Laura K. Lawless's Blog: Lawless Languages, page 315

Direct Objects

A direct object is a noun, whether person or thing, that someone or something acts upon or does something to. In both French and English, direct objects are often replaced with direct object pronouns (COD): me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Aphereses

A few dozen French words have a shortened form called an apheresis or aphaeresis, which is created by dropping one or more syllables at the beginning of the word. Some of these are further modified by adding an extra sound to the end.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Candide, de Voltaire

Read the first chapter of Voltaire's classic French novel Candide, in French and English.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Trempé comme une soupe

Don't get caught in the rain with the French idiom trempé comme une soupe.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Present Participle / Gerund

The French present participle, which always ends in -ant, may be used as a verb, gerund, noun, or adjective. Structurally, French present participles are equivalent to "verb + ing" in English, but grammatically there are many differences between them.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Expressions with français

You know that "French" in French is français, but did you know this word also used in many idiomatic expressions? Learn to speak broken French, plain French, perfect French, and more with this list of expressions with français.

Published on Lawless French.

                

O

The letter O has two different pronunciations in French: an open sound and a closed sound.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Vendredi fou

Don't go crazy this Friday with the non-standard French expression Vendredi fou.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Speedy Spoken French

Get a taste of how spoken French differs from what you learn in school with this short video.

Published on Lawless French.

                

Ne pas attacher son chien avec des saucisses

Don't do anything with that string of sausages until you've read this lesson on the French idiom ne pas attacher son chien avec des saucisses.

Published on Lawless French.