Je SAIS parler français T can speak French'. formal French - in this grammar 'formal French' refers to a style used by speak ers of standard educated French when they are paying particular attention to the form of what they are saying or writing. It is a style usually appro priate when someone is speaking in an official capacity (lectures, sermons, speeches, etc.), or writing in learned, academic or literary style. Features of formal French which are absent from informal French include: the use of the simple past tense (Il SORTIT 'He went out'), the use of the past anterior tense (Aussitôt qu'il FUT SORTI ... 'As soon as he had gone out ...'), reten tion of ne in ne . . . pas. gender - a division of nouns into two classes: masculine and feminine. The distinction shows up mainly in determiners (le versus la, ce versus cette, mon versus ma, etc.), in pronouns (il versus elle) and in the agreement of adjec tives with nouns (beau versus belle). Gender distinctions are grammatical and need not correspond to sex distinctions in the real world (although they mostly do): e.g. médecin 'doctor' is masculine, but can refer to men or women; personne 'person' is feminine but can refer to men or women. gerund - see participle. xvi Glossary of key grammatical terms imperative - a form of the verb used to give orders, express encouragement or give advice: e.g. ASSEYEZ-VOUS! 'Sit down!'; ALLEZ! 'Come on!'; FAIS atten tion^. 'Watch out!' impersonal - refers to a pronoun (usually a subject pronoun) which does not refer to any person, place, thing, idea etc. il, ce, cela, ça can be impersonal pronouns in French: e.g. IL est temps de partir 'It's time to leave'; ÇA me fait peur d'y aller la nuit 'It scares me to go there at night'. indicative - the set of forms of the verb which are not subjunctive, impera tive, infinitive or participial. indirect object - see object. indirectly transitive verb - see transitive verb. infinitive - a form of the verb which ends in -er, -ir, -re, -oir, and corresponds to English 'to': AIMER 'to like', FINIR 'to finish', VENDRE 'to sell', RECEVOIR 'to receive'. informal French - in this grammar 'informal French' refers to a style used by speakers of standard educated French in contexts of relaxed, spontaneous communication when they are interacting with friends, colleagues, family, etc. Features of informal French include: the non-use of the simple past or past anterior tenses, and the regular omission of ne from ne ... pas. intransitive verb - a verb which has no direct object: e.g. La neige TOMBAIT 'Snow was falling'. modify, to - to add to the meaning of a noun, verb, adjective, etc. by adding another word or phrase to it: e.g. manteau, UN manteau, UN manteau GRIS; oiseau, UN oiseau, UN oiseau QUI CHANTE; parle, IL parle, IL parle LENTEMENT; grand, si grand, ELLE EST SI grande. negator - one of the elements aucun, jamais, ni, nul, pas, personne, plus, rien which can create negative expressions (see Chapter 16). noun - a class of words which refers to people, places, things, ideas, and so on; it is usually preceded by a determiner: e.g. un AMI; la FRANCE; une BIÈRE; le BONHEUR. noun phrase - the phrase consisting of a noun alone, or a noun and the ele ments which modify it. Each of the following is a noun phrase: PIERRE, LE SOLEIL, UN CHER AMI 'a dear friend', UNE BIÈRE BIEN FROIDE 'a really cold beer', CHACUN DE MES AMIS LES PLUS CHERS 'each of my dearest friends'. number - a grammatical distinction between nouns or pronouns which are singular and those which are plural. Number distinctions need not corre spond to real singular and plural distinctions in the world, and can differ between English and French (although mostly the grammatical and real- world distinctions coincide): e.g. 'hair' (singular) versus cheveux (plural); 'trousers' (plural) versus pantalon (singular). See also cardinal number and ordinal number. object - a direct object is the noun phrase or pronoun affected directly by the action described by the verb: e.g. Il a pris LE TRAIN 'He took the train'; 17 L'a pris 'He took it'. An indirect object is the noun phrase or pronoun affected indirectly by the action described by the verb. In French, indirect object noun phrases are always introduced by à: e.g. 17 a envoyé un cadeau À SA MÈRE 'He sent a present to his mother'. An object of a preposition is any noun phrase