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Nouns are naming words for things or people. You often use the words ‘a’ or ‘the’ with a noun – eg a girl, a boy, the school, the windows.
Nouns can be singular, eg an accident, the canteen, my dad, football – or plural, eg sweets, the children, my friends.
15 How many nouns are there in the sentence below? What are they? The car has got a flat tyre and a big dent in the door.
ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a describing word which tells you what things are like: flat shoes are shoes that don’t have high heels. A flat tyre is a tyre with no air in it.
16 How many adjectives are there in the sentence below? What are they? She’s got brown hair and blue eyes.
Some words have a noun meaning and an adjective meaning. In the dictionary there is a box to tell you about this. The different meanings usually have different translations in French.
sweet
sweetcan be a noun or an adjective.
A NOUN
1 le bonbonmasc (candy)a bag of sweets un paquet de bonbons
2 le dessertmasc (pudding)Sweets: ice cream or chocolate mousse Desserts: glace ou mousse au chocolat
B ADJECTIVE
1sucrémascsucréefem (sugary)It’s too sweet. C’est trop sucré.
2gentilmascgentillefem (kind)She’s a sweet person. Elle est gentille.
3mignonmascmignonnefem (cute)Isn’t she sweet? Comme elle est mignonne!
17 You want to ask someone if they would like a sweet. Fill in the gap. How can you be sure this is the right translation?
Tu veux un __________?
ADVERBS
An adverb is a word which describes a verb or an adjective:
She writes neatly. The film was very good.
18 How many adverbs are there in the sentence below? What are they? What do they have in common? The children sat quietly and played happily.
Some words have an adjective meaning and an adverb meaning. The different meanings have different translations in French.
hard
hardcan be an adjective or an adverb.
A ADJECTIVE
1difficile(difficult)This question’s too hard for me. Cette question est trop difficile pour moi.
2durmascdurefem (not soft)This cheese is very hard. Ce fromage est très dur.
B ADVERB durColette works hard. Colette travaille dur.
19 You want to say you work hard. Fill in the gap in the sentence below:
Je travaille __________.
VERBS
Verbs are sometimes called ‘doing words’. They often go with words like ‘I’ and ‘you’, and with names, eg I play football, What do you want?, Hugo likes mashed potato.
Verbs tell you about the present: eg I’m listening; the past: I scored a goal; and the future: eg I’m going to get an ice cream.
20 How many verbs are there in the sentence below? What are they? School starts at 9.00 and finishes at 3.30.
Some words have an adjective meaning and a verb meaning. The different meanings have different translations in French.
clean
cleancan be an adjective or a verb.
A ADJECTIVE
proprea clean shirt une chemise propre
B VERB
nettoyerClean the board please! Nettoie le tableau s’il te plaît!
21 If you want to ask for ‘a clean glass’, how do you know that propre is the translation, not nettoyer?
Some words have a noun meaning and a verb meaning.
rain
raincan be a noun or a verb.
A NOUN
la pluiefemin the rain sous la pluie
B VERB
pleuvoirIt’s going to rain. Il va pleuvoir. It rains a lot here. Il pleut beaucoup par ici.
It’s raining. Il pleut.
22 Is la pluie a noun or a verb?
23 Why is It rains a lot here. in part B?
Learn useful phrases
In the dictionary you’ll see phrases that are especially important in orange boxes. Try to learn these when you come across them, and you’ll soon know lots of useful things to say in French.
What time is it? Quelle heure est-il? It’s lunch time. C’est l’heure du déjeuner. How many times? Combien de fois?
Find out interesting things about life in France
There are also boxes which tell you about French customs, and about differences between life in France and Britain.
Did you know…?
In France, Easter eggs are said to be brought by the Easter bells orcloches de Pâqueswhich fly from Rome and drop them in people’s gardens.
Even more words
At school you will learn to talk about subjects such as the time and the weather, your family, your pets, and your clothes. The most important words for talking about these subjects are shown in the dictionary itself, and even more words are given in Language Plus, the supplement in the middle part of the dictionary. Have a look!
Answer key
1 demain and bonbon
2 the French side; French words on it; French-English written at the side of the page.
3 fire → fish
4 It’s the last word on page 411.
5 first
6 Chantal, Hélène, Jean-Marie, Luc, Pierre, Sophie
7 Harry – because ‘a’ comes before ‘e’
8 Friday comes first and Wednesday comes last.
9 because the second letter of Thursday is ‘h’, which comes before ‘u’, the second letter of Tuesday
10 Friday, Monday, Thursday, Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday
11 June
12 correspondant
13 animaux
14 un ballon – the clue is in the example: un ballon de football
15 4 – car, tyre, dent, door
16 2 – brown, blue
17 bonbon – a sweet is a noun, it means candy; the example helps too
18 2 – quietly, happily; they both end in -ly
19 dur
20 2 – starts, finishes
21 because clean has an adjective meaning in this sentence; the example helps too
22 a noun
23 because it’s a verb
French – English (#ulink_e1f1eda4-c1f4-53cd-a506-e2f3572d1942)
A a
a VERB
seeavoir
Language tip
Don’t confuseawith the prepositionà.
1has
Elle a beaucoup d’amis.
She has lots of friends.
Language tip
Sometimesais used to show that something has happened in the past.
Il a joué au football. He played football.
2is
Il a neuf ans.
