French Grammar Cheatsheet

The essentials of French grammar in scannable form. Cross-references the French for adult learners pillar, the accent guide, and the core 100 wordlist. Accents on French examples are written as they appear; explanatory text is in British English.

Pronouns

Vous covers two roles: the formal singular "you" and the plural "you" of any register. Default to vous with any adult you do not know. The shift to tu (called "tutoyer") is usually invited explicitly: "On peut se tutoyer ?"

On in spoken French is "we" far more often than nous. Real conversation uses "on va manger" where the textbook teaches "nous allons manger."

Three verb groups

French verbs split into three groups by infinitive ending.

• Group 1 (-er): parler, manger, donner. The largest and most regular.
• Group 2 (-ir): finir, choisir, reflechir. Regular -iss- pattern.
• Group 3 (irregular): aller, etre, avoir, faire, dire, venir, prendre and many others. The high-frequency core is here.

Present tense, regular endings

The five core tenses, what they do

The passe compose vs imparfait distinction is the equivalent of Spanish preterite vs imperfect. Passe compose for a closed action; imparfait for the running context. "Quand je suis arrive (passe compose), il pleuvait (imparfait)" - I arrived (a punctual event), it was raining (the ongoing context).

Auxiliary choice: etre or avoir

The passe compose and all compound tenses use an auxiliary verb plus the past participle. The auxiliary is avoir for most verbs, etre for a specific set.

Etre auxiliary verbs (the classic DR MRS VANDERTRAMPP mnemonic):

• aller, venir, arriver, partir
• monter, descendre, entrer, sortir
• naitre, mourir, devenir, revenir
• rester, retourner, tomber, passer
• All reflexive verbs (se laver, se reveiller, etc.)

Everything else uses avoir: j'ai mange, j'ai dit, j'ai fait, j'ai vu.

When the auxiliary is etre, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject:

• Elle est allee. (She has gone.)
• Ils sont arrives. (They have arrived.)
• Nous nous sommes leves. (We got up.)

When the auxiliary is avoir, the past participle is invariable unless a direct object precedes it (the COD agreement rule, drilled at school in France, ignored in spoken French).

Negation

French negation wraps the verb: ne ... pas is the base.

• Je ne mange pas. (I am not eating.)
• Je n'ai pas mange. (I did not eat.) - n' elides before vowels.

Other negations replace "pas" with another word:

Spoken French regularly drops the "ne". "J'ai pas faim" instead of "Je n'ai pas faim." It is universal across age groups and registers below formal writing. Learners who write "je n'ai pas faim" sound careful; learners who speak "je n'ai pas faim" sound bookish.

Direct, indirect, and reflexive pronouns

Object pronouns sit before the verb in declarative sentences:

• Je le vois. (I see him.)
• Je lui ai parle. (I spoke to him.)
• Je me lave. (I wash myself.)

The order when multiple pronouns appear (memorise the chart):

me / te / nous / vous -> le / la / les -> lui / leur -> y -> en

• Je te le dis. (I am telling you it.)
• Je le lui ai donne. (I gave it to him.)

Y and en

Two adverbial pronouns that English speakers chronically under-use.

• Y replaces "a + place / thing": J'y vais (I am going there). J'y pense (I am thinking about it).
• En replaces "de + thing" or a partitive: J'en veux (I want some of it). J'en ai trois (I have three of them).

Both go in the same position as object pronouns (before the verb).

Gender and articles

Every noun is masculine or feminine. Defaults that are usually right:

• Nouns ending in -tion, -sion, -ette, -ence, -ance, -ude are usually feminine.
• Nouns ending in -eau, -ment, -isme, -age are usually masculine.
• Le, la, l' for definite singular; les for definite plural.
• Un, une for indefinite singular; des for indefinite plural.
• Du, de la, des for partitive (some): du pain, de la confiture, des oeufs.

The partitive is the construction English does not have - "I eat some bread" can be just "I eat bread" in English but in French is always "je mange du pain."

The subjunctive, in one paragraph

French uses the subjunctive after expressions of necessity, possibility, doubt, emotion, or specific conjunctions.

Triggers: il faut que, je veux que, j'aimerais que, je doute que, bien que, avant que, jusqu'a ce que, pour que, sans que, pourvu que, a moins que.

• Il faut que je parte. (I have to leave.)
• Je veux que tu viennes. (I want you to come.)
• Bien qu'il pleuve, je sortirai. (Although it is raining, I will go out.)

Present subjunctive endings (regular):

The 1st and 2nd person plural look like the imparfait. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd singular and 3rd plural are usually formed from the ils form of the present indicative (ils parlent -> que je parle).

Question formation

Three registers:

1. Inversion (formal): Avez-vous faim ? (Are you hungry?)
2. Est-ce que (neutral): Est-ce que vous avez faim ? (Are you hungry?)
3. Intonation (casual): Vous avez faim ? (You are hungry?) - voice rising at the end.

Real spoken French uses the third more than the first two combined. The second is the safe middle register; the first is correct but sounds slightly bookish in casual conversation.

Si conditional structures

Four structures, by tense pair:

The trap: never use the conditional in the si clause. "Si je serais" is wrong; it is "si j'etais." French children get drilled on this; learners get it wrong for years.

What to drill first

1. Present tense of the top 20 verbs, including the irregular group 3 (etre, avoir, aller, faire, dire, voir, savoir, pouvoir, vouloir, prendre).
2. Auxiliary choice for the passe compose (the etre verbs list + reflexives).
3. The passe compose vs imparfait distinction for past narration.
4. Direct and indirect object pronouns + word order.
5. The subjunctive in the most common triggers (il faut que, je veux que, avant que, pour que).

Drop "ne" in spoken practice once you can produce it consistently in writing. That alone moves you from textbook-French to spoken-French.