-ger Verbs
-ger verbs are regular -er verbs that are also stem changing. The most common -ger verb is manger. For manger and all other regular -ger verbs, the stem change is adding an e after the g. This only applies in the nous form. In this case, the change is made to preserve the soft g pronunciation rather than the hard g that would be present if the e were not included.
Formation
Other -ger Verbs
- changer - to change
- exiger - to require
- nager - to swim
- soulager - to relieve
- voyager - to travel
Food
Boire
The verb boire is translated to to drink. It is irregularly conjugated (it does not count as a regular -re verb) as follows:
Drinks
| la bière | beer |
| le café | coffee |
| le chocolat chaud | hot chocolate |
| le coca | soda |
| la limonade | lemon soda |
| le citron pressé | lemonade |
| l'eau (f) | water |
| le jus | juice |
| le jus d'orange | orange juice |
| le jus de pomme | apple juice |
| le jus de raisin | grape juice |
| le jus de tomate | tomato juice |
| le thé | tea |
| le vin | wine |
Partitive Article
The partitive article de indicates, among other things, the word some. As learned earlier, de and le contract (combine) into du, as de and les contract into des. Also, instead of du or de la, de l' is used in front of vowels.
When speaking about food, the partitive article is used at some times while the definite article (le, la, les) is used at other times, and the indefinite article (un, une) in yet another set of situations. In general "de" refers to a part of food (a piece of pie) whereas the definite article (le) refers to a food in general (I like pie (in general)). The indefinite article refers to an entire unit of a food (I would like a (whole) pie).
When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:
| J'aime la glace. | I like ice cream. |
| Nous préférons le steak. | We prefer steak. |
| Vous aimez les frites | You like French fries. |
When speaking about eating or drinking an item, there are specific situations for the use of each article.
| Def. art. | specific/whole items |
|---|---|
| J'ai mangé la tarte. | I ate the (whole) pie. |
| Ind. art. | known quantity |
| J'ai mangé une tarte. | I ate a pie. |
| Part. art. | unknown quantity |
| J'ai mangé de la tarte. | I ate some pie. |
In the negative construction, certain rules apply. As one has learned in a previous lesson, un or une changes to de (meaning, in this context, any) in a negative construction. Similarly, du, de la, or des change to de in negative constructions.
| Nous avons mangé une tarte. | We ate a pie. |
| Nous n'avons pas mangé de tarte. | We did not eat a pie/ We did not eat any pie. |
| Nous avons mangé de la tarte. | We ate some pie. |
| Nous n'avons pas mangé de tarte. | We did not eat some pie/ We did not eat any pie. |
Note : Now you should understand better how that "Quoi de neuf?"(what's new?) encountered in the very first lesson was constructed... "Quoi de plus beau?!" (what is there prettier?)
En
Note how we say Je veux du pain to say 'I want some bread' ? But what happens when we want to say 'I want some' without specifying what we want? In these cases, we use the pronoun 'en'. As well, 'en' can mean 'of it' when 'it' is not specified. For instance, instead of saying J'ai besoin de l'argent, if the idea of money has already been raised, we can just say 'J'en ai besoin'. This is because what en does is replace du, de la or des when there is nothing after it.
Like with 'me', 'te' and other pronouns, en (meaning 'some') comes before the verb.
| Tu joue du piano? Non, je n'en joue pas | Do you play piano? No, I don't play it. |
| Vous prenez du poisson? Oui, j'en prends. | Are you having fish? Yes, I'm having some. |
| Vous avez commandé de l'eau? Oui, nous en avons commandé. | Did you order some water? Yes, we ordered some. |
Mettre
Formation
Related Words
- mettre - to put on, to turn on, to place
- permettre - to allow
- remettre - to put back
- remettre en place - to set back into place
- soumettre - to submit
- se remettre - to recover from an illness
- se remettre en route - to get back on the road
Idioms and Related Expressions
- mettre au jour - to bring to light
- mettre de l'argent de coté - to put money aside
- mettre fin à - to put an end to
- mettre la main à la pâte - to pitch in
- mettre le contact - to start the car
- mettre le couvert - to set the table
- se mettre à table - to sit down to eat
- se mettre d'accord - to agree
- se mettre en forme - to get in shape
Content is available under GNU Free Documentation License Source: Wikibooks