Teach a n00b

I was going to title this "m'enseigner" but I got that through a free translation site and don't know if it's correct.

Though I'm Canadian, I only basically know what French I've learned from reading the back of cereal boxes. So a lot of food-related vocab, but no sentence structure or grammar knowledge. I'm interested in learning, though, and perhaps at the same time some what I was taught in grade school will come back to me.

So, would anyone like to be my teacher? :3

Hahaha, M'enseigner means "to teach myself" Which... could make a little sense.
I wouldn't mind being your teacher
(Since I am the only francophone here XD)

Your first lesson will be tomorrow!

Awaiting said lesson!

feminine-masculine

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Alright, so i dont know HOW much french you know. So I will be starting easy :/

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Masculine - feminine

In most words, you can just add an "e" at the end of the adjectives and all is well!
Like

Mechant --> Mechante
Amoureux --> Amoureuse
Bleu --> Bleue

For adjectives that end in a consonnant, you must double the consonnant and add an "e"

Gros --> Grosse
Gentil --> Gentille

[PS: In the masculine you would not prounonce the "s" or the "l" (Gro, Genti) but in the feminie you must prounonce the consonant)

In words that end in an "e" already. There is no need to add an "e"

Horrible --> Horrible
comestible --> comestible

Adjective that end in "f". Turns into a "ve"

Pensif --> Pensive

Adjective ending in "eau" turns into "elle"

Beau --> Belle

Adjective ending in "eur" turns into "euse"

Joueur --> Joueuse

Ajective that end in "eux" turn into "euse"

Heureux --> Heureuse

Adjective ending ie "er turns into "e` (accent grave)re"

Cher- Che`re

Weird adjectives

Roux--> Rousse
Fou --> Folle


Quick Exercise:

Jolie
Grand
Pousseur
Brun
Creatif
Nouveau
Chanceux
Leger

Ally, I want to learn too. XD I don't know anything in French, sooo...can you teach me the pronunciation?

Ally wrote:

feminine-masculine

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Alright, so i dont know HOW much french you know. So I will be starting easy :/

I know nothing. Seriously:/

Questions: How do you know whether something's supposed to be masculine/feminine? Is there a system/pattern to it, or is it totally at random in order to confuse n00bs like me?

Also, I second Yining's request. I recognize a couple of those words(a bit) in print, but I've no idea how they'd sound out loud.

<3 u Ally, and thanks for your patience!

yinyin: I will make a topic about pronunciation. ^^ It will be a lot easier for me to categorize them Plus you need to learn the API alphabet... It makes it easier for me to write down the pronunciation!

Kitty: Those are the adjectives. So whenever a noun is feminine it would be feminine. Whenever masculine it would be masculine.

LA = Feminine
LE= Masculine

Most nouns with an article that ends in A are feminine. Ex:

Sa
La
Ma
Ta

Most nouns with an article that end in -E OR -ON are masculine. Ex:

Le
Son
Ton
Mon

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It is very arbitrary... So, you will know the articles with time!
Even though when there is two gender possibilities (like animals) You can tell.
The nouns that end with an "e" or a double consonant than "e" or feminine

For example:
Le chien --> La chienne (Dog)
Le loup --> La louve (wolf)

BE CAREFUL THOUGH, this isn't always true! For example:
Le cheval --> La jument (Horse)
Le bouc --> La brebis (Goat)

And then there is also the gender neutral animals, like fish. We don't know which are which at first. Therefore they are male.

[side note: In french, the man gender rules. So if there is plural (which you haven't learned about JUST yet) and in the group of people you are talking about there is ONE guy, could be a thousands girls or one 1/5, doesnt matter, then the adjective would take the form of masculine/plural]

Here is another quick exercise for you silly kids.
Tell me if they are feminine or masculine:

La chaise
La table
Son chapeau
Mon chat
Ma chatte
Ta maison
Le personage

Now add some adjectives you learned to them!


PS: All the words here will be put in the pronunciation area, so you can learn how to pronounce them ;P and their meaning!

La chaise <-Feminine
La table <-Feminine
Son chapeau <-Masculine
Mon chat <-Masculine
Ma chatte <-Feminine
Ta maison <-Feminine
Le personage <-Masculine

As for adding adjective to them, which comes first? Noun or adjective? Sorry, I really know nothing:(

emptysaucer wrote:

La chaise <-Feminine
La table <-Feminine
Son chapeau <-Masculine
Mon chat <-Masculine
Ma chatte <-Feminine
Ta maison <-Feminine
Le personage <-Masculine

As for adding adjective to them, which comes first? Noun or adjective? Sorry, I really know nothing:(

Perfect! You got all of them right

You add the adjectives after the nouns in most cases. For now, it all works!

La chaise nouvelle
La table Brunne
Son chapeau jolie
Mon chat brun
Ma chatte chanceuse
Ta maison grande
Le personage creatif

emptysaucer wrote:

La chaise nouvelle
La table Brunne
Son chapeau jolie
Mon chat brun
Ma chatte chanceuse
Ta maison grande
Le personage creatif

Very well done!

Sowwy, I havent been here all weekend >< I will be posting another lesson later tonight ^^

Whoo! Thank you:)

Plurals in French

[Le/La --> Les
Un/Une --> Des]

Most nouns in French are made plural by simply adding an unpronounced s to the singular form:

La famille --> les familles
Un élève --> des élèves

If a singular noun ends in s, x, z, its plural form does not change:

Le corps --> les corps
Le prix --> les prix
Le nez --> les nez


Nouns ending in eau add x to form the plural:

Le bateau --> les bateaux
Le bureau --> les bureaux
Le cadeau --> les cadeaux


Nouns ending in eu add x to form the plural!
except that le pneu --> les pneus

Le cheveu --> les cheveux
Le jeu --> les jeux
Le lieu --> les lieux

Nouns ending in al --> aux
Except for Le bal --> les bals
Le festival --> les festivals

L'animal --> les animaux
Le cheval --> les chevaux
L'hôpital --> les hôpitaux


Some nouns ending in ou add x to form the plural:

Le bijou --> les bijoux
Le genou --> les genoux


Irregular plurals:

L'œil --> les yeux
Le travail --> les travaux
Madame --> mesdames
Mademoiselle --> mesdemoiselles
Monsieur --> messieurs

Most compound nouns do not change in the plural.

Le hors-d'œuvre --> les hors-d'œuvre
Le rendez-vous --> les rendez-vous

But:

Le grand-père --> les grands-pères
La grand-mère --> les grands-mères
Le grand-parent --> les grands-parents

In French, last names do not add an s in the plural as they do in English:

Les Renard
Les Lescaut

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More Vocabulary! (Adjectives)

Petit
Jeune
Fort
Faible
Chaud
Long
Bas
Leger
Lourd
Haut
Propre
Sale
Sec
Fatigue
Triste
Content - Heureux
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Quick Exercise:
Change to plural and add an adjective (DONT FORGET TO CHANGE THE ADJECTIVE TO PLURAL AND FEMININE/MASCULIN!!!!)

La croix
Le pinceau
La television
Le journal
La niece
Le neveu
Le joujou
Le gratte-ciel

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All meaning/ pronunciation of those words will be in the section (Teaching a n00b +)

Quick Exercise:

Les croix <--I don't know how to make a "oix" ending feminine
Les pinceaux
Les televisionnes ??
Les journaux
Les nieces ??
Les neveux
Les joujoux
Les gratte-ciels <--Not sure how to make "el" plural, so just added an "s"

emptysaucer wrote:

Quick Exercise:

Les croix <--I don't know how to make a "oix" ending feminine
Les pinceaux
Les televisionnes ??
Les journaux
Les nieces ??
Les neveux
Les joujoux
Les gratte-ciels <--Not sure how to make "el" plural, so just added an "s"

Those words were already in feminine or masculines, you had to add an adjective to them and THAT had to be changed.

Les croix
Les pinceaux
Les televisionnes
Les journaux
Les nieces
Les neveux
Les joujoux
Les gratte-ciels

The ones in red are false. You can correct them, and then add adjectives to the rest ^^

okay canadian, you gonna look for some informative resources to learn or make good strength over french . . one of my friend also need to find some useful for language learning site, i recently found english language course london you may check it out . . .