FRENCH VERBS Every mood and verb tense in

FRENCH VERBS

Every mood and verb tense in French. Note that the moods are across the top and the tenses are listed top to bottom, with the present tense in the center. See the website listed at the bottom right for an interactive version of this chart, where you can click each tense/mood for an explanation of how it is used. In the next slide, you will see the tenses/moods you have learned up to this point (not all of them have been emphasized in FR 201). http: //french. about. com/library/bl_timelinee. htm

We’ll work our way through all of these as the PPT continues.

Infinitive The infinitive is simply an unconjugated verb. See below for some examples of infinitives: parler aller être se lever voir prendre The infinitive translates as “to…”. To speak, to go, to be, to get up, to see, to take. For more info, go here: http: //french. about. com/od/grammar/a/infinitive. htm

Conjugating verbs To conjugate verbs, use the following subjects: je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles

Present (indicative) This is the most commonly used and the first tense you learn in French. There are many types of verbs conjugated in the present tense. Regular Verbs. Drop the infinitive ending and add the following endings: -er -ir -re je -e -is -s tu -es -is -s il/elle/on -e -it nous -ons -issons -ons vous -ez -issez -ez ils/elles -ent -issent -ent

Present (indicative), continued Quiz: Conjugate the verbs parler, choisir, and descendre and check your work using this online conjugator: http: //www. wordreference. com/conj/FRverbs. aspx. Be sure you also know how to conjugate –ger and –cer verbs (which are not strictly irregular, but they do have spelling changes). Some important irregular verbs: être, avoir, aller, faire, prendre, pouvoir, vouloir, devoir, mettre, lire, écrire, venir, savoir, connaître, sortir, dormir, suivre. Test your ability to conjugate these verbs and then verify your work using the conjugator linked above.

Pronominal Verbs (in present tense) These verbs require an extra set of pronouns. se lever je me lève tu te lèves il se lève nous levons vous levez ils se lèvent

Present participle This is a verb form ending in –ant. Start with the “nous” form of the verb in the present tense, then drop the –ons and add –ant. Three irregulars: étant, ayant, sachant. This verb form is often used with the preposition en. • • The French present participle can never be used to talk about what someone is doing. The construction "je suis mangeant" (the literal translation of "I am eating") simply does not exist in French - you must use the present tense: je mange. To emphasize the ongoing nature of an activity, you can use the French expression être en train de: je suis en train de manger - "I'm eating (right now). The French present participle cannot be used after another verb. "J'aime lisant"does not exist; to say "I like reading, " you must use the infinitive: j'aime lire. The English usage of the present participle as a noun indicating an activity, as in "Seeing is believing, " is another case in which the French translation requires the infinitive: Voir, c'est croire. Sometimes you can just use a noun; to translate "Reading is fun, " you have two options: Lire est un plaisir, La lecture est un plaisir. As a verb or gerund, the present participle is invariable, except in the case of pronominal verbs, which keep the appropriate reflexive pronoun in front of the present participle: me coiffant (doing my hair), en nous levant (upon [us] getting up), etc. For more information, see this website: http: //french. about. com/od/grammar/a/presentparticiple. htm

Passé composé: past participle How to form the past participle? Drop the infinitive ending and add: ER é parler parlé IR i choisir choisi RE u vendre vendu But, of course, there are several verbs with irregular past participles: être: été vouloir: voulu venir: venu(e) voir: vu mettre: mis naître: né(e) ouvrir: ouvert mourir: mort(e) avoir: eu boire: bu devoir: dû prendre: pris croire: cru recevoir: reçu pouvoir: pu offrir: offert faire: fait

Compound past AKA passé composé The passé composé is the most common past tense in French. It is used to express actions that were completed in the past. It is formed in two different ways. Most verbs take avoir in the passé composé. Examples: j’ai parlé, elle a dansé, nous avons mangé Two kinds of verbs are conjugated with être in the passé composé: 1) pronominal verbs and 2) DR MR VANDERTRAMPPS. *With these verbs, the past participle must match the subject in gender and in number. *

Pronominal verbs in the passé composé se lever je me suis levé(e) nous sommes levé(e)s tu t’es levé(e) vous êtes levé(e)(s)(es) il s’est levé ils se sont levés elle s’est levée elles se sont levées on s’est levé

DR & MR VANDERTRAMPPS Devenir Rester & Mourir Rentrer Venir Arriver Naître Descendre Entrer Revenir Tomber Retourner Aller Monter Partir Passer Sortir

Imperfect AKA imparfait (indicative) The imperfect is the other common past tense. It is used to express habitual actions, states of being, emotions, descriptions, and background information. The imperfect is very easy to form. Start with the nous form of every single verb except être. Drop the –ons and add the following endings: -ais *être uses this as a stem: ét -ais (then add the regular endings) -ait *remember that verbs like étudier, -ions manger, and commencer have -iez spelling changes (examples: nous -aient étudiions, je mangeais, je commençais)

Imparfait vs. Passé composé Generally speaking, the imperfect describes past situations, while the passé composé narrates specific events. In addition, the imperfect can set the stage for an event expressed with the passé composé. For more info, see the following pages in Intrigue: 63, 65, 68, 109 -110. For more info, see also this site: http: //french. about. com/od/grammar/a/pasttenses_2. htm

Pluperfect AKA le plus-que-parfait This tense is used to express the past of the past and is often translated as “had” + verb. I had spoken, I had danced… before something else I did in the more recent past. To form it, use the imperfect of the auxiliary verb (avoir or être; decide which one following the same rules you use to choose between avoir and être when conjugating in the passé composé: pronominals and VANDERTRAMP take être, all others take avoir. ). Then add the past participle.

Pluperfect AKA le plus-que-parfait parler j’avais parlé tu avais parlé il avait parlé elle avait parlé on avait parlé nous avions parlé vous aviez parlé ils avaient parlé elles avaient parlé se coucher je m’étais couché(e) tu t’étais couché(e) il s’était couché elle s’était couchée on s’était couché nous étions couché(e)s vous étiez couché(e)(s)(es) ils s’étaient couchés elles s’étaient couchées partir j’étais parti(e) tu étais parti(e) il était parti elle était partie on était parti nous étions parti(e)s vous étiez parti(e)(s)(es) ils étaient partis elles étaient parties Note that you must make the past participle agree in gender and number with the subject for all verbs conjugated with être in the plus-que-parfait, just as you do in the passé composé for verbs conjugated with être. For more information, including more on when to use the plus-que-parfait in comparison to the imparfait and the passé composé, see p. 142 in Intrigue.

Past infinitive The infinitif passé is the infinitive of avoir or être + the past participle. Choose avoir or être based on rules you know, then add the past participle. • for verbs that use être, the participle must match the subject in gender and in number. • often use with prepositions après and de • negative: ne pas avoir dit, ne pas être allé(e)(s)(es) For more info, see p. 106 in Intrigue.

Futur proche This allows you to speak about the future by using a conjugated form of the verb aller + infinitive. Je vais étudier ce week-end. Tu vas lire un roman. Elle va parler au téléphone. Nous allons nous amuser à Paris. Vous allez passer un examen. Ils vont se coucher tôt ce soir.

Futur simple The future tense is used to express what will happen. It is easy to form. Begin with the infinitive, which for most verbs is the future stem. For regular –re verbs, drop the “e. ” The stem always ends in “r. ” Irregular stems: ir-, ser-, fer-, aur-, saur-, pourr-, devr-, recevr-, viendr-, voudr-, verr-, enverr. Then add the endings: -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont

Conditional=Future stem + imperfect endings The conditional is used for politeness and for hypothetical situations and is best translated as “would” + verb. This mood is formed in almost the same way as the future tense. In fact, use the future stem, which for most verbs is the infinitive. For –re verbs, drop the “e. ” Irregular stems: ir-, ser-, fer-, aur-, saur-, pourr-, devr-, recevr-, viendr-, voudr-, verr-, enverr. Then add the imperfect endings: -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient

Imperative (present) There are command forms for tu, vous, and nous. First, drop the subject from the verb. Then, for all –er verbs, drop the “s” in the tu form (exception: vas-y!). Parle! Ne parle pas! Parlez! Ne parlez pas! Parlons! Ne parlons pas! Irregulars: être avoir sois aie sache soyez ayez sachez soyons ayons sachons

Subjunctive (present) The subjunctive mood is used to express actions or ideas which are subjective or otherwise uncertain: will/wanting, emotion, doubt, possibility, necessity, judgment. It is nearly always found in dependent clauses introduced by que, and the subjects of the dependent and main clauses are usually different. Some expressions that require the subjunctive: il faut que il est essentiel que il est important que il est indispensable que il vaut mieux que il est nécessaire que il a fallu que vouloir que demander que désirer que exiger que préférer que aimer que proposer que souhaiter que suggérer que See pp. 178 -80 in Intrigue as well as the DOVE subjunctive PPT on our website for more. This link also has a handy resource: http: //french. about. com/library/verb/bl-subjunctivator. htm

Subjunctive (present), continued To form the subjunctive for regular verbs, begin with the ils/elles form in present indicative. ils parlent then drop the –ent and add the subjunctive endings: -e irregular subjunctive -es stems: fass-, aill-(all-), -e boiv-(buv-), prenn-(pren-), -ions puiss-, sach-, ven-(vienn-) -iez Completely irregular: -ent avoir être j’aie tu aies il ait nous ayons vous ayez elles aient je sois tu sois il soit nous soyons vous soyez elles soient

Subjunctive hint: It is very useful to know how to conjugate the verb pouvoir in the subjunctive, because you can often make sentences using a form of pouvoir + infinitive: Il faut que je puisse étudier Je voudrais que vous puissiez venir à la fête (etc. ) Please note: don’t try this on the final exam! Use it for future reference. Look up the conjugation here: http: //www. wordreference. com/conj/FRverbs. aspx