on 30-Apr-2018 (Mon)

Reflexive or pronominal verbs always have an object pronoun that refers to the same person or thing as the subject

The imperative or command is the same form as the second person singular and the first and second person plural forms of the verb without the pronoun. For -er verbs, the s is dropped from the second person singular to form the imperative.

In the affirmative imperative, the reflexive pronoun follows the verb and is joined to it by a hyphen

The imperative is made negative by placing ne or n’ before the imperative form of the verb and pas after it

Note that the reflexive pronoun te does not change in the negative imperative.

The present participle is formed by dropping the ending -ons from the first person plural of the present tense and adding -ant.

When the present participle is used as an adjective, it agrees with the noun it modifies.

The present participle is invariable when expressing an concurrent action

The imperfect tense is formed by dropping the -ons ending from the first person plural of the present tense and adding the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.

The imperfect tense is used to indicate actions begun in the past but not necessarily completed. It is used to express those past actions which are habitual or customary.

The passé composé is used when talking about something that happened and completed in the past.

The passé composé of most verbs is formed by adding the present tense of the auxiliary verb avoir to the past participle.

The past participle of -er verbs is formed by adding -é to the infinitive stem.

The passé composé is also called the conversational past tense.

The past participle of -ir verbs is formed by adding -i to the infinitive stem. Some verbs whose infinitive ends in -ir have regular past participles even though they are irregular in the present tense.

The past participle of -re verbs is formed by adding -u to the infinitive stem. Some -re verbs that are irregular in the present tense have regular past participles.

With verbs conjugated with e ˆ tre, the past participle agrees in number and in gender with the subject.

The passe ´ simple or literary past tense is a past tense that designates a completed action in the past with no relation to the present tense. The passe ´ simple is used in literary contexts whereas the passe ´ compose ´ is used in conversation and in informal writing.

The passé simple of regular -er verbs is formed by dropping the -er ending from the infinitive and adding the endings -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent

je parlai
tu parlas
il, elle, on parla
nous parlâmes
vous parlâtes
ils, elles parlèrent

the passé simple of -ir and -re verbs have the endings -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent

je finis
tu finis
il, elle, on finit
nous finîmes
vous finîtes
ils, elles finirent

for regular -ir verbs, that the singular forms of the present tense and the passé simple are identical

The immediate future can be expressed by using the verb aller with an infinitive. This is the equivalent of the English to be going to

The future tense of most verbs is formed by adding -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont to the infinitive. The final -e of -re verbs is dropped before adding the future endings. The future tense is used as in English to express an event or describe a condition that will take place in the future

The present conditional is formed by adding the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient to the future stem of the verb. Note that the endings are the same as those for the imperfect tense.

The compound tenses are formed by using the appropriate tense of the auxiliary verb avoir or e ˆ tre and the past participle.

The pluperfect tense is formed by using the imperfect tense of the verb avoir or être with the past participle.

The pluperfect tense expresses a past action completed prior to another past action that is either mentioned or understood from the context.

Elle avait parlé et ensuite nous sommes partis. She had spoken and then we left.
Ils avaient déjà terminé quand je suis parti. They had already finished when I left.
Elles étaient déjà descendues quand je suis entré. They had already come down when I came in.
Elle m’a demandé si j’avais vu le film. She asked me if I had seen the film.

The future perfect tense (futur ante ´ rieur) is formed by using the future tense of the auxiliary verb avoir or e ˆ tre with the past participle.

The future perfect tense is used to express a future action that will be completed prior to another future action. Elles auront mange ´ avant mon arrive ´ e. They will have eaten before my arrival. Il sera de ´ ja ` parti quand vous arriverez. He will have already left when you arrive. Nous nous serons couche ´ s quand vous reviendrez. We will have already gone to bed when you return. Demain a ` cette heure, nous serons arrive ´ s en France. Tomorrow at this time, we will have arrived in France

The past conditional (passe ´ du conditionnel) is formed by using the conditional tense of the auxiliary verb avoir or e ˆ tre and the past participle

The past conditional is used to describe what would have taken place if something else had not interfered. Dans ce cas-la ` , j’aurais refuse ´ . In that case, I would have refused. Ils auraient fait le voyage, mais ils n’avaient pas assez d’argent. They would have taken the trip, but they didn’t have enough money

The passe ´ ante ´ rieur is formed by using the passe ´ simple of the auxiliary verb avoir or e ˆ tre and the past participle

The passe ´ surcompose ´ is a double compound tense formed by using the passe ´ compose ´ of the auxiliary verb avoir and the past participle. It is rarely used with verbs conjugated with e ˆ tre except when these verbs imply result, not action

Like the plus-que-parfait, the passe ´ ante ´ rieur expresses a past action that occurred before another past action. It is usually used in subordinate clauses after quand, lorsque, apre ` s que, aussito ˆ t que, de ` s que or a ` peine which indicate a past action immediately preceding another.

The passe ´ ante ´ rieur is only used in written language. In spoken language, it is replaced by the passe ´ surcompose ´ . Quand il a eu fini, il est parti. When he had finished, he left