On étudie !

Structure : être de & venir de

Être de quelque part

Pour en savoir plus.

Venir de quelque part

Pour en savoir plus.

Demander d’où vient quelqu’un

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Demander d’où vient quelqu’un

Les nationalités et les pays

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Nationalités et pays

Nationalities are adjectives, so they must agree with the noun they modify:

Il est mexicain (m.) et il est d’origine mexicaine (f.).

C’est un étudiant mexicain (m.) et il est de nationalité mexicaine (f.).

The word origine is feminine in French, so adjectives describing it must also be feminine, even if the person in question is male. For example, we could say the following about the same man:

Il est d’origine mexicaine. [mexicaine modifies origine]

Il est mexicain. [mexicain modifies Il]

Les continents

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Continents

On pratique !

Activité A

Tu es d’où ? Let’s ask each other where we are from.

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Étudiant(e) 1 : D’où viens-tu ?

Étudiant(e) 2 : Je viens de Paris. Et toi ?

Étudiant(e) 1 : Je viens de Temecula.

Pratiquez →

Étudiant(e) 1 : D’où viens-tu ?

Étudiant(e) 2 : Je viens de ________. Et toi ?

Étudiant(e) 1 : Je viens de ________.

Activité B

Ask two people where they are from.

[Input Audio]

Structure – Noms et Adjectifs

On étudie !

Le genre et le nombre

Gender & Number

Les noms et les adjectifs

1. A noun (nom) is typically defined as a person, place, thing or concept. More importantly, it is defined by its relationship to other words around it. So, for example, any word that follows the word “the”, “a(n)” or “some” is a noun: the people, the mystery, the tree, the anguish, a car, an idea, some ideas, some books. A subject noun is when a noun is the subject of a verb. For example: “The dog” eats; “The phone” rings. (See verbs and subjects below).

(a) All French nouns are either masculine or feminine. These are grammatical genders, not biological or social ones. Thus, un chemisier (a woman’s blouse) is masculine and une cravate (a tie) is feminine; la lune (the moon) is feminine, but le soleil (the sun) is masculine.

When a noun refers specifically to a human being, then the person’s gender does come into play. For example: l’homme (the man) vs. la femme (the woman), l’ami (the male friend) vs. l’amie (the female friend); le chanteur (the male singer) vs. la chanteuse (the female singer).

(b) You can usually form a plural noun by adding an -s:

objet => objets table => tables

In cases where the noun ends in -eau, you add -x. For most endings in -al, you drop the -al and add – aux:

bureau => bureaux animal => animaux

Adjectives (adjectifs) modify how we understand nouns with which they are associated. Notice how our understanding of the noun maison (house) changes when we keep adding adjectives to it:

maison (house)

la maison (the house) = not a house, but the house

la grande maison (the big house) = not the small one, the big one

la grande maison bleue (the big, blue house) = the big and blue one, etc.

(a) In French, most adjectives agree in gender (masculine vs. feminine) and number (singular vs. plural) with the nouns they describe. This is called accord en genre et nombre (gender and number agreement). Notice the differences between the adjectives used in the following sentences (adjectives are underlined):

Marc est beau et intelligent. (Marc is handsome and intelligent.)

Fabienne est belle et intelligente. (Fabienne is beautiful and intelligent.)

Marc et Fabiennes sont beaux et intelligents. (Marc and Fabienne are beautiful and intelligent.)

Le livre est grand. (The book is big.)

La maison est grande. (The house is big.)

Les maisons sont grandes. (The houses are big.)

Most adjectives form the feminine by adding a silent -e (no accent) to the end of the masculine form. Adding a silent -s to the end of masculine and feminine forms gives you the plural forms of both. Here is the example of amusant (funny, amusing, entertaining):

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Adjective Agreement (Gender, Number)