L'INDICATIF / INDICATIVE

The indicative has five simple tenses [présent, impar-fait, futur, conditionnel, passé simple) and five compound tenses (passé composé, plus-que-parfait, conditionnel passé, futur antérieur, passé antérieur).The passé simple and passé antérieur are used in historic and literary writing only, and are not covered here.

 

LE PRÉSENT / PRESENT

1. English:He shrieks. He is shrieking. He does shriek.

2. Construction:stem + endings:

Person		-er		-ir		-re
je		aim-e		fin-is		vend-s
tu		aim-es		fin-is		vend-s
il/elle		aim-e		fin-it		vend-
nous		aim-ons		fin-issons		vend-ons
vous		aim-ez		fin-issez		vend-ez
ils/elles		aim-ent		fin-issent		vend-ent

1. Use:

   1. Present action: Je chante.(I am singing.)

   2. Near or inevitable future action: Elle part ce soir.(she leaves [is leaving! tonight.)

   3. Habitual or ongoing action: Il y va souvent. Je t’aime.

   4. General statements: Le temps passe trop vite.

   5. with depuis or the constructions il y a...que, ça fait.que, void...que,and voilà....queto indicate an action begun in the past that continues in the present. Je marche depuis longtemps. (I've been walking for a long time.) Ça fait six heures qu'elle danseavec lui.(she's been dancing with him for six hours.)

 

SPELLING CHANGES IN CONJUGATION OF REGULAR –ER VERBS

-cer: cbecomes çbefore aand o: menacer → je menace, nous menaçons

-ger:add -ewhen the gprecedes aand o : songer → nous songeons(present), je songeais(imperfect)

-yer: ybecomes ibefore silent e: ennuyer→ jem'ennuie; nettoyer→ its nettoient BUT:verbs ending in -ayercan have either spelling: essayer → j’essaieraior j'essayerai

-é-[consonant] - ér: ébecomes ébefore silent e: espérer → j'espère(present), fesperais (imperfect)

-e-[consonant] -er: ebecomes èbefore a syllable containing a silent e: mener → je mène, nous menons(present), nous mènerons(future); lever→ il lève, vous levez(present), vous lèverez(future).

Exception: appeler, jeterand the compounds they form( rappeler, rejetei) double the consonant instead: j'appelle; vous jetterez

 

LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ / COMPOUND PAST

1. English:I came home. I did go to the store. I have done my homework.

2. Construction:conjugated avoiror être+ past participle. See Notes on Compound Tenses.

Person				-er		-ir		-re
past participle				stem +é aimé		stem +i fini		stem +u vendu
example		je		aiaimé		aifini		aivendu
		tu		asaimé		asfini		asvendu
		il/elle		aaimé		afini		avendu
		nous		avonsaimé		avonsfini		avonsvendu
		vous		avezaimé		avezfini		avezvendu
		ils/elles		ontaimé		ontfini		ontvendu

1. Use:To express a completed past action. See also Use under the Imperfect tense.

 

NOTES ON COMPOUND TENSES

AVOIR vs. ÉTRE

compound tenses use the appropriate form of avoiror être+ past participle. Most verbs take avoironly 2 groups of verbs take être:

1. Reflexive and Reciprocal Verbs / les Verbes Pronominaux

   1. A reflexive verb such as se ieverhas a reflexive pronoun as a built-in object. Reflexive verbs indicate an action that is in some way performed by the subject on itself.Reflexive verbs appear:

      1. When the subject is the direct or indirect object of the verb: Elle se regarde dans la glace.

      2. When describing taking care of oneself (especially personal hygiene): Il se rase le lundi.

      3. when describing many other self-reflexive actions: se souvenir(to remember), se tromper(to bewrong), s'apercevoir(to realize).

   2. Reciprocal verbs are used when the subject is plural and the action is reciprocal: Elles s'écrivent souvent.

   3. Reflexive and reciprocal verbs always use être as their auxiliary verb in compound tenses: Il s'est bien amusé.Je me serais demandé la raison.

2. Intransitive Verbs of Motion17 common verbs of motion that do not take direct objectsuse êtreas the auxiliary verb: aller, arriver, descendre,devenir, entrer, monter, mourn, naiire, partir, passer (par),rentrer, resier, retoumer, revenir, sortir, tomber, venir.

   1. Some of these verbs have secondary meanings that do take a direct object; in this case they are conjugatedwith avoir: il est passé(he passed by) vs. il a passé son examen(he passed/took his test). Il est descendu du train(He got out of the train) vs. Il a descendu la boîte(He took down the box).

AGREEMENT OF PAST PARTICIPLE

Add the endings -e(feminine singular), -s(masculine plural), or -es(feminine plural) to the past participle to show agreement in the following cases:

1. All verbs: The past participle agrees with the direct object when the direct object precedes the verb. Je lui ai donné ces fleurs. Je les lui ai données. Les fleures que je lui ai données sont jolies.

2. Verbs conjugated with être: The past participle agrees with the subject of the verb: ll est parti. Elle s'est levée.Us sont partis. Elles se sont levées. Lui et elle. Us se sontlevés.

Note:When a reflexive pronoun is really an indirect object, there is no agreement: Elle s'est lavée.(She washed.) Elle s'est lavé les mains(She washed her hands), lls se sont parlé. However, La question que je me suis rappelée est idiote.

 

L'IMPARFAIT / IMPERFECT

1. English equivalent:He had lovely ears. After school, she would run amok. I used to scratch her nose. I wasreading when you knocked.

2. Construction:stem of present nousform + endings

Person		-er		-ir		-re
je		aim-ais		finissais		vendais
tu		aim-ais		finissais		vendais
il/elle		aim-ait		finissait		vendait
nous		aim-ions		finissions		vendions
vous		aim-iez		finissiez		vendiez
ils/elles		aim-aient		finissaient		vendaient

1. Use

   1. Habitual and customary past action: Quand j'étaispetit, je jouais tout le temps.(When I was little, I usedto play all the time.)

   2. Continuous or ongoing past action: Je lisais quand tu as frappé.(I was reading when you knocked.)

   3. Physical conditions and mental or emotional states in the past: La nuit était claire et le vent sitttait. Toutd'un coup, il s'est mis à pleuvoir.(The night was clearand the wind was whistling. All of a sudden, it beganto rain.).

   4. With depuis and il y avait.que,to indicate an action begun in the past that continued until another past action took place: J'attendais depuis deux beures quand tinalement il est arrivé.(I had been waiting for two hours when he finally arrived.)

The action described by a verb in the imperfect has no built-in time limit. It goes on until (unless) it is interrupted by an event expressed in the passé composé (or the passé simple).

 

LE PLUS-QUE-PARFAIT / PLUPERFECT

1. English equivalent:I had already seen this painting before

2. Construction:imperfect of avoir(or être) + past participle

Person		-er		-ir		-re
je		avaisaimé		avaisfini		avaisvendu
tu		avaisaimé		avaisfini		avaisvendu
il / elle		avaitaimé		avaitfini		avaitvendu
nous		avionsaimé		avionsfini		avionsvendu
vous		aviezaimé		aviezfini		aviezvendu
ils/elles		avaientaimé		avaientfini		avaientvendu

1. Use:

   1. A past action that preceded another past action(whether expressed in the imperfect or the passécomposé): Elles étaient dejà parties quand Guy estarrivé. Je soupgonnais que Marie avait mangé mesbiscuits, mais c'était toi!

   2. An action accomplished prior to a specified time in the past: Á l'âge de dix ans, j'avais déjà rêvé de la gloire.(By age ten, I had already dreamt of glory.)

 

LE FUTURE / FUTURE

1. English equivalent:I will see you tomorrow.

2. Construction:infinitive + endings (-reverbs drop-e).

Person		-er		-ir		-re
je		aimer-ai		finirai		vendrai
tu		aimer-as		finiras		vendras
il/elle		aimer-a		finira		vendra
nous		aimer-ons		finirons		vendrons
vous		aimer-ez		finirez		vendrez
ils/elles		aimer-ont		finiront		vendront

1. Use:

   1. To express a future action: Je te verrai demain.(I'll see you tomorrow.)

   2. French also uses the future in general statements/ predictions about the future where English woulduse the present tense: Quand j'aurai trente ans jeserai ricbe. Quand je serai ricbe je serai beureuse.

   3. See also "If..Then" sentences.

 

LE FUTUR ANTÉRIEUR / FUTURE PERFECT

1. English equivalent:By tomorrow, you will have seen the movie.

2. Construction:future of avoir+ past participle

Person		-er		-ir		-re
je		auraiaimé		auraifini		auraivendu
tu		aurasaimé		aurasfini		aurasvendu
nous		auronsaimé		aurezfini		auronsvendu
vous		aurezaimé		aurezfini		aurezvendu
ils/elles		aurontaimé		aurontfini		aurontvendu

1. Use: To express a future action that will have been accomplished before another future action. Aussitôt qu'Anne sera partie, son frère prendra sa chambre.(As soon as Anne has left/will have left, her brother will take her room.)