8 Basic French Grammar Rules For Beginners To Get To Grips With French

If you’re just starting out learning French – or if you’re thinking about taking it up – you might be wondering about what to expect as you embark on your new language-learning adventure.

Alternatively, you might have already started learning French and are wondering which important areas of grammar you should focus your efforts on first.

So, to help you understand a bit more about how French grammar works and to give you an idea about what you’ll need to spend time on at the beginning, in this post, you'll discover eight of the most important aspects of basic French grammar.

1. French Has Gender

If you ever studied French at school, one of the things you probably remember is that French has gender.

Specifically, in French, all nouns are either masculine or feminine, and while some of them are quite logical – for example, femme (woman, wife) is feminine while homme (man) is masculine – others are entirely arbitrary.

Take table (table) and bureau (desk, office) as an example – the former is feminine while the latter is masculine.

It’s not that tables display any particularly feminine traits or that desks (or offices) are considered especially manly – it’s simply a question of grammar.

This affects how French works in several ways, but perhaps the most apparent is that masculine and feminine nouns take different articles (the equivalent of “a” and “the” in English).

For masculine nouns, the definite article “the” is le, and the indefinite article (a) is “un“.

For feminine nouns, on the other hand, the definite article is la, and the indefinite article is une.

So we say:

• un bureau (a desk/office)
• le bureau (the desk/office)
• une table (a table)
• la table (the table)

Unfortunately, unlike related languages such as Spanish or Italian, the endings of words aren't usually helpful when trying to work out the gender of a noun.

There are some patterns that can give you a clue – for example, words ending in -eur are usually masculine while nouns ending in -tion are almost always feminine. 

However, for others, you simply can’t tell just by looking at the word – which means you have to learn them.

The best way to do this is always to learn new nouns with their corresponding article – so you shouldn’t just remember that chanson means “song”. Instead, you should remember it as une chanson because it’s a feminine noun.

I also find that it sometimes helps to make up a “reason” why the word has the gender it does.

For example, you might remember that chanson is feminine because “girls are better at singing songs”. Of course, it doesn’t matter if it’s not true – in fact, the more ridiculous the better – as long as it helps you remember!

2. French Has Agreement

Another key feature of French is what’s known as agreement.

This means that certain words need to “agree” with each other according to both gender and number – or in other words, in terms of masculine or feminine and singular or plural.

Agreement is present in several aspects of French, but one of the most prominent is in French adjectives agreeing with the nouns they describe.

For example, let’s take the French word for “green”, vert.

This form of the adjective is used to describe masculine singular nouns, but if the noun is feminine, you need to add an -e to the end, giving you verte.

If a masculine noun is plural, you need to add an -s, giving you verts – while if a feminine noun is plural, you need to add -es, giving you vertes.

For example:

• un livre vert (a green book)
• deux livres verts (two green books)
• une chaise verte (a green chair)
• deux chaises vertes (two green chairs)

Some adjectives have only one form that's used for both masculine and feminine nouns, which means you only need to worry about them agreeing with plural forms. For example, rouge (red) works like this:

• un livre rouge (a red book)
• deux livres rouges (two red books)
• une chaise rouge (a red chair)
• deux chaises rouges (two red chairs)

3. Formality In French – Two Words For “You”

An important feature of French is the concept of formality. And this manifests itself as two different words for “you” along with the corresponding verb forms that go with them.

When you're speaking to someone you are on informal, friendly or close terms with, you can use tu. 

However, with people you don’t know, especially older people, or with people to whom you need to show respect, you should use vous instead.

With children, even those you don’t know, you should always use tu – it would seem extremely odd to use vous with children.

Using tu (known in French as tutoiement) and using vous (vouvoiement) can be something of a minefield, not only for learners but even for native speakers.

If you use tu inappropriately, it can seem impertinent or disrespectful while using vous in the wrong situation can seem overly formal or distant.

In some cases, the choice is obvious, but in other situations, it might not be so clear-cut. And then there’s the question of when to pass from vouvoiement to tutoiement as you get to know somebody better and become more informal with them.

In general, French uses the informal form more readily than the equivalent in German but less so than in Spanish. In a professional setting, vous is common, especially with superiors.

A French friend of mine who recently applied for a job using English told me that she felt French professional communication feels much colder, more distant and more formal than in English.

If in doubt, the best option is to stick with vous.

However, if you’re not sure which one to use, you can always ask on peut se tutoyer? (can we use tu?).

And if you want to suggest moving things onto a more informal basis, you can use an expression like je pense qu’on peut se tutoyer maintenant, which means “I think we can use tu now”.

4. French Verb Conjugation

Along with gender, if you studied any French at school, possibly the other thing you remember is that verbs have a lot more forms than in English, so let’s look at this concept next, known as French verb conjugation.

In English, verbs change slightly according to the grammatical subject of the sentence (who or what is doing the action).

However, in English, this is usually limited to adding an “s” to the third person singular form of the verb (the he/she/it form), as in: 

• I like
• you like
• he/she/it likes

In French, though, there are more possible forms depending on the subject of the sentence. Plus, French verbs can be divided into three main groups, known as “conjugations”, and each group follows different rules.

The conjugations in French are determined by the ending of the verb in the infinitive form (the form found in the dictionary), and the three possible verb endings are -er, -re and -ir.

Regular verbs in each of these groups “conjugate” in the same way, which means the endings change in the same predictable ways according to the subject.

Here’s how to conjugate regular verbs from these three main groups in the present tense:

-Er Verbs

Jouer (To Play)

• je joue (I play)
• tu joues (you [singular informal] play)
• il/elle joue (he/she/it plays)
• nous jouons (we play)
• vous jouez (you [plural or formal] play)
• ils/elles jouent (they [masculine/feminine] play)

-Re Verbs

Attendre (To wait)

• j’attends (I wait)
• tu attends (you [singular informal] wait)
• il/elle attend (he/she/it waits)
• nous attendons (we wait)
• vous attendez (you [plural or formal] wait)
• ils/elles attendent (they [masculine/feminine] wait)

-Ir Verbs

Finir (To Finish)

• je finis (I finish)
• tu finis (you [singular informal] finish)
• il/elle finit (he/she/it finishes)
• nous finissons (we finish)
• vous finissez (you [plural or formal] finish)
• ils/elles finissent (they [masculine/feminine] finish)

You’ll notice that with each type of verb, there is a stem or base at the beginning that always stays the same while the ending changes according to the subject. 

5. French Has Irregular Verbs

What we’ve just looked at is how to conjugate regular verbs in the present tense. And if that was all there was to it, French would be a whole lot easier to learn – but unfortunately, that’s not the case.

In French, lots of verbs don’t follow these patterns. Instead, many are irregular – and that means you have to learn them by heart and remember them.

In addition, a lot of the most common verbs you use to say even the most basic things are irregular, so you’ll need to learn them right from the start.

However, despite what you might first imagine, in many ways, this is a blessing in disguise since you’ll be using these verbs so often that you’ll find you learn them very quickly and without too much effort.

This is especially true if you follow the rules of StoryLearning and read books in French. You'll see the most common irregular verbs over and over. And seeing them in writing will help you pick up their forms without too much sweat!

So now let’s jump in and tackle the thorny problem of irregular French verbs.

Two of the first verbs you’ll need to learn are être (to be) and avoir (to have) – and these two are about as irregular as they come.

Here’s how to conjugate them in the present tense:

Être (To Be)

• je suis (I am)
• tu es (you [singular informal] are)
• il/elle est (he/she/it is)
• nous sommes (we are)
• vous êtes (you [plural or formal] are)
• ils/elles sont (they [masculine/feminine] are)

Avoir (To Have)

• j’ai (I have)
• tu as (you [singular informal] have)
• il/elle a (he/she/it has)
• nous avons (we have)
• vous avez (you [plural or formal] have)
• ils/elles ont (they [masculine/feminine] have)

As I’ve already mentioned, these verbs are incredibly important in French, not only because they are high-frequency verbs in themselves, but also because you need them to form certain tenses.

However, since you’ll be using them constantly right from the start, you’ll pick them up with no trouble.

Some irregular verbs, like avoir and être, are unique and don’t conjugate like any others. However, many belong to small groups of verbs that conjugate irregularly in the same way, so if you know one, you know them all.

An example of this would be partir (to leave), sentir (to feel), servir (to serve), sortir (to go out) and others, which all follow the same pattern, like this:

Partir (To Leave)

• je pars (I leave)
• tu pars (you [singular informal] leave)
• il/elle part (he/she/it leaves)
• nous partons (we leave)
• vous partez (you [plural or formal] leave)
• ils/elles partent (they [masculine/feminine] leave)

There are quite a few groups of verbs like this, so learning one model gives you a shortcut to mastering several at the same time.

One large group of -ir verbs that are slightly irregular are those that follow the pattern of dormir (to sleep). This group is so large that it almost constitutes a fourth conjugation in its own right – or at least a sub-group of -ir verbs. Here’s the model:

Dormir (To Sleep)

• je dors (I sleep)
• tu dors (you [singular informal] sleep)
• il/elle dort (he/she/it sleeps)
• nous dormons (we sleep)
• vous dormez (you [plural or formal] sleep)
• ils/elles dorment (they [masculine/feminine] sleep)

Although I would never recommend learning vocabulary through reciting lists, when it comes to verbs, there’s nothing wrong with learning some of the more common irregular forms by heart early on. 

However, the way to really fix them in your memory and start using them naturally is through practice, especially by reading short stories in French. So I wouldn’t suggest spending too much of your time focusing on verb tables since you will pick them up just through use.

6. French Verb Tenses

So far, we’ve only looked at regular and irregular verb forms for talking about the present. But there are also other verb forms depending on whether you want to talk about things like the future or the past – and these are what are known as “tenses”.

French has quite a few different tenses, but the good news is that you won’t need to learn them all right from the start. And some you can ignore entirely.

To talk about the past, the main two French past tenses you’ll need are what are known as the perfect tense or passé compose and the imperfect tense or imparfait.

The imperfect tense is a “simple” tense, which means it consists of just a single word.

The perfect tense, conversely, is what’s known as a “compound tense”, which means it’s made up of a form of either avoir or être and a form of the main verb known as the “past participle”.

In terms of construction – although not necessarily meaning – this is the equivalent of something like “I’ve eaten” or “I’ve done” in English.

Here’s how to conjugate the perfect and imperfect tenses for regular -er verbs:

Aimer (To Like) Perfect Tense

• j’ai aimé (I like/have liked)
• tu as aimé (you [singular informal] liked/have liked)
• il/elle a aimé (he/she/it liked/has liked)
• nous avons aimé (we liked/have liked)
• vous avez aimé (you [plural or formal] liked/have liked)
• ils/elles ont aimé (they [masculine/feminine] liked/have liked)

Aimer (To Like) Imperfect Tense

• j’aimais (I liked)
• tu aimais (you [singular informal] liked)
• il/elle aimait (he/she/it liked)
• nous aimions (we liked)
• vous aimiez (you [plural or formal] liked)
• ils/elles aimaient (they [masculine/feminine] liked)

The main difficulty for English speakers is that these tenses don’t have direct equivalents in English and can be translated in different ways according to the context.

Learning to distinguish between these two tenses is a major part of learning French at elementary and lower intermediate levels, and it’s too big a topic to deal with here in detail.

However, in very broad terms, the perfect tense can be used to talk about an action in the past that has some bearing on the present as well as about a single event in the past that is now finished.

The imperfect, on the other hand, is used for repeated actions in the past, continuous actions in the past or a continuous state of affairs in the past.

For example:

• J’ai perdu mes clés et maintenant je suis enfermé dehors. (I’ve lost my keys and now I’m locked outside.)
  • past action with effect on the present

• J’ai perdu mes clés la semaine dernière. (I lost my keys last week.)
  • completed past action with no effect on the present

• Je perdais mes clés tout le temps quand j’étais à la fac. (I lost/used to lose my keys all the time when I was at uni.)
  • repeated action in the past

Other important tenses include, the French future tense (used to talk about the future) and the French conditional tense (used to talk about hypothetical situations, the equivalent of expressions with “would” in English). 

You'll be able to find regular and irregular verb conjugations for all of these in any good French grammar book.

Alternatively, if you use the popular WordReference dictionary app, full conjugations for all verbs, both regular and irregular, are included there.

French has several other tenses that are less common, but you won’t need to worry about those until later. 

Yet other verb forms are now obsolete, and although you’ll still see them listed in some verb tables, you can essentially ignore them unless you plan to read old French literature because nobody ever uses them anymore.

7. French Word Order

French has the same basic subject-verb-object word order as English, so in a simple sentence you can say something like this:

• Je mange un kebab. (I eat a kebab.)

However, when the object is replaced by a pronoun, the pronoun comes before the verb, like this:

• Je le mange. (I eat it.)

When you have a direct and indirect pronoun in a sentence together, the word order is like this:

• Je te le donne. (I give it to you.)

Word for word, this translates as “I to-you it give”, so as you can see, in sentences like this, the word order can be quite different from English.

When it comes to adjectives, unlike in English, the adjective usually comes after the noun it describes rather than before it:

• un restaurant cher (an expensive restaurant)
• de la nourriture délicieuse (delicious food)

However, some common adjectives – including beau (beautiful, handsome), bon (good), jeune (young), joli (pretty) and several others – usually come before the noun. For example:

• un bon ami (a good friend)
• une jeune fille (a young girl)

A small number of adjectives can be used before or after the noun, and the position of the adjective changes its meaning.

For example, propre after a noun means “clean” but before a noun, it means “own”, like this:

• des vêtements propres (clean clothes)
• mes propres vêtements (my own clothes)
• mes propres vêtements propres (my own clean clothes)

8. 3 Ways To Ask Questions In French

The simplest way to ask a question in French is to use the same words as you would to make a statement but with a rising intonation to turn it into a question, like this:

• Tu veux un café (you want a coffee [statement])
  • Tu veux un café ? (do you want a coffee? [question])

This is the most informal way to ask a question and is more common in French than in English – which is also why French speakers tend to do this quite a lot when they speak English.

Another way to ask a question is to invert the word order like this:

• Vous voulez un café (You want a coffee)
  • Voulez-vous un café ? (Do you want a coffee?)

Finally, a third way to make a question is to add est-ce que before a statement, like this:

• Est-ce que vous voulez un café ? (Do you want a coffee?)

If you had to translate this literally, it would come out as something like “is it that you want a coffee?”.

However, it’s far better not to even try translating it and just to think of it as a formula you can use to turn a statement into a question – and leave it at that!

If you want to ask questions with question words like où (where) or quand (when) combined with est-ce, you can do it like this:

• Où est-ce que tu veux aller? (Where do you want to go?)
• Quand est-ce on va partir? (When are we going to leave?)

Another important form used for asking “what” questions goes like this:

• Qu’est-ce que c’est? (What is it?)
• Qu’est ce que tu veux? (What do you want?)

Again, it’s best not to try to translate this word for word but rather to think of qu’est-ce que as a formula that you can tack onto the beginning of a statement to make it into a “what” question.

Basic French Grammar: Practice Makes Perfect

Most basic French grammar is not particularly difficult, but with things like gender and verb conjugations, there’s a lot that you simply have to know by heart.

However, rather than trying to memorise everything through rote learning, the best way to learn is through practice.

You can do this by speaking to native speakers as much as you can, and reading is also an excellent way to practice, even at beginner level.

If you're looking for interesting and engaging reading material at your level, check out my book, Short Stories in French for Beginners.

Then, once you start using your French and practising every day, you will find that everything begins to fall in place and that you start picking up the grammar and remembering it all without too much trouble or effort.

And if you need a bit of help to master basic French grammar and more, then French Uncovered can help, thanks to a story and not rules. Get your free 7-day trial of the course.