FRENCH VERBS

French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -IR or –RE).

To use the verbs in different tenses, we need to know some rules. These rules are
simple and are applied to nearly all verbs. 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 “être” (to be).
(cf vocabulary book)

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.

PRESENT TENSE (e.g.: I play)

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.

JOUER FINIR (to ATTENDRE

(to play) finish) (to wait)
Je joue finis attends
Tu joues finis attends
Il/Elle/On joue finit attend
Nous jouons finissons attendons
Vous jouez finissez attendez
Ils/Elles jouent finissent attendent

Can you think of the verbs you already know? With the help of your vocab book,
write them in the appropriate column.

Irregular in
-ER verbs -IR verbs -RE verbs
the present tense

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 PERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I played)

 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

We already know how to do être” and “avoir” in the present tense.

The ending of the main verb changes in the perfect tense as well.

 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.

So, how do we know how to change the endings? EASY!

-ER verbs: -er turns into -é (jouer j’ai joué)
-IR verbs: -ir turns into -i (finir j’ai fini)
-RE verbs: -re turns into -u (attendre j’ai attendu)

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 all the “avoir” verbs are very easy to form.

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 Now, we need to concentrate on the “être” verbs, as they require a bit more attention.

 The “être” verbs

Do you remember what we need to add at the end of the adjectives if they are
feminine or plural? Yes, an -s or an -e (or even both).
For example, if we are talking about a tall boy, we would say “un grand garcon”, but
for a tall girl, we would say “grande”, and for more than one girl, we would say
“grandes”.
The “être” verbs work the same way: the ending of the main verb will also need an -e
or an -s depending on the subject.

Let’s take an example: “rester” (to stay). As this is an –ER verb, we already know the
-er will turn into -é.

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).

Summary: to write in the perfect tense, we need to answer these questions:

- is it an “être” or “avoir” verb?
- if it is an “être” verb, who is the subject? (Masculine? Feminine? Plural?)
Last but not least, never forget the accent on the -e for the –ER verbs: if you
write “j’ai joue” instead of “j’ai joué”, you will not be awarded any mark!

Your turn now: do you remember “être” and “avoir” in the present tense?

ÊTRE

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 Je............................. Nous........................

Tu............................. Vous.........................

Il/Elle/On................... Ils/Elles.....................

AVOIR
J’..............................
Nous........................
Tu.............................
Vous.........................
Il/Elle/On...................
Ils/Elles.....................

Now, an “avoir” verb in the perfect tense.

TRAVAILLER
J’.............................. Nous........................

Tu............................. Vous.........................

Il/Elle/On................... Ils/Elles.....................

And an “être” verb.

ALLER

Je On............................
(m) ..........................................
Vous (m.formal)
Je ...........................................
(f) ...........................................
Vous
Tu (f.formal) .....................................
(m) ........................................... ......

Tu Nous
(f) .......................................... (m) ...........................................

Il............................... Nous
(f) ...........................................
Elle...........................

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 Vous
(m.informal) ................................ Ils.............................
.........
Elles.........................
Vous
(f.informal) ..................................
........

THE FUTURE TENSE (e.g.:I will play/I am going to play)

In French, there are two future tenses, as in English: I am going

to play and I will play. Both are very easy: let’s have a look.

 First, the “simple” future (“I will...”): to form this tense, we keep
the whole infinitive and add the following endings

Je -ai Nous -ons

Tu -as Vous -ez

Il/Elle/On -a Ils/Elles -ont

So, we will have:

TRAVAILLER
Je travaillerai Nous travaillerons
Tu travailleras Vous travaillerez
Il/Elle/On travaillera Ils/Elles travailleront

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:

Être je serai Avoir j’aurai Faire je ferai

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  The second future (“I am going to...”) is even simpler! All you
need to do is to know how to do “ALLER” in the present tense. Do
you remember it?

Je .......vais............ Nous......................

Tu........................... Vous......................

Il/Elle/On................ Ils/Elles....................

And now, we add the infinitive of the main verb!

Example:
I am going to play Je vais jouer

This is most probably the easiest tense of all: this rule is applied to all the
verbs, even the “usually irregular” ones such as “aller”, “faire”, “avoir” or
“être”.

THE IMPERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I used to play)

Like for the present and simple future tenses, to do the imperfect
tense, we need to take the ending of the infinitive and change it into:

Je -ais Nous -ions

Tu -ais Vous -iez

Il/Elle/On -ait Ils/Elles -aient

So we have:

TRAVAILLER
Je travaillais Nous travaillions

Tu travaillais Vous travailliez

Il/Elle/On travaillait Ils/Elles travaillaient

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 This goes for most of the verbs: refer to your vocabulary book for
the irregular ones.

THE CONDITIONAL (e.g.: I would play)

This is the last tense we are going to have a look at and is very
easy.
You already know one by heart:
I would like = je voudrais.
But how do we get this? To form this tense, we take the stem of
the simple future (if you remember, in most of the case, this is the whole
infinitive), and add the endings of the imperfect tense.
Let’s take two examples.
First, a regular verb: “jouer”.

Future Imperfect Conditional: replace the

tense ending ending
Je jouerai -ais Je jouerais

Now, an irregular verb: “être”

Future Imperfect Conditional: replace the
tense ending ending
Je serai -ais Je serais

Now, try to fill these tables:

Regular verbs

Future Imperfect
Subject Verb Conditional
tense ending
Je
Retourner
Tu
Descendre
Il/Elle/On
Rester
Nous
Sortir
Vous Arriver
 Ils/Elles
Partir

Irregular verbs

Future Imperfect
Subject Verb Conditional
tense ending
Je
Aller
Tu
Avoir
Il/Elle/On
Faire
Nous
Etre
Vous
Aller
Ils/Elles
Faire

..............................................................................................................

PRESENT TENSE (e.g.: I play)................................................................1

PERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I played).............................................................2
THE FUTURE TENSE (e.g.:I will play/I am going to play).....................5
THE IMPERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I used to play).......................................6
THE CONDITIONAL (e.g.: I would play)................................................7