Verbs II
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The rest of this page presents an overview of the different forms. You are not supposed to learn them all, but to get a feel for the possibilities so you can look them up later.If you'd like more details, you can click to go to more specific pages. |
Verbs have Conjugated and Non Conjugated forms.
Conjugated forms change according to the person of the subject (je viens, nous venons), while Non Conjugated forms do not (manger, mangé).
Non Conjugated form |
Examples |
Infinitive |
to be, to give
|
Past participle |
been, given, seen
|
Present participle |
being, giving
|
Note that the infinitive does not need the little word to in French (Manger est agréable = To eat (or eating) is nice).
Main Categories |
Examples |
English |
Tense |
Simple Tenses (Indicative) |
elle donne |
She gives |
Present
|
elle donnait |
she gave |
Imperfect | |
elle donnera |
she will give |
Future | |
elle donnerait |
she would give |
Present Conditional | |
elle donna |
she gave |
Past definite (passé simple) | |
Compound Tenses (Indicative) |
Il a pu |
He was able |
Passé composé
|
Il avait pu |
He had been able |
Pluperfect (Past Perfect) | |
Il aurait pu |
He would have been able |
Past Conditional | |
Subjunctive |
qu'il finisse |
he finishe(s) |
Present
|
qu'il finît |
he finished |
Impertect | |
qu'il ait fini |
he finished |
Past | |
Imperative |
donnedonnezsois sage |
givegivebe good |
Present |
Causatives |
Elle a fait construire une maison. |
She had a house built. |
|
Passive |
Le chocolat a été mangé par mon fils. |
The chocolate has been eaten by my son |
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Verb Type |
Examples |
Transitive (v.tr.) |
Il demande souvent son avis.He often asks her advice |
Intransitive (v. intr.) |
Il ronfle.He snores. |
Transitive indirect (v. tr. indir.) |
Je compte sur vous.I'm counting on you. |
Impersonal (v. impers.) |
Il faut attendre.We must wait. |
Pronominal (v. pron.) |
Nous nous entendons.We get along well. |
Note that some verbs, such as couler, or tenir,
belong to more than one type, often with different meanings, so it is important
to be able to find the right type when you look them up.
It's very important that you get used to the different verb forms,
especially for the most common verbs. You'll find them in every text. Practice
till you're perfect.
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(GR
1-1) Use the tables at the back of your Collins-Robert Dictionary
to complete the following. The arrangement of the verbs in the dictionary
is not quite alphabetical, so you'll have to look at the headings on each
page to see how they are organized. You'll soon get used to it, and
be able to use these tables more easily in the future.
Put the forms in the following order, as in the model: Infinitive, present, future, imperfect, conditional present, past definite (passé simple). You may use either il or elle, he, she or it, or a combination.
Since the verb tables assume some knowledge of how the forms are generated, you might like to use the online conjugator at http://www.pomme.ualberta.ca/devoir/ to fill in the gaps. Try to get used to the verb tables in the dictionary though, since you won't always be on line (for example, in exams...).
Model: Venir, to come, il vient, he comes, il venait, he came,elle viendra, she will come, elle viendrait, she would come, elle vint, she came.
avoir
être
aller
faire
pouvoir
devoir
passer
savoir
finir
ouvrir
