French Made Simple: Synthesis of Grammar

By Max André Siméus

This "second in a series" manual is written for English speakers who are learning the French language. It is also a concise guide of grammar rules, style, and use of the French language. It can also be used as a reference tool for those who have and occasional question about French, and even to those who are really serious about learning French as a foreign language. It is highly recommended to teachers of French, high school and college students, and business people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 29, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524673451

Max André Siméus

Max A. Siméus has taught English as a Second Language (ESL), French, and Spanish for over twenty five years. An alumnus of Citrus College in California and a Graduate of California State University San Bernardino, Mr. Siméus has taught at Community Colleges as well as Private, Congregational, and Public Schools both in the United States and abroad. He is a native of Haiti. Mr. Siméus is a Certified Translator, Tutor, Interpreter of French, Spanish and Haitian Creole. He is a member of PSI (Phi Sigma Iota) the International Foreign Language Honor Society.

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© 2017 Max André Siméus. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse  06/12/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7346-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7344-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-7345-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017902805

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Contents

Introduction

1: Articles

The Definite Article

The indefinite Article

The Partitive Article

Negation and the Articles

2: Nouns

Functions of Nouns

Plural Formation

Exceptions to the General Rule

3: Pronouns

French Personal Pronouns

Cases of French Personal Pronouns

Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

Indefinite Pronouns

Demonstrative Pronouns

Relative Pronouns

Interrogative Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Negative Pronouns

4: Adjectives

Adjectives Agreement

Invariable Adjectives

Placement Adjectives

Demonstrative Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Adjectives: tout, tous, toute and toutes

Adjectives: beau, nouveau, et vieux

5: Adverbs

French Adverbs

Placement of French Adverbs

French Comparative and Superlative Adverbs

6: Prepositions

Compound Prepositions

7: Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating Conjunctions

8: Verbs

subjects and personal pronouns

French Conjugation

Moods and Tenses

Auxiliary Verbs

verb avoir

Verbs of the first group

Verbs of the second group

Verbs of the third group

Notes on French verbs conjugation

9: Cognates (Mots Apparentés)

10: Translation Problems

French words that are not translated in English

English Words that are not translated in French

11: French Symbols and Punctuation Marks

Period

Comma

Semicolon

Colon

Exclamation

Question Mark

(Special Topics)

12: L’Hymne National Français (The French National Anthem)

13: L’Hymne National d’Haiti (The National Anthem of Haiti)

14: Expressions of Time

Days of the Week

Months of the Year

The Seasons of the Year

15: Greetings and a few Vocabulary Words

16: Quelques Proverbes et Expressions Idiomatiques

Introduction

In 2015, my first book "English Made Simple" was successfully published and I was encouraged by many friends to write this book "Le Français Rendu Simple, Synthèse de Grammaire"

This "second in a series" manual is offered to students, business people, and especially native English speakers who want to learn the basic grammar rules of the French language.

Max André Siméus

Member, Phi Sigma Iota (International Foreign Language Society)

Certified Translator, Polyglot, Interpreter, and Tutor

Chapitre 1

Articles

L’Article Défini

(The Definite Article)

In English, there is only one form of the definite article: the, translated in French as: le, la, l’, and les, depending on the gender and number of the word or noun they modify. There are two genders in French, masculin and féminin, as opposed to English which has three genders, masculine, feminine, and neutral. Definite articles always signal gender and number, le is used in front of all singular masculine nouns that start with a consonant, la is used in front of all singular feminine nouns that start with a consonant, l’ is used in front of all singular nouns of both genders that start with a vowel or a mute or silent h. Les is used in front of plural nouns of both genders.

Examples

N.B. Always use le before the days of the week to emphasize that you do something regularly on that particular day.

L’Article Indéfini

(The indefinite Article)

The three French indefinite articles are: un, une, and des, translated in English as: a, an, and some. Indefinite articles are used with nouns to signal their gender and number. They refer to any one member of a group and so are indefinite.

un is used in front of all singular masculine nouns, une is used in front of all singular feminine nouns, and des is used in front of all plural nouns.

Examples

N.B. Sometimes the English indefinite article