One of the most difficult aspects of learning French is tenses and verb conjugations. The student has to memorize all 6 forms, and given the fact that the French language has 3 groups of verbs, the memorization process is delayed even more. So, how to understand and remember the conjugation of French verbs once and for all?

Temporary forms

Of the 16 tenses of the language, only 5 can be called current. The remaining forms are either considered little used and outdated, or belong to the written style and are irrelevant in oral conversation. Thanks to this, the learner's task is slightly simplified, because he can only use the present, past and future tenses, as well as the indefinite-past form imparfait to describe unfinished or repeated actions in the past. The last actual tense will be passé immédiat, which allows you to name the action that just happened.

When studying verb conjugation in French, you need to pay attention to the fact that all tenses are divided into two large groups: simple and complex. To form a verb form in simple tenses, only the endings of the original verb are changed. In complex ones, an auxiliary verb avoir or être is added to them, which itself undergoes the necessary changes.

Inclination system

The conjugation of French verbs will also depend on mood. There are four of them in the language: indicative for all real actions, imperative for requests and orders, subjunctive for expressing desires or probabilities, and finally conditional, translated into Russian with the particle “would”. Each of these moods occurs in all tenses, although the French use only some of them in spoken speech. Accordingly, based on the meaning of the sentence, it is necessary to put the predicate in the right mood and the right tense (present, past or future).

Verb groups in French

When starting to study species and time, a student is faced with both correct and incorrect species. If regular verbs, and these are the 1st and 2nd groups, obey clear rules for the formation of endings in each specific tense, then conjugating French verbs of the 3rd group causes a lot of trouble for students. And although most irregular verbs are divided into many subgroups according to the type of their stem, some exceptions will still have to be learned.

It’s best to start with regular verbs, especially since they can be used to express almost all thoughts and actions. All newly appearing predicate words that come from other languages ​​or the Internet automatically acquire the characteristics of regular verbs of the 1st group.

Regular verbs ending in -er

Let's look at the verbs of 1 conjugation of French verbs. These include those ending in -er. To change them by tense, it is enough to mentally cut off the last two letters and substitute new endings in their place. A striking example of such a case is the verb parler (“to talk, talk”). The picture shows what happens when it changes between persons and numbers in the present tense (“I say”, “You say”, “He says”, etc.)

To make it easier to remember the conjugation of French verbs of this group in the present tense, you can visualize a boot, inside of which unpronounceable endings (-e, -es, -e, - ent) are located at right angles. These are three singular forms and a 3rd person plural ending. The two 2nd and 3rd person plural endings (-ons and -ez) are not included in “boot” because they are pronounced and differ from the other forms.

An exception for this group would be the irregular verb aller (“to go, to go”), which has its own conjugation rules.

Regular verbs ending in -ir

Conjugating verbs in French with the ending -ir is also not particularly difficult. They are also considered correct and classified as type 2. This group is small and is represented mainly by actions related to color: blanchir - “to turn white”, rougir - “to turn red”, although there are also other actions, for example finir - “to finish”. A peculiarity of this group is the presence of the vowel -i before endings in all forms. In addition, the 2nd group is characterized by the appearance of a double consonant -s in the plural endings of the present tense, in all forms of imparfait, as well as in the present and unfinished past tense in all forms.

You should pay attention to the similarity of verbs of the 2nd group with representatives of irregular verbs that have the same final letters -ir in the infinitive. Irregular French verbs are conjugated by others that do not have a double -s in their forms.

Irregular Verbs

The widely represented 3rd group of verbs is distinguished by a variety of initial forms and different ways of forming endings. Some verbs in the infinitive have -ir at the end and thus resemble the 2nd group. Other common endings of the infinitive, by which one can immediately determine their belonging to irregular verbs, are -endre (defender - “to protect”), -ondre (répondre - “to answer”), -re (mettre - “to put, put”) and many other. Fortunately, dictionaries indicate what type a particular verb belongs to, and gradually the student begins to distinguish the conjugation of French verbs of various subgroups.

The verbs être (“to be”) and avoir (“to have”) deserve special mention. They can completely change their basis, so they require memorization. In addition, these verbs are involved in the formation of all complex tenses, which means they are one of the main verbs in the French language.

--> General information about the verb

A verb is a part of speech that expresses the action or state of a person or thing. The verb answers the question what does it do? or what condition is the person/object in? In a sentence, the verb is most often a simple predicate or part of a compound predicate.

Marie écrit une lettre. - Maria writes a letter. (action)

Je suis fatigue. - I'm tired. (state)

Classification and verb forms

As in many other languages, in French there is a distinction transitional And intransitive Verbs.

Transitive verbs denote an action that directly transfers to the person or object expressed by the object.

Pierre lit un livre. - Pierre is reading a book.

Intransitive verbs have no object.

Pierre revientà 9 heures.- Pierre returns at 9 o'clock.

Some verbs in French, depending on the context, can act as both transitive and intransitive.

Elle sort de la pièce.- She leaves the room.

Elle sort une pomme du paquet.- She takes an apple out of the bag.

According to their morphology, verbs are divided into simple And derivatives. Simple verbs do not have prefixes and suffixes (for example, lire, jouer, chanter). Derived verbs are formed using suffixes and prefixes from other verbs, nouns or adjectives (for example, décomposer from composer, grandir from grand)

The verb has personal And non-personal forms.

The finite forms of a verb are its forms in all persons singular and plural, active and passive voice. The finite forms of the verb act as a predicate in a sentence and are always used with a subject.

Non-finite forms of the verb express action without indicating person, number or mood. In French, non-finite verb forms include infinitive (infinitif), present participle (Participate present), past participle (Participate passé) And gerund (Gerondif).

Je part pour Moscow. - I'm leaving for Moscow. (personal form)

Je vois mes amis partir. I see my friends leaving. (infinitive)

En partant, laisse une note sur mon bureau. When you leave, leave a note on my desk. (gerund)

Verb grammatical categories

The verb has a number of morphological categories that are characteristic only of it. These are the categories faces, numbers, time, moods, collateral.

The person denotes the relation of the subject to the act of speech. As in Russian, in French there are first, second and third persons: je lis (1st letter), tu lis (2nd letter), il lit (3rd letter).

Number denotes the 1st, 2nd or 3rd person as singular or plural: je lis (singular) - nous lisons (plural)

The tense of the verb represents the action as simultaneous, as previous or as subsequent in relation to the moment of speech or another moment or period: je lis (present time), j "ai lu (past time), je lirai (future time).

The mood of the verb shows the action or state as a process, real or expected, desired, possible: je lis - je lirai - Lis! - il veux que je lise

The voice shows how the subject participates in the action: whether it is the subject (actor, object) or object (person or object being affected) of the action, or at the same time the subject or object of the action: il lave - il est lavé - il se lave.

The set of changes that a verb can undergo, expressing persons, numbers, tenses, moods and voices, is called conjugation.

LES VERBES DES 1er, 2e et 3e GROUPES

There are 3 groups of verbs in French. The endings of the infinitive (infinitif), the present participle (participe présent) and the past participle (participe passé) determine the group of the verb.

Manger is: I gr. choisir choose: II gr. prendre take: III gr.

Verbs of group I

The first group is the most numerous; it includes all verbs with endings:
Infinitif: -er Participe présent: -ant Participe passé : -é

aimer loving aimant loving aimé beloved

Verbs of group II

Verbs of group 2 have endings:
Infinitif: -ir Participe présent: -issant Participe passé: -i

réagir react réagissant reacting réagi cannot be translated by the Russian past participle form

Verbs of group III

All other verbs belong to the third group, as well as the verb aller.
Infinitif: -ir Participe présent: -ant Participe passé: -i

accueillir accept accueillant accepting accueilli accepted

assaillir to besiege, cueillir to collect, dormir to sleep, faillir almost to do, mentir to lie, partir to leave/leave, se repentir to repent, sentir to feel, servir to serve, sortir to go out, tressaillir to shudder...

Infinitif: -oir Participe présent: -ant Participe passé: -u

apercevoir notice apercevant noticing aperçu noticeable

avoir to have and all other verbs, like voir to see, falloir to be needed, valoir to cost, vouloir to want.
Infinitif: -re Participe présent: -ant Participe passé: -u

croire believe croyant believer cru cannot be translated by the Russian past participle form

battre to beat, boire to drink, connaître to know, vaincre to win, coudre to sew, pendre to take, rendre to give, répondre to answer, croître to grow, lire to read, moudre to grind, plaire to please, vivre to live...

Attention!

□ The verbs luire to sparkle, nuire to harm, rire to laugh, suifre to follow have a past participle starting with -i.

□ Verbs atteindre achieve, peindre paint, teindre paint, craindre fear, plaindre complain with -int.

atteindre - atteint

□ Verbs dire to speak, écrire to write, conduire to drive, construire to build, détruire to destroy, faire to do in -it.

□ The stem of some verbs changes depending on the person:

Je couds I sew, ils cousent they sew.

Je hais I hate, ils haïssent they hate.

Je résous I decide, ils résolvent they decide.

The most difficult verbs

			Participate present	Participate passé
	absolve sins
	acquire
	agree
	close
	conclude
	win
courbaturer cause pain				courbaturé or courbatu
	dissolve			dissous - dissoute
	worry
	exclude
	include
	be needed		no form participe present
				there is no participe passé form
	replenish		no form participe present
			fleurissant (plantes) florissant (santé, commerce)
	be appropriate		séant (attitude) seyant (vêtement)	participe passé form no participe passé form no

Attention!

It is correct to say: J"ai acquis une propriété. I bought the estate, and not: J"ai acquéri une propriété.

Correct spelling: Je suis courbatu (or courbaturé). I feel defeated, not Je suis courbattu.

THIS IS INTERESTING

The emergence of new verbs

In the process of scientific and technological progress, new verbs inevitably appear. All of them belong to the first group. Two hundred years ago no one knew the verb téléphoner to make a telephone call, because... they just couldn't do it. The appearance of the verb pasteuriser to pasteurize is associated with Pasteur's invention of a process that eliminates fermentation.

Currently, group III verbs are used much less frequently. Thus, the verb manquer to miss (Group I) is increasingly replacing the verb faillir almost (Group III), and s"habiller to dress - vêtir to dress; to put on.

What is the secret to mastering French verbs? There is no big secret, but if you know the following subtleties, it will still be easier to learn them. By the way, in the article we will tell you how French children cope with verbs.

Translation from English of the article by Camille Chevalier-Karfis “The Secret To Mastering French Verb Conjugation” from the site frenchtoday.com

1. Difficulties of French grammar. What is the difference from conjugating English verbs

Present (present)

Take, verb “parler” (translated as “to talk”). Notice how it ends. In textbooks, endings are underlined, in bold or in red.

• Je parl e
• Tu parl es
• Il parl e
• Elle parl e
• On parl e
• Nous parl ons
• Vous parl ez
• Ils parl ent
• Elles parl ent

French Verb Conjugation - Present Tense

For an English-speaking student, for example, such a conjugation is unusual. In English you add"S"to the third person singular (he, she, it). Except for a few irregular verbs such asto be- to be, the verb will not change much:

• I speak, you speak, we speak, they speak... And further: he speaks, she speaks, it speaks

Looks simple compared to the French conjugation, doesn't it?

2. “Regular” French verbs

Verb "parler"is a “regular” verb. Such verbs are conjugated according to the above scheme.

Consider the verb"parler" more carefully:

• We remove "er"– the basis remains"parl".

Parler – er = parl

• To the stem we add the ending corresponding to the object pronoun.

Je= base + e = je parle

Tu= base + es = tu parles

Il, elle, on= base + e = il, elle, on parle

Nous= base + ons = nous parlons

Vous= base + ez = vous parlez

Ills, elles+ base + ent = ils, elles parlent

Students spend hours writing down these conjugations.

Grammar textbooks are crammed with them, in the present tense of the indicative mood and all other tenses and moods. The books promise that by practicing this way you will master verbs.

Let me disagree!

Conjugation of the verb “aller” - translation “to go”

3. Classification in French

French verbs are classified according tothree verb groups, the conjugation structure of which is “predetermined”.

1. First group= French verbs ending in "ER".
2. Second group= French verbs ending in "IR".
3. Third group= French verbs ending in "RE".

So far it looks logical.

IN ADDITION, French has a lot of “irregular” verbs: verbs with a non-obvious conjugation model and others.

The first group, the "ER" group, includes only one irregular verb: one that ends in "er" BUT does not follow the same conjugation pattern as the verb "parler".

The verb conjugation pattern is noteworthy"aller", which is ALSO very useful in French. Although, it is not final, because there are also verbs ending in “ER”, which are incorrect judging by their endings, but change the basis when spelled. Such as"jetter". But I'm getting off topic.

So, the first group of French verbs with"ER"at the end - solid. Many useful verbs are conjugated using this pattern.

However, the other two “groups” have many exceptions.

Yes, verbs like "grossir" (to gain weight), “finir” (to finish, “choisir” (to choose) - regular verbs in"IR". But most verbs ending in "IR", incorrect. These are the verbs:"venir" (to come), "tenir" (hold), “dire” (speak). The list goes on for a long time.

So how does a French learner know which verb is"IR"is right or wrong?

When there are so many exceptions to a group, and these exceptions are such common verbs, is it still necessary to focus on this group?

Do you need to spend hours cramming these “IR” and “RE” charts, or is it better to use that time honing in on common irregular verbs? Decide for yourself.

4. The secret to conjugating French verbs

The secret is this: watch videos on YouTube, listen to French speech and you will learn the correct conjugation of verbs implicitly, without focusing on grammar.

Let's take the verb "parler"in present time.

Verb forms after"Je, tu, il, elle, on, ils, elles"pronounced exactly the same ="parl".Just like a base.

After "nous" pronounced “ons” How [ɔ] nasal = “parlons”, after "vous" pronounced [e] = "parlez", as well as the infinitive form of the verb "parler". So, say “parlez = parler = parl”.

French is a living language. People use it every day to communicate. It comes easier if you learn it not only from textbooks.

The same logic applies to French.Passé Composeupon agreement:

• Parler, parlez, parl, parle, parls, parles = "parl"

They are all pronounced the same.

Therefore, when you speak, you should not even think about making agreement in your speech. This is only important in writing.

First you must learn to speak French. Find an audio or video of a verb or other word being spoken by a native speaker. Listen several times. Now pronounce the verb loudly and as closely as possible to the way a native speaker pronounces the word. This is what children do in France - they learn the language by ear.

5. The most rude and common mistakes in French verbs

If more attention was paid to the pronunciation of French verbs, I would not hear many students pronouncesilent "ENT" after ils/ellesin French verbs.

This is the most popular mistake. You can’t imagine how many advanced French students are literally “killed” by verbs.

And don't even get me started ontying and silent endings. Do you know that"S" V "nous" And "vous" never pronounced as “S”? Never, absolutely never say them!

This ending is either not pronounced or pronounced like"Z"when tying. It would be easier if you remembered this:

• Nous = noo

• Vous = voo

And we would learn right now the French verbs that requireelisionand pronounce them correctly.

6. Method of teaching French without audio materials

Learning French without audio materials is a crime given modern technologies and capabilities.

Everyone studying French independently or in a class must haveBescherelles or other tutorialsto check how verbs are written. If you plan to write in French, you will need a book like this. They are used by schoolchildren in France.

7. The key to successfully learning French is to prioritize

I'm not saying that all other teaching methods are bad. But approaches to learning are quickly becoming outdated. French is not taught to foreigners in the same way. There is a difference. French baby knows how to speak before she can write!

A five-year-old child would be surprised to find thatform "tu" usually requires "s". This is new to him/her.

Our adult mind works differently than a child's. Knowing grammar can and will help you master the French language.

• If you are learning French for communication: watch videos (from simple cartoons to serious films), listen to the radio and do not torment yourself too much with grammar.
• If you are learning a language to pass written exams: study the grammar, read books together with audio material and understand the logic of the teaching methods you use.

To hone French verbs, for example, you should:

1. Understand how verbs are pronounced, before teaching them.
2. Practice (with audio)with the most useful and commonly used verbs (both regular and irregular).
3. Learn a verb together with a pronoun. They should flow naturally from your mouth with the correct clipping, binding or constriction.
4. Teach out of order.Another stupidity from traditional teaching methods: in schools they force cramming from"je" before "ils". Your brain prioritizes conjugating verbs this way, and then you're surprised that you can't remember which form comes after"ils".
5. Memorize negative forms well, so that you don’t have to “add” negative particles every time, and they will quickly pop up in your head. The same goes for inversion or questioning.
6. Know when to use French tenses and moods. A beginner does not need to learn the French subjunctive mood. This shouldn't be his priority yet. Stay in the present indicative tense for now = this is the most commonly used tense (it can even accidentally play the role of a subjunctive since they often have the same verb form)!

8. How the French know which verb to use

If you think that all French people understand French conjugation and know when to use the subjunctive mood, you are far mistaken.

Yes, we learned this at school. But that was a long time ago. And we didn't necessarily pay attention to it (although French grammar and conjugation is a huge part of the French school curriculum, a much larger part compared to English grammar in English-speaking countries).

Instead we rely on our French flair. That's why we can speak a language because we can write it correctly.

For example, if I write:

Il faut que tu aies du courage = You will need courage.

I am very tempted to write“il faut que tu es du courage”. Cause? Because"tu es" widely used, and sounds just like"tu aies". Of course, this is not the same mood (indicative subjunctive - subjunctive). It's not even the same verb! (etre vs. avoir), but so strong is the habit of writing "tu es" that it is actually a very common mistake.

So how do I know it's the subjunctive mood? I would take the verb as an incorrect French subjunctive:

Il faut que tu saches... for example.

Even if the rest of the sentence doesn't work with"savoir", Then "il faut que"requires the subjunctive mood, that's enough.

Have fun learning French, and remember, repetition is the key!