A-level French/Printable version

A-level French

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Verbs

A verb is a word used to describe something that happened, such as an action or state of being.

Infinitive

The infinite is a verb without a subject or tense. In English, it is usually "to _____". In French, all infinitives end in -er, -ir, or -re.

• parler (to talk)
• finir (to finish)
• entendre (to hear)

Most verbs are -er verbs. Many verbs that end in -er end in -ate in English (for example, the verb to donate is "donner"). Many verbs that end in -ir end in -ish in English (for example, the verb finir means to finish).

The infinitive is used in certain phrases in both English and French.

Conjugating Verbs

To conjugate a verb means to change it so it can be used with a particular tense and subject. In French, most verbs are conjugated by taking off the -er, -ir, and -re and adding certain endings depending on the tense. However, some verbs do not work like and are irregular verbs.

Common irregular verbs

Here are twenty verbs that are used a lot, but are not formed like regular -er, -ir, or -re verbs:

• aller (to go)
• avoir (to have)
• boire (to drink)
• connaître (to know)
• courir (to run)
• devoir (to have to)
• dire (to say, to tell)
• dormir (to sleep)
• écrire (to write)
• être (to be)
• faire (to do, to make)
• lire (to read)
• mentir (to lie)
• mettre (to put, to turn on)
• mourir (to die)
• pouvoir (to be able to, can, may)
• prendre (to take)
• recevoir (to receive)
• savoir (to know)
• venir (to come)
• voir (to see)
• vouloir (to want, to wish)

Verbs/Present

The present tense is used to say something that is going on right now Examples: I walk, You talk, he eats In French, the present is also used to say "I am ____ing" and "I do _____"

-Er verbs

This is how you write the present for -er verbs. You take off the -er and add certain endings:

Infinitive	parler (to talk)	donner (to give)	arriver (to arrive)
Stem	parl-	donn-	arriv-
Je (I)	Je parle	Je donne	J'arrive
Tu (You)	Tu parles	Tu donnes	Tu arrives
Il/Elle/On (He/She/One)	Il parle	Elle donne	On arrive
Nous (We)	Nous parlons	Nous donnons	Nous arrivons
Vous (You, formal or pl.)	Vous parlez	Vous donnez	Vous arrivez
Ils/Elles (They)	Ils parlent	Elles donnent	Ils arrivent

Note that if the verb starts with a vowel sound, je is changed to j' (Example: I arrive=J'arrive). Also, tu and vous both mean you. Vous is used with multiple people, or as a formality. Tu is used informally, like with your friends.

-Er verbs that change a little

In order to keep the same sound throughout all tenses and subjects, some -er verbs change a little. For example, verbs that end in -ger (like manger, to eat and voyager to travel), add an "e" in the nous form". Verbs that end in -cer (like commencer, to begin and lancer to launch) are almost the same, except they add a cedilla on the c instead of an extra e.

manger	commencer
Je mange	Je commence
Tu manges	Tu commences
Il mange	Elle commence
Nous mangeons	Nous commençons
Vous mangez	Vous commencez
Ils mangent	Elles commencent

Verbs that end in -yer, such as payer (to pay) and employer (to employ), change the -y to -i in some conjugations

payer	employer
Je paie	J'emploie
Tu paies	Tu emploies
Il paie	Elle emploie
Nous payons	Nous employons
Vous payez	Vous employez
Ils paient	Elles emploient

Some verbs that have an e or é in the middle have special rules. Verbs like acheter (to buy) or espérer (to hope), change the e or é to an è in some conjugations.

acheter	espérer
J'achète	J'espère
Tu achètes	Tu espères
Il achète	Elle espère
Nous achetons	Nous espérons
Vous payez	Vous espérez
Ils achètent	Elles espèrent

Other verbs, like appeler (to call) and jeter (to throw), double a letter.

appeler	jeter
J'appelle	Je jette
Tu appelles	Tu jettes
Il appelle	Elle jette
Nous appelons	Nous jetons
Vous appelez	Vous jetez
Ils appellent	Elles jettent

-Ir and -Re verbs

Here are the tables for -ir and -re verbs.

-IR	-RE
finir (to finish)	vendre (to sell)
Je finis	Je vends
Tu finis	Tu vends
Il finit	Elle vend
Nous finissons	Nous vendons
Vous finissez	Vous vendez
Ils finissent	Elles vendent

Note that some of the -ir verb forms have an "-iss" in them, and one of the -re verb forms has no ending.

Irregular verbs

Most verbs are regular. Some commonly-used ones are not and have to be learned by heart. Here are some commonly-used irregular verbs in the present tense.

aller (to go)	je vais tu vas il va	nous allons vous allez ils vont
avoir (to have)	j'ai tu as il a	nous avons vous avez ils ont
boire (to drink)	je bois tu bois il boit	nous buvons vous buvez ils boivent
connaître (to know)	je connais tu connais il connaît	nous connaissons vous connaissez ils connaissent
courir (to run)	je cours tu cours il court	nous courons vous courz ils courent
devoir (to have to, "must")	je dois tu dois il doit	nous devons vous devez ils doivent
dire (to say, to tell)	je dis tu dis il dit	nous disons vous dites ils disent
dormir (to sleep)	je dors tu dors il dort	nous dormons vous dormez ils dorment
écrire (to write)	j'écris tu écris il écrit	nous écrivons vous écrivez ils écrivent
être (to be)	je suis tu es il est	nous sommes vous êtes ils sont
faire (to do, to make)	je fais tu fais il fait	nous faisons vous faites ils font
lire (to read)	je lis tu lis il lit	nous lisons vous lisez ils lisent
mentir (to lie)	je mens tu mens il ment	nous mentons vous mentez ils mentent
mettre (to put, to turn on)	je mets tu mets il met	nous mettons vous mettez ils mettent
mourir (to die)	je meurs tu meurs il meurt	nous mourons vous mourez ils meurent
pouvoir (to be able to, "can", "may")	je peux tu peux il peut	nous pouvons vous pouvez ils peuvent
prendre (to take)	je prends tu prends il prend	nous prenons vous prenez ils prennent
recevoir (to receive)	je reçois tu reçois il reçoit	nous recevons vous recevez ils reçoivent
savoir (to know)	je sais tu sais il sait	nous savons vous savez ils saven
venir (to come)	je viens tu viens il vient	nous venons vous venez ils viennent
voir (to see)	je vois tu vois il voit	nous voyons vous voyez ils voient
vouloir (to want, to wish)	je veux tu veux il veut	nous voulons vous voulez ils veulent

Present Participle

The present participle is the form of the verb that ends in -ing. In English, it usually is used with a form of "to be", such as "I am sneezing" and "They were going". In French, they don't use the present participle that way. Instead, they use the present or the imperfect. The only time they use the present is when somebody is doing something while doing something else.

• Example: I watch TV while eating
• Becomes: Je regarde la télé en mangeant

The present participle is formed with the "nous" form of the present tense with the -ons replaced with a -ant

Verb	Donner	Finir	Vendre	Manger
Nous form	donnons	finissons	vendons	mangeons
Minus -ons	donn-	finiss-	vend-	mange-
Pres. Part.	donnant	finissant	vendant	mangeant

Most irregular verbs follow this form

• faire: faisant
• boire: buvant
• écrire: écrivant

But there are three exceptions:

• avoir: ayant
• être: étant
• savoir: sachant

Verbs/PC

The passé composé is the most common way to talk in the past tense in French.

Être and Avoir

14 être verbs
aller (to go)	partir (to leave)
arriver (to arrive)	passer (to pass)
descendre (to descend/ to go downstairs)	rester (to stay)
entrer (to enter)	retourner (to return)
monter (to climb)	sortir (to go out)
mourir (to die)	tomber (to fall)
naître (to be born)	venir (to come)

To create the passé compose you need to conjugate the verbs être or avoir. Être (to be) Avoir (to have) Most verbs are conjugated with avoir, however, there are 14 common verbs that are conjugated with être.

You may have noticed that many of the 14 être verbs have to do with movement. Except naître (to be born) mourir (to die) and rester (to stay) these verbs are motion verbs. That doesn't mean however that all motion verbs use être in the passé composé. For instance, courir (to run) is conjugated with avoir.

The reason these verbs are être verbs is because they are intransitive, that is they don't have a direct object.

Examples of Intransitive Verbs (Etre verbs):

• He stayed two hours after the party.
• The leaf fell from the tree.
• The children went to school in the morning.

Examples of Transitive Verbs (Avoir verbs):

(The verb is in bold and its object is in italics)

• She picked up her purse.
• The boy kicked the soccer ball.
• Mother is making dinner tonight.

Conjugation of être (to be)		Conjugation of avoir (to have)
Je suis	Nous sommes	J'ai	Nous avons
Tu es	Vous êtes	Tu as	Vous avez
Il/Elle/On est	Ils/Elles sont	Il/Elle/On a	Ils/Elles ont

How to make the passé composé

Subject +	Conjugation of être/avoir +	past participle of the verb (to have)	English translation
Tu	as	lu	You have read
Nous	avons	mangé	We ate/We have eaten
Il	est	allé	He went

As you can see from the above table to form the passé composé you need to:

1. Conjugate avoir or être
2. change the verb to the past participle

In the next sections you will be able to see examples of the passé composé with avoir and être, learn how to form the past participle in regular verbs, and learn the past participle in the most common irregular verbs.

Avoir passé composé examples

• Ils ont mangé. They have eaten.
• J'ai dancé. I danced.
• Il a vu un chat. He saw a cat.
• Elle a vendu sa voiture. She sold her car.

Être passé composé examples

• Je suis allé à la bibliothèque. I went to the library.
• Ils sont venus après l'école. They came home after school.
• La feuille est tombé de l'arbre. The leaf fell from the tree.
• Il est resté à l'école à jouer au basket. He stayed after school to play basketball.

Forming the Past Participle

Regular ER Verbs

To form a past participle of –er verbs, drop the –er of the infinitives and add an é

Verb	Drop ER	Add É	Past Participle	English
manger	mang - er	mang + é	mangé	to eat
dancer	danc - er	danc + é	dancé	to dance
payer	pay - er	pay + é	payé	to pay

Regular IR Verbs

To form a past participle of –ir verbs, drop the –ir of the infinitives and add an i

Verb	Drop IR	Add I	Past Participle	English
finir	fin - ir	fin + i	fini	to finish
réussir	réuss - ir	réuss + i	réussi	to succeed
dormir	dorm - ir	dorm + i	dormi	to sleep

Regular RE Verbs

To form a past participle of –re verbs, drop the –re of the infinitives and add an u

Verb	Drop RE	Add U	Past Participle	English
perdre	perd - re	perd + u	perdu	to lose
vendre	vend - re	vend + u	vendu	to sell
répondre	répond - re	répond + u	répondu	to answer

Irregular Verbs

This is a list of some of the most common irregualr verbs and their past participles.

Verb	Past Participle	Verb	Past Participle
avoir	eu (had)	boire	bu (drank)
conduire	conduit (driven, drove)	connaître	connu (known, knew)
courir	couru (ran)	croire	cru (believed)
devoir	dû (had to, owed)	dire	dit (said, told)
écrire	écrit (written, wrote)	être	été (been, was)
faire	fait (made, done, did)	falloir	fallu (had to, should, was necessary)
lire	lu (read)	mettre	mis (put)
mourir	mort (died)	naître	né (born)
ouvrir	ouvert (opened)	pleuvoir	plu (rained)
pouvoir	pu (was able to)	prendre	pris (took)
recevoir	reçu (received)	savoir	su (knew)
venir	venu (came)	vivre	vécu (lived)
voir	vu (saw)	vouloir	voulu (wanted)

Verbs/Imperfect

The French imperfect tense (l'imparfait) is a past tense. It is used in the following situations:

Use of the imperfect

• Progressive actions: In English, we would convey these ideas with the form "I was __ing", "You were __ing", etc. In French, they use the imperfect.
• Stuff that you used to do:

Forming the imperfect

The imperfect tense is formed with the "nous" form of the present tense with the -ons replaced with the imperfect endings.

Verb	Donner	Finir	Vendre	Manger	Endings
Nous form	donnons	finissons	vendons	mangeons
Minus -ons	donn-	finiss-	vend-	mange-
Je	donnais	finissais	vendais	mangeais	-ais
Tu	donnais	finissais	vendais	mangeais	-ais
Il/Elle/On	donnait	finissait	vendait	mangeait	-ait
Nous	donnions	finissions	vendions	mangions	-ions
Vous	donniez	finissiez	vendiez	mangiez	-iez
Ils/Elles	donnaient	finissaient	vendaient	mangeaient	-aient

Note that the verb manger (and other verbs that end in -ger) have an extra e in the -je, -tu, -il, and -ils tenses, but not in the nous or vous tenses. With verbs like commencer that end in -cer, a cedilla is used in those four forms in place of the extra e.

Irregular verbs

The imperfect of irregular verbs is formed much as they would be with regular verbs, by removing the -ons and adding the imperfect endings.

Verb	Nous Form	Imperfect je	Imperfect nous
avoir	avons	avais	avions
boire	buvons	buvais	buvions
conduire	conduisons	conduisais	conduisions
connaître	connaissons	connaissais	connaissions
courir	courons	courais	courions
croire	croyons	croyais	croyions
devoir	devons	devais	devions
dire	disons	disais	disions
écrire	écrivons	écrivais	écrivons
faire	faisons	faisais	faisions
falloir	none	il fallait	none
lire	lisons	lisais	lisions
mettre	mettons	mettais	mettions
mourir	mourons	mourais	mourions
naître	naissons	naissais	naissions
ouvrir	ouvrons	ouvrais	ouvrions
pleuvoir	none	il pleuvait	none
pouvoir	pouvons	pouvais	pouvions
prendre	prenons	prenais	prenions
recevoir	recevons	recevais	recevions
savoir	savons	savais	savions
venir	venons	venais	venions
vivre	vivons	vivais	vivions
voir	voyons	voyais	voyions
vouloir	voulons	voulais	voulions

The nous form of the verb être does not end in -ons, so it is irregular in the imperfect tense.

être
J'étais
Tu étais
Il était
Nous étions
Vous étiez
Ils étaient

Note that this is the same form as the past participle étant

Verbs/Future

The simple Future

The simple future is formed by adding the endings (-ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont) to the infinitive form of a verb. If the infinitive verb ends in -e, drop the final -e before adding the appropriate ending. The example will illustrate the translation of simple future in English: Je parlerai = I will talk/speak.

Simple future examples

	Parler	Vendre	Finir
Je	parlerai	vendrai	finirai
Tu	parleras	vendras	finiras
Il/Elle	parlera	vendra	finira
Nous	parlerons	vendrons	Finirons
Vous	parlerez	vendrez	finirez
Ils/ Elles	parleront	vendront	finiront

See also

• All the conjugations on French Wiktionary