L'été
l’été (lay-TAY = summer) Summer is a favourite time of year for many people. Children can get a break from school and many workers enjoy holiday time in warmer weather. Now we have learned the names of three seasons: l’hiver…
Le Printemps
Le PRINTEMPS (luh pray-TAH* = the spring) At time of writing, this week marks the arrival of spring in the northern hemishere, where France is located. At my home in Canada, the ground is covered with a dazzling layer of…
Skating the Rideau Canal
Because the nation of Canada has French and English as its two official languages, the capital city of Canada, Ottawa, is a great place to go to practise speaking, hearing, and reading French. Winter is especially beautiful in Ottawa. The…
Les couleurs: Colours
rouge = redbleu = bluejaune = yelloworange = orangeviolet = purplevert = greenbrun = brownnoir = blackblanc = white Try our French Colour Quiz!Take the quiz! Sponsored by Nallenart. For more information about L’Art de lire and other products, visit…
-ER Verbs
The last verb we learned, donner = to give, belongs to a large group of verbs known as -ER verbs. These verbs all have a similar pattern of conjugation, with a certain ending that corresponds with each subject pronoun that…
donner = to give
je donne = I givetu donnes = you giveil donne = he giveselle donne = she givesnous donnons = we givevous donnez = you giveils donnent = they giveelles donnent = they give All of these verbs describe an action…
avoir = to have
The verb avoir describes having something. It is also used in many different expressions in French where different verbs might be used in English. to have = avoirI have = j’ai*you have (singular) = tu ashe has = il ashe…
être = to be
These are some of the most common words in French. Writing out the “being” words will help you to memorize them. to be = êtreI am = je suisyou are (singular) = tu eshe is = il estshe is =…
Conjugation
When we study verbs in French we arrange the information in an easy to understand format called conjugation. Starting in the singular (just one person or thing as subject), verbs are listed in the order of first person, second person,…
Months of the Year
The French months of the year are very similar to the English months. Notice that the last four months are almost exactly like English. We get the names of our months from the Roman calendar. Originally the first month was…