French Grammar

I’m a native french speaker and it’s incredibly hard for me to learn the ‘correct’ forms of verb conjugations etc because I only picked up French at a level, however, not having been taught the grammar from a young age I’m finding it difficult to learn it all at level. Any tips would be much appreciated.

Reply 1

15fal

1

hey, i don't speak french but if you ever want help with anything english related, just ask : )

Reply 2

junior.doctor

18

In what context do you mean? Do you mean that you speak fluent French but you don't know why you use the tenses that you do / what they're called? Or you speak some French learnt via extended family but there are gaps and you don't know how to learn what's missing? Have you ever learnt a foreign language from scratch at school? Out of interest, if you are fluent in French, why are you doing A-level? A UK A-level French is "French as a foreign language", for non-native speakers. Be careful if you're using it as one of your main A-levels, as universities may look on it differently and may not count it if they know you are already a native speaker.

I did A-level French and then spent several years in a francophone African country, where I spoke only French (and an African language) at work and at home. So I would say that I am fluent, except for missing occasional nuances in slang. Happy to help if I can.

Reply 3

Anna Schoon

13

Original post by Itz_HK

I’m a native french speaker and it’s incredibly hard for me to learn the ‘correct’ forms of verb conjugations etc because I only picked up French at a level, however, not having been taught the grammar from a young age I’m finding it difficult to learn it all at level. Any tips would be much appreciated.

I suspect that you are finding that the main problem is spelling regular -er verbs, because the sounds are all so very similar. How do you distinguish between, for example, donner - donné - donnez - donnais - donnai?

One way to deal with this is to replace (in your mind) the verb you need with a very irregular verb like faire. It is much easier to see the differences between: faire - fait - faites - faisais - fis - the straight equivalents of the donner forms given above.

Another thing you could do is to acquire the "Bescherelle école", which is a grammar / verb / spelling book for school children in France. This has useful sections like: Comment trouver la lettre muette à la fin des mots?, Reconnaître les terminaisons des verbes, or Distinguer les homophones. Just what you need! Here is a link to the book on Amazon; you can also get it second-hand for pennies. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bescherelle-ecole-Thomas-Beroul/dp/2218992108/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=bescherelle+%C3%A9cole&qid=1578931759&sr=8-2

(And just because it is for French school children does not mean it is not up to A level standard! Believe me, it is - I speak as a French teacher myself.)

Reply 4

Itz_HK

OP

4

Original post by junior.doctor

In what context do you mean? Do you mean that you speak fluent French but you don't know why you use the tenses that you do / what they're called? Or you speak some French learnt via extended family but there are gaps and you don't know how to learn what's missing? Have you ever learnt a foreign language from scratch at school? Out of interest, if you are fluent in French, why are you doing A-level? A UK A-level French is "French as a foreign language", for non-native speakers. Be careful if you're using it as one of your main A-levels, as universities may look on it differently and may not count it if they know you are already a native speaker.

I did A-level French and then spent several years in a francophone African country, where I spoke only French (and an African language) at work and at home. So I would say that I am fluent, except for missing occasional nuances in slang. Happy to help if I can.

I speak fluent French, in the sense it is my first language. I grew up in a French household in the UK but I was never taught French grammar & writing in French. I’m in my second year of French A level and it’s not just ‘speaking French’ like the gcse, it’s much more academic and encompasses literature. This has made it increasingly difficult because I got a 9 at gcse with relative ease,however, now not knowing much grammar it’s a slight issue. The issue is I’m unsure on conjugation of words, subjunctive etc

Reply 5

Itz_HK

OP

4

Original post by junior.doctor

In what context do you mean? Do you mean that you speak fluent French but you don't know why you use the tenses that you do / what they're called? Or you speak some French learnt via extended family but there are gaps and you don't know how to learn what's missing? Have you ever learnt a foreign language from scratch at school? Out of interest, if you are fluent in French, why are you doing A-level? A UK A-level French is "French as a foreign language", for non-native speakers. Be careful if you're using it as one of your main A-levels, as universities may look on it differently and may not count it if they know you are already a native speaker.

I did A-level French and then spent several years in a francophone African country, where I spoke only French (and an African language) at work and at home. So I would say that I am fluent, except for missing occasional nuances in slang. Happy to help if I can.

I studied German for 2 years briefly

French Grammar

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