Download parler - Northern Highlands

DRMRSPVANDERTRAMP
Each letter stands for a verb that illustrated in the maison d’être!
VANDERTRAMP VERBS
1. The verbs below are the basic ones conjugated with être in compound tenses.
You can learn these verbs as a mnemonic. That lovely old couple DR & MRS P.
VANDERTRAMP contains all the first letters of the verbs taking être.



Devenir
Retourner
and
Mourir
Rentrer
Sortir

Passer











Venir
Arriver
Naître
Descendre
Entrer
Revenir
Tomber
Rester
Aller
Monter
Partir


** VERY IMPORTANT POINT. You should note that the past participle of all
the above verbs agrees with the subject in number and gender. For example, you
write:
Mme Vandertramp est morte, because Mme Vandertramp is feminine and
singular, so the past participle agrees. Thus:





Elle est partie (Feminine singular)
Nous sommes rentrés (Masculine plural) OR
Nous sommes rentrées (Feminine plural)
Je suis venu (Masculine singular) OR
Je suis venue (Feminine singular)
IMPARFAIT
FORMATION
The imparfait (imperfect) is regular for all verbs except être. It is formed by dropping
the ending –ons from the nous form and adding the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, and
-aient.
Racine de l’imparfait + terminaison de l’imparfait
(Imperfect stem)
+
(imperfect ending)
a) La racine (the stem)
This is how you figure out the stem:
Imperfect stem = present “nous” form of the verb (without “ons”)
Exemples: INFINITIF
parler
finir
partir
vendre
boire
avoir
PRESENT NOUS FORM
 nous parlons
 nous finissons
 nous partons
 nous vendons
 nous buvons
→ nous avons
→
→
→
→
→
→
IMPERFECT STEM
parl…..
finiss….
part…
vend….
buv…
av….
b) Les terminaisons (the endings)
The endings are the same for all the verbs, regulars and irregulars.
imperfect endings:
Je
Tu
Il
-ais
-ais
-ait
Nous
Vous
Ils
-ions
-iez
-aient
c) Verbs ending in _-GER (ex : manger)
INFINITIF
manger
PRESENT NOUS FORM
→ nous mangeons
IMPERFECT STEM
→ mange…..
Be careful in the nous and vous forms of the imperfect, you need to drop the « e ».
je mangeais
tu mangeais
il mangeait
nous mangions
vous mangiez
ils mangeaient
→ drop the « e »
→ drop the « e »
d) Verbs ending in _-CER (ex : commencer)
INFINITIF
commencer
PRESENT NOUS FORM
→ nous commençons
IMPERFECT STEM
→ commenç…..
Be careful in the nous and vous forms of the imperfect, you need to drop the
« cédille », (ç becomes c)
je commençais
tu commençais
il commençait
nous commencions
vous commenciez
ils commençaient
→ drop the « cédille » (ç becomes c)
→ drop the « cédille » (ç becomes c)
 Be careful with regular –IER verbs
 There is a double i in “nous” and “vous” forms
ex: nous étudiions.
e) Exception : le verbe être
There is only one exception to the formation of the imperfect: ÊTRE.
The stem for être in the imperfect is: ét…..
To this stem you add the regular imperfect endings.
j’étais
tu étais
il était
nous étions
vous étiez
ils étaient
LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ (1)
A. Le passé composé with avoir.
The passé composé (p/c) is used to express an action completed in the past. The p/c
of most verbs consists of the present tense form of the auxiliary* verb avoir
followed by the past participle of the conjugated verb.
*auxiliary verb is also called or helping verb.
Part #1
Part #2

avoir
+
(conjugated to the subjet)

past participle
(of the verb)
2 distinct parts to form the passé composé
Let’s have a look at the verb parler (to speak) in the p.c.
parler = infinitive
parlé = past participle
PARLER
Singular
J’
Tu
Il / elle
First person
Second person
Third person
ai
as
a
parlé
parlé
parlé
Plural
Nous
avons
Vous
avez
Ils / elles ont
parlé
parlé
parlé
In English depending on the circumstances, you would have 2 possible translations.
J’ai parlé

=
I spoke / I did speak
I have spoken
(preterit)
(present perfect)
The past participle of a regular verb is formed by replacing the infinitive
ending by the appropriate past participle ending.
-er → -é
parler
→ parlé
-ir → -i
finir
→ fini
-re → -u
vendre
→ vendu
ATTENTION : be careful as irregular verbs have irregular past participles
B. Negative form.
The negative form of the p/c is formed by placing ne (or n’) before the conjugated
form of avoir and pas (or most other negative words) after it.
(In other words, sandwich the helping verb avoir with ne…….pas)
PARLER
First person
Second person
Third person
Je
Tu
Il / elle
Singular
n’ ai pas parlé
n’ as pas parlé
n’ a
pas parlé
Plural
Nous
n’ avons
Vous
n’ avez
Ils / elles n’ ont
pas parlé
pas parlé
pas parlé