French (language)

2024-06-2501:56 Status:Pseudo

Tenses

Present

Present Tense Regular Verb Conjugation

Pronoun	-ER	-IR	-RE
Je	- e	- is	- s
Tu	- es	- is	- s
Il/Elle/On	- e	- it	- /
Nous	- ons	- issions	- ons
Vous	- ez	- issez	- ez
Ils/Elles	- ent	- issient	- ent

Instances in which present is used)

Examples of when this tense is used:

• Je bois du thé tous les jours. - I drink tea every day. This is a routine action. It is something that is done more than once.
• En ce moment, j’étudie le français. - At the moment, I’m studying French. This is a current action, something that is happening right now. There is no continuous present tense in French, eg ‘I am doing something’, so use the present tense for this.
• Elle est très grande. - She is very tall. This is a current fact about how things are at the present time.

Common Irregular Conjugation

Close Future

(ALLER CONJUGATED + INFINITIVE) → E.x. Je vais nager

Recent Past

(VENIR CONJUGATED + ‘DE’ + INFINITIVE) → E.x. Je viens de nager

Passé Composé

Conjugating verbs with Avoir

Construction: subject pronoun + present conjugated form of avoir + past participle of ‘main verb

E.x. J’ai vu un = I saw one (PC has several English equivalents)

	- ER	- IR	- RE
PC Conjugation	- é	- i	- u

Examples:

• J’ai mangé, fini, rendu
• Tu as mangé, fini, rendu
• Il/elle a mangé, fini, rendu
• Nous avons mangé, fini , rendu
• Vous avez mangé, fini, rendu
• Ils/elles ont mangé, fini, rendu

Conjugating with Être

Verbs that follow the following conventions are:

• Monter, revenir, sortir, deviner, retourner, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, revenir, tomber, renter, arriver, mourir, partir (passer)

Said conventions: subject pronoun + present conjugated form of etre + past participle of ‘main verb’. Where the ending of the conjugated past particle verb has to agree with the verb (adding an e or an s).

Transitive:

Avoir/Etre verbs: Monter, descendre, rentrer, sortir, retourner, passer, repasser, demeurer, (intransitive = rester, transitive = habiter for demeurer)

With negation:

• Je n’ai pas vendu; Tu n’es pas alle

Reflexive:

• Tu t’es lave, Nous nous sommes laves - always use etre

With negation and reflexive verb:

• Je ne me suis pas brosse

Irregular verbs in the past participle:

ASKING QUESTIONS IN PC

= ( … INTEROGATIVE FORM OF AVOIR + PAST PARTICIPLE … )

E.x. Est-ce que tu as travaillé

Imparatif

Pronoun	-ER	-IR	-RE
Tu	- e	- is	- s
Nous	- ons	- issions	- ons
Vous	- ez	- issez	- ez
Only irregular in imperative = Être, Aller
Être) Tu sois, Nous soyons, Vous soyez
Aller) Tu va(no ‘s’), Nous allons, Vous allez
Imperative is primarily used to give commands/ tell someone to do something.

E.x.

• Vendez voture voiture! Sell you car!
• Allons à la plage! Let’s go to the beach!
• Ferme la porte! Shut the door!
• Ouvre la fenêtre! Open the window!
• Lisez les phrases suivantes. Read the following sentences.
• Rentrez à la maison avant minuit! Come home before midnight!
• Téléphone à ta mère! Call you mother!
• Apprends les verbes! Learn the verbs!

Irregular Verbs

	Tu	Nous	Vous
Avoir	aie!	ayons!	ayez!
Etre	sois!	soyons!	soyez!
Savoir	sache!	sachons!	sachez!
Aller	va	allons	allez
Faire	fais	faisons	faites
Negation for the imparitive:

• Ne conduisez pas si vite! Don’t drive so fast!
• Ne bois pas mon café! Don’t drink my coffee!
• N’oublie pas ce que je te dis! Don’t forget what I’m telling you!
• Ne mange pas ses bonbons! Don’t eat their candy!

Reflexive and imperative:

In affirmative commands the pronoun comes after the verb and me/te become moi and toi. In negative commands the pronoun comes before the verb.

• Appelle-moi ce soir! Call me tonight!
• Ne m’appelle pas ce soir! Don’t call me tonight!
• Dépêche-toi! On va être en retard! Hurry up! We’re going to be late!
• Ne te dépêche pas! On a le temps! Don’t hurry! We have time!

Using imperative with pronouns:

There are certain situations in affirmative commands where pronouns follow the verb and are attached with a hyphen. In negative commands with pronouns, wrap ne…pas around the verb with the pronoun preceding the verb.

• Mange-le! eat it!
• Ne le mange pas. Don’t eat it!
• Donne-le-moi! Give it to me!
• Ne me le donne pas! Don’t give it to me!
• Téléphone-lui! Call him!
• Ne lui téléphone pas! Don’t call him!

Imparfait

(PRESENT NOUS CONJUGATIONN - ‘ONS’ PORTION + IMPERFECT ENDING)

The imperfect tense is used to describe a condition, habitual events or progressive actions (when interrupted = PC) = Imagine a scene on a stage; descirbe something that had passed; weather etc.

→ The only irregular verb = ETRE, having the stem ‘ét’

Subject pronoun	Imperfect ending
Je	- ais
Tu	- ais
Il/elle/on	- ait
Nous	- ions
Vous	- iez
Ils/elles	-aient

Futur Simple

Conjugation / formation

Terminaisons du présent du verb AVOIR	Aimer - aimer	Finir - finir	Vendre- vendr_
-ai	j’aimerai	je finirai	je vendrai
-as	tu aimeras	tu finiras	tu vendras
-a	il/elle/on aimera	il/elle/on finira	il/elle/on vendra
-ons	nous aimerons	nous finirons	nous vendrons
-ez	vous aimerez	vous finirez	vous vendrez
-ont	ils elles aimeront	ils/elles finiront	ils/elles vendront

• A note regarding the future tense is that the letter ‘r’ always comes at the end of the infinitive - ir and -er verbs stay as is and verbs ending with -re drop the e and become -r.
• Verbs that have an ‘e’ at the end before/behind the ‘infinitive syllable’ become è
  • Lever is conjugated for ‘I’ as ‘je lève’ in the present tense, so the future is formed as follows:
    • {je lèverai, tu lèveras, il/elle/on lèvera, nous lèverons, vous lèverez and ils/elles lèveront}
  • However, there is no change if there is an ‘é’ - e.g. répéter. → je répéter
• Words with a double letter when conjugated in the present also change to have a double letter.
  • Appeler is conjugated for ‘I’ as ‘j’appelle’ in the present tense, so the future is formed as follows:
    • {j’appellerai, tu appelleras, il/elle/on appellera, nous appellerons, vous appellerez, ils/elles appendront}
• The pronunciation of words in the future whose infinitive ends with ier, uer, éer, and ouer are pronounced as i, u, é and ou respectively and by themselves. This is because the ‘e’ ending is not silent in that syllable.
• Verbs that end with an ‘ayer, oyer, uyer’ change their ‘y’s to ‘i’s in the future
  • {je payerai/paierai, je nettoierai, j’essairai}
• Aller and envoyer are the only -er verbs on the list below that are irregular.

Irregular verbs and roots:

Infinitive	Root	je/j’-	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
aller	ir-	irai	iras	ira	irons	irez	iront
avoir	aur-	aurai	auras	aura	aurons	aurez	auront
courir	courr-	courrai	courras	courra	courrons	courrez	courront
cueillir	cueiller-	cueillerai	cueilleras	cueillera	cueillerons	cueillerez	cueilleront
devoir	devr-	devrai	devras	devra	devrons	devrez	devront
envoyer	enverr-	enverrai	enverras	enverra	enverrons	enverrez	enverront
être	ser-	serai	seras	sera	serons	serez	seront
savoir	saur-	saurai	sauras	saura	saurons	saurez	sauront
faire	fer-	ferai	feras	fera	ferons	ferez	feront
falloir*	faudr-	————	————	faudra	————	————	————
mourir	mourr-	mourrai	mourras	mourra	mourrons	mourrez	mourront
pleuvoir*	pleuvr-	————	————	pleuvra	————	————	————
pouvoir	pourr-	pourrai	pourras	pourra	pourrons	pourrez	pourront
recevoir	recevr-	recevrai	recevras	recevra	recevrons	recevrez	recevront
	-/s’assoir-	?	?	?	?	?	?
tenir	tiendr-	tiendrai	tiendras	tiendra	tiendrons	tiendrez	teindront
valoir	vaudr-	vaudrai	vaudras	vaudra	vaudrons	vaudrez	vaudront
vouloir	voudr-	voudrai	voudras	voudra	voudrons	voudrez	voudront
venir	viendr-	viendrai	viendras	viendra	viendrons	viendrez	viendront
voir	verr-	verrai	verras	verra	verrons	verrez	verront

• The conjugation of s’asseoir is both regular and irregular:
  • Having the root of s’assiér- [ j’assiérai, …]
  • Having the root of s’assi-

Emplois: Le futur est employé:

Future state

The future tense is also used to to express a future action or state in relation to the present: (Shall/will)

• Il lui écrira bientôt (action)
• Ce soir, je serai fatigué après ma longue journée (état)

After temporary conjunctions

The future simple is also used when an action will happen after a conditional statement, the verb will be in the future:

• Quand je mange cette pomme, je serai content.
• [Quand (when), aussitôt que (as soon as), pendant que (while), tant que (as long as), lorsque (when), des que (as soon as), tandis que (while/whereas)]

Conditional phrases

Conditional phrases are formed depending on the final state of the object:

	Hypothetical statement/condition	Consequence of that action/result
Present	Si je dis oui,	il dit non.
Imperative	Si vous ne pouvez pas venir,	dites-le-moi.
Future simple	S’il fait beau demain,	nous pourrons sortir.

Subjonctif

The subjective tense is used to express the necessity; obligation or a lack of certainty.

The formation of the subjective tense: [VERB OR EXPRESSION] + que + [SUBJECT] + [SUBJUNCTIVE VERB] …

Conjugation for regular verbs and some irregular verbs:

Infinitive:	Parler	Finir	Vendre	Dire	Endings
Present stem:	ils parlent
parl-	finissent
finiss-	vendent
vend-	disent
dis-
que je	parle	finisse	vende	dise	-e
que tu	parles	finisses	vendes	dises	-es
qu’il/elle/on	parle	finisse	vende	dise	-e
que nous	parlions	finissions	vendions	disions	-ions
que vous	parliez	finissiez	vendiez	disiez	-iez
qu’ils/elles	parlent	finissent	vendent	disent	-ent

Expressions that use the subjunctive:

• Il faut que (One must) + subjunctive; if negated can mean on must not/should not

  [These obligations can also be expressed using devoir]

• Il est bon que

• Il est important que

• Il est essentiel que

• Il est indispensable que

• Il est utile que

• Il est naturel que

• Il est normal que

• Il est juste que

• Il est dommage que

• Il vaut mieux que

Parler	ils parlent	parl-
Finir	ils finissent	finiss-
Vendre	ils vendent	vend-
S’asseoir	ils s’asseyent	s’assey-
Connaitre	ils connaissent	connaiss-
Dire	ils conduisent	dis-
Dormir	ils disent	dorm-
Ecrire	ils ecrivent	ecriv-
Lire	ils lisent	lis-
Mentir	ils emntent	ment-
Mettre	ils mettent	mett-
Ouvrir	ils ouvrent	ouvr-
Partir	ils partent	part-
Reconnaitre	ils reconnaissent	reconnaiss-
Sentir	ils sentent	sent-
Sortir	ils sortent	sort-
Suivre	ils suivent	suiv-
Vivre	ils vivent	viv

To express ‘I would like you to’ kind of sentences: Je veux que tu sortes avec moi.

• Je prefere que …
• Je souhaite que (I wish) …
• Je desire que (I wish) …
• Je voudrais que …
• J’aimerais que …
• Je veux que …
• J’instiste pour que …
• J’exige que (I demand) …

Some verbs like venir have different stems; taking the nous and ils present forms while still having normal endings [-e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent]

Verbs like venir = [Acheter, Esperer, Appeler, Payer, Boire, Voir, Prendre]

Infinitive	Venir
Present	Ils viennent
nous venons
Subjonctive	que je vienne
que tu viennes
qu’il vienne
que nous venions
que vous veniez
qu’ils viennent

Irregular verbs:	Etre	Avoir	Aller	Faire	Savoir
que je (j’)	sois	aie	aille	fasse	sache
que tu	sois	aies	ailles	fasses	saches
qu’il/ elle/ on	soit	ait	aille	fasse	sache
que nous	soyons	ayons	aillions	fassions	sachions
que vous	soyez	ayez	alliez	fassiez	sachiez
qu’ils/elles	soient	aient	aillent	fassent	sachent

Conditional (from Futur Simple)

Plus que Parfait

Le Futur Antérieur

The future prior is a tense used to communicante an action that precedes the action happening in the future.

Grammar

Reflexive

PRESENT TENSE

Tense	Reflexive example
Present	- Je me (m’) lave

• Tu te (t’) laves
• Il/elle/on se (s’) lave
• Nous nous lavons
• Vous vous lavez
• Ils/elles se (s’) lavent | | Negative | Je ne me lave pas | | Interrogative | Est-ce que tu te laves? |

Formed: (REFLEXIVE PRONOUN + VERB = REFLEXIVE VERB

→ Je me lave les mains NOT (mes)

• Affirmative: Repose-toi
• Neg. affirmative: Ne te repose pas

PC TENSE

(SUBJECT + REFLEXIVE PRONOUN + PRESENT FORM OF ETRE + PAST PARTICIPLE = PC FORM OF REFLEXIVE VERB)

Affirmative	- Je me suis lavé(e) - Tu t’es lavée - Il/elle/on s’est lavé(e) - Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s - Vous vous êtes lavé(e/s) - Ills/Elles se sont lavé(e)s
Negative	Je ne me suis pas lavé(e)
Interrogative	Tu t’es lavé(e)s?

Negation

In the present tense:

In the present tense, negation is formed by wrapping ne…pas around the verb.

• Je ne mange pas. I don’t eat.
• Il ne dort pas. He doesn’t sleep.
• Nous ne travaillons pas. We don’t work

In the passe compose

In the passé composé (French past tense) wrap ne…pas around the auxiliary (helping) verb. For example, to say ‘I didn’t eat’, say ‘Je n‘ai pas mangé’. Note, a common mistake is to put the pas after the past participle and say, ‘Je n’ai mangé pas’. This wrong. It is tempting to make this mistake because the pas comes after the verb in the present tense: ‘Je ne mange pas’. Once again, the rule is to wrap ne…pas around the auxiliary verb.

• Je **n’**ai pas parlé. I did not speak.
• Ils **n’**ont pas voyagé. They did not travel.
• Il **n’**est pas venu. He did not come.

Rules for reflexive - present

For reflexive verbs in the present tense, wrap ne…pas around the verb and the reflexive pronoun. For example, I get in up in affirmative is: ‘Je me lève’. The ‘me’ is the reflexive pronoun and it means ‘to myself’. Hence, to negate, the ne…pas goes around the ‘me’: Je ne me lève pas.

• Il ne se rase pas. He isn’t shaving.
• Elle ne se maquille pas. She isn’t putting on make-up.

Rules for reflexive - passe compose

For reflexive verbs in the passé composé, wrap ne…pas around the reflexive pronoun and the auxiliary verb. In the affirmative, ‘Je me suis levé’ means I got up. For the passé composé, ne…pas goes around the auxiliary verb (suis) and past participle (levé). Hence, ‘Je ne me suis pas levé’ is ‘I didn’t get up.

• Il ne s’est pas blessé. He did not get injured.
• Elle ne s’est pas levée. She did not get up.
• Ils ne se sont pas promenés. They did not take a walk.

Special negations:

French has several other types of negation where other words than ‘pas’ make the negation. These can be referred to as negative adverbs and the most common examples are: ne…jamais (never), ne…rien (nothing, anything) and ne…personne  (nobody, anybody) replace the word pas.

• Elle ne voyage jamais. She never travels.
• Il **n’**écoute jamais. He never listens.
• Nous ne nageons jamais. We never swim
• Je **n’**ai jamais mangé le fois gras. I’ve never eaten fois gras

Negative structures surround the conjugated verb:

E.x. Je n’ai jamais vu un (I have never seen one)

Inversion

E.x. Tu as un livre → As-tu un livre

• (Yes/no question follow the following format: VERB + SUBJECT PRONOUN + REST)

*In inverted questions, the verb and subject pronoun are joined with a hyphen. The sound ‘t’ is pronounced between the subject pronouns leading with a vowel. (il(s),elle(s),on) E.x. Elle travaille? → Travaille-t-elle?

• (Information based questions follow the following format: INTEROGATIVE EXPRESSION + VERB + SUBJECT PRONOUN + REST)

E.x. Quand travaillez-vous?

Relative Pronouns

Articles

Use	To describe	Type
le, la, l’, les	A specific thing/general sense of a noun	Definite articles
un, une, des	One or several items (no specific)	Indefinite articles
de, de la, de l’, des , du	Some portion of something/a certain amount	Partative articles

→ When referring to one’s body part use definite articles instead of possessive

(Some/no)(one/thing)

	Something	Nothing	Someone	No one
PRESENT	Je fais quelque chose	Tu ne fais rien	J’invite quelqu’un	Tu n’invites personne
PC	J’ai fait quelque chose	Tu n’as rien fait	J’ai invite quelqu’un	Tu n’as invité personne

Articles ‘y’ and ‘en’

THE PRONOUN ‘Y’ = THERE

Used with/in place of à, en, dans, chez, etc.

→ Tu was à la plage = Oui, j’y vais souvent OR Non, je n’y vais pas

The pronoun ‘y’ comes before the conjugated verb, excluding affirmative commands

→ Vas-y (Go on), On y va (Lets go), Allons-y (Let’s go)

THE PRONOUN ‘EN’ = (/…SOME/ANY)

Used in place of partitive articles = du, de la, des de l’, d’, de + noun

→ E.x. je voudrais de la limonade = j’en voudrais

The pronoun ‘en’ comes before the conjugated verb, excluding affirmative commands

→ Comes between y + a in ‘il y a’ → ‘il y en a’

Un + une are included at the end

→ (In negative sentences un/une is omitted)

Relative Pronouns + ‘Qui’ vs. ‘Que’

A relative pronoun introduces a subordinate clause and connects the subordinate clause to the original clause. For instance, the relative pronouns, ‘that’ and ‘who’ extend a sentence.

Qui replaces the subject (pronoun) and is the subject of the verb that follows

Que is the direct object of the verb that follows it. (Extends sentence)

Indefinite Pronouns

Le pronom	Exemples	Attention
Quelqu’un(e)	Quelsu’un m’a racontE la nouvelle.	J’ai recontrE quelqu’un DE spEcial
Quelsunes-un(e)s	Il a va quelques-uns de ses amis.	/
Quelque chose	As-tu dit quelque schose?	Quelque chose d’intEressant m’est arrivE
Rien	On ne m’a rien demandE.	Rien de sErieux n’est arrivE.

C’est vs. Il est

• C’est + (Name)
• C’est + (Article + noun + (adjective))
• C’est (Article + adjective + noun)
• Il/Elle/On est + (Adjective)

C’est is also used with ‘mon’/’ma’ E.x. C’est mon copain

Negative singular E.x. Ce n’est pas ( Plural = Ce ne sont pas)

There are two ways to refer to one’s profession: Elle est (NO ARTICLE) architecte. Or: C’est une architecte

COD and COI

Subject pronoun	Direct Object	Indirect object
Je	me (m’)	me (m’)
Tu	te (t’)	te (t’)
Il/Elle/On	le/la/l’	lui
Nous	nous	nous
Vous	vous	vous
Ils/Elles	les	leur

DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

Replace the who/what of the sentence.

E.x. Le/la/les English equivalent = him/her/it/them

Affirmative → Il regarde la télé = Il la regarde

Negative → Il ne la regarde pas

Inversion → La regarde-t-il

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS

Answer the question to whom (using ‘à’/‘au’/ aux)

E.x. Tu téléphones à ta soeur? → (X), je (ne) lui téléphone (pas)

→ The indirect object pronoun goes before the conjugated verb (after ‘ne’) 3

Connaître and Savoir

Connaître and savoir both generally mean to know; however they are used only under specific circumstances.

Connnaître is used to describe/to…

• know/be aquainted with something
• ‘things’
• people, places

Savoir is used to

• To know that …
• To know if
• Ask questions e.x. so you know if
• To know how to do something

Adjectives and Adverbs

REGULAR ADJECTIVES

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	- (petit)	- s (petits)
Feminine	- e (petite)	- es (petites)

• Placement of adjectives usually come after the noun
• Beau, nouveau, vieux become bel, nouvel and vieil before a masculine noun starting with a vowel
• Exceptions = adjectives that modify: E.x.( Grand, petit, bon, mauvais, beau, nouveau, vieux, joli, jeune

IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES

Adjective	M/S	M/P	F/S	F/P
-eux	-eux	-eux	-euse	-euses
-al	-al	-aux	-ale	-ales
-if	-if	-ifs	-ive	-ives
-el	-el	-els	-elle	-elles
-on	-on	-ons	-onne	-onnes
-en	-en	-ens	-enne	-ennes

ORDINAL NUMBERS

Number (-e is any) + ième e.x. deux → deuxième

Exceptions: un(e)→ premier/première, cinq→ cinquième, neuf→ neuvième

CREATING ADVERBS

Feminine (excluding masculine forms that end with -i or -e) + ment

COMPARING ADJECTIVE

Plus (more), moins (less), aussi (as much as) … adjective … que (than) bien (well), mieux (better)

→ Superlative = the best/worst etc. le/la/les

Which one(s)	Singular	Plural
Masculine	lequel	lesquels
Feminine	laquelle	leasquelles

That one/those ones	Singular	Plural
Masculine	celui	ceux
Feminine	celle	celles

You can add -ci (here) or -là (there) to add specificity

(Re)Sources

(IB French Curriculum): (https://www.student.thinkib.net/)

(https://www.tutorchase.com/blog/ib-french-a-complete-guide)

Podcastfrancaisfacile Les 500 Exercise de phonetique book YouTube videos Daily verb conjugations [Conjugations progressive du francais, francais facile] 1 video Inner French Readlang InnerFrench podcast Bref YouTube

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z6dx382/revision/1 Efficient training of French listening - Intermediate Level French Listening for Beginners (recorded by Real Human Voice) IB French Ab Initio Folder | Quizlet (https://global.oup.com/education/content/secondary/series/ib-french-b/?region=international The Best Resources to Learn FRENCH for Free Online • Gratis Global https://www.typing.com/student/lesson/378/advanced-symbols https://ebooks.papacambridge.com/directories/IB/IB-ebooks/upload/french%20b%20-%20course%20companion%20-%20christine%20trumper%20and%20john%20israel%20-%20first%20edition%20-%20oxford%202012.pdf