French Grammar
Grammar rules explained with examples and tables. Pick a topic below and move on to practice.
Un vs une in French: which 'a/an' to use
Un is “a/an” before a masculine noun, and une is “a/an” before a feminine noun. French has no single “a” like English: the indefinite article has to match the gender of the noun, exactly the way le ...
Ne... pas in French: how to make a sentence negative
To make a French sentence negative, you wrap the verb in two words: ne before the verb and pas after it. Je parle (“I speak”) becomes Je ne parle pas (“I do not speak”). Think of ne … pas as a ...
Il faut in French: how to say 'you have to' / 'it is necessary'
Il faut means “it is necessary”, “one must”, or “you have to”. Its special trait is that it is impersonal: the il is a dummy subject (like “it” in “it’s raining”), so the form never changes for a ...
Être vs avoir in French: the two verbs you need first
Être means “to be” and avoir means “to have”. They are the two most useful verbs in French: you meet them in almost every sentence, and they are also the two helper verbs that build the past tense ...
Est-ce que in French: the easy way to ask a question
Est-ce que is the beginner’s best friend for asking questions. Take any normal statement, put est-ce que in front of it, and it becomes a yes/no question — with no change to the word order. Tu parles ...
Bon vs bien in French: 'good' vs 'well'
Bon is an adjective — it means “good” and describes a noun, so it agrees with that noun ( bon, bonne, bons, bonnes ). Bien is an adverb — it means “well” and describes a verb, and it never changes. Un ...
Tu vs vous in French: which 'you' to use and when
French has two words for “you”. Tu is informal and singular — it speaks to one person you are close to. Vous does two jobs: it is the polite, formal way to say “you” to one person, and it is the only ...
Qui vs que in French: the simple rule for relative pronouns
As relative pronouns — the “who”, “that”, or “which” that joins two parts of a sentence — qui and que split the work by grammar, not by meaning. Use qui when it is the subject of the verb that ...
Le vs la in French: how to know a noun's gender
Le means “the” before a masculine noun, and la means “the” before a feminine noun. Every French noun is either masculine or feminine, and the article has to match it. The hard truth: you often cannot ...
C'est vs il est in French: how to choose
Both c'est and il est can translate as “it is” or “he/she is”, but they are not interchangeable. Use c’est before a noun that has an article or a possessive (un, une, le, la, mon…), before a name, and ...