4.3: Grammaire - présentation
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The verb venir is irregular in the present tense. Listen carefully to the pronunciation of the third person singular (vient) and the third person plural (viennent). Can you hear the difference? The vowel is nasal in the singular, but not in the plural.
| venir 'to come' | |
| je viens | nous venons |
| tu viens | vous venez |
| il/elle/on vient | ils/elles viennent |
| past participle : venu | |
Verbs conjugated like venir include:
| devenir, to become |
| maintenir, to maintain |
| obtenir, to obtain |
| revenir, to come back |
| tenir, to hold, keep |
| tenir à, to value, care about, (+ infinitive, to be anxious to) |
| soutenir, to support |
1. Est-ce que tu 1. ..... (venir / tenir) à ma fête d'anniversaire ? 2. Les enfants grandissent et 2. .... (revenir / devenir) plus matures.
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1. viens 2. deviennent
The conjugated verb venir followed by the preposition de and another verb in its infinitival form means that the action, expressed by the infinitive, just took place. Sometimes this expression is referred to as le passé récent, or recent past.
Examples:
Je viens de me réveiller. I just woke up.
Mes amis viennent d'arriver. My friends just arrived.
A pronominal verb is a verb which has a reflexive pronoun, that is, a pronoun referring back to its subject. These verbs are easily recognized by the pronoun se before the infinitive: se lever, se laver, se promener, etc.
In the passé composé, pronominal verbs are conjugated with être as their auxiliary. Past participles of pronominal verbs are formed like nonpronominal past participles. Note that the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) precedes the auxiliary.
| s'amuser 'to have fun' | |
| je me suis amusé(e), I had fun | nous nous sommes amusé(e)s, we had fun |
| tu t'es amusé(e), you had fun | vous vous êtes amusé(e)(s), you had fun |
| il / on s'est amusé, he / one had fun | ils se sont amusés, they had fun |
| elle s'est amusée, she had fun | elles se sont amusées, they had fun |
In the negative, the ne precedes the reflexive pronoun and the pas follows the auxiliary:
| je ne me suis pas amusé(e) | nous ne nous sommes pas amusé(e)(s) |
| tu ne t'es pas amusé(e) | vous ne vous êtes pas amusé(e)(s) |
| il / on ne s'est pas amusé | ils ne se sont pas amusés |
| elle ne s'est pas amusée | elles ne se sont pas amusées |
1. Je ne me repose pas. 2. Il s'entend bien avec son coloc. 3. Vous vous levez à 6 heures.
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1. Je ne me suis pas reposé(e). 2. Il s'est bien entendu avec son coloc. 3. Vous vous êtes levé(s) à 6 heures.
It is important to note that, in most cases, the past participle of pronominal verbs agrees in gender and number with the gender and number of the reflexive pronoun, that is, an e is added to the past participle to agree with a feminine subject and an s is added for a plural subject.
Example: Shasta et Sasha se sont amusés ce weekend. Shasta s'est réveillé tard et Sasha aussi s'est réveillée très tard.
The past participle does not agree if there is a direct object following the verb which is a part of the body:
Example: Sasha s'est lavée. Ensuite, elle s'est lavé les pattes.
In the second example, the direct object les pattes is placed after the verb, so there is no agreement.
Furthermore, in cases where the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object rather than a direct object, as in the verb se parler (parler à), there is no agreement.
Example: Shasta et Sasha se sont parlé au téléphone.
1. Nous nous lavé (?). 2. Nous nous sommes lavé(?) les cheveux.
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1. lavés 2. lavé
y expressing place
Y replaces a preposition indicating location plus its object: 'à UH' (at UH), 'devant la bibliothèque' (in front of the library). It is usually translated as there. Prepositions which indicate location include à, en, dans, devant, derrière, sous, sur. The noun objects of these prepositions are places and things which indicate a place. The exception is the preposition chez which is used with a person, as in 'chez Sasha' (Sasha's place). Note that à + person is replaced by an indirect object pronoun except with certain verbs.
Examples: Astérix, on va à Austin ce weekend? - Oui, d'accord, on y va!
Idéfix, viens, on va au parc ! On va y jouer et y faire du sport.
y with certain verbs
With certain verbs y replaces the preposition à when its object is an idea or thing, but not a person. Some of these verbs are penser à, réfléchir à (to think about), s'intéresser à (to be interested in), répondre à (to answer to), participer à (to participate in). In these expressions, the preposition à is idiomatic. It does not indicate location in or movement toward.
Example: Shasta participe à un match de foot. Sasha aussi y participe.
When these verbs are followed by a person, the disjunctive pronoun will be used.
Example: Sasha pense souvent à Shasta. Elle pense souvent à lui.
= > Placement of y is the same as that of direct and indirect object pronouns.
1. Est-ce que tu vas au marché avec moi ? - Oui, ... / Non, ...
2. Est-ce que Shasta est allé au gymnase hier? - Oui, ... / Non, ...
3. Est-ce que tu vas répondre à ce message ? - Oui, ... / Non, ...
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1. Oui, j'y vais avec toi. Non, je n'y vais pas avec toi.
2. Oui, il y est allé. Non, il n'y est pas allé.
3. Oui, je vais y répondre. Non, je ne vais pas y répondre.
En is a pronoun that typically replaces de + a noun; this includes nouns introduced by partitif and indefinite determiners. (de, du, de l', de la, des). En may be translated as 'some', 'any', or 'not any'.
Example: Sasha, est-ce que tu bois de l'eau? - Oui, j'en bois. Tu en veux aussi ?
In a similar fashion, en replaces a noun introduced by a number or an expression of quantity. Notice that the equivalent of en is not always expressed in English, although en must still be used in the French sentence.
Example: Astérix, as-tu beaucoup d'amis sur le campus? - Oui, j'en ai beaucoup. Et toi, Obélix? - J'en ai deux ou trois.
En also replaces expressions introduced by the preposition de with the following verbs:
s'occuper de, to deal with
parler de, to speak of
remercier de, to thank for
revenir de, to return from
venir de, to come from
Example: Shasta, tu t'occupes du diner pour ce soir ? - Oui, Sasha, je m'en occupe.
Note that a disjuncitve pronoun is used with these verbs to replace expressions when the object of the prepostion de is a person rather than a thing.
Example: Tu t'occupes des invités ? - Oui, je m'occupe d'eux.
= > Placement of y is the same as that of direct and indirect object pronouns.
When en is used with il y a ('there is, there are'), it comes between y and a.
Example: Du pain sur la table? Il y en a (Some bread on the table? There is some there.)
1. Est-ce que vous avez beaucoup d'argent ? - Oui, nous... / Non, nous ... 2. Allez-vous boire du vin rouge ? - Oui, je.... / Non, je ... 3. As-tu parlé avec tes colocs des études ? - Oui, nous ... / Non, nous ...
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1. Oui, nous en avons beaucoup. / Non, nous n'en avons pas beaucoup. 2. Oui, je vais en boire. / Non, je ne vais pas en boire. 3. Oui, nous en avons parlé. / Non, nous n'en avons pas parlé.
The imperative, (l'impératif in French) is used to give commands, orders, or express wishes, like 'Stop!', 'Listen!' You may recognize the imperative from commands such as 'Ecoutez' or 'Répétez'. It is one of four moods n the French language. Unlike the other moods, the imperative is not divided into tenses. Keep in mind that the imperative is a very direct way to give an order. It is often replaced with more polite alternatives like the conditional.
There are three forms of the imperative: tu, nous and vous. For all verbs, the imperative is formed by taking the corresponding forms of the present indicatif, but without subject pronouns. The lack of a subject pronoun is what identifies the imperative mood.
Example: Apprends ta leçon!
Finissons nos devoirs !
Rendez vos devoirs au professeur demain.
The tu form is used to give an order to a child or when the speaker is on familiar terms with the person addressed. The vous form is used to give an order to a group of people or to address one person in the vous form. The nous form is used to give an order that involves oneself as well as others, though it often expresses a suggestion as its translation (Let's ... ) indicates.
Drop the final s in the tu forms of the imperative for -er verbs, including aller, and -ir verbs like ouvrir and other verbs whose present indicative form of tu ends in -es.
Example : Va avec moi ! Mange du poisson !
When these forms are followed by the pronoun y or en, the -s is reattached for pronunciation purposes.
Example: Vas-y ! Manges-en !
| present | imperative | translation |
| tu regardes | regarde | look |
| tu ouvres | ouvre | open |
| tu vas | va | go |
| finir 'to finish' | ||
| present | imperative | translation |
| tu finis | finis | finish (you, familiar) |
| nous finissons | finissons | let's finish |
| vous finissez | finissez | finish |
1. Demander à votre partenaire de prendre un stylo (tu-form). 2. Demandez à vos partenaires de finir leurs devoirs (vous-form). 3. Demandez à votre partenaire de chanter une chanson française.
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1. Prends un stylo. 2. Finissez vos devoirs. 3. Chante une chanson française!
There are several verbs that have irregular imperative forms.
| avoir | être | savoir | vouloir |
| aie | sois | sache | veuille |
| ayons | soyons | sachons | veuillons |
| ayez | soyez | sachez | veuillez |
For pronominal verbs, the subject pronoun is dropped and the object pronoun is placed after the verb and is attached with a hyphen. Te becomes toi in this situation.
| se souvenir 'to remember' | ||
| present | imperative | translation |
| tu te souviens | souviens-toi | remember |
| nous nous souvenons | souvenons-nous | let's remember |
| vous vous souvenez | souvenez-vous | remember |
The forms of the affirmative imperative (an order to do something) have been presented in the above charts. In negative commands (an order not to do something), place the ne ... pas around the imperative, as in Ne regarde pas ('Don't look'). In negative commands for reflexive verbs, the object pronoun is placed in front of the verb.
Example: Ne déménage pas! Ne vous dépêchez pas!
pronoun object with imperatif
Other non-pronominal pronoun objects follow the same placement as objects of pronominal verbs. As usual, the subject pronoun is dropped. In the negative, the ne precedes the object pronoun and the verb. In the affirmative imperative, the pronoun object follows the verb, and the forms moi and toi replace me and te.
Example: - Aide-moi, Sasha!
- D'accord, Shasta, je vais t'aider.
- Dépêche-toi, vite!
- Ne me presse pas! Sois gentil.
1. Show me your room. (tu-form) 2. Don't show me your room (tu-form) 3. Don't argue. (vous-form) 4. Rest! (vous-form) 5. Rest! ( tu-form) 6. Go ahead (tu-form). 7. Let's be patient (nous-form)
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1. Montre-moi ta chambre. 2. Ne me montre pas ta chambre. 3. Ne vous disputez pas. 4. Reposez-vous ! 5. Repose-toi! 6. Vas-y! 7. Soyons patients.
Aknowledgment: some parts of this page are partially adopted from Francais Interactif.