Fre 122 Course Material
Fre 122 Course Material
Fre 122 Course Material
COURSE DEVELOPER
Dr. Olu AKEUSOLA
French Department
Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education,
Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos Nigeria
Unit Writer
Dr. Olu AKEUSOLA
French Department
Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education,
Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos Nigeria
Programme Leader
Dr. Christine Ofulue
National Open University of Nigeria
Lagos
Course Coordinator
Ms Lucy Jibrin
National Open University of Nigeria
Lagos.
COURSE GUIDE
CONTENTS
Introduction
What you will learn in this course
Course Objectives
Working through This Course
Course Materials
Study Units
Set Textbooks
Assignment File
Assessment
Tutor-marked Assignments (TMAs)
Final examinations and grading
Course marking scheme
Course overview
How to get the most from this course
Tutors and tutorials
Summary
FRE 122 as GRAMMAR II, is like the Basic Grammar that prepares you for a
more advanced grammar that will be taught in FRN 205: GRAMMAR III.
Grammar, being the life wire of any human language is highly important for it
allows the learners to read, understand and analyse the grammatical structure, with
which the contents of other language courses are documented. This course is thus
essential and will be beneficial to any French student because it will enhance your
linguistic capability to cope with the grammatical structure of French Language. It
will also enable you to put into practice the grammar of French you acquire in the
course of this programme.
In this course guide, we hope to tell you briefly what the course is all about, the
course materials you will use to achieve the objectives of the course, suggestions
on some general guidelines for the amount of time you are likely to spend on each
unit of the course in order to complete it successfully. We also provide a detailed
separate Assignment File for you.
Course Aims
The aims of this course are:
To let you know the importance of verbs in the grammar of any human
language like French.
To identify various types of verbs in French Language.
To teach you various techniques, through which you can conjugate French
verbs into various tenses, taking into consideration their mood (mode) and
aspects.
Course Objectives
It is on completion of the entire units of this course that the aims set above could
be completely achieved. Each unit has its specific objectives. The unit objectives
are found at the beginning of each unit. You need to read them before you start
working on the unit. You may want to refer to them during your study of the unit
to check on your progress in the course. There is need for you to always look at
the unit objectives after completing a unit to ensure that you have done what is
required.
We would like to itemise the objectives of the course in an explicit and methodical
manner. If you are able to meet these objectives as stated below, you would have
achieved the aims of this course.
2.
3.
4.
State the techniques and steps to follow when conjugating French regular
and irregular verbs into various tenses
5.
Stating the modal conditions that set indicative, subjunctive, imperative and
conditional moods apart.
6.
Identifying the endings and other grammatical traits with which one could
classify the conjugation of each of these verbs on consideration of their
tenses and moods.
Course Materials
Major components of the course are:
1.
Course Guide
2.
Study Units
5
3.
Textbooks
4.
Assignments File
Unit 2:
Unit 3:
Unit 4:
Unit 5:
Unit 6:
Unit 7:
Unit 8:
Unit 9:
Unit 10:
Unit 11:
Unit 12:
Unit 13:
Unit 14:
Unit 15:
Unit 16:
Unit 17:
Unit 18:
Unit 19:
Unit 20:
conjugations become tougher. But if you follow the simplified manner with which
we present the conjugations, you will find them easier to comprehend. Each unit
can be studied in one to two weeks. Each unit has its specific objective, reading
materials, explanation and set of reading materials. It also contains self-assessment
exercises and Tutor-Marked Assignments. All these will assist you in achieving
the learning objectives of the unit and the whole course.
Set Textbooks
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
Assignment File
There is an Assignment File where more than twenty assignments are provided.
The assignments carry 40% of total mark for the course. The mark you obtain the
in assignment will count towards the final mark you obtain for this course.
ASSESSMENT
The assessment of this course is divided into two main parts. The first parts are the
tutor-marked assignments and the second part is a written examination. The
assignments must be submitted to your tutor for formal assessment in accordance
with the deadline stated by the tutor.
The work submitted to your tutor for assessment will count for 40% of your total
course mark. You will sit for a final examination of three hours duration at the end
of the course. This examination will also count for 60% of your total course mark.
Assessment
Marks
Assignment 1-6
Final
examination
Total
Course Overview
There are twenty (20) units in this Course. You are to spend one week on each
unit. Assignment 1 will come at the end of the unit 3. Assignment 2 at the end of
unit six. Assignment 3 after finishing unit nine. Assignment 4 at the end of unit 12.
Assignment 5 at the end of unit sixteen and assignment 6 comes up after
completing unit 20.
SUMMARY
FRN 108: GRAMMAR II intends to introduce you to the basic techniques of how
to conjugate various French verbs. On successful completion of this course, you
will be equipped with the basic knowledge of French grammar as it affects
conjugations of various verbs to various tenses, moods and aspects.
9
10
COURSE DEVELOPER
Dr. Olu AKEUSOLA
French Department
Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education,
Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos Nigeria
Unit Writer
Dr. Olu AKEUSOLA
French Department
Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education,
Otto/Ijanikin, Lagos Nigeria
Programme Leader
Dr. Christine Ofulue
National Open University of Nigeria
Lagos
Course Coordinator
Ms Lucy Jibrin
National Open University of Nigeria
Lagos.
11
1.0
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will introduce you to this course. You will read to know about
French verbs, their conjugation groupings and their endings. This unit will
teach you the general introduction into what French verb is all about. You
will also learn some basic techniques of how to identify each of the verbs
that belong to various groupings. Knowledge gained from this unit will
facilitate your proper understanding of how to conjugate French verbs. It is
important to note that your understanding this course better depends on the
way and manner with which you handle this unit. Therefore, we implore
you to learn to identify these groupings well through their identification
traits.
12
2.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
state the importance of verbs in French language grammar
list correctly the conjugation groupings of French verbs
identify some verbs with er ending
identify some verbs with re ending
identify some verbs with ir/oir ending
3.0
3.1.
3.2
14
(to eat)
15
As explained in our introduction, you have been told that the re verbs are
verbs that have re letters at their tail end. Apart from the er group that
contain the largest number of verbs generally and largest number of regular
verbs in particular, most verbs in this group (as well as the third group) are
irregular verbs. Examples of these verbs could be seen in:
3.4
16
Give the three group of verbs in French, and conjugate any two in the prsent de
lindicatif.
Possible Answers:
i)
1et group = er
2me group = ir
3me group re
ii)
iii)
17
4.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have learned the importance of verbs in French language
grammar. You have also learned how you can list correctly the conjugation
groupings of French verbs. By now we believe you can identify some verbs
with er ending, some verbs with re ending and some other verbs with ir/oir
ending.
5.0
SUMMARY
This unit has equipped you with the basic techniques of how to identify the
conjugation grouping of French verbs. You have learned how you can
identify some verbs with er ending, some verbs with re ending and some
other verbs with ir/oir ending. By now we believe that your vocabulary
should have been enriched through the translated examples of verbs we
gave you under each group. We intentionally did this so as to enrich your
vocabulary. A good grammarian needs to store many vocabularies in
his/her memory.
6.0
1.
2.
With at least ten example par group, identify the three groups of
verbal conjugation in French grammar.
7.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
18
UNIT TWO
CONJUGATION OF ER AND OTHER REGULAR VERBS INTO
PRESENT DE LINDICATIF
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3
3.1.4
The : er Verbs
3.1.5
3.1.6
3.1.7
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1
1.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will introduce you to the conjugation of er and other regular verbs
into prsent de lindicatif. In this unit, you will read to know about the
easier techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could
apply in conjugating French verbs into prsent de lindicatif. It is in this
unit also that we would like to expose you to some minor peculiarities that
19
are known for some er verbs (irrespective of the notion of their being
regular). Knowledge gained from this unit will initiate your properly into
how to conjugate French verbs in the prsent de lindicatif. We would like
to sound a warning that your better understanding of conjugation generally
depends on the way and manner with which you handle this unit. Therefore,
we implore you to learn the rudiments, techniques and methods of
conjugating er verbs as they will be taught here.
3.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the Stem/Radical of er verbs
Identify the er ending/terminaison of er verbs
identify the morphemes (suffixation) with which the endings could be
replaced thus facilitating grammatically correct conjugation
identify some verbs that are noted as being regular but have some
peculiarities
You are now invited into the world of conjugation of er verbs into prsent de
lindicatif.
3.0
es
ent
For example, we want you to follow this technique and conjugate the verb
parler (to speak) into prsent de lindicatif:
Parl
er
Verbal stem/Radical
Verbal ending/terminaison.
The radical/stem of the infinitive parler is parl while the ending is er. The
rule says that we drop this er ending and replace it as follow:
e
Je Parle
es
Tu Parles
Il/Elle Parle
ons
Nous Parlons
ez
Vous Parlez
ent
Ils/Elles Parlent
(Note 1: We implore you to please note that verb conjugated into the
French present indicative tense has two meanings cum grammatical
functions in English. It could function as simple present - Je parle = I
speak and it could be present continuous tense Je parle = I am
21
3.1.
22
In French, letter c plays a dual phonological role when you use it in words.
It sounds like /k/ when it precedes vowels a, o, u. Whereas it sounds /s/
when it is in front of vowels i, e. In case it precedes any of the vowels a, o,
u and you want it to be pronounced /s/ instead of its normal /k/,
phonological rule says that you must put cedille () at the bottom of the c.
So you should not be surprised to see this strange mark in the conjugation
of verbs like (placer to place):
Je place
Nous plaons
Tu places
Vous placez
Il/elle place
Ils/elles placent
Nous mangeons
Tu manges
Vons mangez
Il/elle mange
Ils/elles mangent
Note: The -guer verbs (such as blaguer) are not affected by this rule.
3.1.3 The e-er verbs: The -ecer. -emer, -ener, -eper, -erer, -eser, -ever, -evrer
verbs have one peculiarity. In their infinitive, they have closed silence e in
the last syllable of their stem. It is this e that is next to the single or double
consonants that end their stem/radical: lev/er. When conjugating, this e
changes its silence e sound to an opened sound in the first person, second
23
person, third person singular and third person plural. And to mark this
change in pronunciation, you must put an accent grave on the e so as to
become that falls in this category: lever to rise.
Je lve
Nous levons
Tu lve
Vous levez
Il/elle lve
Ils/elles lvent.
Nous clbrons
Tu clbres
Vous clbrez
Il/elle clbre
Ils/elles clbrent
(Note: You will discover that this peculiarity does not affect the 1st and 2nd person
plural of groups 3.1.3 and 3.1.4 of our exceptions. There is no problem of change
in the pronunciation of e at these levels).
1st, 2nd, 3rd persons singular and 3rd person plural. In order to facilitate this
pronunciation, you must double l or the t. And that is why the
pronunciation of e would not change from being /e/ in the 1st and 2nd
persons plural where we do not normally double these consonants.
Examples are:
Appeler to call
Jappelle
Nous appelons
Tu appelles
Vous appelez
Il/elle appelle
Ils/elles appellent
Jeter - to throw
Je jette
Nous jetons
Tu jettes
Vous jetez
Il/elle jette
Ils/elles jettent
(Note: There are some exceptions to this general rule. Some -eler and -eter verbs
do not double their l or t in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons singular and 3rd person plural,
so as to enhance the evolution of the pronunciation of the vowel e, before the
consonant t or I from // to // sound. They are verbs like modeler, celer, dceler,
receler, ciseler, dmanteler, carteler, geler, congeler, surgeler, marteler,
peler, acheter, racheter, bgueter, and corseter. They only take accent grave (\)
on the e at the 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons singular and 3rd person plural. Example is
acheter: to buy:
Jachte
Nous achetons
Tu achtes
Vous achetons
Il/elle achte
Ils/elles achtent
3.1.6 The -yer verbs: You must have been taught that in phonetics (as well as in
French phonology), consonant y is taken to be a semi-vowel or semi25
Nous envoyons
Tu envoies
Vous envoyez
Il/elle envoie
Ils/elles envoient
(Note: You must note that the y do not change in the 1st and 2nd persons plural. It is
retained so as to maintain a good and balanced pronunciation at these levels. And
you should have been noting also that any peculiarity introduced into any of the
verbs do not normally affect these sections of the conjugation. This is as a result
of special and different way these two sets are pronounced. They differ in
pronunciation from the other four).
3.1.7 SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Conjugate the verb Mager and Clbrer in the Prsent de lindicatif
Je Clbre
Tu Clbres
Il/Elle Clbre
6.0
Nous Clbrons
Vous Clbrez
Ils/elles Clbrent
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have learned the rules governing the conjugation of er
verbs into prsent de lindicatif. Although this group of conjugation is
said to have the largest number of regular verbs, yet you have discovered
some peculiarities in the conjugation of some verbs in this category. By
now we believe you can conjugate different categories of verbs with er
ending.
26
7.0
SUMMARY
You must have been adequately informed in this unit on the basic
techniques of how to conjugate er verbs into prsent de lindicatif. You
must have learned also some peculiarities in the conjugation of some verbs
in this category. By now we believe that your verbal vocabulary and
technique of conjugation of verbs should have been enriched through the
explanation and examples of verbs we gave you under each classification.
8.0
3.
9.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
27
UNIT THREE
CONJUGATION OF RE IRREGULAR VERBS INTO PRESENT DE
LINDICATIF
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1
3.2
1.0
3.2.1
3.2.2
3.2.3
3.2.4
3.2.5
3.2.6
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will introduce you to the conjugation of re as irregular verbs into
prsent de lindicatif. In this unit, you will read to know about the modern
techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in
conjugating French re irregular verbs into prsent de lindicatif.
28
Knowledge gained from this unit will initiate your properly into how to
conjugate re irregular verbs in the prsent de lindicatif. We would like to
repeat our warning that your better understanding of conjugation generally
depends on the way and manner with which you handle this unit. Therefore,
we implore you to learn the rudiments, techniques and methods of
conjugating irregular verbs as they will be taught here.
4.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the Stem/Radical of re irregular verbs.
Identify the re ending/terminaison of these irregular verbs
identify the morphemes (suffixation) with which the endings could be
replaced thus facilitating grammatically correct conjugation
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of re irregular verbs into
prsent de lindicatif.
3.0
As you have been told earlier, only the er verbs have the largest number of regular
verbs. Apart from these er verbs, other verbs, such as the re verbs that we are
about to treat for you in this unit, are irregular. The general rule of conjugating the
re verbs is that you break the infinitive into two: the stem/radical and the ending.
You then replace the ending er with s, s, t, ons, ez, ent. But we must sound a
warning that all verbs in this category, being irregular, change their radical/stem.
They only end in these s, s, t, ons, ez, ent.
A verb is said to be irregular when its stem (and even the endings in some other
cases like infinitive faire, dire) changes from one person to the other. Compare
these two conjugations (of parler to speak and tre to be):
Parler:
Je Parle
Nous Parlons
29
Tu Parles
Vous Parlez
Il/Elle Parle
Ils/Elles Parlent
Je suis
Nous sommes
Tu es
Vous tes
Il/Elle est
Ils/Elles sont
tre
You will observe that while the parl stem of the infinitive parler are
invariable in the first person, second person and third person singular and
plural, the same thing cannot be said of the stem of the infinitive tre. It
changes from person to person hence the classification of irregularity.
Before we go further, you can go through the conjugation of these three
common irregular verbs often used by French speakers:
3.1
(a)
(c)
Etre
(b)
Avoir
Je suis
Nous sommes
Jai
Nous avons
Tu es
Vous tes
Tu as
Vous avez
Il est
Ils sont
Il a
Ils ont
Aller
Je vais
Nous allons
Tu vas
Vous allez
Il va
Ils vont
NOTE: Although there is similarity in the conjugation of the 3rd person plural of
these 3 verbs, you should note that the 3rd person plural of tre takes a consonant
s while that of avoir has none and there is a v in the place of the s in the
conjugation of aller.
30
3.2
(a)
(b)
Nous rendons
Tu rends
Vous rendez
Il rend
Ils rendent
Prendre to take
Je prends
Nous prenons
Tu prends
Vous prenez
Il prend
Ils prennent
NOTE: In the case of prendre and other verbs in its group, you should drop the
consonant d in the plural form and you double the n in the stem of the 3rd person
plural.
3.2.1 The ttre verbs:
You should note when conjugating that this set of verbs drops one of the
double t in their singular form but maintain them in plural.
(a)
Battre to beat
Je bats
Nous battons
Tu bats
Vous battez
Il bat
Ils battent
31
(b)
Mettre to put
Je mets
Nous mettons
Tu mets
Vous mettez
Il met
Ils mettent
(b)
Peindre to paint
Je peins
Nous peignons
Tu peins
Vous peignez
Il peint
Ils peignent
Joindre to join
Je joins
Nous joignons
Tu joins
Vous joignez
Il joint
Ils joignent
(b)
Vaincre to conquer
Je vaincs
Nous vainquons
Tu vaincs
Vous vainquez
Il vainc
Ils vainquent
Convaincre to convince
Je convaincs Nous convainquons
Tu convaincs
Vous convainquez
32
Il convainc
Ils convainquent
(b)
Faire to do /make
Je fais
Nous faisons
Tu fais
Vous fates
Il fait
Ils font
Dire to say/tell
Je dis
Nous disons
Tu dis
Vous dtes
Il dit
Ils disent
(b)
Distraire to entertain
Je distrais
Nous distrayons
Tu distrais
Vous distrayez
Il distrait
Ils distraient
Plaire to please
Je plais
Nous plaisons
Tu plais
Vous plaisez
Il plait
Ils plaisent
33
(c)
(d)
(e)
Nous connaissons
Tu connais
Vous connaissez
Il connat
Ils connaissent
Naitre to be born
Je nais
Nous naissons
Tu nais
Vous naissez
Il nait
Ils naissent
Croire to believe
Je crois
Nous croyons
Tu crois
Vous croyez
Il croit
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
Boire to drink
Je bois
Nous buvons
Tu bois
Vous buvez
Il boit
Ils boivent
Conclure to conclude
Je conclus
Nous concluons
Tu conclus
Vous conluez
Il conclut
Ils concluent
Absoudre to absolve
Jabsous
Nous absolvons
Tu absous
Vous absolvez
Il absout
Ils absolvent
Suivre to follow
Je suis
(j)
Ils croient
Nous suivons
Tu suis
Vous suivez
Il suit
Ils suivent
Vivre to live
34
(k)
(g)
(h)
Je vis
Nous vivions
Tu vis
Vous vivez
Il vit
Ils vivent
Lire to read
Je lis
Nous lisons
Tu lis
Vous lisez
Il lit
Ils lisent
Rire to laugh
Je ris
Nos rions
Tu ris
Vous riez
Il rit
Ils rient
Cuire cook
Je cuis
Nous cuisons
Tu cuis
Vous cuisez
Il cuit
Ils cuisent
Je Plais
Tu Plais
il/elle Plait
b)
Nous Plaisons
Vous Plaisez
Ils/elles Plaisent
Nous descendons
Vous descendez
Ils/elles descendent
35
c)
8.0
Nous battrons
Vous battez
Ils/elles battent
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have learned the rules governing the conjugation of re
verbs into prsent de lindicatif. And like we warned you from the
beginning of the unit, all verbs in this category are irregular. By now we
believe you can conjugate different categories of verbs with re ending.
9.0
SUMMARY
You must have adequately acquired in this unit some basic techniques of
how to conjugation of re verbs into prsent de lindicatif. You must have
also learned some peculiarities in the conjugation of some verbs in this
category. By now we believe that your verbal vocabulary and technique of
conjugation of re verbs should have been enriched through the explanation
and examples of verbs we gave you under each classification.
10.0
4.
11.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
36
UNIT FOUR
CONJUGATION OF IR/OIR IRREGULAR VERBS INTO PRESENT DE
LINDICATIF
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1.1
3.1.2
3.1.3
1.0
3.1.4
3.1.5
3.1.6
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will introduce you to the conjugation of other irregular verbs,
such as ir and oir verbs into prsent de lindicatif. In this unit, you will
learn about the modern techniques with which a French grammar learner
like you could apply in conjugating French irregular verbs into prsent de
lindicatif. The knowledge you gain from this unit will initiate your
properly into how to conjugate all French irregular verbs in the prsent de
lindicatif. We would like to insist on our warning that your better
37
5.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the Stem/Radical of irregular verbs such as ir and oir.
Identify the ir and oir ending/terminaison of these irregular verbs
identify the morphemes (suffixation) with which the endings could be
replaced thus facilitating grammatically correct conjugation
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of irregular verbs into
prsent de lindicatif.
3.0
You need to know from the onset that the ir verbs could be divided into two
groups. Those that belong to a group that has double s in the plural form when
conjugated and the others that do not normally double their consonant at these
levels.
The general rule of conjugating the ir/oir verbs, as it is done for the re verbs, is
that you break the infinitive into two: the stem/radical and the ending. You then
replace the ending ir/oir with s, s, t, ons, ez, ent. But we must repeat our warning
that all verbs in this category, being irregular, change their radical/stem. They only
end in these s, s, t, ons, ez, ent.
3.1.1 The ir verbs with double s in their plural form. You should note that these
verbs follow the general rule in the conjugation of their singular form. But
they introduce double s before taking the verbal endings in the plural form.
38
Nous finissons
Tu finis
Vous finissez
Il/elles finit
Ils/elles finissent
(b)
(c)
(d)
Tenir to hold
Je tiens
Nous tenons
Tu tiens
Vous tenez
Il/elle tient
Ils/elles tiennent
Venir to come
Je viens
Nous venons
Tu viens
Vous venez
Il/elle vient
Ils/elles viennent
Sentir to smell/taste
Je sens
Nous sentons
Tu sens
Vous sentez
Il sent
Ils sentent
Nous vtons
Tu vts
Vous vtez
Il vt
Ils vtent
ons, ez, ent as if they are er verbs. The infinitive of these verbs only drops
the ir from their radical to take the e, es, e, ons, ez, ent endings.
Examples of this set could be found in verbs like:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Offrir to offer
Joffre
Nous offrons
Tu offres
Vous offrez
Il offre
Ils offrent
Couvrir to cover
Je couvre
Nous couvrons
Tu couvres
Vous couvrez
Il couvre
Ils couvrent
Cueillir to pluck
Je cueille
Nous cueillons
Tu cueilles
Vous cueillez
Il cueille
Ils cueillent
Assaillir to attack
Jassaille
Nous assaillons
Tu assailles
Vous assaillez
Il assaille
Ils assaillent
Bouillir to Boil
Je bous
Nous bouillons
Tu bous
Vous bouillez
40
Il bout
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
Ils bouillent
Dormir to sleep
Je dors
Nous dormons
Tu dors
Vous dormez
Il dort
Ils dorment
Courir to run
Je cours
Nous courons
Tu cours
Vous courez
Il court
Ils courent
Mourir to die
Je meurs
Nous mourons
Tu meurs
Vous mourez
Il meurt
Ils meurent
Servir to serve
Je sers
Nous servons
Tu sers
Vous servez
Il sert
Ils servent
Nous fuyons
Tu fuis
Vous fuyez
Il fuit
Ils fuient
(NOTE: As the semi-vowel y in the yer verb changes to i in the singular form and
3rd person plural, so also the i in the group of fuir changes to y in the 1st and 2nd
persons plural form here)
(b)
Recevoir to receive
Je reois
Nous recevons
Tu reois
Vous recevez
Il reoit
Ils reoivent
Voir to see
Je vois
(c)
Tu vois
Vous voyez
Il voit
Ils voient
Pouvoir to be able
Je peux
Nous pouvons
Tu peux
Vous pouvez
Il peut
(d)
(e)
(f)
Nous voyons
Ils peuvent
Nous savons
Tu sais
Vous savez
Il sait
Ils savent
Devoir to be obliged
Je dois
Nous devons
Tu dois
Vous devez
Il doit
Ils doivent
Mouvoir to move
Je meus
Nous mouvons
Tu meus
Vous mouvez
Il meut
Ils meuvent
42
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
Valoir to be worth
Je vaux
Nous valons
Tu vaux
Vous valez
Il vaut
Ils valent
Nous voulons
Tu veux
Vous voulez
Il veut
Ils veulent
Asseoir to sit
Jassieds
Nous asseyons
Tu assieds
Vous asseyez
Il assied
Ils asseyent
Asseoir to sit
Jassois
Nous assoyons
Tu assois
Vous assoyez
Il assoit
Ils assoient
Possible answers :
(a)
Nous Sortons
Vous Sortez
Ils/Elles Sortent
43
(b)
(c )
10.0
Nous voulons
Vous voulez
Ils veulent
Nous assoyons
Vous assoyez
Ils assoient
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have been taught the rules governing the conjugation of ir
and oir verbs into prsent de lindicatif. This group, as you should have
discovered, has the largest number of irregular verbs. With our simplified
explanation, we are convinced that the complication in understanding
irregular verbs, which is a common problem to French learners like you
would have been alleviated. By now we believe you can conjugate different
categories of verbs with ir and oir ending.
11.0
SUMMARY
Having gone this far in the conjugation of verbs, we are sure that you must
have been adequately informed in this unit on the basic techniques of how
to conjugation of ir and oir verbs into prsent de lindicatif. Your
knowledge of conjugation of irregular verbs must have been enriched also.
By now we are confident that you should have acquired enough verbal
vocabulary as well as simple techniques of conjugation of irregular verbs
into prsent de lindicatif.
44
12.0
5.
13.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
45
UNIT FIVE
CONJUGATION OF IMPERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE VERBS INTO
PRESENT DE LINDICATIF
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.2.
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1.
1.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will present to you the technique of conjugation of Impersonal
and Reflexive verbs. In this unit, you will learn about the easier techniques
with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in conjugating
French Impersonal and Reflexive verbs. These impersonal, as well as
Reflexive verbs are common in French language. You will see them as
either er, re, ir or even oir verbs. The knowledge you have gained from
other units, most especially Units two to four will be useful in this unit.
What we will do mostly in this unit is to teach you how to identify French
Impersonal and Reflexive verbs, then teach you the peculiarities of these
verbs so that you could apply your already gained knowledge in the
conjugation of simple er, re, ir and oir verbs to them thus conjugating
them correctly. You can them understand why we have continuously been
46
6.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the French Impersonal verbs.
Identify the French Reflexive verbs
Explain the peculiarities of these two verbs.
Demonstrate the techniques of conjugating these two verbs.
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of Impersonal and
reflexive verbs into prsent de lindicatif.
3.0
47
(a)
Pleuvoir to rain
Il pleut
(b)
Falloir to be necessary
Il faut
(c)
Advenir to happen
Il advient
(d)
Sagir de to be about
Il sagit de
(e)
(f)
3.1
48
In order to conjugate these verbs into prsent de lindicatif, this set of verbs
takes additional (direct/personal) pronoun in their conjugation. The
pronouns me te se nous vous and se are used to mark this action of
reflexive or pronominal of the verbs. For example, if the subject or the
speaker wants to say that I bath myself, he would say: Je me lave.
NOTE: We would like you to note that in the normal conjugation of the infinitive
lave, you are to conjugate it as Je lave . (meaning I wash /I am
washing ) But in the case of reflexive or pronominal action whereby you want
to say that you perform the action to yourself, another reflexive pronoun of the
same person and grammatical class with that of the subject (personal pronoun) will
be inserted to denote that action of reflexive in the sentence, hence the inclusion of
the reflexive pronoun, me, in the given example.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
NOTE: We would like you to note that there are two grammatically accepted form
of conjugation of the verb Sasseoir in French. Which ever form you chose is
correct.
(e) Sappeler to call oneself
Je mappelle I call myself (I am called)
Tu tappelles You call yourself
Il/elle sappelle He/She calls himself/herself
50
(NOTE: You should please not that the contraction in the conjugation of
sappeler comes as a result of the contact in-between the vowel e of
pronouns me, te, se and the infinitive of the verb appeler that has initial
vowel a.
3.2
(a)
b)
(c )
12.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have been taught the rules governing the conjugation of
Impersonal and Reflexive verbs into prsent de lindicatif. As you should
51
have discovered, the impersonal verb is a verb that you can only conjugate
with third person masculine pronoun thus making the verb to refer to
inanimate things that are not human beings. You have been taught also that
a reflexive verb refers to an action that the subject does to himself. With the
way and manner that we simplified the explanation in this unit, we are
convinced that the complication in understanding the impersonal and
reflexive verbs, which is a common problem to French learners like you
would have been alleviated. By now we believe you can conjugate
impersonal and reflexive verbs into prsent de lindicatif in French.
13.0
SUMMARY
With this unit tackling the conjugation of impersonal and reflexive verbs
into prsent de lindicatif, we have completed the cycle of conjugation of
verbs into prsent de lindicatif in French. You should remember that
having used the unit one to do the general classification of French verbal
conjugation groupings, we treated the Conjugation of er and other regular
verbs into present de lindicatif in your Unit 2. The Unit 3 treated the
Conjugation of re irregular verbs into present de lindicatif while the Unit 4
explained the Conjugation of ir/oir irregular verbs into present de
lindicatif to you. It is in this Unit 5 that we taught you the Conjugation of
impersonal and reflexive verbs into present de lindicatif.
Having gone this far in the conjugation of verbs into prsent de lindicatif,
we are sure that you must have been adequately informed in all these five
units on the basic techniques of how to conjugate different verbs into
prsent de lindicatif.
14.0
6.
15.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
53
UNIT SIX
CONJUGATION OF ER AND OTHER REGULAR VERBS INTO FUTUR
SIMPLE
1.0
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1.
3.2.
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the method of conjugation of er and other
regular verbs into futur simple. We hope to teach you about the easier
techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in
conjugating French er and other regular verbs into futur simple. You will
recall that in the last five units we have been talking of conjugation of verbs
into prsent de lindicatif. The significance of that is that we have been
teaching you how to conjugate French verbs to express actions that one is
doing at present, doing habitually or doing in present continuous manners.
We have now got to a stage whereby you have to learn how to express
actions that will be done in the future. Futur simple could be translated as
54
(simple) future tense in English. It is used to express any action that will be
done in the future or at a later date or time that exceeds the present.
7.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the futur Stem/Radical of er verbs
Identify the futur er ending/terminaison of er verbs
identify the futur morphemes (suffixation) with which the endings could be
replaced thus facilitating grammatically correct conjugation of futur simple
tense
Demonstrate the techniques of conjugating these verbs.
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of er and other regular
verbs into futur simple.
3.0
55
any action that will be done in the future or at a later date or time that
exceeds the present. When you want to talk about what you will do or what
any other person will do later than when you are talking, we use the future
tense in grammar. It is the French grammars equivalent of
future tense
To conjugate er and other regular verbs, such as manger, into future tense,
you should identify the infinitive of the verb concerned (e.g. manger), you
then add the following endings (ai, as, a, ons, ez, ont) to the entire
infinitive of the verb concerned:
ai
as
ont
Manger
Je mangerai
Tu mangeras
Il mangera
Nous mangerons
Vous mangerez
Ils mangeront
NOTE: We would like to call your attention to these futur simple endings (ai, as,
a, ons, ez, ont). If you could recollect very well and quickly, they look like the
verbal conjugation of the verb avoir into prsent de lindicatif. You can quickly
compare these endings and the prsent de lindicatif conjugated form of the verb
avoir for ease of reference:
(b)
Avoir
Jai
Nous avons
Tu as
Vous avez
Il a
Ils ont
If you consider the highlighted ending parts of the futur simple conjugation of
manger as well as that of the verb avoir conjugated into present de lindicatif, you
will realize very close similarities in them. The differences you could note could
be at the level of 1st and 2nd persons plural whereby the verb avoir is written as
avons and avez respectively. You can through this enlightenment on the
similarities to postulate a method for yourself that future tense could be formed in
French language by adding completely the 1st, 2nd , 3rd Person singular and 3rd
Person plural of auxiliary avoir, while the stem av will be removed from the 1st
and 2nd persons plural form leaving only the ons and ez form of the verb avoir
conjugated into present de lindicatif, to the ending of the infinitive of the er and
other regular verb you want to conjugate into futur simple.
Let us then follow these patterns to conjugate some er verbs into the futur
simple:
a.
Parler
ai
Je Parlerai
as
Tu Parleras
Il/Elle Parlera
ons
Nous Parlerons
ez
Vous Parlerez
57
ont
b.
c.
d.
3.1
Ils/Elles Parleront
Commencer
ai
Je Commencerai
as
Tu Commenceras
Il/Elle Commencera
ons
Nous Commencerons
ez
Vous Commencerez
ont
Ils/Elles Commenceront
ai
Jaimerai
as
Tu aimeras
Il/Elle aimera
ons
Nous aimerons
ez
Vous aimerez
ont
Ils/Elles aimeront
Aimer
Appeler
ai
Jappelerai
as
Tu appeleras
Il/Elle appelera
ons
Nous appelerons
ez
Vous appelerez
ont
Ils/Elles appeleront
58
f.
Aller
ai
Jirai
as
Tu iras
Il/Elle ira
ons
Nous irons
ez
Vous irez
ont
Ils/Elles iront
ai
Je paierai
as
Tu paieras
Il/Elle paiera
ons
Nous paierons
ez
Vous paierez
ont
Ils/Elles paieront
Payer
Envoyer
ai
Jenverrai
as
Tu enverras
Il/Elle enverra
ons
Nous enverrons
ez
Vous enverrez
ont
Ils/Elles enverront
59
(a
Nous irons
Vous irez
Ils/Elles iront
(b
( c)
14.0
Nous parlerons
Vous Parlerez
ils/elles parleront.
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have taught you the rules governing the conjugation of er
and other regular verbs into futur simple. You have also been told of some
exceptionalities to these general riles. We believe by now you can
conjugate er and other regular verbs into futur simple.
15.0
SUMMARY
Having laid our foundation for the teaching of conjugations through the
simplified presentation of conjugation of present de lindicatif in Units two
to five, this Unit six has gone a little further in the conjugation techniques
by tackling the conjugation er and other regular verbs into futur simple.
Much as we discussed the er verbs, in this unit, as regular verbs, we were
60
16.0
7.
17.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
61
UNIT SEVEN
CONJUGATION OF IRREGULAR VERBS INTO FUTUR SIMPLE
1.0
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
3.4.
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
You will recall that in Unit Six, we taught you the method of conjugation of
er and other regular verbs into futur simple. In this unit, you will be taught
how to conjugate other irrregular verbs into futur simple. Like we did in the
previous unit, we hope to teach you about the easier techniques with which
a French grammar learner like you could apply in conjugating French
irregular verbs into futur simple.
8.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the futur Stem/Radical of the irregular verbs
Identify the futur ending/terminaison of irregular verbs
62
identify the futur morphemes (suffixation) with which the endings could be
replaced thus facilitating grammatically correct conjugation future simple
tense
Demonstrate the techniques of conjugating these irregular verbs.
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of irregular verbs into
futur simple.
3.0
3.1
ai
as
ont
Prendre
Prendre
Je prendrai
Tu prendras
Il prendra
Nous prendrons
Vous prendrez
Ils prendront
Let us then follow these patterns to conjugate some re verbs into the futur
simple:
a.
Je Battrai
as
Tu Battras
Il/Elle Battra
ons
Nous Battrons
ez
Vous Battrez
ont
Ils/Elles Battront
64
b. Craindre
ai
Je craindrai
as
Tu craindras
Il/Elle craindra
ons
Nous craindrons
ez
Vous craindrez
ont
Ils/Elles craindront
(Conjugation
of
rendre,
comprendre,
rompre,
joindre,
corrompre,
plaindre,
contraindre,
interrompre,
vaincre,
Je ferai
as
Tu feras
Il/Elle fera
ons
Nous ferons
ez
Vous ferez
ont
Ils/Elles feront
d.
Je serai
as
Tu seras
Il/Elle sera
ons
Nous serons
65
3.2
ez
Vous serez
ont
Ils/Elles seront
Je finirai
as
Tu finiras
Il/Elle finira
ons
Nous finirons
ez
Vous finirez
ont
Ils/Elles finiront
b.
Je tiendrai
as
Tu tiendras
Il/Elle tiendra
ons
Nous tiendrons
ez
Vous tiendrez
ont
Ils/Elles tiendront
66
c.
Je courrai
as
Tu courras
Il/Elle courra
ons
Nous courrons
ez
Vous courrez
ont
Ils/Elles courront
3.3
b.
Jaurai
as
Tu auras
Il/Elle aura
ons
Nous aurons
ez
Vous aurez
ont
Ils/Elles auront
Je recevrai
as
Tu recevras
Il/Elle recevra
ons
Nous recevrons
ez
Vous recevrez
ont
Ils/Elles recevront
c.
Je verrai
as
Tu verras
Il/Elle verra
ons
Nous verrons
ez
Vous verrez
ont
Ils/Elles verront
d.
e.
Je saurai
as
Tu sauras
Il/Elle saura
ons
Nous saurons
ez
Vous saurez
ont
Ils/Elles sauront
Je devrai
as
Tu devras
Il/Elle devra
68
f.
g.
ons
Nous devrons
ez
Vous devrez
ont
Ils/Elles devront
Je pourrai
as
Tu pourras
Il/Elle pourra
ons
Nous pourrons
ez
Vous pourrez
ont
Ils/Elles pourront
Je voudrai
as
Tu voudras
Il/Elle voudra
ons
Nous voudrons
ez
Vous voudrez
ont
Ils/Elles voudront
3.4
Nous Voudrons
Vous Voudrez
ils/elles voudront
69
Nous aurons
Vous aurez
ils/elles auront
Nous Prendrons
Vous prendrez
ils/elles Prendront
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have learned the rules governing the conjugation of re, ir
and oir verbs into futur simple. You have also been told that most verbs in
this category are irregular verbs and that you should be careful in learning
the future stem of these infinitives so as to end the future endings to them.
We believe by now you can conjugate re, ir and oir verbs into futur simple.
17.0
SUMMARY
As a follow up to Unit six, this Unit seven has gone a little further in the
conjugation techniques by tackling the conjugation of re, ir and oir verbs
into futur simple. We also laid emphasis on the fact that most verbs in this
category are irregular verbs and that you should be careful in learning the
future stem of these infinitives so as to end the future endings to them.
18.0
8.
70
19.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
71
UNIT EIGHT
CONJUGATION OF IMPERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE VERBS INTO
FUTUR SIMPLE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.2.
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1.
1.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will present to you the technique of conjugation of Impersonal
and Reflexive verbs into futur simple. In this unit, you will learn about the
easier techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could
apply in conjugating French Impersonal and Reflexive verbs. Like we said
it in Unit five, these impersonal, as well as Reflexive verbs are common in
French language. You will see them as either er, re, ir or even oir verbs.
The knowledge you have gained from other units, most especially Units
two to seven will be useful in this unit. What we will do mostly in this unit
is to teach you how to identify French Impersonal and Reflexive verbs, then
teach you the peculiarities of these verbs so that you could apply your
already gained knowledge in the futur simple conjugation of simple er, re,
ir and oir verbs to them thus conjugating them correctly. You can them
understand why we have continuously been warning you that your better
72
9.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
Identify the French Impersonal verbs.
Identify the French Reflexive verbs
Explain the peculiarities of these two verbs.
Demonstrate the techniques of conjugating these two verbs into futur
simple.
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of irregular verbs into
futur simple.
3.0
73
conjugate using this method. This type of conjugation is only noted for
impersonal verbs alone!
Examples could be found in:
(g)
Pleuvoir to rain
Il pleuvra
(h)
Falloir to be necessary
Il faudra
(i)
Advenir to happen
Il adviendra
(j)
Sagir de to be about
Il sagira de
(k)
(l)
3.1
74
the action that another person does to himself or herself, you express this
action through the use of reflexive or pronominal verbs in French grammar.
In order to conjugate these verbs into futur simple, this set of verbs takes
additional (direct/personal) pronoun in their conjugation. The pronouns me
te se nous vous and se are used to mark this action of reflexive or
pronominal of the verbs. The futur simple endings are then added to the
stem of the main verb so as to complete the conjugation of the verb
concerned into futur simple. For example, if the subject or the speaker
wants to say that I will/shall bath myself, he would say: Je me laverai.
NOTE: We would like you to note that apart from the introduction of another
reflexive pronoun of the same person and grammatical class with that of the
subject (personal pronoun) that you will insert so as to denote that action of
reflexive in the sentence, You will be expected to bring into use also your
knowledge of conjugation of er, re, ir, oir into futur simple that you have acquired
in Units six and seven.
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
NOTE: We would like you to note that, just like in the conjugation of present de
lindicatif that we did in Unit five, there are two grammatically accepted form of
76
conjugation of the verb Sasseoir into futur simple of French grammar. Which
ever form you chose is correct.
(i)
3.2
Voir (b)
Se taire (c ) s'agir
(a)
(b)
(c )
Nous verrons
Vous verrez
ils/elles verront
Il Sagira
18.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have been taught the rules governing the conjugation of
Impersonal and Reflexive verbs into futur simple. As you should have
77
discovered, the impersonal verb is a verb that you can only conjugate with
third person masculine pronoun of futur simple thus making the verb to
refer to inanimate things that are not human beings. You have been taught
also that the futur simple of reflexive verb refers to an action that the
subject will do to himself. With the way and manner that we simplified the
explanation in this unit, we are convinced that the complication in
understanding the futur simple form of impersonal and reflexive verbs,
which would have been a problem to French learners like you would have
been alleviated. By now we believe you can conjugate impersonal and
reflexive verbs into futur simple in French.
19.0
SUMMARY
With this unit tackling the conjugation of impersonal and reflexive verbs
into futur simple, we have completed the cycle of conjugation of verbs into
futur simple in French.
Having gone this far in the conjugation of verbs into futur simple, we are
sure that you must have been adequately informed in all these eight units on
the basic techniques of how to conjugate different verbs into prsent de
lindicatif and the futur simple.
20.0
9.
21.0
78
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
79
UNIT NINE
CONJUGATION OF VERBS WITH AUXILLIARY AVOIR INTO PASSE
COMPOSE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.4
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
1.0
INTRODUCTION
We hope to teach you in this unit, the method of conjugation of verbs with
auxiliary avoir into pass compos. We would like to teach you about the
easier techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could
apply in conjugating verbs with auxiliary avoir into French pass compos.
You will recall that in the first five units we have been talking of
conjugation of verbs into prsent de lindicatif. While in Units six to eight,
we have been teaching you about how to conjugate verbs into futur simple.
The significance of all these previous lessons is that while we have been
80
teaching you how to conjugate French verbs to express actions that one is
doing at present, doing habitually doing in present continuous manners with
the conjugation of prsent de lindicatif, we have also been using the
conjugation of futur simple to teach you how French learners like you can
express actions that one is doing in the future.
Now we have just got to a stage where you will be taught how to express
actions that are done in the past. Any action that has been done in the past,
before the time that you are reporting the action, is expressed in French
through pass compos. A pass compos tense expresses an action that has
been done and concluded a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a
month, a year or even a decade in the past before the time the speaker is
reporting it. Although we are talking of pass compos here, it is a
methodical development on the conjugation of verbs into present tense as
well as future tense. The knowledge you have gained from other units, most
especially Units two to eight will also be useful in this unit. Let us insist on
our warning you that your better understanding of conjugation generally
depends on the way and manner with which you handle all these units we
have been teaching you earlier. Therefore, we implore you to learn the
rudiments, techniques and methods of conjugating verbs with auxiliary
avoir into pass compos of French grammar as they will be taught here.
10.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
81
You are now invited to follow the method that could facilitate the conjugation of
verbs with auxiliary avoir into pass compos.
11.0
82
Avoir
Jai
Nous avons
Tu as
Vous avez
Il a
Ils ont
Let us then follow this pattern and the rules governing it to conjugate the
verb manger into pass compos:
ex: Manger -
to eat
Jai mang
Tu as mang
Il a mang
11.1
Parler
to speak
Jai parl
(I spoke)
Tu as parl
(You spoke)
(b)
(We spoke)
(You spoke)
(They spoke)
Commencer -
to start
83
Jai commenc
(I started)
Tu as commenc
(You started)
Il/Elle a commenc
(He/She started)
(We started)
(You started)
(They started)
11.2
(b)
Etre -
to be
Jai t
(I was)
Tu as t
(You were)
Il/Elle a t
(He/She was)
Nous avons t
(We were)
Vous avez t
(You were)
Ils/Elles ont t
(They were)
Faire -
to do/make
Jai fait
(I did/made)
Tu as fait
(You did/made)
Il/Elle a fait
(He/She did/made)
(We did/made)
(You did/made)
(They did/made)
84
(c)
Dire -
to say
Jai dis
(I said)
Tu as dis
(You said)
Il/Elle a dis
(He/She said)
(We said
(You said)
(They said)
11.3
(b)
Finir -
to finish
Jai fini
(I finished)
Tu as fini
(You finished)
Il/Elle a fini
(He/She finished)
(We finished)
(You finished)
(They finished)
Voir -
to see
Jai vu
(I saw)
Tu as vu
(You saw)
Il/Elle a vu
(He/She saw)
Nous avons vu
(We saw)
85
3.4
Vous avez vu
(You saw)
Ils/Elles ont vu
(They saw)
(2)
(3)
20.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have been taught the rules governing the conjugation of
verbs with auxiliary avoir into pass compos. You have also been told of
how to form the auxiliary avoir as well as how to identify the past participle
of er, re ir and oir verbs. We believe by now you can conjugate most verbs
with auxiliary avoir into pass compos.
21.0
SUMMARY
With the solid foundation for the teaching of conjugations through the
simplified presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have
laid for you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future
86
simple that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight, this Unit nine has
gone a little further in the conjugation techniques by tackling the
conjugation verbs with auxiliary avoir into pass compos.
22.0
10.
23.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
87
UNIT TEN
CONJUGATION OF VERBS WITH AUXILLIARY ETRE INTO PASSE
COMPOSE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.4
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
1.0
INTRODUCTION
You will recall that we introduced you into the world of conjugation of
verbs into pass compos in Unit 9 where we initiated you into the method
of conjugation of verbs with auxiliary avoir into pass compose. In this
Unit, we hope to teach you the method of conjugation of verbs with
auxiliary tre into pass compos. We would like to teach you about the
easier techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could
apply in conjugating verbs with auxiliary tre into French pass compos.
88
Just like we explained to you in Unit nine, any action that has been done in
the past, before the time that you are reporting the action, is expressed in
French through pass compos. A pass compos tense expresses an action
that has been done and concluded a second, a minute, an hour, a day, a
week, a month, a year or even a decade in the past before the time the
speaker is reporting it. In as much as we will be talking on how to
conjugate verbs with auxiliary tre into pass compos here, it is a
methodical development on the conjugation of verbs into present tense as
well as future tense. The knowledge you have gained from other units, most
especially Units two to nine will also be useful in this unit. Let us insist on
our warning you that your better understanding of conjugation generally
depends on the way and manner with which you handle all these previous
units we have been teaching you. Therefore, we implore you to learn the
rudiments, techniques and methods of conjugating verbs with auxiliary tre
into pass compos of French grammar as they will be taught here.
12.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
13.0
has been done in the past, before the time that you are reporting the action.
It is a tense that expresses an action that has been done and concluded a
second, a minute, an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year or even a decade
in the past before the time the speaker is reporting it
Unlike the conjugations of prsent de lindicatif and future simple whereby
the conjugation centres on the single major verb, the conjugation of verbs
into pass compos entails the usage of an auxiliary and the past participle
of the main verb. It is the combination of this auxiliary and the main verb
that gives the tense its name: pass compos. Compos is a French word
that means compounded, that contains more than one linguistic element.
Pass compos could thus be literally translated as compound past that
relates past actions/tense i.e. the past perfect tense. We also need to warn
you at this level also that Le pass compos is used in French as the
simple past in English. A lot of Anglophone Students make the mistake of
translating the tense as being perfect tense: Jai t means I was but not I
have been.
We would like to call your attention to the general rule we provided in Unit
9 which says that you add, the past participle of the verb we want to
conjugate, to the present tense of the auxiliary avoir or tre (as the case may
be): - (Auxilliaire avoir ou tre + participle pass du verbe concern).
Before you start asking the question so as to know the rationale behind the
choice of auxiliary to be used with one particular verb or the other, we
decided to provide a possible solution to your could be problem. Please
note that while we used auxilliary avoir for the verb manger, in Unit 9, the
auxiliary tre is what we will use for such verbs as aller, venir in this unit.
following verbs when they are to be conjugated, should take auxiliary tre:
Aller (to go), descendre (to come down), rester (to rest), monter (to climb),
tomber (to fall), natre (to be born), sortir (to go out), partir (to go) venir (to
come), so also all other verbs that have something to do with venir like
advenir, provenir, devenir etc, entrer (to enter), rentrer (to enter again),
arriver (to come/arrive), retourner (to return). Most other verbs, apart
from these ones and their variants, are conjugated with auxiliary avoir.
The implication of this explanation here is that if there are well over twelve
thousand verbs in French grammar and only about less than thirty of them
are conjugated with auxiliary tre, the easier method then is to memorise
those verbs conjugated with auxiliary tre so that you will know that any
verb not in that category will be conjugated with auxiliary avoir.
If this new rule insists on your adding auxiliary tre, conjugated into the
prsent de lindicatif, to the past participle of the main verb, you then need
to recollect your knowledge of conjugating the verb tre into prsent de
lindicatif:
Etre
Je suis
Nous sommes
Tu es
Vous etes
Il est
Ils sont
Elle est
Elles sont
Let us then follow this pattern and the rules governing it to conjugate the
verb aller into pass compos:
ex: aller
to go
Je suis all(e)
Tu es all(e)
Il est all
NOTE: You would have noted that additional vowel e or consonant s or both es
are added to the ending of some past participle when we used the auxiliary tre.
The French grammatical rules compel all the verbs that take auxiliary tre to agree
with gender and the number of the Subject (either pronoun or noun) that precedes
it. These agreement rules shall be explained to you better in Unit twelve.
13.1
Monter
to climb
Je suis mont(e)
(I climbed)
Tu es mont(e)
(You climbed)
Il est mont
(He climbed)
(She climbed)
(We climbed)
(You climbed)
(They climbed)
(They climbed)
{Er verbs such as Aller (to go), rester (to rest), tomber (to fall), retomber
(to fall again), entrer (to enter), rentrer (to enter again), arriver (to
come/arrive), retourner (to return) are conjugated following this pattern.
13.2
92
such as natre has n as its past participle. You could note that this
grouping of verb is not common in the category of verbs that take auxiliary
tre, that is why we will provide you with the past participle of all the verbs
of this category that take auxiliary tre. Example could be seen in
descendre whose past participle is descendu.
(a)
Descendre
Je suis descendu(e)
(I came down)
Tu es descendu(e)
Il est descendu
13.3
Sortir
to go out
Je suis sorti(e)
(I went out)
Tu es sorti(e)
Il est sorti
93
{Ir verbs such as sortir (to go out), ressortir (to go out again), partir (to
go), repartir (to go again) are conjugated following this pattern.
(b)
Venir -
to come
Je suis venu(e)
(I came)
Tu es venu(e)
(You came)
Il est venu
(He came)
(She came)
(We came)
(You came)
(They came)
(They came)
{Ir verbs such as venir (to come), so also all other verbs that have
something to do with venir like advenir, provenir, devenir etc, are
conjugated following this pattern.
3.4
(2)
il est retourn
Elle est retourne
22.0
CONCLUSION
You have been taught, in this unit, the rules governing the conjugation of
verbs with auxiliary tre into pass compos. You have also been told of
how to form the auxiliary tre as well as how to identify the past participle
of er, re ir and oir verbs. We believe by now you can conjugate most verbs
with auxiliary tre into pass compos.
23.0
SUMMARY
With the solid foundation for the teaching of conjugations through the
simplified presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have
laid for you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future
simple that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight as well as the
method of conjugation verbs with auxiliary avoir into pass compose that
we taught in Unit nine, this Unit ten has gone further in the conjugation
techniques by tackling the conjugation verbs with auxiliary tre into pass
compos.
24.0
11.
g.
25.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
95
Bescherelle (1990):
96
UNIT ELEVEN
CONJUGATION OF IMPERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE VERBS INTO
PASSE COMPOSE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.2.
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1.
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the technique of conjugation of Impersonal
and Reflexive verbs into pass compos. You will also learn about the
easier techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could
apply in conjugating French Impersonal and Reflexive verbs into pass
compos. Like we said it in Units five and eight, these impersonal, as well
as Reflexive verbs are common in French language. You will see them as
either er, re, ir or even oir verbs. The knowledge you have gained from
other units, most especially Units two to ten will be useful in this unit.
What we will do mostly in this unit is to teach you the peculiarities of these
verbs so that you could apply your already gained knowledge in the pass
compos conjugation of simple er, re, ir and oir verbs to them thus
conjugating them correctly. Therefore, we implore you to learn the
97
14.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
3.0
98
level only. The pass compos rules for this type of verbs could then be
modified as follow: Third person singular of auxiliary avoir or tre plus the
past participle of the verb concerned. The implication of this rule is that
there are some of these verbs that are either conjugated with auxiliary avoir
while very few others are conjugated with auxiliary etre. The venir
oriented verbs as well as impersonal reflexive verbs in this category, such
as advenir and sagir (de) respectively, are conjugated with auxiliary tre,
while a lot of other impersonal verbs are conjugated with auxiliary avoir.
Examples could be found in:
(m)
Pleuvoir to rain
Il a plu
(n)
Falloir to be necessary
Il a fallu
(o)
Advenir to happen
Il est advenu
(p)
Sagir de to be about
Il sest agi de
(q)
(r)
3.1
99
Just like we explained in Units five and eight, the Reflexive verbs are what
the French grammarian call Les verbes pronominaux hence our calling
them reflexive or pronominal verbs in English so as to facilitate the ease of
reference for French learners like you. Reflexive or pronominal verbs are
verbs used to refer to an action that the subject does to himself/herself. In a
situation whereby you want account for an action that you do to yourself or
the action that another person does to himself or herself, you express this
action through the use of reflexive or pronominal verbs in French grammar.
In order to conjugate these verbs into pass compos, this set of verbs takes
additional (direct/personal) pronoun in their conjugation. The pronouns me
te se nous vous and se are used to mark this action of reflexive or
pronominal of the verbs. The pass compos rules are then applicable to
these doubled pronouns. As for the pass compos rules as applicable to
reflexive verbs, the rule allows all reflexive verbs to be conjugated with
only auxiliary tre. The pass compos rules for this type of verbs could
then be modified as follow: auxiliary tre that is preceded by the two
personal pronouns plus the past participle of the verb concerned. For
example, if the subject or the speaker wants to say that I bathed myself, he
would say: Je me suis lav(e).
NOTE: You should please note that apart from the introduction of another
reflexive pronoun of the same person and grammatical class with that of the
subject (personal pronoun) that you will insert so as to denote that action of
reflexive in the sentence, you will be expected to bring into use also your
knowledge of conjugation of er, re, ir, oir into pass compos that you have
acquired in Units nine and ten.
(j)
(k)
(l)
(m)
(n)
3.2
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Conjugate the following verbs into pass compos: Se voir, venter
(1)
(2)
102
24.0
CONCLUSION
You have been taught, in this unit, the rules governing the conjugation of
Impersonal and Reflexive verbs into pass compos. As you should have
discovered, the impersonal verb is a verb that you can only conjugate with
third person masculine pronoun of pass compos thus making the verb to
refer to inanimate things that are not human beings. You have been taught
also that the pass compos of reflexive verb refers to an action that the
subject did to himself. With the method and technique that we simplified
the explanation in this unit, we are convinced that the complication in
understanding the pass compos form of impersonal and reflexive verbs,
which would have been a problem to French learners like you would have
been alleviated. By now we believe you can conjugate impersonal and
reflexive verbs into pass compos in French.
25.0
SUMMARY
With this unit tackling the conjugation of impersonal and reflexive verbs
into pass compos, we have completed the cycle of conjugation of verbs
into pass compos in French. What is left now is to teach the agreement
rules of the pass compos . This is what we will tackle well in Unit twelve.
Having gone this far in the conjugation of verbs into pass compos, we
are sure that you must have been adequately informed in all these eleven
units on the basic techniques of how to conjugate different verbs into
prsent de lindicatif, futur simple and the pass compos.
26.0
12.
27.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
104
UNIT TWELVE
CONJUGATION OF IMPERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE VERBS INTO
PASSE COMPOSE
1.0
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the technique of the Agreement of pass
compose. You will also learn about the techniques with which a French
grammar learner like you could apply in identifying areas that need the
Agreement of pass compos in French grammar.
You will recall that we introduced you into the world of conjugation of
verbs into pass compos in Unit 9 where we initiated you into the method
of conjugation of verbs with auxiliary avoir into pass compose. In Unit 10
we also taught you the method of conjugation of verbs with auxiliary tre
into pass compos. In this Unit, we would like to teach you about the
Agreement of pass compos in French grammar.
Just like we explained to you in Units nine and ten, any action that has been
done in the past, before the time that you are reporting the action, is
expressed in French through pass compos. A pass compos tense
105
expresses an action that has been done and concluded a second, a minute,
an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year or even a decade in the past before
the time the speaker is reporting it.
15.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
3.0
106
The general rule we provided in Units 9 and ten says that you add, the past
participle of the verb we want to conjugate, to the present tense of the
auxiliary avoir or tre (as the case may be): - (Auxilliaire avoir ou tre +
participle pass du verbe concern). We also explained the rationale behind
the choice of auxiliary to be used with one particular verb or the other by
providing a possible solution to your could be problem by saying that the
following verbs when they are to be conjugated, should take auxiliary tre:
Aller (to go), descendre (to come down), rester (to rest), monter (to climb),
tomber (to fall), natre (to be born), sortir (to go out), partir (to go) venir (to
come), so also all other verbs that have something to do with venir like
advenir, provenir, devenir etc, entrer (to enter), rentrer (to enter again),
arriver (to come/arrive), retourner (to return). Most other verbs, apart
from these ones and their variants, are conjugated with auxiliary avoir.
We also alerted that you would have noted that additional vowel e or
consonant s or both es are added to the ending of some past participle when
we used the auxiliary tre. We tried to explain then that the French
107
grammatical rules compel all the verbs that take auxiliary tre to agree with
gender and the number of the Subject (either pronoun or noun) that
precedes it. It is the combination of these agreement rules that we would
like to teach in this unit:
There must be no agreemet in between the subject and the past participle if
the auxiliary avoir is used in a direct and simple sentence:
-
2.
But in a situation where the compliment of the direct object comes before
the verb that has avoir as its auxiliary verb, the past participle of this main
verb must agree in gender and in number with the object. The feminine
object therefore introduces an additional e to the ending of the past
participle while the plurality is marked by an additional s (if it is masculine
plural) or additional es (if it is feminine plural):
3.
-----
-----
-----
When an auxiliary tre is used, the past participle must agree in gender and
in number with the subject. The feminine subject introduces an additional e
to the ending of the past participle while the plurality is marked by an
additional s (if it is masculine plural) or additional es (if it is feminine
plural):
---
---
---
108
4.
5.
But there will be no agreement if the action is not referring to the subject
but to a direct object placed after the past participle of the sentence:
---- Elle sest lav la main.
---- Elles se sont lav les vtements.
6.
7.
The past participle of the verb faire (fait) followed by an infinitive does
not agree in gender and in number with the subject, nor with the object:
---- Je les ai fait comprendre
8.
The past participle of verbs like couru, cot, valu are invariable when
they are used in their real sense but they agree in gender and in number
when they are used in a figurative sense:
--- Les cinq Naira que ce pantalon ma cot.
--- Les efforts que ce travail ma cots.
--- Combien de Kilomtres avez-vous couru avant de le rattraper?
--- Combien de commissions avez-vous courues pour le Prsident?
--- Ce sont les dix Naira que ce travail a valu.
--- Vous pensez que ma vie na value que celle de chien?
109
3.1
26.0
CONCLUSION
You have been taught, in this unit, the rules governing the agreement of
pass compos. You have also been told of how to recognize the sentences
that need the grammatical agreement of pass compos. We believe by now
you can accord the agreement rules of pass compos.
27.0
SUMMARY
Having taught you the conjugations of verbs through the simplified
presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have laid for
you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future simple
that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight as well as the method of
conjugation verbs with auxiliaries avoir and tre into pass compose that
we taught in Units nine to eleven, this Unit twelve has gone further in the
conjugation techniques by tackling the agreement of pass compos. We
believe by now that you can accord the agreement when you stumble on
them in French language structure.
110
28.0
13.
29.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
111
UNIT THIRTEN
CONJUGATION OF ER AND OTHER REGULAR VERBS INTO
LIMPARFAIT
1.0
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.1
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the method of conjugation of er and other
regular verbs into limparfait. We hope to teach you about the easier
techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in
conjugating French er and other regular verbs into limparfait. You will
recall that in the last twelve units we have been talking of conjugation of
verbs into prsent de lindicatif, futur simple and pass compos. The
significance of that is that we have been teaching you how to conjugate
French verbs to express actions that one is doing at present, doing in the
future and one is doing in past.
We have now got to a stage whereby you have to learn how to express
actions that we do in the past but in a continuous manner: what one has the
habit of doing in the past. Limparfait could be translated as past
continuous tense in English. It is used to express any action that is done in
the past but in a continuous manner. We implore you to learn the
112
16.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
3.0
113
ais
ait
Nous parl/ons
Je parlais
(I was speaking)
Tu parlais
Il/Elle parlait
Nous parlions
Vous parliez
Ils/Elles parlaient
Manger -
Nous mange/ons
Je mangeais
(I was eating)
Tu mangeais
Il/Elle mangeait
Nous mangions
Vous mangiez
Ils/Elles mangeaient
(NOTE: We dropped the vowel e before i in the 1st and 2nd person plural forms
because the vowel i could perform the same function of softening the g as does
by the vowel e).
Let us then follow these patterns to conjugate some er verbs into the
limperfait:
a.
Nager -
to swim
ais
Je nageais
ais
Tu nageais
ait
Il/Elle nageait
ions
Nous nagions
iez
Vous nagiez
Ils/Elles nageaient
Commencer
ais
Je commenais
ais
Tu commenais
ait
Il/Elle commenait
ions
Nous commenions
iez
Vous commeniez
Ils/Elles commenaient
Aimer
ais
Jaimais
ais
Tu aimais
ait
Il/Elle aimait
ions
Nous aimions
iez
Vous aimiez
Ils/Elles aimaient
115
d.
Appeler
ais
Jappelais
ais
Tu appelais
ait
Il/Elle appelait
ions
Nous appelions
iez
Vous appeliez
Ils/Elles appelaient
3.1
Renvoyer
1)
(2)
(3)
Nous blaguions
Vous blaguiez
ils/Elles blaguaient
28.0
Nous renvoyions
Vous renvoyiez
ils/Elles renvoyaient
Nous Parlions
Vous Parliez
ils/ Elles Parlaient
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have taught you the rules governing the conjugation of er
and other regular verbs into limparfait. You have also been told how to get
the special stem/radical with which you could conjugate this tense. We
116
believe by now you can conjugate er and other regular verbs into
limparfait.
29.0
SUMMARY
Having taught you the conjugations of verbs through the simplified
presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have laid for
you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future simple
that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight as well as the method of
conjugation of verbs into pass compose that we taught in Units nine to
eleven, this Unit thirteen has gone further in the conjugation techniques by
introducing you into the world of conjugation of limparfait in French
grammar.
30.0
14.
31.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
117
UNIT FOURTEEN
CONJUGATION OF IRREGULAR VERBS INTO LIMPARFAIT
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
1.0
3.1.
3.2.
3.3.
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
INTRODUCTION
You will recall that in Unit Thirteen, we taught you the method of
conjugation of er and other regular verbs into limparfait. In this unit, you
will be taught how to conjugate other irregular verbs into limparfait.. Like
we did in the previous unit, we hope to teach you about the easier
techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in
conjugating French irregular verbs into limparfait..
Like we told you in Unit thirteen, we have now got to a stage whereby you
have to learn how to express actions that we do in the past but in a
continuous manner: what one has the habit of doing in the past. limparfait
could be translated as past continuous tense in English. It is used to express
any action that is done in the past but in a continuous manner. We then
118
17.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
3.0
You will recall that in Unit thirteen, we have treated how to conjugate er
and other regular verbs into limparfait. If you recall very well in our Unit
One where we told you that verbs in French language could be divided into
three groups according to their endings. And if we have treated the
conjugation of er and other regular verbs into limparfait in Unit thirteen,
119
the onus is then on us in this unit to treat the conjugation of re, ir/oir into
limparfait. It is the combination of verbs with re, ir/oir endings that we
put together to be treated as irregular verbs in this unit.
3.1
ais
ait
Nous pren/ons
Je prenais
(I was taking)
Tu prenais
Il/Elle prenait
Nous prenions
Vous preniez
Ils/Elles prenaient
120
Let us then follow these patterns to conjugate some re verbs into the
limparfait:
a.
Je battais
ais
Tu battais
ait
Il/Elle battait
ions
Nous battions
iez
Vous battiez
Ils/Elles battaient
b. Craindre
ais
Je craignais
ais
Tu craignais
ait
Il/Elle craignait
ions
Nous craignions
iez
Vous craigniez
Ils/Elles craignaient
Je convainquais
ais
Tu convainquais
ait
Il/Elle convainquait
ions
Nous convainquions
iez
Vous convainquiez
Ils/Elles convainquaient
d.
Je faisais
ais
Tu faisais
ait
Il/Elle faisait
ions
Nous faisions
iez
Vous faisiez
Ils/Elles faisaient
e.
Jtais
ais
Tu tais
ait
Il/Elle tait
ions
Nous tions
iez
Vous tiez
Ils/Elles taient
(NOTE : We would like you to note that tre is the only Known verb
that does not follow this general rule of conjugation into limparfait.)
3.2
a.
Je finissais
ais
Tu finissais
ait
Il/Elle finissait
ions
Nous finissions
iez
Vous finissiez
Ils/Elles finissaient
b.
Je tenais
ais
Tu tenais
ait
Il/Elle tenait
ions
Nous tenions
iez
Vous teniez
Ils/Elles tenaient
Javais
ais
Tu avais
ait
Il/Elle avait
ions
Nous avions
iez
Vous aviez
Ils/Elles avaient
Je voyais
ais
Tu voyais
123
ait
Il/Elle voyait
ions
Nous voyions
iez
Vous voyiez
Ils/Elles voyaient
e.
Je devais
ais
Tu devais
ait
Il/Elle devait
ions
Nous devions
iez
Vous deviez
Ils/Elles devaient
3.3
Prendre,
b) Courir, c) savoir
(1)
Je Prenais
Tu Prenais
il /Elle Prenait
(2)
(3)
Nous Courrions
Vous courriez
ils/Elles Courraient
30.0
Nous Prenions
Vous Preniez
ils/Elles Prenaient
Nous Savions
Vous Saviez
ils/Elles Savaient
CONCLUSION
124
In this unit, we have taught you the rules governing the conjugation of re
and other irregular verbs into limperfait. You have also been told how to
get the special stem/radical with which you could conjugate this tense. We
believe by now you can conjugate re and other irregular verbs into
limperfait.
31.0
SUMMARY
Having taught you the conjugations of verbs through the simplified
presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have laid for
you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future simple
that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight as well as the method of
conjugation of verbs into pass compose that we taught in Units nine to
eleven, this Unit fourteen has gone further in the conjugation techniques by
introducing you into the method of conjugation of ir and other irregular
verbs into limperfait in French grammar.
32.0
15.
33.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
125
UNIT FIFTEEN
CONJUGATION OF IMPERSONAL AND REFLEXIVE VERBS INTO
LIMPARFAIT
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.2.
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1.
1.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will present to you the technique of conjugation of Impersonal
and Reflexive verbs into limparfait. In this unit, you will learn about the
easier techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could
apply in conjugating French Impersonal and Reflexive verbs into
limparfait. Like we told you in Unit five, these impersonal, as well as
Reflexive verbs are common in French language. You will see them as
either er, re, ir or even oir verbs. The knowledge you have gained from
other units, most especially Units five to fourteen will be useful in this unit.
What you will do mostly in this unit is to identify French Impersonal and
Reflexive verbs, then apply the peculiarities of these verbs so that you
could apply your already gained knowledge in the conjugation of
limparfait of er, re, ir and oir verbs to them thus conjugating them
correctly. Therefore, we implore you to learn the rudiments, techniques and
126
18.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
3.0
(s)
Pleuvoir to rain
Il pleuvait
127
(t)
Falloir to be necessary
Il fallait
(u)
Advenir to happen
Il advenait
(v)
Sagir de to be about
Il sagissait de
(w)
(x)
3.1
In order to conjugate these verbs into limparfait, this set of verbs takes
additional (direct/personal) pronoun in their conjugation. The pronouns me
te se nous vous and se are used to mark this action of reflexive or
128
pronominal of the verbs. We then add limparfait ending to the main verb,
as explained in Units 13 and 14. For example, if the subject or the speaker
wants to say that I was bathing myself, he would say: Je me lavais.
NOTE: We would like you to note that in the normal conjugation of the infinitive
laver into limparfait, you are to conjugate it as Je lavais . (meaning I was
washing ..) But in the case of reflexive or pronominal action whereby you
want to say that you perform the action to yourself, another reflexive pronoun of
the same person and grammatical class with that of the subject (personal pronoun)
will be inserted to denote that action of reflexive in the sentence, hence the
inclusion of the reflexive pronoun, me, in the given example.
(o)
(p)
(q)
(r)
NOTE: We would like you to note that there are two grammatically accepted form
of conjugation of the verb Sasseoir in French. Which ever form you chose is
correct.
(h) Sappeler to call oneself
Je mappelais I was calling myself (I wss called)
Tu tappelais You were calling yourself
Il/elle sappelait He/She was calling himself/herself
Nous nous appelions We were calling ourselves
Vous vous appeliez You were calling yourselves
130
(NOTE: You should please not that the contraction in the conjugation of
sappeler comes as a result of the contact in-between the vowel e of
pronouns me, te, se and the infinitive of the verb appeler that has initial
vowel a.
3.2
Soffrir,
b)
(1)
(2)
c) Brumer
(3)
Se lever,
Verb Brumer
il brumait
32.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have been taught the rules governing the conjugation of
Impersonal and Reflexive verbs into limparfait. As you should have
discovered, the impersonal verb is a verb that you can only conjugate with
third person masculine pronoun thus making the verb to refer to inanimate
things that are not human beings. You have been taught also that a reflexive
verb refers to an action that the subject does to himself. With the method
131
33.0
SUMMARY
With this unit tackling the conjugation of impersonal and reflexive verbs
into limparfait, we have completed the cycle of conjugation of verbs into
limparfait in French. In consonance with our general classification of
verbs and what to expect in the course that we did in our Guide, we are now
moving from simple conjugation to fairly complex ones. But no matter their
difficulties, the moment you read what has been taught earlier and you
follow the step by step of our presentation, we believe you will easily catch
up with whatever we are going to teach in subsequent units.
34.0
16.
35.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
132
UNIT SIXTEEN
CONJUGATION OF VERBS INTO IMPERATIF PRESENT (POSITIVE
AND NEGATIVE)
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.2
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1
1.0
INTRODUCTION
This unit will introduce you to the conjugation of all verbs into impratif
prsent (positive and negative). In this unit, you will read to know about
the easier techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could
apply in conjugating French verbs into impratif prsent (positive and
negative). Knowledge gained from this unit will initiate your properly into
how to conjugate French verbs in the impratif prsent (positive and
negative). We would like to sound a warning that your better
understanding of conjugation generally depends on the way and manner
with which you handle other units we have taught earlier. Therefore, we
implore you to revise the rudiments, techniques and methods of conjugating
all verbs as they were taught earlier so as to understand better this unit.
19.0
OBJECTIVES
133
3.0
Parler:
2 parle!
Prendre:
2 prends!
1 parlons!
1 prenons!
2 Parlez!
2 prenez!
NOTE: In the case of irregular verbs, their imperative form is sometime borrowed
from the subjunctive form: Etre
savoir
vouloir
2 sois
2 sache!
2 veuille (veux)
1 soyons
1 sachons!
1 voulons
2 soyez
2 sachez!
2 veillez (voulez)
134
NOTE: When you are dealing with the verb vouloir, you could either use the
veuille/veillez or the veux/voulez (in brackets) option. However, the 1st person
plural form is homogenous for the two options.
In the case of reflexive verbs, apart from the application of this 2-1-2 rules to
conjugate the verbs into positive imperative, we also add a personal pronoun in the
Compliment of Direct Object (COD) class, of the same grammatical number and
person of the verb concerned; as suffix to the verb concerned: moi, nous, vous.
e.g.
3.1
Se regarder
Sappeler
2 regarde-moi!
2 appelle-moi!
1 regardons-nous!
1 appelons-nous!
2 regardez-vous!
2 appelez-vous!
ne .pas
- not
----
ne .point
- not at all
135
----
ne .nulle
----
ne .plus
- no more
----
ne .gure
- hardly
----
ne .jamais
- never
----
ne .rien
- nothing
----
ne .personne
- nobody
----
ne .que
These negation adverbs are used to change a sentence into a negative form.
These adverbs are split ones; on splitting them into two, as indicated by the
dotted lines, the necessary imperative verb in that sentence is thus inserted
into the space provided in-between them (to replace the dotted lines in the
middle) e.g.
Parler:
2 ne parle pas!
Prendre:
2 ne prends jamais!
1 ne parlons gure!
1 ne prenons nulle!
2 ne parlez point!
2 ne prenez rien!
2 ne sois l
1 ne soyons personne
1 ne voulons pas
2 ne soyez que
2 ne sache rien!
1 ne sachons que!
2 ne sachez gure!
We would like you to note also that in the case of reflexive verbs, if you want to
conjugate them into negative imperative, apart from the application of this 2-1-2
rules, you will also add a personal pronoun (but not in the Compliment of Direct
Object (COD) class this time around) of the same grammatical number and person
of the verb concerned; me, nous, vous. But instead of their coming at the end of
136
the verb as done in the positive categorization, these pronouns will come before
the verb (immediately after the ne, the first part of the adverb of negation.
e.g.
3.2
Se regarder
Sappeler
2 ne me regarde pas!
2 ne mappelle plus!
Conjugate the following verbs into limpratif prsent positif first and then
negatif.
a) Savoir, b) Se regarder.
(1)
(2)
34.0
Ne sache pas !
Ne sachons pas !
Ne sachez pas !
Ne me regarde pas !
Ne nous regardons pas !
Ne vous regardez point !
CONCLUSION
In this unit, you have learned the rules governing the conjugation of
impratif prsent. You have also discovered the positive form as well as
negative form in the conjugation of some verbs in this category. By now we
believe you can conjugate different verbs impratif prsent (positive and
negative).
137
35.0
SUMMARY
You must have been adequately informed in this unit on the basic
techniques of how to conjugate most verbs into impratif prsent. You
must have learned also some peculiarities in the conjugation of the positive
and the negative forms of these conjugations. By now we believe that your
verbal vocabulary and technique of conjugation of verbs should have been
enriched through the explanation and examples of verbs we gave you under
each classification. And we believe that you can handle any conjugation of
imperative, be it positive or negative, that comes your way.
36.0
17.
Conjugate the following verbs into impratif prsent positif first and then
negatif:
a. Parler, b. Nager, c. Balayer, d. Lancer, e. Surlever, f. Clbrer, g.
Monter, h. Rejeter, i. Payer, j. Blaguer.
37.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
138
UNIT SEVENTEEN
CONJUGATION OF VERBS INTO CONDITIONNEL PRESENT
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.6
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1.
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the method of conjugation of French verbs
into conditionnel prsent. We hope to teach you about the easier techniques
with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in conjugating
French regular and other irregular verbs into conditionnel prsent. You
will recall that in the last fifteen units we have been talking of conjugation
of verbs into prsent de lindicatif, futur simple, pass compose, limperfait
and imperatif (positive and negative). The significance of that is that we
have been teaching you how to conjugate French verbs to express actions
139
that one is doing at present, doing in the future, one is doing in the
immediate past as well as continuous past and what one commands to be
done.
We have now got to a stage whereby you have to learn how to express
actions that will be done on conditions. Conditionnel prsent could be
translated as Present Conditional Tense in English. It is used to express any
action that will be done in the present, if all necessary conditions are
fulfilled.
20.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
140
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of verbs into
Conditionnel prsent.
3.0
ais
ait
e.g.
Manger
Je mangerais
I would/should eat
Tu mangerais
Il mangerait
He would eat
Nous mangerions
We would eat
Vous mangeriez
Ils mangeraient
NOTE: You will observe that the endings of this conjugation look like that
of limparfait. But we would like you to be careful and remember that
while limparfait uses the stem derived from present de lindicatif, the
Conditionnel prsent uses, on the other hand, the stem of verbs conjugated
into future tense (futur simple)
Let us then follow these patterns to conjugate some verbs into the
Conditionnel prsent:
a.
Parler
ais
Je Parlerais
ais
Tu Parlerais
ait
Il/Elle Parlerait
ions
Nous Parlerions
iez
Vous Parleriez
Ils/Elles Parleraient
Aimer
ais
Jaimerais
ais
Tu aimerais
ait
Il/Elle aimerait
ions
Nous aimerions
iez
Vous aimeriez
Ils/Elles aimeraient
3.2
142
we have some verbs in this category at the futur simple level that have some
peculiarities noted for them, so also we have some er verbs that take
exceptions to these general rules in the conjugation of their Conditionnel
prsent. In as much as we cannot because of these minor dissimilarities
categorize them as being irregular, we then decided to treat them as
peculiarities under this category. Better examples of these er verbs with
peculiarities could be seen in verbs such as aller, payer, balayer, rudoyer,
envoyer, renvoyer etc. We need to implore you that you should take their
peculiarities that we are about to treat as irregularities and learn them as
presented to you:
c.
Aller
ais
Jirais
ais
Tu irais
ait
Il/Elle irait
ions
Nous irions
iez
Vous iriez
Ils/Elles iraient
Envoyer
ais
Jenverrais
ais
Tu enverrais
ait
Il/Elle enverrait
ions
Nous enverrions
iez
Vous enverriez
Ils/Elles enverraient
3.2
Je Battrais
ais
Tu Battrais
ait
Il/Elle Battrait
ions
Nous Battrions
iez
Vous Battriez
Ils/Elles Battraient
Je serais
ais
Tu serais
ait
Il/Elle serait
ions
Nous serions
iez
Vous seriez
Ils/Elles seraient
3.3
PRESENT
g.
Je finirais
ais
Tu finirais
ait
Il/Elle finirait
ions
Nous finirions
iez
Vous finiriez
Ils/Elles finiraient
144
ouvrir, offrir,
h.
Jaurais
ais
Tu aurais
ait
Il/Elle aurait
ions
Nous aurions
iez
Vous auriez
Ils/Elles auraient
Je verrais
ais
Tu verrais
ait
Il/Elle verrait
ions
Nous verrions
iez
Vous verriez
Ils/Elles verraient
3.4
CONJUGATION
OF
IMPERSONAL
CONDITIONNEL PRESENT
j. Pleuvoir to rain
Il pleuvrait
k. Falloir to be necessary
Il faudrait
l. Advenir to happen
Il adviendrait
145
VERBS
INTO
m. Sagir de to be about
Il sagirait de
3.5
146
3.6
(2)
(3)
Nous enverrons
Vous enverriez
ils/Elles enverraient
36.0
Nous mangerions
Vous mangeriez
ils/Elles mangeraient
Nous irions
Vous iriez
ils/Elles iraient
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have taught you the rules governing the conjugation of er,
re, ir/oir as well as impersonal cum reflexive verbs into Conditionnel
prsent. You have also been told of some exceptionalities to these general
riles. We believe by now you can conjugate er, re, ir/oir as well as
impersonal and reflexive verbs into Conditionnel prsent.
37.0
SUMMARY
Having taught you the conjugations of verbs through the simplified
presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have laid for
you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future simple
that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight as well as the method of
147
18.
39.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
148
UNIT EIGHTEEN
CONJUGATION OF VERBS INTO CONDITIONNEL PASSE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
4.0
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the method of conjugation of French verbs
into conditionnel pass. We hope to teach you about the easier techniques
with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in conjugating
French regular and other irregular verbs into conditionnel pass. You will
recall that in the last unit, we have taught you the conjugation Conditionnel
prsent. We have now got to a stage whereby you have to learn how to
express actions that will be done on conditions but in the past. Conditionnel
prsent could be translated as Past Conditional Tense in English. It is used
149
to express any action that would have been done in the past, if all necessary
conditions were fulfilled.
21.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
3.0
you look at these rules closely, you will observe that they resemble the
rules of pass compos. The only difference is where the pass compos is
asking for the auxiliary avoir or tre conjugated into prsent de lindicatif,
the conditionnel pass is asking for the auxiliary avoir or tre conjugated
into conditionnel prsent . We therefore implore you to please revise all the
Units on pass compose, most especially, Units nine to ten, so as to
comprehend this Unit better.
If the rule insists on your adding the Conditionnel prsent of auxiliary avoir
or tre to the past participle of the main verb, you then need to recollect, at
this level, your knowledge of conjugating the verb avoir into Conditionnel
prsent :
Avoir
Jaurais
Nous aurions
Tu aurais
Vous auriez
Il aurait
Ils auraient
Let us then follow this pattern and the rules governing it to conjugate the
verb manger into Conditionnel pass:
a.
b.
Manger
to eat
Jaurais mang
Tu aurais mang
Il aurait mang
Parler
to speak
Jaurais parl
Tu aurais parl
151
c.
e.
f.
Etre -
to be
Jaurais t
Tu aurais t
Il/Elle aurait t
Nous aurions t
Vous auriez t
Ils/Elles auraient t
Dire -
to say
Jaurais dis
Tu aurais dis
Finir -
to finish
Jaurais fini
Tu aurais fini
Avoir Jaurais eu
to have
(I would have had)
152
3.1
Tu aurais eu
Il/Elle aurait eu
Nous aurions eu
Vous auriez eu
Ils/Elles auraient eu
INTO CONDITIONNEL
Just like we told you under the conjugation of verbs with auxiliary tre into
pass compos in Unit ten, the following verbs when they are to be
conjugated into conditionnel pass , should take auxiliary tre: Aller (to
go), descendre (to come down), rester (to rest), monter (to climb), tomber
(to fall), natre (to be born), sortir (to go out), partir (to go) venir (to come),
so also all other verbs that have something to do with venir like advenir,
provenir, devenir etc, entrer (to enter), rentrer (to enter again), arriver (to
come/arrive), retourner (to return). Most other verbs, apart from these
ones and their variants, are conjugated with auxiliary avoir.
If the general rule of conjugating this tense says that you add, the past
participle of the verb we want to conjugate, to the Conditionnel prsent of
auxiliary avoir or tre (as the case may be): - (Auxilliaire de Conditionnel
prsent de verbe avoir ou tre + participle pass du verbe concern). And
that we have applied the Conditionnel prsent of auxiliary avoir in the first
part of this unit, we have now got to the point of applying the Conditionnel
prsent of auxiliary tre.
If the rule insists on your adding the Conditionnel prsent of auxiliary avoir
or tre to the past participle of the main verb, you then need to recollect, at
153
this level, your knowledge of conjugating the verb tre into Conditionnel
prsent :
tre
Je serais
Nous serions
Tu serais
Vous seriez
Il serait
Ils seraient
Let us then follow these rules and the rules governing it to conjugate the
following verbs into Conditionnel pass:
g.
aller -
to go
Je serais all(e)
Tu serais all(e)
Il serait all
NOTE: Just like it happened in Unit ten, you would have noted that additional
vowel e or consonant s or both es are added to the ending of some past participle
when we used the auxiliary tre. The French grammatical rules compel all the
verbs that take auxiliary tre to agree with gender and the number of the Subject
(either pronoun or noun) that precedes it.
explained to you better in Unit twelve. We implore you to please go and revise
them.
h.
Monter
to climb
Je serais mont(e)
Tu serais
mont(e)
Il serait mont
{Er verbs such as Aller (to go), rester (to rest), tomber (to fall), retomber
(to fall again), entrer (to enter), rentrer (to enter again), arriver (to
come/arrive), retourner (to return) are conjugated following this pattern.
i.
j.
Descendre
Je serais descendu(e)
Tu serais descendu(e)
Il serait descendu
Sortir
to go out
Je serais sorti(e)
Tu serais sorti(e)
Il serait sorti
{Ir verbs such as sortir (to go out), ressortir (to go out again), partir (to
go), repartir (to go again) are conjugated following this pattern.
155
Venir -
to come
Je serais venu(e)
Tu serais
venu(e)
Il serait venu
{ir verbs such as venir (to come), so also all other verbs that have
something to do with venir like advenir, provenir, devenir etc, are
conjugated following this pattern.
3.3
CONJUGATION
OF
IMPERSONAL
CONDITIONNEL PASSE
l. Pleuvoir to rain
Il aurait plu
m. Falloir to be necessary
Il aurait fallu
n. Advenir to happen
Il serait advenu
VERBS
INTO
3.5
Tu te serais lav(e)
Il se serait lav
3.4
Je me serais tu(e)
Tu te serais tu(e)
Il se serait tu
(2)
38.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have taught you the rules governing the conjugation of er,
re, ir/oir as well as impersonal cum reflexive verbs into Conditionnel
pass. You have also been told of some exceptionalities to these general
riles. We believe by now you can conjugate er, re, ir/oir as well as
impersonal and reflexive verbs into Conditionnel pass.
39.0
SUMMARY
Having taught you the conjugations of verbs through the simplified
presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have laid for
you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future simple
that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight as well as the method of
conjugation of verbs into pass compose that we taught in Units nine to
eleven, the conjugation of limparfait that we taught in Units thirteen to
fifteen and the conjugation of imperative (positive and negative) that we
taught in Unit sixteen and then the conjugation of conditionnel present that
we taught in Unit seventeen, we decided to bring you further into the
conjugation techniques by introducing you into the world of conjugation of
conditionnel pass in French grammar.
40.0
19.
158
41.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
159
UNIT NINETEEN
CONJUGATION OF VERBS INTO SUBJONCTIF PRESENT
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
4.0
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1.
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the method of conjugation of French verbs
into subjonctif prsent. We hope to teach you about the easier techniques
with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in conjugating
French regular and other irregular verbs into subjonctif prsent. You will
recall that in the last eighteen units we have been talking of conjugation of
verbs into prsent de lindicatif, futur simple, pass compose, limperfait
and imperatif (positive and negative) and conditionnels (prsent and pass).
160
The significance of that is that we have been teaching you how to conjugate
French verbs to express actions that one is doing at present, doing in the
future, one is doing in the immediate past as well as continuous past, what
one commands to be done and what one could do hypothetically if all
necessary conditions are met.
We have now got to a stage whereby you have to learn how to express
actions of wish or supposition. Subjonctif prsent could be translated as
Present Form of Subjunctive Tense in English. It is used to express
statements of doubt in French language. When a speaker wants to talk
about a personal wish, emotion, doubt and things that could not be real in
life, he uses the subjunctive tense:
22.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
3.0
irregular verbs, you are to take the stem/radical from the 3rd person plural
(ils/elles) conjugated form of the verb in the prsent de lindicatif, you
remove its ent ending and then add the following subjunctive endings, (e,
es, e, ions, iez, ent) to this special radical or stem. And in order to properly
express this wish or doubt, a clause using the verb falloir (to be necessary),
conjugated into prsent de lindicatif, is introduced at the beginning of the
sentence:
e
es
ent
e.g.
Manger
Ils/Elles mang/ent
It is necessary, I eat
It is necessary, he eats
It is necessary, we eat
Let us then follow these patterns to conjugate some verbs into the
Subjonctif prsent:
a.
b.
3.3
Parler
Ils parl/ent
es
ions
iez
ent
es
ions
iez
ent
Aimer
163
Just like in the case of present de lindicatif and futur simple, we would like
you to note that although er verbs are said to be regular at most of the
conjugation groupings, just as we have some verbs in this category at these
levels that have some peculiarities noted for them, so also we have some er
verbs that take exceptions to these general rules in the conjugation of their
Subjonctif
3.2
Aller
e
es
ions
iez
ent
es
ions
iez
ent
e.
es
ions
iez
ent
NOTE : We will need to warn you that tre, being an exceptionally irregular verb,
does not follow the general pattern. Hence the difference in stem formation and
conjugation.
3.3
es
ions
iez
ent
g.
es
165
ions
iez
ent
NOTE : We will need to warn you also that avoir, being an exceptionally
irregular verb, does not follow the general pattern. Hence the difference in stem
formation and conjugation.
h.
es
ions
iez
ent
3.4
PRESENT
i.
Pleuvoir to rain
Il faut quil pleuve
r. Falloir to be necessary
Il faut quil faille
s. Advenir to happen
Il faut quil advienne
t. Sagir de to be about
Il faut quil sagise de
166
3.5
es
ions
iez
ent
3.6
finir , b) Etre
c) Se laver.
167
1.
(1)
(2)
(3)
40.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have taught you the rules governing the conjugation of er,
re, ir/oir as well as impersonal cum reflexive verbs into subjonctif
prsent. You have also been told of some exceptionalities to these general
riles. We believe by now you can conjugate er, re, ir/oir as well as
impersonal and reflexive verbs into subjonctif prsent.
41.0
SUMMARY
Having taught you the conjugations of verbs through the simplified
presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have laid for
you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future simple
168
42.0
20.
43.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
169
NIT TWENTY
CONJUGATION OF VERBS INTO SUBJONCTIF PASSE
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
1.0
Introduction
2.0
Objectives
3.0
3.4
4.0
Conclusion
5.0
Summary
6.0
7.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
1.0
INTRODUCTION
In this unit, you will be taught the method of conjugation of French
verbs into subjonctif pass. We hope to teach you about the easier
techniques with which a French grammar learner like you could apply in
conjugating French regular and other irregular verbs into subjonctif pass.
You will recall that in the last unit, we have taught you the conjugation of
subjonctif prsent. We have now got to a stage whereby you have to learn
how to express actions of wish or supposition in the past. Subjonctif pass
170
23.0
OBJECTIVES
On successful completion of this unit, you should be able to:
concerned..
You are now invited to follow the method of conjugation of verbs into subjonctif
pass.
3.0
171
to express any action of wish or doubt that would have been done in the
past.
The general rule of conjugating this tense says that you add, the past
participle of the verb we want to conjugate, to the subjonctif prsent of
auxiliary avoir or tre (as the case may be): - (Auxilliaire de subjonctif
prsent de verbe avoir ou tre + participle pass du verbe concern). If
you look at these rules closely, you will observe that they resemble the
rules of pass compos and conditionnel pass . The only difference is
where the pass compos is asking for the auxiliary avoir or tre
conjugated into prsent de lindicatif and the conditionnel pass is asking
for the auxiliary avoir or tre conjugated into conditionnel present, the
subjonctif pass will be asking for the auxiliary avoir or tre conjugated
into subjonctif present. And in order to properly express this wish or doubt,
a clause using the verb falloir (to be necessary), conjugated into pass
compos, is introduced at the beginning of the sentence. We therefore
implore you to please revise all the Units on pass compose and
conditionnel pass, most especially, Units nine, ten and eighteen, so as to
comprehend this Unit better.
If the rule insists on your adding the subjonctif prsent of auxiliary avoir or
tre to the past participle of the main verb, you then need to recollect, at
this level, your knowledge of conjugating the verb avoir into subjonctif
prsent as we taught you in Unit nineteen:
Avoir
Que jaie
Que tu aies
Quil ait
Quils aient
172
Let us then follow this pattern and the rules governing it to conjugate the
verb manger into subjonctif pass:
a.
Manger
to eat
b.
Parler
to speak
c.
Etre -
to be
Dire -
to say
e.
Finir -
to finish
f.
Avoir -
to have
174
out), partir (to go) venir (to come), so also all other verbs that have
something to do with venir like advenir, provenir, devenir etc, entrer (to
enter), rentrer (to enter again), arriver (to come/arrive), retourner (to
return). Most other verbs, apart from these ones and their variants, are
conjugated with auxiliary avoir.
If the general rule of conjugating this tense says that you add, the past
participle of the verb we want to conjugate, to the subjonctif prsent of
auxiliary avoir or tre (as the case may be): - (Auxilliaire de subjonctif
prsent de verbe avoir ou tre + participle pass du verbe concern). And
that we have applied the subjonctif prsent of auxiliary avoir in the first
part of this unit, we have now got to the point of applying the subjonctif
prsent of auxiliary tre.
If the rule insists on your adding the subjonctif prsent of auxiliary avoir or
tre to the past participle of the main verb, you then need to recollect, at
this level, your knowledge of conjugating the verb tre into subjonctif
prsent :
tre
Que je sois
Que tu sois
Quil soit
Quils soient
Let us then follow these rules and the rules governing it to conjugate the
following verbs into subjonctif pass:
g.
aller -
to go
NOTE: Just like it happened in Units ten and eighteen, you would have noted that
additional vowel e or consonant s or both es are added to the ending of some past
participle when we used the auxiliary tre. The French grammatical rules compel
all the verbs that take auxiliary tre to agree with gender and the number of the
Subject (either pronoun or noun) that precedes it. These agreement rules have
been explained to you better in Unit twelve. We implore you to please go and
revise them.
h.
Monter
to climb
{Er verbs such as Aller (to go), rester (to rest), tomber (to fall), retomber
(to fall again), entrer (to enter), rentrer (to enter again), arriver (to
come/arrive), retourner (to return) are conjugated following this pattern.
i.
Descendre
j.
Sortir
to go out
176
{Ir verbs such as sortir (to go out), ressortir (to go out again), partir (to
go), repartir (to go again) are conjugated following this pattern.
Venir -
to come
{ir verbs such as venir (to come), so also all other verbs that have
something to do with venir like advenir, provenir, devenir etc, are
conjugated following this pattern.
3.2
PASSE
s. Pleuvoir to rain
Il a fallu quil ait plu
t. Falloir to be necessary
Il a fallu quil ait fallu
u. Advenir to happen
Il a fallu quil soit advenu
3.3
3.4
b) Etre c) Avoir
(2)
42.0
CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have taught you the rules governing the conjugation of er,
re, ir/oir as well as impersonal cum reflexive verbs into subjonctif pass.
You have also been told of some exceptionalities to these general riles. We
believe by now you can conjugate er, re, ir/oir as well as impersonal and
reflexive verbs into subjonctif pass.
43.0
SUMMARY
Having taught you the conjugations of verbs through the simplified
presentation of conjugation of prsent de lindicatif that we have laid for
you in Units two to five and the techniques of conjugation of future simple
that we methodically handled in Unit six to eight as well as the method of
conjugation of verbs into pass compose that we taught in Units nine to
eleven, the conjugation of limparfait that we taught in Units thirteen to
fifteen and the conjugation of imperative (positive and negative) that we
taught in Unit sixteen, the conjugation of conditionnels prsent and pass
that we taught in Units seventeen and eighteen and then we decided to
bring you further into the conjugation techniques by introducing you into
the world of conjugation of subjonctifs prsent and pass in French
grammar as taught in Units nineteen and twenty. With this unit twenty, we
179
have now come to the end of our lectures of FRE 108 that centre on
conjugation of verbs into various tenses of French grammar.
44.0
21.
45.0
FRENCH
GRAMMAR
FOR
ANGLOPHONE
Bescherelle (1990):
180