All the French 3 lessons on one page, chapter by chapter: each lesson explains the grammar and vocabulary in English, with examples in French. Back to the French 3 overview.
French 3 lessons by chapter
French 3 Lessons
Clear grammar and vocabulary lessons in English, every French example translated.
Making plans and promises in the simple future
The simple future (le futur simple) says what will happen. For most verbs, keep the whole infinitive and add -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont; for…
Politely wishing and advising with the conditional
The present conditional (le conditionnel présent) takes the future stem and adds the imperfect endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. French uses it for polite…
Real and imaginary situations with si
A French si clause has two parts. For a real or likely situation, use si + present with a present, future or imperative result: Si tu…
Linking ideas with qui, que and où
Qui, que and où join two clauses in French. Use qui when the pronoun is the subject of the next verb, que when it is the…
Dont: of which, of whom, whose
Dont is the French relative pronoun that replaces de plus a noun. Use it after verbs and expressions followed by de, such as parler de or…
The pluperfect: before the past
The plus-que-parfait is the French pluperfect, equivalent to had plus a past participle in English. Form it with the imparfait of avoir or être and the…
Building subjunctive forms step by step
The French present subjunctive is built from the ils/elles form of the present tense: drop -ent and add -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent. Nous and…
Rules, orders and wishes with the subjunctive
After expressions of necessity and will, such as il faut que, il est important que, vouloir que and exiger que, French uses que plus the subjunctive…
Feelings, fears and doubts in the subjunctive
After expressions of emotion (être content que, avoir peur que) and doubt (douter que, ne pas penser que), French uses the subjunctive. Affirmative penser que and…
Stacking two pronouns before the verb
When a French verb has two object pronouns, both stand before the verb in a fixed order: me/te/se/nous/vous, then le/la/les, then lui/leur, then y, then en.…
Giving orders with pronouns attached
In an affirmative French command, object pronouns follow the verb and are joined to it by hyphens: Donne-le-moi ! The direct pronoun comes first, then the…
Pointing out which one with celui
The demonstrative pronouns celui, celle, ceux, celles mean “the one(s)” and agree with the noun they replace. They never stand alone: add -ci or -là (this…
Mine, yours, theirs: replacing owned nouns
A French possessive pronoun replaces a noun together with its possessive adjective: mon sac becomes le mien. The article (le, la, les) is part of the…
Things done by someone: the French passive
The French passive voice is built with être in the tense of the active verb, plus a past participle that agrees with the subject: Le festival…
Doing two things at once with -ant
The French present participle ends in -ant and is built from the nous form of the present tense: nous parlons gives parlant. With en in front,…
Retelling what people say and ask
Reported speech retells what someone said after a reporting verb. When that verb is in the present, the tense does not change. Use dire que for…
Saving the planet in French
To talk about the environment in French, combine ecology vocabulary such as les déchets, le tri and le réchauffement climatique with il faut que. This expression…
Around the world in French
French is spoken on five continents by more than 300 million people, from Québec and Martinique to Senegal, Belgium, Switzerland and Tahiti. To say where you…
Screens, feeds and fair arguments
To talk about media and technology in French, combine key vocabulary (une appli, un réseau social, télécharger, partager) with opinion phrases such as à mon avis…
From job ads to job interviews
To talk about careers in French, name the profession without an article after être (Elle est ingénieure), use the right feminine form (infirmier, infirmière), and describe…