PrepMyFrench
PrepMyFrench
A declarative sentence (une phrase affirmative simple) makes a statement, gives an opinion, shares a thought, declares a fact etc. Declarative sentences usually have the following word order: subject – verb – object. In French, as in English, the subject has to come at the beginning of the sentence.
Le chien attrape la balle. (The dog catches the ball.)
In French, just like in English, it is impossible to change the position of the subject (the dog) and the object (the ball) without completely changing the meaning of the sentence.
If we switch the positions, we understand something completely different: La balle attrape le chien. (The ball catches the dog.)
Normal word order is: subject – verb – object. If one clause has both a direct object and an indirect object, the direct object usually comes before the indirect object.
| Subject | Verb | Direct Object | Indirect Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sandrine | a montré | le chemin | à ses amis. |
Secondary Rule: If the direct object has a relative clause attached to it, then the indirect object usually comes first.
Elle a montré à ses amis le chemin qui mène à sa maison.
Mise en relief is emphasis. We can use certain structures to draw attention to particular elements of a sentence.
Place the element you want to emphasise at the beginning:
Place the element to emphasise towards the end:
Adverbs and adverbial phrases can come at the beginning of a sentence, in the middle, or at the end. Putting an adverb at the end often emphasises its importance.
Demain, Charles ira faire du vélo.
Charles ira demain faire du vélo.
Charles ira faire du vélo demain.
Reinforce your understanding of French sentence order and emphasis through interactive practice.
Marie lit un livre.
Marie reads a book. (SVO — basic)
Le chat dort sur le canapé.
The cat sleeps on the sofa. (S + V + place complement)
Je le vois tous les jours.
I see him every day. (S + pronoun + V)
Elle ne comprend pas.
She doesn't understand. (S + ne + V + pas)
Nous avons déjà mangé.
We have already eaten. (compound tense, adverb between)
Hier, j'ai acheté des fleurs.
Yesterday, I bought flowers. (time complement first)
Marie elle lit un livre.
Marie lit un livre.
Don't repeat the subject with a pronoun. 'Marie, elle lit' is used in spoken French for emphasis but is grammatically incorrect in formal writing. In TEF/TCF essays, avoid subject doubling.
Je le vois lui.
Je le vois.
When using an object pronoun, the noun it replaces DISAPPEARS. 'Je le vois lui' is redundant — le already means 'him.' The same applies to all object pronouns.
C'est moi qui a fait ça.
C'est moi qui ai fait ça.
When 'qui' refers to a pronoun (moi, toi, lui...), the verb agrees with that pronoun. Moi = first person singular → ai (not a). C'est moi qui ai, c'est toi qui as, c'est lui qui a.
🚂 The SVO Train
French declarative sentences follow a strict SVO word order — like a train with fixed carriages. The SUBJECT is the locomotive (always first). The VERB is the second carriage (with ne attached to its front for negation). OBJECT PRONOUNS ride BETWEEN the subject and verb (Je le vois). ADVERBS squeeze between the auxiliary and participle (J'ai bien mangé). COMPLEMENTS ride at the end. The train always follows this order — no exceptions!
Declarative sentence structure is the foundation tested at all TEF/TCF levels. A1: basic SVO order. A2: pronoun placement (Je le vois), negation wrapping. B1: adverb placement in compound tenses. B2: complex declarative order with multiple complements and varied sentence openings. Clean declarative structure with correct pronoun placement is the baseline expectation — errors here affect every task.
A simple exchange about daily routine:
Tu fais quoi le matin ?
D'abord, je bois un café. Ensuite, je lis les nouvelles pendant vingt minutes.
Tu ne prends pas de petit-déjeuner ?
Non, je ne mange jamais le matin. Je préfère un grand déjeuner.
Practice French declarative sentence structure (SVO word order, complement placement) with 20 interactive questions on PrepMyFrench. Instant scoring.
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