1French Grammar: Tenses1) In any language, when we refer to something happening, we always use a tense to indicate whether it is going to, is, or has already, happened. e.g. Im going to eat an apple. I am eating an apple. I ate an apple.2) French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -RE, -IR)3) To use the verbs in different tenses, we need to know some rules. These rules are simple and are applied to nearly all verbs. 4) 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 “tre” (to be). 5) Tenses:Le prsent (pg 2-4) Le pass compos (pg 5-8) Limparfait (pg 9) Le futur simple (pg 10-11) Le conditionnel (pg 12-13)2Le PrsentWhen to use it:To talk about what is happening at the moment To talk about what happens usually/normallyTime phrases:Tous les jours (everyday), chaque jour (everyday), chaque matin (every morning), parfois (sometimes), etc.Regular Verbs1) ER verbs: take off the ER and add the endings:-e -es -e -e -ons -ez -ent -ent2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add the endings: -is -is -it -it -issons -issez -issent -issent3) RE verbs: take off the RE and add the endings:-s -s - - -ons -ez -ent -ent3Examples:ParlerFinirVendre Je parleJe finisJe vends Tu parlesTu finisTu vends Il/Elle parleIl/Elle finitIl/Elle vend Nous parlonsNous finissonsNous vendons Vous parlezVous finissezVous vendez Il/Elles parlentIls/Elles finissentIls/Elles vendent4Irregular Verbs As in every French tense there are always irregular verbs. These verbs do not follow the rules. You just have to learn them off!Examples:treAvoirAllerFaire Je suisJaiJe vaisJe fais Tu esTu asTu vasTu fais Il/Elle est Il/Elle aIl/Elle vaIl/Elle fait Nous sommesNous avonsNous allonsNous faisons Vous tesVous avezVous allezVous faisez Ils/Elles sontIls/Elles ontIls/Elles vontIls/Elles fontCommon irregular verbs: venir: to come pouvoir: to be able vouloir: to want/wish partir: to leave prendre: to take sortir: to go out voir: to see lire: to read boire: to drink crire: to write5Le Pass ComposWhen to use it:To talk about something that has happened in the past and is now finished.Time phrases: La semaine dernire (last week), hier (yesterday), etc.Le pass compos is made up of 2 parts:1) The auxilary verb (the present tense of AVOIR or TRE) + 2) The past participle (donn, parl, sorti, fait, etc)Regular AVOIR Verbs The present tense of avoir + the past participle1) -ER verbs: take off the ER and add Donner Jai donn Tu as donn Il/Elle a donn Nous avons donn Vous avez donn Ils/Elles ont donn2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add iFinir Jai fini Tu as fini Il/Elle a fini Nous avons fini Vous avez fini Ils/Elles ont fini63) RE verbs: take off the RE and add uVendre Jai vendu Tu as vendu Il/Elle a vendu Nous avons vendu Vous avez vendu Ils/Elles ont vendu7Irregular AVOIR verbsThere is a group of irregular verbs that take AVOIR in le pass compos. These verbs are formed with: 1) present tense of avoir + 2) the irregular past partcipleIrregular past participles:avoir:to have: eu tre:to be: t boire: to drink: bu connatre: to know: connu courir: to run: couru croire: to believe: cru devoir: to have to: d dire: to say/tell: dit crire: to write: crit faire: to make/do: fait lire: to read:lu mettre: to put: mis ouvrir: to open: ouvert pouvoir: to be able: pu prendre: to take: pris recevoir: to receive: reu savoir: to know: su voir: to see: vu vouloir: to want: vouluExamples: PrendreAvoirtre Jai prisJai euJai t Tu as prisTu as euTu as t Il/Elle a prisIl/Elle a euIl/Elle a t Nous avons prisNous avons euNous avons t Vous avez prisVous avez euVous avez t Ils/Elles ont prisIls/Elles ont euIls/Elles ont t8TRE VerbsA small group of verbs take the present tense of “tre” as their auxilary verb.1) present tense of tre + 2) past participleAn easy way to remember this group of verbs is with the name:MRS VAN DE TRAMPMourir:to die:mort Retourner:to return:retourn Sortir:to go out: sortiVenir:to come:venu Arriver:to arrive:arriv Natre:to be born: nDescendre: to go down: descendu Entrer:to enter:entrTomber:to fall:tomb Rester:to stay:rest Aller:to go out:all Monter:to go up:mont Partir:to leave:partiN.B: The past participle must agree with who did the action. So if the person was female you must add an extra -e to the end of the past participle: e.g. elle est partie - she left. If two or more females did the action you must add -es: e.g. elles sont parties - they left. If the person who did the action was one male, then the past participle does not change: e.g. il est parti - he left. If two or more males did the action add -s: e.g. ils sont partis - they left. 9LImparfaitWhen to use it:To talk about something that used to happen in the past. To describe the way something was in the past (the weather was fine last Tuesday).Phrases:Quand jtais jeune (when I was young), l