french verbs - whitecross.
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FRENCH VERBS French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -IR or –RE). To use the verbs in different tenses, we need to know some rules. These rules are simple and are applied to nearly all verbs. Unfortunately, some verbs do not follow theses rules and it is therefore important to know these IRREGULAR VERBS such as “aller” (to go), “faire” (to do), “avoir” (to have) or “être” (to be). (cf vocabulary book) Most of the time, the rule is: keep the stem, take away the ending and replace it by another ending depending on the person/subject. PRESENT TENSE (e.g.: I play) To write in the present tense, we only change the ending (the stem remains the same). Let’s have a look at the endings: they are different according to the ending of the infinitive: verbs in –ER are different from those in –IR or –RE. Je Tu Il/Ell e/On Nous Vous Ils/Ell es JOUER (to play) joue FINIR (to finish) finis ATTENDRE (to wait) attends joues finis attends joue finit attend jouons finissons attendons jouez finissez attendez jouent finissent attendent Can you think of the verbs you already know? With the help of your vocab book, write them in the appropriate column. 1 -ER verbs -IR verbs -RE verbs Irregular in the present tense PERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I played) Two groups There are two groups of verbs for the perfect tense: - the “être” verbs: refer to the MR AND MRS V.TAPE list in your vocabulary book - the “avoir” verbs: all the other verbs Three parts The perfect tense is made by 3 parts: subject (I, you...) + “être” or “avoir” in the present tense + main verb We already know how to do être” and “avoir” in the present tense. The ending of the main verb changes in the perfect tense as well. The ending For example, “I played” will not be “J’ai jouer” but “J’ai joué”! It is very simple, and you need to make sure you write this ending properly as examiners are very strict on this. So, how do we know how to change the endings? EASY! -ER verbs: -er turns into -é (jouer j’ai joué) -IR verbs: -ir turns into -i (finir j’ai fini) -RE verbs: -re turns into -u (attendre j’ai attendu) 2 Unfortunately, there are some irregular verbs, and we need to know them. The main ones are: “être”(j’ai été), “avoir” (j’ai eu), “faire” (j’ai fait). So all the “avoir” verbs are very easy to form. Now, we need to concentrate on the “être” verbs, as they require a bit more attention. The “être” verbs Do you remember what we need to add at the end of the adjectives if they are feminine or plural? Yes, an -s or an -e (or even both). For example, if we are talking about a tall boy, we would say “un grand garcon”, but for a tall girl, we would say “grande”, and for more than one girl, we would say “grandes”. The “être” verbs work the same way: the ending of the main verb will also need an -e or an -s depending on the subject. Let’s take an example: “rester” (to stay). As this is an –ER verb, we already know the -er will turn into -é. So, if a boy says “I stayed”, we would say “je suis resté”, but if a girl says “I stayed”, we would say “je suis restée”. And if a group of boys says it, we would say “nous sommes restés”, and a group of girls, “nous sommes restées”. Note: if we have a group of boys and girls, this will be in the masculine form (no -e). Summary: to write in the perfect tense, we need to answer these questions: - is it an “être” or “avoir” verb? - if it is an “être” verb, who is the subject? (Masculine? Feminine? Plural?) Last but not least, never forget the accent on the -e for the –ER verbs: if you write “j’ai joue” instead of “j’ai joué”, you will not be awarded any mark! Your turn now: do you remember “être” and “avoir” in the present tense? ÊTRE Je............................. 3 Tu............................. Vous......................... Il/Elle/On................... Ils/Elles..................... Nous........................ AVOIR J’.............................. Nous........................ Tu............................. Vous......................... Il/Elle/On................... Ils/Elles..................... Now, an “avoir” verb in the perfect tense. TRAVAILLER J’.............................. Nous........................ Tu............................. Vous......................... Il/Elle/On................... Ils/Elles..................... And an “être” verb. ALLER Je (m) .......................................... Vous (m.formal) ........................................... Je (f) ........................................... Vous (f.formal) ........................................... Tu (m) ........................................... Nous (m) ........................................... Tu (f) .......................................... Nous (f) ........................................... Il............................... Elle........................... Vous (m.informal) ......................................... On............................ 4 Vous (f.informal) .......................................... Ils............................. Elles......................... THE FUTURE TENSE (e.g.:I will play/I am going to play) In French, there are two future tenses, as in English: I am going to play and I will play. Both are very easy: let’s have a look. First, the “simple” future (“I will...”): to form this tense, we keep the whole infinitive and add the following endings Je -ai Nous -ons Tu -as Vous -ez Il/Elle/On -a Ils/Elles -ont So, we will have: TRAVAILLER Je travaillerai Tu travailleras Il/Elle/On travaillera Nous travaillerons Vous travaillerez Ils/Elles travailleront This pattern is used for all –ER and –IR verbs. For the – RE verbs, we need to take the -e away: saying “j’attendreai” would not be very easy to pronounce! This is why we will say “j’attendrai” instead. Unfortunately, there are irregular verbs. These verbs will have their stem changed, but the ending will follow the same pattern as all the other verbs. You will have to refer to your vocabulary book to see which verbs are irregular, but here are some: Être je serai Avoir j’aurai 5 Faire je ferai The second future (“I am going to...”) is even simpler! All you need to do is to know how to do “ALLER” in the present tense. Do you remember it? Je .......vais............ Nous...................... Tu........................... Vous...................... Il/Elle/On................ Ils/Elles.................... And now, we add the infinitive of the main verb! Example: I am going to play Je vais jouer This is most probably the easiest tense of all: this rule is applied to all the verbs, even the “usually irregular” ones such as “aller”, “faire”, “avoir” or “être”. THE IMPERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I used to play) Like for the present and simple future tenses, to do the imperfect tense, we need to take the ending of the infinitive and change it into: Je -ais Nous Tu -ais Vous Il/Elle/On -ait Ils/Elles -ions -iez -aient So we have: TRAVAILLER Je travaillais Nous travaillions Tu travaillais Vous travailliez Il/Elle/On travaillait 6 Ils/Elles travaillaient This goes for most of the verbs: refer to your vocabulary book for the irregular ones. THE CONDITIONAL (e.g.: I would play) This is the last tense we are going to have a look at and is very easy. You already know one by heart: I would like = je voudrais. But how do we get this? To form this tense, we take the stem of the simple future (if you remember, in most of the case, this is the whole infinitive), and add the endings of the imperfect tense. Let’s take two examples. First, a regular verb: “jouer”. Future tense Imperfect ending Conditional: replace the ending Je jouerai -ais Je jouerais Now, an irregular verb: “être” Future Imperfect tense ending Je serai Conditional: replace the ending -ais Je serais Now, try to fill these tables: Regular verbs Subject Je Tu Il/Elle/On Verb Future tense Retourner Descendre Rester 7 Imperfect ending Conditional Nous Vous Ils/Elles Sortir Arriver Partir Irregular verbs Subject Je Tu Il/Elle/On Nous Vous Ils/Elles Verb Future tense Imperfect ending Conditional Aller Avoir Faire Etre Aller Faire .............................................................................................................. PRESENT TENSE (e.g.: I play) ............................................. 1 PERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I played) ......................................... 2 THE FUTURE TENSE (e.g.:I will play/I am going to play) ....... 5 THE IMPERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I used to play) ...................... 6 THE CONDITIONAL (e.g.: I would play) ................................ 7 8 9
