→ Tenses

We will be covering: Present tense, near future tense, passe compose, imperfect, conditional

• Verbs can be categorized into -ER, -IR and -RE, depending on the ending of the verb itself (eg. Jouer = -ER)

• Regular verbs follow a set structure, while irregular verbs do their own thing and need to be memorized

• Verbs need to be conjugated based on the pronoun (Je = I, Tu = you etc)

1. The Present Tense

Regular Verbs:

-ER verbs: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent
Common examples include: Regarder, Parler, Aimer, Étudier, Danser

-IR verbs: -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent
Common examples include: Choisir, Réussir, Grandir

-RE verbs: -s, -s, - , -ons, -ez, ent
Common examples include: Vender, Perdre, Entrendre, Rendre

2. Le Futur Proche

ALLER (to go) + infinitive, so we need to learn the conjugation of this verb.

Je vais

Tu vas

Il / Elle va + Infinitive

Nous allons

Vous allez

Ils / Elles vont

For example:
I will walk = Je vais marcher
We will see = Nous allons regarder
He will wait = Il va attendre

3. Le Passé Composé

uses an auxillary verb + past principle. In english, the equivalent would look like: I was going

French uses two auxiliary verbs: Avoir ( to have ) and Être (to be). Usually, we will only use être when we are referring to a change of state or change of location, but there is a nemonic to memorize the key verbs that use être.

The use of Avoir:

→ Avoir - The Auxillary Verb

j’ai

tu as

il / elle a

nous avons

vous avez

ils / elles ont

→ The part principle (Regular Verbs) :

The past principle of the word depends on whether the verb is regular or irregular.

Regular -ER Verbs have their -er replaced (from infinitive form) and turned into -é
Regular -IR Verbs have their -ir replaced and turned into -i
Regular -RE Verbs have their -re replaced and turned into -u

For example:
jouer → joué, finir → fini, attendre → attendu

The cool thing is that the pronoun does not affect the ending of the passé compossé.

→ Irregular Verbs

• avoir (to have) eu

• être (to be) été

• faire (to do/make) fait

• prendre (to take) pris

• mettre (to put) mis

• voir (to see) vu

• boire (to drink) bu

• lire (to read) lu

• dire (to say/tell) dit

• écrire (to write) écrit

• pouvoir (to be able to/can) pu

• vouloir (to want) voulu

• devoir (to have to/must) dû

• savoir (to know a fact) su

• connaître (to know a person) connu

• recevoir (to receive) reçu

• ouvrir (to open) ouvert

• comprendre (to understand) compris

• apprendre (to learn) appris

• courir (to run) couru

→ Examples:

We have played. = Nous avons joué

They have finished = Ils ont fini

I have had problems = J’ai eu problemmes

The use of Être:

Être - The Auxilary Verb:

je suis

tu es

il / elle est

nous sommes

vous êtes

ils / elles sont

Past Participle: DR MRS P VANDERTRAMP

• add the e if femenine, s if its masculine plural and es if its femenine plural

D devenir to become devenu(e)(s)

R revenir to come back revenu(e)(s)

M monter to go up monté(e)(s)

R rester to stay resté(e)(s)

S sortir to go out sorti(e)(s)

P partir to leave parti(e)(s)

V venir to come venu(e)(s)

A arriver to arrive arrivé(e)(s)

N naître to be born né(e)(s)

D descendre to go down descendu(e)(s)

E entrer to enter entré(e)(s)

R rentrer to go home rentré(e)(s)

T tomber to fall (down) tombé(e)(s)

R retourner to go back retourné(e)(s)

A aller to go allé(e)(s)

M mourir to die mort(e)(s)

P passer to pass by passé(e)(s)

4. The Imperfect Tense

Imperfect is used to talk about something that happened over a period of time

the passe compose is used to talk about a singular event in the past

the english equivalent to imperfect tense would be: I was living in Spain for a few years, while the equivalent of the passe compose would be, I lived in spain.

take the nous form of the present verb and drop the -ons

then add the endings:

je -ais

tu. -ais

il /elle -ait

nous. -ions

vous -iez

ils /elles - aient

Examples:

nous habitions
je sortais
on faisait

c’etait

il y’avait

5. Conditional - YET TO BE COMPLETED