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La négation

1. Ne … pas….

Making negative sentences in French is a lot different than in English, mainly because of the two-part negative adverb.

First of all, you have to point out where is the verb in the sentence. If you have more than one verb in the same sentence, you need to decide which one is going to have the negation.

Then, find out what is the tense of this verb or if it is an infinitive.

Ex: je suis français.

      je suis allé en France.

      je vous demande de me reveiller.

If it is a conjugated verb you want to put the negation on, just add « ne … pas » around it.

Ex: je ne suis pas français.

Don’t forget that for the passé composé, the conjugated verb is the auxilliary  avoir or être!

Ex: je ne suis pas allé en France.

If the verb carrying the negation is an infinitive, then add « ne pas » just in front of it:

Ex: je vous demande de ne pas me reveiller.

2. Pronouns and adverbs.

It is then different if you want to put the negation on pronouns (somebody) or adverbs (already). As in English, the word changes into a negative word. You still have to put the two-part negation around the verb.

Ex: Je ne mange plus au restaurant.

      Je ne connais personne ici.

3. Vocabulary.

Everybody  = tout le monde                                  

Someone = quelqu’un

 Already =  déjà

Always  = toujours

•        Somewhere = quelque part

      Nobody = personne

      Never = jamais

      Not … anymore = ne … plus

      Nowhere = nulle part

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The imperfect - L'imparfait

1. Use and meaning.

The imperfect tense is used for:

• Past action that was unfinished (was/were doing):

Il se promenait vers le café quand il a vu son copain.

• Habitual or repeated action in the past (used to do):

Elle prenait le train tous les jours pour aller au travail.

• Description in the past :

Les oiseaux chantaient ; elle était triste ; il avait les yeux bleus.

Certain words and phrases indicate that the imperfect tense may be needed. These include:

Chaque semaine	Régulièrement
D’habitude	Souvent
Le samedi	toujours

Note:

Sometimes in English, habitual action is expressed by “would”: everyday he would get up at six o’clock. In French the imperfect tense must be used.

2. Formation.

Remove –ons from the nous part of the present tense, and replace it with the following endings:

Singular	Ending
Je	-ais
Tu	-ais
Il / elle / on	-ait
Plural	Ending
Nous	-ions
Vous	-iez
Ils / elles	-aient

The only exception is the verb être (to be):

I used to be	J’étais
You used to be	Tu étais
He / she / we used to be	Il / elle / on était
We used to be	Nous étions
You used to be (plural)	Vous étiez
They used to be	Ils / elles étaient

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Perfect tense

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1. AVOIR verbs
Le pendu (use the hints)
studystack

2. ETRE VERBS
Arcade Games


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