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Unit 4 · 5 lessons

Structures précises: Relatives, Adverbs and Participles

Write and speak with more precision: ce qui, ce que and ce dont for the English what, lequel and où after prepositions, adverbs that persuade and nuance, the participe présent and the gérondif, and the structures ni… ni, soit… soit and ne… que.

  • 49 practice questions
  • 42 flashcards
  • 1 interactive lesson
Start lesson 1 →Unit 4 test review →

Lessons

  1. 1Ce qui, ce que, ce dontHow to say what in the middle of a sentence. Ce qui, ce que and ce dont are relative pronouns with no noun in front of them; you choose one by asking what job the missing thing does in its own clause: subject, direct object, or object of de. Then the extensions: tout ce qui / que / dont, fronting for emphasis (Ce qui me plaît, c'est…), and the summarising comma clause (…, ce qui a pris des heures).10 questions
  2. 2Lequel after a Preposition, and Où for Time and PlaceWhat to do when a relative clause needs a preposition: avec lequel, pour laquelle, par lesquels, sur lesquelles for things, avec qui for people, and où for both place and time (le jour où). Why standard French does not leave the preposition at the end the way English does, and a review of dont.Interactive9 questions
  3. 3Adverbs: Forming, Placing and PersuadingHow French builds adverbs from adjectives (lente → lentement, vrai → vraiment, constant → constamment, évident → évidemment), the irregulars (bien, mal, mieux, gentiment, brièvement), where adverbs sit in simple and compound tenses, and how adverbs of certainty, doubt and intensity make an opinion or an ad more persuasive.10 questions
  4. 4Participe Présent and GérondifThe French -ant form: how to build it from the nous form (plus ayant, étant, sachant), the gérondif en + -ant for doing two things at once, for saying how something is done and for conditions, tout en for contrast, the participe présent as a written replacement for qui + verb, the verbal adjective that agrees (des enfants obéissants), and how to hear finissent versus finissant.10 questions
  5. 5Negation and Choice: ni… ni, soit… soit, ne… queStructures for ruling out options and offering them: ne… ni… ni (neither… nor) and what happens to articles after ni, ni… ni… ne as a subject, soit… soit and ou (bien)… ou (bien) for either… or, ne… que for only (a restriction, not a negation, so du and des stay), and stacking negatives such as ne… plus jamais and ne… plus rien.10 questions