French Grammar – Ce Qui vs Ce Que
Ce qui me plaît, ce que j’aime… Qu’est-ce que tu aimes en France ? = What do you like/love in France? Ce que j’aime, c’est la langue, elle est tellement belle ! = What I love is the language, it’s so beautiful! You have probably heard the French start sentences with ce qui/ce que, especially when answering a question which starts with qu’est-ce qui… or...Read More
Partir, quitter, laisser : Several ways to say that you’re leaving in French
What is the difference between partir, laisser and quitter? When you intend to leave a place, tell someone that you must go, or end a relationship, choosing the right verb is important. In this article, we will look at three useful French verbs: partir, laisser, and quitter. Depending on the context, these verbs carry other meanings in addition to “leaving.“ In...Read More
French Grammar – French Relative Pronouns – Lequel, auquel, duquel
French grammar explanations and exercises Following our previous article on the pronoms relatifs simples, we will focus in this issue on the pronoms relatifs composés. Nowadays, we have noticed that they are used less and less by the French in their everyday language. They are very often replaced by a simpler pronoun such as qui or où. But still, it’s interesting to know...Read More
Learn French grammar – The verb Tomber
Tomber: A Frequently Used Verb You Might Fall for The verb tomber is a very common verb in French. It’s also one of the easiest to use, as it is rather straightforward. Conjugating it is quite easy, and its meaning is most of the time the equivalent of “to fall” in English. But not always… How to conjugate tomber? Tomber is a verb of the 1st group, like the...Read More
Learn French grammar – How to use ça va?
Ça va in French ? And much more… It is very commun to hear ça va in French speaking countries all the time. In this article, we’ll explore its usage along with the various other applications of the French word “ça.” The tiny 2-letter word ça deserves special attention as the French use it constantly in everyday common life expressions for feelings, likes and...Read More
French Grammar Rules – Les pronoms relatifs – Que, qui, dont, où, ce que, ce qui, ce dont
French grammar explanations and exercises Les pronoms relatifs always seem difficult for our students who are not sure how and when to use them. These pronouns are connectors, and they link one relative clause (a subject and a verb that can’t stand alone without the main clause) to a main clause (which can make sense on its own). Example of a relative clause with a main...Read More
French Grammar – The Gender of Nouns – le, la, l’, les, un, une, des
No matter how long one studies French, the definite and indefinite articles seem to be a challenge for all. Even though they can be directly translated from English to French, there are situations where these articles are not used in quite the same way. As a general rule, in French, there is almost always an article in front of a noun. Unlike English, where you can get away with...Read More
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