Writing Sentences

 
 

Common Sentence Starters

1.  Il y a ....

("Il y a" can be used in a sentence when you want to list objects. It means "there is" or "there are")

Exemple:  Il y a une table, une chaise et un tableau.

2.  Il y a .... dans.... / Dans.... il y a

(Expand your sentence using "Il y a" by adding where the objects are found. "Dans" means "in")

Exemple:  Il y a des tables, des chaise et un tableau dans la salle de classe.

Dans la salle de classe, il y a des tables, des chaise et un tableau.

3.  Voici..

("Voici" means "Here is" or "Here are".  It can be used to begin a sentence that introduces people or objects.)

Exemple:  Voici un livre.  Voici le magicien.

4.  J'aime... / Je préfère...

(Use this to describe what you like or love.)

Exemple:  J'aime faire du sport.  Je préfère la natation.

5.  C'est ...

(A simple sentence starter for expressing something general. It means "This is..." or "It is...")

Exemple: C'est mon avis.  C'est quelque chose importante.

 

 

Sentence Structures

 

Question words:

·    Qui? (Who?)

·    Quoi? (What?)

·    Quand? (When?)

·    Où? (Where?)

·    Pourquoi? (Why?) 

Les éléments de la phrase (Sentences): When writing sentences in sentence, be sure to include the following elements in order for proper sentence structure.

 

1.  Qui ? (Always start with the subject/ Person)

2. Verbe (Use a verb/ action word)

3. Comment? (Add adverbs if necessary/ - ends with "ment")

4. Quoi? (nouns/ things)

5. Quand? (time/ days - add if necessary)

6. Où? (place - add if necessary)

7. Pourquoi? (add reason if necessary, start with "parce que" [because] / OR "pour" [for] )                        

 

QUI?   VERBE     COMMENT?    QUOI?     QUAND?    OÙ?    POURQUOI?

Je                   mange                     rapidement            un sandwich               au déjeuner            à la cafétéria     parce que j'ai faim.                        

Elle                 écoute                        toujours            sa chanson favorite                                       à la maison.  

 

 

Asking Questions

Asking Questions - Read about how to ask and formalate questions in French

Question Words - List of common question words and phrases in French

 

Expressing Opinions Sentence Starters

 

Expressing opinion - long list of sentence starters when giving opinions, in French and English

Opinion expressions - short list of sentence starters for expressing opinions

Giving Opinions - a simple list of sentence starters in French and English

Phrases and adjectives - list  of adjectives and phrases used with adjectives