Compiled this for my personal use from various source on the net!!
1. Basic Sentence Structure
The typical word order in French is:
Subject → Verb → Object/Complement
Examples:
Je mange une pomme. → "I am eating an apple."
- Subject: Je (I)
- Verb: mange (eat)
- Object: une pomme (an apple)
Il regarde la télévision. → "He is watching television."
- Subject: Il (He)
- Verb: regarde (watches)
- Object: la télévision (television)
2. Adding Adjectives
Adjectives usually follow the noun in French, except for certain adjectives that come before the noun (like beau(beautiful), grand(big), petit(little), jeune(young), vieux(old), bon(good), mauvais(bad)).
Examples:
- Un livre intéressant → "An interesting book." (Adjective follows noun)
- Un grand homme → "A great man." (Adjective precedes noun)
3. Questions with "Quel"
When forming questions with quel (which/what), the order depends on the type of question.
Structure 1: Quel + Noun + Verb + Subject
- Quel livre lis-tu ? → "Which book are you reading?"
- Quel = Which
- Livre = Book
- Lis-tu = Are you reading
Structure 2: Quel + Noun + Verb
- Quel film préfères-tu ? → "Which film do you prefer?"
- Quels parcs tu visitie →. "Which parks did you visit?"
- tu visitie quel parcs
4. Questions with Inversion
For formal questions, the structure is often:
Question Word + Verb + Subject Pronoun
Examples:
Où habites-tu ? → "Where do you live?"
- Où = Where
- Habites-tu = Do you live
Comment vas-tu ? → "How are you?"
- Comment = How
- Vas-tu = Are you going
5. Negative Sentences
To make a sentence negative, place ne...pas (or another negative pair) around the verb.
Examples:
Je ne parle pas anglais. → "I do not speak English."
- ne...pas surrounds the verb parle.
Il n’aime pas les légumes. → "He doesn’t like vegetables."
6. Word Order in Compound Sentences
For compound tenses (e.g., passé composé), the auxiliary verb comes before the past participle.
Examples:
- J’ai mangé une pomme. → "I ate an apple."
- Subject: Je
- Auxiliary verb: ai
- Past participle: mangé
7. Emphasizing Sentences
You can emphasize certain parts of a sentence by reordering or using additional phrases like c’est...qui or c’est...que.
Examples:
- C’est toi qui as fait ça. → "It’s you who did that."
- C’est le livre que j’ai acheté. → "It’s the book that I bought."
Quick Reference for French Sentence Sequences
| Type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Basic Sentence | Subject + Verb + Object | Je vois un chien. → "I see a dog." |
| With Adjective | Subject + Verb + Noun + Adjective | Une maison bleue. → "A blue house." |
| Question with Quel | Quel + Noun + Verb + Subject | Quel film aimes-tu ? → "Which film?" |
| Inversion Question | Question Word + Verb + Subject Pronoun | Où vas-tu ? → "Where are you going?" |
| Negative Sentence | Subject + Ne + Verb + Pas + Object | Je ne parle pas. → "I don’t speak." |
