Table Of ContentFrench Grammar in Context
FOURTH EDITION
French Grammar in Contextpresents a unique and exciting approach to learning
grammar.
Authentic texts from a rich variety of sources, literary and journalistic, are used as
the starting point for the illustration and explanation of key areas of French
grammar. Each point is consolidated with a wide range of written and spoken
exercises. Grammar is presented not as an end in itself, but as a tool essential to
enjoying French, understanding native speakers and communicating effectively
with them.
Literary texts and poems are taken from renowned French authors such as Albert
Camus, Zola, André Malraux, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Stendhal and Jacques Prévert.
News sources include Libération, Le Point, Marianne, and Le Monde Diplomatique,
in addition to articles from regional papers such as Ouest-Franceand La Voix du
Nord. Lifestyle articles are included from magazines such as Elle.
This fourth edition has been updated to include new extracts from writers such as
Christiane Rochefort, Raymond Queneau and Roch Carrier. In addition to extra
exercises within the book, this new edition is supported by a companion website
that offers a wealth of additional interactive exercises to practise and reinforce the
material covered.
French Grammar in Contextis aimed at intermediate and advanced students and is
ideal for both independent and class-based study.
Margaret Jubbis Senior Lecturer in French at the University of Aberdeen.
Annie Rouxevillewas previously Senior Lecturer in French and Tutor at TILL,
University of Sheffield.
LANGUAGES IN CONTEXT
The Languages in Contextseries presents students with an engaging way of learning
grammar while also acquiring cultural and topical knowledge. Each book in the
series uses authentic texts, drawn from a generous variety of sources, as the starting
point for the explanation of key areas of grammar. Grammar points are then
consolidated with a wide range of exercises to test students’ understanding.
Aimed at intermediate to advanced students, The Languages in Context series is
suitable for both class use and independent study.
The following books are available in this series:
French Grammar in Context
Spanish Grammar in Context
German Grammar in Context
French Grammar in Context
FOURTH EDITION
MARGARET JUBB
and
ANNIE ROUXEVILLE
Dedicated to the memory of Geneviève Wilkinson
Fourth edition published in 2014 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2014 Margaret Jubb and Annie Rouxeville
The right of Margaret Jubb and Annie Rouxeville to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First published in Great Britain in 1998, Second Edition published in 2003, Third Edition published in 2008 by Hodder
Education, part of Hachette UK, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-0-415-70669-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-415-70668-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-87992-5 (ebk)
Typeset in 10/14pt Minion by
Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
Contents
Acknowledgements vii
Preface to the first edition ix
Preface to the second edition xi
Preface to the third edition xii
Preface to the fourth edition xiii
1 The present tense 1
2 The passé composé 6
3 The imperfect 12
4 The pluperfect 17
5 The past historic and past anterior 20
6 The future and future perfect 28
7 The conditional (present and past) 36
8 The negative 42
9 Interrogatives 48
10 Personal pronouns 55
11 Relative pronouns 65
12 Nouns 71
13 Articles and quantifiers 80
14 Demonstratives 88
15 Possessives 94
16 Adjectives 100
17 Adverbs and adverbial phrases 108
18 Comparatives and superlatives 116
19 The imperative 123
20 Pronominal verbs 128
21 The passive 133
vi French Grammar in Context
22 The infinitive and present participle 140
23 Verbs with à and de 150
24 Devoir, pouvoir, vouloir, savoir 156
25 Impersonal verbs 163
26 The subjunctive (present and perfect) 169
27 The subjunctive (imperfect and pluperfect) 180
28 Prepositions 186
29 Conjunctions 195
30 Word order 201
31 Highlighting and emphasis 209
Revision text 1 216
Revision text 2 218
Revision text 3 221
Revision text 4 223
Revision text 5 226
Revision text 6 230
Keys 233
Bibliography 259
Index 260
Acknowledgements
This book developed from collaborative work undertaken some years ago under the auspices of
the Association for French Language Studies Grammar Initiative. We gratefully acknowledge the
impetus and support given to our work by AFLS. We are also grateful to Lesley Riddle of Edward
Arnold for helping us to refocus and extend our earlier work with a view to publication, and to
an unidentified reader selected by Edward Arnold for commenting on a first draft of the present
work. In producing the original three AFLS Brochures Grammaire, we worked with two
colleagues, Carol Chapman of the University of Liverpool, and the late Geneviève Wilkinson of
the University of Hull.
Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge the owners of copyright. The publishers
will be glad to make suitable arrangements with any copyright holders whom it has not been
possible to contact.
The authors and publisher would like to thank the following for permission to use copyright
material in this book:
Label France: Corinne Tonarelli, ‘La Provence, terre de lumière’, no. 24, June 1996 and Mélina
Gazsi, ‘Cent ans de laïcité à la française’, no. 60, 2005; Éditions Gallimard© Albert Camus,
L’Étranger, ‘J’ai retourné ma chaise’, 1957, André Malraux, La Condition Humaine, ‘L’auto de
Chang-Kaï-shek’, 1946, Jacques Prévert, ‘Le Dromadaire mécontent’, ‘Contes pour les enfants pas
sages’ in Histoires et autres histoires, 1963, and Simone de Beauvoir, Mémoires d’une jeune fille
rangée, ‘La plupart des garçons que je connaissais’, Collection Folio, 1958, Raymond Queneau,
Exercises de style, 1947, www.gallimard.fr; Société Nouvelle des Éditions Pauvert: Jehanne Jean-
Charles, Les plumes du corbeau, ‘Cet après-midi, j’ai poussé’, 1962; Methuen Educational Ltd:
R. Vailland, Un jeune homme seul, ‘Michel Favart, l’ingénieur’, 1985, Claire Etcherelli, Élise ou la
vraie vie, ‘Je cherchai Arezki’, ed. J. Roach, 1985 and Paul Éluard, ‘Ma morte vivante’, Anthologie
Éluard, ed. C. Scott, 1983; Libération: ‘Le temps aujourd’hui, région par région’, 28 October 1996,
J.-C. Schmitt, ‘Un mythe composite’, 9 February 1994, Éric Jozsef, ‘Votre diplôme n’est pas
valable’, 11 March 2002, © Marion Chaudru, Libération Voyages, 2 April 2013 and Libération
Quotidien, Kara Walker and Sean James Rose, ‘Le besoin cathartique de faire un retour en arrière’,
31 July 2007; InfoMatin: ‘Enfant d’une secte’, 29–30 December 1995; Regards: Daniel Le Scornet,
‘Aujourd’hui, une catégorie entière de la population française’, 22 December 1995; Service M:
‘Donnez-moi un quart d’heure le soir’; Éditions de Minuit: Alain Robbe-Grillet, Djinn, ‘De
nouveau, la méfiance’, ‘Ensuite Jean m’a offert’, ‘Mais non, se dit-il’, ‘Tout cela paraissait absurde’
and ‘Comment t’appelles-tu?’, 1981; Le Monde: Thomas Ferenczi, ‘Faits divers’, 17 November 1984
viii Acknowledgements
and Philippe Sollers, ‘Le Diable à Florence’, 27 September 1996; Institut de Formation au
Marketing: ‘Après le patron’; Le Nouvel Observateur, M.O., ‘Ne lisez surtout pas’, February 1995,
W. Legros, ‘Nous sommes tous polyglottes’, 8–14 September 1994, C. Brizard, ‘Pollution urbaine,
les vrais dangers’, 11–17 May 1995, Claude Roy, ‘L’Observatoire de la planète Terre’, 2–8 March
1995, Fabien Gruhier and Michel de Pracontal, ‘Le secret du cerveau de Mozart’, 9–15 February
1995 and Marc Ferro, ‘Un bilan globalement négatif’, 8 December 2005; Le Monde Diplomatique:
Bernard Cassen, ‘Le mur de l’anglais’, May 1995; L’Entreprise: Jean Boissonnat, ‘Tour du monde’,
October 1989; Le Point: E. Saint-Martin, ‘Championnat d’échecs – Un Grand Maître de 14 ans’,
29 March 1997, Marie-Sandrine Sgherri, ‘Ces escrocs qui s’attaquent aux vieux’, 3 May 2002 and
Gilles Pudlowski, ‘Nice, baie des arts’, 29 March 1997; Ouest-France: ‘Un cimetière marin au large
de Tunis’, 1 August 1997 and Julien Redon, ‘Sous tension’, 23 July 2002; Elle: Sylvie Tardrow, ‘Tieb
de Daurade’, 4 November 1996 and ‘News Beauté’, 4 November 1996; Éditions Atlas: ‘Toulouse’,
Atlas Air France, 1989; La Voix du Nord: Denis Sénié, ‘Tintin au pays des pixels’, 12 November
1996; La Lettre du Gouvernement: ‘Préserver l’air, c’est protéger notre santé’, 24 April 1996; Le
Monde de l’Éducation: Caroline Helfter, ‘Vers le bilinguisme’, July–August 1996 and Macha Séry,
‘La langue de Molière au secours de la langue de bois’, July–August 1996; L’Événement du Jeudi:
Nicolas Domenach, ‘Ces réseaux qui gouvernent la France’, 25–31 July 1996; Actualquarto:
‘Biosphère II, la Terre bis’, no. 3, 1990–91; Okapi: ‘Le Tabloïd’, 11–24 March 1995, ‘Les grands
débats’ and ‘Les aventuriers sous la mer’, 1–15 September 1994; Éditions Bernard Grasset: Colette,
La Chatte, 1933, ‘Il aimait ses songes’, Christiane Rochefort, Les Petits Enfants du siècle, 1961; Bien-
Dire: ‘Sur les quais’, no. 2, Winter 1997; Le Figaro: Anne Muratori-Philip, ‘Napoléon: le testament
que l’on croyait perdu’, 2 May 1996; Sciences et Avenir:B.A., ‘Quand les cathédrales étaient
peintes’, 26 July 2002; Présence Africaine: Joseph Zobel, La Rue Cases-Nègres, 1974; Éditions
Caribéennes: Joseph Zobel, Et si la mer n’était pas bleue..., ‘Le Retour de Mamzelle Annette’,
1982; Ça m’intéresse, © F. Karpyta, ‘Pourquoi les filles parlent plus tôt que les garçons’, no. 295,
September 2005 and © Vincent Nouyrigat, ‘Ces poussières qui font le tour du monde’ no. 318,
August 2007; La Pèlerine, ‘Randonnées accompagnées, l’hébergement’, 2007; Willy et Colette,
Claudine à l’école, Livre de Poche, 1961, with the kind permission of Éditions Albin Michel; Frantz
Fanon, Peau noire, Masques blancs, © Éditions du Seuil, 1952, Collection Points Essais, 1971 and
Ahmadou Kourouma, Les Soleils des Indépendances, © Éditions du Seuil, 1970, Collection Points,
1995; Marianne, Pierre Feydel et Erwan Seznec, ‘Les Parasites, les Profiteurs’, no. 536, July 2007;
Éditions Stanké, Roch Carrier, Les Enfants du bonhomme dans la Lune, 1979
Preface to the first edition
This book is intended for intermediate and more advanced students of French, both those
approaching the end of high-school or secondary education and those in their first or second
year at university, who need to consolidate and extend their knowledge of French grammar and
to develop their ability to use this knowledge in speech and writing. Unlike a reference grammar,
it does not aim to be exhaustive in its coverage. Instead, it focuses on key areas of grammar,
selected both for their perceived usefulness and for the difficulties which they often cause the
Anglophone student.
The starting point is always an authentic text, chosen for its intrinsic interest no less than for
its richness as a source of examples of grammar in context. In the analysis which follows the text,
the function and form of the relevant grammar topic are first explored as seen in the text, before
a development section headed ‘Discover more about X’ amplifies the coverage with illustrated
commentary on further important points, including any significant divergences of practice
between different registers both in writing and in speech. Page references to the relevant sections
of five standard reference grammars are provided, so that students may seek further information
as they require. Cross-references are also made to relevant sections of other grammar units
within the book itself. It is essential that both sections of analysis, ‘X in the text’ and ‘Discover
more about X’, should be studied before the student attempts any of the exercises which follow.
The exercises continue the emphasis on grammar in context by including a considerable
proportion of text-based exercises and also some communicative activities and translation
exercises. A key is provided to all the exercises, except for the more open-ended communicative
ones, so that students may use the book for private study. However, there is ample scope for the
book to be used also in class. For example, each text naturally contains examples of other
grammar points apart from the main point which it has been chosen to illustrate. Accordingly, a
detailed listing of the further grammatical features of each text is provided as guidance for
teachers, so that they may exploit the material in different ways.
The revision texts at the end of the book provide students with an opportunity to integrate the
work which they have done in the preceding units. First, a series of analysis questions exploits the
fact that each text contains examples of many different grammatical features. Students are
required to demonstrate their understanding by providing their own commentary on highlighted
features. A key with cross-references back to the analysis sections in the various units enables
them to check their work. Finally, in order to ensure that passive knowledge and understanding
have been translated into an ability to make active use of language, and that language observed
has been internalized, a series of gap-filling exercises based on the texts is provided.
In the revision section, as in the rest of the book, the emphasis is on grammar in context and
on grammar with a functional and communicative purpose. This is reflected most importantly in
