I Was Struggling With The Agreement Of Prepositions, So I Made These Reference Sheets With The Help Of

Nouns’ plural

Most of the time you can create a singular plural by adding a -s. But:

Nouns ending in -s, -x, -z don’t change:

Le/es nez (nose), La/es noix (nut), Le/es mois (month)

Some nouns have a -x plural:

-au and -eu nouns: Feu (fire)

Seven -ou nouns: Bijou (jewel), caillou (pebble), chou (cabbage), genou (knee), hibou (owl), joujou (toy), pou (louse)

the singular -al nouns have a -aux plural: Un animal / des animaux 

Exceptions: 

Bal (ball), carnaval, chacal (jackal), festival, régal (food delight) take a -s

7 -ail nouns take an -x: bail (lease), corail (coral), émail (enamel), soupirail (cellar window), travail (work), vantail (door leaf), vitrail (stained glass)

French Prepositions

and how else they can be used

I don’t know about y’all, but prepositions are the WORST. They hardly ever directly translate between languages and when they do, there are so many exceptions it doesn’t even matter. So, I’ve done some research and I’ll try to make the list as comprehensive as possible :) 

OKAY ! So here is the most basic “to and from” list. 

But as you know, French is not that easy. You will also see de and à frequently interspersed between verbs and even used as adverbs and adjectives. Below I have listed a few verbs that take these prepositions. 

Verbs that require the preposition à

Aider (quelqu'un) à (to help someone to)

S’amuser à (to amuse oneself)

Avoir à (to have to)

Apprendre à (to learn how to)

Avoir de la peine à (to have difficulty)

Commencer à

Continuer à

The preposition à can also be used to indicate place, time, manner or possession

À droite (on the right)

À loisir (at leisure)

À la compagne (in the mountains)

À la française ([in] the french way)

Cette voiture est à toi? (This car is yours?)

Verbs that require the preposition de

S’arreter de

Cesser de

Choisir de

Décider de

Se dépêcher de (to be in a hurry

Essayer de

Finir de

Oublier de

Refuser de

Verbs that can be followed by both

Conseiller à (quelqu’un) de (faire quelque chose)

Défendre à… de

Demander à…de

Dire à… de

Offrir à … de

Permettre à… de

Promettre à… de

Proposer à… de

Suggérer à…de

Hope this helps !!

So, I’m an Anki user and I’m completely aware of how intimidating Anki can be upon first glance. Here are some Anki add-ons that can help make the experience a better one. Feel free to suggest your favorites as well!

Pokemanki: For each basic deck you have, this add-on gives you a Pokémon egg, and it grows stronger as you review. I am a huge Pokémon fan, so this is a necessary add-on in my opinion.

Migaku Vacation: This add-on lets you take sick days and vacations from your Anki reviews, to not make the process so overwhelming if you miss a day.

Anki IPA: Haven’t personally used this one yet, but as a linguist it’ll be super helpful for French. It transcribes your cards into IPA instantly! Only a handful of languages are supported, so check it out. 

Pull from Duolingo: This will take words you’ve learned so far in your Duolingo course and make them into cards! Definitely great for those beginning stages of a language when you aren’t sure how to make your Anki deck.

Puppy Reinforcement: Nice puppies tell you you’re doing a good job :)

Anki Simulator: This one lets you simulate your progress. I like looking at shiny graphs, so if you do too then this is for you.

Migaku Spanish: This add-on features audio recordings, color coding for grammatical gender, and a dictionary. It’s also available for French and Portuguese and - I think - German, if I’m not mistaken.

Beeline: It adds gradients to text to make it easier to read. Helpful for long blocks of text!

Beautify Anki: Are you tired of the boring grey background of Anki? This is one of your options. It’s an attempt to make the interface a lot more friendly-looking.

Randomize Fonts: I literally had ZERO idea why you would use this one for fun, but one of the reviews pointed out it’s good for identifying words in different contexts, and if you are learning a language that uses a script that isn’t what your native language is written in, this could definitely be cool!

Anki Accountability 2: Allows you to generate a report to send to someone about your consistency with your reviews. Could be useful among a competitive group of friends, or for language teachers who would like to implement use of Anki in the classroom!

10 Things: How to Photograph a Meteor Shower

Taking photographs of a meteor shower can be an exercise in patience as meteors streak across the sky quickly and unannounced, but with these tips – and some good fortune – you might be rewarded with a great photo.

These tips are meant for a DSLR or mirrorless camera, but some point-and-shoot cameras with manual controls could be used as well.

1. The Photo Op: Perseids Meteors

The Perseids are dusty remnants of comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.

Earth passes through the comet’s invisible, multi-billion mile trail of tiny debris each year around August, creating a meteor shower of so-called “shooting stars” as the particles are vaporized in our atmosphere.

Perseid meteors already are streaking across the sky. This year’s shower peaks on a moonless summer night -from 4 pm on the 12th until 4 am on the 13th Eastern Daylight Time.

Read more on the Perseids ›

2. Get away from city lights and find a place with dark skies.

In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky in Spruce Knob, West Virginia, during the 2016 Perseids meteor shower. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Too much light and it will be hard for your eyes to see fainter meteors, plus your image will get flooded with the glow of light. Turning down the brightness of the camera’s LCD screen will help keep your eyes adjusted to the dark. The peak of the 2018 Perseid meteor shower occurs just after the new moon, meaning a thin crescent will set long before the best viewing hours, leaving hopeful sky watchers with a moonlight-free sky!

3. Use a tripod.

In this ten-second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky above Washington, DC during the 2015 Perseids meteor shower, Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Meteor photography requires long exposures, and even the steadiest of hands can’t hold a camera still enough for a clear shot. Heavier tripods help reduce shaking caused by wind and footsteps, but even a lightweight tripod will do. You can always place sandbags against the feet of the tripod to add weight and stability. If you don’t have a tripod, you might be able to prop your camera on or up against something around you, but be sure to secure your camera.

4. Use a wide-angle lens.

In this 30 second exposure taken with a circular fish-eye lens, a meteor streaks across the sky during the 2016 Perseids meteor shower as a photographer wipes moisture from the camera lens Friday, August 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

A wide-angle lens will capture more of the sky and give you a greater chance of capturing a meteor in your shot, while a zoom lens captures a smaller area of the sky. The odds of a meteor streaking past that small patch are lower.

5. Use a shutter release cable or the camera’s built-in timer.

Long exposures are not just for meteors. In this shot taken at Joshua Tree National Park, a hiker’s headlamp leaves a trail of light along a twilight path. Credit: National Park Service / Hannah Schwalbe

A tripod does a great job of reducing most of the shaking your camera experiences, but even the act of pressing the shutter button can blur your extended exposure. Using the self-timer gives you several seconds for any shaking from pressing the shutter button to stop before the shutter is released. A shutter release cable (without a self-timer) eliminates the need to touch the camera at all. And if your camera has wifi capabilities, you might be able to activate the shutter from a mobile device.

6. Manually focus your lens.

In this 30 second exposure, a meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseids meteor shower Friday, August 12, 2016 in Spruce Knob, West Virginia. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

At night, autofocus will struggle to find something on which to focus. Setting your focus to infinity will get you close, but chances are you’ll have to take some test images and do some fine tuning. With your camera on a tripod, take a test image lasting a few seconds, then use the camera’s screen to review the image. Zoom in to a star to see how sharp your focus is. If the stars look like fuzzy blobs, make tiny adjustments to the focus and take another test image.

Repeat until you are happy with the result.

If your camera has a zoomable electronic viewfinder or live view option, you might be able to zoom to a star and focus without having to take a test image.

7. Aim your camera.

The Perseids appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus, visible in the northern sky soon after sunset this time of year.

Even though we don’t know when or where a single meteor will appear, we do know the general area from which they’ll originate.

Meteor showers get their name based on the point in the sky from which they appear to radiate. In the case of the Perseids, during their peak, they appear to come from the direction of the constellation Perseus in the northern sky.

8. Calculate your exposure time.

In this 20-second exposure, a meteor lights up the sky over the top of a mountain ridge near Park City, Utah. Even though this image was captured during the annual Perseid meteor shower, this “shooting star” is probably not one of the Perseid meteors, which originate from material left behind by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Instead, it’s likely one of the many bits of rock and dust that randomly fall into the atmosphere on any given night. Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford

As Earth rotates, the stars in the sky appear to move, and if your shutter is open long enough, you might capture some of that movement. If you want to avoid apparent star movement, you can follow the 500 Rule. Take 500 and divide it by the length in millimeters of your lens. The resulting number is the length of time in seconds that you can keep your shutter open before seeing star trails. For example, if you’re using a 20 mm lens, 25 seconds (500 divided by 20) is the longest you can set your exposure time before star trails start to show up in your images.

9. Experiment!

In this 30 second exposure photo, hikers find their way to the top of Spruce Knob in West Virginia to view the annual Perseids meteor shower, Friday, August 12, 2016. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls

Once you know the maximum exposure time, you can set your shutter priority to that length and let the camera calculate other settings for your first image. Depending on how the image turns out, you can manually adjust aperture (set it to a lower number if the image is too dark) and ISO (set it to a higher number if the image is too dark) to improve your next images. Changing only one setting at a time will give you a better understanding of how those changes affect your image.

10. Enjoy the show.

The crew of the International Space Station captured this Perseid meteor falling to Earth over China in 2011. Credit: NASA

With your camera settings adjusted, capturing that perfect photo is just a matter of time and luck. The highest rate of meteors visible per hour is in the hours after midnight and before dawn. Set up your camera next to a lounge chair or a blanket to witness the wonder of a meteor shower for yourself – and, with any luck, you’ll take home some envy-inducing shots, too!

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.

EMOTIONS/FEELINGS in French

This is a culmination of all my french emotions posts, so it’s a long one!

TO BE HAPPY

être content(e)

être de bonne humeur

être en liesse - to be jubilant

être heureux/heureuse - to be happy

déborder de bonheur - to be overjoyed

être satisfait(e) - to be satisfied

être repu(e) - to be full/satiated/satisfied (food)

TO BE EXCITED

être emballé par - to be excited about sth (to be enthused by sth that’s happening)

être enthousiasmé - to be excited/enthused

être enthousiaste - to be excited

être en verve - to be entusiastic/excited about sth

être excité comme une puce - to be really excited

TO BE IN LOVE

Épris - lovestruck

Être amoureux de - to be in love with

Fou/follement amoureux de - head over heels in love with s.o

Être fou/folle de qqn - to be nuts for s.o

TO BE RELAXED

En prendre à son aise (avec) - to take things easy (péjoratif)

être détendu(e) - to be relaxed

TO BE SAD/UNHAPPY

être triste

être insatisfait(e) - to be unsatisfied

être mécontent(e) de/que - to be unsatisfied about/be unhappy about

TO BE ANGRY/FRUSTRATED

être fâché(e) - to be angry

être furieux/furieuse - to be furious

être de mauvaise humeur - to be in a bad mood

en avoir marre de - to have had enough of

avoir les boules - to be pissed off

être furax - to be furious/hopping mad

se fâcher tout rouge - to see red

se mettre en colère - to get angry

se mettre/foutre en pétard - to blow your top

se mettre en rogne - to get very angry

TO BE ANNOYED/IRRITATED

être agacé(e) - to be irritated/annoyed 

être énervé(e) - to be annoyed/irritated

être irrité(e) - to be irritated

être gêné(e) - (in this case) to feel annoyed - softer/gentler than agacer

Avoir les nerfs – to be irritated/annoyed/cross

Avoir les nerfs à vif – to be at your wit’s end

Avoir les nerfs en pelote – to be on edge

TO BE BORED (OR FEELING LAZY)

être ennuyé(e) - to be bored

être mort d’ennui - to be bored to death

avoir la flemme (de faire qch) - can’t be bothered doing sth

TO BE TIRED

être fatigué(e) - to be tired

être écrasé(e) - to be stuffed

être épuisé(e) - to be exhausted

être crevé(e) - to be dead tired

être vanné(e) - to be ready to drop

être claqué(e) - to be bushed/beat

TO BE STRESSED

être stressé(e) - to be stressed

Être sur les nerfs - to be strung out

Être surmené/débordé - to be stressed/overworked

Être tendu - to be stressed

TO FEEL SICK (TO DO WITH ILLNESS)

se sentir mal - to feel sick

se sentir mieux - to feel better

avoir mal - to be in pain

Avoir des courbatures - to feel stiff

TO BE SCARED

avoir peur (de) - to be scared (of)

avoir les jetons - to be scared stiff

avoir une peur bleue (de qch) - to be scared out of your wits (by sth)

avoir le trac - to be nervous

être effrayé(e) par - to be frightened by

être mort de peur - to be dead scared

TO BE SURPRISED/SHOCKED

être surpris(e) (par) - to be surprised

être stupéfait(e) - to be stunned

les bras m’en tombent - I am speechless

être choqué(e) (par) - to be shocked (by)

en être baba - to be gobsmacked (due to admiration)

être ébahi(e) - to be astonished

TO BE CONFUSED

ça m’embrouille - I’m confused - lit. this confuses me

J’ai du mal à suivre - I’m confused - I’m having trouble following

Je suis perdu(e) - I’m confused (lost) 

Je ne sais plus où j’en suis - I’m confused - in the sense that you don’t know where you are in something (figurative)

Je n’y comprends rien (or: j’y comprends rien - to be more colloquial) - I’m confused - I don’t get it

Je ne comprends pas - I don’t understand/I’m confused

J’te suis pas - I’m confused (I don’t follow you)

TO BE PROUD

Être fier de (note: feminine= fière) - to be proud of

Être orgueilleux - to be proud (to be a proud [as in haughty] as a person)

TO BE SMUG

Être hautain - to be proud (snobby/up yourself)

Être fiérot (fem= fiérote) - to be a proud person

Faire le fiérot - to be smug/pleased with yourself

TO BE JEALOUS

Crever de jalousie - to be eaten up with jealousy

Être jaloux de - to be jealous

Être envieux de (plus formel/soutenu) - to be envious

Jalouser - to envy/be jealous of

TO FEEL DESPAIR

être au comble du désespoir - to be in the depths of despair

Se désespérer - to despair/lose hope

TO BE GRATEFUL

être reconnaissant(e) - to be grateful

savoir gré à qqn de qch - to be grateful to s.o for sth e.g. je te sais gré de ton aide

TO FEEL SAFE

se sentir à l’abri - to feel safe

TO BE HURT/BROKEN-HEARTED/UPSET

avoir le cœur brisé(e) - to be broken-hearted/broken up by something

en être malade - to be cut up/gutted by sth

être affecté(e) - to be cut up about something

être blessé(e) - to be hurt by sth

être bouleversé(e) - to be upset

être dans tous ses états - to be in a state

être désemparé(e) - to be distraught

être peiné(e) - to be hurt by sth

être accablé par le chagrin - to be grief-stricken

en être tout retourné - to be bowled over/to be devastated~shocked by

être anéanti - to be torn in two

avoir mal au cœur - to be very sad/heartbroken (can also mean to feel sick/nauseated) avoir un gros chagrin - to be grief-stricken/heartbroken

TO FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE

être dans ses petits souliers - to feel uncomfortable

être mal à l’aise - to be uncomfortable

être mal à son aise - to be ill at ease

se trouver mal - to be uncomfortable (uncomfortable position - e.g. sitting)

TO FEEL HUMILIATED

être humilié(e) - to be humiliated

être mortifié(e) - to be mortified

French fairy tales

Princess Rosette, Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy : FR / EN

The fair with golden hair, Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy : FR / EN

The friendly frog, Marie-Catherine d’Aulnoy : FR / EN

Aurore and Aimée, Jeanne de Beaumont : FR / EN

Beauty and the beast, Jeanne de Beaumont : FR / EN

Bluebeard, Charles Perrault : FR / EN

Cinderella, Charles Perrault : FR / EN

Donkey skin, Charles Perrault : FR / EN 

Little red riding hood, Charles Perrault : FR / EN

Little thumb, Charles Perrault : FR / EN

Puss in boots, Charles Perrault : FR / EN

Sleeping beauty, Charles Perrault : FR / EN

The fairy, Charles Perrault : FR / EN

Blondine, Sophie Ségur : FR / EN

Ourson, Sophie Ségur : FR / EN

Sophie’s misfortunes, Sophie Ségur : FR / EN

The little grey mouse, Sophie Ségur : FR / EN

(You can download the Wikisource PDFs legally for free at the top of the page as they are part of the public domain)

{26/08/2017} Revising french still, I found the doodle in the first picture particularly helpful, so i thought i would share it with you! ✨

some people were asking for a actual and i can never pass up an opportunity to procrastinate so here’s just a couple of things i always need to remind myself of…now back to my paper :(

Reading French: Well shit this might as well be english I can read this quickly and with 100% understanding wow

Listening to French: *blank expression staring light years past the person as my facial features slowly petrify*

Cats and kittens,

Here's a link to a Google doc file I created. You'll find:

Entire classic books written or translated to French (divided by country/continent + by genre in the French section)

The first chapter FR/EN of very famous novels

Quizzes (made by yours truly)

Have fun!