Word order
French is subject–verb–object like English — the surprises are two: object pronouns jump in front of the verb, and most adjectives follow their noun.
The baseline: SVO
Marie mange une pomme. — same shape as English.
Surprise 1: pronouns move left
The moment an object becomes a pronoun, it lands before the conjugated verb:
| full noun | pronoun |
|---|---|
| Je vois le film. | Je le vois. |
| Elle parle à Paul. | Elle lui parle. |
| Nous allons à Lyon. | Nous y allons. |
In compound tenses, before the auxiliary: *Je **l'*ai vu. With an infinitive, before the infinitive: Je veux le voir.
Surprise 2: adjectives usually follow the noun
une voiture rouge · un film intéressant · un problème technique
A short list goes before — the BAGS adjectives (Beauty, Age, Goodness, Size):
| category | adjectives |
|---|---|
| Beauty | beau, joli |
| Age | jeune, vieux, nouveau |
| Goodness | bon, mauvais |
| Size | grand, petit, gros, long |
un petit village · une bonne idée · un vieux livre
Adjectives that change meaning with position
| before the noun | after the noun |
|---|---|
| un ancien élève — a former student | un bâtiment ancien — an old building |
| ma propre chambre — my own room | une chambre propre — a clean room |
| un grand homme — a great man | un homme grand — a tall man |
| un pauvre garçon — a pitiable boy | un garçon pauvre — a poor (no money) boy |
| la dernière semaine — the final week | la semaine dernière — last week |
| un cher ami — a dear friend | un vin cher — an expensive wine |
Rule of thumb: before = figurative, after = literal.
Adverbs
- With a simple tense, after the verb: Elle parle bien. (Never between subject and verb as in English "she often speaks".)
- With a compound tense, short common adverbs slip inside: J'ai déjà mangé. Il a bien dormi.
- Time and place expressions sit at either edge: Hier, je suis allé au marché.
What wraps around the verb
Negation sandwiches it, pronouns precede it — together:
Je ne le lui ai pas donné.
|—— clitics ——| aux | participle
Emphasis: French moves things, English stresses them
English says "I saw it" with voice stress. French restructures:
| device | example |
|---|---|
| tonic pronoun doubling | Moi, je l'ai vu. |
| c'est … qui/que | C'est moi qui l'ai vu. · C'est ça que je veux. |
| left/right dislocation | Le café, j'adore ça. · Il est sympa, ce prof. |
That last pattern — topic first, comma, then the sentence — is the true skeleton of spoken French.
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