Techniques of Translation:Tenses

In some languages, verb tenses are not very important or do not even
exist. In English, the concept of tense is very important, though not rich
compared to French which has a very rich system of Tenses.
Mr H. Semhi
English Language Arts 2020
French has many different tenses and moods, which come in two forms: SIMPLE (one
word) and COMPOUND (two words). Translating French verbs into English, and vice
versa, can be difficult for several reasons:
a) The two languages don't have the same verb Tenses and Moods.
b) Some simple forms in one language are compound in the other.
c) English has modal verbs (unconjugated auxiliary verbs such as "could," "might" and
"must," that express the mood of the verb that follows), but French does not.
d) Many verbal constructions have more than one possible equivalent in the other
language, depending on the context.
 TENSE AND TIME
• Don't confuse the name of a Tense with Time in French and English!
• It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way
we use it to talk about time.
• For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
• I hope it rains tomorrow. Present Simple + Present Simple
• J’espère qu’il pleuvra demain. Present Simple + Future Simple
• "rains" is present simple in English , but it refers here to future time
(tomorrow) and it’s
• “pleuvra” is future simple and it refers to future time in French
 PAST TENSE WITH PRESENT TIME
MEANING
Past Tense does not always refer to Past Time:
If I had some money now, I could buy a castle.
"had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)
If I have some money now, I will buy a castle.
Si j’avais de l’argent maintenant, j’aurais acheté un palais.
Si j’ai de l’argent maintenant, j’acheterai un palais.
 SIMPLE VERB TENSES

• PRESENT TENSE • FUTURE

• je prends > I take, I am taking, I • je prendrai > I will take
do take
• vous irez > you will go
• vous allez > you go, you are
going, you do go
 SIMPLE VERB TENSES

• CONDITIONAL • IMPERFECT
• je prendrais > I would take • je prenais > I was taking
• vous iriez > you would go • vous alliez > you were going
 SIMPLE VERB TENSES
• PASSÉ SIMPLE (LITERARY TENSE)
• je pris > I took
• vous allâtes > you went
• SUBJUNCTIVE
• (que) je prenne > (that) I take, "me to
take"
• Il est important que je prenne... > It's
important that I take...
• Veut-elle que je prenne...? > Does she
want me to take...?
• (que) vous alliez > (that) you go, "you
to go"
• Il est important que vous alliez... > It's
important that you go...
 COMPOUND TENSES

As we did with simple (one-word) tenses, for compound tenses, which

consist of an auxiliary verb and a past participle, we will be using
examples: the je form of prendre (to take) and the vous form of aller (to
go). Remember that these are irregular verbs and
that prendre needs avoir as the auxiliary verb, while aller
requires être. To properly absorb this lesson, make sure you understand
how to fully conjugate compounds verbs in every tense and mood, in
particular the compound versions of the example
words: prendre and aller.
 COMPOUND TENSES

• PASSÉ COMPOSÉ • CONDITIONAL PERFECT

• j'ai pris > I took, I have • j'aurais pris > I would have
taken, I did take taken

• vous êtes allé(e)(s) > you • vous seriez allé(e)(s) > you
went, you have gone, you did would have gone
go
 PRESENT PERFECT VS PASSÉ
In French, we use le PASSÉ
COMPOSÉ
COMPOSÉ (however, le passé
composé is not connected to the
In English, we use the PRESENT present in French, so, sometimes, you
PERFECT need to be clearer)
For an action or an event started in the
past and still true in the present. • Fire has broken out in a building, in
English, you mean that there is a fire
• You have passed your exam now. But in French, the passé
composé just says that it was true in
• Tu as réussi tes examens the past, so you need to add more
information:
• Un incendie a éclaté dans un
immeuble et l’immeuble est
toujours en feu.
 PRESENT PERFECT VS PASSE
COMPOSE
With adverbs like ever, never,
In English, with expressions like already, so far…
“this is the first time” , “the second We also use le PASSÉ
time”… we use PRESENT COMPOSÉ:
PERFECT:
This is the first time I have seen this
• Have you ever been to France?
movie.
• As-tu déjà été en France?
In French, we use the present tense:
C’est la première fois que je vois ce • Here the sentence is not related
film to the present tense, so we can
use le PASSÉ COMPOSÉ with
no problem
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS IN FRENCH:
LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ

• The Passé Composé is only for things in the past, so if you want to
translate
“I have been working all day”, first you need to express if you are still working
or not.
You have stopped: J’ai travaillé toute la journée
You are still working: J’ai travaillé toute la journée et ça continue (you need to
make clear that you are still working)
It has been snowing all week:
It has stopped: Il a neigé toute la semaine
It is still snowing: Il a neigé toute la semaine et ça continue
 PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS IN
FRENCH:
LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
The PASSÉ COMPOSÉ is only for things in the past, so if you want to translate
“I have been working all day”, first you need to express if you are still working or not.
• You have stopped: J’ai travaillé toute la journée
You are still working: J’ai travaillé toute la journée et ça continue
(you need to make clear that you are still working)
• It has been snowing all week:
It has stopped: Il a neigé toute la semaine
It is still snowing: Il a neigé toute la semaine et ça continue
 EXPRESSIONS USUALLY REQUIRING THE
IMPARFAIT
Tous les jours, tous les matins: every day, every morning Tous les jours j’allais à la plage
Chaque jour, chaque matin, chaque mois: each day, each morning, each month Chaque jour nous
achetions une baguette
Le lundi, le mardi: on Mondays, on Tuesdays Le lundi, on allait faire du sport.
En général, généralement, d’habitude: in general, usually. En général, je me levais tard
Autrefois, à l’époque: in the past, long ago, at the time. Autrefois, c’était facile
Toujours, souvent: always, often. J’étais toujours malade.
Rarement: rarely J’allais rarement au cinéma
De temps en temps: from time to time. De temps en temps, nous allions au cinéma

Who was it? (after a phone call): C’était qui ? or Qui était-ce ?
 PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS IN
SENTENCES WITH “FOR” OR “SINCE”: LE
PRÉSENT
• It has been snowing since Monday: Il neige depuis lundi
• It has been snowing for 5 days: Il neige depuis 5 jours
Ça fait 5 jours qu’il neige
Il y a 5 jours qu’il neige
• I have been learning French since 2001: J’apprends le français depuis
2001
• I have been learning French for 9 years: J’apprends le français depuis 9
ans
Ça fait 9 ans que j’apprends le
français
 LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
• 1 I have passed my exam (J’ai passé mon examen)
• 2 I passed my exam in June (J’ai passé mon examen en juin)
What do you notice?
In fact, both sentences mean j’ai passé mon examen, but :
In the first sentence, it’s undetermined. [Je donne juste une nouvelle info sur
un événement, d’où la forme « have passed » (= PRESENT PERFECT de «
pass »)]
In the second sentence, i make it clear when (in June), [alors j’utilise «
passed » (= SIMPLE PAST de « pass »)]
 L’IMPARFAIT
Look at these uses of L'Imparfait:
• Je lisais tous les jours.I used to read every day.
• Tu étudiais chaque jour.You used to study each day.
• Il jouait au football quand il était petit.He played football when he was small.
• Tous les étés, nous allions dans le sud de la France.Every summer, we would go to
the South of France.
• Ma mère me berçait dans ses bras jusqu'à ce que je m'endorme. My mother used to
rock me in her arms until I fell asleep.
Note that one of the uses of L'IMPARFAIT is to express actions that are repeated in
the past, or past habits (e.g. I would go every summer, I used to play, ...).
Note that in English you can use used to or would, but you can also use the Simple
Past (i.e. I played) to express habits and repeated actions.
 IMPARFAIT VS PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
COMPARAISON: IMPARFAIT VS PASSÉ
COMPOSÉ
Duration
• I was tired may be translated by J’étais
fatigué or J’ai été fatigué
depending on the context and what you want
to say. How to know which one we can use?
J’étais fatigué expresses a duration, an
undetermined period of time.
J’ai été fatigué, here you don’t mind about
the duration, you want people to know how
tired you were.
Undetermind vs Determined Time
Undetermined timing:
I was at school: J’étais à l’école (the beginning
and the end are not specified, you are just
describing a fact)
J’ai été à l’école (you don’t insist on the period of
time, but on the fact you were at school and now
you are not), usually along with a word like
yesterday, last week…
• I loved Paris: J’aimais Paris
(a long time ago but it still may be true)
J’ai aimé Paris (but now no!)
 IMPARFAIT VS PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
COMPARAISON: IMPARFAIT VS PASSÉ
COMPOSÉ
Repeated action:
I used to visit my grand-mother every day

• J’allais voir ma grand-mère tous les jours (a long time ago)

• Je suis allé voir ma grand-mère tous les jours (last week)

Here, the difference comes from when the event took place, recently or
not.
 EXPRESSIONS USUALLY REQUIRING THE
IMPARFAIT
Tous les jours, tous les matins: every day, every morning Tous les jours
j’allais à la plage
Chaque jour, chaque matin, chaque mois: each day, each morning, each
month Chaque jour nous achetions une baguette
Le lundi, le mardi: on Mondays, on Tuesdays Le lundi, on allait faire du
sport.
En général, généralement, d’habitude: in general, usually En général, je me
levais tard
Autrefois, à l’époque: in the past, long ago, at the time Autrefois, c’était
facile
Toujours, souvent: always, often J’étais toujours malade.
Rarement: rarely J’allais rarement au cinéma
De temps en temps: from time to time De temps en temps, nous allions au
cinéma
Who was it? (after a phone call): C’était qui ? or Qui était-ce ?
 EXPRESSIONS USUALLY REQUIRING THE
PASSÉ COMPOSÉ
Un jour, un matin, un soir: one day, one morning, one evening Un jour, il est rentré
très tard.
Soudain, brusquement, brutalement: suddenly, abruptly, brusquely Soudain, il
s’est mis en colère
Tout d’un coup, tout à coup: all of a sudden, suddenly Tout d’un coup, le meuble
est tombé
Tout de suite, immédiatement: right away, immediately Il a couru tout de suite vers
lui.
D’abord, enfin, finalement: first of all, finally D’abord, j’ai descendu le meuble
Puis, ensuite: then, next Puis je suis allé me rafraîchir.
Some verbs according to their meaning, for example TO DECIDE, if you don’t take
hours to decide something, for a past event, we will use le passé composé, j’ai décidé
que…. It can depend on the context.
I studied French: if you want to insist on French, you will use the passé composé, j’ai
étudié le français quand j’étais jeune.
But for a repeated action, j’étais le français tous les jours
 HOW TO SAY ‘WOULD’ IN FRENCH
Would conditional
He would come if you were nice with him: il viendrait
si tu étais sympa avec lui
In French too, we use the conditional mood.
Would you like some coffee? Voudriez-vous du café
? “This morning Paul said he will be going
After “if” conditional, French and English are similar:
If I had come (if I’d come)…
Would in the past
Willingness: She would not help me: elle ne voulait pas
m’aider or elle ne m’aurait pas aidé!
For a repeated action: he would always watch tv before
dinner: il regardait toujours la télé avant le diner. Here, we
use the Imparfait.
To express the future in the past:
shopping tomorrow“.
Ce matin, Paul a dit qu’il ira faire des courses demain.
“Last tuesday Paul said he would be going shopping
the following day“.

Si j’étais venu. Mardi dernier, Paul a dit qu’il irait faire des course le
We don’t use the conditional lendemain.
As in English we use the conditional to express the future
in the past.
 WOULD: PAST CONDITIONAL
If I had gone to that party, I would have had a good time.
Si j’étais allé à cette fête, Je me serais bien amusé
Here we use to be conditional + past participle (s’amuser needs to be as an auxiliary
verb)
If I had heard the weather report, I would have taken an umbrella.
Si j’avais entendu la météo, j’aurais pris un parapluie.
As you can see, we use the conditional of the auxiliary verb + the past participle of the
following verb, like in English, just be careful with the second auxiliary in French, être.
I could do it: je pourrais le faire
As you can see, we use in French the conditional of “pouvoir”
Could you help me? Pourrais-tu m’aider?
It could be that my father…: Il se pourrait que mon père…
 HOW TO SAY “COULD” IN FRENCH

Could in the past: used to be able…

Last summer, I could sleep every day until 11 A.M:
L’été dernier, Je pouvais dormir tous les jours jusqu’à 11 heures.
She could walk at the age of 2: à deux ans, elle pouvait marcher.
Here, we use the Imperfect Tense in French of “pouvoir”
He said he could swim: il a dit qu’il savait nager (pay attention, with
abilities we use to know in French)
 COULD: PAST CONDITIONAL

Could is a modal verb and can be used as an auxiliary.

If I had gone to France, I could have learned French: si j’avais été en
France, J’aurais pu apprendre le français.
As you can see here, we use the past participle of pouvoir: pu.
You could have bought the bread: tu aurais pu acheter le pain.
Image of How to say Could in French
SHOULD IN FRENCH: CONDITIONAL OF
SHALL
It is the first person of the conditional mood: I should go, you would go…
In this case, we use the conditional mood in French: J’irais, tu irais…
• Past event:
You should have been a doctor
Tu aurais dû être docteur (the auxiliary verb is avoir)
Dû is the past participle of DEVOIR
Should in French.
• Should for if
Should you decide to come later…
Si vous deviez venir plus tard
After SI conditional in French we don’t use the conditional mood but the imperfect
tense instead.