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.