Advanced French Grammar

AFGA01 03/08/1999 11:26 AM Page iii Advanced French Grammar MONIQUE L’HUILLIER AFGA01 03/08/1999 11:27 AM Page iv published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge The Pitt Building,Trumpington Street,Cambridge CB2 1RP,United Kingdom cambridge university press The Edinburgh Building,Cambridge,CB2 2RU,United Kingdom http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk 40 West 20th Street,New York,NY 10011–4211,USA http://www.cup.org 10 Stamford Road,Oakleigh,Melbourne 3166,Australia © Cambridge University Press 1999 This book is in copyright.Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1999 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press,Cambridge TypefaceBembo (The Monotype Corporation) 10.5/12pt SystemQuarkXPress® [gc] A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data L’Huillier,Monique. Advanced French grammar / Monique L’Huillier. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 48228 3 (hb).– ISBN 0 521 48425 1 (pb) 1. French language – Grammar. 2. French language – Textbooks for foreign speakers – English. I. Title. PC2112.L485 1999 448.2¢421—dc21 98–22110 CIP ISBN 0 521 48228 3 hardback ISBN 0 521 48425 1 paperback AFGA01 03/08/1999 11:27 AM Page vii Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 Framework 1. Parts of speech 5 2. Syntax and grammatical functions 20 3. Pronunciation,spelling,registers,punctuation 46 2 Verbs 4. Introduction to verbs 65 5. Present indicative 77 6. depuis and other tense markers 92 7. Future 104 8. Imperfect 115 9. Perfect 126 10. Past historic 139 11. Other past tenses 148 12. Subjunctive 153 13. Conditional and the expression of hypothesis 183 14. Imperative 192 15. In?nitive 202 16. Present participle 221 17. Past participle 234 18. Active and passive voices 237 19. Impersonal verbs and the impersonal voice 252 20. Pronominal verbs 262 21. Modals:devoir,pouvoir,vouloir 273 22. savoir and connaître 293 3 Determiners and prepositions 23. Articles 303 24. Possessive adjectives,possession,attribution 336 25. Demonstrative adjectives 350 26. Prepositions 354 vii AFGA01 03/08/1999 11:27 AM Page viii CONTENTS 4 Nouns, pronouns and modi?ers 27. Nouns 387 28. Qualifying adjectives 410 29. Adverbs 436 30. Comparatives and superlatives 461 31. Personal pronouns 488 32. Relative pronouns 517 33. Possessive pronouns 533 34. Demonstrative pronouns 538 35. c’est/il est 550 36. Inde?nite words:adjectives,pronouns,adverbs 559 37. Numbers 592 5 Sentences and text 38. Negative structures 621 39. Interrogative and exclamative structures 636 40. Coordination and juxtaposition 660 41. Reported speech 672 Appendixes 1 Les recti?cations de l’orthographe (1990) 683 2 Cardinal and ordinal numbers 685 Bibliography 688 Index 691 viii AFGC01 03/08/1999 11:36 AM Page 5 1 Parts of speech 1 Introduction It is generally considered by most grammarians that there are eight grammatical classes of words or ‘parts of speech’,or nine if one includes interjections. They are: – nouns – verbs – determiners – qualifying adjectives – adverbs – pronouns – prepositions – conjunctions – interjections However,in order to de?ne the part of speech which a word belongs to,three criteria should be considered:semantic,morphological and syntactic.Hence the part of speech depends not only on the word selected but the way in which it is used (see 11 below). 2 Nouns See also chapters 23 Articles and 27 Nouns. 2.1 De?nition (i) Traditionally,the noun is described as representing what is called a substance, hence its other name:substantive (substantif),i.e.‘what is’.However,nouns do represent all sorts of other things,for instance abstract notions (l’amour) or actions (la natation).They are an open or non-?nite class of words,i.e.new ones can be invented or borrowed from other languages. Ex: l’intégrisme (religieux),la gouvernance;le zapping (ii) They have a gender and a number. – gender: masculine un homme feminine une femme – number:singular un chat plural des chats NB: Some nouns are only used in the plural,e.g.les ?ançailles. 5 AFGC01 03/08/1999 11:36 AM Page 6 1 FRAMEWORK (iii) They can be simple (un chou,une ?eur) or compound (un chou-?eur,un gratte-ciel). 2.2 Properties Nouns can be organized in sub-classes with different semantic and syntactic characteristics called lexical features (traits lexicaux).They can: (i) be common or proper – common: Ex: un homme;un chat;une table – proper: Ex: Marie,Médor;la France,la Seine,la rue de Rivoli,Paris;le Conseil d’Etat NB(1): The ?rst letter of a proper noun is a capital. NB(2): Common nouns are generally preceded by an article (le chat) whilst proper nouns referring to animates (Paul) are generally used by themselves,but see exceptions in chapter 23 Articles. (ii) represent animates or inanimates – animates (human or non-human): Ex: un homme,une femme;un chat – inanimates,including concrete or abstract (see below): Ex: une table,la natation,la philosophie This distinction is important in several contexts,e.g.relative,interrogative and personal object pronouns,or the use of c’est/il est (see relevant chapters). (iii) be concrete or abstract – concrete (can be seen,felt or heard): Ex: la table,du vin,le vent – abstract: Ex: la force,l’amitié,la psychologie (iv) be countable or uncountable – countable (can be counted): Ex: un pain complet (a wholewheat loaf) – uncountable (refer to quantities): Ex: du pain complet (wholewheat bread) (v) be collective or individual – collective (refer to groups of the same category): Ex: la famille,la vaisselle – individual: Ex: un père,une assiette 6 AFGC01 03/08/1999 11:36 AM Page 7 1 PARTS OF SPEECH 3 Verbs According to the traditional de?nition,verbs express actions (e.g. marcher) or states (e.g. être).The set of forms that a verb can take is called its conjugation.An introduction to verbs is given in chapter 4. 4 Determiners The determiner introduces the noun,with which it agrees in gender and number.Determiners constitute a closed or ?nite class,i.e.new ones cannot be invented or borrowed. There are seven classes of determiners: – articles – demonstrative adjectives – possessive adjectives – interrogative and exclamative adjectives – relative adjectives – numeral adjectives – inde?nite adjectives A speci?c determiner (déterminant spéci?que) cannot be combined with another. The speci?c determiners are: – articles:le chat,un chat,du lait – demonstrative adjectives:ce chat – possessive adjectives:mon chat Other determiners (déterminants complémentaires) can be combined with another, and with speci?c determiners according to precise rules (see relevant chapters). For instance: – numeral adjectives:les trois chats – inde?nite adjectives:tous mes chats The article is the most common determiner of the noun. Note that the above ‘adjectives’are also called ‘non-qualifying adjectives’or ‘determiners’to distinguish them from ‘qualifying adjectives’(see 5 below). 4.1 Articles An article marks the gender and the number of the noun it determines.There are three kinds of articles: (i) de?nite (le, la,l’,les) The use of the de?nite articles implies that the interlocutor can identify that referent,i.e.the ‘object of the world’the word refers to. Ex: Passez-moi le livre qui est sur la table. Pass me the book that is on the table. 7 AFGC01 03/08/1999 11:36 AM Page 8 1 FRAMEWORK (ii) inde?nite (un,une,des) Inde?nite articles imply the existence of a set of referents.They extract one or several elements from that set,without identifying them. Ex: J’ai acheté des oranges. I’ve bought [some] oranges. (iii) partitive (du,de la,de l’) The partitive article is used with uncountable nouns. Ex: Voulez-vous du fromage? Would you like [some] cheese? The choice of articles depends on whether the noun is concrete or abstract, countable or non-countable,considered in its generic sense,etc.See chapter 23 Articles. 4.2 Demonstrative adjectives (i) The simple demonstrative adjectives are:ce (cet),cette,ces.These can be translated as ‘this’or ‘that’,‘these’or ‘those’,depending on the context. Ex: ce livre;cet hôtel;cette robe;ces gens (ii) The compound adjectives add -ci or -là after the noun,to indicate distance from or proximity to the speaker. – distance from the speaker in time: Ex: Ce jour-là,je ne me sentais pas très bien. That day,I wasn’t feeling very well. – proximity to the speaker in space: Ex: Ces ?eurs-ci me plaisent. I like these ?owers. See chapter 25 Demonstrative Adjectives. 4.3 Possessive adjectives The possessive adjectives are: mon,ma,mes my ton,ta,tes your son,sa,ses his/her notre,nos our votre,vos your leur,leurs their They agree in gender and number with the element possessed and in person with the possessor. Ex: les livres de Marie:ses livres Marie’s books:her books la maison de Paul et Marie:leur maison Paul and Marie’s house:their house 8 AFGC01 03/08/1999 11:36 AM Page 9 1 PARTS OF SPEECH la cravate de Paul:sa cravate Paul’s tie:his tie For details regarding possessive adjectives,and their use with parts of the body, see chapter 24 Possessive Adjectives. 4.4 Interrogative and exclamative adjectives (i) Interrogative adjectives:quel,quelle,quels,quelles Interrogative adjectives enable one to ask a question about the noun. Ex: Quelle personne demandez-vous? Which person are you asking for? (ii) Exclamative adjectives:quel,quelle,quels,quelles Exclamative adjectives are used to express surprise,indignation,joy,fear,etc.Their forms are the same as those of the interrogative adjective. Ex: Il ne vous a pas prévenu? Quel sans-gêne! Didn’t he warn you? What a nerve! See chapter 39 Interrogative and Exclamative Structures. 4.5 Relative adjectives Relative adjectives are constructed with quel,preceded by the de?nite article (? lequel,laquelle,lesquels,lesquelles). They are used as relative determiners,particularly in literary and administrative styles.The group ‘relative adjective + noun’is the equivalent of a relative pronoun (see 7.4 below). Ex: Je lui ai envoyé un dossier,lequel dossier ne lui est jamais parvenu. (= Je lui ai envoyé un dossier, qui ne lui est jamais parvenu.) 4.6 Numeral adjectives (i) Also part of the ‘quanti?ers’(see 4.7 Inde?nite Adjectives below),they are used before nouns which refer to elements that can be counted (see countable nouns above),to specify the number or quantity of elements. Ex: Il y avait cent dix personnes à cette conférence. (ii) Combinations: They can be preceded by a speci?c determiner. Ex: mes deux chats;les trois mousquetaires;ces six roses rouges 4.7 Inde?nite adjectives (i) As determiners,they generally imply a certain quantity of elements,which may be countable or uncountable (they are also called ‘quanti?ers’). 9 AFGC01 03/08/1999 11:36 AM Page 10 1 FRAMEWORK Ex: Quelques personnes viennent d’arriver. A few people have just arrived. J’ai encore pas mal de travail à faire. I’ve still got a fair amount of work to do. NB(1): Some inde?nite adjectives can be combined with another determiner: Ex: tous les chats noirs; les quelques chats noirs NB(2): Others cannot: Ex: *les plusieurs chats noirs For further details,see chapter 36 Inde?nite Words. (ii) Some inde?nite adjectives are not determiners.They express,for instance: – imprecision: Ex: Il lisait une revue quelconque. – identity: Ex: J’ai la même robe que toi. – difference/contrast: Ex: J’ai un autre parapluie,si celui-ci ne te plaît pas. For further details,see chapter 36 Inde?nite Words. 4.8 No determiner The ‘zero article’refers to cases where there is no speci?c determiner before nouns in French. Ex: Elle est journaliste. Entrée interdite. See chapter 23 Articles,section 6. 5 Qualifying adjectives (i) A qualifying adjective expresses a quality of the referent of the noun. (ii) It agrees with the noun in gender and number. Ex: – masculine or feminine: un livre intéressant;une belle robe masculine feminine – singular or plural: une grande maison;des gens importants singular plural Qualifying adjectives form an open class of words,i.e.new adjectives can be created;a recent example:anabolisant. For details on the gender and number of adjectives and of the position of the adjective in relation to the noun,see chapter 28 Qualifying Adjectives. 10