Français I – Leçon 4A Structures

1. Français I – Leçon 4AStructures -The verb aller -The preposition à -Interrogative words

2. Aller = to go (*Note: this verb is irregular. Even though it ends with “er,” it is NOT a regular –er verb) Je vais Nous allons Tu vas Vous allez Il va Ils vont Elle va Elles vont On va

3. Aller can also be used with another verb to tell what is going to happen. This is called le future proche. Conjugate aller in the present tense and place the other verb’s infinitive (unchanged) form directly after it. Je vais manger un hot-dog. (I’m going to eat a hot dog) Nous allons aller à l’école. (We’re going to go to school.)

4. Negation – to make the present tense negative, place ne/n’…pas around the verb aller. Je ne vais pas au café. • To make the future proche negative, you also place ne/n’…pas round the verb aller. Nous n’allons pas chanter ce soir.

5. The preposition à • The preposition à contracts with the definite articles le and les. It does not contract with la or l’. à + le = au à + la = à la à + l’ = à l’ à + les = aux

6. The preposition àcan mean several things in English: to, in, at • It often indicates a physical location, as with aller à and habiter à. • It can also have other meanings depending on the verb used.

7. Other verbs with the preposition à commencer à [+ infinitive] = to start (doing something) example: Il commenceà travailler. (He is starting to work.) parler à = to talk to penser à = to think about téléphoner à = to phone (someone)

8. In general, à is used to mean at or in, whereasdansis used to mean inside. When learning a place name in French, learn the preposition that accompanies it. à la maison = at home dans la maison = inside the house à Paris = in Paris dans Paris = inside Paris en ville = in town dans la ville = inside the town sur la place = in the square à la/ sur la/ en terrasse = on the terrace

9. Interrogative words (In Leçon2A, you learned four ways to ask yes or no questions in French. However, there are other types of questions that can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”)

10. Use these words with est-cequeor inversion. • À quelle heure? = at what time • À quelle heure est-ce que le film commence? • À quelle heure commencele film? • Combien (de)? = how many/how much • Combienest-ce que le billet coute? • Combiencoute le billet?

11. These words can also be used with est-cequeor inversion. • Comment? = How? What? • Où? = Where? • Pourquoi? = Why? • Quand? = When? • Que/Qu’…? = What?

12. (These words are also used with est-ce que orinversion. ) • Quel, Quelle, Quels, Quelles? =Which/What? • Quoi? = What? • Qui? = Who(m)? • À qui? = To whom? • Avec qui? = With who? • Pour qui? = For who?

13. We are now going to read about some more rules and look at examples in your textbook. • Vous avez besoin un livre. • Ouvrez le livre à la page cent vingt.