French verbs Tag

French Grammar – French Verbs that Look the Same But Are Different

Our students and all French learners are often confused by a few French verbs that look quite similar, but have a different meaning. Here are a few of these pairs that are very commonly used in French. I. Penser vs Croire Penser mainly means “to think”, whether it is followed or not with the conjunction “que”. There are slight nuances when it is followed by the...Read More

French Grammar – Using the Verb Manquer

The Verb manquer : Different Meanings Not to Be Missed This verb is very interesting as it means at the same time “to lack” or “to run out of something”, to “fail”, and, its main meaning, “to miss”. And this is when it becomes very confusing for English speakers as it is used in a very different way. It is interesting, too, to discover a...Read More

French Grammar – Using “On” instead of “Nous”

“On”: Friendlier than “Nous” The tiny word on carries great importance in everyday spoken French. For Anglophones learning French, on is frequently misunderstood or ignored because many think that on only expresses its English equivalent of ‘one’, while many of those who understand that it’s also an alternative to using nous hesitate to use it because of the false belief...Read More

Learn French – Le plus-que-parfait

Le plus que parfait : How perfect is it? What is so perfect about the plus que parfait? Well in my opinion, this tense deserves to have the word parfait in its name because unlike the other 2 past tenses, it is easy to understand how and when to use it. It has a clear and logical explanation; it isn’t ambiguous like the passé composé and the imparfait. In addition, it is directly...Read More

How to Use The French Verb “Prendre”

The verb “prendre” is used a lot in the French language. Do you know how to use it? What about the verb prendre conjugation? Here are some explanations: The verb ‘prendre’ is used the same way as the English verb ‘to take’ but is also used as the verb ‘to have’ in English when speaking about drinks or food. We don’t say: “I’ll have a coffee” but we say I take a coffee....Read More

French grammar points – Frequently Misused Verbs: visiting, returning & coming back

The most commonly used French verbs of motion If I’m going back to Paris, I’m visiting a friend and I’ll return on Monday! The translation of these French verbs is not always straightforward. You’re visiting a friend? Instinctively, a native English speaker will say je visite. In French, we visit a city or a touristy place but not a person; therefore we cannot use the verb visiter in...Read More