Basic Sentence Structure

Now that you know subject pronouns, articles, and the verbs être and avoir, it is time to understand how French sentences are constructed. French sentence structure shares similarities with English but has some important differences, particularly regarding word order, negation, and the placement of adjectives and adverbs.

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The Basic Pattern: Subject + Verb + Object/Complement

The most common French sentence follows the same SVO (Subject–Verb–Object) order as English.

French	Analysis	English
Je mange une pomme.	S + V + O	I eat an apple.
Elle parle français.	S + V + O	She speaks French.
Nous aimons la musique.	S + V + O	We like music.
Il regarde la télévision.	S + V + O	He watches television.
Tu lis un livre.	S + V + O	You read a book.

This is the most natural and common word order in French. If you follow this pattern, you will produce correct sentences most of the time.

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Sentences with Être (Subject + Verb + Complement)

With être, the complement can be an adjective, a noun, or a prepositional phrase.

French	Complement Type	English
Je suis fatigué.	Adjective	I am tired.
Elle est médecin.	Noun (profession)	She is a doctor.
Le chat est sur la table.	Prepositional phrase (location)	The cat is on the table.
Nous sommes français.	Adjective (nationality)	We are French.
C'est un bon film.	Noun phrase	It's a good film.

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Negation: Ne...Pas

To make a sentence negative in French, you wrap the verb in ne...pas (not). Ne goes before the verb and pas goes after it.

Affirmative	Negative
Je parle français.	Je ne parle pas français.
Il mange du pain.	Il ne mange pas de pain.
Nous sommes prêts.	Nous ne sommes pas prêts.
Elle a un chien.	*Elle **n'*a pas de chien.
Tu comprends.	Tu ne comprends pas.

Rules for Negation

1. Ne becomes n' before a vowel or silent h: *Je **n'*aime pas, *Il **n'*est pas, *Elle **n'*habite pas.
2. In spoken French, ne is frequently dropped: Je parle pas, C'est pas vrai. This is standard in casual speech but incorrect in formal writing.
3. The negative goes around the conjugated verb only. If there is an infinitive, ne...pas wraps the conjugated verb, not the infinitive: Je ne veux pas manger. (I don't want to eat.)

Other Negation Patterns

Pattern	Meaning	Example
ne...jamais	never	Je ne mange jamais de viande. (I never eat meat.)
ne...rien	nothing	Je ne vois rien. (I see nothing. / I don't see anything.)
ne...plus	no longer	Il ne travaille plus. (He no longer works.)
ne...personne	nobody	Je ne connais personne. (I don't know anybody.)
ne...que	only	Je n'ai que cinq euros. (I only have five euros.)

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Asking Questions

Three Methods

1. Intonation (informal): Raise your voice at the end.

• Tu parles français ? — You speak French?

2. Est-ce que (standard): Add est-ce que at the beginning.

• Est-ce que tu parles français ? — Do you speak French?

3. Inversion (formal): Swap subject pronoun and verb, connected by a hyphen.

• Parles-tu français ? — Do you speak French?

Yes/No Questions

All three methods above are used for yes/no questions (questions expecting oui or non).

Information Questions

Add a question word at the beginning, then use any of the three methods:

• Où est-ce que tu habites ? — Where do you live?
• Quand arrives-tu ? — When are you arriving?
• Pourquoi tu pleures ? — Why are you crying?

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Word Order with Adverbs

Common adverbs of frequency and manner usually go after the conjugated verb: