Unité 1

1. Unité 1 La grammaire d’Unité 1

2. Les accents • l‘accentaigu – é: makes an “ay” sound. • l‘accent grave – è: makes an “euh” sound. Also seen as ù / à to distinguish between words. • l‘accentcirconflexe – ^: this can occur over any vowel (â / ê / î / ô / û). • le tréma – ‘’: this shows that two vowels are pronounced seperately(ë / ï / ü). • la cédille - ç: is used under a c before an a, o, u to turn the c into an s sound.

3. Les nationalités • You must make agreement between masculine and feminine, singular and plural. • Adjectives are learned in masc. sing. forms, from there you add “e” for the fem. sing. and “s” for the plural. • If there is already an “e” or “s” at the end of a nationality, then do not add another.

4. La politesse • Being polite is very important in France. You would address people older or those you don’t know with Bonjour Monsieur / Madame / Mademoiselle. Also, you would use the vous form when you address them. • With one’s friends you can be more informal, using Salut for hello and the tu form when you address them.

5. La politesse • When asking how someone is, there are different ways to ask: - Comment allez-vous? (formal or plural) - Comment vas-tu? (singular and informal) - (Comment) Çava? (informal, but may be heard while the vous is used)

6. L’Usage des articles indéfinis • Indefinite articles are used when you are not talking about a specific item. In English we use a, an, or some while in French we use un, une, or des. - un– used for masculine words - une– used for feminine words - des– used for plural words (no matter if they are masculine or feminine)

7. Des exemples • a boy – ungarçon • a pen – un stylo • a girl – une fille • a chair – une chaise • some gentlemen – des messieurs • some hamburgers – des hamburgers • some ladies – des mesdames • some pizzas – despizzas

8. L’Usage des articles définis • Definite articles are used when you are talking about specific items. In English we use the while in French we use le, la, l’ or les. - le – used for masculine singular words - la – used for feminine singular words - l’ – used for singular words that start with a vowel - les – used for plural words (no matter if they are masculine or feminine)

9. Des exemples • the boy – le garçon • the pen – le stylo • the girl – lafille • the chair – la chaise • the computer – l’ordinateur • the gentlemen – les messieurs • the hamburgers – les hamburgers • the ladies – les mesdames • the pizzas – les pizzas

10. Souvenez que… • Remember that there is no way to know if a noun is masculine or feminine. You just have to memorize the article along with the noun. • Remember also that if a noun begins with a vowel, you will need to link the article with the first letter of the noun. Whether it is with an l’, un, une, des, les.

11. L’usage • Possessive adjective - describes that someone owns/has a relation to an object/being. Steps to finding correct possessive adjective: • 1st: find who is owning the item • 2nd: is object masculine or feminine? singular or plural?

12. Les adjectifs possessifs • Here are the possessive adjectives for each of the singular “owners”: subject masculinefeminine plural pronoun jemonmames tutontates il/elle/on sonsa ses

13. Les adjectifs possessifs • Here are the possessive adjectives for each of the plural “owners”: subjectsingular plural pronoun nousnotrenos vousvotrevos ils/ellesleurleurs