The Parts of Speech
Elements of a Sentence | Les éléments d’une phrase
The Parts of Speech | Les classes de mots
French grammar usually classifies words based on eight parts of speech: the noun, the determiner, the adjective, the pronoun, the verb, the adverb, the preposition and the conjunction.
Noun | Le nom
- A noun | un nom is a word that identifies a person, an animal, a place, a thing, or an abstract idea.
- A noun can be a proper noun | le nom propre (France, Robert, Oreo, Pierre-Oh and Pierrette) or a common noun | le nom commun (une ville, une personne, un biscuit, des mascottes).
- In French, nouns have a gender (masculine [m.] or feminine [f.]) and a number (singular [s.] or plural [pl.]).
- A noun is always in the third person singular or plural.
Determiner | Le déterminant
- A determiner | un déterminant is a word that precedes, introduces and modifies a noun.
- There are two types of determiners:
- articles | les articles (e.g., le, une, des) and
- adjectives | les adjectifs non qualificatifs (e.g., mon, cette, chaque, deux).
- In French, determiners agree in gender (masculine [m.] or feminine [f.]) and in number (singular [s.] or plural [pl.]) with the nouns that they modify.
Adjective | L’adjectif
- An adjective | un adjectif is a word that modifies a noun by describing it in some way: shape, color and size.
- In French, most adjectives follow the noun they modify. However, there is a small group of adjectives that normally precede the noun. These adjectives may be categorized as adjectives of beauty, age, numbers, goodness, and size.
- In French, adjectives agree in gender (masculine [m.] or feminine [f.]) and in number (singular [s.] or plural [pl.]) with the nouns that they modify.
Pronoun | Le pronom
- A pronoun | un pronom is a word that replaces or to substitutes a noun or noun phrase.
- In French, pronouns agree in gender (masculine [m.] or feminine [f.]) and in number (singular [s.] or plural [pl.]) with the nouns or noun phrase they substitute.
Verb | Le verbe
- A verb | un verbe is a word that denotes an action or a state of being.
- A verb is conjugated.
- In French, verbs are variable. They are affected by :
- the person (the speaker, the addressee, or others: I, you, he, we | je, tu, il, nous),
- the number (singular [s.] or plural [pl.]),
- the gender (masculine [m.] or feminine [f.]),
- the tense (the present, past and future| le présent, le passé et le futur),
- the aspect (how the time in which an event occurs is viewed: as complete, ongoing, consequential, planned and so on | l’aspect inchoative où l’action commence, l’aspect duratif où l’action dure, l’aspect résultatif/terminatif où l’action est achevée et l’aspect itératif où l’action se répète),
- the mood (finite forms: indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and conditional and non-finite forms: infinitive, participle and gerund | modes personnels: l’indicatif, l’impératif, le subjonctif, le conditionnel and les modes impersonnels: l’infinitif, le participe, le gérondif),
- and the voice (a verb in the active or passive voice | la voix active, passive ou pronominale).
Adverb | L’adverbe
- An adverb | un adverbe is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
- In French, adverbs are invariable words. They do not agree in number or in gender.
Preposition | La préposition
- A preposition | une préposition is a word that links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence.
- In French, prepositions are invariable. They do not agree in number or in gender.
Conjunction | La conjunction
- A conjunction | une conjonction is a word that links words or groups of words.
- In French, conjunctions are invariable. They do not agree in number or in gender.