How to learn French grammar fast you ask?
French grammar is not a breeze. There are exceptions everywhere. But there are things you can do to make it faster!
We are talking about:
- How to learn French grammar fast (obviously),
- What you need to use,
- My adventures in looking for the best French grammar book!
We are going to talk about French grammar.
More precisely though, I’m going to show you how to learn French grammar fast.
Because I know that what you really want is to speak French, and you don’t want to spend forever on the grammar rules.
Especially French grammar…
Because it has the reputation to be one of the trickiest one to learn.
It’s not entirely right, but there’s truth in that..
It’s quite different from the English grammar, which if you are reading this, you are used to.
And it’s full of exceptions.
It feels like a never ending game of guess which gender this word is.
So if you have tried to learn French grammar before, you might be a bit stressed about having to learn so much.
First things first, I’m going to be honest with you…. And that’s the first thing you need to know if you want to learn French grammar fast.
To learn French grammar fast, learning about French grammar theory is not mandatory
In fact, there are ways you could avoid learning grammar all together.
With techniques such as sentence mining.(which I often talk about!)
So if you are following me since a while you know what I am talking about.
BUT, even if it’s not mandatory
Learning French grammar can be a good idea in some cases
So open your ears if you recognise yourself in one of them…
If you are struggling with sentence structure
When it’s difficult for you to SPEAK, to communicate in French because you don’t know in which order to put the words in a sentence, then having at look at grammar is going to sort things out for you.
Learning about French grammar is going to help you figure that out, and finally be able to build sentences in French.
It’s all about finding the logic behind.
French grammar is going to help you when you need to understand the mechanics to be confident.
We are all different.
Our brains are not machines that work exactly the same way in each of us.
Some people remember things better when it’s written, other when it’s said, some people need to move to be able to concentrate, some can’t stand a single noise when they are studying, others are much better at it when there’s some music playing in the background…
Those are just tiny examples of how we all are so different when it comes to learning.
And, if you are a person who needs to understand before they are confident enough to act – then starting with grammar is definitely for you.
Grammar, we’ll talk more about it later, is mechanics.
It’s the way a language is used to communicate – so the order of the words, the way they change, why they change, verb, tenses,… All of that are rules of some sorts.
So if you are the kind of person who needs to understand the rules before playing – then you need to start with grammar.
Third and final example of situation in which you need to learn grammar is when you need structure to progress.
Languages are a bit of a mess.
Because they are changing all the time, they get influenced, and they vary a lot depending on the person you are talking to.
That can make learning them very messy.
Luckily, there’s some common rules on which you can base yourself – GRAMMAR.
Not only is grammar sort of logical, it is the perfect way to structure your learning.
It’s no wonder why most French courses are based on grammar. It’s easy to check your progress, to assess your level, and to see what you have to learn still.
So three main situations in which you should know how to learn French grammar fast, or come back to grammar:
- If you need structure
- If you need logic
- If you have been struggling with grammar since a while
So, if you recognise yourself in one of those situations, then..
Here's how to learn French grammar fast
The main trick is going to be to..
Make French grammar simple!
You really don’t want overcomplicate things.
If you need grammar right now, if you are a beginner, there’s going to be terms and rules that you don’t need to learn.
And there’s a lot of them that you don’t even need to be aware of right now!
You wouldn’t advise someone to start learning how to cook by learning all about cheese soufflé right? Cheese soufflé is the stuff you reserve for when you understand the basics of cooking.
Same thing with grammar.
If it’s too complicated too soon, I promise you, you won’t go on with learning.
So if you open a grammar book and that you don’t understand half of the English words on the first page, just close the damn thing.
This is surely not how to learn French grammar fast.
Make sure to understand what the terms you are reading or hearing mean
You cannot build a house on bad foundations.
If you don’t know an adjective is and that the sentence you are reading goes something like ‘A superlative adjective immediately after a possessive drops its definite article’
How are you supposed to understand that?
So put your ego aside, and admit that you don’t know what an adjective is if you don’t.
And check out what it is.
My third tip for you is to get plenty of examples along the way.
You know, even if you understand the rule and all the words that explains it, an example is just so much more simpler.
Having plenty of examples illustrating what the grammar point you are learning looks like in context is essential.
Not only is it going to improve your understanding.
But with examples, everything is going to be more memorable.
We’re humans, complicated grammar is not the stories we tell ourselves at night before sleep.
Or you’re a hard core linguist!
It’s so much easier to remember what the example was, because it’s like a mini story.
Plus, you get vocabulary from it as well.
So here’s the thing...
Where are you going to find all of this to learn French grammar fast?
Your first reflex is going to be some sort of grammar book, but, I’ve looked, I’ve truly looked for a good grammar book that is all those things I’ve said above.
And I didn’t find any that was satisfying.
In fact, I had high hopes of finding ’the one’ with the last one I ordered.
On the cover, it said something like ‘Comprehensive, easy-to-use, clear explanation’ (this one)
And it was nothing but clear.
Remember this?
‘A superlative adjective immediately after a possessive drops its definite article’?
Well it’s from this book aah
So I’ve had enough, and I wrote a guide to French sentence structures, that is going to help you make sense of French grammar, simply.
