Practice Makes Perfect French Verb Tenses

433 Pages·2012·3.447 MB·English

by  Booth, Trudie

PRACTICE
MAKES
PERFECT™
French
Verb Tenses
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PRACTICE
M A K E S
PERFECT™
French
Verb Tenses
SECOND EDITION
Trudie Maria Booth
New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City
Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto
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Contents
Introduction ix
Useful grammatical terminology for verbs xi
A few remarks about French pronunciation xv
I THE PRESENT TENSE
1 The present tense of regular verbs 3
The conjugation of regular -er verbs 3
The conjugation of -er verbs with spelling changes 9
The conjugation of regular -ir verbs 15
The conjugation of regular -re verbs 16
Asking questions 19
Verbs and their objects 25
2 The present tense of irregular verbs 33
The conjugation of irregular verbs 33
The uses of the present tense 44
Special uses of aller and venir 48
Savoir and connaître 50
Exercices de révision 54
Idioms with avoir, faire, être, aller, vouloir, and prendre 55
Plaire (à) 65
3 A few impersonal verbs 67
Weather verbs 67
The impersonal use of être 68
The impersonal use of avoir 68
Other impersonal expressions 70
v
4 Reflexive verbs 73
The present tense of reflexive verbs 73
Common French reflexive verbs and their use 74
Exercices de révision 81
Reflexive and non-reflexive use 83
The use of the reflexive pronoun to indicate reciprocal action 87
Reflexive constructions with a passive meaning 88
II THE PAST TENSES
5 The passé composé 93
The formation of the passé composé 93
The passé composé of verbs conjugated with avoir 94
The passé composé of verbs conjugated with être 100
Verbs that can be conjugated with être or avoir 102
The passé composé of reflexive verbs 103
Exercices de révision 107
The uses of the passé composé 108
6 The imperfect tense 115
The formation of the imperfect tense 115
The uses of the imperfect tense 118
The uses of the passé composé and imperfect tense contrasted 126
7 The pluperfect tense 135
The formation of the pluperfect tense 135
The uses of the pluperfect tense 136
8 The passé simple 143
The formation of the passé simple 143
The uses of the passé simple 147
III THE FUTURE TENSES, THE CONDITIONAL, AND
THE SUBJUNCTIVE
9 The future tenses 153
The formation of the simple future 153
The uses of the simple future 158
vi Contents
The close future (le futur proche) 162
The formation of the future perfect 164
The uses of the future perfect 165
10 The conditional 169
The formation of the present conditional 169
The uses of the present conditional 172
The formation of the past conditional 179
The uses of the past conditional 181
Tense sequences in conditional sentences 184
11 The subjunctive 189
The present subjunctive of regular verbs 190
The present subjunctive of irregular verbs 193
The past subjunctive 201
The uses of the subjunctive 203
Exercices de révision 231
The use of the subjunctive in the main clause 234
IV THE INFINITIVE, THE IMPERATIVE,
THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE AND GERUND,
AND THE PASSIVE VOICE
12 The infinitive 237
The formation of the infinitives 237
The negative infinitive 239
The uses of the infinitive 239
Faire (cid:1) infinitive (causative faire) 246
Verb (cid:1) de quoi (something, enough) (cid:1) infinitive 248
Exercices de révision 253
13 The imperative 263
Regular forms of the imperative 263
The negative imperative 264
Irregular forms of the imperative 265
The position of object pronouns with the imperative 267
The imperative of reflexive verbs 270
Contents vii
14 The present participle and the gerund 273
The formation of the present participle 273
The uses of the present participle 275
The gerund and its uses 277
15 The passive voice 283
The formation of the passive voice 283
The uses of the passive voice 288
Review exercises 295
Appendix A: Numbers, dates, time 333
Appendix B: Verb tables 337
French-English glossary 363
English-French glossary 375
Answer key 387
viii Contents
Introduction
The verb is the most important part of the sentence. It expresses an action or state
of the subject and indicates the time and mood of an occurrence. In order to be
able to communicate in a language, you must know how its verb tenses and moods
are formed and how they are used.
Practice Makes Perfect: French Verb Tenses is a manual and workbook that
offers the learner a clear and comprehensive explanation of the French verb sys-
tem, as well as the opportunity to practice the newly acquired skills in numerous
exercises that follow each section. Differences between French and English usage
are pointed out throughout the book, and idiomatic expressions are presented
where literal translations would be incorrect. The vocabulary in the examples and
exercises is taken from current usage and is useful for daily communication.
Vocabulary presentations make translations easier, and a glossary is provided so
that the student can look up new words or words that he/she may have forgotten.
And in this new edition, there is a comprehensive review section of exercises.
Finally, an answer key allows the user to correct the completed work.
Many years of teaching experience at American universities have taught me
where the difficulties of the French language lie for native English speakers when
choosing a tense or mood and when inserting a verb in the sentence. The choice of
the correct past tense (imperfect or passé composé, for example) and the addition
of direct and indirect objects can be quite a challenge for the student. French Verb
Tenses is designed to help the learner overcome these difficulties and to master an
important aspect of French grammar. The book can be used for additional prac-
tice in beginning, intermediate, and advanced language classes; it is ideal for self-
study and review and can also serve as a reliable reference tool for students and
teachers of French.
All French grammar books have sections on verbs but cannot devote as much
space as necessary to this subject. Most French verb books on today’s market focus
on conjugations and give little, if any, information about the usage of verbs and idi-
oms. What sets French Verb Tenses apart from other books on the same subject is
its goal to offer not only a thorough description of all contemporary verb forms
and moods but also to show how they are used in a given context. Clear definitions
of grammatical terms in the introduction and throughout the manual facilitate
comprehension. In addition, cultural information about France has been included
in the exercises so that the learner, while refining his/her written and oral com-
munication skills, also gets an insight into aspects of French culture.
We hope that this book will help the student acquire a good understanding
of the French verb system as well as enable him/her to use the structures pre-
sented with competence and confidence.
ix