Lesson 4

1. Demonstrative Adjectives
 Feminine form: Cette (this, that)
o Ex: Cette porte
 Masculine form: Ce (this, that)
o Ex: Ce concierge
 Masculine form before a vowel sound: Cet (this, that)
o Ex: Cet exercice
 Plural form: Ces (these, those)
o Ex: Ces tasses
 There is a special form only before a masculine singular noun which begins with a vowel sound. The feminine
singular form cette is used before all feminine singular nouns whether they begin with a consonant or with voew
sound.
o Ex: Cette idée, Cette dame
 The plural form ces is used before all plural nouns whether they are masculine or feminine or whether they
begin with consonant or a vowel sound
o Ex: Ces étudiants; ces crayons
 A noun starting with a vowel sound has first later as a vowel or h. H is not pronounced in french

2. The Verb "Devoir" in the present indicative

 Devoir is irregular

 Je dois  Nous devons

 Tu dois  Vous devez
 Il, elle, qui doit  Ils, elles doivent

 Devoir is followed by another verb in the infinitive when it translate as I must, I have to or I am supposed to
o Ex: Nous devons finir cette lec(5)on. = we must finish this lesson. we have to finish this lesson.
o Ex: Marc doit venir a\ sept heures. Marc is supposed to come at seven o'clock.
 In a negative sentence, ne is placed before devoir and pas right after.
o Ex: Tu ne dois pas rester ici. You musn't stay here.

3. The Verb "Offrir" in the present indicative

 Offrir (to offer) is irregular in the sense that it is IR but conjugated as ER

 J'offre  Nous offrons

 Tu offres  Vous offrez
 Il, elle, qui offre  Ils, elles offrent

4. The Verb "écrire" in the present indicative

 écrire (to write) is irregular

 J'écris  Nous écrivons

 Tu écris  Vous écrivez
 Il, elle, qui écrit  Ils, elles écrivent
5. The Verb "Dire" in the present indicative
 Dire (to say, to tell someone) is irregular

 Je dis  Nous disons

 Tu dis  Vous dites
 Il, elle dit  Ils, elles disent

6. The Verb "aller" in the present indicative

 aller (to go) is irregular

 Je vais  Nous allons

 Tu vas  Vous allez
 Il, elle, va  Ils, elles vont
 The preposition a\ is used to indicate where people are going to.
o Je vais au restaurant = I am going to the restaurant
o Nous allons a\ Toronto

 au centre commercial  a la bibliotèque  aux magasins

 au cinéma  a la discothèque 
 au collège  a la boucherie  a l'école
 au garage  a la boulangerie  a l'église
 au marché  a la librarie  a l'universté
 au restaurant  a la pharmacie 
 au stade  
 au supermarché  
 The preposition chez indicates somebody's place or office. Nouns, names or disjunctive pronouns can be used
after chez
o Je vais chez moi = I am going home
o Elle va chez le dentiste = She is going to the dentist
o Nous allons chez nos amis = We are going to our friends.
 The preposition en is used before means of transportation to indicate how people are going elsewhere

 en auto 
 en autobus  a\ pied
 en avion  a\ bicyclette
 en métro 
 en train 
 En is used when you can sit in a vehicle (car, bus, plane, subway, train); a\ is used when you cannot (bicycle,
foot)
 In french, aller must be used in the following examples. There is no other way to translate.
o Je vais \a Ottowa en avion
o Il va bureau en auto

The preposition A
 The preposition \a is used to introduce an indirect grammatical object
o Ex: Je parle a Pierre; I am talking to Pierre
o Only certain verbs have indirect objects. The list of these verbs must be learned each time. The following
verbs take an indirect object
 Apporter a Montrer a
Demander a Offrir a
Dire a Parler
Ecrire a
Lancer a

 The preposition a can introduce an adversial phrase.

o Je vais a la biblioteque
o Nous étudions aà lUniversité McMaster
o Ils vont à Ottawa
 The following contractions are made with à and the definite articles le and les
o Ex: Je téléphone au directeur = I am phoning the director
o Ex: Le professor parle aux étudiants
 Other articles (la, lè, un, une, des) demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives are not contracted with
 The following contractions are made with à and the definite articles le and les.
 A + LE = AU, A + LES = AUX
 Ex: Je téléphone au directeur.
 I am phoning the director.
 Ex: Le professeur parle aux étudiants.
 The professor is talking to the students.
 Other articles (la, l', un, une, des) demonstrative adjectives and possessive adjectives are not contracted wtih à
and therefore remain unchanged.
 Ex: Paul offre des fleur à son amie.
 J'écris à une dame.
 Je dois parler à ce jeunne homme.
 Nous allons à la bibliothèque.
 There are no direct articles before people and city names; use à only.
 Ex: Je vais à Toronto.
 Je téléphone à Madame Dumas.

Indirect Object Pronouns "LUI" and "LEUR"

 The indirect object pronouns LUI and LEUR replace indirect objects which represent persons only. The singular
form LUI is both feminine and masculine.
 Ex: Tu parles à Marie?
 Oui, Je lui parle.
 Tu parles à Paul?
 Oui, je lui parle.

 The plural form leur is both masculine and feminine as well.

 Tu écris à tes amis?
 Oui, je leur écris.
 Tu écris à tes soeurs?
 Oui, je leur écris.

 In french, an object pronoun is placed before the verb.

  Je leur parle. = I am talking to them.

 In a negative sentence, ne is placed not only before the verb, but also before the object pronoun.
 Ex: Je ne leur parle pas. = I am not talking to them
 REMINDER: In the case of the verbal expression être à (to belong to) even though the noun is introduced by à, it
is not replaced by an indirect object pronoun but instead by a disjunctive pronoun.
 Ex: Ce livre est à Marie?
 Oui, il est à elle. = Yes it belongs to her.
 A disjunctive pronoun takes the position of the noun it replaces.
 Do not confuse the possessive adjectives "leur" and "leurs" with indirect pronoun "LEUR" (them).

 With two verbs in the sentence, the object pronoun is placed before the verb which takes the object.
 Ex: Elle doit parler au concierge? = Does she have to talk to the caretaker?
 Oui, elle doit lui parler.
 Non, elle ne doit pas lui parler.
 "Concierge" is the object of parler not of doit. Hence, the indirect object pronoun lui which replaces concierge
must be placed before parler.

INDIRECT SPEECH WITH "DIRE QUE"

 Dire que = to say that, to tell someone that
 The verb dire is followed by a clause always introduced by que to report a statement made by someone.
 Ex: C'est la photo de ma soeur. (this is my sister's picture)
 Qu'est-ce que Paul dit à Annie?
 Il lui dit que c'est la photo de sa soeur. (he is saying to her that it is a picture of his sister)

 Que is shortened to qu' before a vowel sound.

 Ex: Nous regardons des photos (we are looking at pictures)
 Qu'est-ce que les enfants disent à leur mère?
 Ils lui disent qu'ils regardent des photos.

 Conjugate dire:
 Je dis
 Tu dis
 Il, elle dit
 Nous disons
 Vous dites
 Ils, elles disent

 When using indirect speech, if you have to transpose to the third person, you must not forget to make the
necessary changes.
 You may have the change the form of the verb according to the new subject in the sentence.
 Ex: Je dois télephoner à Marie. (I must phone Marie)
 Qu'est-ce que Paul dit à sa mère?
 Il lui dit qu'il doit téléphoner à Marie. (He tells her that he must phone Marie)
 You may have to change the form of the possessive adjective.
 Ex: Ce n'est pas mon verre.(this is not my glass)
 Qu'est-ce que Paul dit à Marie?
 Il lui dit que ce n'est pas son verre. (he tells her that this is not his glass)

 You may have to change the form of the pronouns.

 Ex: Les livres sont à moi. (The books belong to me).
 Qu'est-ce que Marie dit à Paul.
 Elle lui dit que les livre sont à elle (She says that the books belong belong to her).

 REMINDER (Disjunctive pronouns)

 moi=me
 toi=you
 lui=him
 elle=her
 nous=us
 vous=you
 eux=them
 elles=them