Module 06: La ville
Première Partie: Montréal, explication de grammaire
In this section:
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Regular -re verbs
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Contractions of à and de with definite articles
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Demonstrative determiners
Regular -re verbs
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| descendre ‘to go down’ | |
| je descends | nous descendons |
| tu descends | vous descendez |
| il/elle/iel/on descend | ils/elles/iesl descendent |
| past participle: descendu | |
Here is a list of common regular -re verbs:
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Not all verbs ending in –re follow this pattern, however. Irregular –re verbs include prendre, mettre, suivre and vivre.
| Un flic descend la rue. Manou le voit. | A cop is coming down the street. Manou sees him. | |
| Agent de police: Attendez! Attendez … Monsieur, vous vendez des macarons? | Policeman: Wait! Wait…Sir, are you selling macarons? | |
| Manou répond: Euh, oui, monsieur. | Manou answers, “Yes, sir.” | |
| Agent de police: Mais, vous n’avez pas de permis. | Policeman: But you do not have a permit. |
Contractions of à and de with definite articles
The prepositions à or de contract with the definite articles le and les to give the following forms:
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de + le = du | |
de + les = des |
| à + le = au | à + les = aux |
| Madelynn et Sharon sont dans un café près du campus, à côté des parcs, pas loin de la rivière. | Madelynn and Sharon are in a café near campus, next to the parks, not far from the river. | |
| Madelynn: Je vais prendre une glace à la vanille et un gâteau au chocolat. Et toi? | Madelynn: I am going to have vanilla ice cream and a chocolate cake. What about you? | |
| Sharon: Pour moi, un biscuit aux amandes et un café au lait. | Sharon: For me, an almond cookie and a latte. |
Demonstrative Determiners
Forms
Demonstrative determiners (‘this’, ‘these’, ‘that’ or ‘those’) are used to point out things or people. They are also sometimes called demonstrative adjectives (in French ‘adjectifs démonstratifs’); they agree in number and gender with the noun they introduce.
| Masculine singular: ce Masculine singular before a vowel sound: cet |
ce tatou cet écureuil |
this armadillo this squirrel |
| Feminine singular: cette | cette chatte | this cat (female) |
| Plural (masculine or feminine): ces | ces tatous ces écureuils |
these armadillos these squirrels |
Note that liaison is compulsory between ces and words starting with a vowel or a silent h.
Uses
In general, demonstrative determiners designate something one can see or show:
| Mariah explique: Ce bâtiment, c’est la bibliothèque. Cette rivière s’appelle Boise River. | Mariah explains: This building is the library. This river is called the Boise River. |
-ci and -là
Demonstrative determiners can designate something close or far away: in order to distinguish between two or more elements, you can add the suffixes -ci or -là to the demonstrative determiner. The suffix -ci indicates that the item is relatively near to the speaker; -là suggests that something is farther away. In English, they are generally translated by ‘this’ and ‘that’:
| Brittney: Tu vois Sharon, cette étoile-ci s’appelle Vénus. Mais ces étoiles-là, c’est la Voie lactée. | Brittney: See Sharon, this star (here) is called Venus. But those stars (there), are the Milky Way. |
