Unit 1 · 6 lessons
Les bases: Sounds, Nouns and the Present Tense
Rebuild the foundations of French from scratch: how the language sounds and is spelled, how nouns and articles work, how to conjugate regular and essential irregular verbs in the present, and how to ask questions and say no.
- 69 practice questions
- 53 flashcards
- 1 interactive lesson
Lessons
- 1Sounds, Accents and Linking WordsWhat each French accent tells you about sound and meaning, why most final consonants are silent, and how French links words together through liaison and elision.11 questions
- 2Nouns, Gender and ArticlesEvery French noun is masculine or feminine and almost always comes with an article. Learn the three sets of articles — definite, indefinite and partitive — when each one is used, and why they all shrink to de after a negative or a quantity.12 questions
- 3The Present Tense: Regular VerbsThe subject pronouns, and the three-step recipe (infinitive, stem, ending) that conjugates every regular -er, -ir and -re verb in the present tense — plus what the present can mean in English.Interactive11 questions
- 4The Present Tense: Essential Irregular VerbsThe fourteen irregular verbs that appear in almost every French conversation — être, avoir, aller, faire, venir, prendre, voir, vouloir, pouvoir, savoir, lire, dire, écrire and mettre — organized into families so the patterns are easier to remember.12 questions
- 5Expressions with Avoir and Verbs with À and DeWhy French says 'I have hunger' instead of 'I am hungry', how à and de merge with le and les, and which verbs need à or de — including jouer à, jouer de and faire de for sports, music and activities.12 questions
- 6Asking Questions and Saying NoThree ways to ask a yes/no question, the question words, and the negation sandwich ne… pas with its relatives jamais, plus, rien and personne — including where they go when a verb has two parts.11 questions