In this video for beginners, I explain the difference between A, AS and À.

Knowing the difference between these 3 words will help you write better in French.

Solution of the exercise

• 1 - I made my son his favorite meal. I hope he will be happy
• 2 - Lucy has an appointment at 6 p.m. with the dentist.
• 3 - You danced all night again. You have a lot of energy.
• 4 - Lisa fell at school, I had to go get her.
• 5 - I found the ring you gave me.
• 6 - He bought a scooter for 15,000 euros. He spent a fortune.
• 7 - My little brother is 8 years old.
• 8 - You can get bread from the bakery, please.
• 9 - I'm sure you'll get 10 out of 10 on this exercise.
• 10 - Thibault walks to the library, it's only five minutes from our house.

Transcript of the video

Hello everyone, I hope you are well. Today I'm going to give you a video for beginners. I'm going to speak more slowly than I usually do in my other videos. This video is going to be very short and we're going to go over a grammar point together. If you are not a beginner, this video can still be interesting for you to review this grammar point and practice. Before you start, remember to activate the subtitles so you can understand all the words in the video.

If you're new to this site, consider subscribing to receive all my videos. I will create a playlist with these grammar videos for beginners.

Today, we will see together the difference between "a", "as", and "à" with an accent. We'll see how to use them and, above all, we'll look at a trick to avoid making mistakes when writing in French. Let's start with the "A". Simply "a", without "s", without accent.

The "a" written this way comes from the verb avoir. It is conjugated in the third person singular in the present tense.

He has, she has or we have. It is also used as an auxiliary in the past tense. Thibault ate an apple this morning. Here are other examples of sentences with the word "a" used as a verb in the third person singular. Jonathan is hungry. Carla has a new car. Frédéric drew a picture.

Let's move on to the second "ace". Like the unaccented "a", it comes from the verb to have. But this time, it is conjugated in the second person singular in the present tense, "tu as".

It is also used as an auxiliary in the past tense. You ate this morning. Here are some examples of sentences: You have a pretty dress, you ate an apple this morning, you have a car. These two "a/as" which come from the verb to have, should not be confused with the "to" with accent.

When the "à" is written with an accent, it is a preposition. In French, prepositions are invariable words used to introduce a complement.

It can be a place, a person, a time. There are several prepositions in French. You have to use the right preposition according to the context and the complement. I will make other videos that talk about prepositions in more detail. Let's go back to "à" with an accent. This preposition will be used to introduce a city, therefore a place complement, a time or a person. Here are some examples. I have an appointment at noon at school. I'm going to Paris today.

This sweater is mine. I sold my car to Jeremiah.

Now here is a tip to never make a mistake when writing in French so as not to confuse the "a/as" of the verb avoir and the "à" as a preposition.

If you are not sure if it is the verb to have, just conjugate the "A" in another tense. For example, in the imperfect tense. He has a blue car. If you are not sure if it is the verb to have or the preposition, you replace it with "had". He had a blue car. That works. Here's another sentence: I have a lunch date at my son's school. Let's do the same thing, replace the A with had. I have an appointment "had" noon "had" my son's school.

You can hear that it doesn't work. So, it's a preposition, you have to put the to with an accent. Let's go on with the exercise. I'm going to put 10 sentences with gaps in them, and it's up to you to complete them with a, as or à. I put the solution in the description of the video. Of course, don't cheat. I will read the sentences so that you can hear the correct pronunciation of the words.

I made his favorite meal...my son. I hope he will be happy.

Lucie...appointment...6pm at the dentist.

You...danced all night again. You...have a lot of energy.

Lisa fell...school, I had to go get her.

I found the ring you gave me.

He...bought a scooter...15,000 euros. He...spent a fortune.

My little brother...8 years old.

You can have some bread...the bakery, please.

I'm sure you'll get 10 out of 10...this exercise.

Thibault goes...the library on foot, it's...five minutes from our house.

That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this grammar point.

Take the time you need to complete this exercise and if you have any questions, of course, feel free to ask them in the comments of the video. If you liked the video, don't forget to put a like. And if you are new to the channel, don't forget to subscribe.

See you soon.