Today is the last blog in our grammar series. We have now covered nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and articles, and here we will cover the final three parts of speech.
Yes, French grammar and English grammar of course contain variations and different rules, but this does not take away from the importance of understanding the basic terms themselves and how they are used in your language. You will find knowing the basics of English grammar will give you a big step up in understanding where the likeness and dissimilarities are between the two languages, and you may be pleasantly surprised by its lack of complexity when you begin to learn French grammar with this under your belt.
Prepositions – Les prépositions
These words show a relationship between a person, place or thing and other words in the sentence.
Examples:
I sit on the chair – Je suis assis sur la chaise
The boy is under the table – Le garçon est sous la table
The cat is up the tree – Le chat est dans l’arbre
She is in the car – Elle est dans la voiture I live near you – Je vis pres de chez toi
The shop is by my house – Le magasin est a cote de chez moi
He walks down the hill – Il descend la colline
Tip: Prepositions do not translate exactly between English and French. Note the last sentence above, in French it does not actually contain prepositions though it does in English. Understand them well in English and then in your French classes you will discover when they are and when they are not needed in French grammar.
Conjunctions – Les conjonctions
These words are used to join parts of sentences together.
Examples:
And – Et
Or – Ou
But – Mais
Yet – Encore
Nor – Ni
For – Pour
Because – Car
Tip: Conjunctions come in very handy as you build up your vocabulary and want to expand into creating longer sentences.
Interjections – Les interjctions
These words show strong feeling, covering all ranges of emotion.
Examples:
Wow! – Sensationnel!
Hooray! – Hourra!
Ouch! – Aïe!
Oh my! – Oh mon dieu!
Oh no! – Oh non!
Gosh! – Ça alors!
Crap! – Merde!
Tip: Many interjections can also be other parts of speech, depending on how they are used in a sentence. If we take the word “help,” “Can I help you?” would be a verb, whereas “Help! I am stuck.” would be an interjection. Note that all curse words fit into this part of speech.
We have now finished all the basic parts of speech. I hope you feel this helped you gain a greater understanding of both English grammar and French grammar. Taking some time to revise these and really get a good grasp of them in English, will really help you when you start learning French and all the ins and outs of French grammar. Remember better to understand English grammar now, rather than trying to learn them both in your French class!