kuniga.me > Docs > French Cheatsheet

French Cheatsheet

Index

1. Verbs
   1. Definitions
   2. Reflexive
   3. Conditional
   4. Passé Composé
      1. avoir vs être
2. Pronouns
   1. Personal
   2. Reflexive
3. Confusing
   1. ce qui vs. ce que

Verbs

Definitions

• <verb> represents some generic verb in its infinitive form.
• conj(<verb>) means the verb is conjugated.

Reflexive

Common examples:

• se lever (to get up)
• se perdre (to get lost)

Syntax:

• <pers. pronoun> <refl. pronoun> conj(<verb>)
  • Present - je me perds
  • Imperfect - je me perdais
• <pers. pronoun> <refl. pronoun> conj(etre) <verb>
  • Past composite - tu t’es perdu
  • <verb> agrees with gender and number: elle s’est perdue, ils se sont perdus

Conditional

Syntax:

• If <indicative imperfect>, then <present conditional>
• <present conditional> if <indicative imperfect>

Passé Composé

avoir vs être

We use <conj. etre> <verb> when <verb> denotes displacement and <verb> is used as indirect verb. For all other verbs we use <conj. avoir>.

• When using <conj. etre>, <verb> agrees with person and number.

Pronouns

Personal

je

tu

il/elle/on

nous

vous

ils/elles

Reflexive

je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
me	te	se	nous	vous	se

Confusing

Terms that are very similar and which can be confusing when to use.

ce qui vs. ce que

Rule of thumb: ce qui should be used when it precedes a verb (including reflexive forms), else ce que.

• Je sais ce que je fais
• Je sais ce qui s’est passé
• Je sais ce qui est bien