Study guide: French Grammatical Categories

📋 Course Outline

1. Variable and Invariable Word Classes
2. Nouns and Determiners
3. Pronouns and Adjectives
4. Verbs and Their Subclasses
5. The Four Invariable Classes

📖 1. Variable and Invariable Word Classes

📝 Essential Points

• French words are divided into 9 grammatical classes, also called word classes or word nature, and most words keep the same class.

• The 5 variable classes are:

  • nouns
  • determiners
  • pronouns
  • qualifying adjectives
  • verbs

• The 4 invariable classes are:

  • adverbs
  • prepositions
  • conjunctions
  • interjections

💡 Memory Hook

Five variable classes change form; four invariable classes do not.

📖 2. Nouns and Determiners

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Determiner: Precedes a noun to form a noun phrase and agrees with it, except for cardinal numerals and, in some cases, “vingt” and “cent”.

📝 Essential Points

📌 A common noun names an object or state, whereas a proper noun names a person, place, country, or unique thing.

• Determiner subclasses include:
  • definite articles
  • indefinite articles
  • partitive articles
  • indefinite determiners
  • numeral determiners
  • interrogative determiners
  • exclamative determiners
  • possessive determiners
  • demonstrative determiners

💡 Memory Hook

A noun names; a determiner precedes and agrees with the noun.

📖 3. Pronouns and Adjectives

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Pronoun: Replaces a noun or noun phrase, or refers to interlocutors.
• Qualifying adjective: Characterizes a noun and agrees with it in gender and number.

★ Must-know

• Pronoun subclasses include:

  • personal pronouns
  • relative pronouns
  • indefinite pronouns
  • interrogative pronouns
  • possessive pronouns
  • demonstrative pronouns

• A qualifying adjective can be an epithet, an attribute, or an appositive; an epithet is directly beside the noun without a copular verb, while an attribute is linked to the noun by a copular verb and an appositive is detached by a comma.

Further detail

📌 A relational adjective is used as an epithet and does not take a degree modifier; it is equivalent to a noun complement.

💡 Memory Hook

A pronoun replaces a noun or noun group; an adjective characterizes one.

📖 4. Verbs and Their Subclasses

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Verb: Indicates a state or action and is conjugated, varying in person, number, tense, and mood.

📝 Essential Points

• The auxiliaries are être and avoir, and verbs are classified into the first, second, and third groups, illustrated by passer, finir, and aller, respectively.

📖 5. The Four Invariable Classes

🔑 Key Concepts & Definitions

• Preposition: A preposition is a linking word, such as à, de, pour, sans, avec, or chez.

★ Must-know

📌 Conjunctions are either coordinating, including mais, ou, et, donc, or, ni, and car, or subordinating, including comme, quoique, si, and si bien que.

Further detail

• Examples of adverbs include:

  • pourquoi
  • où
  • comment
  • bien
  • très
  • lentement
  • ici
  • non

• Interjections include:

  • Boum
  • Splash
  • Wouf
  • Eh
  • Aïe
  • Oh