🇫🇷 Year 9 French

Tense Review & Consolidation

Key Tenses Summary

• Présent: stem + endings (-e/-es/-e/-ons/-ez/-ent for -er). Use for: what happens now, habitual actions, general truths
• Passé composé: avoir/être + past participle. Use for: completed past actions. DR MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs take être and agree with subject.
• Imparfait: nous form of present minus -ons + -ais/-ais/-ait/-ions/-iez/-aient. Use for: habitual past actions, descriptions, ongoing past states. Exception: être → ét-
• Futur simple: infinitive + -ai/-as/-a/-ons/-ez/-ont. Use for: future plans, predictions. Irregulars: aller → ir-, avoir → aur-, être → ser-, faire → fer-, venir → viendr-
• Conditionnel: same stem as futur simple + imparfait endings. Use for: polite requests, hypotheticals ("I would"). J'aimerais, je voudrais, je pourrais
• Plus-que-parfait: imparfait of avoir/être + past participle. Use for: the past before the past ("I had eaten before she arrived")

Passé Composé vs Imparfait

• PC: a specific, completed event. "Il a mangé." (He ate.)
• Imparfait: background description or habitual action. "Il mangeait toujours à midi." (He always ate at noon.)
• Often used together: imparfait sets the scene, PC interrupts it. "Je lisais quand il est entré." (I was reading when he came in.)

The Subjunctive Mood (Introduction)

What Is the Subjunctive?

• The subjunctive is a mood (not a tense) used to express doubt, uncertainty, emotion, wish, necessity, or possibility — as opposed to stating facts (the indicative mood)
• In English it survives in phrases like "I suggest that he be present" or "if I were you"
• In French it is still widely used and required in specific grammatical contexts

Forming the Present Subjunctive

• Take the ils/elles form of the present tense → remove -ent → add: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent
• parler → ils parlent → parl- → que je parle, tu parles, il parle, nous parlions, vous parliez, ils parlent
• finir → ils finissent → finiss- → que je finisse, tu finisses, il finisse...

When to Use the Subjunctive

• After verbs of wanting/wishing: vouloir que, souhaiter que, désirer que — "Je veux qu'il vienne." (I want him to come.)
• After verbs of emotion: être content(e) que, regretter que, avoir peur que — "Je suis content qu'il soit là." (I'm glad he's there.)
• After verbs of doubt: douter que, ne pas croire que — "Je ne crois pas qu'il ait raison." (I don't think he's right.)
• After impersonal expressions: il faut que, il est nécessaire que, il est important que, il est possible que, il est dommage que
• After certain conjunctions: bien que (although), pour que (so that), avant que (before), à moins que (unless), pourvu que (provided that)
• Note: if the subject is the same in both clauses, use the infinitive instead: "Je veux partir." NOT "Je veux que je parte."

Pronouns & Complex Structures

Direct and Indirect Object Pronouns

• Direct object pronouns (replace a direct object — no preposition): me, te, le/la/l', nous, vous, les
• Indirect object pronouns (replace à + person): me, te, lui (him/her), nous, vous, leur (them)
• Position: before the verb (before the auxiliary in compound tenses): "Je le vois." "Je l'ai vu." "Il lui parle."
• Order when two pronouns: me/te/nous/vous come before le/la/les; le/la/les come before lui/leur; y and en come last

The Pronoun "y" and "en"

• y: replaces à + place or thing. "Tu vas à Paris?" "Oui, j'y vais." / "Tu penses à ton avenir?" "J'y pense."
• en: replaces de + thing, or a quantity/number. "Tu veux du café?" "Oui, j'en veux." / "Tu as combien de frères?" "J'en ai deux."

Relative Pronouns

• qui: subject relative pronoun — replaces the subject of the relative clause. "C'est le livre qui est sur la table." (who/which)
• que: object relative pronoun — replaces the direct object. "C'est le livre que j'ai acheté." (which/that)
• dont: replaces de + noun — "the professor about whom I spoke". "C'est le professeur dont je t'ai parlé."
• où: replaces a place or time expression. "C'est la ville où je suis né." (where)

Complex Sentence Connectors

• Introduce argument: certes (certainly), il est vrai que (it is true that), d'une part... d'autre part (on one hand... on the other)
• Contrast: cependant, néanmoins, toutefois, or (yet), pourtant, en revanche (on the other hand), malgré + noun (despite)
• Consequence: par conséquent, donc, c'est pourquoi, ainsi (thus), de ce fait (as a result)
• Addition: de plus, en outre, par ailleurs, non seulement... mais aussi

Society & Current Affairs

Social Issues — Key Vocabulary

• le chômage (unemployment), le sans-abri (homeless person), la pauvreté (poverty), les inégalités (inequalities)
• le racisme / la discrimination / le préjugé (racism / discrimination / prejudice)
• l'égalité des chances (equal opportunities), les droits de l'homme (human rights)
• le bénévolat (volunteering), le/la bénévole (volunteer), s'engager (to get involved/committed)
• lutter contre (to fight against), faire face à (to face), résoudre (to solve), améliorer (to improve)

Environment — Key Vocabulary

• le réchauffement climatique (global warming), le changement climatique (climate change)
• les énergies renouvelables (renewable energies), le développement durable (sustainable development)
• réduire (to reduce), recycler, gaspiller (to waste), économiser (to save/conserve)
• les gaz à effet de serre (greenhouse gases), l'empreinte carbone (carbon footprint)
• il est essentiel que + subjonctif (it is essential that) — triggers subjunctive

Opinion Structures

• À mon avis / Selon moi / D'après moi (In my opinion / According to me)
• Je suis convaincu(e) que + indicatif (I am convinced that)
• Je doute que + subjonctif (I doubt that)
• Ce qui me préoccupe, c'est... (What worries me is...)
• Il me semble que... (It seems to me that...)
• Il faut reconnaître que... (It must be acknowledged that...)

The French-Speaking World

La Francophonie

• French is an official language in 29 countries and spoken by approximately 300 million people worldwide
• Key Francophone regions: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (especially Québec), large parts of sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, DRC, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia), Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Madagascar, Vietnam (historical)
• L'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF): promotes French language and multilingual cooperation among 88 member states

Québec

• French-speaking province of Canada: 8 million inhabitants, 80% French-speaking
• Office québécois de la langue française: protects French — the only official language of Québec (Loi 101, Charter of the French Language, 1977)
• Joual: a distinct Québécois French dialect with English loanwords and unique expressions
• Cultural identity: Québécois feel distinct from both English Canada and metropolitan France — strong sense of cultural pride, periodic independence movements (referendums of 1980 and 1995)

French Influence on Culture

• Cinema: La Nouvelle Vague (French New Wave) — Godard, Truffaut, Varda. Major film industry; Cannes Film Festival is the world's most prestigious.
• Literature: Voltaire, Flaubert, Proust, Camus, Sartre, Beauvoir — enormously influential on world literature and philosophy
• Fashion: Paris remains a global fashion capital. Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, Hermès.
• Gastronomy: French cuisine is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Concepts like mise en place, sauces (béchamel, hollandaise), haute cuisine, and the restaurant itself as an institution originate in France.