Did you know that few French words end in a “c” ? (Only about thirty). In all cases, this final “c” is silent: tabac, estomac, banc, blanc, croc, porc, caoutchouc, etc. The only word where the final “c” is pronounced is “donc”. En français : Saviez-vous que peu de mots français se terminent par un […]
Did you know that when we express a wish, a desire, or a longing in French, we use the subjunctive mood? « J’aimerais que la science soit au cœur de la société. » = “I would like science to be at the heart of society.” Therefore, we find the subjunctive mood after “vouloir” (to want), […]
Did you know that « bien que » expresses opposition and is used with the subjunctive mood? « Bien qu’elle ne soit pas sur le fleuve, la ville de Marseille… » = “Although it is not on the river, but…” You can also use « même si » with the indicative mood: « Même si […]
Did you know that this week has three holidays in France? Friday, April 3rd is Good Friday, which is observed as a public holiday in Alsace and Moselle. As a holy day for practicing Catholics, Good Friday is typically honored with a day off work in France. The bells of churches are tied so they […]
Did you know that when a French word is composed of two verbs, whether conjugated or not, neither takes the plural form. They therefore remain invariable: des « savoir-faire » (= know-how), des « laissez-passer » (= let pass / entry pass), des « va-et-vient » (= coming and going). En français : Saviez-vous que […]
Le subjonctif est, well let’s just admit it, it’s special. What is le subjonctif? Le subjonctif (the subjunctive) is one of the French grammatical moods along with the indicative, passive, conditional and imperative moods, and it is essential for expressing nuanced emotions and subjective statements. It is mostly used in dependent clauses that start with […]
Ahhh… the future… only three tenses: Simple future: The simple future (le futur simple) in French expresses actions that will happen in the future, often corresponding to the English “will” or “shall. It is used to describe future events, intentions, plans, promises, or predictions. It is typically applied for actions that are more distant in […]
If you thought there were a lot of tenses/modes that express the present in French, just wait until you see the past! Seven past tenses/moods: Passé composé: The passé composé, as the most commonly used past tense in French, is used to describe completed actions, formed with the present tense of avoir or être plus […]
Now that we are back from La Chandeleur and the Winter Olympics, let’s take a look at the more commonly used French verb tenses/modes. Here’s the good news, even though there are approximately 20 different tenses/modes for French verbs (of which, approximately 10 used in spoken language), each one can be be placed in the […]
Did you know that French was chosen as the first official language of the Olympic Games in the 1890s? Fast forward to today, French is always the first language to be heard at the Olympics, followed by English, and then the host country’s language. A little history… When French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin revived the […]
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