Monday, September 29, 2008

Le Passé Composé

Le Passé Composé or the Compound Past Tense is formed by using the present tense of avoir plus the participe passé or past participle of a verb.

Examples of uses of Le Passé Composé:

J'ai mangé un pain: I have eaten bread. Used for an action or state of being completed in the past

Tu as visité ta mère plusieurs fois : You have visited your mother several times. Used for an action repeated a specific number of times in the past

Il a étudié bien, a pris un examen et a reussi : He has studied well, took an exam and passed. Used for a series of actions completed in the past

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Le Participe Passé: Past Participle

The past participle of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending of a verb and adding é, i, or u to -er, -ir, and -re verbs, respectively:


-ER verbs


-IR verbs


-RE verbs

Verb

parler


réussir


vendre

Remove

-er


-ir


-re

Stem

parl-


réuss-


vend-

Add

é


i


u

Result

parlé


réussi


vendu


Irregular verbs usually have irregular past participles:

acquérir

acquis


apprendre

appris

atteindre

atteint


avoir

eu

boire

bu


comprendre

compris

conduire

conduit


connaître

connu

construire

construit


courir

couru

couvrir

couvert


craindre

craint

croire

cru


décevoir

déçu

découvrir

découvert


devoir

dire

dit


écrire

écrit

être

été


faire

fait

instruire

instruit


joindre

joint

lire

lu


mettre

mis

mourir

mort


offrir

offert

ouvrir

ouvert


naître

paraître

paru


peindre

peint

pouvoir

pu


prendre

pris

produire

produit


recevoir

reçu

savoir

su


souffrir

souffert

suivre

suivi


tenir

tenu

venir

venu


vivre

vécu

voir

vu


vouloir

voulu

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Demander son chemin: Asking for directions

Comment dire ? How to say?

Demander son chemin: Asking for directions

Excusez-moi, Madame / Monsieur : Excuse me Sir/Ma'am

Pour aller à... To go to...

Je suis perdu: I'm lost

Je cherche la rue... : I'm looking for(name of)street

l'avenue: avenue
le boulevard: boulevard
la place: place

Pourriez-vous me dire comment aller à... :Could you tell me how to go to...

Décrire un itinéraire : Describing the destination

Vous allez / continuez tout droit. : You go all the way to the right.

Vous prenez la prochaine rue à droite / à gauche. : Take the next street to the left

Vous tournez à droite / à gauche. : Turn left/right.

Vous traversez la rue. : You cross the street.

Vous montez / descendez l'escalier. : You go up/down the stairs.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Quelle heure est-il? What time is it?

This is how you tell time in French:

The formula is simple

Il est+ (number) heure

Note: The French also follow sometimes a 24 hour time so they also use numbers 13-23

Il est une heure. (1h00)

Il est deux heures. (2h00)

Il est trois heures. (3h00)

Il est quatre heures. (4h00)

Il est cinq heures. (5h00)

Il est six heures. (6h00)

Il est sept heures. (7h00)

Il est huit heures. (8h00)

Il est neuf heures. (9h00)

Il est dix heures. (10h00)

Il est onze heures. (11h00)

Il est midi. (12h00) = noon

Il est treize heure (13h00)

Il est quatorze heure (14h00)

Il est quinze heure (15h00)

Il est seize heure (16h00)

Il est dix-sept heure (17h00)

Il est dix-huit heure (18h00)

Il est dix-neuf heure (19h00)

Il est vingt heure (20h00)

Il est vingt et un heure (21h00)

Il est vingt deux heure (22h00)

Il est vingt trois heure (23h00)

Il est minuit. (24h00) = midnight

To tell the number of minutes you simply say the number of minutes that have passed.

5h20= Il est cinq heure vingt.

4h35= Il est quatre heure trente-cinq.

for quarters like 15 and 45 you say:

for 15 mins: you say quinze (15) or "et quart"

To ask for time you say:

Quelle heure est-il? (What time is it?)

To answer that you say either the following

Il est (number) heure.

Nous sommes à (number) heure.

To ask at what time you say:

À quelle heure? = (At what time)

To answer this you say:

À (number) heure.

Here are some more expressions on time

C'est l'heure = It's time.

En retard = Late

Tôt= Early

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Numbers in French 20-69

Here are the numbers from 20-69 basically it has almost the same construction as in the English language


21 vingt et un

22 vingt-deux

23 vingt-trois


30 trente

31 trente et un

32 trente-deux


40 quarante

41 quarante et un


50 cinquante


60 soixante

Numbers in French 1-19

Here are the numbers from 1-19

1 un

2 deux

3 trois

4 quatre

5 cinq

6 six

7 sept

8 huit

9 neuf

10 dix

11 onze

12 douze

13 treize

14 quatorze

15 quinze

16 seize

17 dix-sept

18 dix-huit

19 dix-neuf

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Reflexive Pronouns- Pronoms réfléchis

Reflexive Pronouns are pronouns used for Reflexive Verbs.

Here are the reflexive pronouns

Je- Me

Tu- Te

Il/Elle- Se

Nous- Nous

Vous- Vous

Ils/Elles- Se

Please take note that me, te, se changes into m', t', s' if the verb starts with a vowel.

e.g.

Je m’appelle Jean (me+ appelle)

Tu t'appelles Pierre (te+appelles)

Il s'appelle Marc (se + appelle)

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive Verbs are Verbs that take action upon themselves. It is usually used when the verb is about the body or has something to do with clothing. Reflexive Verbs are always used with Reflexive Pronouns

Here are some common Refelxive Verbs. Make sure you check the Conjugation Guide.

s'approcher de

to approach

s'asseoir

to sit down

se baigner

to bathe, swim

se brosser (les cheveux, les dents)

to brush (one's hair, one's teeth)

se casser (la jambe)

to break (one's leg)

se coiffer

to fix one's hair

se coucher

to go to bed

se couper

to cut oneself

se déshabiller

to get undressed

se doucher

to take a shower

se fâcher

to get angry

s'habiller

to get dressed

se laver (les mains, la figure)

to wash (one's hands, one's face)

se lever

to get up

se maquiller

to put on makeup

se marier (avec)

to get married (to)

se moquer de

to make fun of (someone else)

se moucher

to blow one's nose

se peigner

to comb one's hair

se raser

to shave

se regarder

to look at oneself

se reposer

to rest

se réveiller

to wake up

se souvenir de

to remember



There are two separate tasks when conjugating reflexive verbs. First, take the reflexive pronoun se, change it to agree with the subject of the verb, and place it directly in front of the verb. Then, as with all verbs, you must conjugate the infinitive according to whether it's an -er, -ir, -re, or irregular verb.


Sunday, September 14, 2008

Les Pronoms Toniques

Les pronoms toniques are used to give emphasis to a noun or pronoun.

me: moi
you: toi
he: lui
she: elle
oneself: soi
us: nous
you (formal or plural): vous
them : eux/ elles

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Conjugation of Irregular Verbs Present Tense: Avoir, Aller and Être

Some verbs in French are Irregular therefore they have different conjugations. Examples of them are Avoir (to have, Aller (to go) and Être (to be).

The conjugation of the following verbs in Present tense are as follows:

Avoir: To Have

Je

ai

Tu

as

Il/Elle

a

Nous

avons

Vous

avez

Ils/Elles

ont


Aller: To Go

Je

vais

Tu

vas

Il/Elle

va

Nous

allons

Vous

allez

Ils/Elles

vont


Être: To Be (for uses of être click here)

Je

suis

Tu

es

Il/Elle

est

Nous

sommes

Vous

êtes

Ils/Elles

sont













Sunday, September 7, 2008

Conjugations of Regular RE Verbs- Present Tense

Conjugation is very important when it comes to the French language. Every verb is conjugated depending on the subject, its gender and number. So here are a few basics when it comes to conjugating in the present tense.

RE- Ending Verbs

Example: Attendre- To wait



Je

attends

Tu

attends

Il/Elle

attend

Nous

attendons

Vous

attendez

Ils/Elles

attendent


Here are other regular verbs ending in RE

défendre to defend
descendre to descend
entendre to hear
perdre to lose
prétendre to claim
rendre to give back, to return something
répondre to answer
vendre to sell


Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Conjugations of Regular IR Verbs- Present Tense

Conjugation is very important when it comes to the French language. Every verb is conjugated depending on the subject, its gender and number. So here are a few basics when it comes to conjugating in the present tense.

IR- Ending Verbs

Example: Agir- To act

Je

agis*

Tu

agis

Il/Elle

agit

Nous

agissons

Vous

agissez

Ils/Elles

agissent


*It should be J'agis because if the verb begins with a vowel Je becomes J'

Here are other regular verbs ending in IR

abolir to abolish
avertir to warn
bâtir to build
bénir to bless
choisir to choose
établir to establish
étourdir to stun, deafen, make dizzy
finir to finish
grossir to get fat
guérir to cure, heal, recover
maigrir to lose weight, get thin
nourrir to feed, nourish
obéir to obey
punir to punish
réfléchir to reflect, think
remplir to fill
réussir to succeed
rougir to blush, turn red
vieillir to grow old




Conjugations of Regular ER Verbs- Present Tense

Conjugation is very important when it comes to the French language. Every verb is conjugated depending on the subject, its gender and number. So here are a few basics when it comes to conjugating in the present tense.

ER- Ending Verbs

Example: Manger- To eat

Je

mange

Tu

manges

Il/Elle

mange

Nous

mangeons

Vous

mangez

Ils/Elles

mangent


Here are other regular verbs ending in ER

aimer to like or to love
arriver to arrive or to happen
chanter to sing
chercher to look for
danser to dance
demander to ask for
détester to hate
donner to give
écouter to listen to
étudier to study
jouer to play
manger to eat
nager to swim
parler to talk or to speak
penser to think
regarder to watch or to look at
rêver to dream
skier to ski
travailler to work
trouver to find
visiter to visit (a place)





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