English / Français
Parts of speech
A part of speech is a category of word, based on the job the word does in a sentence. French school grammar divides words into nine classes (les classes de mots, also called les parties du discours). Each is defined below in plain terms, with a test for spotting it. The colours are the ones used on every other page.
All nine in one sentence
- English says often eat. French puts the adverb after the verb: mangeons souvent.
- English says Italian restaurant. French puts the adjective after the noun: restaurant italien.
- English uses two words, at the. French combines them into one: au.
Parts that change their ending
French grammar sorts the nine parts into two groups. These five are the mots variables: their endings change to show gender, number, person or tense. This is where French asks for more than English does.
Parts that never change
These four are the mots invariables. Learn the word once and it stays the same.
One word, more than one part of speech
A part of speech describes what a word is doing in this sentence, not the word for all time. The same spelling can do different jobs.
| Word | Sentence | Part of speech here |
|---|---|---|
| water | The water is cold. | noun: it names a thing |
| I water the plants. | verb: it says what I do | |
| fast | A fast car. | adjective: it describes the car |
| She drives fast. | adverb: it describes the driving | |
| that | I know that. | pronoun: it stands for a thing |
| I know that he left. | conjunction: it joins two clauses | |
| la | La maison est grande. | article: it comes before a noun |
| Je la vois. | pronoun: it stands for “her” or “it” | |
| fort | Elle parle fort. | adverb: it never changes |
| Ils sont forts. | adjective: it agrees with the noun | |
| que | Le livre que je lis. | pronoun: “which”, standing for the book |
| Je sais que c’est vrai. | conjunction: “that”, joining two clauses |
The French cases matter most: le, la, les are articles before a noun and pronouns before a verb.
Part of speech is not the same as role
A part of speech says what kind of word it is. A role says what that word is doing in one particular sentence. For example, the noun Camille is the subject in “Camille reads” and the object in “I see Camille”. The diagrams on this site draw roles. The colours show parts of speech.
- Subject le sujet
- Who or what does the action, or who the sentence is about. The verb’s ending matches it. Camille reads a book.
- Verb le verbe
- What the subject does or is. It is both a part of speech and a role. Camille reads a book.
- Direct object le complément d’objet direct
- Who or what directly receives the action. Ask “what?” or “whom?” after the verb. Camille reads a book.
- Indirect object le complément d’objet indirect
- Who receives the direct object. Ask “to whom?” or “for whom?”. Camille gives Luc a book.
- Complement l’attribut du sujet
- A word after “be”, “seem” or “become” that describes or renames the subject. The house is big.
- Modifier
- Any word that adds detail to another word. Adjectives modify nouns. Adverbs modify verbs. The red house.
- Prepositional phrase
- A preposition together with the noun after it, working as one unit. The book is on the table.
See these drawn out: Diagrams
Words used to describe endings
Grammar explanations lean on these terms. Each one is defined here once.
- Gender le genre
- Every French noun is either masculine or feminine. For objects this is a grammatical label with no connection to sex. le livre, la maison
- Number le nombre
- Singular (one) or plural (more than one). livre, livres
- Person la personne
- Who the verb is about. First person is the speaker (I, we). Second is the one spoken to (you). Third is anyone else (he, she, it, they).
- Agreement l’accord
- Matching endings. An adjective takes the gender and number of its noun. A verb takes the person and number of its subject. grand, grande, grands, grandes
- Conjugation la conjugaison
- The full set of forms a verb takes. To conjugate a verb is to give it the ending that fits the subject and the tense. je parle, nous parlons, vous parlez
- Tense le temps
- When the action happens: past, present or future. je parlais, je parle, je parlerai
- Mood le mode
- The speaker’s stance toward the action: stating a fact (indicative), giving an order (imperative), saying what would happen (conditional), or expressing a wish or doubt (subjunctive).
- Infinitive l’infinitif
- The basic form of a verb, with no subject or tense. It is the form listed in a dictionary. to speak, parler
- Helper verb l’auxiliaire
- A verb that helps build a tense of another verb. English uses “have”, “be”, “do” and “will”. French uses avoir and être. I have eaten, j’ai mangé
- Participle le participe
- The verb form that follows a helper verb. It can also work as an adjective. eaten, mangé
- Transitive and intransitive
- A transitive verb takes a direct object (“I eat an apple”). An intransitive verb cannot (“I arrive”). In French this affects which helper verb is used: transitive verbs take avoir, and a short list of intransitive verbs, such as aller and arriver, take être.
- Reflexive pronominal
- A verb whose object is the same person as its subject. I wash myself, je me lave
- Clause la proposition
- A group of words with its own subject and verb. A sentence has one or more. [I know] [that he left].
- Phrase
- A group of words that works as one unit but has no subject and verb of its own. the red house, on the table
More: Pronouns
Verb forms with no subject
Three verb forms are not tied to a person. They are forms of the verb, not separate parts of speech.
| Form | French | English | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| infinitive infinitif | parler | to speak | The dictionary form. Follows another verb or a preposition, and can act as a noun: Parler est facile. |
| past participle participe passé | parlé | spoken | Builds the compound tenses with a helper verb: j’ai parlé. Also works as an adjective: la porte fermée. |
| present participle participe présent | parlant | speaking | Used much less than English -ing. Its most common use is after en, for “while” or “by” doing something: En parlant, on apprend. |
English -ing covers several jobs that French splits up.
| English -ing | French | Form used |
|---|---|---|
| I am speaking. | Je parle. / Je suis en train de parler. | present, or être en train de + infinitive |
| Speaking is easy. | Parler est facile. | infinitive |
| I like speaking. | J’aime parler. | infinitive |
| before speaking | avant de parler | preposition + infinitive |
| by speaking | en parlant | en + present participle |
| an interesting book | un livre intéressant | adjective |
Where the two grammars label words differently
The words behave the same. Only the label changes, which matters when a textbook or a teacher uses the French term. French school grammar today puts articles, possessives, demonstratives and numbers in one class, the déterminants. Older books call the last three adjectifs.
| Word | English grammar often says | French grammar says |
|---|---|---|
| my, mon | possessive determiner | déterminant possessif |
| this, ce + noun | demonstrative determiner | déterminant démonstratif |
| the, le | determiner, or article | article, a kind of déterminant |
| two, deux + noun | numeral, or determiner | déterminant numéral |
| to, before a verb | infinitive marker | no equivalent: the infinitive is one word |
This site colours my and mon as adjectives and two and deux as nouns when they stand alone, which keeps the two languages lined up.