Grammar – Club Mimi

How to Form the Plural in French – Part 4 of 4

January 8, 2013 by Norma

Some French words, like the English word deer, don’t change in the plural. Words that have these endings in the singular are the same in the plural: s x z For example: le corps = body les corps = bodies la voix = voice les voix = voices le nez = nose les nez = … Read more

How to Form the Plural in French – Part 3 of 4

January 4, 2013 by Norma

Words that end in al use aux to form the plural. animal – animal animaux – animals cheval – horse chevaux – horses hôpital – hospital hôpitaux – hospitals Follow the series: How to Form the Plural in French – Part 1 of 4 How to Form the Plural in French – Part 2 of … Read more

Personal Pronouns in French

December 15, 2012 by Norma

How to Form the Plural in French – Part 2 of 4

March 10, 2012 by Norma

Those who grow up speaking English have it fairly easy when it comes to forming the plural of words (talking about more than one of a certain thing). Most of the time we just add s.
There are exceptions, though, which can make English a complicated language to learn.

Here are some examples of irregular plurals in English:

man > men
mouse > mice
deer > deer

Just as there are different ways to show the plural in English, there are also different ways to show the plural in French.
One of the commonest of these is to add x instead of s at the end of a word. Here are some examples in French:

How to Form the Plural in French – Part 1 of 4

March 6, 2012 by Norma

Thankfully for those English speakers who are trying to learn French, the most common way to form the plural (showing more than one of something) in French is also the easiest! It is the same as in English, just add s! Before we get too excited, though, there are some other things we need to … Read more

Forming the Negative in French – ne…pas

March 1, 2012 by Norma

To form the negative in French, we usually use two little words, ne and pas. We place ne in front of the verb and pas after the verb. English mostly gets by with one word, not. For example: French – je vais – je ne vais pasEnglish – I am going – I am not … Read more

French Adjectives – Agreement in Colour Words

September 15, 2010 by Norma

French colour words, like other adjectives, must change their forms depending on whether the nouns they are describing are masculine (le/un words) or feminine (la/une words) and singular or plural. Eg. le crayon noir (the black pencil) les crayons noirs (the black pencils) la chaussure noire (the black shoe) les chaussures noires (the black shoes) … Read more

Expressions with AVOIR – peur de

October 19, 2009 by Norma

avoir peur de = to be afraid of The French phrase avoir peur de is another example of a French expression that uses avoir, to have, where English uses to be. Eg.: Robert a peur des araignées. = Robert is afraid of spiders. See if you can translate the following sentences. J’ai peur de ton … Read more

Expressions with AVOIR – faim

October 17, 2009 by Norma

j’ai faim (zhay* FEH)** = I am hungry In English, we use the phrase “I am hungry” to let someone know we need food. In this sentence “am,” the being word, is used. To make the same statement in French, avoir (the having word) is used. The French phrase for “I am hungry,” j’ai faim, … Read more

Expressions with AVOIR – age

October 16, 2009 by Norma

French uses the verb avoir to tell how old someone is.
   How old are you?
      Quel âge as-tu? (kel ahzh* ah tyoo)**
   I am ten years old.
      J’ai dix ans. (zhay* deez ah)**
Read the question, then answer in French.
   Quel âge as-tu?
      J’ai…
* zh sounds like “g” in beige or “s” in measure.
** Please keep in mind that these pronunciation guides give only a
crude approximation of the actual French sounds.

For more work with AVOIR, download Nallenart’s Avoir Workpages.