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French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -IR or –RE).
Most of the time, the rule is: keep the stem, take away the ending
and replace it by another ending depending on the person/subject.
To write in the present tense, we only change the ending (the stem
remains the same).
Let’s have a look at the endings: they are different according to the
ending of the infinitive: verbs in –ER are different from those in –IR or –
RE.
Can you think of the verbs you already know? With the help of your
vocab book, write them in the appropriate column.
1
Irregular
-ER verbs -IR verbs -RE verbs in the present
tense
Two groups
There are two groups of verbs for the perfect tense:
- the “être” verbs: refer to the MRS Van Der Tramp list
- the “avoir” verbs: all the other verbs
Three parts
The perfect tense is made by 3 parts:
subject (I, you...) + “être” or “avoir” in the present tense + main
verb
The ending
For example, “I played” will not be “J’ai jouer” but “J’ai joué”!
It is very simple, and you need to make sure you write this ending
properly as examiners are very strict on this.
2
Unfortunately, there are some irregular verbs, and we need to know
them. The main ones are: “être”(j’ai été), “avoir” (j’ai eu), “faire” (j’ai
fait).
So, if a boy says “I stayed”, we would say “je suis resté”, but if a
girl says “I stayed”, we would say “je suis restée”. And if a group of
boys says it, we would say “nous sommes restés”, and a group of
girls, “nous sommes restées”.
Note: if we have a group of boys and girls, this will be in the
masculine form (no -e).
Your turn now: do you remember “être” and “avoir” in the present
tense?
3
ÊTRE
Je............................. Nous........................
Tu............................. Vous.........................
Il/Elle/On.................. Ils/Elles....................
. .
AVOIR
J’..............................
Nous........................
Tu.............................
Vous.........................
Il/Elle/On..................
. Ils/Elles....................
.
Tu............................. Vous.........................
Il/Elle/On.................. Ils/Elles....................
. .
Je (m) Tu (f)
.......................................... ..........................................
Je (f) Il..............................
.......................................... .
.
Elle..........................
Tu (m) .
..........................................
. On............................
4
Vous (m.formal) Nous (f)
.......................................... ..........................................
. .
Vous (f.formal)
.......................................... Vous (m.informal)
. .........................................
Elles.........................
TRAVAILLER
Je travaillerai Nous travaillerons
Tu travailleras Vous travaillerez
Il/Elle/On travaillera Ils/Elles
travailleront
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This pattern is used for all –ER and –IR verbs. For
the –RE verbs, we need to take the -e away: saying
“j’attendreai” would not be very easy to pronounce! This
is why we will say “j’attendrai” instead.
Unfortunately, there are irregular verbs. These
verbs will have their stem changed, but the ending will
follow the same pattern as all the other verbs. You will
have to refer to your vocabulary book to see which verbs
are irregular, but here are some:
Je .......vais............ Nous......................
Tu........................... Vous......................
Il/Elle/On................ Ils/Elles....................
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Je -ais Nous
-ions
Tu -ais
Vous -iez
Il/Elle/On
-ait Ils/Elles
-aient
So we have:
TRAVAILLER
Je travaillais Nous travaillions
7
Now, an irregular verb: “être”
Future Imperfect Conditional: replace the
tense ending ending
Je serai -ais Je serais
Irregular verbs
8
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