Rags to Riches: A French Grammar Game of "IR" Verbs

Written by: Stephanie Mojica • Edited by: Rebecca Scudder
Published Apr 28, 2009

Rags to Riches is a French grammar game designed to help users learn how to conjugate "IR" verbs such as finir without boring flash card drills and traditional memorization. There are hundreds of French grammar games on the Internet that can be played for free without downloading any software.

Introduction

Learning verb conjugations, whether it is for a trip to France, personal enrichment, or a required school course, can be dull even for the most eager French student. However, French grammar games such as "Rags to Riches," provided free at the website Quia, make it fun to master the regular and irregular IR verbs. Winners of the game will be awarded $1,000,000 "pretend" dollars, and go through the exercises in a playing format very similar to the popular television game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

Getting Started

Before getting started, knowing at least something about French IR verb conjugations is important. One of the best ways to do this is to refer to your French language textbooks, or visit an online guide to regular IR verbs. An example of basic IR verb conjugations for the word finir, which means "to finish" is as follows:

Pronoun Finir

je finis

tu finis

il finit

nous finissons

vous finissez

ils finissent

Game Play
Rating

For those versed with at least some of the basic conjugations in French grammar, game play should be fun. Unlike the television show "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire," there are no lifelines or phone a friend options. Up to three hints are available, which can help someone with a decent study of French grammar and IR verbs refresh their memory. However, those truly stumped may want to check their grammar guide to see what option may be correct, and note that they could not recall that answer. It takes 12 correct answers, or French IR verb conjugations, to "win" the pretend money. Answers are multiple choice.

Strategy
Rating

The game strategy is excellent, and a good resource for those who like gaming but want to learn French grammar at the same time. If you get a question wrong, the game automatically ends. You can of course play again. This game is impossible to "cheat" outside of checking books and other resources for answers. The questions automatically refresh themselves and are asked in different orders, making "Rags to Riches" a French grammar game that can be played repeatedly.

Sample Question

A sample "Rags to Riches" question, hint, and correct answer as are follows:

Conjugate the verb "finir" with the pronoun "je."

A. Fine

B. Finis

C. Finissons

D. Finit

When asked for a hint, the system provides this clue:

The answer is not C.

Given that the je conjugation discussed earlier in this article is "finis," the correct answer is B. Finis. Answering this question correctly earned $500 in the game, and allowed the author to advance to a $1,000 question.