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CONJUGAISONS
Who does what and when ?
To describe an action or a state
we use verbs
The name of an action
is called the infinitive
In English, the infinitive
Is introduced by to
Ex. to give – to do – to have
In French, the infinitive
is recognised by its ending in
“er”, “ir” or “re”
Ex. donner – faire – avoir
Who does the action ?
• I
• Je
N° 1 • We
• Nous
• You
• Tu
N° 2 • You
• Vous
• He
• She
• It
• Il
• Elle
• On
• Ils
N° 3 • They • Elles
When a person does an action,
the verb is conjugated
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
I
You
He
She
We
You
They
giv e
giv e
giv es
giv es
giv e
giv e
giv e
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Je
Tu
Il
Elle
Nous
Vous
Ils
Elles
donne
donnes
donne
donne
donnons
donnez
donnent
donnent
To show when an action
is taking place
we use different tenses
There is a different conjugation
for each tense
Some tenses
have a simple conjugation:
the endings of the verb change
Some tenses need an
auxiliary verb
for their conjugation
In English
the main auxiliary verbs are
to have and to be
In French they are
avoir et être
It is essential
to know their conjugation
When an auxiliary verb is used
for the conjugation
It becomes the active part
of the verb
The main verb is turned into
a past participle
The past participle
is a word of description
The past participle describes
the object of the action
or
the person doing the action
Sometimes, it describes
the action itself
ATTENTION !
In English, the most used past tense is the preterit
(= French past historic) which has a simple conjugation
(no auxiliary verb) - Ex. I played rugby
In English, the past participle of a verb often looks
the same as a verb conjugated in the preterit
Ex. I played rugby – I have played rugby
As a result, English students often omit the auxiliary verb
when they use the perfect tense in French
Ex. Je joué instead of J’ai joué au rugby
DON’T !
To conjugate a verb
the past participle
is not sufficient
Je joué au tennis
The past participle
must follow an auxiliary verb
J’ai joué au tennis
To conjugate
is to say many things
in one syllable !
The conjugation
is a verb’s secret code