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Published:
March 4, 2008

Intermediate French For Dummies

Overview

Planning a trip to a French-speaking country? Starting a business with a French connection? Looking to ace your next French test? Intermediate French For Dummies is the book for you. It offers all the help you need to improve your writing skills and become a better French speaker, listener, and reader, as well.

This friendly, hands-on workbook gives you practical examples and useful exercises so you can practice how native speakers use the language. From vocabulary and numbers to juggling tenses, you’ll get a clear understanding of the nuances of French style and usage that will have you writing better in no time. Plus, you’ll find multiple charts that provide the conjugations for all types of French verbs. Discover how to:

  • Use fundamental

French grammar — from nouns, adjectives, and adverbs to pronouns, prepositions, and conjunctions

  • Select and conjugate the correct French verbs
  • Understand the importance of grammatical gender in French
  • Ask and respond to questions
  • Use a bilingual dictionary correctly
  • Get a handle on French negatives
  • Know whether to use the infinitive or the present participle
  • Add descriptive flair to your writing
  • Sort out pronominal verbs
  • Avoid the most common French writing mistakes
  • Complete with plenty of room to practice you skills with exercises right in the workbook Intermediate French For Dummies helps you get your French writing up to speed toute suite!

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    About The Author

    Laura K. Lawless is the author of three language websites (French, Spanish, and English) and several successful language titles including Intermediate French For Dummies.

    Zoe Erotopoulos, PhD has taught French for more than 30 years. She is the author of French Verbs For Dummies.

    Sample Chapters

    intermediate french for dummies

    CHEAT SHEET

    If you’re ready to move beyond the basics in French and want to improve your skills at reading, writing, or speaking in French, start by reviewing the three types of French articles, the French contractions formed with à and de, and French personal pronouns.Learning the correct object pronoun word order and identifying verbs that use être as their auxiliary verb will boost your confidence when speaking French.

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    Articles from
    the book

    In French, there are three kinds of articles (small words you can only use with nouns): definite, indefinite, and partitive. The purpose of an article is to present a noun and indicate its gender and number. This chart represents articles and how to use them in French writing and language: Gender/Number Defin
    The most common French prepositions are à (to, at, in) and de (of, from, about). When these two prepositions are followed by the definite articles le and les, a contraction needs to be formed. (Note: There’s no contraction with à or de plus la or l’: à la, à l’, de la, de l’.) Article à + (le/les) de + (le/les) Le au du Les aux des À and de also contract with the different forms of lequel (which one): Form of Lequel à + (lequel) de + (lequel) Lequel auquel duquel Lesquels auxquels desquels Lesquelles auxquelles desquelles There’s no contraction with laquelle: à laquelle, de laquelle.
    Simply put, pronouns replace nouns. Pronouns refer to people, places, things, and ideas, without having to use the same nouns over and over. The French language uses five types of personal pronouns. These French pronouns are the equivalents to I/me, you, or he/him/it: Person Subject Pronoun Direct Object Pronoun Indirect Object Pronoun Reflexive Pronoun 1st person singular je me me me 2nd person singular tu te te te 3rd person singular (masc.
    Everyone makes mistakes, but you can avoid many, if not most, of them by paying extra attention to typical problem areas. Following are three things you should avoid doing if you want to write French like a native. Don't translate word for word One of the worst things you can do is translate word for word. Some French words have more than one English equivalent, and vice versa, and some words have no true equivalent.
    If you’re ready to move beyond the basics in French and want to improve your skills at reading, writing, or speaking in French, start by reviewing the three types of French articles, the French contractions formed with à and de, and French personal pronouns.Learning the correct object pronoun word order and identifying verbs that use être as their auxiliary verb will boost your confidence when speaking French.
    To effectively use French object pronouns, you need to understand what they mean and where they go in the sentence. In the affirmative imperative, direct-object pronouns (like reflexive pronouns) follow the verb and are attached to it with hyphens; in addition, me changes to moi and te changes to toi. This ch
    In French, the passé compose is a compound verb tense, meaning it has two parts: an auxiliary verb and a past participle. French has two auxiliary verbs, avoir or être, and most main verbs use avoir. Memorize the following short list of verbs, which refer to coming and going (both literally and figuratively) that use être: aller (to go) arriver (to arrive) descendre (to descend ) entrer (to enter ) monter (to climb) mourir (to die) naître (to be born) partir (to leave) passer (to pass [by, in front of, behind] ) rester (to stay ) retourner (to return) sortir (to go out ) tomber (to fall ) venir (to come) In addition, pronominal verbs use être: je me suis levé (I got up.
    Articles are small words that you use only with nouns. They both present a noun and indicate the gender and number of a noun. French has definite, indefinite, and partitive articles. The following sections describe these three types of articles and identifies when and how you should use them in your French writing and speech.
    A basic, singular noun refers to just one of something: a book, the cheese, my house. In English, that's about all there is to know about singular nouns. French, however, adds a little more to it: Every noun has a gender (genre), either masculine or feminine. Determining the gender of nouns In French, all nouns have a gender.
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