FRENCH SUMMER TASK

YOUR TASK IS TO REVISE THE 5 TENSES BELOW &

WRITE A 250 WORD SUMMARY OF YOUR SUMMER (include what
you plan/would like to do at the start of the summer and describe what you
ended up doing with opinions)
Le prsent
Le pass compos
Limparfait
Le futur simple
Le conditionnel

Grammar can be tough its important to make sure you keep up with
it and reinforce your knowledge often. Otherwise, you will be in trouble at
exam time!

Invest in a grammar exercise book there are hundreds of different

ones available and a lot of them go right from the basics of conjugating the
present tense etc. Probably the most useful is the Heinemann A-Level
French Grammar Practice which is matched to your textbook and
specification

http://www.languagesonline.org.uk/ is excellent for grammar practice

+ has a lot of different exercises under the grammar section. There is a
section called Verb busters which (sounds ridiculous but) is extremely
helpful for practising conjugating in all tenses. Short, regular sessions of
using it a few times a week are one of the best ways of improving your
conjugation skills.

French Grammar: Tenses

1) In any language, when we refer to something happening, we always
use a tense to indicate whether it is going to, is, or has already,
happened.
e.g. I'm going to eat an apple. I am eating an apple. I ate an apple.

2) French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -RE, -IR)
3) To use the verbs in different tenses, we need to know some rules.
These rules are simple and are applied to nearly all verbs.
4) Unfortunately, some verbs do not follow these rules and it is therefore
important to know these IRREGULAR VERBS such as aller (to go),
faire (to do), avoir (to have) or tre (to be).

5) Tenses:
Le prsent
Le pass compos
Limparfait
Le futur simple
Le conditionnel

Le Prsent
When to use it:

To talk about what is happening at the moment

To talk about what happens usually/normally

Time phrases:

Tous les jours (everyday), chaque jour (everyday),

chaque matin (every morning), parfois (sometimes), etc.

Regular Verbs
1) ER verbs: take off the ER and add the endings:

-e
-es
-e
-e
-ons
-ez
-ent
-ent

2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add the endings:

-is
-is
-it
-it
-issons
-issez
-issent
-issent

3) RE verbs: take off the RE and add the endings:

-s
-s
-ons
-ez
-ent
-ent

Examples:
Parler
Je parle
Tu parles
Il/Elle parle
Nous parlons
Vous parlez
Il/Elles parlent

Finir
Je finis
Tu finis
Il/Elle finit
Nous finissons
Vous finissez
Ils/Elles finissent

Vendre
Je vends
Tu vends
Il/Elle vend
Nous vendons
Vous vendez
Ils/Elles vendent

Irregular Verbs
As in every French tense there are always irregular verbs. These verbs do
not follow the rules. You just have to learn them off!
Examples:
tre
Je suis
Tu es
Il/Elle est
Nous sommes
Vous tes
Ils/Elles sont

Avoir
Jai
Tu as
Il/Elle a
Nous avons
Vous avez
Ils/Elles ont

Aller
Je vais
Tu vas
Il/Elle va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils/Elles vont

Common irregular verbs:

venir: to come
pouvoir: to be able
vouloir: to want/wish
partir: to leave
prendre: to take
sortir: to go out
voir: to see
lire: to read
boire: to drink
crire: to write

Faire
Je fais
Tu fais
Il/Elle fait
Nous faisons
Vous faisez
Ils/Elles font

Le Pass Compos
When to use it:

To talk about something that has happened in the past

and is now finished.

Time phrases:

La semaine dernire (last week), hier (yesterday), etc.

Le pass compos is made up of 2 parts:

1) The auxilary verb (the present tense of AVOIR or TRE)
+
2) The past participle (donn, parl, sorti, fait, etc)

Regular AVOIR Verbs

The present tense of avoir + the past participle
1) -ER verbs: take off the ER and add
Donner
Jai donn
Tu as donn
Il/Elle a donn
Nous avons donn
Vous avez donn
Ils/Elles ont donn
2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add i
Finir
Jai fini
Tu as fini
Il/Elle a fini
Nous avons fini
Vous avez fini
Ils/Elles ont fini

3) RE verbs: take off the RE and add u

Vendre
Jai vendu
Tu as vendu
Il/Elle a vendu
Nous avons vendu
Vous avez vendu
Ils/Elles ont vendu
Irregular AVOIR verbs
There is a group of irregular verbs that take AVOIR in le pass
compos. These verbs are formed with:
1) present tense of avoir + 2) the irregular past partciple

Irregular past participles:

avoir:
tre:
boire:
connatre:
courir:
croire:
devoir:
dire:
crire:
faire:
lire:
mettre:
ouvrir:
pouvoir:
prendre:
recevoir:
savoir:
voir:
vouloir:

to have:
to be:
to drink:
to know:
to run:
to believe:
to have to:
to say/tell:
to write:
to make/do:
to read:
to put:
to open:
to be able:
to take:
to receive:
to know:
to see:
to want:

eu
t
bu
connu
couru
cru
d
dit
crit
fait
lu
mis
ouvert
pu
pris
reu
su
vu
voulu

Examples:
Prendre
Jai pris
Tu as pris
Il/Elle a pris
Nous avons pris
Vous avez pris
Ils/Elles ont pris

Avoir
Jai eu
Tu as eu
Il/Elle a eu
Nous avons eu
Vous avez eu
Ils/Elles ont eu

tre
Jai t
Tu as t
Il/Elle a t
Nous avons t
Vous avez t
Ils/Elles ont t

TRE Verbs
A small group of verbs take the present tense of tre as their auxilary
verb.
1) present tense of tre + 2) past participle
An easy way to remember this group of verbs is with the name:
MRS VAN DE TRAMP
Mourir:
to die:
Retourner: to return:
Sortir:
to go out:
Venir:
Arriver:
Natre :

mort
retourn
sorti

to come:
venu
to arrive:
arriv
to be born: n

Descendre: to go down: descendu

Entrer:
to enter:
entr
Tomber:
Rester:
Aller:
Monter:
Partir:

to fall:
to stay:
to go out:
to go up:
to leave:

tomb
rest
all
mont
parti

N.B: The past participle must 'agree with' who did the action. So if the person was female
you must add an extra -e to the end of the past participle: e.g. elle est partie - she left.
If two or more females did the action you must add -es:
e.g. elles sont parties - they left.
If the person who did the action was one male, then the past participle does not change:
e.g. il est parti - he left.
If two or more males did the action add -s: e.g. ils sont partis - they left.

LImparfait
When to use it:

To talk about something that used to happen in the past.

To describe the way something was in the past (the
weather was fine last Tuesday).

Phrases:

Quand jtais jeune (when I was young), lanne dernire

(last year).

How to form limparfait:

1) Take the nous part of the present tense: e.g nous donnons
2) Drop the ons: e.g donn
3) Add the endings:

-ais, -ais, -ait, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, -aient

Examples:
Parler
Je parlais
Tu parlais
Il/Elle parlait
Nous parlions
Vous parliez
Ils/Elles parlaient

Finir
Je finissais
Tu finissais
Il/Elle finissait
Nous finissions
Vous finissiez
Ils/Elles finissaient

Lire
Je lisais
Tu lisais
Il/Elle lisait
Nous lisions
Vous lisiez
Ils/Elles lisaient

*There is only one irregular verb in limparfait: tre

tre
Jtais
Tu tais
Il/Elle tait
Nous tions
Vous tiez
Ils/Elles taient

Le Futur Simple
When to use it:

To describe what will happen at a certain time in the

future.

Time phrases:

Demain (tomorrow), la semaine prochain (next week).

Regular Verbs
Regular er, -ir and re* verbs all follow the same rules in the future:
1) Take the infinitive (title) of the verb: e.g donner, finir
2) Add the endings : -ai, -as, -a , -a, -ons, -ez, -ont, -ont
* There is a slight difference for re verbs. Before adding the endings
you must take off the e. For example: vendre = vendr
I will sell = Je vendrai

Examples:
Parler
Je parlerai
Tu parleras
Il/Elle parlera
Nous parlerons
Vous parlerez
Ils/Elles parleront

Partir
Je partirai
Tu partiras
Il/Elle partira
Nous partirons
Vous partirez
Ils/Elles partiront

10

Prendre
Je prendrai
Tu prendras
Il/Elle prendra
Nous prendrons
Vous prendrez
Ils prendront

Futur Simple: Irregular Verbs

For irregular verbs in the futur simple, you only need to learn the stem as the
endings are the same. For example: tre: ser
I will be: je serai

Irregulars:
aller:
avoir:
envoyer:
devoir:
tre:
faire:
pleuvoir:
pouvoir:
revevoir:
savoir:
venir:
voir:
vouloir:

to go:
to have:
to send:
to have to:
to be:
to make/do:
to rain:
to be able:
to receive:
to know:
to come:
to see:
to want:

ir:
aur:
enverr:
devr:
ser:
fer:
pleuvr:
pourr:
recevr
saur:
viendr:
verr:
voudr:

j'irai
j'aurai
j'enverrai
je devrai
je serai
je ferai
il pleuvra
je pourrai
je recevrai
je saurai
je viendrai
je verrai
je voudrai

Examples:
Aller
Jirai
Tu iras
Il/Elle ira
Nous irons
Vous irez
Ils/Elles iront

tre
Je serai
Tu seras
Il/Elle sera
Nous serons
Vous serez
Ils/Elles seront

11

Vouloir
Je voudrai
Tu voudras
Il/Elle voudra
Nous voudrons
Vous voudrez
Ils/Elles voudront

Le Conditionnel
When to use it:

To talk about things that would happen in the future

(I would buy a sports car if I won the lotto).

Regular verbs
Regular er, -ir and re* verbs all follow the same rules in the conditional:
1) Take the infinitive of the verb, e.g donner, finir
2)Add the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, -aient
(These are the same endings as limparfait!)
* There is a slight difference for re verbs. Before adding the endings
you must take off the e. For example: boire = boir
I would drink = je boirais

Examples:
Donner
Je donnerais
Tu donnerais
Il/Elle donnerait
Nous donnerions
Vous donneriez
Ils/Elles donneraient

Finir
Je finirais
Tu finirais
Il/Elle finirait
Nous finirions
Vous finiriez
Ils/Elles finiraient

12

Prendre
Je prendrais
Tu prendrais
Il/Elle prendrait
Nous prendrions
Vous prendriez
Ils/Elles prendraient

Le Conditionnel: Irregular verbs

If you know the irregular stems for the futur simple, you know them for le
conditionnel (they are exactly the same!)
Use the irregular stems from the future tense and add the endings:

aller:
avoir:
envoyer:
devoir:
tre:
faire:
pleuvoir:
pouvoir:
revevoir:
savoir:
venir:
voir:
vouloir:

to go:
to have:
to send:
to have to:
to be:
to make/do:
to rain:
to be able:
to receive:
to know:
to come:
to see:
to want:

ir:
aur:
enverr:
devr:
ser:
fer:
pleuvr:
pourr:
recevr
saur:
viendr:
verr:
voudr:

j'irais
j'aurais
j'enverrais
je devrais
je serais
je ferais
il pleuvrait
je pourrais
je recevrais
je saurais
je viendrais
je verrais
je voudrais

Examples:
Aller
Jirais
Tu irais
Il/Elle irait
Nous irions
Vous iriez
Ils/Elles iraient

tre
Je serais
Tu serais
Il/Elle serait
Nous serions
Vous seriez
Ils/Elles seraient

13

Vouloir
Je voudrais
Tu voudrais
Il/Elle voudrait
Nous voudrions
Vous voudriez
Ils/Elles voudraient