French Grammar

Comparative adverbs express relative superiority or inferiority. Superiority, the idea that something is "more ___" or "___er" than something else, is expressed with plus in French. Inferiority, meaning that something is "less ___" than something else, is stated with moins. You can also express equality with comparatives, to state that something is "as ___ as" something else; in French, there are two possible equivalents: aussi and autant.

Notes about French Comparatives

1. In French comparatives, you use stressed pronouns after que, rather than subject pronouns. For example, Il est plus grand que moi - "He's taller than I (am)."

2. Comparative adverbs are most commonly used with adjectives, but you can also use them with adverbs, verbs, and nouns. These comparisons have slightly different constructions for each part of speech.

Conjunctions provide a link between similar words or groups of words, such as nouns, verbs, people, etc. There are two types of French conjunctions:

1. Coordinating conjunctions join words and groups of words with an equal value.

   J'aime les pommes et les oranges.
   I like apples and oranges.

   Je veux le faire, mais je n'ai pas d'argent.
   I want to do it, but I don't have any money.

2. Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses to main clauses.

   J'ai dit que j'aime les pommes.
   I said that I like apples.

   Il travaille pour que vous puissiez manger.
   He works so that you can eat.

The following is a list of verbs (and their derivatives) that require être: aller   to go
arriver   to arrive
descendre   to descend / go downstairs
   (redescendre   to descend again)
entrer   to enter
   (rentrer   to re-enter)
monter   to climb
   (remonter   to climb again)
mourir   to die
naître   to be born
   (renaître   to be reborn, born again)
partir   to leave
   (repartir   to leave again)
passer   to pass
rester   to stay
retourner   to return
sortir   to go out
   (ressortir   to go out again)
tomber   to fall
   (retomber   to fall again)
venir   to come
   (devenir   to become
   parvenir   to reach, achieve
   revenir   to come again, come back)

Negative adverbs

             Negate or restrict the action of the verb they modify.
  ne... pas
ne... jamais

Negative adjectives
Negate or cast doubt on a quality of the noun they modify.
  ne... nul
ne... aucun

Negative pronouns
Negate or cast doubt on the existence of the noun they replace.
  ne... rien
ne... personne

Negative conjunction
There's only one:
 ne... ni... ni...