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'll be happy
• 2 - Lucy has an appointment at 6 p.m. with the dentist.
• 3 - You've been dancing all night again. You have a lot of energy.
• 4 - Lisa fell at school and I had to pick her up.
• 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, which is only five minutes from our house.

Transcript of the video

Hello everyone, I hope you're well. Today I'm presenting 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 look at a grammar point together. If you're not a beginner, this video may still be of interest to you, to review this point of grammar and practice. Before you start, remember to activate the subtitles so that you 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're going to look together at the difference between "a", "as" and "à" with an accent. We'll see how to use them, and above all, we'll learn 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 in this way comes from the verb avoir. It is conjugated in the third person singular in the present indicative.

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

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

It is also used as an auxiliary in the passé composé. You ate this morning. Here are some examples: You have a pretty dress, you ate an apple this morning, you have a car. These two "a/as", which come from the verb avoir, should not be confused with the accented "à".

When "à" is written with an accent, it's 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 need to use the right preposition depending on the context and the complement. I'll be making other videos that talk about prepositions in more detail. Let's come back to "à" with an accent. This preposition is used to introduce a city, a place, a time or a person. Here are a few examples. I have a noon appointment at school. I'm going to Paris today.

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

Now here's a tip to never get confused when writing in French, so as not to confuse the "a/as" of the verb avoir with the "à" as a preposition.

If you're not sure it's the verb avoir, simply conjugate the "A" in another tense. For example, in the imperfect tense. He has a blue car. If you're not sure whether it's the verb avoir or the preposition, replace it with "avait". He had a blue car. It works. Here's another sentence: I have a lunch date at my son's school. Let's do the same thing, replacing the A with had. J'ai rendez-vous " avait " midi " avait " l'école de mon fils.

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

I made his favorite meal...my son. I hope he'll 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 pick her up.

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 as much time as you need to complete this exercise, and if you have any questions, of course, don't hesitate to ask them in the video comments. If you liked the video, don't forget to give it a like. And if you're new to the channel, don't forget to subscribe.

See you soon.