French Notes

The one thing about vandertramp verbs is that one does them with one’s entire body.  One arrives, one leaves, one passes, one is born, one dies, one falls, one goes, one enters, etc.  with one’s entire body.  That’s the beauty of the vandertramp verbs – there’s a sense of logic to them.

BUT … what happens to the verbs that mean two things? 

Sortir means to go out AND to get something out

Rentrer means to go in, to return home AND to put in or to get in

Descendre means to go down, to descend AND to get something down

Passer means to pass by something AND to pass something

Monter means to go up, to climb AND to put something up

When one is doing the first meaning of the verb (the whole body meaning), one uses the être construction in the passé composé.  When one is doing the second meaning of the verb (where you’re doing the action to something else), one uses the avoir construction in  the passé composé.

Examples

     Elle est montée dans l’ascenseur – She went up in the elevator

     Elle a monté ses bagages – She picked up, put up her bags

     Elle est sortie de l’hôtel – She left from the hotel

     Elle a sorti sa valise du compartiment – She took out her suitcase from the compartment

      Elle est descendue du train  – She got down, she descended from the train

     Elle a descendu son sac à dos – She got down her backpack

     Nous sommes rentrés à la maison – We came back home

     Nous avons rentré la voiture au garage – We put the car in the garage

Stress pronouns are the last category of pronouns to cover. They are the personal pronouns used with prepositions (and the verb penser à).
DOP’s replace people and things when they are the direct object of a sentence.
IOP’s replace à people.
What does one use when one wants to say “with me”, ” for them”, or “next to her”? – all of the pronouns in these examples come after prepositions.

Stress Pronoun List

me – moi
you – toi
him – lui
her – elle
us – nous
you – vous
them (mixed or masc.) – eux
them (feminine) – elles

*For a list of common prepositions, see this link Prepositions Page

for me – pour moi
with them – avec eux
next to her – à côté d’elle
from you – de toi

* Stress pronouns are also used following “c’est”*
C’est lui qui corrige les autres. – He’s the one who corrects the others.

* Stress pronouns are also used when making comparisons.*
Tu cours plus vite que moi. – You run faster than I do.
Il parle plus couramment qu’eux. – He speaks more fluently than they do.
Vous dansez mieux que lui. – You dance better than he does.

* Used with aussi and non plus*
Moi aussi.
Moi non plus

*Stress pronouns can replace subject pronouns if there is more than one subject*
Charles et moi, nous sommes copains.
Eux et moi, nous sommes les seuls à comprendre.

*There are also some verbs that take stress pronouns when used with people.*
Penser à – to think about
Penser de – to think of (have an opinion)
Songer à – to think about, to dream about
Rêver à – to dream about
Courir à – to run to
Venir à – to come to
Aller à – to go to
Être à – to belong to (a person)
Être habitué á – to be used to
S’habituer á – to be used to
S’adresser á – to address oneself to
S’intéresser à – to be interested in
Faire attention à – to pay attention to
Tenir à – to value

Je pense à toi. I’m thinking of you.
Ce sac à dos est à lui – this backpack is his.
Nous faisons attention à elle. – we’re paying attention to her.
Viens à moi. Come to me.
Go to them. Vas à eux.
La fille s’habitue à nous. The girl is getting used to us.
Je veux aller avec eux, mais je n’irai pas sans toi.
Je sortirai après lui pour aller chez vous.
Je me fie à lui.
Il a couru à elle.
Chacun travaille pour soi.
On est toujours content de rentrer chez soi.
Fais attention à eux, ils ne t’aiment pas.
Je tiens à elle parce qu’elle m’est sympathique.

Here’s another site with a more comprehensive list of the verbs that take stress pronouns. I only listed the main ones on my page. http://blognicefrench.blogspot.com/2013/05/micro-lecon-n55-liste-des-verbes-ou.html?spref=tw

Not all sentences have every pronoun  listed.  But the idea is to know which go in which order in case you have more than one pronoun.  A helpful thing would be to memorize two or three phrases that have more than one pronoun in them so that you will always remember which go in which order.  For those of you in my class, you have your “cheat sheet” notecards.  Use them!!

Je te les envoie – I’m sending them to you.
Je les lui donne.  –  I’m giving them to him
Il n’y en a plus – There isn’t any more of it/them
Je vais y aller – I’m going there.
J’y suis allé – I went there.

1.  For one verb tenses, this is the order of the pronouns between the subject and the verb.

Nous leur racontons l’histoire.  We’re telling the story to them.
Nous la racontons aux enfants. We’re telling it to the children.
Tu m’aides. You are helping me.
Ils vous offrent les fleurs . They are offering the flowers to you.
Ils vous les offrent. They are offering them to you.

2.  For 2 verb sentences, you place the pronoun in front of the verb that affects it, which ends up being the 2nd verb / infinitive.

Je veux y aller.
Tu dois le faire.
Il va en acheter.

For the composed tenses (with an auxiliary verb and a past participle – passé composé, plus que parfait, etc.)

*In these tenses there are a few minor details that I haven’t included here, but this is the word order.
Je l’ai acheté – I bought it
Je te les ai données – I gave them to you
Ils les y ont vendus – They sold them there

** NOTE – for negative sentences in passé composé, make sure to double check the placement of the pas / negative words (plus, jamais, pas encore, personne, que, etc.)

Reflexive Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns

Replace people or objects

Indirect Object Pronouns

replace à people

When making comparisons, one is saying that something or someone is more, less, or as (an adjective) as another, or compares how someone does an action, using an adverb.  We use the same construction in French.
The construction is

 She runs faster (more fast) than Fred.  Elle court plus rapidement que Fred.
You are working as hard as Fred. Tu travailles aussi dur que Fred.
This saleslady is nicer than the other saleslady. Cette vendeuse est plus sympathique que l’autre vendeuse.
Une Volkswagen est moins chère qu’une Porsche.  A VW is less expensive than a Porsche

*good and bad change forms in French like they do in English.

Ils trouvent que le pain français est meilleur que le pain amèricain.
Les fruits et les légumes sont meilleurs pour la santé que les pâtisseries?

One uses the superlative to single out one item from the group and compare it to all the others. One forms the superlative in French by using le, la, or les and plus or moins with the adjective.
Cette robe est la plus jolie de la boutique. This dress is the prettiest of the store.
Robert est le plus intelligent de la classe. Robert is the smartest in the class.
Fred et Oscar sont les plus amusants de tous les élèves. Fred and Oscar are the funniest of all the students.