Comprehensive French Review: Tenses, Grammar, and Vocabulary

Unité 1: Mon temps libre

• Study and memorize vocabulary found in the ‐Mon temps libre‐ PDF document.

• Core focus includes frequency words (mots de frquence), sports (les sports), hobbies (les passe-temps), and general activities (les activits).

Unit 4: Le Pass Compos with Avoir

• Definition: Le pass compos is a verb tense used to describe things that happened in the past. It corresponds to the English ‐to have‐ + past participle (e.g., ‐I have finished‐) or the simple past (e.g., ‐I finished‐).

• The formation of the pass compos requires three distinct parts:

  • Part $1$: Subject (pronom/nom).

  • Part $2$: Auxiliary verb ‐avoir‐ conjugated in the present tense.

  • Part $3$: The past participle (participe pass) of the main verb.

• Conjugation of ‐Avoir‐ (Prsent):

  • J'ai

  • Tu as

  • Il/Elle/On a

  • Nous avons

  • Vous avez

  • Ils/Elles ont

• Formation of the Participe Pass (Regular Verbs):

  • For ‐ER verbs: Drop ‐er and add ‐ (e.g., Parler → parl; Jouer → jou; Manger → mang).

  • For ‐IR verbs: Drop ‐ir and add ‐i (e.g., Finir → fini; Choisir → choisi; Partir → parti).

  • For ‐RE verbs: Drop ‐re and add ‐u (e.g., Vendre → vendu; Perdre → perdu).

• Examples of Pass Compos with Avoir:

  • ‐J'ai fini mes devoirs.‐ (I finished my homework.)

  • ‐Elle a mang le gateau.‐ (She ate the cake.)

  • ‐Mes parents ont vendu leur voiture.‐ (My parents sold their car.)

  • ‐Le garon a regard la tlvision pendant $3$ heures hier soir.‐

  • ‐Sarah, Luc, et moi avons tudi pour notre test de gographie.‐

  • ‐Les filles ont fini leurs devoirs chaque jour.‐

  • ‐Ma famille a vendu notre ferme.‐

Unit 4: Le Pass Compos with tre

• Formation: Subject + tre (conjugated in present) + Participe Pass.

• DR & MRS VANDERTRAMP Verbs: These verbs use tre as the auxiliary verb:

  • Descendre (to go down)

  • Rester (to stay)

  • Devenir (to become) Irregular: devenu

  • Entrer (to enter)

  • Monter (to climb)

  • Rentrer (to return)

  • Sortir (to go out)

  • Retourner (to return)

  • Tomber (to fall)

  • Revenir (to come back) Irregular: revenu

  • Venir (to come) Irregular: venu

  • Arriver (to arrive)

  • Aller (to go)

  • Mourir (to die) Irregular: mort

  • Natre (to be born) Irregular: n

  • Partir (to leave)

• Subject Agreement: When using tre, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number:

  • Masculine Singular: No ending added ($‐$‐).

  • Feminine Singular: Add ‐e.

  • Masculine Plural: Add ‐s.

  • Feminine Plural: Add ‐es.

• Examples using Aller:

  • Je suis all(e)

  • Tu es all(e)

  • Il est all

  • Elle est alle

  • Nous sommes all(e)s

  • Vous tes all(e)s

  • Ils sont alls

  • Elles sont alles

Unit 16, 17 & 18: L'Imparfait

• Definition: Used to describe past events that were repeated, habitual, incomplete, or ongoing. It often translates to ‐used to‐ or ‐was/were __‐ing‐.

• Formation: Drop the ‐ons from the present tense ‐nous‐ form and add endings:

  • Je: ‐ais

  • Tu: ‐ais

  • Il/Elle: ‐ait

  • Nous: ‐ions

  • Vous: ‐iez

  • Ils/Elles: ‐aient

• Examples of Conjugation:

  • Aimer (Nous aimons): J'aimais, Tu aimais, Il aimait, Nous aimions, Vous aimiez, Elles aimaient.

  • Choisir (Nous choisissons): Je choisissais, Tu choisissais, Il choisissait, Nous choisissions, Vous choisissiez, Elles choisissaient.

  • Perdre (Nous perdons): Je perdais, Tu perdais, Il perdait, Nous perdions, Vous perdiez, Elles perdaient.

  • tre (Irregular stem): J'tais, Tu tais, Il tait, Nous tions, Vous tiez, Elles taient.

• Spelling Exceptions:

  • ‐cer verbs (e.g., commencer): Change ‐c to ‐ before ‐a (Je commenais) to keep the soft sound.

  • ‐ger verbs (e.g., manger): Add an ‐e between ‐g and ‐a (Je mangeais) to keep the soft sound.

  • ‐ions verbs (e.g., tudier, rire): For the ‐nous and ‐vous form, add an extra ‐i, resulting in ‐iions and ‐iiez (Nous tudiions).

• Usage Scenarios:

  • $1$. Habitual events: ‐Ma mre faisait un gteau avec moi tous les jours.‐

  • $2$. Feelings/Emotions/Sensations: ‐Quand je vivais en Allemagne, j'avais toujours frid.‐

  • $3$. Time and Age: ‐C'tait mon anniversaire et j'avais douze ans.‐ ($12$ years old).

  • $4$. Simultaneous events: ‐Pendant je faisais mes devoirs, j'coutais de la musique.‐

  • $5$. Interrupted events: ‐Nous nettoyions la cuisine quand le tlphone a sonn.‐

Pass Compos vs. Imparfait

• Pass Compos: Used for completed actions, specific events, or a sequence of actions with a clear beginning and end. (e.g., ‐Hier, j'ai mang au restaurant.‐)

• Imparfait: Used for habits and repeated actions, incomplete actions, or ongoing states in the past. (e.g., ‐Depuis mon enfance, je jouais au basketball.‐)

Unit 7: Le Futur Proche (Ngatif)

• Structure: Subject + ne + aller (conjugated) + pas/plus/jamais + infinitive.

• Rule: The negation ‐ne…pas‐ surrounds the conjugated auxiliary verb ‐aller‐.

• Examples:

  • ‐Il ne va pas lire la section Socit.‐

  • ‐Je ne vais plus jouer avec ces jouets!‐ (I am not going to play with these toys anymore!)

• Key Negative Adverbs:

  • ne…pas: not

  • ne…plus: no more

  • ne…jamais: never

Unit 13 & 15: Le Futur Simple

• Definition: Used to tell what will happen in the future.

• Formation: Add specific endings to the infinitive form of the verb.

• Endings for all verbs:

  • Je: ‐ai

  • Tu: ‐as

  • Il/Elle: ‐a

  • Nous: ‐ons

  • Vous: ‐ez

  • Ils/Elles: ‐ont

• Verb Class Variations:

  • ‐ER Verbs: parler → je parlerai.

  • ‐IR Verbs: finir → je finirai.

  • ‐RE Verbs: Remove the final ‐e from the infinitive before adding endings (e.g., perdre → je perdrai; vendre → vous vendrez).

Cultural Studies and Articles

• Study the vocabulary and answer the three questions for each of the following articles:

  • Travail $19$: Carnaval article.

  • Travail $20$: Bastille article.

  • Travail $21$: Mardi Gras article.

• Adverbs: Review the list of adverbs on pages $46‐47$.

• La Francophonie: Review the list of French-speaking countries from Travail $23$.

Writing Section Requirements

• Format: Complex, full sentences are required; do not use AI or large copy-pastes.

• Possible Subjects:

  • Hobbies (passe-temps)

  • Profession

  • Travel (voyager)

  • An important person who inspires you (personne importante qui t'inspire)