French Blog

The French verb rêver belongs to le premier groupe (the first group.) It can either be transitif direct, transitif indirect, or simply intransitif, as in the French sentence: “Tu peux toujours rêver!” (“Dream on!”) As for l’auxiliaire with which it is conjugated, remember that it is always avoir.   * Mode Indicatif: Présent:  je rêve, tu rêves, il rêve, nous rêvons, vous rêvez, ils rêvent Passé composé: j’ai rêvé, tu as rêvé, il a rêvé, nous [...]

To many students from all over the world, to be offered the opportunity of studying in an Ivy-League school in France is tantamount to un rêve (a dream) that becomes true. Of course, la clé du succès (the key to success) is hard work and perseverance. And that means quite a lot of it! Today, we [...]

Hello there, c’est encore moi (it’s me again.) We haven’t spoken since a long time. By now, we may only be a vague souvenir (memory) to each other. That’s why I just wanted to say “salut” (“hello”), and ask you: “Comment vas-tu?” (“How are you?”) Joe Dassin “Salut” (“Hello”) – 1975 His son Julien Dassin sings [...]

Don’t worry, it’s not an insult in French. Or, at least, not as of yet! If you ever thought of studying in France, especially in an elite school, then this is a must-read for you. If you are studying or simply interested in the fields of International Relations and Political Science, then you also should know the [...]

After a rather good performance in the match aller (first leg game) made against Barcelona, will the Paris Saint-Germain have what it takes to create la grande surprise tonight, by beating the Catalans in the Quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League? The task of les Parisiens already seems like coming out of a “Mission:Impossible” movie. Not [...]

Last week, while talking about l’Alsace et la Lorraine, asking the question of whether they were originally French or German, we mentioned that the temporary loss of these two regions had provoked to many a French person a corresponding “temporary loss of sanity.” For nearly half a century, a heavy wind of revnachisme (from the [...]

In France, the birth country of this “old tradition”, it’s called poisson d’avril (literally “Fish of April.“) In English, “April Fools’ Day.” And in Russia, according to the video shared today, “le jour des fous” (“the Day of Mad People“, or if you prefer “День смеха.“) But how did people start celebrating this day in [...]

No region has caused a major headache to both France and Germany than that of the Alsace-Lorraine, or as the Germans call it: Elsass-Lothringen. To this day, some people still wonder: Is it originally French or German? Starting from the mid-seventeen century, the Alsace-Lorraine was French, no question about that. That is, until it was lost [...]

There are countless ways of building a strong French vocabulary. One way to go is to learn the maximum of verbs. A good source for that is the very popular “501 French Verbs” by Christopher Kendris. But how to know which ones to start memorizing? After all, not all verbs are equal in importance for [...]

Of course, you’re familiar with les verbs transitifs (transitive verbs.) Remember? They are verbs which must have an object. But how about “ditransitive verbs“? Never heard of them? The name may sound complicated at first, but once you know what it stands for, it becomes très facile: These are verbs which require one direct object and one additional object [...]