Guide de Grammaire
Guide de Grammaire
Guide de Grammaire
Pronoun
qui
Meaning
Who, which, that, whom
Use
Subject, for persons and things
Object of preposition, for
que (qu)
persons
Direct object, for persons and
dont
things
Object of preposition for
TimeFrame
FrenchTense
HowtoBuild
Examples
fromOther
Tenses
Whathappens,ishappening,or
Presentindicative/prsent
doeshappen
delindicatif
What[has]happenedprecisely
Passcompos
andcompletely
jechante
jemelave
Present
avoir/tre+past
participle
Whatwashappeningorusedto
Imperfect/Imparfait
happenorjustwasacertainway
Whatwillhappen
jaichant
jemesuis
lav(e)
jechantais
jemelavais
Simplefuture/futursimple
jechanterai
jemelaverai
The pass compose is formed by combining two elements: WHEN the action has taken place and
WHAT has taken place. WHEN requires the helping verb avoir and WHAT requires the past
participle of the regular or irregular verb showing the specific action.
REGULAR VERBS: -ER, -IR, -RE
SUBJECT + HELPING VERB + PAST PARTICIPLE
What is the helping verb?
jai
nous avons
tu as
vous avez
il a
ils ont
elle a
elles ont
nous avons
tu as
vous avez
il a
elles ont
elle a
elles ont
Examples:
Nous avons eu we had
Tu as vu you saw
Vous avez lu you read
nous sommes
Tu es
vous etes
Il est
ils sont
Elle est
elles sont
Examples: je danserais, tu danserais, il/elle danserait, nous danserions, vous danseriez, ils/elles
danseraient
Irregular Verbs in the Conditional
Infinitive
Aller to go
Avoirto have
Courir to run
Devoir to owe, have to
Envoyer to send
tre to be
Faire to do
Falloir to be necessary
Pleuvoir to rain
Pouvoir to be able to
Recevoirto receive
Savoir to know
Venir to come
Voir to see
Vouloir to want
Conditional
Jirais
Jaurais
Je courrais
Je devrais
Jenverrais
Je serais
Je ferais
Il faudrait
Il pleuvrait
Je pourrais
Je recevrais
Je saurais
Je viendrais
Je verrais
Je voudrais
*because the conditional stem is the same as the future stem, any verb that is irregular in the
conditional is also irregular in the future.
Tu____(tre) la cliente
Je te____(demander) ce que tu voudrais
Tu me____ (prendre) des oeufs
Nous____ (vouloir) tlphoner nos amis
J'____ (aller) en chercher dans ma rserve
4) Future
When is it used? The future tense is used to express a future action or state, that is, what WILL
happen as time continues on. In other words, it expresses what is going to happen in the future.
How do you conjugate it? The future tense is formed by adding the following endings to the
infinitive: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.
Examples: je danserai, tu danseras, il/elle dansera, nous danserons, vous danserez, ils/elles
danseront
person
1stpersonsingular
2ndpersonsingular
3rdpersonsingular
1stpersonplural
2ndpersonplural
3rdpersonplural
erverbs
jaimerai
tuaimeras
il/elle/onaimera
nousaimerons
vousaimerez
ils/ellesaimeront
irverbs
jefinirai
tufiniras
il/elle/onfinira
nousfinirons
vousfinirez
ils/ellesfiniront
reverbs
jevendrai
tuvendras
il/elle/onvendra
nousvendrons
vousvendrez
ils/ellesvendront
Future
Jirai
Jaurai
Je courrai
Je devrai
Jenverrai
Je serai
Je ferai
Il faudra
Je mourrai
Il pleuvra
Je pourrai
Je recevrai
Je saurai
Je viendrai
Je verrai
Je voudrai
Exception: The future tense is generally used in the same way as the English future with will;
however, in some cases, French requires the future tense where English uses the present. In
particular, after quand and lorsque (when) and after aussitt que and ds que (as soon as).
-Use dans with a length of time to say when something will happen in the future.
To negate a sentence in the future, simply put NE and the negative word around the conjugated
verb: Nous NE saurons pas tout de suite les rsultats. (We won't know the results immediately).
5) LImparfait
Limparfait is considered one of the past tenses and is used for:
1) a description in the past
2) an action / a habit that used to happen in the past but does not anymore
3) an unfinished action in the past and / or an action which was in progress in the past
when it was interrupted by another shorter action
To conjugate a verb in the imparfait, you need to:
1) take the nous form of the verb in the PRESENT TENSE
2) take off the nous and the ons ending
3) add the correct imperfect ending
1stpersonsingular
2ndpersonsingular
3rdpersonsingular
1stpersonplural
2ndpersonplural
3rdpersonplural
erverbs
(nousaimons)
jaimais
tuaimais
il/elle/onaimait
nousaimions
vousaimiez
ils/ellesaimaient
irverbs
(nousfinissons)
jefinissais
tufinissais
il/elle/onfinissait
nousfinissions
vousfinissiez
ils/ellesfinissaient
reverbs
(nousvendons)
jevendais
tuvendais
il/elle/onvendait
nousvendions
vousvendiez
ils/ellesvendaient
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