Les négatifs et l’interrogation

Grammaire

A. L’élision/La liaison

• When a verb begins with a vowel or a silent h, “je” is shortened to j’ . This is known as elision which means that the vowel has been eliminated. For plural forms, you will make a liaison or a link when the next word begins with a vowel.

Ex. -

• J’aime la classe de science. (elision)• J’habite à Paris. (elision)

z• Nous aimons la musique. (liaison)

B. Les négatifs

• You will use the “sandwich” formula to make negatives in French.

Sandwich your verb between your bread… “ne” and “pas.”

ne verbe pas

The sandwich formula…

Subject + ne + verb + pas + rest of sentence

n’Before a

vowel

Ex. –

• Je ne parle pas anglais.

• Il n’habite pas à Paris.

C. L’interrogation

• There are four (4) different ways to form a question in French. These ways are…

1. L’intonation

• Raise your voice at the end of a sentence. Put a question mark at the end.

(*This is the easiest way to ask a question.)

Ex. – Paul regarde la télé?

Ex. – Tu parles français?

2. L’inversion

• Invert the subject and verb and place a hyphen between them.

(*More common in written French! Less frequently used in spoken French!)

Statement Question

Tu écoutes la radio. Écoutes-tu la radio?

Vous mangez une pizza. Mangez-vous la pizza?

Ils voyagent à Paris. Voyagent-ils à Paris?

NOTE: Only subject pronouns are used as subjects with this form!

• For inversion with il or elle forms, a -t- is inserted between the verb and the subject pronoun. This aids in pronunciation. No other form will take this addition!

Ex. – Dîne-t-il au restaurant?

Ex. – Joue-t-elle au football?

3. Est-ce que

• Add this expression before any statement.

• Before a vowel sound…it will shorten to Est-ce qu’

Ex. – Est-ce que Paul danse bien?

Ex. – Est-ce qu’elle chante beaucoup?

4. n’est-ce pas

• Add this expression after any statement. Like a tag question in English.

• NOTE: Use a comma to separate!• You are asking for confirmation.Ex. – Il travaille beaucoup, n’est-ce pas?

Ex. – Anne parle anglais, n’est-ce pas?

FIN!