Intermediate French 1: Future, Imperative, Conditional Tenses

for midterm

Futur Proche construction

aller au présente + l’infinitif du verbe (“I’m going to + infinitive“)

aller au présente

vais, vas, va, allons, allez, vont

Futur Simple construction

l’infinitif du vebe + ajoute -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont (“will”, the facts/predictions about what is intended to happen in the future —> for -re verbs, chop of e to just leave -r before conjugation)

être irregular verb stem

ser -

avoir irregular verb stem

aur - 

aller irregular verb stem

ir -

courir irregular verb stem

courr -

devoir irregular verb stem

devr -

envoyer irregular verb stem

enverr - 

faire irregular verb stem

fer -

falloir irregular verb stem

faudr -

mourir irregular verb stem

mourr -

pouvoir irregular verb stem

pourr - 

pleuvoir irregular verb stem

pleuvr -

savoir irregular verb stem

saur -

tenir irregular verb stem

tiendr -

(re)venir irregular verb stem

(re)viendr - 

voir irregular verb stem

verr -

vouloir irregular verb stem

voudr -

employer irregular verb stem (OYER VERBS)

emploier -

essayer irregular verb stem (AYER VERBS)

essayer/essaier - 

s’ennuyer irregular verb stem (UYER VERBS)

s’ennuier -

appeler irregular verb stem

appeller -

jeter irregular verb stem

jetter -

acheter irregular verb stem

achèter - 

se lever irregular verb stem

se lèver -

préférer irregular verb stem

préfèrer -

Futur Simple Uses

1. used in a subordinate clause with tenses introduced with quand, lorsque, pendant que, aussitôt que, dès que

2. the first clause in a sentence containing si can never include the future or the conditional, this tense will always follow the present in a si clause

purpose of imperative

to form an order or give a piece of advice

Formation of L’impératif

conjugate either the tu/nous/vous form of the verb in the present (depending on subject)

Notes on the imperative

1. only has the present and past tense

2. only can be used when addressing tu, nous, vous

3. don’t add ‘s’ for 2nd person singular ‘tu’ at the end of conjugation with all -er verbs, aller, and verbs offrir, ouvrir, souffrir, couvrir, cuellir unless followed by ‘y’ or ‘en’

4. use toi, nous, vous, for pronominal verbs in the positive form (switch back to te, nous, vous when using negation)

purpose of the conditional

can describe a possibility or eventuality, something that is certain but how is uncertain: WOULD/COULD/SHOULD

Formation of Le Conditionnel

infinitif du verbe + -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient

Notes on the conditional

1. used with verbs pouvoir, devoir, vouloir in order to be polite, or to mitigate an order or a suggestion

2. uses the same irregular bases as the futur simple

3. used to express the future of the past indirectly (similar to aller à l’imparfait + infinitif)

   1. je savais qu’il comprendrait (allait comprendre): I knew he would understand

4. can be used in hypothetical situation with si, the present form of this tense will only come after the imparfait and plus-que-parfait, whereas the past form of this tense will only come after the plus-que-parfait

SI + PROPOSITION PRINCIPALE

• SI + Présent: 

  • Futur Simple: if the condition comes true the action will happen: s’il fait beau, nous irons à la plage

  • Impératif: the condition could become true: Si tu ne sais pas, demande à ton professeur

• SI + Imparfait:

  • Conditionnel Présent: it is unlikely the condition will be met/ condition isn’t realised at present: si nous gagnons la lotérie, nous pourrions nous acheter une maison

• SI + Plus-que-parfait:

  • Conditionnel Présent: consequence faced in the present: si tu avais emporté la carte nous ne serions pas perdus (“if you had taken the map with you, we wouldn’t be lost”)

  • Conditionnel Passé: consequence faced in the past: si nous lui avions demandé, il aurait voulu venir (“if we had asked him, he would’ve wanted to come”)

Avoir Impératif Irrégulier

aie, ayons, ayez

Être Impératif Irrégulier

sois, soyons, soyez

Savoir Impératif Irrégulier

sache, sachons, sachez