A-level French/Verbs/Present

The present tense is used to say something that is going on right now Examples: I walk, You talk, he eats In French, the present is also used to say "I am ____ing" and "I do _____" -Er verbs This is how you write the present for -er verbs. You take off the -er and add certain endings: Infinitiveparler (to talk)donner (to give)arriver (to arrive)Stemparl-donn-arriv-Je (I)Je parleJe donneJ'arriveTu (You)Tu parlesTu donnesTu arrivesIl/Elle/On (He/She/One)Il parleElle donneOn arriveNous (We)Nous parlonsNous donnonsNous arrivonsVous (You, formal or pl.)Vous parlezVous donnezVous arrivezIls/Elles (They)Ils parlentElles donnentIls arrivent Note that if the verb starts with a vowel sound, je is changed to j' (Example: I arrive=J'arrive). Also, tu and vous both mean you. Vous is used with multiple people, or as a formality. Tu is used informally, like with your friends. -Er verbs that change a little In order to keep the same sound throughout all tenses and subjects, some -er verbs change a little. For example, verbs that end in -ger (like manger, to eat and voyager to travel), add an "e" in the nous form". Verbs that end in -cer (like commencer, to begin and lancer to launch) are almost the same, except they add a cedilla on the c instead of an extra e. mangercommencerJe mangeJe commenceTu mangesTu commencesIl mangeElle commenceNous mangeonsNous commençonsVous mangezVous commencezIls mangentElles commencent Verbs that end in -yer, such as payer (to pay) and employer (to employ), change the -y to -i in some conjugations payeremployerJe paieJ'emploieTu paiesTu emploiesIl paieElle emploieNous payonsNous employonsVous payezVous employezIls paientElles emploient Some verbs that have an e or é in the middle have special rules. Verbs like acheter (to buy) or espérer (to hope), change the e or é to an è in some conjugations. acheterespérer J'achèteJ'espèreTu achètesTu espèresIl achèteElle espèreNous achetonsNous espéronsVous payezVous espérezIls achètentElles espèrent Other verbs, like appeler (to call) and jeter (to throw), double a letter. appeler jeter J'appelleJe jetteTu appellesTu jettesIl appelleElle jetteNous appelonsNous jetonsVous appelezVous jetezIls appellentElles jettent -Ir and -Re verbs Here are the tables for -ir and -re verbs. -IR-REfinir (to finish)vendre (to sell)Je finisJe vendsTu finisTu vendsIl finitElle vendNous finissonsNous vendonsVous finissezVous vendezIls finissentElles vendent Note that some of the -ir verb forms have an "-iss" in them, and one of the -re verb forms has no ending. Irregular verbs Most verbs are regular. Some commonly-used ones are not and have to be learned by heart. Here are some commonly-used irregular verbs in the present tense. aller (to go)je vaistu vasil vanous allonsvous allezils vontavoir (to have)j'aitu asil anous avons vous avezils ontboire (to drink)je boistu boisil boitnous buvonsvous buvezils boiventconnaître (to know)je connaistu connaisil connaîtnous connaissonsvous connaissezils connaissentcourir (to run)je courstu coursil courtnous couronsvous courzils courentdevoir (to have to, "must")je doistu doisil doitnous devonsvous devezils doiventdire (to say, to tell)je distu disil ditnous disonsvous ditesils disentdormir (to sleep)je dorstu dorsil dortnous dormonsvous dormezils dormentécrire (to write)j'écristu écrisil écritnous écrivonsvous écrivezils écriventêtre (to be)je suistu esil estnous sommesvous êtesils sontfaire (to do, to make)je faistu faisil faitnous faisonsvous faitesils fontlire (to read)je listu lisil litnous lisonsvous lisezils lisentmentir (to lie)je menstu mensil mentnous mentonsvous mentezils mententmettre (to put, to turn on)je metstu metsil metnous mettonsvous mettezils mettentmourir (to die)je meurstu meursil meurtnous mouronsvous mourezils meurentpouvoir (to be able to, "can", "may")je peuxtu peuxil peutnous pouvonsvous pouvezils peuventprendre (to take)je prendstu prendsil prendnous prenonsvous prenezils prennentrecevoir (to receive)je reçoistu reçois il reçoitnous recevonsvous recevez ils reçoiventsavoir (to know)je saistu saisil saitnous savonsvous savezils savenvenir (to come)je vienstu viensil vientnous venonsvous venezils viennentvoir (to see)je voistu voisil voitnous voyonsvous voyezils voientvouloir (to want, to wish)je veuxtu veuxil veutnous voulonsvous voulezils veulent Present Participle The present participle is the form of the verb that ends in -ing. In English, it usually is used with a form of "to be", such as "I am sneezing" and "They were going". In French, they don't use the present participle that way. Instead, they use the present or the imperfect. The only time they use the present is when somebody is doing something while doing something else. Example: I watch TV while eating Becomes: Je regarde la télé en mangeant The present participle is formed with the "nous" form of the present tense with the -ons replaced with a -ant VerbDonnerFinirVendreMangerNous formdonnonsfinissonsvendonsmangeonsMinus -onsdonn-finiss-vend-mange-Pres. Part.donnantfinissantvendantmangeant Most irregular verbs follow this form faire: faisant boire: buvant écrire: écrivant But there are three exceptions: avoir: ayant être: étant savoir: sachant