Lecon 4
Vocabulaire:
les lois et les droits
un crime: muder; violent crime
la criminalité: crime (in general)
un délit: (a) crime
les droits (m.) de l’homme: human rights
une (in)égalité: (in)equality
une (in)justice: (in)justice
la liberté: freedom
un tribunal: court
abuser: to abuse
approuver une loi: to pass a law
défendre: to defend
emprisonner: to imprison
juger: to judge
analphabète: illiterate
coupable: guilty
(in)égal(e): (un)equal
(in)juste: (un)fair
opprimé(e): oppressed
la politique
un abus de pouvoir: abuse of power
une armée: army
une croyance: belief
la cruauté: cruelty
la défaite: defeat
une démocratie: democracy
une dictature: dictatorship
un drapeau: flag
le gouvernement: government
la guerre (civile): (civil) war
la paix: peace
un parti politique: political party
la politique: politics
la victoire: victory
avoir de l’influece (sur): to have influence (over)
se consacrer à: to dedicate oneself to
élire: to elect
gagner/perdre les élections: to win/lose elections
gouverner: to govern
voter: to vote
conservateur/conservatrice: conservative
libéral(e): liberal
modéré(e): moderate
pacifique: peaceful
puissant(e): powerful
victorieux/victorieuse: victorious
les gens
un(e) avocat(e): lawyer
un(e) criminel(le): criminal
un(e) député(e): deputy (politician); representative
un homme/une femme politique: politician
un(e) juge: judge
un(e) juré(e): juror
un(e) militant(e): activist
un(e) président(e): president
un(e) terroriste: terrorist
une victime: victim
un voleur/une voleuse: theif
la securite et le danger
une arme: weapon
une menace: threat
la peur: fear
un scandale: scandal
la sécurité: security, safety
la terrorisme: terrorism
la violence: violence
combattre (irreg.): to fight
enlever/kidnapper: to kidnap
espionner: to spy
faire du chantage: to blackmail
sauver: to save
4.1: The plus-que-parfait
The plus-que-parfait is used to talk about what someone had done or what had occured before abother past action, event, or state
Like the passé composé, the plus-que-parfait uses a form of avoir or être - in this case, the imparfait - plus a past participle
Use the imparfait of être to form the plus-que-parfait of verbs that take être and make the past participle agree with the subject
Use the imparfait of être as the auxiliary for reflexive and reciprocal verbs
In all cases, agreement of past participles in the plus-que-parfait follows the same rules as in the passé composé
The plus-que-parfait and other past tenses:
Use the plus-que-parfait to emphasize that something happened in the past before something else happened. Use the passé composé to describe completed events in the more recent past and the imparfait to describe conditions or habitual actions in the more recent past
The plus-que-parfait is also used after the word si to mean if only… to express regret
To say that something had just happened in the past, use a form of venir in the imparfait + de + the infinitive of the verb that describes the action
4.2: Negation and indefinite adjectives and pronouns
To negate a phrase, you typically place ne… pas around the conjugated verb. If you are negating a phrase with a compound tense such as the passé composé or the plus-que-parfait, place ne… pas around the auxiliary verb
To be more specific, use variations of ne… pas, such as ne… pas du tout and ne… pas encore
Use non plus to mean neither or not either. Use si, instead of oui, to contradict a negative statement or question
To say neither… nor, use ne… ni… ni… Place ne before the conjugated verb or auxiliary, and ni before the word(s) it modifies. Omit the indefinite and partitive articles after ni, but use the definite article when appropriate
It is also possible to combine several negative elements in one sentence
Negative expressions:
ne… aucun(e): none (not any)
ne… jamais: never (not ever)
ne… nulle part: nowhere (not anywhere)
ne… personne: no one (not anyone)
ne… plus: no more (not anymore)
ne… que: only
ne… rien: nothing (not anything)
Many indefinite adjectives and pronouns can also be used in affirmative phrases
autre(s): other
un(e) autre: another
certain(e)(s): certain
chaque: each, every single
plusieurs: several
quelques: some
tel(le)(s): such (a)
tout(e)/tous/toutes (les): every, all
chacun(e): each one
la plupart: most (of them)
plusieurs: several (of them)
quelque chose: something
quelques-un(e)s: some, a few (of them)
quelqu’un: someone
tous/toutes: all (of them)
tout: everything
The adjectives chaque, plusieurs, and quelques are invariable
The pronouns la plupart, plusieurs, quelque chose, quelqu-un, and tout are invariable
4.3: Irregular -ir verbs
Many commonly used -ir verbs are irregular
The following irregular -ir verbs have similar present-tense forms
courir
je/tu cours
il/elle/on court
nous courons
vous courez
ils/elles courent
dormir
je/tu dors
il/elle/on dort
nous dormons
vous dormez
ils/elles dorment
partir
je/tu pars
il/elle/on part
nous partons
vous partez
ils/elles partent
sentir
je/tu sens
il/elle/one sent
nous sentons
vous sentez
ils/elles sentent
sortir:
je/tu sors
il/elle/one sort
nous sortons
vous sortez
ils/elles sortent
The past participles of these verbs are couru, dormi, parti, senti, and sorti
Sortir and partir take être as the auxiliary in the passé composé and plus-que-parfait
Mourir is also conjugated irregularly in the present tense. Its past participle is mort, and it takes etre in the passe compose and plus-que-parfait
je/tu meurs
il/elle/on meurt
nous mourons
vous mourez
ils/elles meurent
These verbs are conjugated with the endings normally used for -er verbs in the present tense:
couvrir
découvrir
offrir
ouvrir
souffrir
The past participles of these verbs are couvert, découvert, offert, ouvert, and souffert
These verbs are irregular but conjugated similarly. In all forms but vous and nous, the e in the verb root changes to ie. In the ils/elles form, the n is doubled
venir
je/tu viens
il/elle/on vient
nous venons
vous venez
ils/elles viennent
devenir
revenir
tenir
maintenir
The past participles of these verbs are venu, dvenu, revenu, tenu, and maintenu
Venir and its derivatives devenir and revenir takes être as the auxiliary in the passé composé and plus-que-parfait
The construction venir + de + [infinitive] means to have just done something