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Cheatography

French grammar rules Cheat Sheet (DRAFT) by

Basic French grammar rules.

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Subject pronouns

English
French
I
je (j')
You (singular)
tu
He/it (mascu­line)
il
She/it (feminine)
elle
One/we
on
We
nous
You (plura­l/f­ormal)
vous
They (mascu­line)
ils
They (feminine)
elles
Use: To replace nouns when it is clear who is being talked about.

Present tense conjug­ation

Pronoun
-ER verb ending [-CER/GER]
-RE verb ending
-IR verb ending
Je
-e
-s
-is
Tu
-es
-s
-is
Il/Elle/On
-e
-
-it
Nous
-ons [-eons­/çons]
-ons
-issons
Vous
-ez
-ez
-issez
Ils/Elles
-ent
-ent
-issent
Conjug­ation: Pronoun + present tense stem + present tense ending (er, re, or ir)
Present tense stem: Remove the '-er', '-re' or '-ir' from the end of the verb.
Meaning: I verb, I am verb-ing, I do verb

Future tense conjug­ation

Pronoun
Ending
Je
-ai
Tu
-as
Il/Elle/On
-a
Nous
-ons
Vous
-ez
Ils/Elles
-ont
Conjug­ation: Pronoun + future tense stem + Avoir present tense ending (irreg­ular)
Future tense stem: The full infini­tive.
Meaning: I will verb

Emphatic pronouns

English
French
Me
moi
You (singular)
toi
Him
lui
Her
elle
Us
nous
You (plura­l/f­ormal)
vous
Them (mascu­line)
eux
Them (feminine)
elles
Use: For emphasis (e.g. moi, je...), on its own, after a prepos­ition (e.g. avec eux; derriere moi), in comparison (e.g. rapide que toi), to denote belonging (c'est à moi), after 'c'est' and 'ce sont', and combined with 'même' (e.g. moi-même (myself))

Indirect object pronouns

English
French [before vowel]
To me/for me
me [m']
To you/for you (singular)
te [t']
To him/for him/to her/for her/to it/for it
lui
To us/for us
nous
To you/for you (plura­l/f­ormal)
vous
To them/for them
leur
Use: To refer to a person­/thing as a recipient of an action. It replaces 'à + noun'.
Word order: The inDOP usually comes directly in front of the verb (e.g. il ne nous parle pas), unless used in positive impera­tives (e.g. montre-le nous). In impera­tives, 'me' and 'te' are also replaced with 'moi' and 'toi' (e.g. donne-moi ça).
TBC
 

Imperfect tense conjug­ation

Pronoun
Ending
Je
-ais
Tu
-ais
Il/Elle/On
-ait
Nous
-ions
Vous
-iez
Ils/Elles
-aient
Conjug­ation: Pronoun + present tense stem + imperfect tense ending
Present tense stem: Remove the '-er', '-re' or '-ir' from the end of the infini­tive.
Meaning: I used to verb, I was verb-ing

Condit­ional tense conjug­ation

 
Future tense stem: the full infini­tive.
Conjug­ation: Pronoun + Future tense stem + Imperfect tense ending
Meaning: I would verb

Possessive adjectives

English
Masculine singular
Feminine singular
Plural
My
mon
ma
mes
Your
ton
ta
tes
His/her
son
sa
ses
Our
notre
notre
nos
Your
votre
votre
vos
Their
leur
leur
leurs
Use:

Demons­trative adjectives

English
Masculine
Feminine
This/that
ce/cet
cette
These/­those
ces
ces
Use: To point out a particular thing or person

Indefinite adjectives

English
Singular [feminine]
Plural [feminine]
Other
autre
autres
Every
chaque
-
Same
même
mêmes
Some/a few
-
quelques
All/every
tout[e]
tous [toutes]
Use: To talk about people or things in a general way without saying exactly who or what they are.

Direct object pronouns

English
French [before vowel]
Me
me [m']
You (singular)
te [t']
Him/it (mascu­line)
le [l']
Her/it (feminine)
la [l']
Us
nous
You (plura­l/f­ormal)
vous
Them
les
Use: To replace a person or thing affected by an action when it is clear who/what is being referred to, to avoid excessive repeti­tion.
Word order: The DOP comes directly in front of the verb (e.g. je t'aime), unless in positive impera­tives in which case it comes after the verb (assey­ez-­vous).
TBC
 

Perfect tense conjug­ation

Verb type
Past participle ending
-ER verbs
-RE verbs
-i
-IR verbs
-u
Conjug­ation: Pronoun + Avoir or Être conjug­ation + past participle (present tense stem + past participle ending)
Irregular rule: Conjug­ations that use Être must have the past participle agree with the pronoun.
Present tense stem (past partic­iple): Remove the '-er', '-re', or '-ir' from the end of the infini­tive.
Meaning: I verb -ed, I have verb -ed, I did verb

Articles

English
Feminine singular [before vowel]
Masculine singular [before vowel]
Plural
The
la [l']
le [l']
les
A
une
un
des
Some
du [de l']
de la [de l']
des
Use: In front of nouns to determine if they are specific (defin­ite), non-sp­ecific (indef­inite) or partial (parti­tive).

Possessive pronouns

English
Masculine singular [plural]
Feminine singular [plural]
Mine
le mien [les miens]
la mienne [les miennes]
Yours (singular)
le tien [les tiens]
la tienne [les tiennes]
Theirs (singular)
le sien [les siens]
la sienne [les siennes]
Ours
le nôtre [les nôtres]
la nôtre [les nôtres]
Yours (plural)
le vôtre [les vôtres]
la vôtre [les vôtres]
Theirs (plural)
le leur [les leurs]
la leur [les leurs]

Question words

English
French
Where
How
comment
How much/how many
combien
What
qu'est-ce que
What
quoi
Why
pourquoi
Who
qui/qui est-ce que
Whose
à qui
About what
de qui
Who/wh­at/­which
quel/q­uel­s/q­uel­le/­quelles
Which/­which one
lequel­/le­squ­els­/la­que­lle­/le­squ­elles
Isn't it/don't you/we­ren't we etc.
n'est-ce pas
Word order:
combien: combien + verb; combien de + noun
quoi: quoi + noun
quel, lequel: is made to agree with the object that is asked about
TBC