Unité 2 - A L'action!
For this unit of study, it is essential that you are able to
conjugate the following verbs:
FAIRE
JOUER
AVOIR
"to do"
"to play"
"to have"
The verbs faire and avoir are considered irregular (meaning
there are no 'tricks' for remembering their conjugation).
Let's review french pronouns. These often appear in front of
verbs to indicate who is the subject of the sentence.
Je
Tu
Il/elle
(I)
(you)
(he/she)
Nous
(we)
Vous
(you - a group)
Ils/Elles (they - masc/fem)
The verb jouer is a regular verb. In French, most regular verbs that end in -er can be
conjugated in the present tense using a neat little trick. Using the tune of Frere Jacque,
sing the following letters:
-E
-ONS
-ES
-EZ
-E
-ENT
e es e, e es e, ons ons, ez ez ez, ez ez ez, ent ent
To conjugate in the present tense, simply drop the -er ending of the infinitive verb
(meaning the verb that has NOT been conjugated) and add the ending from the song.
Review - Unité 2: A L'action
We reviewed common subject pronouns in English and in French. They are
as follows:
Je (I)
Tu (you)
il, elle (he, she)
Nous (we)
Vous (you - plural)
ils, elles (they)
We began conjugating verbs in the present tense. The term conjugation
means to change a verb depending on the tense and subject of the sentence.
Ex: He played soccer during the break.
-verb:
played
-tense:
past
-subject:
He
Now write the sentence as though it is happening today, and the subject
is "they". How does the verb change?
_________________________________________________________
You are responsible for conjugation of the following verbs in the present
tense:
JOUER
FAIRE
AVOIR
(to play)
(to do)
(to have)
- used when speaking about team sports
- used when discussing individual sports
- used to express needs or desires
Here are the verbs conjugated in the present tense:
JOUER (to play)
Je joue
Tu joues
il/elle joue
Nous jouons
Vous jouez
ils/elles jouent
*Remember the tune "e es e e es e, ons ons, ez ez ez, ez ez ez, ent ent". Simply drop the -er ending
and add the new ending from the song.
FAIRE (to do)
Je fais
Tu fais
il/elle fait
Nous faisons
Vous faites
ils/elles font
*This is an irregular verb and should be memorized.
AVOIR (to have)
J'ai
Tu as
il/elle a
Nous avons
Vous avez
ils/elles ont
*This is also an irregular verb and should be memorized as well.
Here are some examples:
1. Tu fais de l'équitation.
2. Elles jouent à la crosse.
3. Nous jouons au basketball.
4. Vous faites du surf des neiges.
(fais - individual sport, de l' because equitation
is masculine)
(jouent - team sport, à la because la crosse is
feminine)
(jouons - team sport, au because basketball is
masculine)
(faites - individual sport, du because surf des
neiges is masculine)