1.3: Grammaire - présentation
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Savoir et Connaître
The irregular verbs savoir and connaître both mean to know. Savoir and connaître are used in different contexts or to describe different degrees of knowledge. Savoir is used for facts, things known by heart, or abilities.When followed by an infinitive, savoir indicates knowing how to do something. Connaître is used for people and places and represents a personal acquaintance or familiarity.
| savoir 'to know (a fact)' | |
| je sais | nous savons |
| tu sais | vous savez |
| il/elle/on sait | ils/elles savent |
| past participle : su | |
| connaître 'to know, to be acquainted with' | |
| je connais | nous connaissons |
| tu connais | vous connaissez |
| il/elle/on connaît | ils/elles connaissent |
| past participle : connu | |
Tous nos étudiants 1....... bien Shasta. Shasta 2...... jouer au football américain.
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1. connaissent 2. sait
- Est-ce que vous 1...... un bon restaurant à Houston ?
- Non, mais je 2...... qu'il y a beaucoup de restaurants tex-mex à Houston.
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1.connaissez 2. sais
Suivre et Vivre
The verbs suivre (to follow), and vivre (to live) are irregular. You may have seen the expression Vive ... (as in Vive la France!, Long live France!) and the noun la vie (life). Vivre means 'to be alive,' as well as 'to live,' in contrast to the verb habiter which refers only to where one lives, one's place of residence.
| suivre 'to follow' | |
| je suis | nous suivons |
| tu suis | vous suivez |
| il/elle/on suit | ils/elles suivent |
| past participle : suivi | |
| vivre 'to live, to be alive' | |
| je vis | nous vivons |
| tu vis | vous vivez |
| il/elle/on vit | ils/elles vivent |
| past participle : vécu | |
Shasta 1..... sur le campus de UH. Les étudiants de UH 2....... les cours de français.
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1. vit 2. suivent
When il y a is followed by a time expression (such as longtemps, quelque temps, une semaine, deux jours etc.), it generally means 'ago': il y a une semaine (a week ago).
I came to Houston 3 years ago.
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Je suis venu(e) à Houston il y a 3 ans.
The passé composé is used in French in answer the question 'What happened?' On the other hand, you will usually put a verb in the imparfait if it answers the question 'What was going on when something else happened?' Generally, the passé composé is used to relate events while the imparfait is used to describe what was going on in the past, states of being in the past, or past habits. All this takes on special importance in narration of past actions, when both tenses often occur in the same story. Narrating a story entails both describing a setting (habitual actions, atmosphere, places and people) and recounting a plot or a series of events, actions, changes of feelings or thoughts. In general, all stories have a well delineated plot line of events, the foreground, and a background of supporting details and description. Some literary texts might subvert this rule but this is out of a conscious effort to surprise or unsettle their reader.
Quand j' 1.(avoir) six ans, j' 2.(habiter) à Austin. Mais mon père 3. (trouver) un nouveau travail et nous 4. (déménager) à Houston.
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1.avais 2. habitais 3. a trouvé 4. avons déménagé.
This page is an adoptation of Francais Interactif. For more information, see the following links:
https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/virr10.html
https://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/vre4.html