Transcript Verbs & Tenses Review Guide

Time phrases
Who are we talking about?
1.
normalement
je – I
2.
d’habitude
il – he
3.
de temps en temps
Remember if you are aiming for a C grade or above:
elle – she
4.
l’année dernière
on – we
5.
il y a … ans
*If you can use a variety of tenses, you stand a better chance of
increasing your marks.
6.
le mois dernier
*Add in the past (perfect and imperfect), present and the future to
help you gain those marks.
ils – they (all male/mixed)
7.
la semaine dernière
*If you’re feeling confident, you could add in the conditional.
elles – they (all female)
8.
l’année prochaine
ma mère – my Mum
9.
à l’avenir
*You need to aim for accuracy: CHECK your tenses in your preparation
time – DON’T take a random guess!
The Present Tense – REGULAR VERBS
nous – we
mon frère – my brother
The Present Tense – IRREGULAR VERBS
This is used to talk about what you generally do or what you are doing
right now. If you look up a verb in the dictionary, it ends in one of the
However, some verbs are irregular and need checking and learning.
Here are some common ones:
following: -er, -ir or –re. This is known as the infinitive. To form the
j’ai/il a/nous avons – I have/he has/we have
regular present tense, follow these rules:
-er verbs
-ir verbs
-re verbs
je chante
je finis
je vends
tu chantes
tu finis
tu vends
il/elle/on chante
il/elle/on finit
il/elle/on vend
nous chantons
nous finissons
nous vendons
vous chantez
vous finissez
vous vendez
ils/elles chantent
ils/elles finissent
ils/elles vendent
When you look up the verb in the dictionary, e.g. choisir. Follow
these instructions:
1.
Remove the ir from the end: chois
2.
Add the correct ending from above, depending on who you are
talking about: je choisis
EASY!
je suis/il est/nous sommes – I am/he is/we are
je vais/il va/nous allons – I go/he goes/we go
je fais/il fait/nous faisons – I do/he does/we do
je lis/il lit/nous lisons – I read/he reads/we read
je peux/il peut/nous pouvons – I can/he can/we can
je bois/il boit/nous buvons – I drink/he drinks/we drink
je mange/il mange/nous mangeons – I eat/he eats/we eat
j’achète/il achète/nous achetons – I buy/he buys/we buy
je sors/il sort/nous sortons – I go out/he goes out/we go out
REMEMBER: The il form is the same for elle and on too!
Past tenses
The perfect tense
There are two types of past tense in French:
DR & MRS. VANDERTRAMP
1.
The perfect tense
2.
The imperfect tense
The following verbs are all formed with
The perfect tense – how to form it:
être. For this you need:
The perfect tense is the one you need the
•
The perfect tense has three parts:
je suis – tu es – il/elle est –
most. It is used to describe something you
1.
The person you are writing about, e.g. je
nous sommes – vous êtes – ils/elles sont
did in the past, e.g. Hier j’ai regardé un film.
2.
The auxiliary verb, either avoir or être
Devenir – to become (devenu)
The imperfect tense is used to describe
3.
The past participle, e.g. fait
Revenir – to come back (revenu)
something which happened regularly. It is
Most verbs are made up with avoir. For this
Monter – to climb (monté)
also used to describe what something was
you need:
Rester – to stay (resté)
like in the past, e.g. weather or feelings, e.g.
j’ai – tu as – il a – nous avons – vous avez – ils ont
Sortir – to go out (sorti)
Il faisait beau.
This is how to form REGULAR past
Venir – to come (venu)
Just a reminder of the most important
participles:
Aller – to go (allé)
people:
1.
acheter – achet – acheté
Naître – to be born (né)
je – I
2.
finir – fin – fini
Descendre – to go down (descendu)
il – he
3.
vendre – vend – vendu
Entrer – to enter (entré)
elle – she
Here are some examples:
Rentrer – to come back (rentré)
nous – we
J’ai acheté un stylo.
Tomber – to fall (tombé)
ils/elles - they
Il a fini ses devoirs.
Retourner – to return (retourné)
Ils ont vendu des glaces.
Arriver – to arrive (arrivé)
The perfect tense! An extra rule to remember!
Mourir – to die (mouru)
When you are using the Dr & Mrs Vandertramp verbs, you have to add agreements
depending on the person you are talking about.
Partir – to leave (parti)
e.g.
e.g. Je suis parti.
For a female, add an extra e.
Il est tombé.
For a male, add nothing.
Je suis né.
For more than one female, add an extra e and an s.
For more than one male, add an extra s.
For a group of males and females, add an extra s.
Examples: Elle est allée à la plage. Nous sommes allés aux musées.
See the box next to this for more advice
on how to form the perfect tense in
French!
The Imperfect Tense
For your essays, the imperfect tense will be
mainly used to describe, e.g. the weather. If
The future tense!
you then describe what you did in the past in
certain weather types, you will need to use
The future tense is used to talk about something you will do in the future, i.e. tomorrow, next
the imperfect tense.
week, next month, next year, in ten years!
If you are using the imperfect with je, the
There are two ways to form the future tense.
verb will end in –ais and if you’re talking
1.
Use the present tense of aller + an infinitive, e.g. je vais manger = I’m going to eat.
about he/she/it, the verb will end in –ait.
je vais
Some key verbs:
il/elle va
Je faisais
nous allons
Je jouais
ils/elles vont
J’allais
This is used generally for things which are happening in the near future.
Je mangeais
Il pleuvait
2.
Take the infinitive (remember all infinitives end in –ER, -IR or –RE) and add the endings
below. *Make sure you take the –e off the end of any –RE verbs!*
je – ai
Il faisait
il/elle – a
Il y avait
Remember to use these with the weather in
the past, e.g. Quand il faisait beau, j’allais à
la plage.
nous – ons
ils/elles – ont
e.g. Je regarderai. Il finira. Ils vendront.
Irregular Future Tense Verbs
The conditional tense
This is used to describe a ‘what if’ situation:
There are some irregular verbs which you need to learn:
j’irai – I will go
So far, you have learnt:
je ferai – I will do
si je gagnais à la loterie – if I won the
lottery
j’aurai – I will have
je serai – I will be
je voudrais – I would like
il y aura – there will be
ce sera – it will be
e.g. L’année prochaine, j’irai en Australie.
What makes a C grade (or above!) essay?
• You must:
1. Write 150 words or more.
2. Include opinions: adjectives – positive &
negative and good opinion phrases.
3. Use connectives, e.g. and, but, however.
4. Include a range of tenses: past, present &
future, and if you can, the conditional.
5. Use time phrases.
6. Structure your essay: planning is key!
7. Talk about other people.