Introduction to French verbs

A verb.... What do you mean?

A verb is the action word in a sentence. It can tell you what is happening, name an action, describe a feeling, or indicate a state of being. Please note that all the verbs in this paragraph are bolded.

In the English present tense, there are just two verb forms, or conjugations, depending on the subject.

The present tense

There's one form for the third person singular, and another for all other subjects: I sing, you sing, we sing, they sing, but he sings and she sings.

The verb to be is the only exception, with three conjugations: I am, you are, he is, we are, they are. In contrast, French verbs have up to six conjugations - a different one for each grammatical person.

chanter - je chante, tu chantes, il chante, nous chantons, vous chantez, ils chantent

être - je suis, tu es, il est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont

Based on patterns in the conjugations, French verbs are divided into categories: the regular verbs and the irregular verbs.

Regular verbs within each set are all conjugated the same way in all of the tenses.

Once you learn how to conjugate one regular verb in each category, you can conjugate the majority of French verbs. We can them the: ER verbs (or first group verb) and the IR verbs (or second group verb).

- ER verbs (or first group verb)

Click here to know more.
http://wps.prenhall.com/ca_ph_parmentier_enbons_7/46/11983/3067774.cw/index.html

- IR verbs (or second group verb)

Click here to know more.



- The irregular verbs

For the irregular verbs, you have to know that their conjugations are unique or are limited to just a few verbs, so you must memorize each of the conjugations separately. Here are some of them:

Etre: to be:

Avoir: to have:

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/lhuughe/FR201/TP/2TPIdiomaticavoir.html

Faire: to do:

http://wps.prenhall.com/ca_ph_parmentier_enbons_7/46/11985/3068184.cw/index.html
http://french.about.com/od/expressions/a/faire.htm 

Aller: to go

Click here, and here to know more.

Review of the main verbs at the present tense :

Here is some exercices:
http://french.about.com/od/grammar/a/topverbs.htm
http://french.about.com/od/grammar/fl/French-Verb-Conjugator-How-To-Conjugate-French-Verbs.htm

- The reflexive verbs

Here is some exercices:
http://wps.prenhall.com/ca_ph_parmentier_enbons_7/46/11986/3068456.cw/index.html

Past tense

There are four indicative past tenses in French, plus less common subjunctive forms. This page is concerned with the usage of the different forms of past tenses in French.

The rules governing usage of these past tenses are quite different to the rules that in English determine, for instance, the choice of the preterite (e.g. I saw) or the present perfect (e.g. I have seen).

We will just be focused on the past composite tense.

The passé composé is the most common French past tense, often used in conjunction with the imperfect. The passé composé can express any of the following:

I. An action completed in the past

As-tu étudié ce weekend ?

Did you study this weekend?

Ils ont déjà mangé.

They have already eaten.

II. An action repeated a number of times in the past

Oui, j'ai mangé cinq fois hier.

Yes, I did eat five times yesterday.

III. A series of actions completed in the past

Quand je suis arrivé, j'ai vu les fleurs.

When I arrived, I saw the flowers.

Samedi, il a vu sa mère, a parlé au médecin et a trouvé un chat.

Saturday he saw his mother, talked to the doctor, and found a cat.

Future

The French future tense talks about upcoming events. While the French future tense has a full set of conjugations, the English equivalent is just the modal verb "will" + main verb.

J'irai au magasin demain I will go to the store tomorrow.

Ils mangeront dans l'avion They will eat on the plane.

http://youtu.be/_ERbdFF8UUU

In PYP we will learn the near future.

This is a verb construction used to express something that is going to happen soon, an upcoming event which is going to occur in the near future. The formation is quite easy: Use aller plus an infinitive - e.g. Ce soir je vais regarder a télé. (This evening I am going to watch TV.)

Aller plus an infinitive.

Aller (present tense) + an infinitive (e.g. jouer) English Je vais jouer I'm going to play Tu vas jouer You're going to play Il/Elle va jouer He/She's going to play Nous allons jouer We're going to play Vous allez jouer You're going to play Ils/Elles vont jouer They're going to play

Examples

Je vais sortir ce soir I'm going to go out this evening Tu vas faire la vaiselle You're going to do the dishes Il/elle va choisir un CD pour son ami He/she's going to choose a CD for his/her friend Vous allez répondre à ma question You're going to reply to my question Ils/elles vont danser à la disco They're going to dance at the disco Nous allons rendre visite à nos amis We're going to visit our friends