VERBS
Verbs groups
GROUP 1: infinitife ending in -er.
GROUP 2: infinitife ending in -ir, with present participle in -issant.
GROUP 3: infinitife ending in -ir, with present participle in -ant, and infinitive ending in -re.
Six moods
INDICATIVE is the mood of verbs used to ‘indicate’ facts, actions, events, etc.
SUBJUNCTIVE is the mood of verbs having an ‘underlying’ (sub) ‘connection’ (junctive) with something previously stated, particularly a feeling or an emotion.
CONDITIONAL is the mood of verbs tied to a condition.
IMPERATIVE is the mood of verbs expressing commands, wishes, and the like.
PARTICIPLE is the mood of verbs that take part in two natures, at times verbs, at times adjectives.
INFINITIVE is the mood of verbs whose form has a fixed, incariable ending.
Eight tenses of the indicative mood
(4 SIMPLE TENSES one word – 4 COMPOUND TENSES auxiliary + past participle)
présent (present) – passé composé (compound past)
imparfait (imperfect) – plus-que-parfait (past perfect)
futur (future) – futur antérieur (future perfect)
passé simple (simple past) – passé antérieur (past perfect)
Means of 4 simple tense of the indicative mood
THE PRESENT TENSE is used to talk about what is true at the moment, what happens regularly and what happens now.
THE IMPERFECT TENSE is one of the verb tenses used to talk about the past, especially in descriptions, and to say what used to happen.
THE FUTURE TENSE is a verb tense used to talk about something that will happen or will be true.
THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE is used only in literary or formal style equivalent of the passé composé.
The perfect tense (Passé composé or past indefinite tense)
THE PERFECT is one of the verb tenses used in French talk about the past, especially about actions that took place and were completed in the past.
THE PERFECT TENSE is the tense you will need most to talk about things that have happened or were true in the past. It is used to talk about actions that took place and completed in the past.
The tense has two parts to it. The present tense of the verb avoir or être. + A part of the main verb called THE PAST PARTICIPLE.
Below is the verbs which form their perfect tense with être instead of avoir.
(a group of verbs that are mainly used to talk about movement or a change of some kind, including these ones.)
aller – to go
venir – to come
arriver – to arrive, to happen
partir – to leave, to go
descendre – to go down, to come down, to get off
monter – to go up, to come up
entrer – to go in, to come in
sortir – to go out, to come out
mourir – to die
naître – to be born
devenir – to become
rester – to stay
tomber – to fall
The subjunctive mood
The subjunctive is a verb form that is used in certain circumstances to express some sort of feeling, or to show there is doubt about whether something will happen or whether something is true.
In French the subjunctive is used after certain verbs and conjunctions when two parts of a sentence have different subject.
PRERENT SUBJUNCTIVE TENSE
Present subjunctive tense is to express actions or ideas which are subjective or otherwise uncertain: will/wanting, emotion, doubt, possibility, necessity, judgement.
PAST SUBJUNCTIVE TENSE
(subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle)
Past subjunctive tense is used when the verb in the subordinate clause – the verb that follows que – happened before the verb in the main clause.
IMPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE TENSE
The imperfect subjunctive is literary verb. Used in a subordinate clause when the main clause is in the past. Its non-literary equivalent is the present subjective.
PLUPERFECT SUBJUNCTIVE TENSE
(imperfect subjunctive of avoir or être + past participle)
Pluperfect subjunctive tense is a literary equivalent of the past subjective. It has an identical twin, the second form of the conditional perfect, which is used in literary si clauses.
The conditional mood
The conditional is a verb form used to talk about the things that would happen pr that would be true under certain conditions. (would) It is also used to say what you would like or need. (could, should)
This mood mentions the conditions below.
Asking for something formally and politely, especially in shops.
Saying what you would like.
Making a suggestion.
Giving advice.
PRESENT CONDITIONAL TENSE
(stem of future tense + endings of imperfect tense)
Present conditional tense is to talk about things that would happen or that would be true under conditions. (would)
It to say what you would like or need. (could, should)
PAST CONDITIONAL TENSE
(conditional of avoir or être + past participle)
Past conditional tense is to express action that would have occurred if in the past circumstances had been different.
The result clause in si clause with the unmet condition in the past perfect.
Be used in a sentence where the unmet condition only implied. Express an unrealized desire in the past.
The imperative mood
An IMPERATIVE is a form of the verb used when giving orders and instructions.
(PRONOUN – GROUP 1 VERBS / GROUP 2 VERBS / GROUP 3 VERBS)
tu – donne / finis / attends
nous – donnons / finissons / attendons
vous – donnez / finissez / attendez
Imperative forms of irregular verbs
(PRONOUN – avoir / être / savoir / vouloir)
tu – aie / sois / sache / veuille
nous – ayons / soyons / sachons / veuillons
vous – ayez / soyez / sachez / veuillez
The participle mood
THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE is a verb form engine in -ing used in English to form verb tense, and which may be used as an adjective or a noun.
To form the present participle of regular -er, -ir and -re verbs, you use the nous form of the present sense and replace the -ons ending with -ant.
donnons – donnant
finissons – finissant
descendons – descendant
Three verbs below have an irregular present participle.
avoir – ayant
être – étant
savoir – sachant
THE PAST PARTICIPLE
(INFINITIVE – TAKE OFF A SUFFIX + ADD A SUFFIX = PAST PARTICIPLE)
donner – donn- + -é = donné
finir – fin- + -i = fini
attendre – attend- + -u = attendu
The infinitive mood
The mood of verbs used to ‘indicate’ facts, actions, events, etc.
Reflexive verbs
s’amuser – to play, to enjoy oneself
s’appeler – be called
s’arrêter – to stop
s’asseoir – to sit down
se baigner – to go swimming
se coucher – to go to bed
se dépêcher – hurry
s’habiller – to get dressed
s’intéresser à – to be interested in
se laver – to wash, to have, to wish
se lever – to get up, to rise, to stand up
se passer – to take place, to happen, to go
se promener – to go for a walk
se rappeler – to remember
se réveiller – to wake up
se trouver – to be (situated)
(SUBJECT PRONOUN – REFLEXIVE PRONOUN = MEANING)
je – me (m’) = myself
tu – te (t’) = yourself
ill, elle, on – se (s’) = himself, herself, itself, oneself
nous – nous = ourselves
vous – vous = yourself, yourselves
ils, elles – se (s’) = themselves
Passive voice
The passive in English is usually similarly in French with the auxiliary verb être plus the past particle. This construction occurs most frequently in the compound past (use compound past of être + past participle) and future (use future of être + past participle).
There is a very important difference between French and English in sentences containing an indirect object. In English we can quite easily turn a normal (active) sentence with an indirect object into a passive sentence.
IMPERFECT: j’étais aimé(e) – I was loved
FUTURE: tu seras aimé(e) – you will be loved
PERFECT: il a été aimé – he was loved
The passive voice are not as common in French. There are two ways that express the same idea.
1. By using the pronoun on (someone or they) with a normal active verb.
2. By using a reflexive verb.
NEGATIVES
Negative word order
To make a sentence negative, place ne before the verb and pas after it.
ne… pas – not
ne… rien – nothing, not… anything
ne… personne – nobody, no one, not… anybody, not… anyone
ne… jamais – never, not… ever
ne… plus – no longer, no more, not… any longer, not… any more
non plus – neither
QUESTIONS
4 ways of asking questions
1. By making your voice go up at the end of the sentence.
2. By using the phrase est-ce-que.
3. By changing round the order of words in a sentence. (Inversion)
4. By using question word.
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