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Communication
1. There are 4 ways of saying "the" in French: le, la
l', les. These are definite articles.
2. All nouns in French are masculine
or feminine and singular or plural.
3. Words like " the", "a", and "some" in
French must be masculine or feminine and singular or plural
to match the word described.
4. The subject pronouns are: je=I,
tu=you, il=he, elle=she, nous=we, vous=you/y'all, ils=they,
elles=they.
5. When a verb is conjugated, the
six forms are given for the pronouns je, tu, il/elle/on,
nous, vous, ils/elles.
6. A French infinitive of a verb
is translated "to + verb".
7. An infinitive is the unconjugated
verb and can be found in the dictionary.
8. The present tense of a verb is
used to tell about action or state of being that takes place
now.
9. A sentence is made negative by
adding ne before the verb and pas after the verb.
10. Regular verbs follow a pattern
when they are conjugated. All regular verbs in the
same group follow the same pattern.
11. The present tense of -er verbs
is formed by removing the final -er and adding the endings
-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.
12. To connect sentences or words,
use et to mean "and" or use mais to mean "but".
13. To conjugate a verb means to
give in order the correct spelling of the verb for the person
(first, second, third), number (singular or plural), and
the tense (when the action or existence takes place).
14. The present tense of the verb
avoir, which means "to have", is ai, as, a avons, avez, ont.
15. There are 2 ways of saying "a" or "an" in
French: un, une. These are indefinite articles.
16. Adjectives must be masculine
or feminine and singular or plural to match the nouns they
describe.
17. Adjectives usually come after
the noun in French. They come before the noun in English
18. Adjectives in the following
categories are placed in front of the noun. B eauty. A
ge, N umber, G oodness, S ize.
19. The present tense of the verb
faire, which means "to do, " is fais, fais, fait, faisons,
faites, font.
20. The preposition \ means "in,
at," or "to". Au is the required contraction for à with
le. Aux is the required contraction for à with
les.
21. The preposition de means "of" or "from". Du
is the required contraction of de and le. Des is the
required contraction for de and les.
22. The present tense of the verb
prendre, which means "to take" or "to have (food)", is prends,
prends, prend, prenons, prenez, prennent.
23. The near future or futur proche
of the verb is used to tell about action or state of being
that is likely to take place soon and can be translated as "to
be going to do something".
24. The present tense of the verb
aller, which means "to go", is vais, vas, va, allons, allez,
vont.
25. The near future or futur proche
is made by conjugating the verb aller in the present tense
folowed by the dictionary form (infinitive) of the action
verb.
26. The present tense of the irregular
verb vouloir, which means "to want", is veux, veux, veut,
voulons, voulez, veulent.
27. The present tense of the verb être,
which means "to be", is suis, es, est, sommes, êtes,
sont.
28. The possessive adjective "my" is
mon, ma, mes; "your" is ton, ta, tes, votre, vos; "his/her" is
son, sa, ses; "our" is notre, nos; "their" is leur, leurs.
29. To say you are having some or
a part of something use: du, de la, de l', des.
30. To say you need something, conjugate
avoir and add besoin de followed by what you need.
31. After an expression of quantity,
use the preposition de before the noun.
32. The present tense of -re verbs
is formed by taking off the final -re and adding the endings
-s, -s, -, -ons, -ez, -ent.
33. The present tense of regular
-ir verbs is formed by taking off the final -ir and adding
the endings -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent.
34. If you want to say you do something
regularly on a day of the week, put le in front of the day
of the week.
35. Expressions to tell how often
include: quelque fois=sometimes, une fois par semaine = once
a week, de temps en temps = from time to time, souvent =
often, ne. jamais = never, and d'habitude = usually.
36. Use avoir faim to express hunger.
37. Use avoir soif to express thirst.
38. Question words in French include:
quand = when, où = where, avec qui = with whom, and à quelle
heure = at what time.
39. Use de(d') to indicate relationship
or ownership.
40. The present tense of the irregular
verb pouvoir, which means "can, may, to be able," is peux,
peux, peut, pouvons, pouvez, peuvent.
41. When you want to express "I
watch, I am watching, I do watch", and "I have been watching" use
the present tense je regarde. This is true for all
verbs.
Culture
42. Le monde francophone means "the French-speaking world".
43. French is an official language
of 40 countries located on the five continents of Europe,
North America, South America, Africa, and Asia.
44. French is the second most spoken
language in the world. Only English is spoken in more
places than French.
45. To sound less abrupt, don't
use a question word by itself. Use ça after
the question word for a very informal question.
46. Family members and close friends
will often greet each other with one or more kisses on the
cheeks. This is called la bise.
47. The four years of le collège
in France are called la sixième, la cinquième,
la quatrième, and la triosième. These are equivalent
to 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grades in America.
48. French students in la sixième
must choose a foreign language to study usually English.
49. French students in la quatrième
must choose a second foreign language to study.
50. At the end of la troisième
teachers in France decide if a student will go to le lycée
technique.
51. The three years of lycée
are la seconde, la première, and la terminale.
52. At the end of le lycée,
students must take and pass a comprehensive exam known as
le bac.
53. Only students who successfully
complete le lycée, and le bac can go to the university.
54. The French use a 24-hour time
system to give schedules for transportation, schools, stores,
and movies.
55. Classes at le collège
and le lycée are typically 50 minutes long and go
from 8 to noon followed by a 2 hour lunch and again from
2 to 5.
56. Most secondary schools close
for a midweek break on Wednesday afternoons, but there are
regular classes held on Saturday mornings.
57. The French grading system is
based on a scale from 0 to 20. A grade of 9-10 is equivalent
to a C, 11-13 to a B, 14 and above an A. Grades of
19-20 are reserved for truly exceptional work.
58. French schools have two winter
breaks, one at Christmas and one in February, and a spring
vacation at Easter for a total of 5 weeks vacation.
59. The start of the school year
in September is called la rentrée.
60. The French school year typically
begins the first Monday of September .
61. Students in French speaking
countries buy their own textbooks and grade book called livret
scolaire.
62. In most French cities, teens
go to Les Maisons des Jeunes et de la Culture for activities.
63. People may sit as long as they
want in a café as long as they have bought something
and the café is not too busy.
64. When you see the words "servis
compris" it means that the tip is included in the price.
65. Le Métro, the Paris subway,
is an efficient mass transit system with stations named after
people, events, and places in Paris.
66. When French teens go out, they
typically go out en bande, meaning in a mixed group of boys
and girls.
67. The French rarely invite people
into their homes. They meet at a café to talk
and have a beverage or light meal.
68. When speaking of their family,
the French include grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins,
not only their closest family members (parents, brothers,
and sisters) as we do in America.
69. Many people in France prefer
to shop at small specialty stores for fresh food items.
70. Once or twice a week, outdoor
markets called les marchés are set up on the town
square or along the parkway in the middle of a large boulevard.
71. To get the attention of a store
clerk say, <<Excusez-moi de vous déranger>>.
72. Package your own purchases in
a French store.
Connections
73. Well known French sports figures
include Jean-Clause Killey (downhill skier), Yannick Noah
and Natalie Tauziat (tennis), Surya Bonnaly and Phillipe
Candeloro (figure skaters), Yann Bonato (basketball), Jean
Alesi (race car driver), and Richard Virenque (cyclist).
74. Tintin, Babar, and Astérix
are French characters that are familiar to Americans.
75. French speaking entertainers
familiar to Americans include singer Céline Dion and
movie stars Gerard Depardieu and Jean-Claude van Damme.
76. Americans are familiar with
French literature: The Three Muskateers, The Little
Prince, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Hunchback of Notre
Dame , 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, and Les Misérables.
77. Well-known French artists are
Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas, Cézanne,
and Gaugin.
78. The Tour de France, a bicycle
race held each July, was won by Austinite Lance Armstrong
for 7 years. The race takes 3 weeks
and covers 3000 km.
79. Ice hockey is the national sport
of Canada and the Canadian Pee-Wee Hockey League is something
like the American Little League in baseball.
Comparisons
80. Between 40% to 60% of English
words are French in origin.
81. Cognates are words in two or
more languages that are similar in spelling and pronunciation,
and have the same meaning.
82. Idioms are words and expressions
that have no equivalent in another language and cannot be
translated literally.
83. French has two forms of the
word you, a familiar form (tu) for use with family and close
friends, and a polite form (vous) for use with strangers
and for more than one person.
84. There is no French equivalent
for the American title Ms.
85. Days of the week, months of
the year, and adjectives of nationality are not capitalized
in French.
86. Some words that look and sound
similar in French and English are not cognates. These
words are called faux amis or false cognates.
87. The French words for "the, some,
a", and "an" are usually used with nouns even when they are
not used in English.
88. The gender of all nouns in French
must be memorized, especially for nouns that name things
and ideas, since there is no way to know whether the word
is masculine or feminine.
89. In English, the week begins
on Sunday. In French speaking countries, however, it
begins on Monday (lundi).
90. When counting in French, begin
by raising the thumb for number one rather than the pointer.
91. Texas is a little larger than
France but France has 3 times more people.
92. The consanants in the English
word CaReFuL are the only letters usually pronounced at the
end of French words.
Communities
93. French-speaking regions and
countries in North, Central, and South America are the province
of Quebec and Canada, the islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon,
the islands of Martinique and Guadaloupe, Haiti, French Guyana,
and New England and Louisiana in the U.S.
94. At the Harry Ransom Humanities
Research Center at UT in Austin, there are many original
French manuscripts, photos, and drawing.
95. There are artworks by Matisse,
Cezanne, and Manet in the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth.
96. In the McNay Art Museum in San
Antonio, there are impressionist works by Cezanne, Van Gogh,
Renoir, Rodin, Picasso, and Degas.
97. Castroville, Texas was founded
in 1844 by the French from Alsace. Castroville retains
the costumes, music and architecture of the first French
pioneers.
98. In 1685, La Salle, a French
explorer, arrived in Texas near Sabine Pass.
99. In 1839, France was the first
country to recognize Texas as a Republic.
100. In 1995, La Salle's ship was
found in Matagordo Bay.
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