法语语法时态French_Grammar_Tense_Booklet.doc

French Grammar: Tenses1) In any language, when we refer to something happening, we always use a tense to indicate whether it is going to, is, or has already, happened. e.g. Im going to eat an apple. I am eating an apple. I ate an apple.2) French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -RE, -IR)3) To use the verbs in different tenses, we need to know some rules. These rules are simple and are applied to nearly all verbs. 4) Unfortunately, some verbs do not follow theses rules and it is therefore important to know these IRREGULAR VERBS such as “aller” (to go), “faire” (to do), “avoir” (to have) or “tre” (to be). 5) Tenses:Le prsent (pg 2-4)Le pass compos (pg 5-8)Limparfait (pg 9)Le futur simple (pg 10-11)Le conditionnel (pg 12-13)Le PrsentWhen to use it:To talk about what is happening at the momentTo talk about what happens usually/normallyTime phrases:Tous les jours (everyday), chaque jour (everyday), chaque matin (every morning), parfois (sometimes), etc.Regular Verbs1) ER verbs: take off the ER and add the endings:-e-es-e-e-ons-ez-ent-ent2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add the endings: -is-is-it-it-issons-issez-issent-issent3) RE verbs: take off the RE and add the endings:-s-s-ons-ez-ent-entExamples:ParlerFinirVendreJe parleJe finisJe vendsTu parlesTu finisTu vendsIl/Elle parleIl/Elle finitIl/Elle vendNous parlonsNous finissonsNous vendonsVous parlezVous finissezVous vendezIl/Elles parlentIls/Elles finissentIls/Elles vendentIrregular VerbsAs in every French tense there are always irregular verbs. These verbs do not follow the rules. You just have to learn them off!Examples:treAvoirAllerFaireJe suisJaiJe vaisJe faisTu esTu asTu vasTu faisIl/Elle est Il/Elle aIl/Elle vaIl/Elle faitNous sommesNous avonsNous allonsNous faisonsVous tesVous avezVous allezVous faisezIls/Elles sontIls/Elles ontIls/Elles vontIls/Elles fontCommon irregular verbs:venir: to comepouvoir: to be ablevouloir: to want/wishpartir: to leaveprendre: to takesortir: to go outvoir: to seelire: to readboire: to drinkcrire: to writeLe Pass ComposWhen to use it:To talk about something that has happened in the past and is now finished.Time phrases: La semaine dernire (last week), hier (yesterday), etc.Le pass compos is made up of 2 parts:1) The auxilary verb (the present tense of AVOIR or TRE)+2) The past participle (donn, parl, sorti, fait, etc)Regular AVOIR VerbsThe present tense of avoir + the past participle1) -ER verbs: take off the ER and add DonnerJai donnTu as donnIl/Elle a donnNous avons donnVous avez donnIls/Elles ont donn2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add iFinirJai finiTu as finiIl/Elle a finiNous avons finiVous avez finiIls/Elles ont fini3) RE verbs: take off the RE and add uVendreJai venduTu as venduIl/Elle a vendu Nous avons venduVous avez venduIls/Elles ont venduIrregular AVOIR verbsThere is a group of irregular verbs that take AVOIR in le pass compos. These verbs are formed with: 1) present tense of avoir + 2) the irregular past partcipleIrregular past participles:avoir:to have: eutre:to be: tboire: to drink: buconnatre: to know: connucourir: to run: courucroire: to believe: crudevoir: to have to: ddire: to say/tell: ditcrire: to write: critfaire: to make/do: faitlire: to read:lumettre: to put: misouvrir: to open: ouvertpouvoir: to be able: puprendre: to take: prisrecevoir: to receive: reusavoir: to know: suvoir: to see: vuvouloir: to want: vouluExamples:PrendreAvoirtreJai prisJai euJai tTu as prisTu as euTu as tIl/Elle a prisIl/Elle a euIl/Elle a tNous avons prisNous avons euNous avons tVous avez prisVous avez euVous avez tIls/Elles ont prisIls/Elles ont euIls/Elles ont tTRE VerbsA small group of verbs take the present tense of “tre” as their auxilary verb.1) present tense of tre + 2) past participleAn easy way to remember this group of verbs is with the name:MRS VAN DE TRAMPMourir:to die:mortRetourner:to return:retournSortir:to go out: sortiVenir:to come:venuArriver:to arrive:arrivNatre:to be born: nDescendre:to go down:descenduEntrer:to enter:entrTomber:to fall:tombRester:to stay:restAller:to go out:allMonter:to go up:montPartir:to leave:partiN.B: The past participle must agree with who did the action. So if the person was female you must add an extra -e to the end of the past participle: e.g. elle est partie - she left. If two or more females did the action you must add -es: e.g. elles sont parties - they left. If the person who did the action was one male, then the past participle does not change: e.g. il est parti - he left. If two or more males did the action add -s: e.g. ils sont partis - they left. LImparfaitWhen to use it:To talk about something that used to happen in the past. To describe the way something was in the past (the weather was fine last Tuesday).Phrases:Quand jtais jeune (when I was young), lanne dernire (last year).How to form limparfait: 1) Take the “nous” part of the present tense: e.g nous donnons2) Drop the ons: e.g donn3) Add the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, -aientExamples:ParlerFinirLireJe parlaisJe finissaisJe lisaisTu parlaisTu finissaisTu lisaisIl/Elle parlaitIl/Elle finissaitIl/Elle lisaitNous parlionsNous finissionsNous lisionsVous parliezVous finissiezVous lisiezIls/Elles parlaientIls/Elles finissaientIls/Elles lisaient*There is only one irregular verb in limparfait: tretreJtaisTu taisIl/Elle taitNous tionsVous tiezIls/Elles taientLe Futur SimpleWhen to use it:To describe what will happen at a certain time in the future.Time phrases:Demain (tomorrow), la semaine prochain (next week).Regular VerbsRegular er, -ir and re* verbs all follow the same rules in the future:1) Take the infinitive (title) of the verb: e.g donner, finir2) Add the endings: -ai, -as, -a , -a, -ons, -ez, -ont, -ont* There is a slight difference for re verbs. Before adding the endingsyou must take off the “e”. For example: vendre = vendr I will sell = Je vendraiExamples:ParlerPartirPrendreJe parleraiJe partiraiJe prendraiTu parlerasTu partirasTu prendrasIl/Elle parleraIl/Elle partiraIl/Elle prendraNous parleronsNous partironsNous prendronsVous parlerezVous partirezVous prendrezIls/Elles parlerontIls/Elles partirontIls prendrontFutur Simple: Irregular VerbsFor irregular verbs in the futur simple, you only need to learn the stem as the endings are the same. For example:tre: serI will be: je seraiIrregulars:aller:to go:ir:jirai avoir:to have:aur:jaurai envoyer:to send:enverr:jenverrai devoir:to have to:devr:je devrai tre:to be:ser:je serai faire:to make/do:fer:je ferai pleuvoir:to rain:pleuvr:il pleuvra pouvoir: to be able:pourr:je pourrai revevoir:to receive:recevrje recevrai savoir:to know:saur:je saurai venir:to come:viendr:je viendrai voir:to see:verr:je verrai vouloir:to want:voudr:je voudraiExamples:AllertreVouloirJiraiJe seraiJe voudraiTu irasTu serasTu voudrasIl/Elle iraIl/Elle seraIl/Elle voudraNous ironsNous seronsNous voudronsVous irezVous serezVous voudrezIls/Elles irontIls/Elles serontIls/Elles voudrontLe ConditionnelWhen to use it:To talk about things that would happen in the future (I would buy a sports car if I won the lotto).Regular verbsRegular er, -ir and re* verbs all follow the same rules in the conditional:1) Take the infinitive of the verb, e.g donner, finir2)Add the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, -aient (These are the same endings as limparfait!)* There is a slight difference for re verbs. Before adding the endingsyou must take off the “e”. For example: boire = boir I would drink = je boirais Examples:DonnerFinirPrendreJe donneraisJe finiraisJe prendraisTu donneraisTu finiraisTu prendraisIl/Elle donneraitIl/Elle finiraitIl/Elle prendraitNous donnerionsNous finirionsNous prendrionsVous donneriezVous finiriezVous prendriezIls/Elles donneraientIls/Elles finiraientIls/Elles prendraientLe Condi