HF2 end of year
GRAMMAR: VERBS and TENSES
The infinitive form of a verb is its basic form (= non conjugated form):
In English, the infinitive form of a verb will almost always begin with to followed by the simple
form of the verb, like this: to like, to have, to swim, to do …
In French, the infinitive form of a verb is recognized by its ending: - er - ir - re and in each
group of verbs, there are Regular and Irregular verbs.
ex: aimer, avoir, nager, faire …
The conjugation of a verb varies according to its ending :
Regular - er verbs
Demander (to ask), Déjeuner (to have lunch), Dîner (to dine), Jouer (to play), Parler (to talk),
Porter (to wear), Regarder (to watch), Rencontrer (to meet)….
to conjugate in the present tense, you drop the - er ending and replace it by the following
endings:
Je ________ e
nous _______ ons
Tu ________ es
Il/elle/on ________ e
vous _______ ez
Ils/elles _______ ent
Note : the Irregular – er verbs have spelling changes. Here are some examples:
Manger (to eat) nous mangeons  see also: Nager (to swim), Changer, Voyager
Commencer (to begin) nous commençons  see also: Avancer, Lancer (to throw)
More to come….
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Regular - ir verbs
Accomplir (to accomplish), Applaudir (to applaud), Bâtir (to build), Choisir, Finir, Grandir (to
get bigger), Grossir, Maigrir, Obéir, Réussir (to succeed)…
to conjugate in the present tense, you drop the - ir ending and replace it by the following
endings:
Je ________ is
nous _______ issons
Tu ________ is
vous _______ issez
Il/elle/on ________ it
Ils/elles _______ issent
Note : Among the Irregular - ir verbs, there are 3 that you need to remember :
Dormir (to sleep)
Partir (to leave)
Je dors
nous dormons
Je pars
Tu dors
vous dormez
Il dort
Ils dorment
Sortir (to go out)
nous partons
Je sors
nous sortons
Tu pars vous partez
Tu sors
vous sortez
Il part
Il sort
Ils sortent
Ils partent
 See also : Mentir (to lie), Sentir (to smell), Servir (to serve)
Regular - re verbs
Attendre (to wait for), Défendre (to defend), Entendre (to hear), Perdre (to lose), Rendre (to
give back), Répondre (to answer), Vendre (to sell)….
to conjugate in the present tense, you drop the - re ending and replace it as follows:
Je ________ s
nous _______ ons
Tu ________ s
Il/elle/on _______ nothing
vous _______ ez
Ils/elles _______ ent
See the attached list of verbs you should know and practice conjugating regularly
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Other irregular verbs used very often that you need to know as well:
Avoir (to have)
Être (to be)
J’ai
nous avons
Je suis
nous sommes
Tu as
vous avez
Tu es
vous êtes
Il/elle/on a
Ils/elles ont
Aller (to go)
Ils/elles sont
Faire (to make, to do, to play)
Je vais
nous allons
Tu vas
vous allez
Il/elle/on va
Il/elle/on est
Ils/elles vont
Vouloir (to want)
Je fais
nous faisons
Tu fais
vous faites
Il/elle/on fait
Ils/elles font
Pouvoir (can, to be able to)
Je veux
nous voulons
Je peux
nous pouvons
Tu veux
vous voulez
Tu peux
vous pouvez
Ils/elles veulent
Il/elle/on peut
Ils/elles peuvent
Il/elle/on veut
Mettre (to put on)
Prendre (to take, to have)
Je mets
nous mettons
Je prends
nous prenons
Tu mets
vous mettez
Tu prends
vous prenez
Ils/elles mettent
Il/elle/on prend
Il/elle/on met
Ils/elles prennent
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To write a negative statement or question, use the negation « ne … pas » and hug the
verb with it.
Ex:
positive statement =
Je joue au football.
negative statement = Je ne joue pas au football.
To make a question, you know 2 options:
. You can use a positive or negative statement and end it with a ?
When you do this, you have to rise your intonation at the end of the sentence when saying it.
Ex:
Tu fais du sport.

Tu fais du sport ?
Tu ne fais pas de sport.

Tu ne fais pas de sport ?
. You can also use « the question machine » : Est-ce que ………………… ?
Ex :
Est-ce que tu fais du sport ?
. A 3rd option is to reverse the subject and the verb. When you write down the question, you
need to add an hyphen between the verb and the subject:
Ex:
Tu parles français.

Vous allez au cinéma. 
Allez-vous au cinéma?
Parles-tu français?
If the subject starts with a vowel, you need to add a « t » between the verb and the subject :
Ex:
Il parle français.

Parle –t’il français?
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You know how to conjugate a lot of verbs in the present tense and you also learned the
IMPERATIVE used when you give orders, commands or tell someone to do something.
. Like in English, you can give an order to 1 person (use the TU form of the conjugated verb in
the present tense in French) or to more than 1 person (use the VOUS form of the conjugated
verb in French)
. Like in English, when you give an order, you don’t use the subject pronoun and the statement
ends with a ! when you write it.
Ex:
Let’s use the expression : Faire du sport (to do/play sports)
1) remember how to conjugate “Faire”: Je fais
Tu fais
Il/elle/on fait
2) use the TU form to give the order to 1 person:
Fais du sport!
Nous faisons
Vous faites
Ils/elles font
or use the VOUS form to give the order to more than 1 person :
Faites du sport!
(Don’t forget to drop the TU and the VOUS and to add a ! at the end of the sentence)
The exception!
Drop the “s” at the end of the TU form for the - er verbs.
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In chapter 6, you learn the NEAR FUTURE or the equivalent of “going to”:
. For this, you need to know how to conjugate ALLER by heart:
Je vais
Nous allons
Tu vas
Vous allez
Il/elle/on va
Ils/elles vont
. To say that you are going to do something in the future, you then use the conjugated form of
ALLER and follow it by the infinitive form of the verb you want to use.
Ex:
If you want to say that you are going to study (Étudier)
ALLER conjugated + Infinitive Étudier = Je vais étudier.
Ex :
If you want to say that your friends and you are going to swim (Nager)
ALLER conjugated + Infinitive Nager = Nous allons nager.
Ex:
If you want to say that your brother is going to go (Aller) to school
ALLER conjugated + Infinitive Aller = Il va aller à l’école.
. To say that you are not going to do something in the near future, put « ne…pas » around the
conjugated form of Aller.
Ex:
If you want to say that you are not going to study
NE + ALLER conjugated + PAS + Infinitive Étudier = Je ne vais pas étudier.
Ex:
If you want to say that your brother is not going to go to school
NE + ALLER conjugated + PAS + Infinitive Aller = Il ne va pas aller à l’école.
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You also started to learn a past tense called Passé Composé which is the equivalent of the
English ---ed:
Il a dansé
= He danced / He has danced
. when conjugating a verb in Passé Composé, there are 2 parts to the verb:
1) the helping verb AVOIR
+ 2) the Past Participle of the verb you are using
conjugated in present
-er verbs past participle ends with é
-ir verbs past participle ends with i
-re verbs past participle ends with u
Note: there are a lot of irregular past participles, you learned the following ones:
Faire  fait
Prendre  pris
Avoir  eu
Être
Ex:
 été
Voir  vu
Lire  lu
Mettre  mis
I played / I have played (jouer)
=
J’ai joué
You had / You have had (avoir)
=
Tu as eu / Vous avez eu
He finished / He has finished (finir)
=
Il a fini
She put on / She has put on (mettre)
=
Elle a mis
We lost / We have lost (perdre)
=
Nous avons perdu
They waited
/ They have waited (attendre)
They saw / They have seen (voir)
=
= Ils / elles ont attendu
Ils / elles ont vu
. In a negative sentence in Passé Composé, the negations « ne…pas, ne…rien, ne…jamais” and
others hug the helping verb. Ex : Elles n’ont pas vu.
. In Passé Composé, some verbs use the helping verb ÊTRE instead of AVOIR
The first example you learned is the verb ALLER:
je suis allé(e)
= I went
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