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1- Use

2- Formation
3- Time indicators
There is only 1 form of the present
tense in French,
eg Je joue au tennis
whereas there are three in English...
A. The present tense is used to express a
repeated action, a habit or a general
truth.
i.e. What happens regularly.

eg: Tous les samedis, je joue au foot.


(Every Saturday, I play football).
B.To express an action taking place at the
time of speaking or in the immediate
future.
i.e. What is happening right now.

eg: Je regarde Eastenders maintenant.


(I am watching Eastenders now).
C. To express a contrast, an emphasis or
a negative.
i.e. To emphasise what is happening.

eg: Je suis daccord.


I do agree.

Je joue au tennis.
I do play tennis.

Je ne joue pas au tennis.


I dont play tennis.
Also use the present tense in French...
D. To tell a story that happened in the
past, to make it more lively.
E. With expressions of time such as
depuis, a fait to express has/have
been doing.
F. With si to express a hypothesis or
condition.
The present tense is used with the
expressions depuis and a fait when
the action is still going on.

eg: Japprends le franais depuis cinq


ans.
(Ive been learning French for five
years).
As 90% of all French verbs are
regular ER verbs it is essential
that you know the verb endings off
by heart.
Regular verbs:
-ER verbs
JOUER (to play)
Je joue I play
Tu joues you play
Il, Elle, On joue he / she /one plays
Nous jouons we play
Vous jouez you all play
Ils, Elles jouent they play
Regular Verbs
-IR verbs

FINIR
Je finis I finish
Tu finis you finish
he / she /one finishes
Il, Elle, On finit
Nous finissons we finish
Vous finissez you all finish
Ils, Elles finissent they finish
Regular Verbs
-RE verbs

VENDRE
Je vends I sell
Tu vends you sell
Il, Elle, On vend he/she/one sells
Nous vendons we sell
Vous vendez you all sell
Ils, Elles vendent they sell
Summary of Regular Verb Endings
To form the present tense take off the last
2 letters of the infinitive (ER, RE or IR)
and add the following endings.
ER RE IR
I Je -e -s -is
You Tu -es -s -is
He/She/We Il/Elle/On -e - -it
We Nous -ons -ons -issons
You all/You (f) Vous -ez -ez -issez
They Ils/Elles -ent -ent -issent
Verbs starting with a vowel or h:

When a verb starts with a vowel (A, E, I, O,


U, Y) or a silent h, the pronoun Je
becomes J .
eg: Je aime Jaime.
Je habite Jhabite.

It is the same when a verb is preceded by a


reflexive pronoun.
eg: sappeler: Je me appelle Je mappelle.
shabiller: Tu te habilles Tu thabilles.
sendormir: Elle se endort Elle sendort.
Some regular verbs have spelling
changes for je, tu, il and ils.
i.e. before a silent syllable.

It is important that you are at least


aware of these so that you will
recognise these verbs.
In verbs that end in -eler or -eter
the final consonant is doubled up in all
but the nous and vous forms.
jeter: (to throw)
Je jette Another common verb
Tu jettes belonging to this group is:
Il jette appeler (to call)
Nous jetons
Exception to this rule:
Vous jetez
acheter
Ils jettent.
Verbs with or e in second
last syllable in the infinitive
Some stems with -e change to -
Stems with change to -
in all forms except the nous and vous forms
prfrer: acheter:
Je prfre Jachte
Tu prfres Tu achtes
Il prfre Il achte
Nous prfrons Nous achetons
Vous prfrez Vous achetez
Ils prfrent. Ils achtent.
Verbs that end in ayer, -oyer,
-uyer change y to i

nettoyer: (to clean)


Je nettoie
Tu nettoies
Il nettoie
Nous nettoyons
Vous nettoyez
Ils nettoient.
Verbs with spelling changes in
the NOUS form
Verbs ending in cer Verbs ending in ger
become ons become eons
commencer: (to begin) manger: (to eat)
Je commence Je mange
Tu commences Tu manges
Il commence Il mange
Nous commenons Nous mangeons
Vous commencez Vous mangez
Ils commencent. Ils mangent
Reflexive verbs

Many of these verbs are used to talk


about your daily routine. They mean
that you do something to yourself (eg:
to wash oneself, to brush ones teeth, to
wake up, to go to bed).
You conjugate them in the exact same
way as regular verbs but they also need
a reflexive pronoun in between the
subject pronoun and the verb:
Reflexive verbs

Je me eg: SE LEVER (to get up)


Tu te Je me lve
Il se Tu te lves
Elle se Il se lve
Elle se lve
On se
On se lve
Nous nous
Nous nous levons
Vous vous Vous vous levez
Ils se Ils se lvent
Elles se Elles se lvent
Maintenant Now
En ce moment At the moment
Aujourdhui Today
Ce matin This morning
Cet aprs-midi This afternoon
Ce soir This evening

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