French Workbook For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
About This Book
Conventions Used in This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 The Building Blocks of French
Chapter 1 Getting to Know You
French Greetings
Hello
How are you?
Won’t you tell me your name?
Using Other Social Niceties Appropriately
Saying please, thank you, and you’re welcome
Parting ways
Understanding Subject Pronouns
Je or nous: The first person
Tu or vous: The second person
Il, elle, or on: The third-person singular
Ils or elles: The third-person plural
Answer Key to “Getting to Know You” Practice Questions
Chapter 2 Understanding Parts of Speech and Bilingual Dictionaries
Identifying the Parts of Speech
What’s in a name? Nouns
Articles (not the ones in magazines)
Doing all the things with verbs
Describing adjectives
Using adverbs
Pronouns: They’re replacements
Prepositions: On top of it
Connecting with conjunctions
Correctly Using a Bilingual Dictionary
Figuring out what to look up
Considering context and part of speech
Understanding symbols and terminology
Interpreting figurative language and idioms
Verifying your findings
Answer Key to “Understanding Parts of Speech and Bilingual Dictionaries” Practice Questions
Chapter 3 Figuring Out Nouns and Articles
Genre Bending: Writing with Masculine and Feminine Nouns
Determining the gender of nouns
Making nouns feminine
Nouns that are always masculine or feminine
Part Deux: Making Nouns Plural
Remembering your x’s: Other plural patterns
Irregular plurals
Understanding Article Types, Gender, and Number
Defining the definite articles
Sorting out indefinite articles
Looking at some partitive articles
The sum of all articles
Answer Key to “Figuring Out Nouns and Articles” Practice Questions
Chapter 4 Showing Up and Owning Up: Demonstratives and Possessives
A Little of This and That: Using Demonstratives
Demonstrative adjectives
Demonstrative pronouns
Possession: Channeling the Spirit of Ownership
Possession using de
Working with possessive adjectives
Singular subjects
Yours, mine, and ours: Understanding possessive pronouns
Answer Key to “Demonstratives and Possessives” Practice Questions
Chapter 5 The 4-1-1 on Numbers, Dates, and Time
Using Numbers
Counting on cardinal numbers: 1, 2, 3
Starting with numbers 0 to 19
Mark Your Calendar: Expressing Days, Months, and Dates
Knowing the days of the week
An even dozen: Identifying the months
’Tis the season
Day, month, and year: Scoping out the dating scene
Understanding Time Differences
Answer Key to “The 4-1-1 on Numbers, Dates, and Time” Practice Questions
Part 2 The Here and Now: Writing in the Present
Chapter 6 Right Here, Right Now: The Present Tense
The Mainstream: Conjugating Regular Verbs
The most common regular verbs: –er
Another common regular verb ending: –ir
The third type of regular verbs: –re
Rounding up regular French verbs
Preserving Pronunciation with Spelling-Change Verbs
Working with –cer verbs
Managing –ger verbs
Practicing with spelling-change verbs
Dissecting Stem-Changing Verbs
Tackling –yer verbs
Figuring out –eler verbs
Focusing on –eter verbs
Looking at –e*er verbs
Dealing with –é*er verbs
Cleaning up conjugations
The Rebels: Conjugating Irregular Verbs
Coming right up: Verbs conjugated like venir
Going out — and out like a light: Verbs conjugated like sortir and dormir
Offering and opening: Verbs conjugated like offrir and ouvrir
Taking: Verbs conjugated like prendre
Beating and putting: Verbs conjugated like battre and mettre
Abilities and wants: Pouvoir and vouloir
Making do: Verbs conjugated like faire
Seeing is believing: Voir, c’est croire
Tackling unique irregular verbs
Answer Key to “Right Here, Right Now: The Present Tense” Practice Questions
Chapter 7 Sorting Out Pronominal Verbs: Idioms, Oneself, and Each Other
Examining the Relationship between Reflexive Pronouns and Pronominal Verbs
Understanding the Types of Pronominal Verbs
Reflexive verbs: Acting on oneself
Reciprocal verbs: What you do to each other
Idiomatic pronominal verbs: Figuratively speaking
Knowing Where the Words Go
Deciding Whether to Make a Verb Pronominal
Reflexive verbs: Oneself or something else?
Reciprocal verbs: Returning the favor?
Idiomatic pronominal verbs: What’s the meaning of all this?
Answer Key to “Sorting Out Pronominal Verbs” Practice Questions
Chapter 8 Asking and Answering Questions
Oui ou Non: Asking Yes-or-No Questions
Posing informal questions
Asking formal questions with inversion
Asking Who, What, Which, When, Where, Why, and How Questions
Interrogative adverbs
Comment
Combien
Quand
Où
Pourquoi
Interrogative pronouns
Interrogative adjectives
Asking wh questions with est-ce que
Asking wh questions with inversion
Answering Questions
Answering yes-or-no questions
Answering wh questions
Answer Key to “Asking and Answering Questions” Practice Questions
Chapter 9 Just Say No: The Negative
Using Negative Adverbs
The most common negative adverb: Ne . . . pas
Using ne . . . pas in two-verb constructions
Following word order with ne . . . pas
Other negative adverbs
Using Negative Pronouns
Ne . . . personne
Ne . . . rien
Negatives and their indefinite opposites
Practice using negative pronouns
Responding to Negative Questions and Statements
Replying with no
Answering with yes
Answer Key to “Just Say No: The Negative” Practice Questions
Chapter 10 “To Be” or “Being” Is the Question: Infinitives and Present Participles
Working with French Infinitives
As a verb: Expressing action
As a noun: Infinitives as subjects
Understanding word order with infinitives
Presenting Present Participles
Forming present participles
Using present participles
Present participles as adjectives
Nouns that are present participles
Answer Key to “Infinitives and Present Participles” Practice Questions
Part 3 Writing with Panache: Dressing Up Your Sentences
Chapter 11 Describing and Comparing with Flair: Adjectives and Adverbs
Describing All the Things with Adjectives
Making your adjectives agree
Converting masculine adjectives to the feminine form
Correctly positioning adjectives around nouns
Using special forms for six adjectives that precede nouns
Identifying adjectives that have changing meanings
Using Adverbs Accurately
Identifying types of adverbs
Adverbs of frequency
Positioning adverbs
Adverbs after the verb
Adverbs in other spots
Comparing with Comparatives and Superlatives
More or less, equal: Relating two things with comparatives
Supersizing with superlatives
Superlatives with adjectives
Superlatives with adverbs
For better or worse: Special comparative and superlative forms
Answer Key to “Adjectives and Adverbs” Practice Questions
Chapter 12 An Ode to Prepositions
Identifying Common Prepositions
The preposition à
The preposition de
Forming contractions with prepositions
Identifying other useful prepositions
Distinguishing between Prepositions
When to use à or de
When to use dans or en
Using Prepositions with Places
Prepositions with countries
Going to or being in a country
Coming from or being from a country
Prepositions with cities
Giving Verbs the Prepositions They Need
Verbs with à
Verbs with de
Verbs with other prepositions
Verbs with different prepositions
Verbs with no preposition
Answer Key to “An Ode to Prepositions” Practice Questions
Chapter 13 Getting a Hold on Pronouns
Using Object Pronouns
Presenting direct object pronouns
Word order with direct object pronouns
Giving you indirect object pronouns
Understanding Adverbial Pronouns
Getting there with the adverbial pronoun y
Adverbial grammar: Picking up more of it with the pronoun en
En replaces de + noun
En with numbers
En with adverbs of quantity
Positioning Double Pronouns
Lining up: Standard pronoun order
Using pronouns in commands
Answer Key to “Getting a Hold on Pronouns” Practice Questions
Part 4 Just Do It, and Now You’ve Done It: Commands and Past Tenses
Chapter 14 I Command You: The Imperative
Conjugating the Imperative
Regular verbs
Imperative of –er verbs
Irregular verbs
Irregular –er verbs
Giving Affirmative and Negative Commands
Making a to-do list: Affirmative commands
Don’t do it! Negative commands
Identifying Other Ways to Give Commands
Answer Key to “I Command You: The Imperative” Practice Questions
Chapter 15 It’s All in the Past: Passé Composé
Creating the Passé Composé
Choosing your helper: avoir or être
Finding past participles
Past participles of regular verbs
Keeping Grammatical Agreement in Mind
Agreement with être verbs
Agreement with pronominal verbs
Putting It All Together: Conjugating the Passé Composé
Using the Passé Composé
Answer Key to “It’s All in the Past: Passé Composé” Practice Questions
Chapter 16 When the Past Isn’t Perfect: The Imparfait Tense
Conjugating the Imparfait
Regular –er verbs
Regular –ir and –re verbs
Stem-changing verbs
Spelling-change verbs
Irregular verbs
Taking a Closer Look at the Imparfait
Deciding Whether to Use the Imparfait or Passé Composé
When relying on context clues
When describing actions that have no end in sight
When making a habit of repeating an action
When describing the general state of being
When taking two (or more) actions at a time
When getting interrupted – how rude!
Understanding the Recent Past
Answer Key to “The Imparfait Tense” Practice Questions
Part 5 The Part of Tens
Chapter 17 Ten (or so) Essential French Phrases
C’est
Il y a
Que veut dire . . . ? and Comment dit-on . . . ?
C’est-à-dire
Au cas où
À mon avis
Ah bon (?)
J’arrive
Avoir besoin de/Avoir envie de
Avoir = “to be”
Chapter 18 Ten Celebratory French Expressions
Bonne Année !
Meilleurs vœux !
Joyeux anniversaire !
Bonne chance !
Bon courage !
Félicitations !
À votre santé !
À la vôtre !
Vive la France !
Bonne fête !
Part 6 Appendixes
Appendix A Verb Charts
Regular Verbs
Spelling-Change Verbs
–cer Verbs
commencer (to begin)
–ger Verbs
manger (to eat)
Stem-Changing Verbs
–eler Verbs
appeler (to call)
–eter Verbs
jeter (to throw)
–e*er Verb
lever (to lift)
–é*er Verbs
gérer (to manage)
–yer Verbs
nettoyer (to clean)
Irregular Verbs
aller (to go)
avoir (to have)
boire (to drink)
connaître (to know)
devoir (must, to have to)
dire (to say, tell)
être (to be)
faire (to do, make)
mettre (to put, to place)
offrir (to offer)
partir (to leave)
pouvoir (can, to be able to)
prendre (to take)
savoir (to know)
venir (to come)
voir (to see)
vouloir (to want)
Appendix B Verbs with Prepositions
Appendix C English-French Dictionary
Appendix D French-English Dictionary
Index
EULA