French grammar · A1
French grammar for beginners, lesson by lesson
This is the complete grammar of the A1 level of LupinFrench: 20 topics, one per lesson, from être and the articles to the stressed pronouns moi, toi, lui. Each page gives the short answer first, then the rule with tables, real sentences from Arsène Lupin’s first adventure, the difference from English and the mistake English speakers make.
Last updated:
In what order should I learn French grammar?
In the order you need it to read. The A1 course follows L’Arrestation d’Arsène Lupin (1905), and each lesson teaches the grammar its chapter leans on: être and gender first, because the first chapter describes a ship and its passengers; then agreement, avoir, the -er verbs and negation; questions, numbers and possessives when the passengers start investigating; the near future, pouvoir and vouloir when the thief starts making plans.
The whole level uses only the present tense, plus aller + infinitive for the future and venir de for the recent past. The past tenses (passé composé, imparfait) come at A2.
Lessons 1 to 5: what do they cover?
| Topic | Taught in | In one sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Être and the articles un, une, le, la | Lesson 1 | Être is the French verb “to be”, and it is irregular: je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont. |
| Adjective agreement, les and des | Lesson 2 | French adjectives agree with their noun: they add -e for a feminine noun and -s for a plural one (un passager élégant, une dame élégante, des dames élégantes). |
| Avoir and il y a | Lesson 3 | Avoir means “to have”: j’ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont. |
| Where adjectives go: colours and the body | Lesson 4 | Most French adjectives go after the noun, and colours always do: les cheveux blonds, une barbe noire. |
| Regular -er verbs in the present tense | Lesson 5 | Regular -er verbs are the largest verb family in French. |
Revise the block with Review 1: lessons 1 to 5.
Lessons 6 to 10: what do they cover?
| Topic | Taught in | In one sentence |
|---|---|---|
| À, en, au, aux with cities and countries | Lesson 6 | For “in” or “to” a place, French uses à with cities (à Paris), en with feminine countries (en France), au with masculine countries (au Canada) and aux with plural ones (aux États-Unis). |
| Negation: ne… pas, ne… rien, ne… jamais | Lesson 7 | French negation has two pieces that wrap round the verb: ne before it and pas after it, as in il ne parle pas, “he does not speak”. |
| Asking questions: est-ce que, inversion, quel | Lesson 8 | French has three ways to ask a yes-or-no question, all meaning the same: raise your voice (Vous avez la liste ?), put est-ce que in front (Est-ce que vous avez la liste ?), or swap verb and subject (Avez-vous la liste ?). |
| Numbers 0 to 69 | Lesson 9 | French numbers 0 to 16 are learnt by heart; from 17 they are built like English: dix-sept (“ten-seven”), vingt-quatre, soixante-neuf. |
| Possessives: mon, ma, mes, son, sa, ses | Lesson 10 | French possessive adjectives (mon, ma, mes; ton, ta, tes; son, sa, ses; notre, votre, leur) agree with the thing owned, never with the owner. |
Revise the block with Review 2: lessons 6 to 10.
Lessons 11 to 15: what do they cover?
| Topic | Taught in | In one sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Ce, cet, cette, ces (this, that). Left and right | Lesson 11 | French uses ce (masculine), cet (masculine before a vowel or silent h), cette (feminine) and ces (every plural) for both “this” and “that”: ce bras, cet homme, cette dame, ces dames. |
| The partitive: du, de la, des and pas de | Lesson 12 | The partitive article (du, de la, de l’, des) means “some” or “any”, an amount you are not counting: du lait, de la confiture, des perles. |
| Aller and the near future | Lesson 13 | Aller (“to go”) is irregular: je vais, tu vas, il va, nous allons, vous allez, ils vont. |
| Big numbers. Faire and prendre | Lesson 14 | 100 is cent and 1 000 is mille, with no “un” in front. |
| Pouvoir, vouloir, devoir + infinitive | Lesson 15 | Pouvoir (can), vouloir (want) and devoir (must) share one pattern: je peux, je veux, je dois; ils peuvent, ils veulent, ils doivent. |
Revise the block with Review 3: lessons 11 to 15.
Lessons 16 to 20: what do they cover?
| Topic | Taught in | In one sentence |
|---|---|---|
| De and à + the article: du, des, au, aux | Lesson 16 | French has no apostrophe-s: “the captain’s watch” is la montre du commandant, “the watch of the captain”. |
| Reflexive verbs: se lever, s’appeler | Lesson 17 | A reflexive verb (verbe pronominal) has a pronoun that points back to the subject: se lever, “to get up”, is literally “to raise oneself”. |
| Expressions with avoir. Tout, toute, tous, toutes | Lesson 18 | French uses avoir + noun where English uses “to be” + adjective: j’ai peur (I am scared), j’ai froid (I am cold), vous avez raison (you are right), j’ai vingt ans (I am twenty). |
| Venir, venir de, and adjectives before the noun | Lesson 19 | Venir means “to come”: je viens, il vient, nous venons, vous venez, ils viennent. |
| Stressed pronouns: moi, toi, lui. C’est moi | Lesson 20 | Stressed pronouns (pronoms toniques) are moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles. |
Revise the block with Review 4: lessons 16 to 20.
Is this grammar free?
Yes. Every grammar page and every lesson is free, with no account and no advertising. The A1 book collects the same lessons with extra exercises and answer keys, for those who prefer paper or an e-reader.
Looking for a word rather than a rule? Try the French–English glossary. New to the course? Start with how LupinFrench works.