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French Written Test Prep Keyboard Shortcuts (DRAFT) by

Government of Canada SL Written test prep document

This is a draft cheat sheet. It is a work in progress and is not finished yet.

Strategies For Answering Grammar Questions

Balance
"­First part of the sentence must agree with the second part of the sentence. Left and right side of the sentence must be balanced - Tense of the verb - Gender - numbers and quantities (plural or singular) - for negation remember ni in between the two nouns"
"­J’étais à l’école quand il a commencé à pleuvoir Je n'aime pas les huitres ni le caviar "
Time Reference
What is the time and tense reference of the sentence
"note that venir de is an indication of the past depuis more often then not present tense: continuous action started in the past but still ongoing in the present "
Family
"For listing options with similar words -diffe­rence de "­"­e"": difference will always lead back to ta rule -diffe­rence of avoir or être: which one does the verb in question take -diffe­rence in spelling: usually nouns, but can also include adject­ives. Focus mostly on vocab"
Context
"When all the 3 above strategies doe not work or fit: What is the sentence trying to say "
"­vouloir only followed by verb in the infinitive and never de or a penser only follwed by a planifier only followed by a"

Verb Work

Condit­ionnel Passé
condit­ional helping verb (avoir or être) + the past participle of the action being performed
past condit­ional is used to express what would have taken place in the past had some other action, event, or situation occurred.
Plus Que Parfait
imparfait avoir or être + passé composse of second verb
the “plus-­que­-pa­rfait” or pluperfect tense is used to indicate actions that occurred prior to other past actions.

Discourse Indirect

) If the verb in the subord­inate clause is in the imperfect, past perfect, condit­ional, condit­ional perfect, or subjun­ctive, the verb tense remains the same (though the conjug­ation must still change to match the new subject)
Marie a dit : « J’avais froid. » ---> Marie a dit qu’elle avait froid.
If the subord­inate verb is in the present tense, passé composé, future, future perfect, or impera­tive, the verb tense must change in indirect speech
Present tense --> Imperfect; Passé composé --> Pluper­fect; Future --> Condit­ional; Future perfect --> Condit­ional perfect; Imperative --> Infinitive

Past Participle Agreement

être
reflexive verbs
CASE of direct object pronouns (COD)
subord­inate clauses with que

COD vs COI

COD
COI
Subject + verb + who/what? = direct object
Subject + verb + direct object + to whom/for whom? = Indirect object
me, te, le/la, nous, vous, les
me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur/leurs
Also, when the verb is used in compound tenses, such as passé composé, the place of the COD determines if the past participle will change or not (if it will “agree” or not).
One of the most useful cases is that when you know if it’s a COI, you will not bother agreeing the past participle with the object of the verb (in passé composé).

Gov Vocab

en même temps
at the same time
le formulaire
form (document)
s'inscrire
to register (done by your self for yourself)

La Voix Passive

Compos­ition:
être + participe passé. The past participle agrees in number and gender with the subject of the passive sentence.
Usage:
The passive can be used in all tenses as well as in the subjun­ctive mood (le subjon­ctif).
Example (Impar­fait)
Un homme était renversé par une voiture.
Example (Futur simple)
Un homme sera renversé par une voiture.
Example (Passé composé)
Un homme a été renversé par une voiture.
Example (Subjo­nctif)
Il est terrible qu’un homme soit renversé par une voiture.
Par
The agent of the sentence is usually introduced by par, similar to the English by.
de
If the passive sentence includes a verb that describes a state or a feeling, we use the prepos­ition de to introduce the agent
Some examples of verbs used with de in the passive are: accablé de, aimé de, bordé de, connu de, craint de, décoré de, detesté de, entouré de, estimé de, étonné de, frappé de, haï de, ignoré de, oublié de, respecté de, surpris de

Which (Lequel, Auquel, Duquel)

Lequel, Laquelle, Lesquels, Lesquelles
replacing a noun, just subject
Auquel, À laquelle, Auxquels, Auxquelles
at which, directed to person
Duquel, De laquelle, Desquels, Desquelles
of which, quantity of something
Formula: Prepos­ition + One of the Quels
if no prepos­ition then it is qui que dont
Lequel is one of the five French relative pronouns, these little words that help us make more complex sentences in French. Lequel in French has a close meaning to which in English, as it refers to an inanimate indirect object to give extra inform­ation about it.

Miscel­laneous Grammar Rules

beaucoup: Always followed by just de. Even when followed by plural
Months: all masculine in gender; never followed by article unless date infront
dès: cannot be alone in a sentence. Must be followed by another indication of time.

Si Phrase

Si + temps de verbe,
condit­ionnel présent ou condit­ionnnel passé
si + imparfait
condit­ionnel présent
si + présent
condit­ionnel présent
si + plus que parfait
condit­ionnel passé
si + passé composé
condit­ionnel passé
treat futur proch like present (aller is what is condigated not second verb)
depending on context present can also be followed by future (proche or simple) on the other side of the si sentence
 

Imparfait vs Passé Compose

Incomplete vs Complete
Imparfait explains what was happening, with no indication of when or even if it ended. "­J’étais à l’école. I was at school."
Passé composé announces what happened, actions that were completed. "Je suis arrivé tôt. I arrived early.
Uncounted vs Counted
Imparfait details what used to happen on a regular basis, or happened an indefinite number of times. "­J’é­tudiais le lundi. I used to study on Monday­s."
Passé composé expresses what happened a specific number of times. "J’ai étudié lundi. I studied on (a specific) Monday."
Ongoing vs New
Imparfait indicates an ongoing state of being or feeling. "­J’a­imais l’école. I liked school."
Passé composé reports a change in a state of being, a new feeling. "À ce moment, j’ai détesté l’école. At that moment, I hated school."
Background + Event
Imparfait describes what was happening or how something was when … "­J’étais à l’école quand … I was at school when …"
passé composé interr­upted with news of some occurence. … "il a commencé à pleuvoir. … it started rainin­g."
Indicators
imparfait: chaque semaine, chaque mois, chaque année,le week-end, tous les jours, normal­ement, d’habi­tude,en général, généra­lem­ent­par­fois, quelqu­efois, de temps en temps, autrefois, rarement
Passé composé: une semain­e,l­undi, mardi…, un jour, toujours, plusieurs fois, une fois, deux fois…, soudain, soudai­nement, tout à coup, d’abord, ensuite, puis, enfin

Qui, Que, Dont

Qui
Noun (S) qui (S) V
le garçon(S) qui(S) joue (V) dans la rue
Que
Noun(O) que(O) S V
la pomme(O) que(O) j(S)’ai mangée(V)
Dont
Noun4 dont S1 V2 O3
Le stylo4 dont j1’ai2 besoin3
Ce Qui
indefinite subject
Ce Que
Indefinite Object
Ce Dont
Indefinite Object, but vague idea. Works often with verb prepos­ition de
Que Pattern: O3 O3 S1 V2, la pomme3 que j1’ai mangée2 = J1’ai mangé2 la pomme3

Dont Pattern: Noun4 dont S1 V2 O3 Le stylo4 dont j1’ai2 besoin3 = Le stylo4 dont j1’ai2 le stylo4 besoin3

Note Dont goes with verbs that utilize prepos­ition de

Ce Que, Ce Qui, Ce Dont: Mean what in the middle of a sentence without being a question

Masculin & Feminin

Masculin
Exemption
Feminin
Exemption
-age: garage; Le message
la page, la plage, la cage, l’image la nage, la rage
-ade:  la parade
le sérénade, le stade
-ail: le travail
 
-aille: la bataille
-al: le journal
 
-able: la table
Le câble, le cartable, le diable, l’érable, le portable, le sable
-ant: le restaurant
 
-sion & -tion: la situation, l’appr­obation
-aire: le dictio­nnaire
l’affaire, la grammaire, la paire
-aine -eine: la douzaine, la peine
le domaine, le capitaine
-eau: le tableau
l’eau, la peau
-ée: une donnée
le colisée, le lycée, le musée, le trophée
-amme: le programme
la flamme, la gamme
-esse: la promesse
-et: le jardinet, Le projet
la forêt
-ette: la cigarette, La feuillette
le squelette
-ier: le papier
 
-té: la respon­sab­ilité
l’été, le karaté, le pâté, le comité
-isme: le féminisme, Le communisme
 
-ice: la justice
l’exer­cice, le sacrifice, le service
-ment: le gouver­nement Un règlement
 
-tude: la solitude
-oir: le miroir, le comptoir
 
-oire: l’histoire la poire
le conser­vat­oire, le labora­toire, le pourboire, l’inte­rro­gatoire
-ain: le refrain, le copain
 
-çon: la leçon
le garçon, le caleçon, le glaçon, le soupçon
-eu: l’aveu, le neveu, le chat, le plat
 
-eur: l’odeur, la sueur, la partie, la vie
le bonheur, le haut-p­arleur, l’honneur, le parapluie
-ège
 
-ance -ence: la connai­ssance, la science
le silence
-at: le chat, le plat
 
-ie: la partie, la vie
l’ince­ndie, le parapluie
l'abre
 
-gne

Indicators of Tense (Time)

Past
Present
Future
Pendant (PC)
depuis (still ongoing)
Dans / en + short time (FP)
Pendant que (Imp)
 
Procha­in(e)/ demain
Parce que (imp) *in context
Il y a (Ago)
Autre fois
venir de