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French III Tutorial

French Index | French I | French II | French IV | French V | French VI | French VII | Informal French & Slang | French mp3s

For fastest downloading, as well as the DownThemAll add-on. This will allow you to download all of the mp3s on this page at once and increase the download speed up to 400%. Recordings of mp3s were done by a native speaker of French from Haute-Savoie.

[ French III Zip file of mp3s - 26.83 MB ]

41. Imperfect Tense [ mp3 -1.13 MB ]

This past tense corresponds to "was, were or used to."  This tense is used for repeated, continuous, or ongoing actions; as well as for verbs that describe background and circumstances, such as weather, time, and physical, mental, and emotional states. (Use the passé composé for actions that happened once and are done.)  Verbs that express mental and emotional states that are descriptive in nature are generally used in the imperfect more than the passé composé.  These verbs are: aimer, avoir, croire, détester, espérer, être, penser, and préférer.

To form the stem, use the nous form of the present tense and drop the -ons.  Then add these endings:

The only exception is être for which you must use the stem ét-, but still the same endings.  Verb stems that end in -c must use a cedilla (ç) under the c to make it soft. Verb stems ending in -g keep the e before all forms except nous and vous.

Avoir, Devoir, Pouvoir, Savoir, and Vouloir
These verbs change meanings, according to whether they are used in the imperfect or the passé composé.

The imperfect tense is also used with these constructions:

42. Places / Les Endroits [ mp3 - 1.50 MB ]

43. Transportation [ mp3 - 423 KB ]

Note: Common slang words for car/automobile are une bagnole or une caisse. In Quebec, it's un char.

44. To Want and To Be Able To [ mp3 - 1.23 MB ]

vouloir-to want  (vool-wahr) and pouvoir-to be able to, can  (poov-wahr)

Note:  Voulez-vous? can mean Do you want? or Will you? The past participles are voulu and pu and both are conjugated with avoir. The conditional forms of vouloir are used in the expression "would like" i.e. I'd like = je voudrais, you'd like = tu voudrais, he'd/she'd like = il/elle voudrait, we'd like = nous voudrions, you'd like = vous voudriez, they'd like = ils/elles voudraient.

You do not need to use pouvoir after verbs that involve the senses, such as voir (to see) and entendre (to hear). Je ne vois pas / Je n'entends pas can mean I don't see or I can't see / I don't hear or I can't hear depending on the context.

45. The House and Yard / La maison et le jardin [ mp3 - 1.53 MB ]

46. Furniture and Appliances / Les meubles et l'électroménager [ mp3 - 2.91 MB ]

Monte le son. / Baisse le son. Turn up the volume. / Turn down the volume.
Allume la lumière. / Eteinds la télé. Turn on the light. / Turn off the television.

47. Comparatives and Superlatives [ mp3 - 1.05 MB ]

Verbs can also be compared with plus/aussi/moins (+ que):

Il travaille moins qu'elle.  He works less than she.
Ils dorment plus.  They sleep more.

Superlatives
Simply add le, la or les before the comparative if you are using an adjective.  With adverbs, always use le.  After a superlative, de is used to mean in.  If the adjective follows the noun, the superlative follows the noun also, surrounding the adjective.

In French, sometimes you don't use any articles, as compared to English:

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.

48. Irregular Forms [ mp3 - 606 KB ]

Note:  Only use the irregular forms of mauvais in the abstract sense.  If the idea is concrete, you may use plus/moins mauvais and le/la mauvais.

49. Clothing / Les vêtements [ mp3 - 1.88 MB ]

Les bas (stockings) and les collants (tights) are popular in France. Chaussures à talons hauts are high-heeled shoes, while chaussures à talons plats are flat shoes. Chaussures de ville are dress shoes. A slang word for clothes is les fringues.

50. To Wear [ mp3 - 846 KB ]

Other verbs that are conjugated like mettre:  promettre - to promise and permettre - to permit. The past participle of mettre is mis and it is conjugated with avoir.

Porter is actually the verb to wear, but the French use mettre also.

Il / Elle te va bien.	It looks good on you. (informal)
Il / Elle vous va bien.	It looks good on you. (formal)
Ils / Elles te vont bien.	They look good on you. (informal)
Ils / Elles vous vont bien.	They look good on you. (formal)

51. Future Tenses: Simple and Anterior [ mp3 - 2.08 MB ]

The futur simple expresses an action that will take place [will + infinitive]. The futur antérieur expresses an action that will have taken place before another future action [will have + past participle].  The future tense is used just like it is in English, however, in French, the future is always used after quand or lorsque (when), dès que or aussitôt que (as soon as) and tant que (as long as.)

To form the future tense, use the infinitive and add these endings that resemble those of avoir.  However, you drop the -e from -re verbs.

And of course, there are exceptions.  Here are the irregular stems for the future tense (these will also be used in the conditional tense):

Other exceptions:  For appeler and jeter, double the consonant.  For nettoyer and payer, change the y to i.  For acheter, add an accent grave.  For préférer, the accents all remain the same.

To form the futur antérieur (will have + past participle), use the future of either avoir or être (whichever the main verb takes) and the past participle of the main verb.

Quand ils reviendront, ils auront changé.  When they come back, they will have changed.
Dès qu'ils seront revenus, ils voudront repartir.  As soon as they have returned, they will want to leave again.

52. Preceding and Plural Adjectives [ mp3 - 1.33 MB ]

Note:  The masculine singular and plural are pronounced the same, as are the feminine singular and plural.  These are the most common adjectives that go before the noun.  An acronym to remember which ones go before the noun is BRAGS:  Beauty, Resemblance (même and autre), Age/Order (premier and dernier), Goodness, and Size.  All other adjectives, except numbers, go after the noun.  The five words in parentheses (bel, fol, mol, nouvel, and vieil) are used before masculine singular words beginning with a vowel or a silent h.

A few adjectives can be used before or after the noun, and the meaning changes accordingly.  When used before the noun, they take a figurative meaning; and when used after, they take a literal meaning.

Before plural adjectives preceding plural nouns, you use de instead of des to mean some.  Ex:  Some old monuments.  De vieux monuments.

53. Adjectives: Formation of Feminine [ mp3 - 970 KB ]

Almost all adjectives must agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. Most adjectives are given in the masculine form, so to change to the feminine forms, follow these rules:

54. Forming Plurals:  Adjectives [ mp3 - 411 KB ]

To form the feminine plural, just add an -s, unless it already ends in an s, then add nothing.  To form the masculine plural, just add an -s, except in these cases:  -al becomes -aux (exceptions: banal - banals; final - finals); ; and if it ends in an x or s already, add nothing.

	Masculine Singular	Masculine Plural
national	national	nationaux
general	général	généraux
	Feminine Singular	Feminine Plural
national	nationale	nationales
general	générale	générales

And of course there are more exceptions... some adjectives are invariable and do not have feminine or plural forms.  Compound adjectives, such as bleu clair (light blue) and vert foncé (dark green), adjectives that are also nouns, such as or (gold), argent (silver), marron (chestnut), and the words chic (stylish), bon marché or meilleur marché (inexpensive) never change.

55. More Adjectives [ mp3 - 2.59 MB ]

Note: Remember the first word is the masculine and the second is the feminine.  The addition of an e for the feminine form allows the last consonant to be voiced.  These adjectives go after the noun.

Normally, the verb rendre means to give something that you owe to someone, such as On rend ses devoirs au professeur.  It can also be used in the sense of to represent.  But rendre + adjective means to make someone or something + adjective.

Tu me rends si heureuse !  You make me so happy!
Le fait qu'il ne possède pas de voiture le rend triste.  The fact that he doesn't have a car makes him sad.

Some common slang adjectives that are used constantly in everyday speech:

chouette	great, good	minable	mediocre
con / conne	stupid, dumb	moche	ugly, unpleasant
débile	idiotic	sensass	sensational
dégueu(lasse)	disgusting, bad	super	marvellous
extra	extraordinary	sympa	nice, pleasant
génial	very interesting	tarte	inane
impec	perfect	tocard	ridiculous, deplorable

The intensifiers vachement and drôlement are also used often, meaning very or really.
Il est vachement sympa. = He is really nice.
Elle est drôlement triste. = She is very sad.

56. Problem Verbs [ mp3 - 927 KB ]

Some verbs in French present problems because they have several translations in English. Other verbs can have several translations in French, but fewer meanings in English.

visiter - to visit places
rendre visite à - to visit people

apporter - to bring things to some place
emporter - to take things from some place
amener - to bring someone to some place
emmener - to take someone from some place

apprendre quelque chose - to learn something
apprendre quelque chose à quelqu'un - to teach someone something

rencontrer - to meet
faire la connaissance de - to meet someone for the first time
retrouver - to meet (for an appointment)

partir - to leave (from or for a place)
quitter - to leave (a person or place)
sortir - to go out
s'en aller - to go away
laisser - to leave something behind

retourner - to go back (to where speaker is not)
revenir - to come back (to where speaker currently is)
rentrer - to come or go home
rendre - to return or give something back

faire - to make
fabriquer - to produce
obliger - to make someone do something
rendre - to make someone + adjective

After some verbs, the word ne is required, but this does not imply negation: craindre, redoûter, empêcher
Je crains qu'il ne fasse trop froid. I'm afraid that it's too cold.

And a few verbs only require ne and not pas in the negative, but this is elevated or literary language: cesser, oser, pouvoir, savoir
Je ne peux vivre sans toi. I cannot live without you.

57. C'est/Il est + Adjective + à/de + Infinitive [ mp3 - 838 KB ]

C'est + adjective + à + infinitive is used when the idea has already been mentioned; while il est + adjective + de + infinitive is used when the idea has not yet been mentioned. Also, the c'est construction is used when you do not use a direct object after the infinitive of the transitive verb, and the il est construction is used when you do.

Est-ce qu'on peut apprendre le chinois en un an ? Can you learn Chinese in one year?
Non, c'est impossible à apprendre en un an ! No, it's impossible to learn in one year! (The idea, Chinese, has already been mentioned, and there is no direct object.)
OR:
Non, il est impossible d'apprendre le chinois en un an ! (This sentence contains the direct object after the infinitive.)

Il est facile d'apprendre l'italien.  It is easy to learn Italian. (The idea has not already been mentioned, and the direct object is used.)

Adjectives that express a certain emotion require de before the infinitive: content, désolé, furieux, heureux, triste
Je suis contente de vous voir. I am happy to see you.

Other adjectives require à before the infinitive: agréable, pénible, terrible, amusant, intéressant, ennuyeux, léger, lourd, lent, rapide, premier, dernier, prêt, seul
Il est prêt à partir. He is ready to leave.

A longer list of adjectives that require à or de before an infinitive can be found at 91. on French III.

In addition, when quelque chose is followed by an adjective, de is inserted between the two.
quelque chose d'intéressant = something interesting

58. Sports & Instruments [ mp3 - 1.17 MB ]

La lutte is regular wrestling (the real Greco-Roman sport), while le catch is professional/fake wrestling.

Faire de + a sport means to play.  Jouer à + a sport also means to play, as does jouer de + an instrument.

Tu fais du foot.  You play soccer.
J'aime jouer au tennis.  I like to play tennis.
Je peux jouer de la guitare.  I can play the guitar.
Nous jouons de la clarinette.  We play the clarinet.
Il veut jouer du tuba.  He wants to play the tuba.

59. Nature [ mp3 - 3.11 MB ]

60. To Live [ mp3 - 626 KB ]

vivre - to live, be alive (vee-vruh)

The past participle of vivre is vécu and it is conjugated with avoir.  Habiter is another verb that means to live, but it means to live in a place.  Vivre is used to mean the state of being alive.  A subjunctive form of vivre, vive, is often used in exclamations. Vive la France !  Long live France!

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