Each example below has three parts: the original text, a literal gloss describing how every word works, and a natural translation. The glosses use a few shorthand labels so they stay short. Don't worry about memorising them — this is a reference you can come back to. Person and number · 1sg / 2sg / 3sg — first / second / third person singular (I, you, he/she/it) · 1pl / 2pl / 3pl — first / second / third person plural (we, you-all, they) Gender and case · m / f / n — masculine / feminine / neuter · sg / pl — singular / plural · m.sg — combined: masculine singular (and similarly f.pl, n.sg, etc.) · NOM / ACC / GEN / DAT / INS / LOC — grammatical cases (nominative/accusative/genitive/dative/instrumental/locative) — which role the word plays in the sentence Tense and aspect · PRES — present · PRET — preterite (a finished past event) · IMPF — imperfect (an ongoing or habitual past situation) · FUT — future · PERF — perfect (an action completed with present relevance) · PROG — progressive (action in progress, e.g. am eating) · COND — conditional (would…) Mood · IND — indicative (regular statement) · SUBJ — subjunctive (uncertainty, wishes, doubts) · IMP — imperative (commands) · INF — infinitive (dictionary form: to go, to eat) Other · REFL — reflexive (action on oneself: myself, yourself) · PERS — personal a (Spanish only — marks a human direct object) · HON — honorific (extra-polite form, common in Japanese/Korean) · TOP / SUB / OBJ — topic / subject / object markers (Japanese, Korean) · CL — classifier (Chinese, Japanese, Korean — a counter word for nouns) · NEG — negation
French follows Subject-Verb-Object order, just like English: Marie mange une pomme. Adjectives usually come after the noun (une voiture rouge), though common short adjectives (petit, grand, bon, beau, jeune, vieux) precede it (un petit chien). Adverbs of frequency and manner typically follow the conjugated verb: Il parle bien. Crucially, when an object is a pronoun, it moves BEFORE the conjugated verb: Je le vois (not 'Je vois le'). In compound tenses, pronouns sit before the auxiliary: Je l'ai vu.
Every noun is masculine or feminine and takes a matching article. Definite: le (m), la (f), l' (before vowel/h), les (plural). Indefinite: un (m), une (f), des (plural). The partitive expresses 'some' of an uncountable: du (m), de la (f), de l' (vowel), des (plural) — used with food, drink, abstract qualities: Je bois du café. After negation, partitives become de: Je ne bois pas de café. The prepositions à and de contract with le/les: à + le = au, à + les = aux, de + le = du, de + les = des. They do NOT contract with la or l'.
Subject pronouns: je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles. Use tu for one familiar person, vous for plural or formal singular. Direct object: me, te, le/la, nous, vous, les. Indirect object (to/for someone): me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur. Reflexive: me, te, se, nous, vous, se. Object pronouns precede the verb. Stressed/disjunctive pronouns (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles) appear after prepositions, in isolation, or for emphasis: Avec moi. Moi, je pense que… The pronouns y (there/to it) and en (of it/some) also precede the verb.
Every noun has a gender that must be memorized. Common feminine endings: -tion, -té, -ée, -ie, -ure, -ence. Common masculine endings: -age, -ment, -eau, -isme, -ier. Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Typical pattern: add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural. Many adjectives have irregular feminines: beau → belle, vieux → vieille, blanc → blanche, heureux → heureuse, sportif → sportive. Adjectives ending in -e (m) don't change in the feminine (rouge → rouge). Adjectives normally follow the noun, except short common ones (BAGS: Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size).
French verbs fall into three regular groups by infinitive ending. -er verbs (parler) are the largest and most predictable. -ir verbs split: regular ones like finir add -iss- in plural (nous finissons), while others like partir, sortir follow a different pattern. -re verbs (vendre, attendre) are smaller and mostly regular. Four irregular verbs are essential and used everywhere: être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), faire (to do/make). Memorize their forms early — they also serve as auxiliaries (être/avoir for compound tenses) and as the base of common idioms (faire chaud, avoir faim, aller bien).
The present covers English 'I do', 'I am doing', and 'I have been doing' (with depuis). Regular -er: drop -er, add -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent (parle, parles, parle, parlons, parlez, parlent — the last three of singular and the 3pl all sound the same). Regular -ir (finir-type): -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent. Regular -re: -s, -s, –, -ons, -ez, -ent. The present is also used for near-future plans (Je pars demain) and for ongoing situations begun in the past with depuis: J'habite ici depuis 2010 = 'I've lived here since 2010.'
Passé composé reports completed events: auxiliary (avoir for most verbs; être for ~15 motion/state verbs and all reflexives) + past participle. -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u; many irregulars (faire→fait, voir→vu, prendre→pris). With être, the participle agrees with the subject (Elle est allée). Imparfait describes ongoing/habitual past states or background: drop -ons from nous-present, add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Use imparfait for descriptions ('it was raining', 'I used to…') and passé composé for what happened next.
Two ways to talk about the future. The 'futur proche' (near future) = aller (present) + infinitive — used for plans and imminent actions, very common in speech: Je vais manger. The 'futur simple' is a one-word form built on the infinitive (for -re verbs, drop final -e) + endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. Irregular stems must be learned: être→ser-, avoir→aur-, aller→ir-, faire→fer-, venir→viendr-, voir→verr-, pouvoir→pourr-. Futur simple is preferred for distant, formal, or hypothetical futures, and is required after quand referring to the future: Quand il arrivera…
French negation wraps the conjugated verb in two pieces: ne (n' before vowel) before the verb, and a second word after it. Pas = not (default); jamais = never; rien = nothing; plus = no longer/no more; personne = nobody; aucun(e) = not any. In compound tenses, both parts surround the auxiliary: Je n'ai pas mangé. Personne, however, follows the participle: Je n'ai vu personne. After negation, indefinite and partitive articles (un, une, des, du, de la) become de: Je n'ai pas de voiture. In informal speech, the 'ne' is often dropped: J'sais pas.
Three registers for yes/no questions. (1) Intonation — keep statement order, raise pitch: Tu viens ? (informal). (2) Est-ce que at the start, no other changes: Est-ce que tu viens ? (neutral). (3) Inversion — verb-subject with a hyphen: Viens-tu ? (formal); in 3rd person singular ending in a vowel, insert -t-: A-t-il fini ? Question words (qui, que, où, quand, pourquoi, comment, combien) combine with these: Où est-ce que tu vas ? / Où vas-tu ? / Tu vas où ? 'Qu'est-ce que' = 'what' as direct object; 'qu'est-ce qui' = 'what' as subject.
The default plural marker is -s, which is written but not pronounced: un livre → des livres. Nouns ending in -s, -x, -z don't change: un nez → des nez. Nouns ending in -au, -eau, -eu take -x: un bateau → des bateaux. Most nouns in -al become -aux: un cheval → des chevaux (exceptions: bal, festival → -als). Most in -ou take -s, but seven take -x (bijou, caillou, chou, genou, hibou, joujou, pou). Since the plural ending is usually silent, listeners rely on the article (le/les, un/des) to detect number — so the article carries critical information.
A reflexive verb conjugates with a reflexive pronoun that matches its subject: me, te, se, nous, vous, se. Many describe daily routines or actions done to oneself: se lever (get up), se laver (wash oneself), se brosser les dents (brush teeth), s'habiller (get dressed), se coucher (go to bed). Others are inherently reflexive in form but not in meaning: s'appeler (be called), se souvenir (remember), s'amuser (have fun). In the passé composé, reflexives ALWAYS use être as auxiliary, and the participle generally agrees with the subject: Elle s'est levée tôt.
Elision: certain one-syllable words ending in -e or -a drop that vowel and take an apostrophe before a word starting with a vowel or mute h: le + ami → l'ami; je + ai → j'ai; ne + est → n'est; que + il → qu'il; si + il → s'il (only with il/ils). Liaison: a normally silent final consonant is pronounced and linked to the next word when it starts with a vowel/mute h. Common obligatory liaisons: after determiners (les_amis, mon_ami, un_homme), pronouns (nous_avons, vous_êtes), and short adjectives before a noun (petit_ami). The s and x become /z/, d becomes /t/, f becomes /v/ in 'neuf ans/heures'.