CONJUGAISON

 Le présent
o When
- Facts
Ex: le garçon s’appelle Félix
- Current situations
- Repeated actions (in present) (once, multiple times or never)
Ex: Tous les mardis, il va à l’entraînement de football
- Scheduled future actions – already plan or agreed upon (required
specific future time indicator)
- The duration of actions that started in the past and are on going
in the present
Ex: Il joue au football depuis cinq ans
o How
- Remove infinitive ending (-er, -ir, -re)
- Add the following endings:
-er Type 1 Type 2 -re
Person Verbs -ir -ir Verbs
(*) Verbs Verbs (****)
(**) (***)
1st person singular (Je) -e -is -s -s
2nd person singular (Tu) -es -is -s -s
3rd person singular (Il, Elle, -e -it -t -t / --
On)
1st person plural (Nous) -ons -issons -ons -ons
2nd person plural (Vous) -ez -issez -ez -ez
3rd person plural (Ils) -ent -issent -ent -ent

(*) -er Verbs

⁃ Ending in -ger, add an e before the letter o in the nous form
in order to preserve the pronunciation of the g
Ex: manger (eat) --> nous mangeons
⁃ Ending in -cer, the c becomes ç before the letter o in the
nous form in order to preserve the pronunciation.
Ex: lancer (throw) --> nous lançons
⁃ Ending in -yer, the y becomes an i in the singular form (Je,
tu or il / elle / on) as well as in the 3rd person plural (Ils)
Ex: envoyer (send) --> j’envoie, tu envoies, il envoie, ils
envoient
(*) NOTE : ending in -ayer, we can write either i or y.
 Ex: payer --> je paye / je paie

(**) Type 1 -ir Verbs

⁃ The majority of -ir verbs belong to type 1, which means that
plural forms (Nous, Vous, Ils/Ells) add -iss before the
present tense endings.
⁃ Ex: applaudir, choisir, divertir, fleurir, grandir, grossir, nourrir,
obéir, pâlir, etc.
(***) Type 2 -ir Verbs
⁃ Type 2 -ir verbs can be divided into 2 kinds: verbs that are
conjugated in the same way as -er verbs, and verbs that are
conjugated with -s/-s/-t in the singular form.
⁃

 Le passé compose
o When
- Talk about one-time, completed actions that took place in the
past
- This tense places the emphasis on the result or
consequences of the action.
o How
- Use the present tense of “avoir” or “être” as an auxiliary verb
(help verb), followed by the past participle (participle passé) of
the main verb.
Person avoir Participle être Participle
st
1 person singular J’ai Je suis
(Je)
2nd person singular Tu as aimé Tu es parti
(Tu)
fini partie
3rd person singular (Il, Il / Elle / Il / Elle /
Elle, On) On a vendu On est partis
1st person plural Nous Nous
(Nous) avons sommes parties
2nd person plural Vous Vous êtes
(Vous) avez
3rd person plural (Ils, Ils / ells Ils / Ells
Elles) ont sont

- In negative sentences, the past participle comes after the second

part of the nagation (ne___pas).
Ex: J’ai rigolé (rigoler : to laugh) --> Je n’ai pas rigolé.
Je suis parti (partir : leave) --> Je ne suis pas parti.
- For reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun comes after the first
part of the nagation (ne) and before the auxiliary verb (avoir /
être)
Ex: Je ne me suis pas trompé dans mon calcul.
- For the regular -er/-ir/-re verbs, the past participle is formed
as follows:
 If the infinitive ends in -er, the participle ends in é
Ex: aimer (love) --> aimé
 If the infinitive ends in -ir, the participle ends in i
Ex: finir (finish) --> fini
 If the infinitive ends in -re, the participle ends in u
Ex: vendre (sell) --> vendu

(❓) AVOIR or ÊTRE

- Most verbs construct the passé compose with avoir, however
être is used as the auxiliary verb in the following case:
 With reflexive verbs
Ex: Je me suis trompé dans mon calcul.
 With the following verbs of movement: naître/mourir
(born/die), aller/venir, monter/descendre (go up/go
down), arriver/partir (arrive/leave), entrer/so-rtir
(enter/exit), apparaître (appear), rester (stay), retourner
(return), tomber (fall) and their related forms such
as: revenir, rentrer, remonter, redescendre, repartir
 Ex: Je suis arrivé à la gare.

 L’imparfait
o When
- Describe a situation in the past.
- Describe a person, a property, a comment or an explanation in
the past.
- To talk about a repeated action in the past. *old habbits*
- To talk about simultaneously (at the same time) occurring
actions in the past.
- To emphasise the duration of an action.
o How
- We take the present tense stem of the 1st person plural form
(Nous), and add the following endings:

Person -er verbs -ir verbs -ir verbs -re verbs

(nous (nous (nous (nous
aimons) finissons) dormons) vendons)
(*) (**)
1st person singular J’ aimais Je finissais Je dormais Je vendais
2nd person singular Tu aimais Tu finissais Tu dormais Tu vendais
3rd person singular Il/Elle/On Il/Elle/On Il/Elle/On Il/Elle/On
aimait finissait dormait vendait
1st person plural Nous Nous Nous Nous
aimions finissions dormions vendions
2nd person plural Vous aimiez Vous Vous Vous
finissiez dormiez vendiez
3rd person plural Ils/Elles Ils/Ells Ils/Elles Ils/Elles
aimaient finissaient dormaient vendaient

(*) finir --> nous finissons --> finissons --> je finissais, tu

finissais,…
(**) dormir --> nous dormons --> dormons --> je dormais, tu
dormais,…

 (⭐️) Imparfait VS. Passé compose

o Example:
o

When:

Passé compose 💙 L’imparfait ❤️

 Similar to the English simple past.  Similar to the English past
progressive.
 Talks about: completed,  It sets the scene, gives background
sequential or one-time actions description and expresses past
that took place on a specific actions that were repeated over
occasion. time.
 Use to:  Use to:
o Answer the question Que s’est-il o Answer the question Qu’est-ce
passé? (what’s happened?) que / comment c’était? (what was
something like? (weather,
o Express a past action that landscape, person).
happened on a specific time
marker (usually with a specific o Express a repeated past action
time marker). (used to, would).

o Express a one-time past action. o Talk about a past action whose

beginning and end is unknown.
o List sequential past action that
happened one after another. o Express simultaneously (at the
same time) occurring past actions.
 o Introduce a new past action that
interrupted another that was o Describe a continuous past action
already in progress (expressed in that were already in progress
the imparfait). when another action (usually in
Ex: Mais un jour, pendent que je the passé composé) interrupted.
parlais avec un agriculteur, j’ai
reçu un appel.

o Signal words:
Passé composé Imparfait
 Soudain (suddenly)  Tout les jours
= Tout à coup  Chaque fois (every
 À ce moment-là (at time)
that time)  Tourjours (always)
 En 1998  Ne___jamais (never)
 le  Hier  Souvent (often) futur
 L’année derniére  Le mardi (on Tuesday) proche
 le  Ensuite (then, next)  D’habitude (usually) futur
= Puis (then)  Quelquefois
 = Après (after, next) (sometimes) l’impératif
= Alors (then)