Some common slang adjectives that are used constantly in everyday speech:

chouette	great, good	minable	mediocre
con / conne	stupid, dumb	moche	ugly, unpleasant
débile	idiotic	sensass	sensational
dégueu(lasse)	disgusting, bad	super	marvellous
extra	extraordinary	sympa	nice, pleasant
génial	very interesting	tarte	inane
impec	perfect	tocard	ridiculous, deplorable

 

The intensifiers vachement and drôlement are also used often, meaning very or really.

Il est vachement sympa. = He is really nice. Elle est drôlement triste. = She is very sad.

56. Problem Verbs

Some verbs in French present problems because they have several translations in English. Other verbs can have several translations in French, but fewer meanings in English.

visiter - to visit places rendre visite à - to visit people

apporter - to bring things to some place emporter - to take things from some place amener - to bring someone to some place emmener - to take someone from some place

apprendre quelque chose - to learn something apprendre quelque chose à quelqu'un - to teach someone something

rencontrer - to meet faire la connaissance de - to meet someone for the first time retrouver - to meet (for an appointment)

partir - to leave (from or for a place) quitter - to leave (a person or place) sortir - to go out s'en aller - to go away laisser - to leave something behind

retourner - to go back (to where speaker is not) revenir - to come back (to where speaker currently is) rentrer - to come or go home rendre - to return or give something back

faire - to make fabriquer - to produce obliger - to make someone do something rendre - to make someone + adjective

► After some verbs, the word ne is required, but this does not imply negation: craindre, redoûter, empêcher Je crains qu'il ne fasse trop froid. I'm afraid that it's too cold.

► And a few verbs only require ne and not pas in the negative, but this is elevated or literary language: cesser, oser, pouvoir, savoir Je ne peux vivre sans toi. I cannot live without you.

57. C'est / Il est + Adjective + A / de + Infinitive

C'est + adjective + à + infinitive is used when the idea has already been mentioned; while il est + adjective + de + infinitive is used when the idea has not yet been mentioned. Also, the c'est construction is used when you do not use a direct object after the infinitive of the transitive verb, and the il est construction is used when you do.

Est-ce qu'on peut apprendre le chinois en un an ? Can you learn Chinese in one year? Non, c'est impossible à apprendre en un an ! No, it's impossible to learn in one year! (The idea, Chinese, has already been mentioned, and there is no direct object.) OR: Non, il est impossible d'apprendre le chinois en un an ! (This sentence contains the direct object after the infinitive.) Il est facile d'apprendre l'italien.  It is easy to learn Italian. (The idea has not already been mentioned, and the direct object is used.)

► Adjectives that express a certain emotion require de before the infinitive: content, désolé, furieux, heureux, triste Je suis contente de vous voir. I am happy to see you.

► Other adjectives require à before the infinitive: agréable, pénible, terrible, amusant, intéressant, ennuyeux, léger, lourd, lent, rapide, premier, dernier, prêt, seul Il est prêt à partir. He is ready to leave.

A longer list of adjectives that require à or de before an infinitive can be found at 91. on French V.

► In addition, when quelque chose is followed by an adjective, de is inserted between the two. quelque chose d'intéressant = something interesting