SM

Grammar!

Present

  • It is the same as in English

  • Each ending is different depending on the subject

  • most important verb tense as everything is based on this one

  • I would say most people know the endings for singular, but the plural needs work (mine does)

Regular Endings

Subject

-ER

-IR

-RE

Je

-e

-is

-s

Tu

-es

-is

-s

Il/Elle/On

-e

-it

N/A

Nous

-ons

-issons

-ons

Vous

-ez

-issez

-ez

Ils/Elles

-ent

-issent

-ent

Exceptions

Verb

Trend

Être

  • nous sommes

  • vous êtes

  • ils/elles sont

Venir, Tenir, Obtenir

  1. look for -nir

  2. For singular and ils/elles, move the i to before the e

  3. they follow the rules of -re endings (ex. viens)

Prendre, Comprendre, Apprendre

  1. look for -prendre

  2. drop the “-dre”

  3. Ils/Elles add an extra n (comprennent)

Mettre, Permettre

  • look for -ttre

  • for singular subjects, drop “tre” and add the ending

  • for plural subjects, drop “re” and add the ending

Demon Verbs: Savoir, Devoir

  • learn these if you really plan on using them as they do not follow any specific trends

Dr. Mrs. Vandertramp

  • These verbs that when are part of a 2-part verbs tense, like Passé Composé, tend to be after être

French Verb

English Verb

Devenir

to become

Revenir

to come back

Monter

to ascend

Retourner

to

Sortir

to leave

Venir

to come

Aller

to go

Naitre

to be born

Descendre

to descend

Entrer

to enter

Rentrer

to return/to go back home

Tomber

to fall

Rester

to stay

Arriver

to arrive

Mourir

to die 😭

Partir

to leave

Passé Composé

  • Think of it as the simple past tense

    • ex. “I ate” or “He said”

Regular Endings of Past Participle

Subject

-ER

-IR

-RE

All Pronouns

-é

-i

-u

Steps

  1. Identify the verb that will become your past participle (ex. vendre)

  2. Is it in DR MRS VANDERTRAMP or not? (ex. vendre = NO)

  3. Identify the subject (ex. nous)

  4. Identify the present tense form of the auxiliary verb (ex. nous (avoir) = avons)

  5. Put it in the order: subject+auxillary+past participle (ex. nous = avons)

  6. If the auxiliary is être, then make sure to make sure the terms agree (ex. Elle a mangée)

Exceptions of the Past Participle

  • there are many exceptions so I will list the 10 most used

Verb

Past Participe

Être

été

Avoir

eu

Faire

fait

Dire

dit

Voir, Savoir, Devoir, Vouloir, pouvoir

vu, su, dû, voulu, pu

Venir

venu

Imparfait

Background Info

  • Think of it as:

    • “Sean was eating cake on his birthday” or “Kirney was playing Minecraft”

  • my favorite tense because it is very consistent

Use it in the following instances:

Instance

Continuous actions

Habitual action

Emotions

Age

Time (better to say duration)

Endless actions

Descriptions

Endings

Subject

Ending

Je

-ais

Tu

-ais

Il/Elle/On

-ait

Nous

-ions

Vous

-iez

Ils/Elles

-aient

Steps

  1. Take the nous version of a noun (ex. passer → nous passons)

  2. Remove the ending (ex. nous passons)

  3. Identify the Subject (ex. Je)

  4. Add the Appropriate Ending (ex. Je passais)

Subjonctif

  • This verb tense is a mood in grammar that is used to express subjective actions or states. It often conveys uncertainty, doubt, desire, emotion, necessity, or hypothetical situations

  • the subjunctive actually exists in other languages, its English that’s the weird one

Endings

notice that the endings:

  • not nous and vous: imparfait endings

  • nous and vous: present tense endings

Subject

Ending

Je

-e

Tu

-es

Il/Elle/On

-e

Nous

-ions

Vous

-iez

Ils/Elles

-ent

Steps

  1. Take the Ils/Elles endings of a verb (ex. ils comprennent)

  2. Identify the pronoun (ex. Je)

  3. Remove the ending (ex. ils comprennent)

  4. Find the Ending (ex. Je = -e)

  5. Add the Ending (ex. Je comprenne)

Plus-Que-Parfait

Background Info

  • Think of it as:

    • “Alison had been studying for the Bio Exam” or “Hayden had been watching One Piece”

  • When you look at the name, it sort of makes sense

    • It is “plus-que-parfait” or “better than perfect” as it is more complete (more steps ugh) than “imparfait” or “imperfect”

Steps

  1. Find the auxiliary, usually avoir or être (ex. monter = etre)

  2. Identify the subject (ex. tu)

  3. Apply the imparfait of the auxillary (ex. tu étais)

  4. add the verb in its past participle (ex. tu étais monté)

Le Gerondif

Background Info

  • used to express simultaneous actions

  • formed by adding -ant to the stem of the verb

  • Must be preceded by En or “by”

  • Think of it as:

    • “By sleeping, Damaris was making her headache better” or “By playing Brawl Stars in class, the IB boys can relieve some stress”

  • it is also very consistent

Steps

  1. Remove the ending of a verb in its nous form/Find the stem (ex. parlons )

  2. Add en before the word (ex. en parl)

  3. Add -ant (ex. en parlant)