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French Grammar and Usage
Long trusted as the most comprehensive, up-to-date and user-friendly grammar available, French Grammar and Usage is a complete guide to French as it is written and spoken today. It includes clear descriptions of all the main grammatical phenomena of French, and their use, illustrated by numerous examples taken from contemporary French, and distinguishes the most common forms of usage, both formal and informal.
Key features
comprehensive content, covering all the major structures of contemporary French user-friendly organisation offering easy-to-find sections with cross-referencing and indexes of English words, French words and grammatical terms clear and illuminating examples to help students at all stages of their degree useful indications of what cannot be written or said as well as what can. Revised and updated throughout, this new edition offers updated examples to reflect current usage, headers to include chapter number and section parts as well as cross-referencing for easier reference and explanations of notoriously difficult points of grammar. This edition includes references to changes in French spelling now being introduced across French education and to social change towards inclusive writing.
The combination of reference grammar and manual of current usage is an invaluable resource for students and teachers of French at the intermediate to advanced levels.
This Grammar is accompanied by Practising French A Workbook (available to purchase separately ISBN 978-1-032-44140-5) which features related exercises and activities. An Instructor and Student Resource site also accompanies the book and offers additional resources at
Key features
comprehensive content, covering all the major structures of contemporary French user-friendly organisation offering easy-to-find sections with cross-referencing and indexes of English words, French words and grammatical terms clear and illuminating examples to help students at all stages of their degree useful indications of what cannot be written or said as well as what can. Revised and updated throughout, this new edition offers updated examples to reflect current usage, headers to include chapter number and section parts as well as cross-referencing for easier reference and explanations of notoriously difficult points of grammar. This edition includes references to changes in French spelling now being introduced across French education and to social change towards inclusive writing.
The combination of reference grammar and manual of current usage is an invaluable resource for students and teachers of French at the intermediate to advanced levels.
This Grammar is accompanied by Practising French A Workbook (available to purchase separately ISBN 978-1-032-44140-5) which features related exercises and activities. An Instructor and Student Resource site also accompanies the book and offers additional resources at
470 pages, Paperback
First published August 2, 1996
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July 31, 2021
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Contents
Guide for the user - ix
Glossary of key grammatical terms - xii
Acknowledgements - xvii
Acknowledgements for the second edition - xviii
Acknowledgements for the third edition - xix
1 Nouns - 1
1.1 Types of noun - 1
1.2 Gender - 5
1.3 Number - 19
2 Determiners
2.1 Articles -26
2.2 Typical uses of the definite article - 26
2.3 Typical uses of the indefinite article - 28
2.4 The partitive article: du, de l’, de la, des - 34
2.5 Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative forms ne... pas,ne...jamais, ne...plus, ne...guère - 38
2.6 Omission of the article - 39
2.7 Demonstrative determiners - 44
2.8 Possessive determiners - 44
3 Personal and impersonal pronouns - 45
3.1 Subject pronouns - 45
3.2 Object pronouns - 59
3.3 Stressed pronouns - 78
3.4 Demonstrative pronouns - 83
3.5 Possessive pronouns - 84
4 Adjectives - 85
4.1 Adjectives modifying the noun -85
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
4.12
4.13
4.14 Absolute use of the superlative -106
5 Adverbs - 108
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7 Location of adverbs - 132
6 Numbers,
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9 Quantifiers - 154
7 Verb forms - 157
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6 Verb paradigms - 166
8 Verb constructions - 198
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
8.7
8.8
8.9 Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun compliments - 221
9 Verb and participle agreement - 222
9.1
9.2.
9.3
9.4 Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in compound tenses - 234
10 Tense - 237
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8 Tense with 'si' - 256
11 The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives - 257
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5 Imperatives - 285
12 The infinitive - 288
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
12.7
12.8
12.9
12.10
12.11 Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive compliments - 310
13 Prepositions - 317
13.1
13.2-13.58
13.59 French translations for common English prepositions - 343
14 Question formation - 350
14.1
14.2
14.3
14.4
14.5
14.6
14.7 Indirect questions - 364
15 Relative clauses - 367
15.1
15.2
15.3
15.4
15.5
15.6
15.7
15.8
15.9
15.10
15.11 Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses - 380
16 Negation - 383
16.1
16.2
16.3
16.4
16.5
16.6
16.7
16.8
16.9
16.10
16.11
16.12
16.13
16.14
16.15
16.16 'ne' used alone - 398
17 Conjunctions and other linking constructions - 400
17.1
17.2
17.3
17.4
17.5
17.6
17.7
17.8
17.9 Present participles and gerunds - 415
Appendix - 419
Bibliography - 422
Index - 423
Contents
Guide for the user - ix
Glossary of key grammatical terms - xii
Acknowledgements - xvii
Acknowledgements for the second edition - xviii
Acknowledgements for the third edition - xix
1 Nouns - 1
1.1 Types of noun - 1
1.2 Gender - 5
1.3 Number - 19
2 Determiners
2.1 Articles -26
2.2 Typical uses of the definite article - 26
2.3 Typical uses of the indefinite article - 28
2.4 The partitive article: du, de l’, de la, des - 34
2.5 Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative forms ne... pas,ne...jamais, ne...plus, ne...guère - 38
2.6 Omission of the article - 39
2.7 Demonstrative determiners - 44
2.8 Possessive determiners - 44
3 Personal and impersonal pronouns - 45
3.1 Subject pronouns - 45
3.2 Object pronouns - 59
3.3 Stressed pronouns - 78
3.4 Demonstrative pronouns - 83
3.5 Possessive pronouns - 84
4 Adjectives - 85
4.1 Adjectives modifying the noun -85
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
4.9
4.10
4.11
4.12
4.13
4.14 Absolute use of the superlative -106
5 Adverbs - 108
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7 Location of adverbs - 132
6 Numbers,
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
6.8
6.9 Quantifiers - 154
7 Verb forms - 157
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.6 Verb paradigms - 166
8 Verb constructions - 198
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
8.5
8.6
8.7
8.8
8.9 Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun compliments - 221
9 Verb and participle agreement - 222
9.1
9.2.
9.3
9.4 Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in compound tenses - 234
10 Tense - 237
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8 Tense with 'si' - 256
11 The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives - 257
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5 Imperatives - 285
12 The infinitive - 288
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
12.7
12.8
12.9
12.10
12.11 Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive compliments - 310
13 Prepositions - 317
13.1
13.2-13.58
13.59 French translations for common English prepositions - 343
14 Question formation - 350
14.1
14.2
14.3
14.4
14.5
14.6
14.7 Indirect questions - 364
15 Relative clauses - 367
15.1
15.2
15.3
15.4
15.5
15.6
15.7
15.8
15.9
15.10
15.11 Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses - 380
16 Negation - 383
16.1
16.2
16.3
16.4
16.5
16.6
16.7
16.8
16.9
16.10
16.11
16.12
16.13
16.14
16.15
16.16 'ne' used alone - 398
17 Conjunctions and other linking constructions - 400
17.1
17.2
17.3
17.4
17.5
17.6
17.7
17.8
17.9 Present participles and gerunds - 415
Appendix - 419
Bibliography - 422
Index - 423
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