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French for Independent Learners
Foreword.: How to learn a language.
Children learn by being exposed to the language from birth.
If you aren’t a child, learning from birth, this is what you need to do:
Be aware of the areas of competence required in order to speak a foreign language.
Work at them. Keep working at them.
At least the method is easy.
Here are the Areas of Competence (AC):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Key phrases with pronunciation guide
Pronunciation – type the Learn ‘em off phrases (AC7) into Google translate
Ability to paraphrase (find a way to express yourself)
Key grammar – tenses
Key grammar – other
Vocabulary connectors (app available)
Vocabulary – nouns and adjectives (app available)
Learn ‘em off phrases (app available)
French for Independent Learners deals with areas of competence 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.
For more pronunciation help, use Google translate.
Area of Competence 1 (Key Phrases) and Area of Competence 2 (Pronunciation)
If what you want is only the key phrases of French, this section is for you.
This section consists of 8 situations in which you may need to speak French.
Pronunciation highlighted in grey. Try using my system and test it against google
translate.
Conversation 1
Excuse me, can I have that please?
Excusez-moi, est-ce que je peux avoir ça s’il vous plait?
(Ex-koo-zay – mwah, ess-keuh zheuh peuh av-wire sah seal voo play ?)
That !?
Ça !?
(Sah?)
No, that !
Non, ça !
(Naw, sah!)
That ?
Ça?
(sah ?)
Yes, that please.
Oui, ça, s’il vous plait
(Wee, sah seal voo play)
Here you go !
Voilà !
(Vwah-lah)
Thank-you. Here you go (handing over money)
Merci, voilà.
(Mare sea vwah-lah)
Don’t mention it
Je vous en prie.
(Zheuh voo zawn pree)
Conversation 2
How much do I have to pay for that ?
Combien est-ce que je dois payer pour ça?
(Cawm bee yeah ess keuh zheuh dwah pay-ay pour sah?)
300 euros
Trois cent euros
(Trwah sawze ooh-roe)
Can I pay by credit card?
Est-ce que je peux payer avec la carte?
(Ess-keuh zheuh dwah pay-ay avek lah kaart)
No, sorry.
Non, je suis désolé
(Naw zheuh swee day-zoe-lay)
Ok, thank-you anyway. Good-bye
Ah, merci quand-même. Au revoir.
(Ah, mare-sea kaw-mem. Oh rev-wire)
Conversation 3
Hello, I want that ice-cream please
Bonjour, je veux cette glace s’il vous plait
(Bawn-jeuhr, zheuh veuh set glass seal voo play)
No problem, big, medium or small
Aucun problème, grand, moyen, petit?
(Oh-kun prob lem, graw, mwy-yeah, peuh-tee?)
Small, please.
Petit s’il vous plaît.
(Peuh-tee seal voo play)
Here you are.
Voilà.
(Vwah-lah)
Thank-you.
Merci
(Mare-sea)
Conversation 4
Excuse me. I have to find a bank.
S’il vous plait. Je dois trouver une banque.
(Seal voo play zheuh dwah true vay oon bawnk)
Ah, there is a bank in the next street
Ah, il y a une banque dans la prochaine rue
(ah eel ee ah oon bawnk daw la proh shen roo)
Thanks. Good Bye
Merci. Au revoir
Mare sea oh rev-wire
Conversation 5
Hello sir/madam, what shall I serve you?
Bonjour messieurs-dames, qu’est-ce que je vous sers?
(Baw jeurr may see-your dam, kess keuh sheuh voo sare ?)
Hello. Please can I have a coffee, with milk and an espresso ?
Bonjour, Est-ce que je peux avoir un grand café crème et un petit café s’il vous plaît ?
(Baw jeurr, Ess keuh sheuh peuh av-wire ah graw cafay crem eh ah peuh-tee cafay seal
voo play ?)
Of course
Bien sûr
(Bee-en soor)
Thank-you
Merci
(Mare sea)
Conversation 6
Excuse me, please can I have another beer?
S’il vous plait. Est-ce que je peux avoir une autre bière, s’il vous plaît ?
(Seal voo play. Ess keuh zheuh peuh av-wire oon oh-treuh bee-air, seal voo play?)
Of course.
Bien sûr
(Bee-en soor)
Conversation 7
Excuse me, please can I have the bill ?
S’il vous plait. Est-ce que je peux avoir l’addition s’il vous plait?
(Seal voo play. Ess keuh zheuh peuh av-wire lah deese yaw seal voo play?)
Of course, I will get you it now
Bien sûr, je vous la prends maintenant (je vous l’amène tout de suite)
(Bee-en soor, zheuh voo leuh praw man ten awe)
Conversation 8
Hi. I want to go to the station please.
Bonjour, je veux aller à la gare s’il vous plait
(Baw-jeuhrr, zheuh veuh al-ay ah lah gaar seal voo play)
No problem.
Aucun problème
(Oh-kun prob lem)
The most important language is underlined and italicised
In order to communicate necessary information politely, you need to be able to say:
Can I ?(est-ce que je peux – pronunciation: “ess keuh zheuh peuh”)
I have to (je dois – pronunciation: “zheuh dwah”)
I want (je veux – pronunciation: “zheuh veuh”)
You can look up the verb you need and tack it after these starters
Eg. Est-ce que je peux avoir / Je dois trouver
/ Je veux aller
Eg. Can I have
/ I must find
/ I want to go
*Remember, AC 2 is covered by Google Translate. Try saying the phrases in these
dialogues and compare them with what Google Translate provides as highly accurate
pronouncing.
Area of Competence 4 (Key Grammar – Tenses).
French for Independent Learners is the single most effective resource for teaching tenses.
In order to create any tense that you wish from spoken French, simply refer to the Tense
Grids.
The following Tense Grids are provided for you:
The Junior Tense Grid (JTG)
The Junior Tense Grid – Negative (JTGN)
The Junior Tense Grid – Pronoun col 1,2 (JTGP12)
The Junior Tense Grid – Pronoun col 3 (JTGP3)
The Senior Tense Grid (STG)
The Irregular Verb Grid (IVG)
In order to address Area of Competence 3 , Tenses, work through the book provided.
Answer the questions in the book, in pencil and check against the answers provided.
You will find the answers on the page with the questions or on the page which directly
follows the questions.
As you go through the Tense Grid Book, note down, in your vocabulary book, any new
words you come across. Writing makes you learn.
Accompanying this resource is a dedicated team of on-line teachers.
If you fail to understand any given section, simply e-mail the team and your query will be
answered within 24 hours.
E mail: [email protected]
Lesson 1. – Using the tense grid to make phrases in the present tense
Make sure that you have your Junior Tense Grid (JTG) to hand. Use it to translate the following
phrases:
1. I am playing
This is the answer but do you understand where it came from?
Je joue
2. He does jump (sauter-to jump)
This is the answer but do you understand where it came from?
Il saute
If you got these both right, well done. If you are not sure how they were achieved, read on:
1.The challenge: “I am playing”
One way of doing it – see below
How do I work this out?
I ask myself, “which tense is it?” Answer: Present tense.
Knowing it is the present tense, I go to column 1 (marked
“Present” at the top and use the “je” entry. > Je joue
Je can be seen as the French for “I” if one looks in the yellow
box in the top left of the Junior Tense Grid (JTG)
Answer: Je joue
If you aren’t too sure about the tenses, do it this way – see below
`
I ask myself, is my phrase on the Junior Tense Grid (JTG)?
I look
I find it at the top of column 1
Referring to the yellow box, top left, I choose “Je” and the rest
falls into place.
Answer: Je joue
2. The challenge: “He is jumping”
This is more difficult but fear not!
How do I do it? See below:
>I compare my phrase to those on the JTG and I attempt to
locate the column from which my phrase will come.
>I decide that my phrase most closely corresponds to “I am
jumping” and therefore choose to work from col. 1 because “I
am playing” is grammatically the same as I am jumping (I am
…ing)
>Referring to the yellow box, top left, I choose “Il” in order to
translate “he”.
>I must look up “jump” in a dictionary or in the verb list
provided
>I find “sauter”
Unfortunately, “sauter” is only the starting point. By itself, it
means. “to jump”.
In order to use this starting point, I must remove the –er and add
the correct ending, for “il”
Answer: Il saute
3.The challenge: Now, try to translate the following phrase: “They (group of boys) do smoke”
Using the same system as before, you should be able to create, “Ils fument”
1. “They do smoke” means that I go to column 1. (It is similar to “I do play”)
2. I refer to the yellow box and find They (masculine, group of boys) is “Ils”
3. I must look up “smoke” in a dictionary or in the verb list and I find “fumer”
4. This is a starting point, not the finished product.
5. Because I have an –er verb, I can use the same pattern as in the example, “jou-er”
6. Therefore the answer is “Ils fument” – my equivalent co-ordinate is f1 (Ils/Elles jouent)
4. What is the equivalent co-ordinate for “She is dancing” (danser)
___________________
5. What is the equivalent co-ordinate for “He watches” (regarder)
___________________
6. What is the equivalent co-ordinate for “We are hitting” (frapper)
___________________
7. What is the equivalent co-ordinate for “You (singular) do steal”
___________________
Answers for 4 to 7 are on the next page
Answer page – answer pages are located on the reverse of the question pages so that you don’t
have to go searching through back pages for the correct answer.
Ans:
4.
c1 – il/elle/on joue (il/elle/on all take the same ending after you take off the –er)
Because “danser” is your starting point, the translation is “Elle danse”
5.
c1 – il/elle/on joue (il/elle/on all take the same ending after you take off the –er)
Because “regarder” is your starting point, the translation is “Il regarde”
6.
d1
Because “frapper” is your starting point, the translation is “nous frappons”
7.
b1
Because “voler” is your starting point, the translation is “tu voles”
NOTE BENE (NB) – (latin for “note well”)
In English there are THREE WAYS to express the present tense: eg
I play
I do play
I am playing
In French there is only one:
Je joue
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO LEARN THAT WE MUST NOT TRANSLATE WORD FOR
WORD.
WE MUST FIRST LOCATE THE COLUMN ON THE TENSE GRID (or find the right tense).
-ER, -IR, -RE verbs
Most French verbs have as their last two letters, -er.
That is why the Junior Tense Grid gives the example for jouer.
However, there are two other sorts of verb in French.
They are verbs that end in –IR and verbs that end in –RE
At the bottom of column 1, you will find the endings for these verbs.
1. So, if you wish to say, “They (f) are polishing” this is how you work it out:
1. “They are polishing” means that I go to column 1. (It is similar to “They are playing”)
2. I refer to the yellow box and find They (f) is “Elles”
3. I must look up “polish” in a dictionary or in the verb list and I find “polir”
4. This is a starting point, not the finished product.
5. Because I have an –IR verb, I can’t use the same pattern as in the example, “jou-er”
6. Therefore, I refer to the bottom of column 1 and, as indicated, I remove the –IR and add the
ending, -issent
7. My answer is “Elles polissent”
3. Using the same system, how would I say, she is selling (vendre)
__________________________________________________________
4. Using the same system, how would I say, you (pl) are twisting (tordre)
__________________________________________________________
5. Translate: He is finishing (finir)
__________________________________________________________
6. They (f) are withering (flétrir)
__________________________________________________________
7. I do rejoice (réjouir)
__________________________________________________________
8. He cuts the grass (tondre* le gazon) * use tondre as your starting point
__________________________________________________________
9. She is breaking her relationship (rompre* sa relation) *use rompre
__________________________________________________________
10. You are tarnishing your repuatation (ternir* ta reputation) *use ternir
__________________________________________________________
Answers for 3 to 10 are on the next page.
Find the column, find the row!!!
Write the answers here and then check them:
Answers for 3 to 10
3. Elle vend
4. Vous tordez
5. Il finit
6. Elles flétrissent
7. Je réjouis
8. Il tond le gazon
9. Elle romp sa relation
10. Tu ternis ta réputation
REMINDER: Don’t try to translate each word as it comes in the phrase. Find the column, find the
row!!!
Notes:
You should write to remember.
Can you translate the French sentences 3 to 10 above back into English
Can you think of ways to remember the words you have covered so far.
For example, ternir – to tarnish, they sound the similar.; vendre – to sell, like a vending
machine.
Verbs where action is done on oneself
Here are examples of this:
I love myself
She scratches herself
They see themselves in the mirror
When we wish to translate similar phrases, in French, we use BIG ROW 3 from the Junior Tense
Grid.
Example:
I wash myself / I do wash myself / I am washing myself
> Je me lave.
We use the same system as before in order to get to the answer.
Try to translate the following phrases:
1. He hits himself
(frapper)
2. They (m) draw themselves
(dessiner)
3. We do watch ourselves
(regarder)
4. I am twisting myself
(tordre)
The answers to these are on the next page.
1. _____________________________________
2. _____________________________________
3. _____________________________________
4. _____________________________________
Answers: 1 to 4
1. Il se frappe
2. Ils se dessinent
3. Nous nous regardons
4. Je me tords – remember, this is an –re verb!!
In French, some verbs are self verbs when in English they are not.
Eg. English – “I get up”
French – “Je me lève” (really means: I lift myself)
Eg. English – “I comb my hair” French – “Je me peigne” (really means: I comb myself)
If we look at the real meanings in brackets, we can understand how this has come about. We are
actually talking about actions done to self.
Je me lave = I wash myself
BUT
“Je lave les enfants” = I wash the children
James, James and Jill, Mum, Mum and Jill, The cat, People etc….
Up to now, we have been using subject pronouns (yellow box on Junior Tense Grid) in the
creation of our phrases.
Instead of the subject pronouns, we can use the noun (person or thing or place)
So, instead of “Il trouve”, he finds, he is finding or he does find,
We could say “John trouve”
Instead of “Elle mange”, she eats, she is eating, she does eat,
We could say “Jane mange”
Instead of “Elles se lavent”, they wash themselves, they are washing themselves, they do wash
themselves,
We could say, “Jane and Jill se lavent”
How, therefore would we say, in French,
1. Peter and Paul are finishing
(finir)
2. Peter does sell
(vendre)
3. Jane is talking
(parler)
4. The girl (La fille) is eating
(manger)
5. They boys (Les garcons) do smoke
(fumer)
Answers on next page
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________________
5. _________________________________________________________
This is the way I would work these out:
1. The challenge: Peter and Paul are finishing
1. Find the subject pronoun that would be used for Peter and Paul
2. Answer: “Ils” – They (masculine)
3. Locate the right column by matching the phrase as closely as possible to the phrases at the top
of the columns.
4. I am playing is the most closely linked to Peter and Paul are finishing
5. Therefore we are in column one
6. The equivalent co-ordinate is f1
7. Instead of using “ils” = they, replace it with “Peter and Paul”
8. Answer “Peter and Paul finissent” – remember this is an –IR verb so the ending is –“issent”
not just –“ent” as in the example on the Junior Tense Grid.
2. Peter vend
3. Jane parle
4. La fille mange
5. Les garçons fument
Negatives: NE Verb
PAS
We have been learning how to compose verbs in the present tense but all the sentences we have
created so far are positive.
It is very easy in French to change a positive phrase into a negative one.
All we do is put the words, “ne” and “pas” around the verb.
For example:
He is waxing
(farter)
is “il farte”
He is not waxing
is il ne farte pas
I am washing myself
is je me lave
I am not washing myself
is je ne me lave pas
BUT
BUT
So, how would one say:
1. They (group of boys) do not smoke
2. She isn’t swimming
3. Peter and Paul don’t like….
4. You (singular) aren’t listening
5. We don’t sell
Answers on the next page
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
4. _________________________________________________________
5. _________________________________________________________
Negatives, answers
1. The challenge:
They (boys) do not smoke
1. Find the correct column by making the phrase positive and finding the closest matching phrase
2. So, you are looking for a phrase that is like “They do smoke”
3. Column 1 because it resembles “I do play”
4. Create the positive phrase by referring to the equivalent co-ordinate which is f1
5. Having created the positive phrase, you can make it negative with the insertion of NE and PAS
6. Ils fument becomes “Ils ne fument pas”



An alternative way to create negative phrases is to use the Junior Tense Grid – Negative (JTGN)
Simply, find the positive phrase, eg Elle nage, “She is swimming” and BOING – Jump! Across to
the negative equivalent co-ordinate. In this case from C1 to C-1 Elle ne nage pas
The JTGN is a very useful tool for testing yourself.
Answers to 2 to 5
2. Elle ne nage pas
3. Peter et Paul n’aiment pas
4. Tu n’écoutes pas
5. Nous ne vendons pas
Take another look at answers 3 and 4
Do you see any difference between them and 2 and 5 and can you work out why?
The difference is that 3 and 4 use an apostrophe to replace the “e” of “ne” and the reason is that
the verb in front of which it comes starts with a vowel.
Aimer – to like
Écouter – to listen
When this is the case, the “ne” will always drop the “e” to be replaced with an apostrophe.
Before we move on to irregular present tense verbs,
Note Bene
The Present tense is also use to ORDER people about. There is a special name for the type of
word which is used to order people about. It is called the IMPERATIVE.
There is a detailed section on how to order people about at the end of the book.
Questions
It is all very well to be able to make up phrases in the present tense but we don’t yet know how to
turn these phrases into questions.
The easiest way is to say the phrase with questioning intonation.
We do this in English too.
Eg. “John smokes” can be a statement or a question depending on the tone of your voice.
“John fume” works the same way.
There are another two ways to make questions.
Way 1. Invert the words.
We do this in English too.
“You are” becomes “Are you?”
“You do” becomes “Do you?”
In English this doesn’t really work for every verb but it does in French
“Tu fumes” (You do smoke) becomes “Fumes-tu?” (Do you smoke?)
You smoke is OK in English but Smoke-you isn’t!
Way 2. Use “est-ce que”
We take a phrase, eg, « Tu fumes » and put « est-ce que » in front of it: Est-ce que tu fumes?
Est-ce que actually means “Is it that” so Est-ce que tu fumes ? means « Is it that you smoke ? »
The easier and more often used way to write a question in French is Way 2 – so let’s stick to it.
Using Way 2 (est-ce que), translate the following questions :
1. Do you (singular) watch the tv? (regarder la télé)
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. Are you eating?
(manger)
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Are they selling?
(vendre)
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Don’t you (pl) speak French? (parler français)
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Is Peter finishing?
(finir)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Answers on next page
Using Way 2 (est-ce que) to form a question, here are the answers to the translation questions:
1. The challenge:
Do you (singular) watch the tv?
(regarder la télé)
1. Find the crucial part of the phrase, ie “you watch”
2. Locate the correct column by finding the closest phrase
3. Find the equivalent co-ordinate
4. Check that you are dealing with an –ER verb, then compose the phrase, “tu regardes”
5. Place “Est-ce que” in front of the phrase, to get « Est-ce que tu regardes ? »
2. Est-ce que tu manges ?
3. Est-ce qu’ils vendent ?
4. Est-ce que vous ne parlez pas français ?
5. Est-ce que Peter finit ?
Do you notice anything different with phrase 3?
Why do you think that there is an apostrophe replacing the ‘e’ of the ‘que’?
The reason is that it comes before a vowel and when this happens, the ‘e’ is always replaced.
When you have managed to make questions like this, you can then add question words at the start
of phrases in order to complex more complex questions.
Refer to the question word section of the Junior Tense Grid and you will find question words.
Où means Where
So, what do you think this means: Où est-ce que tu manges?
Yes, it means Where is it that you eat, or as we would say, in everyday English, Where do you
eat?
See if you can translate the following questions?
1. Where do they (m) dance? (danser)
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. When does he eat?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. Why do you (singular) smoke?
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. What do you (plural) wear on the weekend? (porter – to wear; le weekend – on the weekend)
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. Why doesn’t Peter smoke?
_____________________________________________________________________________
Answers on next page
Composing questions with question words
1. The challenge: Where do they dance?
1. First thing is to find the central phrase – it is “they dance”
2. Locate “they dance” in the correct column by comparing phrases
3. It resembles “I dance” most closely, so its equivalent co-ordinate is f1
4. Given that danser is an –ER verb, the phrase can be translated using the example in col 1 and it
is therefore, “ils dansent” (by the way ils is used to represent a group of girls and boys)
5. Now we must take the first step to turn this phrase into a question, ie. Add “est-ce que” in front
of “ils dansent”, which gives us, “est-ce qu’ils dansent?” (meaning « where do they dance ? »)
6. Now, we add the last word required, Où (where). We put it in front of the “est-ce que” and this
gives us, “Où est-ce qu’ils dansent?”
2. Quand est-ce qu’il mange?
3. Pourquoi est-ce que tu fumes ?
4. Qu’est-ce que vous portez le weekend ? (note “on the weekend” in English but the French say
simply, “the weekend”: “le” means “the”(masculine form)
5. Pourquoi est-ce que Peter ne fume pas ?
There is never a good time to tell a student of a language that sometimes language doesn’t fit the
pattern.
You have seen that there is a pattern for –er, -ir and –re verbs in the present tense. This pattern
does generally apply but there are some very common verbs that are not prepared to go with the
flow.
The most important of these are shown on the JTG, in blue
Referring to the Junior Tense Grid, try to match the following French and English phrases:
A
Je dois
1
he has to
B
Elle peut
2
I want
C
Tu peux
3
We want
D
Nous voulons
4
You can
E
Il doit
5
I must
F
Je veux
6
She can
G
Je vais
7
I am going
Answers on next page
Irregular verbs in the present tense
Answers to the matching up exercise on previous page
A
5
B
6
C
4
D
3
E
1
F
2
G
7
Now, see if you can find the French translations for these English phrases. Refer to the Junior
Tense Grid, blue section, to help.
1. I have to
_____________________________________________________________________________
2. I must
_____________________________________________________________________________
3. She can
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. He wants
_____________________________________________________________________________
5. She is able
_____________________________________________________________________________
6. I have
_____________________________________________________________________________
7. I am
_____________________________________________________________________________
8. I am doing
_____________________________________________________________________________
9. I know
_____________________________________________________________________________
10. They do do
_____________________________________________________________________________
Answers on next page
Answers irregular verbs translated into French
1. I have to
Je dois
2. I must
Je dois
3. She can
Elle peut
4. He wants
Il veut
5. She is able
Elle peut
6. I have
J’ai
7. I am
Je suis
8. I am doing
Je fais
9. I know
Je sais
10. They do do
Ils font
A little reminder:
If you look at the first two answers, you can see, again, that you must never translate single
words. You MUST think, “what’s the tense?”, “who is doing the action?”
These irregular verbs (in blue on the Junior Tense Grid) are crucial in any language.
We are going to look more carefully now at the verb aller and why it is so important.
If you look up, “go” in a English-French dictionary, you will find “aller” but in actual fact, “aller”
really means “to go”
The various parts of aller are:
Je vais - “I go”; “I do go” and “I’m going”
Tu vas
Il va
Elle va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils vont
Elles vont
Verbs are presented in this pattern for a reason.
“Je” means “I”
and the plural of “I” is
“We” Nous
“Tu” means “You”
and the plural of “You” is
“You” Vous * also “You” formal
“Il” means “He”
and the plural of “He” is
“They” Ils (m and mf)
“Elle” means “She”
and the plural of “She” is
“They” Elles (f)
The parts of “aller” can be used to express the future tense
Aller used to express the future & An explanation of the “infinitive”
The various parts of aller are:
Je vais - “I go”; “I do go” and “I’m going”
Tu vas Il va
Elle va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils vont
Elles vont
A part of « aller » plus an infinitive can be used to express the future :
eg. Je vais manger- I am going to eat.
“In French, when two verbs come together, the second verb is infinitive!”
The above phrase is well worth remembering, BUT what does it mean!!!?
Well, read on to find out!
Firstly, let’s look at the word infinitive.
Here are examples of infinitives in English:
“to eat”
“to have”
“to be”
“to dance”
“to sell”
“to do”
“to jump”
“to go”
“to be able”
“to have to”
“to watch”
“to work”
“to want”
“to finish”
“to think”
Not too difficult to figure out what they have in common!
Yes, it is the word “to”!
Here are the French translations
“manger”
“avoir”
“être”
“danser”
“vendre”
“faire”
“sauter”
“aller”
“pouvoir”
“devoir”
“regarder”
“travailler”
“vouloir”
“finir”
“penser”
1. So, what does “manger” actually mean ?
2. So, what does “avoir” actually mean?
3. So, what does “être” actually mean?
Answers on next page
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Aller used to express the future & An explanation of the “infinitive” continued
1. So, what does “manger” actually mean ?
2. So, what does “avoir” actually mean?
3. So, what does “être” actually mean?
- “to eat”, not just “eat”
- “to have”, not just “have”
- “to be”, not just “be”
So a very important difference to English is that in French the infinitive is just one word!
Infinitives in French are one word. The final two letters of this one word fall into three patterns.
Can you look at the list of French infinitives and write down what those three possible endings
are?
1. _ _
2. _ _
or
3. _ _
And the most common is -ER!
Let’s go back to what we said at the start of the previous page. Here it is again:
A part of « aller » plus an infinitive can be used to express the future :
eg. Je vais manger- I am going to eat.
When you know the meaning of these single words, you can begin to understand how “aller” can
be used to express the future.
In fact, it works just like English.
I am going (Je vais)
to smoke (fumer)
Je vais fumer – I am going to smoke
Here we have combined a part of aller, “Je vais” with the infinitive, “fumer”
Let’s go back and steal a phrase from the previous page:
“In French, when two verbs come together, the second verb is infinitive!”
In the example, “Je vais fumer” (I am going to smoke), the first verb is Je vais (from aller) and
the second verb is fumer (the infinitive translation of “to smoke”)
Try to translate the following
1. Je vais manger
2. Je vais finir
3. Je vais vendre
4. Je vais me laver
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Answers on the next page
Aller + infinitive
1. I’m going to eat
2. I’m going to finish
3. I’m going to sell
4. I’m going to wash myself (or I’m going to get washed)
Recognizing meanings of foreign sentences is great but creating them is even better!
You know you get a buzz by creating foreign language.
So, let’s try to create a few phrases in French, using this structure which is called “aller +
infinitive”
Try to put these into French (cover the answers which are on this page (sorry) and write in the
space provided)
1. I’m going to watch (regarder-to watch)
2. I’m going to fall (tomber-to fall)
3. I’m going to hit myself (frapper – to hit)
Your answers:
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers
1. Je vais regarder
2. Je vais tomber
3. Je vais me frapper
Of course, you can create sentences using not just, “Je” (“I”) but also any other do-er of action.
First try to translate these into English:
1. Tu vas acheter (acheter-to buy) _____________________________________
2. Il va partir à huit heures (partir à huit heures-to leave at 8 o’clock)
_____________________________________
3. On va manger maintenant – (maintenant – now) _____________________________________
4. Nous allons voler (voler-to fly) _____________________________________
5. Est-ce que tu vas aller en France ? _____________________________________
6. Ils vont visiter _____________________________________
7. Où est-ce que vous allez rester ? (rester- to stay) _____________________________________
8. Quand est-ce qu’elle va finir ? _____________________________________
9. Jean va quitter sa maison (quitter sa maison-to leave his house)
_____________________________________
Aller + infinitive using do-ers of action other than « je »
1. You (singular) are going to buy
2. He is going to leave at 8 o’clock
3. One is (the French often use “on” to express “we” so, really this is translated as We are) going
to eat now
4. We are going to fly (voler also means, “to steal” so it could mean, “We are going to steal”)
5. Are you going to go to France?
6. They (m) are going to visit
7. Where are you (pl) going to stay?
8. When is she going to finish?
9. Jean is going to leave his house.
Now that you have been able to recognize this type of phrase, let’s see if you can create some
phrases of this nature.
1. They (f) are going to steal my car (voler ma voiture – to steal my car)
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Is he going to stay in Belfast (à Belfast – in Belfast, always “à” with a city / town / village to
translate “in”)
______________________________________________________________________________
3. What is he going to do? (faire – to do)
______________________________________________________________________________
4. When is she going to be in Belfast? (être-to be)
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Why is Peter going to play football? (jouer au foot – to play football)
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Are Jack and Jill going to climb Mont Blanc? (escalader Mont Blanc – to clim Mont Blanc)
______________________________________________________________________________
7. She is going to smoke on Saturday (le samedi – on Saturday)
______________________________________________________________________________
8. I am going to want to stay in France. (vouloir-to want, rester-to stay, en France – in France)
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Are you going to have to finish your homework? (devoir-to have to, finir-to finish, ton devoiryour homework)
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Why do I have to think?
______________________________________________________________________________
Answers on the next page
Aller + infinitive leading into other modal verbs plus infinitive
Answers:
1. Elles vont voler ma voiture
2. Est-ce qu’il va rester à Belfast
3. Qu’est-ce qu’il va faire?
4. Quand est-ce qu’elle va être à Belfast?
5. Pourquoi est-ce que Peter va jouer au foot?
6. Est-ce que Jack et Jill vont escalader le Mt. Blanc ?
7. Elle va fumer le samedi.
8. Je vais vouloir rester en France. (if there were a 4th verb, it would be the infinitive too)
Je vais(1st) vouloir(2nd) rester(3rd) vivre(4th) en France–I am going to want to stay to live in
France.
9. Est-ce que tu vas devoir finir ton devoir?
10. Pourquoi est-ce que je dois penser?
The last three phrases were a little more complicated.
Let’s look at phrases 8 and 9:
In both these phrases we have used a part of aller (je vais, tu vas) followed by not just one
infinitive but two!
We have already seen the rule which states (p18) :
“In French, when two verbs come together, the second verb is infinitive!”
Not only is the second verb infinitive but so is the third, fourth, fifth etc etc.
Therefore in phrase 8 and 9 we have examples of two infinitives
Phrase 8, vouloir and rester
Phrase 9, devoir and finir
Now, let’s look at phrase 10:
In this phrase, no part of “aller” is used. Instead, we have used a part of “devoir” followed by an
infinitive.
“Devoir” is an example, (just like “aller”) of a verb that can be used to modify another verb.
In phrase 10, it modifies “penser”, “to think”.
What do you think this means?
Challenge : Je veux manger et je peux manger et je dois manger
______________________________________________________________________________
Answer on next page
Modal verbs (devoir, pouvoir, vouloir) used in the present tense
Challenge: I want to eat and I can eat and I must (or I have to) eat.
Let us look at some more of these to ensure that you understand how modal verbs work.
The three on which we will focus here are:
devoir – to have to (have to… or must …)
pouvoir – to be able (can…)
vouloir – to want (want….)
Others include:
Aimer – to like/love
Adorer – to adore/love
Detester – to hate
Espérer – to hope
Oser – to dare
Préférer – to prefer
Savoir – to know how
The way to use these verbs is the same for all, so, while maintaining the focus on “devoir”,
“pouvoir” and “vouloir”, try to translate the following phrases into English:
1. Je dois manger parce que j’ai faim (parce que j’ai faim- because I’m hungry)
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Est-ce que je dois préparer le dîner ?
______________________________________________________________________________
3. Où est-ce que tu veux aller en vacances ? (aller en vacances – to go on holiday)
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Quand est-ce qu’il peut partir? (partir – to leave)
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Ils doivent payer.
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Elle peut rester et elle va rester (rester- to stay)
______________________________________________________________________________
7. Jean ne veut pas jouer.
______________________________________________________________________________
8. Est-ce que tu ne peux pas être ici à 8 heures ? (être-to be, ici-here)
______________________________________________________________________________
9. Est-ce que tu aimes parler français? (parler-to speak)
______________________________________________________________________________
10. Où est-ce qu’il ne veut pas manger ?
______________________________________________________________________________
11. Pourquoi est-ce qu’ils ne veulent pas venir ?
______________________________________________________________________________
12. Je n’aime pas faire mes devoirs mais je dois faire mes devoirs ! (mais-but, mes devoirs-my
homeworks)
______________________________________________________________________________
Answers on next page
Modal verbs (devoir, pouvoir, vouloir) used in the present tense
1. I have to eat because I am hungry (note, I am hungry in English is I have hunger in French)
2. Do I have to prepare the dinner ?
3. Where do you (singular) want to go on holiday ?
4. When can he leave ?
5. They (m) have to pay.
6. She can stay and she is going to stay
7. Jean doesn’t want to play
8. Can’t you (singular) be here at 8 o’clock)
9. Do you like speaking French ?
10. Where does he not want to eat ?
11. Why don’t they want to come ?
12. I don’t want to do my homeworks but I have to do my homeworks.
Let’s have a look at phrase number five and break it down. How does it work?
5. Challenge: “They have to pay”
1. There are two verbs involved, “to have to” and “to pay” – we need to look these up.
2. We find that the required verbs are, “devoir” (to have to) and “payer” (to pay)
3. We know that the second verb in the phrase has to be in the infinitive (see page 18) so the “to
pay” part of the phrase is expressed as follows: “payer”
4. We have to decide which tense, “they have to” is in and, if we refer to the Junior Tense Grid
we will understand that it is in the present tense, column 1.
5. Devoir is an –ir verb but it is irregular and the parts of it in the present tense are written up in
blue on the Junior Tense Grid.
6. Referring to the yellow box at the top left of the Junior Tense Grid, we will see that, they (m)
is “ils”
7. Referring back to the blue section of the Junior Tense Grid, we will see that the part of devoir
that goes with ils is doivent, therefore: “ils doivent”
8. Now we can put the two together:
Answer: Ils doivent
Try to create the following in French: Answers on next page>
1. I must try (essayer – to try) _______________________________________
2. Must you (singular) go? _______________________________________
3. When do you (plural) want to eat? _______________________________________
4. Aren’t they going to be able to understand? (comprendre-to understand)
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Can’t he come to Paris? (venire – to come; à Paris – to Paris)
______________________________________________________________________________
6. I don’t want to sell my house but I have to sell my house. (vendre ma maison–to sell my
house)_________________________________________________________________________
Modal verbs (devoir, pouvoir, vouloir) used in the present tense with negatives and questions
1. Je dois essayer
2. Est-ce que tu dois aller?
3. Quand est-ce que vous voulez manger ?
4. Est-ce qu’elles ne vont pas pouvoir comprendre ?
5. Est-ce qu’il ne peut pas venir à Paris ? (à Paris – in/to Paris)
6. Je ne veux pas vendre ma maison mais je dois vendre ma maison.
Let’s have a look at number 4. Just to make sure that you understand it all, perfectly!
4. Challenge: “Aren’t they going to be able to understand?”
1. There are three verbs involved, “to go”, “to be able” and “to understand” – we need to spot
these and then look them up.
2. We find that the required verbs are, “aller”, “pouvoir” and “comprendre”
3. We know that the verbs that come after the first verb in the phrase have to be in the infinitive
(see page 22) so the “to be able” part of the phrase is “pouvoir” and the “to understand” part is
“comprendre”.
4. Now we must deal with, “Aren’t they going”.
5. The first thing to do is to make the question a phrase. This makes it easier to work it out. After
we have worked out the phrase, we will turn it back into a question in French.
So, as a phrase, it becomes, “they aren’t going” instead of “aren’t they going?”
6. Now we need to translate, “they aren’t going”.
Let’s first translate, “they are going”. Translate as a positive phrase and make it negative after.
Find the tense:
7. Comparing with the column phrases in the Junior Tense Grid, we ascertain that it is the
present tense.
8. Consult the irregular verb, blue section in the Junior Tense Grid.
We find, “elles vont” having checked in the yellow box that “they (f)” is “elles” .
9. Now let’s make it negative.
Surround the parts of the verb with ne…. pas (see page 11 or the JTGN)
Elles ne vont pas.
10. Now let’s turn it back in to a question :
Est-ce qu’elles ne vont pas. (apostrophe to replace the e of qu(e) in front of a vowel (e of elles)
11. Now we can add everything together:
“Est-ce qu’elles ne vont pas pouvoir comprendre?
Let’s take a closer look at number 6 !
Would you ever actually say that phrase in English?
Nope! You would use a word to replace “my house” instead of repeating it.
The word you would use is called an object pronoun because it replaces the object about which
you are talking.
You would actually say:
“I don’t want to sell my house but I have to sell ___.
Object pronouns used with the present tense
I don’t want to sell my house but I have to sell it!
Answer on next page:
Our next challenge is to learn how to use object pronouns, such as “it”
Firstly, let’s look at the list of common object pronouns.
The most commonly used pronouns are
2
le
la
les
2
it, him
it, her
them
so we will focus on these.
We will now begin to learn how to use these.
Another resource that is useful here is the Junior Tense Grid – Pronoun cols 1, 2. It is provided
with all key resources at the back of the book.
I would like you to see if you can work out what these phrases mean and, by looking at the
phrases, see if you can indicate how these pronouns are used in French.
1. Je le mange
(“le” refers to le pain – the bread)
2. Je la mange
(“la” refers to la pomme – the apple)
3. Je les mange
(“les” refers to le pain et la pomme – the bread and the apple)
First of all, what do you reckon the phrases mean :
Your answers:
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers here:
1. I am eating it, I do eat it or I eat it (where “it” is a masculine object, “le” pain)
2. I am eating it, I do eat it or I eat it (where “it” is a feminine object, “la” pomme)
3. I am eating them, I do eat them or I eat them (where “them” is both of the above)
So, in order to use a pronoun in a positive present tense phrase, you put the pronoun directly
_________________ the verb.
Answer on next page:
Object pronouns used with the present tense including negatives
Answer: BEFORE
In order to use a pronoun in a positive present tense phrase, you put the pronoun directly
BEFORE the verb.
Using this information, let’s try to create some simple phrases in the present tense.
1. She watches it (“it” is “la” télévision, the television; the verb “to watch” is “regarder”)
2. I am repairing it (“it” is “le” portatif, the laptop; the verb, “to repair” is “réparer”)
3. They do eat them (it doesn’t matter what “them” is because the word for “them” is “les”)
Your answers:
1. _________________________________________________________
2. _________________________________________________________
3. _________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers
1. Elle la regarde
2. Je le répare
3. Ils les mangent
Let’s look at phrase 2, in order to explain exactly how we get there.
Challenge: I am repairing it
1. Find the verb(s):
repair:
réparer
2. Decide on the tense: Junior Tense Grid:
present
3. Translate the phrase without the pronoun: Je répare (réparer is a regular –ER verb, so use JTG
col 1)
4. Now, decide what the pronoun is:
to translate “it” – ascertain the gender of the noun.
5. Given that the noun (le portatif-laptop) is masculine, the required pronoun is “le”
6. Insert the pronoun directly before the verb: Je le répare (make negative: Je NE le répare PAS)
Now let’s have a look at a few more phrases with pronouns and see if you can tell what they
mean. There are a few tricky little apostrophes. Why are they there? How do we make a negative
phrase with an object pronoun in it?
1. Est-ce que tu l’aimes?
2. Non, je ne l’aime pas
3. Est-ce que Burt le comprend ?
4. Non, il ne le comprend pas
5. Est-ce que tu les as ?
6. Non je ne les ai pas
Answers on next page :
Object pronouns used with the present tense including negative phrases
1. Est-ce que tu l’aimes? > « Do you like it ? »
« it » is translated as l’ because the vowel of « le » or « la » comes before the vowel of « aimes »
As we have seen before, in this situation, the first vowel is replaced with an apostrophe.
2. Non, je ne l’aime pas ? « No, I don’t like it »
In order to make a phrase with a pronoun in it negative, simply place the “ne” straight after the
do-er of action, “Je” (I) in this example, and the “pas” directly after the verb.
3. Est-ce que Burt le comprend ?
Note the regular present tense ending for Burt (il) for “comprendre”, an –re verb
4. Non, il ne le comprend pas
5. Est-ce que tu les as ?
6. Non je ne les ai pas
Let’s see if you can construct a few phrases which include negatives and questions, like the
phrases above.
Translate the following:
1. Why do you want my sweets? I want them because I like them! (my sweets-mes bonbons)
2. Do you have my television? No I don’t have it. (my televison-ma television)
3. Is he eating the cake? No, he is not eating it but she is eating it. (the cake-le gâteau)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. Pourquoi est-ce que tu veux mes bonbons ? Je les veux parce que je les aime.
2. Est-ce que tu as ma télévision ? Non, je ne l’ai pas
3. Est-ce qu’il mange le gâteau ? Non, il ne le mange pas mais elle le mange
Phrase 2 : Challenge:
1. I have:
2. I don’t have:
3. I don’t have it :
« I don’t have it »
J’ai (from avoir, present tense, in blue section irregular verbs, JTG)
Je ne ai pas > Je n’ai pas
it is « la » given that we are talking about a television (f)
4. Place pronoun before the verb:
Je ne l’ai pas (the “ne” now goes before “la”, so no need
to use an apostrophe. However, “la” drops its “a” because the “la” is in front of “ai” >
Phrase 2 : Answer:
« Je ne l’ai pas »
Object pronouns used with modal verbs
Take a look at these phrases and see if you can indicate which verbs and pronouns will be needed
in order to translate them.
Remember, another resource that is useful here is the Junior Tense Grid – Pronoun cols 1, 2.
1. I have to eat them
2. I want to watch it (it refers to a film, “un film”)
3. I am going to be able to do it
In phrase 1, we need these. Try to fill in the blanks, in English
Two verbs:
____________________
One subject pronoun (the do-er of action):
One object pronoun:
_____________________
____________________
______________________
Compare the phrases below with your answers:
The two verbs:
“to have to” (devoir)
The subject pronoun (do-er of action)
“I” (Je)
The object pronoun
“them” (les)
“to eat” (manger)
We need the present tense of “devoir” with “Je” > Je dois (see blue section of JTG)
The second verb has to be in its infinitive form, “manger” (see page 18)
The pronoun “les” is slotted in directly before the second verb (which is infinitive) or last verb if
there are more than one in the phrase so,
The translation is: Je dois les manger
In phrase 2, we need these. Try to fill in the blanks, in English and add the French in brackets
Two verbs:
____________________
One subject pronoun (the do-er of action):
One object pronoun:
_____________________
____________________
______________________
Translation:
In phrase 3, we need these. Try to fill in the blanks, in English
Three verbs:
____________________
One subject pronoun (the do-er of action):
One object pronoun:
_____________________
____________________
______________________
Translation:
Answers to the translations on the next page
Object pronouns used with modal verbs including negative phrases and questions
Challenge: I want to watch it (it is a film, le film)
Two verbs:
to want (vouloir)
to watch (regarder)
One subject pronoun (the do-er of action):
I (Je)
One object pronoun:
Translation: Je veux le regarder
it (le)
In phrase 3, we need these. Try to fill in the blanks, in English
Challenge: I am going to be able to do it (it is a presentation, une présentation)
Three verbs:
to go (aller)
to be able (pouvoir)
to do (faire)
One subject pronoun (the do-er of action):
I (Je)
One object pronoun:
Translation: Je vais pouvoir la faire
it (la)__
Of course, you can use object pronouns in phrases that are negative and that have questions. Have
a look at these and see if you can translate them into English.
1. Est-ce que tu vas manger la banane? Non, je ne vais pas la manger
2. Quand est-ce que tu dois préparer le dîner ? Je ne dois pas le préparer du tout ! (du tout – at all)
3. Comment est-ce que tu peux le faire ? Je ne peux pas le faire !
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers
1. Are you going to eat the banana? No, I am not going to eat it
2. When do you have to prepare the dinner? I don’t have to prepare it at all
3. How can you do it? I can’t do it!
Let’s create some phrases like these in French: (rem: le,la,les can be people, him,her, them)
It may help to refer to the Junior Tense Grid – Pronoun cols 1.2.
1. Where do you want to meet him?
I don’t want to meet him at all (rencontrer-to meet)
____________________________________________________________________________
2. Do you have to see them?
No, I don’t have to see them (voir-to see)
____________________________________________________________________________
3. Can he take her to the park? No, he can’t take her (emmener-to take somebody somewhere)
____________________________________________________________________________
Answers on next page:
Object pronouns used with modal verbs including negative phrases and questions
1. Où est-ce que tu veux le rencontrer? Je ne veux pas le rencontrer du tout.
2. Est-ce que tu dois les voir ?
Non, je ne dois pas les voir
3. Est-ce qu’il peut l’emmener au parc ? Non, il ne peut pas l’emmener
Let’s look carefully at number 3, so that you are sure that you understand it
Challenge: 3. Can he take her to the park?
No, he can’t take her (emmener-to take sb sw)
1. How will the French actually say, “Can he take?....” Ans: “Is it that he can take”
2. Is it that he can take? > Est-ce qu’il peut emmener? (rem : qu’ to replace the « e » before a
vowel) (“il peut” comes from the verb, pouvoir, see blue section JTG)
3. Now we need to slot in our object pronoun, meaning “her”. In French, “la”
4. Slot it in before the second (or last) verb, which is emmener. So, “Est-ce qu’il peut
l’emmener?” (rem: l’ to replace la before the vowel, « e » of emmener.
5. to the parc – refer to right side of JTG, lines 5 & 7. le parc, like le cinema is masculine so to
the park is translated as “au parc”
6. First part of challenge is therefore: “Est-ce qu’il peut l’emmener au parc?”
7. Now, we have to answer the question.
8. First of all, instead of translating “he can’t take her”, translate, “he can take her”
9. Il peut l’emmener = he can take her
10. To make the phrase negative, surround the first verb with ne …pas > Il ne peut pas
l’emmener. The whole thing is therefore:
Est-ce qu’il peut l’emmener au parc? Non, il ne peut pas l’emmener.
To reinforce your ability to create this sort of phrase, here are a couple more testers.
1. Where is he going to build it (“it” is un bâtiment-a building)? (construire-to build)
2. He is not going to build it, she is going to build it!
3. Aren’t you able to finish them? No, because I don’t want to finish them
4. Don’t you have to meet her at 5 o’clock (line 11, JTG) in the park?(au parc, line 7 JTG)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers
1. Où est-ce qu’il va le construire?
2. Il ne va pas le construire, elle va le construire !
3. Est-ce que tu ne peux pas les finir ? Non, parce que je ne veux pas les finir.
4. Est-ce que tu ne dois pas la rencontrer à cinq heures au parc ?
The perfect tense (this is one of the past tenses in French) – regular –er, -ir, -re verbs, using avoir
In order to understand how to use and create the perfect tense in French, you should refer to your
Junior Tense Grid.
1. Question:
Which column contains the perfect tense?
Answer:
COLUMN 3
2. Question:
Looking at col. 3 and comparing it with col 1, what do the two have in common?
Answer:
They both have three example phrases at the top of the column.
Reminder:
Never translate word for word. Think, which tense?, which do-er of action?
Let’s see if you can use the JTG to work out the following translations:
1. I have eaten
2. You (singular) did watch
3. She jumped
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers
1. J’ai mangé
2. Tu as regardé
3. Elle a sauté
(equivalent co-ordinate : a3)
(equivalent co-ordinate : b3)
(equivalent co-ordinate : c3)
Hopefully, you got these right.
The equivalent co-ordinates for these phrases are indicated beside them.
You will note that there is an é at the end of each of these verbs.
This is used for –ER verbs in order to create what is called a “past participle”
In the examples you have created, past participles are used in combination with a part of the verb
avoir, (eg, j’ai, tu as, elle a) in order to form the perfect tense.
Not all past participles end in é
Take a look at these phrases and see if you can work out how to form the past participle for
regular –IR and –RE verbs
1. J’ai fini
2. Il a vendu
(finir – to finish)
(vendre – to sell)
I have finished
He did sell
3. Elle a poli
(polir – to polish)
She polished
4. Nous avons perdu
(perdre – to lose)
We have lost
Answers on next page:
The perfect tense – regular and irregular verbs, using avoir
–IR verbs, past participle ends in “I”. Remove –ir and add “I”: finir > fini, polir > poli
–RE verbs, past participle ends in “U” Remove –re and add “U”: vendre > vendu, perdre > perdu
If you look to the bottom of column 3 on the JTG, you will find a reminder of this.
So, attempt to put these three phrases into French:
1. They have stolen (voler)
2. She has lost (perdre)
3. You (singular) have finished
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers
1. Ils ont volé
2. Elle a perdu
3. Tu as fini
(equivalent co-ordinate : f3)
(equivalent co-ordinate : c3)
(equivalent co-ordinate : b3)
Up to this point,we have been looking at regular verbs. Some verbs have strange past participles.
For example, for the verb, avoir, an –ir verb, you would expect the past participle to end in –“I”
But:
Avoir > past participle > EU.
Question :
How weird is that ?
Answer : Very
Thankfully, the main irregular past participles are noted in the blue section JTG.
Have a look at the blue section to translate the following phrases into French. You will need to
use the irregular past participles which are noted in the blue section beside the infinitives.
1. I have taken
(to take - prendre)
2. She has done
(to do - faire)
3. They have been able (to be able - pouvoir)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers, next page:
The perfect tense – regular verbs, using être
1. J’ai pris
2. Elle a fait
3. Ils ont pu
(equivalent co-ordinate : a3)
(equivalent co-ordinate : c3)
(equivalent co-ordinate : f3)
Little by little, you will get used to these irregular past participles. For a full list of them, see the
Irregular Verb Grid section at the front of the book.
You will have noticed that, up to this point, we have remained within co-ordinates, a to f from col
3.
We have been working mainly from BIG ROW 1.
We are about to set sail to BIG ROW 2 (BR2) and BIG ROW 3 (BR3)
Get on your lifejacket! (Mettez votre gilet de sauvetage!) Here we go! (On y va!)
Up to now, the perfect tense has been composed of a part of the verb, “avoir” together with a
past participle.
A reminder of the ones we have seen so far in the perfect tense:
From BIG ROW 1
J’ai pris
Elle a fait
Ils ont pu
Ils ont volé
Il a volé
Tu as fini
Now, take a look at the perfect tense phrases from BR2 and BR3 and see if you can tell how they
are different from the phrases that we have seen so far in the perfect tense. Look at what comes
before the past participle and look at the end of the past participle.
From BIG ROW 2
Je suis resté
Elle est restée
Ils sont restés
Elles sont restées
The differences between the phrases from BIG ROW 1 and those from BIG ROW 2 are :
1. The perfect tense is composed of a past participle and a part of the verb, “être” instead of
avoir
2. Some of the past participles have “e”s and / or “s”s added on to them
From BIG ROW 3
Je me suis lavé
Elle s’est lavée
Ils se sont lavés
Elles se sont lavées
The difference bewtween the phrases from BIG ROW 1 and those from BIG ROW 3 are :
:
1. The perfect tense is composed of a past participle and a part of the verb, “être” instead of
avoir
2. Some of the past participles have “e”s and / or “s”s added on to them
3. After the do-er of action, there is an extra word (the word which carries the “self” meaning)
The perfect tense – regular verbs, using être –verbs from Big Row 2
So, let’s have a go at creating some phrases that come from BR2
Try translating these: (use BR2)
1. I stayed
2. I fell
3. She went
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. Je suis resté
2. Je suis tombé
3. Elle est allée
Let’s look at phrase number 3 in detail to make sure you have understood completely
The challenge: She went (or She has gone or She did go)
1. Look at the phrase and decide to which column it is most closely linked.
2. Comparing phrases will tell you that you are in column 3
3. You decide to use the verb, “to go” which is “aller” in French.
4. You look to the far left of the JTG in BIG ROW 2 and you discover that “aller” is in the pink
section on the far left. It is found opposite “venir”.
5. Given that “aller” is listed here, you need to work from the examples in BR2
6. You are dealing with the do-er of action, “She”. Checking the yellow box, you know that the
French for “she” is “Elle”.
7. You go to equivalent co-ordinate J3 and find here that the past participle has an “e” tacked on
to it. Therefore you tack an “e” on to the past participle, “allé” to fortm “allée”
8. Combine with the “Elle est” that you find a J3 and you get:
9. Answer: Elle est allée
Here are a few more to try. Be careful!! You will need to make a decision whether to use BR1 or
BR2. Remember, if the verb you are using is listed in the pink box, far left, BR2, you use BR2.
Otherwise, for this exercise, it is BR1.
1. He fell (tomber – to fall)
2. She fell
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
3. She smoked
___________________________________________________
4. They (f) smoked
___________________________________________________
5. They (f) arrived
___________________________________________________
Answers on the next page:
The perfect tense – regular verbs, using être –verbs from Big Row 2
1. Il est tombé
2. Elle est tombée
3. Elle a fumé
4. Elles ont fumé
5. Elles sont arrivées
If you didn’t get these right, go back to the explanation on the previous page for how to create
“She went” and make sure that you find the equivalent co-ordinate for each phrase.
Only the verbs listed in the pink box on the far left of BIG ROW 2 are formed using the pattern
indicated in BIG ROW 2.
You need to remember which verbs these are. Either always carry your JTG (this is cool) or
devise a way to remember which verbs they are.
One way is to remember “MRS VAN DER TRAMP”
Monter
Retourner
Sortir
Venir
Aller
Naître
Descendre
Entrer
Rentrer
Tomber
Rester
Arriver
Mourir
Partir
Another is to note, as on the JTG, that down the left hand side of the listing, the starting letters
spell ADVENT. If you remember the ADVENT verbs, you can fill in their opposites beside them.
Arriver – Partir
Descendre – Monter
Venir – Aller
Entrer – Sortir
Naître – Mourir
Tomber – Rester
Retourner*
(to Arrive - to Leave)
(to Go down – to Go up)
(to Come – to Go)
(to Go in – to Go out)
(to Be born – to Die)
(to Fall – to Stay)
(to Return)* isn’t shown on the list
Any verb that is linked to these verbs with a re as a suffix (eg. Repartir, redescendre, rentrer)
forms its perfect tense in the same way, using the system in Big Row 2.
The perfect tense – regular & irregular verbs, using être –verbs from Big Row 1, 2 and 3
Let’s look more closely at Big Row 3.
These phrases all come from BR3.
See if you can put them into French:
1. I washed myself
2. She scratched herself
3. They (m) did hit themselves
(laver-to wash)
(gratter-to scratch)
(frapper-to hit)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. Je me suis lavé
2. Elle s’est grattée
3. Ils se sont frappés
Let’s look at phrase number 3.
The challenge: They did hit themselves
1. Decide upon which verb you will be using. In the dictionary, “hit” is “frapper”
2. Decide in which column you will be working. Comparing phrases leads you to column 3
3. Decide which Big Row you are going to use. Because you are translating an action done to
self, you are going to be in Big Row 3.
4. Checking within the yellow box, you know that They (m) is Ils, so your equivalent co-ordiante
is U3.
5. Given that your equivalent co-ordinate is U3, you must look carefully at the past participle
example at that co-ordinate and add on an extra “s” to your past participle, frappé. So, frappés.
(Frappé is just the regular past participle for an –er verb.)
6. The whole answer is therefore: Ils se sont frappés
To translate the following phrases, you will have to decide whether to use Big Row 1,2 or 3
answers on next page
1. She has left (partir) ___________________________________________
2. I did go out (sortir, here “je” is a boy) ___________________________________________
3. They took (prendre – blue section, irregular verb) ____________________________________
4. Did you (singular) finish? (finir) ___________________________________________
5. When did they eat? (manger) ___________________________________________
6. Did you (singular) diSTGuise yourself (déguiser)
______________________________________
7. She has fallen (tomber) ___________________________________________
8. They (f) helped each other (aider) ___________________________________________
9. Did she have a accident (avoir un accident) _________________________________________
10. They wanted a cake (vouloir un gateau) ____________________________________
The perfect tense – reg & irregular verbs, using être –verbs from Big Row 1, 2 and 3 & negatives
1. Elle est partie (past part for partir is “parti” – need to add an « e » as seen from equivalent coordinate, J3. Partir comes from Big Row 2. It is listed in the box on the left of JTG.
2. Je suis sorti
3. Ils ont pris
4. Est-ce que tu as fini?
5. Quand est-ce qu’ils ont mangé ?
6. Est-ce que tu t’es déguisé ?
7. Elle est tombée
8. Elles se sont aidées
9. Est-ce qu’elle a eu un accident?
10. Ils ont voulu un gâteau
Making the perfect tense negative (the JTGN is useful here. Just translate positively and
BOING)
It is easy to make any of the above phrases negative. Analyse what I have done with these to
make them negative:
1. Elle est partie = She left
>
Elle n’est pas partie = She didn’t leave
2. Je me suis lavé = I washed myself
>
Je ne me suis pas lavé – I didn’t wash myself
3. Ils ont pris = They have taken
>
Ils n’ont pas pris = They haven’t taken
I have surrounded the auxiliary verb (the part of être or avoir) with : Ne ……… Pas. Remember:
the ne always comes directly after the do-er of action.
If two vowels, eg. ne and est , are together, we get an apostrophe instead of the first one: n’
Attempt to translate the following phrases:
1. She didn’t smoke
2. They haven’t gone to the park (aller au parc)
3. She hasn’t hurt herself (blesser – to hurt)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers on the next page:
The perfect tense negatives
1. Elle n’a pas fumé
2. Ils ne sont pas allés au parc
3. Elle ne s’est pas blessée
Let’s look in detail at number 3, to be sure you understand how to create these phrases
The challenge: She hasn’t hurt herself
1. Decide upon which verb you will be working. In the dictionary, “hurt” is “blesser”
2. Decide in which column you will be working. Comparing phrases leads you to column 3
3. Decide which Big Row you are going to use. Because you are translating an action done to
self, you are going to be in Big Row 3.
4. Checking within the yellow box, you know that “She” is “Elle”, so your equivalent co-ordinate
is R3.
5. Given that your equivalent co-ordinate is R3, you must look carefully at the past participle
example at that co-ordinate and add on an extra “e” to your past participle, blessé. So, blessée.
6. Now you need to make the phrase negative using ne…. pas
7. Place the ne straight after the do-er of action
8. Place the “pas” after the part of être or avoir that you are using. Here it’s a part of être because
you are in Big Row 3.
9. Final answer: Elle ne s’est pas blessée (the « e » of « se » drops to leave apostrophe)
Here are a few testers. Quite tricky because you will have to make a decision on which column,
then which Big Row, in order to find the all-important equivalent co-ordinate.
Translate:
1. She didn’t stay in Paris
2. Does he have to eat the dinner?
3. They (m) didn’t see each other (voir-to see, irregular past part, see blue section JTG)
4. We aren’t singing (chanter- to sing)
5. Don’t you want to go to the cinema tonight? (aller au cinéma ce soir-to go to the cinema
tonight)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. Elle n’est pas restée à Paris
2. Est-ce qu’il doit manger le dîner ?
3. Ils ne se sont pas vus
4. Nous ne chantons pas
5. Est-ce que tu ne veux pas aller au cinéma ce soir ?
The perfect tense with the object pronouns, le, la, les, negative phrases too.
We sometimes need to use object pronouns in perfect tense phrases. Here is how you do it:
(Here, the JTG – Pronoun col 3 is rather useful – check it out)
Il a mangé
It means, “he ate”
If I want to include the word “le” to translate the idea of “it”, where do I put it?
Answer: In front of the part of avoir. Not at the end of the phrase as in English.
So, I get “Il l’a mangé” (apostrophe to replace “e”)
So, if I wish to make this phrase negative, what do I do? Attempt to answer here:
________________________________________________________________
Compare your answer with the correct one:
Il ne l’a pas mangé
So, the “ne” goes directly after the do-er of action, as usual, and the “pas” goes directly after the
part of être or avoir (in this case, avoir, il a)
Using la and les in perfect tense phrases
Take a look at these phrases and see if you can see what happens to the past participle when we
use the pronouns la and les in perfect tense phrases.
1. Je l’ai vue au parc
2. Ils les ont vues
3. John ne les a pas vus
=
=
=
I saw her in the park
They ate them (where them is a group of girls)
John didn’t see them (where them is a group of boys)
If we are using “la”, the past participle takes an extra “e”
If we are using “les”, the past participle takes an extra “s”
If the “les” is a pronoun for a feminine noun, past participle takes extra “es”. So, translate these:
1. You saw her
2. She saw them (group of boys)
3. They (f) didn’t kiss them (group of girls)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. Tu l’as vue
2. Elle les a vus
3. Ils ne les ont pas embrassées
The perfect tense used with modal verbs, devoir, pouvoir, vouloir
It is important to be able to use modal verbs in the perfect tense with other verbs.
Take a look at these phrases and see if you can translate them.
1. Est-ce que tu as dû aller à la fête? (à la fête – to the party, see line 5, right of JTG)
2. J’ai essayé et j’ai essayé mais je n’ai pas pu le faire (essayer- to try) (nb. ‘le’ before infinitive)
3. Il n’a pas voulu essayer l’escargot (l’escargot – the snail)
4. Je n’ai pas aimé les manger mais j’ai dû le faire (note pronoun, ‘le’ is directly before infinitive)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. Did you have to go to the party?
2. I tried and I tried but I couldn’t (I wasn’t able) to do it
3. He didn’t want to try the snail
4. I didn’t like eating them but I had to do it
Now try to translate into French:
1. I wasn’t able to finish them
2. Did you have to go out with John? (avec-with)
3. Didn’t they want to see her?
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. Je n’ai pas pu les finir
2. Est-ce que tu as dû sortir avec John ?
3. Est-ce qu’ils n’ont pas voulu la voir ? (voir-to see)
Using the Irregular Verb Grid (inside shaded area) with the perfect tense and the present tense
We have already seen that there are a number of irregular past participles and present tenses. The
Tense Grid team have devised a sheet called the Irregular Verb Grid so that you can, from one
page, access all the irregular verbs in French.
So, while referring to the Irregular Verb Grid, we will do some translating:
You will also need to refer to the right side of the JTG in order to access some vocabulary.
The challenge: I followed the green mouse (see adjectives section right of JTG, line 2)
1. Decide which verb you are going to use and look it up on the Irregular Verb Grid (IVG)
2. The verb is ‘to follow’. The verbs are listed in alphabetical order. You will find the verb,
‘suivre’.
3. Decide which tense you need to use. Referring to the JTG, you will be able to compare phrases
and locate column 3, the perfect tense column, as the one you need. So, find the equivalent coordinate.
4. You need to decide if you need to refer to Big Row 1, 2 or 3.
5. Is ‘suivre’ listed in the pink box to the left of the JTG? No, so rule out Big Row 2
6. Is the phrase you need to translate an action done on oneself? No, so rule out Big Row 3
7. Therefore, the equivalent co-ordinate is to be found in Big Row 1
8. Referring to the yellow box on the JTG, you can see that the word for “I” is Je so the
equivalent co-ordinate is a3.
9. Now, we refer to the IVG to find the correct past participle for suivre. It is “suivi”
10 Therefore, “I followed” is “J’ai suivi”
11. line 2, right of JTG, indicates la souris verte, ‘a’ une green mouse. Change it to ‘the’ ‘la”
(feminine form of ‘the’) – la souris verte
Answer: J’ai suivi la souris verte
Having completed the challenge, above, have a go at the following.
Not all the phrases are taken from col. 3 (perfect tense)
All the words that you require are in the shaded area of the IVG
Remember, for vocabulary, refer to right JTG
1. I have written 50 letters (une lettre- a letter)
2. They are taking a bath (un bain – a bath)
3. She died in Spring (in Spring, line 16 JTG)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against the correct answers:
1. J’ai écrit cinquante lettres
2. Ils prennent un bain
3. Elle est morte au printemps
Using the Irregular Verb Grid (outside shaded area) with the perfect tense and the present tense
Let’s have another look at phrase 3 from the previous page:
The Challenge: She died in Spring
1. Decide on the required verb: mourir
2. Decide on the tense. Which column in the JTG?
3. Having compared phrases, you will have chosen column 3.
4. You work out which Big Row you are in > Big Row 2 (mourir is listed on the left in pink)
5. You establish the equivalent co-ordinate as J3
6. Check the IVG to see if mourir has an irregular past participle > “mort”
7. Having noted this, you complete, referring to line 16 of the JTG for “in Spring”
The answer: Elle est morte au printemps
Have you grasped the power of the Irregular Verb Grid ? All the irregular patterns in French are
on it! All of them!. I said, “patterns”, not all the irregular verbs.
This brings me to the area outside the shaded area on the IVG. It works like this:
It is alphabetically organized. After each verb, you have a number. The number corresponds to
the numbers on the shaded area of the IVG. If a verb has number 7 beside it, you should look to
number 7 on the IVG to see the pattern for that verb.
Eg. Challenge: They do hold
1. Decide on the required verb: hold > “tenir”
2. Decide on the tense. Which column in the JTG?
3. Having compared phrases, you will have chosen column 1.
4. You work out which Big Row you are in > Big Row 1 (tenir not listed on left in pink, not a
“self” action in this phrase)
5. You establish the equivalent co-ordinate as F1
6. Check the IVG to establish the present, “ils” pattern for a type 7 verb (the eg. given is “venir”)
7. The “ils” entry for “venir” is “ils viennent” therefore the “ils” entry for tenir is “ils tiennent”
The answer: Ils tiennent
Let’s see if you can use the non-shaded area of the Irregular Verb Grid. Translate:
1. They have forbidden
2. She has described
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check:
1. Ils ont interdit
2. Elle a décrit
The Senior Tense Grid – used with all the tenses and all verbs, regular and irregular (IVG)
Before tackling questions based on the whole of the Senior Tense Grid, you must be clear in your
head that you know how to use this resource.
To recap. It is best to work with an example:
The challenge: I would have scratched myself (and, I am a girl!)
1. Decide on the required verb: to scratch > “gratter”
2. Decide on the tense. Which column in the STG?
3. Having compared phrases, you will have chosen column 8.
4. You work out which Big Row you are in > Big Row 3 because it is an action on self
5. You establish the equivalent co-ordinate as O8
6. Check the IVG to make sure that gratter is not irregular. It is REGULAR.
7. Compare to O8 and remember to add your girlie “e”!
Answer: Je me serais grattée
Here is another example. Some would say it is more difficult but they haven’t understood how to
use the Senior Tense Grid and the Irregular Verb Grid sheet!
The challenge: They would see
1. Decide on the required verb: to see > “voir”
2. Decide on the tense. Which column in the STG?
3. Having compared phrases, you will have chosen column 6.
4. You work out which Big Row you are in > Big Row 1 because voir is not listed left and is the
phrase is not an action on self
5. You establish the equivalent co-ordinate as V6
6. Check the IVG to make sure that voir is not irregular. A-ha! It is IRREGULAR.!
7. From the top of column 5/6, we know that the only way a verb can be irregular in these
columns is in its stem.
8. We find the irregular future stem: verr9. On to this irregular future stem, we add the appropriate ending for “ils” which is –aient
Answer: Ils verraient
Translate these:
1. He would have been happy (line 43 JTG)
2. John did go out with Jill
3. She followed
4. They were eating
5. I will go if you go
6. He would go if you went
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
7. She is going to go
_______________________________
8. They’re learning
_______________________________
9. He had seen
_______________________________
10. She had seen me (I’m a girl)
_______________________________
Answers on next page:
The Senior Tense Grid – used with all the tenses and all verbs, regular and irregular (IVG),
negatives and questions and pronouns
Answers to previous questions:
1. He would have been happy (line 43 JTG)
2. John did go out with Jill
3. She followed
4. They were eating
5. I will go if you go
6. He would go if you went
7. She is going to go
8. They’re learning
9. He had seen
10. She had seen me (I’m a girl)
Il aurait été content
John est sorti avec Jill
Elle a suivi
Ils mangeaient
J’irai si tu vas
Il irait si tu allais
Elle va aller
Ils apprennent
Il avait vu
Elle m’avait vue
The following include questions and negatives, but if you know where to look (STG, IVG,), you
have nothing to fear.
Translate:
1. Where did you (singular) see her?
2. Does she have to eat them?
3. He wouldn’t have helped her if he had been able
4. Wouldn’t you speak to him? (“to him”-“lui”)
5. I would have talked to her (“to her”-“lui”, same as “to him”) if I had seen her
6. He doesn’t want to go there (“there” – “y”)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________________________________
6. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check:
1. Où est-ce que tu l’as vue?
2. Est-ce qu’elle doit les manger ?
3. Il ne l’aurait pas aidée s’il avait pu
4. Est-ce que tu ne lui parlerais pas
5. Je lui aurais parlé si je l’avais vue
6. Il ne veut pas y aller
The Senior Tense Grid – used with all the tenses and all verbs, regular and irregular (IVG),
negatives and questions and pronouns
Let’s have a look at number 3 just to confirm that you understand
The challenge: He wouldn’t have helped her if he had been able
1. Decide on the required verbs: to help > “aider” & to be able > “pouvoir”
2. Break the phrase down and deal with each part in turn. Part 1 > “he wouldn’t have helped her”
3. Using “aider”, decide on the tense. Which column in the STG?
3. Having compared phrases, you will have chosen column 8.
4. You work out which Big Row you are in > Big Row 1 because aider is not listed left in the
ADVENT list and the phrase is not an action on self
5. You establish the equivalent co-ordinate as C8
6. Check the IVG to make sure that “help” is not irregular.
7. It is Regular therefore > il aurait aide
8. But we are using the pronoun, “la”, a direct object feminine pronoun so Il l’aurait aidé
9. Il l’aurait aidé is wrong because, if we check on the JTG – Pronoun col 3, we can see that in
col 3, 7 & 8, an “e” will be attached to the past participle to mark the feminine direct object
pronoun. > Il l’aurait aidée
10. Having created the positive phrase, we create the negative phrase. Using the system shown on
the JTG – Pronoun col 3, at co-ordinate, c-3
11. Placing the “ne” after the do-er of action and the “pas” after the part of avoir we get “Il ne
l’aurait pas aide”
12. Now, Part 2 > “if he had been able”
13. Using “pouvoir”, decide on the tense. Which column in the STG?
14. Having compared phrases, you will have chosen column 7.
15. You work out which Big Row you are in > Big Row 1 because aider is not listed left in the
ADVENT list and the phrase is not an action on self
16. You establish the equivalent co-ordinate as C7
16. Check the IVG to make sure that “pouvoir” is not irregular. > A-ha! It is IRREGULAR.!
17. On the IVG, in co-ordinate, h5, we can see the past part for pouvoir is “pu”
18. Putting “if” in front of this, we get Si > “S’il avait pu”
19. Putting the two phrases together, we get:
Answer: Il ne l’aurait pas aidée s’il avait pu
Try these :
1. He has it (it is a book – le livre)
2. He doesn’t have it (it is a book)
3. They wouldn’t eat it (it is a tart, la tarte) (refer to JTGP12)
4. She will not do them (them are homeworks, les devoirs) (refer to JTGP12)
5. He hadn’t seen her (refer to JTGP3)
The answers:
Refer systematically to the resources in order to be able to place the “ne” and “pas” correctly.
Answers:
1. Il l’a
2. Il ne l’a pas
3. Ils ne le mangeraient pas
4. Elle ne les fera pas
5. Il ne l’avait pas vue
Using pronouns in conjunction with the STG.
Referring to the Senior Tense Grid and its columns, it is easy to use pronouns.
Also don’t forget that the JTGP12 and JTGP3 are useful for using pronouns in any tense
The order of the pronouns in any given phrase is as follows from left to right:
Me
le
lui
y
en
Te
la
leur
Se
les
Nous
Vous
This order allows us to see which pronoun is placed first in a phrase where more than one is used.
For example, Je le leur ai expliqué – I explained it to them. Le (it) and Leur (to them) are in the
phrase and, referring to the table above, we see that le comes before leur. More on this later.
A quick explanation of the pronouns and their meanings
Me (me, to me, myself, to myself)
Te (you, to you, yourself, to yourself)
Se (himself/herself, to himself/herself, themselves/ves, to themself/sleves)
Nous (us, ourselves, to us, to ourselves)
Vous (you (pl), yourselves, to you (pl), to yourselves)
Le (him, it)
La (her, it)
Les (them)
Lui (to him, her + rarely for/from him,her)
Leur (to them + rarely for/from them)
Y – there, also replaces à + noun
En – of it/them – also replaces de + noun
Let’s have a look at a couple of phrases which use object pronouns, to get us started
Je les mange tous les jours (tous les jours-every day)
Je les ai mangées hier (hier-yesterday)
Je vais les manger demain (tomorrow)
Have a go at translating these :
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check with the correct answers:
1. I eat them everyday
2. I ate them yesterday
3. I am going to eat them tomorrow
The impact of a direct object pronoun
Which one of the phrases that have been translated is the odd-one out and why?
Je les mange tous les jours (tous les jours-every day)
Je les ai mangés hier (hier-yesterday)
Je vais les manger demain (tomorrow)
- I eat them every day
- I ate them yesterday
- I am going to eat them tomorrow
The answer is number 2 because of the following:
1. Je mange les bonbons tous les jours >
2. J’ai mangé les bonbons hier >
3. Je vais les manger demain >
Je les mange tous les jours (with pronoun)
Je les ai mangés hier (with pronoun)
Je vais les manger demain (with pronoun)
Number 2 uses the perfect tense (column 3) and when using this column (and col 7 & 8), IF you
are using a DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN that is PLURAL OR FEMININE, there is an
impact on the past participle.
Look at the impact: J’ai mangé les bonbons >
Je les ai mangés
To summarise:
DOP in Col 3,7,8 means “impact” on the PP if DOP is f. or pl.
which means:
(A Direct Object Pronoun in Column 3,7,8 means “impact” on the Past Participle if the
Direct Object Pronoun is feminine or plural)
The first piece of information that you must understand clearly is what is the difference between a
direct object pronoun and an indirect object pronoun.
Here are a few examples of the differences. Can you look at these and, using the translations into
English, explain where the difference lies.
Examples of direct and indirect object pronouns
Direct object pronouns (DOP)
Indirect object pronouns (IOP)
1. Je l’ai vue – I saw her
Je lui ai expliqué – I explain to her
2. Je les ai embrassées – I kissed them(girls)
Je leur ai parlé – I talked to them(girls)
3. Je me suis frappée – I hit myself(girl)
Je me suis chanté–I sang to myself( girl)
Analyse the columns and, using the translations, indicate the difference between DOP and IOP:
The difference between the direct object pronoun & the indirect object pronoun is that, in English, the DOP
means, for example:
______________________________________________________________________________
And the IOP means, :
______________________________________________________________________________
The impact of a direct object pronoun and creating that impact > quite a BIG DEAL!
The difference between the direct object pronoun & the indirect object pronoun is that, in English, the DOP
means, for example:
“it” or “them” or “myself
And the IOP means:
“to it” or “to them” or “to myself
Sometimes the IOP is translated as, for example, “for it” or “of them” but in general it can be
recognized as the pronoun which is translated as “to” him, them, it, her, myself etc.
Here is our list of examples again. This time, can you try to summarize the impact on the past
participle of feminine and plural DOPs. What is the impact on the past participle?
Examples of direct and indirect object pronouns
Direct object pronouns (DOP)
Indirect object pronouns (IOP)
1. Je l’ai vue – I saw her
Je lui ai expliqué – I explain to her
2. Je les ai embrassées – I kissed them(girls)
Je leur ai parlé – I talked to them(girls)
3. Je me suis frappée – I hit myself(girl)
Je me suis chanté–I sang to myself( girl)
The impact of a feminine DOP is that you add an ________________to the past particple
The impact of a plural DOP is that you add an ___________________ to the past participle
Teachers call this impact “agreement”. The past participle agrees with the DOP by taking
an “e” if the DOP is feminine and an “s” if it is plural and both if it is feminine plural.
The past participle does not agree with IOPs. We can see this by looking and the examples above.
In the phrases using IOPs there are now “e”s or “s” s on the past participles.
Phrase number 3 above is different from the other 2. Can you see why?
Some of the pronouns are used as direct and indirect pronouns. In no.3. “me” is used for both
Me
le
lui
y
en
Te
Se
Nous
Vous
la
les
leur
I have highlighted the pronouns that can be used as indirect OR direct object pronouns.
The impact of a direct object pronoun and creating that impact > quite a BIG DEAL!
In the following phrases, the past participles have not been made to agree. This means that no
“e”s or “s”s have been added to them.
For some of the phrases this is correct. You should correct those that need corrected.
1. He spoke to them (girls)
> Il leur a parlé________________
2. He tickled her
> Il l’a chatouillé_______________
3. I scratched myself (where “I” is a girl)
> Je me suis gratté_______________
Compare your answers with these correct ones:
1. Il leur a parlé
2. Il l’a chatouillée
3. Je me suis grattée
1. No impact (agreement) because “leur” (to them) is an IOP. No impact needed.
2. Impact required because a DOP, “la” (her) is used. Impact for singular, feminine is “e”.
3. Impact required because a DOP, “me” (myself) is used. The myself is about a girl. “e” needed.
This is the same exercise again. See how you do.
1. They had spoken to us (girls)
> Ils nous avaient parlé____________
2. They would have noticed us (girls)
> Ils nous auraient remarqué________
3. She would have whistled to herself
> Elle se serait sifflé_______________
Compare your answers with these correct ones:
1. Ils nous avaient parlé
2. Il nous auraient remarquées
3. Elle se serait sifflé
> no impact because nous (to us) is an IOP(indirect)
> impact ! nous (us) is DOP(direct)
> no impact because se (to herself) is IOP(indirect)
See if you can create your own phrases using a pronoun. The phrase will come from col 3,7 or 8
1. He talked to me (where “me” is a girl)
2. I saw them (boys)
3. We spoke to ourselves (where “ourselves” is girls)
Your answers:
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Correct answers:
Il m’a parlé
> no impact because “me” means “to me” and is indirect
Je les ai vus
> impact ! les is direct. “s” is required as impact
Nous nous sommes parlé
> no impact because “nous” is “to ourselves”
Two pronouns used in the same phrase
Let’s look again at the table which shows us the order in which to place pronouns when two occur
in the same phrase
Me
Te
Se
Nous
Vous
le
la
les
lui
leur
y
en
This order allows us to see which pronoun is placed first in a phrase where more than one is used.
For example, Je le leur ai expliqué – I explained it to them.
Le (it) and Leur (to them) are in the phrase and, referring to the table above, we see that le comes
before leur.
The same rules apply about impact or lack of it when two pronouns are used in the same phrase.
Attempt to translate the following phrases:
1. Elle nous l’a expliqué (where the l’ is le and refers to the problem, le problème)
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Je la lui ai présentée (where la refers to the flower, la fleur and lui refers to a boy)
______________________________________________________________________________
Check your answers with the correct ones below:
1. She explained it to us
2. I presented it to him
Now attempt to translate into French
1. They would have given it (the car, la voiture) to us (a group of girls)
2. She had thrown it to him (“it” is la balle, the ball)
3. Did you say tell it to yourself (“it” is the story, l’histoire (f) and “you” is singular, a girl)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check with these :
1. Ils nous l’auraient donnée
2. Elle la lui avait lancée
3. Est-ce que tu te l’es dite?
2 pronouns in the 1 phrase. Agreement of past participle. Making phrases with pronouns negative
So that you fully understand, here is a fuller explanation of each one of these phrases :
Challenge : They would have given it (the car) to us (girls)
1. They would have given >
col 8. , donner-to give
2. Ils auraient donné = they would have given
3. « it » = « la » (la voiture), “to us” = “nous”
4. « la » will have an impact because it is direct, “nous” (to us) will not because it is indirect
5. We need to put these in the right order. Checking the table, nous comes before la.
The answer: Ils nous l’auraient donnée
Challenge : She had thrown it to him
1. She had thrown >
col 7., lancer-to throw
2. Elle avait lancé = She had thrown
3. “it” = “la” (la balle), “to him” = lui
4. “la” will have an impact because it is direct, “lui” (to him) will not because it is indirect
5. We need to put these in the right order. Checking the table, la comes before lui
The answer: Elle la lui avait lancée
Challenge : Did you tell it to yourself ?
1. You told yourself > col 3., dire-to tell, irregular past part: “dit”
2. Tu t’es dit
3. Make it a question : Est-ce que tu t’es dit ?
4. “it” = “la” (l’histoire f), “to yourself” = « te »
5. “la” will have an impact because it is direct, “te” (to yourself) will not because it is indirect
6. We need to put these in the right order. Checking the table, te comes before la
The answer: Est-ce que tu te l’es dite?
If you wish to make a phrase negative, remember this :
Ne ………. Pas
The Ne always comes directly after the do-er of action
The Pas comes after the part of être or avoir in col. 3,7,8. Otherwise it just comes after the verb.
Eg(col 8)Je NE les lui aurais PAS expliqués=I wouldn’t have explained them to him (les problèmes m)
Eg(col 6)Je NE les lui expliquerais PAS=I wouldn’t explain them to him
Translate the following into French and check with the answers below
1. I wouldn’t have chosen them (flowers, fleurs (f) (col 8)
2. She wasn’t liking it (col 6)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
Correct:
1. Je ne les aurais pas choisies
2. Elle ne l’aimait pas
The two pronouns at which we haven’t really looked yet are Y and EN.
These are indirect pronouns and have no impact on the past participle.
Y – normally means “there” but can have other meanings. Y replaces “à” & noun
EN – normally means “of it/of them” but can have other meanings. En replaces “de” & noun
Given the above information, what do these phrases mean:
1. J’y vais le samedi
2. J’en ai essayé un peu (un peu= a bit, essayer-to try)
3. Elle en avait pris cinq (“pris” is the past part of “prendre”, “to take”)
4. Elle y est allée en vacances
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check with these:
1. I go there on Saturday
2. I tried a bit of it
3. She took five of them
4. She went there on holiday
À + NOUN is sometimes clear to see. Eg. Je vais à Paris.
As the JTG (line 5,6,7) indicates, À + NOUN is sometimes hidden. You need to be able to spot
phrases where the à is hidden, in order to use “Y”.
DE + NOUN is sometimes clear to see. Eg. J’ai dépensé un peu de l’argent
As the JTG (line 8,9,10) indicates, DE + NOUN is sometimes hidden. You need to be able to
spot phrases where the de is hidden, in order to use “EN”.
Below are two easy phrases, where you can spot à + noun and de + noun.
Je vais à Paris = I am going to Paris
> = J’y vais (à & Paris) = I am going there
J’ai un peu de l’argent=I have some of the money >J’en ai un peu (de+l’argent)–I have some of it
However:
The following phrase contains à + noun > Je pense au problème (I’m thinking about the problem)
The à is hidden in “au” (à + le) JTG (line 5,6,7)
“I’m thinking about it” is therefore: “J’y pense”
However:
The following phrase contains de + noun > Je mange du fromage (I’m eating some cheese)
The de is hidden in “du” (de + le) JTG (line 8,9,10)
“I’m eating some” is therefore: “J’en mange”
Re-capping on the use of Y and EN as opposed to le, la, les
When choosing when to use Y or EN instead of LE, LA, LES, it is vital to remember that:
Y replaces À + NOUN
And
EN replaces DE + NOUN
So, attempt the following where you should attempt to replace the nouns in the phrases with the
correct pronouns.
1. Je mange des frites >
I’m eating (some) chips
2. J’ai pris les clefs (f) >
I took the keys
3. Il allait au cinéma >
He was going to the cinema
4. Ils ont bu du jus >
They drank some juice
Compare your answers with these :
1. Je mange des frites:
2. J’ai pris les clefs (f)
3. Il allait au cinéma
4. Ils ont bu du jus
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
J’en mange (“de” is hidden in “des”)
Je les ai prises (no à or de, impact from DOP, « es » )
Il y allait (« à » is hidden in « au »)
Ils en ont bu (« de » is hidden in « du »)
Try these, just to consolidate your understanding. Same system:
1. Je vois les filles (girls) >
I see the girls
2. Elle est allée au marché >
I took the keys
3. Il aurait fini les devoirs (h/works) >
He would have finished the h/works
4. Nous avons fait du travail >
We did some work
Compare your answers with these :
1. Je vois les filles:
2. Elle est allée au marché
3. Il aurait fini les devoirs
4. Nous avons fait du travail
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Je les vois (no hidden à or de)
Elle y est allée (à + le marché, hidden à, so use « y »)
Il les aurait finis (s because « les » is masc pl, devoir m)
Nous en avoins fait (de is hidden in du (de + le)
Y and EN are often used in expressions and these are worth learning off :
For example:
J’en ai marre – I’m fed up (literally, I of it have annoyance)
Je n’y peux rien – I can’t do anything about it (literally, I at it can do nothing)
For more, see the one a day learn ‘em off section
The following explanation recaps how pronouns are used in the 8 cols of the Senior Tense
Grid
ANALYSE PHRASE
IDENTIFY STG COLUMN,
GET TO THE RIGHT AREA!
AREA 1
Columns 1,4,5,6 – EASY ! – example with col 1 but works the same for 4,5,6
Used positively
Je la regarde
I watch it
Je la regardais
I was watching it
Je la regarderai
I will watch it
Used negatively
Je ne la regarde pas
I don’t watch it
Je ne la regardais pas
I wasn’t watching it
Je ne la regarderai pas Je ne la regarderais pas
I won’t watch it
I wouldn’t watch it
Je la regarderais
I would watch it
NO IMPACT ON THE PAST PARTICIPLE – there isn’t one!
THE NE COMES DIRECTLY AFTER THE DO-ER OF ACTION
THE PAS COMES AFTER THE VERB
AREA 2
Column 2 – when you get two verbs coming together (and therefore an infinitive as 2nd verb)
Used positively
Je vais le faire
I’m going to do it
Je peux le faire
I can do it
Used negatively
Je ne vais pas le faire
I’m not going to do it
Je ne peux pas le faire Je ne dois pas le faire
I can’t do it
I didn’t have to do it
Je dois le faire
I have to do it
Je veux le faire
I want to do it
Je ne veux pas le faire
I didn’t want to do it
NO IMPACT ON THE PAST PARTICIPLE – there isn’t one!
THE NE COMES DIRECTLY AFTER THE DO-ER OF ACTION
THE PAS COMES AFTER THE MODAL (first) VERB
AREA 3
Columns 3,7,8, example with col 3 but works the same for 7 and 8
Used positively
Je l’ai vendue
I sold it
Je l’avais vendue
I had sold it (tv,f)
Je l’aurais vendue
I would have sold it
Used negatively
Je ne les ai pas vendues
I didn’t sell them
Je ne les avais pas vendues
I hadn’t sold them
Je ne les aurais pas vendues
I wouldn’t have sold them
IMPACT ON THE PAST PARTICIPLE if a direct object pronoun is used (la>e, les>(e)s)
THE NE COMES DIRECTLY AFTER THE DO-ER OF ACTION
THE PAS COMES AFTER THE AUXILIARY VERB (part of être of avoir)
Prepositions and connecting words MAKE THE personal pronoun CHANGE
Changes as indicated for PREPOSITIONAL PRONOUNS
From:
Me > Moi
Te > Toi
Se > Soi
Nous (no change)
Vous (no change)
Le > Lui
La > Elle
Les > Eux (m) / Elles (f)
Lui (no change)
Leur (no change)
y > là en > ça
Here is a list of prepositions and connecting words.
The same rule applies to any preposition or connecting word so if you can think of another but it
isn’t on the list, the rule still applies to your word!
After – après
And – et
At the end of – au bout de
Before - avant
Behind - Derrière
Beside - À côté de
Between - entre
Far from - Loin de
In front - Devant
Instead of – au lieu de
Near to - Près de
Of / From / about – De
On - sur
Than - que
With - Avec
Without - sans
Examples:
J’aime lui parler quand il est ici sans elle – I like speaking to him when he is here without her
J’adore sortir avec eux – I love going out with them
Try these:
1. He jumped on her
2. She went before them (mpl)
3. She is speaking about me
4. They are going to go out without you (plural)
5. He is far from us
6. We are behind him
7. After you! (singular)
8. Between me and you (singular)
9. Sell to them
10. Speak to him
answers overleaf
Imperatives. Giving orders positively provokes the same change as prepositions
Answers from previous page:
1. Il a sauté sur elle
2. Elle est allée avant eux
3. Elle parle de moi
4. Ils vont sortir sans vous (note that you pl doesn’t change)
5. Il est loin de nous (no change)
6. Nous sommes derrière lui
7. Après toi
8. Entre moi et toi
9. Vends-leur ! (no change)
10. Parle-lui ! (no change)
Ordering positively and pronouns
If we look at the last two phrases, 9 & 10, we can see two positive orders. The pronouns used (to
them-leur and to him-lui) never change.
However, if we wish to use different personal pronouns after a positive order, changes happen:
Here is the table to show you which pronouns change after a positive order:
Me > Moi
Te > Toi
Se >
Nous (no change)
Vous (no change)
Le >
La >
Les >
Lui (no change)
Leur (no change)
y>
For example:
POSITIVE ORDER
NEGATIVE ORDER
Chante-moi !
Sing to me! (informal)
Ne me chante pas!
Don’t sing to me!
Demande-moi !
Ask me !
Ne me demande pas!
Don’t ask me !
So: translate, all “you singular”!
1. Bring me to the party (emmener-to bring a person, à la fête-to the party)
2. Wake yourself up (réveiller)
3. Wash your hands ! (laver) literally “wash yourself the hands”
en >
4. Brush your teeth literally, “brush yourself the teeth”
5. Don’t ask yourself! (demander-to ask)
6. Don’t worry yourself (inquiéter-to worry)
7. Let’s listen to ourselves (écouter)
8. Sit yourselves down (asseoir)
Answers next page:
Imperatives. Correct translations & prepositions after some exceptional verbs, two pronouns
Answers:
1. Emmène-moi à la fête!
2. Réveille-toi!
3. Lave-toi les mains!
4. Brosse-toi les dents!
5. Ne te demande pas!
6. Ne t’inquiète pas !
7. Écoutons-nous!
8. Asseyez-vous!
After some exceptional verbs PREPOSITIONAL PRONOUNS are used & put after an à or de
There aren’t that many but they are quite common. This list is what you need to know:
Penser à – to think about someone/thing
S’intéresser à – to interest oneself in someone (really means “to fancy someone)
Tenir à – to care for someone
Rêver de – to dream about someone
Dépendre de – to depend on someone
Se passer de – to do without someone
Me > Moi
Le > Lui
Lui (no change)
y > là en > ça
Te > Toi
La > Elle
Leur (no change)
Se > Soi
Les > Eux (m) / Elles (f)
Nous (no change)
Vous (no change)
So, translate:
1. I fancy her
2. Do you care about him ?
3. She depends on you
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check :
1. Je m’intéresse à elle
2. Est-ce que tu tiens à lui ?
3. Elle dépend de toi !
NB: More than 1 pronoun may be used in an order. If positive, pronouns change order as follows:
POSITIVE
NEGATIVE
Donne-les moi! - Give them to me!
Ne me les donne pas! – Don’t give them to me
Translate (you singular)
1. Explain it (le) to yourself! & Don’t explain it to yourself!
2. Describe them to me! & Don’t describe them to me !
Your answer:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check:
1. Explique le-toi! (normally le comes after “te” (toi)
& Ne te l’explique pas !
2. Décris les-moi (normally les before me (moi)
& Ne me les décris pas !
Revision of the pronoun section
Translate :
1. When are you going to talk to him ? (you plural)
2. How did you speak to her?
3. I wouldn’t have met her (retrouver-to meet)
4. He was in front of her
5. Don’t accuse me of it (accuser-to accuse) (me is a boy)
6. He was going to have to see her
7. Wash yourselves!
8. She had to give them to him (them is two cars)
9. Was he wanting to see me? (me is a girl)
10. Give them to him (ordering one person)
11. He was there before them (m)
12. Don’t relax (singular) (se reposer-to relax)
1. ______________________________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________________________
4. ______________________________________________________________________
5. ______________________________________________________________________
6. ______________________________________________________________________
7. ______________________________________________________________________
8. ______________________________________________________________________
9. ______________________________________________________________________
10. _____________________________________________________________________
11. _____________________________________________________________________
12. _____________________________________________________________________
Check:
1. Quand est-ce que vous allez lui parler?
2. Comment est-ce que tu lui as parlé ?
3. Je ne l’aurais pas retrouvée
4. Il était devant elle
5. Ne m’en accuse pas !
6. Il allait devoir la voir
7. Lavez-vous !
8. Elle a dû les lui donner
9. Est-ce qu’il voulait me voir ?
10. Donne-les lui !
11. Il y était avant eux
12. Ne te repose pas !
Verbs that use “à”, in French, when referring to an object BUT don’t use “to” in English
There are a few verbs which can cause real problems when using pronouns. They are verbs
which, in French, use “à” before an object BUT, in English, don’t use the equivalent “to”
Here is what I mean:
English:
French: Je
I
dis
tell
à
my
mes
amis
friends to
de
eat
manger
If we look carefully at this phrase, we can see that in English you simply tell a person to do
something whereas in French you tell “to” “à” a person to do something.
This has an impact in terms of the pronoun that you use if you want to say, for eg: “I told him”
In fact, in French, you will say “I told to him”
Here is a reminder of the object pronouns in French and their meanings
Me
Te
Se
Nous
Vous
le
la
les
lui
leur
y
en
Me (me, to me, myself, to myself)
Te (you, to you, yourself, to yourself)
Se (him/herself, to himself/herself, themselves/ves, to themself/selves)
Nous (us, ourselves, to us, to ourselves)
Vous (you (pl), yourselves, to you (pl), to yourselves)
Le (him, it)
La (her, it)
Les (them)
Lui (to him, her + rarely for/from him,her)
Leur (to them + rarely for/from them)
Y – there, also replaces à + noun
En – of it/them – also replaces de + noun
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The translation of “I told him” is therefore, “Je lui ai dit”
Some more verbs that take “à” before an object (generally a person) in French but don’t use “to” in English
Apprendre-to teach (apprendre quelque chose à quelqu’un=to teach someone something)
Conseiller-to advise (conseiller à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose=to advise someone to do something)
Donner-to give (donner quelque chose à quelqu’un=to give something to someone)
Interdire-to forbid (interdire à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose=to forbid someone from doing something)
Permettre-to allow (permettre à quelqu’un de faire quelque chose=to allow someone to do something)
Faire mal-to hurt (faire mal à quelqu’un=to hurt someone)
Faire peur-to scare (faire peur à quelqu’un=to scare someone)
Practice with verbs that take « à » in French but don’t take « to » in English – refer to p5,6 from
“how to use pronouns”
The challenge:
She permitted him to travel alone (alone-seul)
1. to allow-the dictionary will show “permettre à qn de faire qch”
(qn=quelqu’un=someone; qch=quelque chose=something)
2. Referring to STG, you will locate the correct column, col 3 and equivalent co-ordinate, c3
3. Referring to IVG, you will note the irregular past part of permettre: permis
4. Referring to the dictionary, you will note that to permit is noted as “permettre à qn de faire qch”
5. This means that even though there is no “to” before “him” in the challenge phrase, we need to
use “lui” . “Lui” is the pronoun that replaces à + person.
6. Therefore we have the phrase, “elle lui a permis” for “she permitted him”
7. The structure noted in the dictionary is “permettre à qn de faire qch” so we must stick to this
8. Therefore, “voyager” meaning “to travel”, we have:
The answer: Elle lui a permis de voyager seul
Negative : Elle NE lui a PAS permis de voyager seul = She didn’t permit him to travel alone
Translate the following :
1. He scared her
2. They advised him to leave
3. We would have taught them to speak
4. She hurt him
5. I wouldn’t forbid her from smoking
6. I gave her a present (un cadeau=a present)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________________________________
6. ____________________________________________________________________________
Check against these:
1. Il lui a fait peur
2. Ils m’ont conseillé de partir
3. On leur aurait appris à parler
4. Elle lui a fait mal
5. Je ne lui interdirais pas de fumer
6. Je lui ai donné un cadeau
The subjunctive mood (see column 9, Senior Tense Grid)
After certain phrases, we are required to use the subjunctive. Just as in English!
In English, we say this:
“It is very important that you be here on time”
Did you know that this phrase includes the subjunctive?
Well it does! > The word, “be” is the subjunctive of the verb “to be”
“Important that”….. brings on the subjunctive.
“It is very important that” you be here on time”
Normally, the present tense of “to be” with “you” is “are”
We say:
I am
You are
He is
She is
We are
You are
They are
They are
We say, I hope that you are happy because “hope that” doesn’t bring on the subjunctive.
However, “important that” does. “It’s important that you be here on time”
So, now that you are aware that the subjunctive is all around us in English, let’s have a look at
how it works in French.
After certain expressions, it is used. It is something that becomes easy to use with practice and the
more you use it, the more you get a feel for using it. It is not called the subjunctive tense. Rather,
it is called, the subjunctive “mood”.
The best way to learn how to use it is just to learn off some very common phrases that use it.
Nevertheless, I want to explain to you how it is formed.
So, firstly, here we go with how you form it>
Formation of subjunctive (see column 9 of the Senior Tense Grid)
1. Find the “ils” part of the present tense of the verb you wish to put in subjunctive
2. Lop off the –ent
3. Add these endings:
-e
-es
-e
-ions
-iez
-ent
So, form the “je” subjunctive of finir: ___________________________________
Answer on next page:
Formation of the subjunctive, including irregulars
The challenge: Subjunctive, “je” of finir
1. Decide on the verb to finish > finir
2. Check the IVG to find the “ils”present for of the verb > “ils finissent”
3. Lop off the –ent
4. Stem is finiss5. Add “Je” and the appropriate ending:
Answer: Je finisse
Irregular subjunctives
It probably doesn’t surprise you to hear that there are a couple of irregular subjunctives. They are,
of course, the usual suspects.
They can be seen in the turquoise section at the bottom of the IVG sheet.
Using the IVG sheet, find the subjunctive:
1. “il” of the verb, “to be”
2. “je” of the verb, “to be able”
3. “tu” of the verb, “to go”
Your answers:
1. _________________________________
2. _________________________________
3. _________________________________
Check:
1. Il soit
2. Je puisse
3. tu ailles
Let’s look at no 3.
The challenge: the subjunctive of the verb, “to go”, “tu” form of verb
1. Decide the verb, “to go” > “aller”
2. check to see if “aller” has irregular subjunctive, on the IVG > It does
3. The “je” form is noted but the “tu” form isn’t.
4. If this is the case, just add an “s” to the “je” form
Answer: tu ailles
subjunctive, “they (m)” of “to be able”
Subjunctive, she of “to want”
Subjunctive, “we” of “to know”
Answers on next page:
The use of the subjunctive, Answers:
1. Ils puissent
Elle veuille
Nous sachions
Try these:
It is much more difficult to remember to use the subjunctive than it is to form it!
The best way to remember is to learn off 9 main phrases which include it. Be aware, however, of
what is provoking the use of the subjunctive.
Phrase 1: TO WANT THAT – VOULOIR/DÉSIRER/AIMER/AVOIR ENVIE QUE….
Je veux que tu finisses ton devoir – I want you to finish your h/w
The French don’t say, « I want you to…», they say, « I want that » This provokes the subjunctive.
Phrase 2: TO BE NECESSARY THAT – FALLOIR QUE/IMPORTANT QUE…
Il faut que tu finisses – It is necessary that you finish your h/w
Phrase 3: TO BE ANYTHING SUBJECTIVE THAT, eg. Normal, brilliant, a pity, a shame, etc.
C’est normal que tu sois ici à l’heure – It’s normal that you be here on time
Phrase 4: IN ORDER THAT, SO THAT, ALTHOUGH – POUR QUE, AFIN QUE, BIEN QUE
Je travaille pour que tu puisses manger – I work so that you can eat ; Bien que tu sois..-Although you are..
Phrase 5: DOUBT THAT – JE NE PENSE PAS QUE….
Je ne pense pas qu’il soit arrivé (perfect subjunctive) – I don’t think that he has arrived
Phrase 6 : BEFORE + a phrase – AVANT QUE…NE…
Avant que tu ne partes, dis-moi « au revoir » ! – Before you leave, say good bye to me
Phrase 7 : UNTIL + a phrase – JUSQU’À CE QUE…
Jusqu’à ce que tu comprennes, pose des questions ! – Until you understand, ask questions !
Phrase 8 : PROVIDED THAT + a phrase – POURVU QUE….
Pourvu que tu sois ici à l’heure… – Provided you are here on time…
Phrase 9 : ORDERS (the imperative) Subj used ONLY with AVOIR, ÊTRE, SAVOIR
Aie de la patience–Have patience! Sois gentil–Be nice! Sache que je t’aime!–Know that I love you!
Phrase 10: THE SUPERLATIVE (the most, the smallest, the happiest that….)
Il est le meilleur oncle que j’aie-He is the best uncle I have
Learn off the phrases as above and you will be well on the way to mastering the subjunctive!
Use of the subjunctive: some test phrases
Some of the following phrases require that the subjective be used. When translating, refer to the
examples above to know when to use it. Not all of the following phrases need the subjunctive.
1. She teaches so that he succeeds (enseigner-to teach; réussir-to succeed)
2. They will wait provided that you (singular) wait too (too-aussi)
3. I think that he is late (late-en retard)
4. I don’t think that he has a problem (un problème)
5. Wait (you singular) until he can be here
6. It is sad that John doesn’t understand (comprendre-understand, triste-sad)
7. Although I know (savoir) where you are, I don’t see you
8. I hope that you understand (espérer-to hope)
9. He is the man that makes cakes (faire les gateaux-to make cakes)
10. Be here at 10, otherwise you are dead! (otherwise-sinon, to be dead-être mort)
Your answers:
1. ____________________________________________________________________________
2. ____________________________________________________________________________
3. ____________________________________________________________________________
4. ____________________________________________________________________________
5. ____________________________________________________________________________
6. ____________________________________________________________________________
7. ____________________________________________________________________________
8. ____________________________________________________________________________
9. ____________________________________________________________________________
10. ___________________________________________________________________________
Check against these:
1. Elle enseigne pour qu’il réussisse
3. Je pense qu’il est en retard
5. Attends jusqu’à ce qu’il puisse être ici
7. Bien que je sache où tu es, je ne te vois pas
9. Il est l’homme qui fait les gâteaux
2. Ils attendront pourvu que tu attendes aussi
4. Je ne pense pas qu’il ait un problème
6. C’est triste que John ne comprenne pas
8. J’espère que tu comprends
10. Sois ici à 10 heures, sinon, tu es mort!
Area of Competence 5 -
Area of Competence 6 (French Glue – La Colle Française)
Having Learned how to create a lot of French, you will want to be able to build on what
you can say by connecting phrases to each other.
The following grid is provided for you:
La Colle française (French Glue)
On this grid you will find the words that glue the French language together
They are presented in context so that you can really understand how they are used.
You need to systematically learn them.
I suggest at least two a day.
Remember to note any new bonus vocabulary in your notebook.
Writing makes you learn!
Try to translate the following:
You will need to try to focus on the word that is underlined and, using alphabetical order,
locate it on the Colle Française grid.
Having found the equivalent co-ordinate (phrase), you should analyse the phrase and,
applying the same logic, translate the phrases below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
You (singular) have the same car as me
You (singular) are too annoying
Five years ago I went to Paris
I have enough money
I have just finished
Answers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Tu as la même voiture que moi
Tu es trop pénible
Il y a cinq ans je suis allé à Paris
J’ai assez d’argent
Je viens de finir
This time, it’s up to you to spot the key word which will allow you to find the phrase
which will help you translate.
1.