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French grammar and usage
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French Grammar
and Usage
French Grammar
and Usage
Second edition
Roger Hawkins
Senior Lecturer in Language and Linguistics,
University of Essex
Richard Towell
Professor of French Applied Linguistics, University of Salford
NATIVE SPEAKER CONSULTANT
Marie-Noëlle Lamy
Senior Lecturer, Open University
A member of the Hodder Headline Group
LONDON
Contents
Guide for the user xi
Glossary of key grammatical terms xiv
Acknowledgements xx
Acknowledgements for the second edition xxi
1 Nouns 1
1.1 Types of noun 1
1.2 Gender 5
1.3 Number 17
2 Determiners 23
2.1 Articles 23
2.2 Typical use of the definite article 24
2.3 Typical use of the indefinite article 29
2.4 The partitive article: du, de l', de la, des 32
2.5 Use of indefinite and partitive articles after the negative
forms ne... pas, ne... jamais, ne... plus, ne... guère 33
2.6 Omission of the article 34
2.7 Demonstrative determiners 37
2.8 Possessive determiners 39
3 Personal and impersonal pronouns 40
3.1 Subject pronouns 40
3.2 Object pronouns 53
3.3 Stressed pronouns 71
3.4 Demonstrative pronouns 75
3.5 Possessive pronouns 76
4 Adjectives 78
4.1 Adjectives modifying the noun 78
4.2 Adjectives which follow verbs or verbal expressions 83
4.3 Adjectives with complements 84
4.4 Indefinite and negative noun phrases with adjective
complements 85
4.5 Adjectives used as nouns 85
4.6 Adjectives used as adverbs 86
4.7 Masculine and feminine forms of adjectives 86
4.8 Plural forms of adjectives 89
4.9 Adjective agreement with nouns 91
vi Contents
4.10 Invariable adjectives 91
4.11 Compound adjectives 92
4.12 Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives 93
4.13 Subjunctive versus indicative in clauses dependent
on a superlative adjective 96
4.14 Absolute use of the superlative 97
5 Adverbs 98
5.1 Function of adverbs 98
5.2 Formation of adverbs with the ending -ment 98
5.3 Adjectives used as adverbs without addition of -ment 101
5.4 Phrases used as adverbs 102
5.5 English and French adverb formation 104
5.6 Types of adverbs 104
5.7 Location of adverbs 122
6 Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers 126
6.1 Cardinal numbers 126
6.2 Ordinal numbers 133
6.3 Fractions 134
6.4 Some differences in the use of cardinal and ordinal numbers
in French and English 135
6.5 Measurements and comparisons 138
6.6 Dates, days, years 140
6.7 Clock time 142
6.8 Money 143
6.9 Quantifiers 143
7 Verb forms 147
7.1 Introduction 147
7.2 Conjugations 148
7.3 Easy ways of generating some parts of the paradigms 149
7.4 Changes in the stem form of some -er conjugation verbs 152
7.5 Verbs whose stems end in c- or g- 153
7.6 Verb paradigms 154
8 Verb constructions 186
8.1 Relations between verbs and their complements 186
8.2 Intransitive constructions 186
8.3 Directly transitive verbs 188
8.4 Indirectly transitive verbs 190
8.5 Ditransitive verbs 192
8.6 The passive 194
8.7 Pronominal verbs 197
8.8 Impersonal verbs 204
8.9 Verbs which take noun + adjective or noun + noun complements 207
Contents vii
9 Verb and participle agreement
9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4
Subject-verb agreement
Agreement of the past participle with the subject of être
Agreement of the past participle of verbs conjugated with
avoir with a preceding direct object
Agreement of the past participle of pronominal verbs in
compound tenses
10 Tense
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
10.6
10.7
10.8
11 The
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5
Introduction
The present
The past
The future
Other tenses indicating the time at which events occur
relative to other events
Combining tenses
Tenses in direct and reported descriptions of events
Tenses with si
subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives
The attitude of the subject to events: the subjunctive
The use of devoir, pouvoir, savoir, falloir
The French equivalents of the English modal verbs: 'would',
'should', 'could', 'may', 'might', 'ought to', and 'must'
Exclamatives
Imperatives
12 The infinitive
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
12.7
12.8
12.9
12.10
12.11
Introduction: what are infinitives?
Infinitives as complements to other verbs
Verbs which take infinitive complements without a linking
preposition
Verbs which take infinitive complements preceded by the
preposition à
Verbs which take an infinitive complement preceded by de
Omission of objects before infinitives
Infinitives as complements to adjectives
Infinitives as complements to nouns
Infinitives in subordinate clauses
Infinitives as polite commands
Quick-reference index to verbs taking infinitive complements
13 Prepositions
13.1
13.2-
13.58
13.59
Introduction
Prepositions listed alphabetically from à to vers
French translations for common English prepositions
208
208
212
213
220
222
222
222
223
228
232
235
238
240
241
241
258
262
267
269
273
273
274
274
277
282
288
289
291
293
294
294
301
301
301
325
viii Contents
14 Question formation 332
14.1 Introduction 332
14.2 Yes/no questions 332
14.3 Information questions 336
14.4 Order of object pronouns in questions involving inversion 341
14.5 Order of negative particles in questions involving inversion 341
14.6 Use of question words and phrases: qui?, que?, quoi?, quel?,
de qui?, avec combien de? etc. 341
14.7 Indirect questions 346
15 Relative clauses 349
15.1 Introduction 349
15.2 Use of relative qui 350
15.3 Use of relative que 351
15.4 Preposition plus qui 352
15.5 Use of lequel in relative clauses 352
15.6 Use of dont, de qui, duquel/de laquelle/desquels/desquelles 354
15.7 The use of où as a relative pronoun 355
15.8 Use of relative quoi 356
15.9 Free relative clauses and the use of ce qui, ce que, ce dont, ce
à quoi, ce sur quoi, etc. 357
15.10 Translating 'whoever', 'whatever', 'wherever', 'whenever',
'however' 359
15.11 Indicative and subjunctive in relative clauses 361
16 Negation 365
16.1 Introduction 365
16.2 Location of sentence negators 365
16.3 Order of negators in multiple negation 368
16.4 Omission of ne in sentence negation 368
16.5 Order of negative elements in questions and imperatives 369
16.6 ne... pas 369
16.7 ne... que 373
16.8 ne... aucun(e), ne... nul(le) 373
16.9 ne... jamais 374
16.10 ne... plus 375
16.11 ne... guère 376
16.12 ne... rien 377
16.13 ne... personne 378
16.14 ne... ni... ni 379
16.15 sans used with other negators 380
16.16 ne used alone 380
17 Conjunctions and other linking constructions 382
17.1 Introduction 382
17.2 Coordinating conjunctions 382
17.3 Subordinating conjunctions 384
Contents ix
17.4 Conjunctions sometimes confused by English speakers 394
17.5 Repeated subordinating conjunctions 395
17.6 Subordinating conjunctions used with infinitive clauses 396
17.7 après avoir/ être + past participle linking an infinitive clause
to a main clause 397
17.8 Past participle phrases used as linkers 397
17.9 Present participles and gerunds 398
Appendix 402
Bibliography 405
Index 407
Glossary of key grammatical terms
Items in bold in the definitions are also defined in the glossary.
adjective - a class of words which modify nouns. Adjectives appear adjacent
to nouns or separated from them by verbs like être, devenir, rester: e.g. un
PETIT problème 'a small problem'; une boîte CARRÉE 'a square box'; Cette robe est
CHÈRE 'This dress is expensive'.
adverb - a class of words which modify words, phrases and sentences: e.g.
Tout est si clair 'Everything is so clear'; Je fume MODÉRÉMENT 'I smoke moderately'; JUSTE avant le départ du train 'Just before the train leaves'; SOUDAIN,
j'ai entendu un bruit 'Suddenly I heard a noise'.
adverbial - a word or phrase which can function as an adverb, although it also
has other functions: e.g. parler BAS 'to talk quietly' (bas = an adjective); Je lui
rends visite DE TEMPS EN TEMPS 'I visit her from time to time' (de temps en temps
= a prepositional phrase); Elle travaille LE MATIN 'She works in the mornings'
(le matin = a noun phrase).
affirmative sentence - a sentence which is not a negative: e.g. Elle parle 'She
is speaking'; Parle-t-elle? 'Is she speaking?'; Parle! 'Speak!' (as opposed to the
negative sentences: Elle ne parle pas, Ne parle-t-elle pas? Ne parle pas!).
agreement - a form the verb must take to be compatible with a given subject:
e.g. NOUS mangeons 'We're eating'/Vous mangez 'You're eating'. A form a
determiner and an adjective must take to be compatible with a given noun:
e.g. UN BON REPAS 'A good meal'/UNE BONNE BIÈRE 'A good beer'. A form a
past participle must take to be compatible with a preceding direct object:
e.g. le coffre? Je L'AI OUVERT 'The car boot? I've opened it': La porte? Je L'ai
OUVERTE 'The door? I've opened it'; and so on.
article - definite article = le, la, les; indefinite article = un, une, des. The 'partitive' article - du, de la, des - indicates that a noun refers to something which
is part of a larger mass: e.g. du gâteau 'some (of the) cake'; des abeilles 'some
bees'.
auxiliary verb - the verbs avoir or être which accompany a past participle in
compound tenses or the passive: e.g. Elle A mangé 'She has eaten'; Le vélo A
ÉTÉ réparé 'The bike has been repaired'.
cardinal number - a number in the series un (1), deux (2), trois (3), etc.
clause - a string of words which contains just one verb phrase and a subject
(whether overt or implied): e.g. ELLE PART 'She's leaving' - one clause; DEPUIS
JANVIER LES PRIX ONT AUGMENTÉ 'Since January, prices have gone up' - one
clause; IL EST HEUREUX/PARCE QU'IL EST RICHE 'He is happy because he is rich'
- two clauses; ELLE EST PRÊTE/A PARTIR 'She is ready to leave' - two clauses
Glossary of key grammatical terms xv
(in à partir the subject is implied: She is ready, and she will leave); LES CIRCONSTANCES AIDANT/LE PARTI GAGNERA CES ÉLECTIONS 'If the conditions are right,
the party will win this election' - two clauses; II DIT/QU'ON CROIT/QU'ELLE VA
PARTIR 'He says that they think that she will leave' - three clauses. Also see
coordinate clause, relative clause, subordinate clause.
comparative - a way of modifying adjectives and adverbs to draw a comparison between one entity and another: // veut acheter une PLUS GRANDE/une
MOINS GRANDE/une AUSSI GRANDE voiture 'He wants to buy a bigger car/a car
which is not as big/a car which is just as big'; Cette voiture-ci roule PLUS
VITE/MOINS VITE/AUSSI VITE QUE l'autre 'This car goes faster/slower/as quickly
as the other one'.
complement - any phrase which follows a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, to
form an expression with a cohesive meaning: e.g. un appartement À LOUER 'a
flat to let'; Ils se réunissent LE DIMANCHE AU STADE 'They meet on Sundays at
the stadium'; Pierre est difficile À VIVRE 'Pierre is difficult to live with'.
coordinate clause - a clause linked to another by et, ou, mais: e.g. Il est riche ET
il est heureux 'He is rich and he is happy'.
declarative sentence - a sentence which makes a statement (as opposed to a
question or an imperative).
demonstrative - demonstrative determiner = ce, cette, ces; demonstrative pronoun = celui, celle, ceux, celles.
determiner - an article (un, une/le, la, les/des, etc.), demonstrative determiner
(ce, cette, etc.) or possessive determiner (mon, ma/ton, ta, etc.) which modifies a noun.
direct object - see object.
directly transitive verb - see transitive verb.
ditransitive verb - see transitive verb.
finite verb - a verb which is marked for tense and agreement, as opposed to
non-finite forms like the infinitive, imperative, participles: e.g. Je PARLE 'I'm
speaking'; J'AI PARLÉ T spoke'; Je SAIS parler français T can speak French'.
formal French - in this grammar 'formal French' refers to a style used by speakers of standard educated French when they are paying particular attention
to the form of what they are saying or writing. It is a style usually appropriate when someone is speaking in an official capacity (lectures, sermons,
speeches, etc.), or writing in learned, academic or literary style. Features of
formal French which are absent from informal French include: the use of
the simple past tense (Il SORTIT 'He went out'), the use of the past anterior
tense (Aussitôt qu'il FUT SORTI ... 'As soon as he had gone out ...') , retention of ne in ne . . . pas.
gender - a division of nouns into two classes: masculine and feminine. The
distinction shows up mainly in determiners (le versus la, ce versus cette, mon
versus ma, etc.), in pronouns (il versus elle) and in the agreement of adjectives with nouns (beau versus belle). Gender distinctions are grammatical and
need not correspond to sex distinctions in the real world (although they
mostly do): e.g. médecin 'doctor' is masculine, but can refer to men or
women; personne 'person' is feminine but can refer to men or women.
gerund - see participle.
xvi Glossary of key grammatical terms
imperative - a form of the verb used to give orders, express encouragement
or give advice: e.g. ASSEYEZ-VOUS! 'Sit down!'; ALLEZ! 'Come on!'; FAIS attention^. 'Watch out!'
impersonal - refers to a pronoun (usually a subject pronoun) which does not
refer to any person, place, thing, idea etc. il, ce, cela, ça can be impersonal
pronouns in French: e.g. IL est temps de partir 'It's time to leave'; ÇA me fait
peur d'y aller la nuit 'It scares me to go there at night'.
indicative - the set of forms of the verb which are not subjunctive, imperative, infinitive or participial.
indirect object - see object.
indirectly transitive verb - see transitive verb.
infinitive - a form of the verb which ends in -er, -ir, -re, -oir, and corresponds
to English 'to': AIMER 'to like', FINIR 'to finish', VENDRE 'to sell', RECEVOIR 'to
receive'.
informal French - in this grammar 'informal French' refers to a style used by
speakers of standard educated French in contexts of relaxed, spontaneous
communication when they are interacting with friends, colleagues, family,
etc. Features of informal French include: the non-use of the simple past or
past anterior tenses, and the regular omission of ne from ne ... pas.
intransitive verb - a verb which has no direct object: e.g. La neige TOMBAIT
'Snow was falling'.
modify, to - to add to the meaning of a noun, verb, adjective, etc. by adding
another word or phrase to it: e.g. manteau, UN manteau, UN manteau GRIS;
oiseau, UN oiseau, UN oiseau QUI CHANTE; parle, IL parle, IL parle LENTEMENT; grand,
si grand, ELLE EST SI grande.
negator - one of the elements aucun, jamais, ni, nul, pas, personne, plus, rien which
can create negative expressions (see Chapter 16).
noun - a class of words which refers to people, places, things, ideas, and so
on; it is usually preceded by a determiner: e.g. un AMI; la FRANCE; une BIÈRE;
le BONHEUR.
noun phrase - the phrase consisting of a noun alone, or a noun and the elements which modify it. Each of the following is a noun phrase: PIERRE, LE
SOLEIL, UN CHER AMI 'a dear friend', UNE BIÈRE BIEN FROIDE 'a really cold beer',
CHACUN DE MES AMIS LES PLUS CHERS 'each of my dearest friends'.
number - a grammatical distinction between nouns or pronouns which are
singular and those which are plural. Number distinctions need not correspond to real singular and plural distinctions in the world, and can differ
between English and French (although mostly the grammatical and realworld distinctions coincide): e.g. 'hair' (singular) versus cheveux (plural);
'trousers' (plural) versus pantalon (singular). See also cardinal number and
ordinal number.
object - a direct object is the noun phrase or pronoun affected directly by the
action described by the verb: e.g. Il a pris LE TRAIN 'He took the train'; 17 L'a
pris 'He took it'. An indirect object is the noun phrase or pronoun affected
indirectly by the action described by the verb. In French, indirect object noun
phrases are always introduced by à: e.g. 17 a envoyé un cadeau À SA MÈRE 'He
sent a present to his mother'. An object of a preposition is any noun phrase
Glossary of key grammatical terms xvii
which follows a preposition, including indirect objects introduced by à: e.g.
dans LE HALL 'in the hall', à côté DU RESTAURANT 'beside the restaurant', à SA
MÈRE 'to his mother'.
object of a preposition - see object.
ordinal number - a number in the series premier (1er), deuxième (2e), troisième
(3e), etc.
parenthetical expression - an aside made by a speaker to indicate a reservation he/she has about what is being said. It is the equivalent of putting
something in brackets ('parentheses'): e.g. Pierre, SEMBLE-T-IL, a gagné le prix
'Pierre, it seems, won the prize'. Parentheticals are kinds of adverbial.
participle - past participles are forms of the verb which occur with avoir or
être: e.g. J'ai MANGÉ 'I've eaten'; Elle est PARTIE 'She has left'. Present participles end in -ant and correspond to English verbs ending in -ing: e.g. disparaissant 'disappearing', attendant 'waiting'. Gerunds are present participles
preceded by en: en disparaissant 'while disappearing; by disappearing', en
attendant 'while waiting; by waiting'.
passive - a form of a normally transitive verb where the direct object becomes
the subject and the verb is turned into an être + past participle construction: e.g. Il a réparé le vélo 'He repaired the bike'; LE VÉLO A ÉTÉ RÉPARÉ 'The
bike has been repaired'.
past participle - see participle.
person - the three categories into which noun phrases or pronouns can be
divided depending on whether they refer to the person(s) speaking (je, me,
moi, nous - first person), the person(s) being spoken to (tu, te, toi, vous - second person), or the person(s) or thing(s) being talked about (il, elle, lui, ils,
etc. - third person). Pronouns take different forms in the first, second and
third person, and finite verbs change their form to agree with the person
of the subject (e.g. je parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, etc.).
personal pronoun - a first person, second person or third person pronoun
which stands for a noun phrase mentioned or implied elsewhere in a text
or discourse. Personal pronouns contrast with impersonal pronouns which
do not refer to other noun phrases. Personal pronouns are pronouns like je,
me, moi, nous; tu, te, toi, vous; il, elle, lui, les etc. They take their name from
the fact that they can be classified as first, second or third person, and do
not necessarily refer to people; e.g. elle is a personal pronoun, but it refers
to the inanimate émission in: ELLE est intéressante, cette émission 'That programme's interesting'.
phrase - any string of words which gives rise to an expression with a cohesive meaning: e.g. MON ONCLE JACQUES 'my uncle Jacques' (noun phrase);
Pierre MARCHE LENTEMENT 'Pierre walks slowly' (verb phrase), etc.
possessive - possessive determiner - mon, ma, ton, votre, etc.; possessive pronoun = le mien, la mienne, le tien, le vôtre, etc.
preposition - words like à, de, dans, en, sur, etc., which are followed by noun
phrases and indicate the direction, location, orientation, etc., of an entity.
prepositional phrase - a phrase consisting of a preposition and its complement. The following are all prepositional phrases: À MIDI 'at noon'; À CHAQUE
VIRAGE 'at every bend'; AU CHEVET DE MA MÈRE 'at my mother's bedside'.
xviii Glossary of key grammatical terms
present participle - see participle.
pronoun - a form which is used in place of a noun phrase when that phrase
is already known from the context: e.g. je, tu, nous, le, la, leur, etc. Pronouns
have different forms depending on whether they are subjects, direct objects,
indirect objects or objects of a preposition.
proper noun - names like Marie-Paule, le Canada, are proper nouns.
quantifier - a determiner-like expression which measures or quantifies a noun
or noun phrase: e.g. BEAUCOUP D'argent 'a lot of money'; LA PLUPART DES spectateurs 'most of the spectators'; TOUS les jours 'every day'.
question (direct versus indirect) - a direct question is addressed directly to the
hearer or reader: e.g. VIENS-TU? 'Are you coming?'. An indirect question
reports the asking of a question: e.g. Il a demandé si TU VENAIS 'He asked if
you were coming').
reciprocal - a type of sentence where either the direct object, the indirect object
or the object of a preposition refers to the same person, thing, idea, etc., as
a plural subject, and the sentence is intepreted so that the subjects are doing
things to each other: e.g. Les boxeurs SE sont blessés 'The boxers injured each
other'; Les participants SE sont posé des questions 'The participants asked each
other questions'; Les manifestants ont lutté LES UNS CONTRE LES AUTRES 'The
demonstrators fought with each other'.
reflexive - a type of sentence where either the direct object, the indirect object
or the object of a preposition refers to the same person, thing, idea, etc., as
the subject: e.g. Je ME lave T am washing (myself)'; Elle SE cache la vérité 'She
hides the truth from herself; Elle parle CONTRE ELLE-MÊME 'She is speaking
against herself.
relative clause - a clause which modifies a noun phrase or a pronoun: e.g. //
y avait deux hommes QUI SORTAIENT DU BAR 'There were two men who were
coming out of the bar'; C'est lui QUI ME L'A DONNÉ 'He is the one who gave
it to me'.
subject - the noun phrase or pronoun in a clause about which the verb and
its complement say something. Subjects usually appear in front of the verb:
e.g. LE DÎNER est servi 'Dinner is served'; SA FEMME parle lentement 'His wife
speaks slowly'; DELPHINE a été battue 'Delphine was beaten'. It can appear
after the verb in some constructions. See subject-verb inversion.
subject-verb inversion - subjects normally precede finite verbs in French. But
in questions, and after certain adverbs, the subject and the finite verb may
change places: e.g. AIME-T-IL LE Roquefort? 'Does he like Roquefort cheese?;
A peine S'EST-IL ASSIS qu'on lui a demandé de se déplacer 'Hardly had he sat down
when someone asked him to move'.
subjunctive - see Chapter 11 for discussion.
subordinate clause - a clause which is part of a larger sentence, and whose
meaning is secondary to that of the main clause: e.g. PARCE QU'IL EST RICHE,
Pierre est heureux 'Because he is rich, Pierre is happy' - parce qu'il est riche is
subordinate to Pierre est heureux; Jean a complètement rénové le grenier DEPUIS
QU'IL EST CHEZ NOUS 'Jean has completely renovated the loft since he has been
at our house' - depuis qu'il est chez nous is subordinate to jean a complètement
rénové le grenier.
Glossary of key grammatical terms xix
superlative - a way of modifying adjectives and adverbs to single out an entity
as the best or the worst of its kind: e.g. C'est la route LA PLUS DANGEREUSE/LA
MOINS DANGEREUSE de la région 'It's the most dangerous road/least dangerous
road in the region'; Cette voiture-là est LA PLUS VITE/LA MOINS VITE 'That car is
the fastest/the least fast'.
tense - a form of the verb which indicates the time at which an event took
place relative to other events being talked about: e.g. Je PRENDS [present
tense] la route par où nous SOMMES VENUS [compound past tense] 'I'm taking
the road along which we came'. Tenses have names like present, future, simple past, compound past, etc. - see Chapter 7 for the forms of verbs in different tenses, and Chapter 10 for their uses.
transitive verb - a verb which has a direct object: e.g. Elle mange UNE POMME
'She is eating an apple'. In this grammar we also distinguish directly transitive verbs, which have direct objects, from indirectly transitive verbs which
have prepositional complements: e.g. Il parle DE SES PARENTS 'He is talking of
his parents', and from ditransitive verbs which have complements consisting of a direct object and a prepositional object: e.g. J'ai envoyé LA LETTRE À
MON FRÈRE T sent the letter to my brother'.
verb - a class of words which refers to actions, states, events, accomplishments,
and so on, and has different forms to indicate tense and agreement: e.g. Elle
PARLE 'She is speaking'; L'eau SCINTILLAIT 'The water was sparkling'.
verb phrase - the phrase consisting of a verb alone, or a verb and the elements
which modify it (but excluding the subject). Each of the following is a verb
phrase: marchait 'was walking'; marchait lentement 'was walking slowly'; a
envoyé un cadeau d'anniversaire à sa tante 'sent a birthday present to his aunt'.
1
Nouns
I.I Types of noun
I.I.I Abstract versus concrete nouns
Concrete nouns refer to entities with physical attributes which can be seen,
heard, touched, etc. Abstract nouns refer to entities without such physical
attributes:
Typical concrete
bière (f)
bonbon (m)
cadeau (m)
carte (f)
disque (m)
église (f)
livre (m)
mannequin (m)
nouns
beer
sweet
present
card
record
church
book
(fashion) model
Typical abstract
beauté (f)
bonheur(m)
bonté (f)
patience (f)
mœurs (f pi)
savoir (m)
silence (m)
soif (f)
nouns
beauty
happiness
goodness
patience
customs, morals
knowledge
silence
thirst
Abstract nouns in French are usually accompanied by a definite article whereas
English has no article:
La patience est une qualité qui se fait rare
Patience is a quality which is becoming rare
Je cherche le bonheur
I'm looking for happiness
But when abstract nouns refer to a particular example of 'patience', 'happiness',
'knowledge', and so on (for instance, when they are modified by an adjective),
they occur with an indefinite article:
Il a fait preuve cette fois d'une patience appréciable
The patience he showed on this occasion was appreciated
Il s'est alors produit un silence absolu
Absolute silence ensued
Un bonheur en vaut un autre
One kind of happiness is the same as any other
(See Chapter 2 for definite and indefinite articles.)
1.1.2 Mass versus count nouns
Count nouns identify individual entities, and usually have both singular and
plural forms. Mass nouns treat the entity or entities they refer to as a single
unit, and typically have only a singular form (although some mass nouns only
have a plural form):
2 Nouns
Typical count nouns Typical mass nouns
une bouteille
des bouteilles
un chien
des chiens
une personne
des personnes
a bottle
bottles
a dog
dogs
a person
people
de l'air
du beurre
de l'eau
du gâteau
des gens
du sable
air
butter
water
cake
people
sand
Mass noun s in French are usually accompanied by the partitive article (see
Chapte r 2.4) - du, de V, de la or des - in those cases wher e English has 'some '
or no article at all:
Je voudrais du lait, s'il vous plaît
I would like some milk, please
II y a du vin dans le placard
There's wine in the cupboard
Personnes and gens
personnes and gens, both of which mean 'people', differ in their uses because personne
is a count noun and gens a mass noun. Only personne can be preceded by a number
(e.g. cinq), or the quantifiers plusieurs 'several', quelques 'a few', un certain nombre de 'a
certain number of:
Les cinq personnes (NOT *gens) qui ont mangé avec nous
The five people who ate with us
Plusieurs personnes (NOT *gens) sont restées tout l'après-midi
Several people stayed for the whole afternoon
By the same token, gens is preferred in contexts wher e 'people ' are treated as
a mass:
Les gens (NOT *personnes) n'aiment pas rester à table trop longtemps
People don't like to spend too long over a meal
NB: gens can be preceded by beaucoup de 'many', peu de 'few', tous les 'all the'
and la plupart des 'most'.
Mass nouns used countably
Some mass noun s can be used countably to refer to specific examples of the
substance in question:
les vins de France the wines of Trance
les Eaux et Forêts the Trench Torestry Commission
les fromages de Normandie the cheeses of Normandy
un pain a loaf of bread
un petit pain a bun
Some count noun s can also be used as mass nouns:
Prenez du poulet Have some chicken
Il met du citron dans tout He puts lemon in everything
1.1.3 Collective nouns
Collective noun s refer to collections of people or things.