Bescherelle
Encyclopedia
A Bescherelle is a French language
grammar reference book best known for its verb conjugation
s volumes. It is named after the 19th century French lexicographer and grammarian Louis-Nicolas Bescherelle
. It is often used as a general term, though it is in fact a brand name. The series is made up of three volumes dealing with various aspects of French grammar
. The first volume, L'art de conjuguer (The art of conjugation) presents the conjugation of every type of verb in the French language in every verb tense. Each verb type is numbered, so that multiple verbs with identical conjugation (such as chanter and enchanter) can be grouped under one basic verb of that type. L'art de conjuguer also offers all of the rules concerning grammar within verb conjugation as well as a detailed guide on the purpose of each verb tense. The most recent versions contain 12,000 verbs. The second volume, L'orthographe pour tous (Spelling for everyone) explains how to convert spoken sounds in French into writing. The third volume, Grammaire pour tous (Grammar for everyone) is a guide on French syntax, sentence structure, the application of proper grammar to sentences, and punctuation. Each of the three volumes use example sentences to demonstrate proper French grammar. The term Bescherelle is usually used to refer to the first book, L'art de conjuguer.
Bescherelles (L'art de conjugeur in particular) are commonly used in French immersion
schools and it is often required that students purchase one for class.
Bescherelles also exist for German
, English
, Spanish
, Italian
, Portuguese
, Arabic
and Latin
, although they do not have the popularity of the original French.
Although the word Bescherelle has the ending -elle, it is a masculine noun
in French
(le Bescherelle).
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
grammar reference book best known for its verb conjugation
Grammatical conjugation
In linguistics, conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a verb from its principal parts by inflection . Conjugation may be affected by person, number, gender, tense, aspect, mood, voice, or other grammatical categories...
s volumes. It is named after the 19th century French lexicographer and grammarian Louis-Nicolas Bescherelle
Louis-Nicolas Bescherelle
Louis-Nicolas Bescherelle was a French lexicographer and grammarian. He is known for his reference book on French verb conjugation, to the point that his last name is used as a noun to refer to any French conjugation book....
. It is often used as a general term, though it is in fact a brand name. The series is made up of three volumes dealing with various aspects of French grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
. The first volume, L'art de conjuguer (The art of conjugation) presents the conjugation of every type of verb in the French language in every verb tense. Each verb type is numbered, so that multiple verbs with identical conjugation (such as chanter and enchanter) can be grouped under one basic verb of that type. L'art de conjuguer also offers all of the rules concerning grammar within verb conjugation as well as a detailed guide on the purpose of each verb tense. The most recent versions contain 12,000 verbs. The second volume, L'orthographe pour tous (Spelling for everyone) explains how to convert spoken sounds in French into writing. The third volume, Grammaire pour tous (Grammar for everyone) is a guide on French syntax, sentence structure, the application of proper grammar to sentences, and punctuation. Each of the three volumes use example sentences to demonstrate proper French grammar. The term Bescherelle is usually used to refer to the first book, L'art de conjuguer.
Bescherelles (L'art de conjugeur in particular) are commonly used in French immersion
French immersion
French immersion is a form of bilingual education in which a child who does not speak French as his or her first language receives instruction in school in French...
schools and it is often required that students purchase one for class.
Bescherelles also exist for German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
, Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
and Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, although they do not have the popularity of the original French.
Although the word Bescherelle has the ending -elle, it is a masculine noun
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
in French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(le Bescherelle).