The Keys to French, Level 2:
basic ingredients
vocabulary:
more of the most essential
French words and expressions!

As shown on the left, we have included

  • regular and irregular verbs and verbal expressions
  • regular and irregular adjectives
  • possessive pronouns
  • invariable words such as adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and negative expressions
We have chosen these based on
  • common usage in French
  • perceived interest areas of high school students
There is also a page of nouns grouped by topics covered by the high school curriculum.

Note how the word lists are in columns to permit self-testing right on the page!

grammar concepts

On the high school level of French grammar, we have three three basic concepts which need to be understood by the student wishing to develop competence in French.

1. the sentence and how its major parts fit together 

  • the verb as the central idea in a clause
  • the noun or pronoun as subject or object of the verb
  • the obj. of a preposition as indirect obj. of the verb
  • the active vs. the passive voice 
  • sentences made up of more than one clause - with emphasis on the tense links between clauses in the three types of conditional sentences
2. variable words: verbs, nouns and adjectives

3. the various types of pronouns- forms and functions: 

  • personal
  • relative
  • interrogative
  • accentuated
  • demonstrative
  • possessive
verbs

Keys to French, Level Two  covers the formation and uses of the following:

  • le présent (regular verbs plus 24 essential irregular verbs)
  • l'imparfait
  • l’impératif
  • le futur simple
  • le conditionnel présent
  • le présent du subjonctif
  • le passé composé
  • les temps composés basés sur les temps simples ci-dessus
  • l'accord du participe passé
Every effort has been made to simplify explanations and to provide enlightening examples so that a student  can learn without outside assistance.
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