Category: French grammar tips

‘Lorsque’ and ‘quand’ both mean ‘when’ in French, but ‘lorsque’ is often used in more formal contexts. For example, ‘Quand il fait beau, je vais au parc’ (When the weather…

‘Quel’ is an interrogative adjective used to ask ‘which’ or ‘what’. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. For example, ‘Quel film veux-tu voir?’ (Which movie…

‘Vers’ means ‘towards’ in a physical sense, while ‘envers’ is used more abstractly to mean ‘towards’ in the sense of attitude or behavior. For example, ‘Je marche vers la porte’…

‘Devoir’ is a verb used to express obligation or necessity, similar to ‘must’ or ‘have to’ in English. For example, ‘Je dois faire mes devoirs’ means ‘I must do my…

‘Parce que’ and ‘car’ both mean ‘because’ in French, but ‘car’ is more formal and is often used in written language. For example, ‘Je suis resté à la maison parce…

‘Avant’ means ‘before’ and ‘après’ means ‘after’. These words are commonly used to talk about events in time. For example, ‘Je prends une douche avant de manger’ (I take a…

‘Savoir’ is used to express knowing how to do something, while ‘pouvoir’ is used to express the ability or permission to do something. For example, ‘Je sais nager’ (I know…

‘Devant’ means ‘in front of’ and ‘derrière’ means ‘behind’. These prepositions are used to describe the relative positions of objects or people. For example, ‘La voiture est devant la maison’…

‘Sous’ means ‘under’ and ‘sur’ means ‘on’ or ‘above’. They are used to describe the location of objects. For example, ‘Le chat est sous la table’ (The cat is under…

‘À cause de’ is used to express a cause or reason, often with a negative connotation. For example, ‘Je suis en retard à cause du trafic’ means ‘I am late…

‘Par’ is used in the passive voice to indicate the agent of the action. For example, ‘Le livre a été écrit par Victor Hugo’ means ‘The book was written by…

‘Aller’ followed by an infinitive is used to express future actions in French, similar to ‘going to’ in English. For example, ‘Je vais partir’ means ‘I am going to leave’.…

‘Même’ is used for emphasis in French, often meaning ‘even’ or ‘same’. For example, ‘Même lui ne le sait pas’ means ‘Even he doesn’t know’. ‘Même’ est utilisé pour l’emphase…

‘En train de’ is used to express an action that is currently happening, similar to ‘in the process of’ in English. For example, ‘Je suis en train de lire’ means…

‘Plutôt’ is used in French to express a preference, similar to ‘rather’ or ‘instead’. For example, ‘Je préfère le thé plutôt que le café’ means ‘I prefer tea rather than…

‘Sinon’ means ‘otherwise’ or ‘if not’. It is used to present an alternative. For example, ‘Dépêche-toi, sinon tu vas être en retard’ means ‘Hurry up, otherwise you’ll be late’. ‘Sinon’…

‘Quelquefois’ means ‘sometimes’ and is used to express occasional occurrences. For example, ‘Je vais au cinéma quelquefois’ means ‘I go to the cinema sometimes’. ‘Quelquefois’ signifie ‘sometimes’ et est utilisé…

‘Surtout’ means ‘especially’ or ‘above all’. It’s used to highlight something important. For example, ‘J’aime surtout le chocolat’ means ‘I especially like chocolate’. ‘Surtout’ signifie ‘especially’ ou ‘above all’. Il…

‘Chaque’ means ‘each’ or ‘every’ and is used to express frequency. For example, ‘Je viens ici chaque jour’ means ‘I come here every day’. ‘Chaque’ signifie ‘each’ ou ‘every’ et…

‘À peine’ means ‘barely’ or ‘hardly’ and is used for emphasis. For example, ‘Il est à peine parti’ means ‘He just left’ or ‘He barely left’. ‘À peine’ signifie ‘barely’…