Présent in French. Present tense in French - présent French present simple

Présent (French)– this is the key topic, the first tense that one begins to master when studying tenses in French. Le présent in French- this is the present tense.

French (present tense).

Present tense of French verbs is formed from the stem of the verb. The stem of a verb is everything that comes before the ending in the infinitive (in its original form). But first we need to determine the verb group. There are only 3 groups in French. Group I ends in the infinitive with “er”, in Group II with “ir”, and Group III consists of exception verbs. The group was determined. Now, depending on the group, we add endings to the base.

Endings for group I verbs: -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.

Endings for group II: -is, -is, -it, -iss+ons, -iss+ez, -iss+ent.

Example: parler = to speak, group I verbs, because in the infinitive the verb “parler” ends in “er”. The stem is "parl" because the stem is what comes before the ending. Now let’s look at which endings belong to group I of verbs (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent). Conjugate the verb “parler” into present:

Now let’s conjugate the verb “finir”. Here the ending is "ir". This suggests that the verb belongs to group II. The base is “fin”. Now we add endings to the base that belong specifically to group II (-is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent). Conjugate:

Verbs of group III in French.

Verbs of group III can end in both “er” (example: aller) and “ir” (example: partir), and can have other endings (example: avoir). The point is that such verbs just need to be learned. After all, the most common verbs are those of group I.

The two most popular group III verbs are avoir and être.

avoir = to have être = to be

venir = to come partir = to depart, to leave

sortir = exit devenir = to become

mettre = to put, put on, put on faire = to do

dire = speak prendre = take

vouloir = to want pouvoir = to be able

comprendre = understand servir = serve

savoir = to know descendre = to descend

Other popular and not very popular verbs can always be checked in the dictionary. Many of them have similar conjugations, similar forms, and endings.

When is present used?

The present tense in French is used to indicate:

1. action happening at the moment, now: Je parle. - I speak;
2. near future: Je vais au parc demain. – I’m going to the park tomorrow;
3. when describing a chain of events in the past in order to make events more “living” and significant in the present: Je suis revenue. Puis je prends le livre et je le lis. - I'm back. Then I take a book and I read it;
4. when expressing a constant, repeating action: Je lis chaque soir. – Every evening I read;
5. after “si”: S’il fait beau, j’irai chez Anne. – If it’s warm, I’ll go to Anna.

The present tense of French verbs is the most important topic among all tense topics.

So, you have become acquainted with the conjugation of verbs of all three groups in the present tense, which means that now you can make sentences! How to do this?

Order of words in a sentence

First, let's decide on the word order in a French sentence. Unlike the Russian language, in French the word order is fixed - this means that each part of the sentence has its own place, and it can only change under the influence of rules:

Subject + Predicate + Other parts of the sentence

Don't forget that the subject answers the questions "who?", "what?" and is usually expressed by a noun or pronoun, and the predicate - to the questions "what does it do?" and is expressed by a verb. The sequence of subject and predicate in a sentence is also called direct word order.

Singular subject nouns can be replaced by the pronouns “il” or “elle”. However, remember that the gender of many French nouns does not correspond to similar words in Russian, so be careful when making substitutions.

If you want to talk about your habits, preferences or daily activities, you need the simple present tense: in French it is called Présent. You are already familiar with its formation - see lessons 6, 7, 10, 11. But it is not enough to know how this or that tense is formed; you need to remember when to use it.

Rules for using Present

used:

1. to indicate a repeated action or habit. For example: Je vais au travail à pied. — I walk to work;
2. to state a fact. For example: J'habite à Rome.- I live in Rome;
3. to indicate an action that is currently happening: Il ecrit une lettre. — He writes a letter;
4. to denote future action together with adverbs of time, for example: Elle part demain. — She is leaving tomorrow;
5. to express action in the past. As mentioned earlier, in this case the use of Présent acquires special expressiveness and can be used as a stylistic device.

You can also use the phrase to express what is happening at the moment etre en train de + infinitive. Remember to use the correct form of the verb "etre". For example: Nous avons en train de regarder le film. - We are watching a movie.

To refute a fact, you will need the already familiar phrase “ne...pas”, for example: Je ne parle pas italien. - I do not speak Italian.

There are several ways you can ask a question. You are already familiar with them:

1. Using intonation: Tu habites à Rome? — Do you live in Rome?
2. Using inversion, changing the order of words: Habites-tu à Rome?
3. Using the phrase “est-ce-que”, which is placed before the sentence. There is no need to change the word order in this case: Est-ce-que tu habites à Rome?

If a question needs to be asked about a subject that is expressed by a noun, complex inversion is used. Let's try to figure out what this means using a few examples:

Jean et Robert habitent à Rome. — Jean et Robert habitent-ils à Rome?
Pierre parle français. — Pierre parle-t-il français?

As you can see, the subject comes first, followed by a verb and a pronoun to replace the subject. If the verb ends in a vowel -a or -e (this happens in the 3rd person singular), the letter “t” appears between the verb and the pronoun.

If a question needs to be asked about a sentence starting with c'est(this), changing the word order will help you, with c’est changing to the non-abbreviated form est-ce [es]. You can also ask a question using intonation. For example: C'est un médecin. - Est-ce un médecin? C'est un médecin? - Is this a doctor?

These are the important points to remember about the present tense. It's time to put theory into practice!

Lesson assignments

Exercise 1. Complete the endings of the verbs of the 1st and 2nd groups, focusing on pronouns. Lesson 10 will help you complete this sentence correctly.

1) Nous habit…. 2) Tu chois… . 3) Elles parl…. 4) Ils applaud… . 5) Vous aim… . 6) Il travaill… . 7) Nous mang… . 8) Vous grand… . 9) Il jet… . 10) Nous commenc….

Exercise 2. Make negative sentences and questions using inversion.

1) Ils habitent à Moscow. 2) Je travaille au bureau. 3) Elle parle français. 4) Robert part demain. 5) C'est une étudiante.

1) Nous habit ons. 2) Tu chois is. 3) Elles parl ent. 4) Ils applaud issent. 5) Vous aim ez. 6) Il travaill e. 7) Nous mange ons. 8) Vous grandiss ez. 9) Il jett e. 10) Nous començ ons.

1) Ils ne habitent pas à Moscow. Habitent-ils à Moscow? 2) Je travaille au bureau. 3) Elle ne parle pas français. Parle-t-elle français? 4) Robert part demain. Robert part-il demain? 5) C'est n'une pas étudiante. Est-ce une etudiante?

The present tense of French verbs is by far one of the most frequently used tenses in the French language, and is also one of the first grammatical rules, the features of which should be remembered by those who want to learn French.

The present tense of French verbs today is represented by two tenses - Présent de l'indicatif and Présent progressif.

Présent de l'indicatif, simple present tense, is used for:

(1) stories about ordinary, everyday events that happen all the time,

(2) descriptions of an action or event that occurs regardless of time or circumstances,

(3) to convey an action that will take place in the future, but only if it actually takes place,

(4) to denote generally accepted facts and events that do not require any evidence.

(1) Chaque jour je vais à l’école – Every day I go to school.

(2) Le musée est ouvert jusqu’au 17h00 – The museum is open until 17.00.

(3) Il est sûr qu’il va à l’école. - He is sure that he will go to school.

(4) La Terre tourne autour du Soleil – The Earth revolves around the Sun.

This tense is characterized by the use of such time pronouns as, for example, chaque jour - every day, habituellement, d'habitude - usually, toujours - always.

For example: D’habitude je suis les conseils de ma mère – I usually listen to my mother’s advice.

This present tense of French verbs can be used to describe an action that has already happened at the time of speech, but this applies exclusively to such verbs as amener, venir, apporter, revenir, arriver, sortir, ramener and some others, which are usually translated into Russian by past verbs time. For example:

J'apporte les modifications importantes au contrat - I have made important changes to the contract.

Présent de l’indicatif is also used instead of Futur Simple after the conditional conjunction si in conditional sentences, while it is translated into Russian by the future tense, for example:

S'il fait beau nous nous promenerons - If the weather is good, we'll go for a walk.

As for verb conjugations in Présent de l’indicatif, verbs of group 1 are formed by adding the following endings to the stem:

je regarde par la fenêtre - I look out the window

tu regardes par la fenêtre - you look out the window

il regarde par la fenêtre - he looks out the window

nous regardons par la fenêtre - we look out the window

vous regardez par la fenêtre - you look out the window

ils regardent par la fenêtre - they look out the window

Verbs of group 2 are formed by adding the following endings to it:

je réfléchis – I reflect

tu réfléchis – you reflect

il réfléchit – it reflects

nous réfléchissons – we reflect

vous réfléchissez – you reflect

ils réfléchissent – ​​they reflect

Verbs of group 3, since they are irregular verbs, have their own conjugation features inherent to each verb separately, which must be remembered.

Présent progressif, that is, the present continuous tense, is used to describe an action or event that is unfolding at the moment of speech or in the present period of time. This tense is formed by adding en train de and the indefinite form of the main verb to the conjugated present tense. It is translated into Russian as a verb in the present tense, often used with adverbs indicating that the action is being performed at the given moment, for example, such as, at the moment, now, etc.

Initially, a division should be made, since the conditional mood is a general concept. There are Conditionnel présent and Conditionnel passé, which we will consider separately. Each of these forms is based on forms of the future tense, which we will also analyze in more detail so that everything becomes extremely clear. Let's start with the conditional mood of the present tense.

Conditionnel present

Can express assumption, doubt.

• It is used both in writing and in oral speech.
• Its use is possible both in complex and in simple short sentences.
• The intended action refers either to the present moment or to a moment in the future.

For example:

Ce serait étrange d'en penser maintenant. It would be strange to think about it now.

Tu voudrais les appeler demain? Would you like to call them tomorrow?

Conditionnel présent is distinguished from Futur dans le passé by the tense used in the context. For example:

Present or future tense is Conditionnel présent.

Marie pense qu'elle pourrait faire ce travail. Marie thinks she could do the job.

The past tense is Futur dans le passé.

Marie a dit qu'elle pourrait faire ce travail. Marie said she could do the job.

So, the meaning and forms of formation of the conditional mood. Conditionnel présent has the same forms as the French tense Futur dans le passé: for example, je préférerais - for the first group, je finirais - for the second group, je recevrais - for verbs of the third group. Now let's look at Futur dans le passé in more detail.

Futur dans le passé is a tense form that is formed from the initial form of the verb, that is, the infinitive, by adding the endings of the French tense imparfait:

• ions,
• aient.

This tense is applicable to express a future event or action when the verb expressing it is in a subordinate clause, while the past tense verb is used in the main clause. Denotes a future event in relation to a moment in the past. For example:

Elle a dit qu'elle viendrait dimanche. She said she would arrive on Sunday.

There are also some deviations from the rules that are worth remembering, for example the verb envoyer changes its stem to the future tense envoyer – enverr. For most verbs of the 3rd group, this rule applies, but those that end in -re discard the final letter –e, for example: attendre - j’attendrais. And some verbs of the same 3rd group completely change their base. Let's look at them:

• aller-ir,
• venir-viendr,
• vouloir-voudr,
• voir - verr,
• pouvoir - pourr,
• devoir - devr,
• falloir - faudr,
• faire-fer,
• pleuvoir - pleuvr,
• savoir - saur,
• avoir - aur,
• être-ser,
• mourir - mourr.

Group 1 verb conjugation

Group 3 verb conjugation:

Conditionnel present Futur dans le passé

Je pense qu'il pourrait faire ce dessin. I think he could have done this drawing.

Il a dit qu'il pourrait faire ce dessin. He said he could make this drawing.

Conditionnel passé

Me has the same forms as Futur antérieur dans le passé: l'aurais préféré - for verbs of the 1st group, l'aurais fini - for the 2nd group, and, finally, an example of a verb of the 3rd group - l'aurais recu.

The action refers to the past moment: Il serait déjà parti. He apparently already left.

For a better understanding, let's look at the time Futur antérieur dans le passé. It represents a complex future tense in the past, and is formed by putting the auxiliary verb avoir or être into the form of the above tense futur dans le passé, and after it adding the past participle - participe passé. Let's see exactly what this looks like using an example:

The future antérieur dans le passé is most often used in subordinate clauses or when agreeing on tenses. Just like futur antérieur, futur antérieur dans le passé indicates an action in the future if it precedes another in the future. It is most often used when agreeing tenses, so in this case the main clause should be in the past tense. For example:

Marie a dit que Marc arriverait dès qu’il aurait envoyé la lettre. Marie said that Mark would return as soon as he sent the letter.

Conditionnel passé differs from Futur antérieur dans le passé directly by the context of the sentence itself.

Conditionnel passé, its context is in the past or present tense in a complex or simple sentence without subordinate clauses.

A mon avis elle aurait pu dire ce phrase il y a trois jours. In my opinion, she could have said this three years ago.

Futur antérieur dans le passé, its context in the past tense, where there is a complex clause.

Marie a dit qu'elle ferait ce dessin dès qu'elle en aurait fini un autre. Marie said that she would do this drawing after she finished the first one.

Conditionnel simple sentence

Can show desire, verbs are used: vouloir, aimer, préférer, désirer, etc.

Je voudrais voyager. I would like to go on a trip.

Can express a wish or request, desire. Verbs used: pouvoir, devoir, vouloir, etc.

Pourriez-vous me laisser seul? Could you please leave me alone?

Indicates the assumption of something.

Ce serait au mois au week-end. It will probably be over the weekend.

Use in a complex sentence

The conditional clause is introduced using the conjunction si. Futur simple, as well as Conditionnel, have no place to exist after this union!! The condition is limited to unreal and real action. The real action in the sentence has the following formula:

Si - Present - Fntur simple

For example:

Sil elle travaille bien, elle réussira. If she works hard, she will achieve success.

An unreal condition is associated with the present or future time and operates according to the following scheme:

Si — Imparfait — Conditionnel present

For example:

Si elle travaillait bien, elle réussirait. If she worked hard, she would be successful.

Also, an unreal condition can be associated with the past tense, then the scheme is as follows:

Si - Plus-que-parfait - Conditionnel passé

Si l'année passée elle avait bien travaillé, elle aurait réussi. If she had worked hard this past year, she would have been successful.

The topic of the conditional mood is very large and complex. You will have to devote a lot of time to studying it in order to understand and learn to use verb forms without prompts and peeking at the rules. We hope we helped you, now it's up to you. Good luck!