Copyright 1999-2006 Herv Foucher - all rights reserved

Introduction

Welcome to the FRENCH TUTORIAL DELUXE EDITION

I am proud to release The French Tutorial Deluxe Edition. Thank you for joining the French Tutorial community! This
step by step course will help you in understanding the French language and the famous French way of life.
As a Deluxe Member, you have access to dedicated forums if you need help.
The author,

1 - THE FRENCH TUTORIAL - TERMS AND CONDITIONS

version: 1.2
The use of the French Tutorial website located at http://www.frenchtutorial.com ("SITE") and any materials downloaded from it is governed by the policies, terms and conditions
set forth below. Please read them carefully.
By accessing, transmitting or downloading information from the SITE, you agree to comply with and be bound by these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms
and conditions, you may not use this SITE or download any Material from it.
Limited license:
This website is provided by HERVE FOUCHER - an individual French resident - and may be used for informational, non-commercial and personal purposes only.
Subject to your continued compliance with the terms and conditions set forth in these terms and conditions, HERVE FOUCHER grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable,
limited right to access, use, display, and listen to the information, images, sounds, movies, animations, presentations and texts ("MATERIALS") thereon. You agree not to
interrupt the operation of the SITE in any way.
The SITE, including all MATERIALS, is protected by worldwide copyright, patent, trademark, data bases and other intellectual property rights laws and treaty provisions whether
or not a copyright notice is present on the MATERIALS. You agree to comply with all intellectual property rights laws during your use of this SITE and to prevent any
unauthorized copying of the MATERIALS. Except as expressly provided herein, no express or implied license, on any patents, trademarks, or copyrights of HERVE FOUCHER
or his suppliers is granted to you.

HERVE FOUCHER authorizes you to view and download the MATERIALS on this SITE only for your personal, non-commercial and informational use. This authorization is not
a transfer of title in the MATERIALS and any copy of the MATERIALS is subject to the following restrictions:
1. you must retain, on all copies of the MATERIALS downloaded, all copyright and other proprietary notices contained in the MATERIALS;
2. you may not modify the MATERIALS in any way or reproduce or publicly display, perform, reproduce or otherwise use them for any public or commercial purpose;
3. you must not transfer the MATERIALS to any other person unless you give them notice of, to accept, the obligations arising under these terms and conditions of use.
4. you may not use, download, export or re-export any material at this SITE or any copy or adaptation in violation of applicable laws and regulations, including without limitation,
United States export laws and regulations.
You are prohibited from transmitting to or from this SITE any threatening, libelous,defamatory, obscene, pornographic or otherwise unlawful Material.
HERVE FOUCHER may, but has no obligation to, monitor or review areas of this SITE where users communicate with each other, including but not limited to chats, boards or
other forums and the content of submissions. HERVE FOUCHER shall have no liability related to the content of such areas and submissions.
HERVE FOUCHER has no obligation to answer to questions of requests found in such areas and submissions.
Disclaimer of warranties:
Information on the SITE may contain inaccuracies, typographical errors or be incomplete or out of date. Any Material, submission or information may be changed or updated
without notice.
HERVE FOUCHER makes no representations whatsoever about any other website which you may access through this one. HERVE FOUCHER is not responsible for the
privacy practices or the content of such websites. When you access another website, even one that may contain one of our logos, please understand that it is independent from
HERVE FOUCHER, and that we have no control over the content on other websites. In addition, a link to a non HERVE FOUCHER website does not mean that HERVE
FOUCHER endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content, or the use of such website. It is up to you to take precautions to ensure that whatever you select for your use
is free of such items as viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other items of a destructive nature.
HERVE FOUCHER or his suppliers make no representations about the suitability, accuracy or availability of any material or information for any purpose. All information and
MATERIALS are provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind. HERVE FOUCHER and his suppliers disclaim all warranties and conditions of merchantability, fitness for a
particular purpose or use, titles or non-infringement.
No Liability:
In no event will HERVE FOUCHER or his suppliers be liable to any party for any direct, or indirect, special or other consequential damages for (i) any use of the SITE, or of any
other hyper linked website, of any information or Material accessible through the SITE, (ii) non-performance or failure of this SITE, of any software or provision of services, (iii)
including, without limitation, any lost profits, lost savings, business interruption, loss of programs or other data on your information handling system or otherwise, even if we are
expressly advised of the possibility of such damage.
These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed, and the legal relations between the parties shall be determined in accordance with the laws of France. Any
dispute arising out of or in connection with the use or access or otherwise related to the SITE shall be finally settled by the Tribunal de Commerce de Paris, France.

2 - Coming next
And now... here we are ! Let's begin by your first French lesson. It deals with pronunciation.
Are you ready ? ... Yes ? So Press next now.

French pronunciation

This chapter covers all you need to know about French pronunciation. We will begin by learning the French alphabet
and then the different sounds and syllables.
If you want to skip this chapter, click here to jump to Basics.
Click "Next" to continue.

1 - Alphabet
French uses the 26 letters of the alphabet plus a few "add-ons": accents on vowels (, , etc...) or cedilla ().
When spelling your name -during a call for example- you will have to know how letters are said in French:
A

2 - Final consonant
Remember this before going further:
Most of the time, do not pronounce
final d, s, t or x in French words.

As an example, red letters are not pronounced in the following words:

un rebond (a bounce)
franais (French)
un saut (a jump)
heureux (happy)

3 - [on] sound
You will hear "on" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
French

English

une maison

a house

un garon

a boy

comprendre (*)

to understand

un combat (*)

a fight

note (*) that "on" before "p" or "b" is written "om".

However, there is one particular case: un bonbon

(a candy/sweet).

4 - [ou] sound
You will hear "ou" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
Hint: Pronouce "ou" like "oo".

French

English

la tour Eiffel

the Eiffel tower

mourir

to die

un mouvement

a movement

vous

you

5 - [oi] sound
You will hear "oi" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
French

English

une fois

once

un toit

a roof

un poisson

a fish

croire

to believe

6 - [oin] sound
You will hear "oin" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
French

English

moins

minus (-)

un point

a point

loin

far away

un soin

a care

7 - [ai] sound
You will hear "ai" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
French

English

une maison

a house

un balai

a broom

une caisse

a cash register

une naissance

a birth

8 - [en] sound
You will hear "en" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
Note that "en" and "an" are pronounced the same way.
French

English

encore

again

comprendre

to understand

les parents

the parents

un camembert (*)

a camembert (=a French cheese)

note (*) that "en" before "p" or "b" is written "em".

French

English

un enfant

a child

un croissant

a croissant (French speciality)

le gagnant

the winner

un tambour (**)

a drum

note (**) that "an" before "p" or "b" is written "am".

9 - [eu] sound
You will hear "eu" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
French

English

l'heure

the time

la peur

the fear

une fleur

a flower

un auto-stoppeur

a hitchhiker

N.B. The past participle of the verb avoir (to have) is written eu and is prononced like the letter U
have).

10 - [in] sound
You will hear "in" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
Note that "in", "ain" and "ein" are pronounced the same way.
French

English

. See avoir (to

un magasin

a shop

Tintin

Tintin (comics hero)

malin

clever

un timbre (*)

a stamp

note (*) that "in" before "p" or "b" is written "im".

French

English

un pain

a bread

un copain

a friend

un train

a train

demain

tomorrow

French

English

la peinture

the paint

la ceinture

the belt

un frein

a brake

plein

full

11 - [] sound
You will hear "" in the following examples. Press the audio icon to hear the corresponding word.
Note that "-er" at the end of a word is pronounced the same way as "". Many French verbs in the infinitive end with
-er.

French

English

l'ducation

education

rvler

to reveal

Herv Foucher

my name!

aimer

to love

12 - Coming next
You have seen most of the French sounds and syllables. Clicking next will give you grammar basics.

Basics

French basics are quite easy to learn but are also really important: understanding them will help you in everyday life.
Take your time!
Press next to continue.

1 - Personal pronouns
First, you have to learn the personal pronouns used in French (pronoms personnels, ). They could be useful to
say something, couldn't they ? So... here they are. Listen to them several times in order to fully recognize and
understand them.
S/P

Singular

Plural

Click

to hear the correct prononciation.

French

English

je

tu

you

il, elle, on

he, she, we (but not precise)

nous

we

vous

you

ils, elles

they

NB1: vous can be used to talk to someone you do not know very well, or to someone important (your boss for

example). Of course, it can also be used to talk about a group of persons.

NB2: il and ils are for masculine things/persons. elle and elles are for feminine things/persons.

2 - le, la, les (articles dfinis)

le, la and les are the french equivalents for the.

As French makes a distinction between "masculine and feminine objects", people use le for masculine things/persons
and la for feminine things/persons.
However, in the plural, only les is used whatever the gender is.
Anglais

Franais
le (m)

the

la (f)
les (pl)

Le tlphone > les tlphones

La tlvision > les tlvisions

When the following noun begins with a vowel, le or la becomes l'.

L'ordinateur (m) the computer > les ordinateurs

L'le (f) the island > les les

NB: you may have noticed that making plural is easy: most of the time, it consists in adding an "s" to the noun.

3 - un, une, des (articles indfinis)

un, une and des are the french equivalents for a and some.
un is used for masculine things/persons and une for feminine things/persons.

However, in the plural, only des is used whatever the gender is.
Anglais

Franais
un (m)

a
une (f)
some

des (pl)
un tlphone > des tlphones
une tlvision > des tlvisions

4 - Building a sentence
It is the same as in English. Most sentences are built on the same template:
Sujet

Verbe

Complment

Translation

La pluie

frappe

sur les carreaux.

The rain hits window-panes.

Les arbres perdent leurs feuilles.

Trees are losing their leaves.

Caroline

Caroline picks some apples.

cueille

des pommes.

5 - tre (to be)

Let's start with the most common verb... tre

(to be).

"tre" is an irregular verb whatever the tense is. Here is the conjugation in the present:
tre

to be

je suis

I am

tu es

you are

il est

he is

nous sommes

we are

vous tes

you are

ils sont

they are

Examples:

Je suis heureux.

NB: do not pronounce the 'x'

I am happy.

Nous sommes dans la cuisine.

We are in the kitchen.

6 - avoir (to have)

Another useful verb: avoir

(to have).

Like "tre", "avoir" is an irregular verb whatever the tense is. Here is the conjugation in the present:

Examples:

Il a une voiture.
He has got a car.

J'ai une montre.

avoir

to have

j'ai (=je ai)

I have

tu as

you have

il a

he has

nous avons

we have

vous avez

you have

ils ont

they have

I have got a watch.

7 - Coming next
You are now familiar with "avoir" and "tre". You also know how to build basic sentences. Let's learn other verbs.
Next chapter will show you present tense (Le Prsent) conjugation.
Press next to continue.

Conjugation: le prsent

Le prsent (the present) is the most common tense and therefore the first we will look at together.
Press Next to continue.

1 - French verbs groups

French verbs are classified into 3 groups; each of them has different endings in the present tense:
Group

Infinitive ending

Notes
those verbs are regular and easy to conjugate

group I

er

ex: manger

(to eat)

end with -issons in the first person plural

group II

ir

ex: finir

group III

ir
indre
oir
ettre

(to end)

hard to conjugate
ex: partir (to leave), atteindre (to reach),
pouvoir (to be able to), mettre (to put)

2 - First group verbs (er)

First group verbs always end with "er" as their infinitive. For example:

manger (to eat)

chanter (to sing)
parler (to talk)
donner (to give)

Conjugating first group verbs in the present tense is quite simple... it is always the same. Here are two examples for
you to understand : donner (to give) et parler (to talk).
donner

to give

je donne

I give

tu donnes

you give

il donne

he gives

nous donnons

we give

vous donnez

you give

ils donnent

they give

NB: "donne", "donnes" and "donnent" should be pronounced exactly the same.
parler

to talk

je parle

I talk

tu parles

you talk

il parle

he talks

nous parlons

we talk

vous parlez

you talk

ils parlent

they talk

NB: same remark... "parle", "parles" and "parlent" should be pronounced exactly the same.

3 - First group verbs - examples

Would you need a few examples ?

Je m'appelle Valrie.
My name is Valrie.
Je mange du poulet.
I eat chicken.
Nous pensons toi.
We think about you.
Ils jouent au football.
They play football.
Vous dessinez trs bien.
You draw very well.

4 - Second group verbs (ir)

You have learned how to use 1st group verbs. Let's see the 2nd group. It is a bit more complicated but I am sure you
will succeed!
Allons-y ! (Let's go!).
2nd group verbs, such as finir

(to end), ends as follows:

finir

to end/finish

je finis

I end

tu finis

you end

il finit

he ends

nous finissons

we end

vous finissez

you end

ils finissent

they end

NB: "finis" and "finit" should be pronounced exactly the same: do NOT pronounce the final "s" or "t".
2nd group verbs are called "verbes en -issons" since their ending is ALWAYS issons in the first person plural (ex:
finissons).

blmir

(to pale) is another 2nd group verb:

blmir

to pale

je blmis

I pale

tu blmis

you pale

il blmit

he pales

nous blmissons

we pale

vous blmissez

you pale

ils blmissent

they pale

5 - Second group verbs - examples

Would you need a few examples for 2nd group verbs?

Tu rpartis les tches.

You are distributing tasks.

Nous finissons nos devoirs.
We are finishing our homeworks.

6 - Third group verbs

3rd group verbs are irregular and therefore not as easy to learn as 1st group verbs. They can have two types of
endings:
Pers.

1st type

2nd type

1stS

2ndS

es

Essayons !

3rdS

1stP

ons

ons

2ndP

ez

ez

3rdP

ent

ent

(Let's try!).

7 - Third group verbs - partir

Some 3rd group verbs, such as partir

(to leave), end as follows:

partir

to leave

je pars

I leave

tu pars

you leave

il part

he leaves

nous partons

we leave

vous partez

you leave

ils partent

they leave

NB: "pars" and "part" should be pronounced the same way. Do not pronounce final "s" or "t"
Other verbs like partir:
verb

mentir
(to lie)

je mens, tu mens, il ment, nous

mentons, vous mentez, ils
mentent

sortir
(to go out)

je sors, tu sors, il sort, nous

sortons, vous sortez, ils sortent

and also: consentir (to grant), pressentir (to have a premonition about something), ressentir (to feel), dmentir (to
deny), repartir (to leave again), ressortir (to go out again).
Examples:

Je pars en vacances
I go on holiday

Nous ressortons 18 heures

We go out again at 6 pm.

8 - Third group verbs - ouvrir

Some 3rd group verbs, such as ouvrir

(to open), end as follows:

ouvrir

to open

j'ouvre

I open

tu ouvres

you open

il ouvre

he opens

nous ouvrons

we open

vous ouvrez

you open

ils ouvrent

they open

NB: "ouvre", "ouvres" and "ouvrent" should be pronounced the same way. Do not pronounce final "s".
Other verbs like ouvrir:
verb
offrir
(to offer)

j'offre, tu offres, il offre, nous

offrons, vous offrez, ils offrent

souffrir
(to suffer)

je souffre, tu souffres, il souffre,

nous souffrons, vous souffrez, ils
souffrent

and also all verbs based on ouvrir: couvrir (to cover), dcouvrir (to discover), recouvrir (to cover), entrouvrir (to open
a little), rentrouvrir (to open a little again), rouvrir (to open again).

9 - Third group verbs - dire

Some 3rd group verbs, based on dire

(to say), are irregular and end as follows:

dire

to say

je dis

I say

tu dis

you say

il dit

he says

nous disons

we say

vous dites (irreg.)

you say

ils disent

they say

NB: "dis" and "dit" should be pronounced the same way. Do not pronounce final "s" or "t".
Other verbs based on dire:
contredire (to contradict), ddire (to retract), interdire (to forbid or to prohibit), mdire (to malign), prdire (to predict),
redire (to say again),

10 - Third group verbs - aller

aller

(to go) should be a 1st group verb but it is an irregular verb; therefore it is a 3rd group verb:
aller

to go

je vais

I go

tu vas

you go

il va

he goes

nous allons

we go

vous allez

you go

ils vont

they go

NB: "vas" and "va" should be pronounced the same way. Do not pronounce the final "s".

11 - Complete list of third group verbs

There are approximately 350 3rd group verbs...
Here is the list! Verbs in bold have the same endings as the others below them.
tenir

our

prendre

natre

s'abstenir
appartenir
contenir
dtenir
entretenir
maintenir
obtenir
retenir
soutenir
venir
advenir
circonvenir
contrevenir
convenir
devenir
disconvenir
intervenir
obvenir
parvenir
prvenir
provenir
redevenir
se ressouvenir
revenir
se souvenir
subvenir
survenir

gsir

apprendre
comprendre
dtendre
dprendre
dsaprendre
entreprendre
s'prendre
se mprendre
rapprendre
reprendre
surprendre

renatre

recevoir

apercevoir
concevoir
dcevoir
percevoir
voir

entrevoir
prvoir
revoir

repatre
crotre

accrotre
dcrotre
recrotre
croire

accroire
battre

pourvoir

dpourvoir
savoir

resavoir
devoir

redevoir

abattre
combattre
contre-battre
dbattre
s'battre
embatre
rabattre
rebattre

boire

emboire
clore

dclore
enclore
forclore
conclure

pouvoir
mouvoir

mouvoir
promouvoir

acqurir

pleuvoir

conqurir
qurir
reconqurir
requrir

repleuvoir
falloir
valoir

sentir

patre

quivaloir

mettre

admettre
commettre
dmettre
mettre
s'entremettre
omettre
permettre
promettre
radmettre
remettre
retransmettre
soumettre

exclure
inclure
occlure
reclure
absoudre

dissoudre
rsoudre
coudre

dcoudre
recoudre

consentir
pressentir
ressentir
mentir
dmentir
partir
dpartir
repartir
se repentir
sortir
ressortir

prvaloir
revaloir
vouloir
asseoir

rasseoir
seoir

messeoir
surseoir

vtir

dvtir
revtir

choir

dchoir
choir

couvrir

dcouvrir
recouvrir
ouvrir
entrouvrir
rentrouvrir
rouvrir
souffrir
cueillir

accueillir
recueillir
assaillir

saillir
tressaillir
faillir

dfaillir
bouillir

dbouillir
rebouillir
dormir

endormir
rendormir
courir

accourir
concourir
encourir
parcourir
recourir
secourir

rendre

dfendre
descendre
condescendre
fendre
pourfendre
refendre
prendre
apprendre
dpendre
reprendre
suspendre
tendre
attendre
dtendre
distendre
entendre
tendre
prtendre
retendre
sous-entendre
sous-tendre
vendre
mvendre
pandre
rpandre
rpandre
fondre
confondre
parfondre
refondre
pondre
rpondre
correspondre
tondre

transmettre

moudre

peindre

moudre
remoudre

dpeindre
repeindre
astreindre
treindre
restreindre
atteindre
aveindre
ceindre
enceindre
empreindre
feindre
geindre
teindre
dteindre
teindre
reteindre
joindre

adjoindre
conjoindre
disjoindre
enjoindre
rejoindre
oindre
poindre

suivre

s'ensuivre
poursuivre
vivre

revivre
survivre
lire

lire
rlir
relire
dire

contredire
ddire
interdire
maudire
mdire
prdire
redire
rire

sourire

craindre

crire

contraindre
plaindre

circonscrire
dcrire
prescrire
proscrire
rcrir
rinscrire
retranscrire
souscrire
transcrire

vaincre

convaincre
traire

abstraire
distraire
extraire
soustraire
brair
faire

contrefaire
dfaire
malfaire
mfaire
parfaire
redfaire
refaire
satisfaire

confire

dconfire
circoncire
frire
suffire
cuire

recuire
conduire
dduire
conduire
enduire

mourir
servir

desservir
resservir
fuir

s'enfuir
refuir

perdre
reperdre
mordre
dmordre
remordre
tordre
dtordre
distordre
retordre
rompre
corrompre
interrompre
foutre
se contrefoutre

surfaire
plaire

complaire
dplaire
taire
connatre

mconnatre
reconnatre
paratre
apparatre
comparatre
disparatre
rapparatre
recomparatre
reparatre
transparatre

induire
introduire
produire
reconduire
rduire
rintroduire
renduire
reproduire
retraduire
sduire
traduire
construire
dtruire
instruire
reconstruire
luire
entre-luire
reluire
nuire
s'entre-nuire

12 - Coming Next
That's all for the moment concerning Le Prsent. We will look at other tenses later in the French Tutorial.
Next chapter will teach you how to build negative sentences.
Press Next to continue...

Negative phrases

You have seen how to make basic sentences in the present tense. This chapter will help you understand how to
convert declarative sentences to negative ones.

1 - ne...pas
French use ne ... pas to make negative phrases:
Subject

ne

Verb

pas

Je

ne

suis

pas

dans la cuisine

Nous

ne

partons

pas

en vacances

Ils

ne

parlent

pas

Italien

Other examples:

Il ne veut pas venir avec nous.

He doesn't want to come with us.
Tu ne comprends pas cette leon.
You do not understand this lesson.
Vous ne pouvez pas enregistrer votre voix.
You can't record your voice.

Note : when the verb begins with a vowel, use n' instead of ne. For example:

Tu n'as pas de chance ! (See verb "avoir", to have)

You are not lucky!

2 - ne...jamais
Use ne ... jamais to translate "never":
Subject

ne

Verb

jamais

Je

ne

vais

jamais

la piscine

Some examples:

Il ne veut jamais venir avec nous.

He never wants to come with us.
Tu ne comprends jamais cette leon.
You never understand this lesson.
Vous ne pouvez jamais enregistrer votre voix.
You can never record your voice.

3 - ne...plus
French use ne ... plus to make negative sentences with "anymore":
Subject

ne

Verb

plus

Je

ne

suis

plus

dans la cuisine

Nous

ne

partons

plus

en vacances

Ils

ne

parlent

plus

Italien

WARNING: Do not confuse "plus" (+, final s is pronounced) and "plus" (anymore, final s isn't pronounced.)

Other examples:

Il ne veut plus venir avec nous.

He doesn't want to come with us anymore.

Tu ne comprends plus cette leon.

You do not understand this lesson anymore.

Vous ne pouvez plus enregistrer votre voix.
You can't record your voice anymore.

Note : when the verb begins with a vowel, use n' instead of ne. For example:

Tu n'as plus de chance !

You are not lucky anymore!

4 - Coming Next
You have seen:

how to use ne ... pas

how to use ne ... jamais
how to use ne ... plus

Next chapter deals with the interrogative forms. Press NEXT.

Interrogative phrases

This chapter will teach you how to make a question in French.

First, you will see how to convert a declarative sentence into an interrogative one.
Then, you will be taught how to ask things about:

persons (who),
time (when),
and places (where).

Press next

1 - Converting a declarative sentence into an interrogative one

How do French people convert a declarative sentence into an interrogative one?

1. Using Est-ce-que...
Est-ce que... is very commonly used.

Tu participes toutes nos runions.

You take part in all our meetings.
Est-ce que tu participes toutes nos runions ?
Do you take part in all our meetings?
Il joue au football.
He plays soccer.
Est-ce qu'il joue au football ?

Does he play soccer?

Marie aime la peinture.

Marie is fond of painting.
Est-ce que Marie aime la peinture ?
Is Marie fond of painting?
Nos amis prparent le dner.
Our friends are preparing the dinner.
Est-ce que nos amis prparent le dner ?
Do our friends prepare the dinner?

2. Reverting the subject and the verb

Tu participes toutes nos runions.

You take part in all our meetings.

becomes:

Participes-tu toutes nos runions ?

Do you take part in all our meetings?

Note: a dash must be included between the verb and the subject.

Il joue au football.
He plays soccer.
Joue-t-il au football ?
Does he play soccer?

Note: add -t- between the verb and the subject when the verb ends with a vowel and the subject begins with a vowel.

Marie aime la peinture.

Marie is fond of painting.
Marie aime-t-elle la peinture ?
Is Marie found of painting?

Note: You can't say : "Aime Marie la peinture ?" Instead, replace the firstname by the corresponding pronoun and

keep the firstname at the beginning of the phrase. Here is a last example with the same rule:

Nos amis prparent le dner.

Our friends are preparing the dinner.
Nos amis prparent-ils le dner ?
Do our friends prepare the dinner?

3. Changing your voice tone

Even easier! Just add a question mark and change your voice tone.
Let's get the examples we used in the previous pages:

Tu participes toutes nos runions.

You take part in all our meetings.

Tu participes toutes nos runions ?

Do you take part in all our meetings?

Il joue au football.
He plays soccer.
Il joue au football ?
Does he play soccer?

Marie aime la peinture.

Marie is fond of painting.
Marie aime la peinture ?
Is Marie found of painting?
Nos amis prparent le dner.
Our friends are preparing the dinner.
Nos amis prparent le dner ?
Do our friends prepare the dinner?

2 - Pourquoi (why)
"pourquoi" means why. Here are examples that will help you undertand how to use "pourquoi".
Note that the subject and verb orders are reversed.

Pourquoi vas-tu la piscine ?

Why do you go to the swimming pool?
Pourquoi ne venez-vous pas cette fte ?
Why don't you come to this party?
Pourquoi est-il en colre ?
Why is he angry?

la piscine
the swimming pool
tre en colre
to be angry

3 - Comment (how)
"comment" means how. Here are examples that will help you undertand how to use "comment". It is the same as in
English:

Comment vont-elles l'cole ?

How do they go to school?
Comment vas-tu ? (idiom: Comment a va ?
How are you?

4 - O (where)
"o" means where. Here are examples that will help you understand how to use "o". It is the same as in English:
There is a grave accent on "o" to tell the difference with "ou" (or) but the pronunciation remains the same.

O habitez-vous ?
Where do you live?
O partez-vous en vacances ?
Where do you go on holidays?
D'o viennent-ils ?
Where are they from?

venir de quelque part

to come from somewhere

5 - Quand (when)
"quand" means when. Here are examples that will help you understand how to use "quand". It is the same as in
English:

Quand es-tu parti ?

When did you leave?
Quand reviendras-tu ?
When will you be back?
Quand a eu lieu la bataille de Waterloo ?
When did the battle of Waterloo take place?

6 - Qui (who)
"qui" means who. Here are examples that will help you understand how to use "qui". It is the same as in English:

Qui est le propritaire de la voiture ?

Who is the owner of the car?
Qui est-ce ?
Who is it?
Qui est cette femme ?
Who is that woman?
Qui peut dire une chose pareille ?
Who can say such a thing?

7 - Coming Next
You have seen how to ask a question in French and how to use pourquoi, comment, o, quand and qui.
Next chapter deals with qualifying adjectives. Press NEXT.

Qualifying adjectives

Qualifying adjectives (les adjectifs qualificatifs) agree with their corresponding subject.
The following pages will show you:

gender agreement
number agreement
and some examples

1 - Gender Agreement
In French, things are either masculine (masculin) or feminine (fminin). There are no rules (or not many) to explain
why a chair (une chaise) is feminine or why a keyboard (un clavier) is masculine.
The adjective agrees in gender with the subject. Most of the time, add an "e" to the adjective to make it become
feminine.
Un homme (a man) is masculine and "a perfect man" is spelled:

Un homme parfait.

Une femme (a woman) is feminine. So "a perfect woman" is spelled:

Une femme parfaite.

When an adjective "naturally" ends with "e", its feminine form ending remains the same.

Un homme agrable.
Une femme agrable

(a pleasant man)
(a pleasant woman)

When an adjective "naturally" ends with "x", its feminine form ending is "se". The most common example is:

Il est heureux (He's happy)

Elle est heureuse (She's happy)

Do you need more examples ? OK, here they are:

Masculine

Feminine

English

content

contente

happy

lent

lente

slow

gourmand

gourmande

fond of good food

deu

deue

disappointed

timide

timide

shy

malade

malade

sick

amoureux

amoureuse

in love

2 - Number Agreement
Most of the time, adding an "s" to the adjective ending is enough to make it plural. For example:

content becomes contents in the plural

contente becomes contentes in the plural

An adjective, ending with "x", remains the same in the plural. For example:

heureux remains heureux in the plural

but heureuse becomes heureuses in the plural

Some examples:
Gender

Single

Plural

English

Male

content

contents

happy

Feminine contente

contentes

Masculin
lent
e

lents

Feminine lente

lentes

Masculin
gourmand
e

gourmands

Feminine gourmande

gourmandes

Masculin
deu
e

deus

Feminine deue

deues

Masculin
amoureux
e

amoureux

Feminine amoureuse

amoureuses

slow

fond of good food

disappointed

in love

3 - Coming Next
You've learnt qualifying adjectives. They are often used in French and you'll see many during your tour.
Next chapter will teach you how to use the possessive form.

Possessive form

How do we say my, your, etc... in French? This chapter will answer all your questions about the possessive form.
Press next.

1 - Possessive adjectives (my, your, ...)

Let's start with the possessive adjectives (les adjectifs possessifs). In French, they agree with the following noun.
But in the plural, there is no difference between masculine and feminine.
Masculine

Feminine

Plural

my

mon

ma

mes

your

ton

ta

tes

his, her, its

son

sa

ses

our

notre

notre

nos

your

votre

votre

vos

their

leur

leur

leurs

Examples:

C'est le chat de Marie ; c'est son chat.

It is Marie's cat ; it is her cat.

Mon pre travaille dur.
My father works hard.
Nous avons trouv tes chaussures.
We have found your shoes.
Nous gardons leurs enfants.
We are looking after their children.

2 - Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, ...)

Pronouns like mine, yours, etc... agree with the subject in French.
Singular

Masculine

Feminine

Plural

Masculine

Feminine

mine

le mien

la mienne

les miens

les miennes

yours

le tien

la tienne

les tiens

les tiennes

his, hers

le sien

la sienne

les siens

les siennes

ours

le notre

la notre

les notres

les notres

yours

le votre

la votre

les votres

les votres

theirs

le leur

la leur

les leurs

les leurs

Examples:

C'est le chat de Marie ; c'est le sien.

It is Marie's cat ; it is hers.

Donne-moi ta main et prend la mienne.

Give me your hand and hold mine.

See also: le, la, les (articles dfinis).

3 - Belonging ('s equivalents)

English uses 's to indicate that something belongs to someone. French uses de.
Examples:

Ce sont les chaussures de Pierre.

These are Pierre's shoes.

Elle est la soeur de Jean.
She is Jean's sister.

Please note that de + le = du. For example:

Le chat de la dame

The lady's cat

Le chat (de le) du garon
The boy's cat

If the noun begins with a vowel or with a silent h, use de + l'.

Les pieds de l'homme

Man's feet

4 - Exercises
Test yourself! For each question, use the drop-down to see the answer.

J'emprunte

parapluie.

I borrow their umbrella.

"Les Misrables" est le livre des Martin. C'est

"Les Misrables" is Martins' book. It is theirs.

Ne touche pas cette montre: c'est

.
Don't touch this watch: it is mine. Hint: "une montre" (a watch) is feminine.

5 - Coming Next
Next Chapter will teach you how to count in French...

Counting in French

Counting in any language is one of the most important things to learn and to know by heart as quickly as possible.
Counting in French is not really difficult. Click Next...

1 - From 0 to 9
From 0 to 9

, just learn by heart...

Numbers Spelling
0

zro

un

deux

trois

quatre

cinq

six

sept

huit

neuf

2 - From 10 to 19
Now, from 10 to 19

, things are irregular, like in English and in German.

Numbers Spelling
10

dix

11

onze

12

douze

13

treize

14

quatorze

15

quinze

16

seize

17

dix-sept

18

dix-huit

19

dix-neuf

Note: 17 to 19 - you can remember easily those 3 cases:

17 = 10+7: dix+sept = dix-sept

18 = 10+8: dix+huit = dix-huit
19 = 10+9: dix+neuf = dix-neuf

3 - From 20 to 69
From 20 to 69, things are very regular. You just have to learn

20 : vingt
30 : trente
40 : quarante
50 : cinquante
60 : soixante

The rest is natural:

Numbers Spelling
20

vingt

21

vingt et un

22

vingt-deux

23

vingt-trois

24

vingt-quatre

25

vingt-cinq

26

vingt-six

27

vingt-sept

28

vingt-huit

29

vingt-neuf

Do the same for trente, quarante, cinquante and soixante:

From 30 to 39:

From 40 to 49:

Num
Spelling
bers

Num
Spelling
bers

30

trente

40

quarante

31

trente et un

41

quarante et un

32

trente-deux

42

quarante-deux

33

trente-trois

43

quarante-trois

34

trente-quatre

44

quarante-quatre

35

trente-cinq

45

quarante-cinq

36

trente-six

46

quarante-six

37

trente-sept

47

quarante-sept

38

trente-huit

48

quarante-huit

39

trente-neuf

49

quarante-neuf

From 50 to 59:

From 60 to 69:

Num
Spelling
bers

Num
Spelling
bers

50

cinquante

60

soixante

51

cinquante et un

61

soixante et un

52

cinquante-deux

62

soixante-deux

53

cinquante-trois

63

soixante-trois

cinquante-

64

soixante-quatre

65

soixante-cinq

66

soixante-six

67

soixante-sept

68

soixante-huit

69

soixante-neuf

54

quatre

55

cinquante-cinq
cinquante-six

56
57

cinquante-sept

58

cinquante-huit

59

cinquante-neuf

4 - From 70 to 99
Sorry but things become strange from here...

70 is prononced soixante-dix (60+10)

80 is prononced quatre-vingts (4*20)
90 is prononced quatre-vingt-dix (4*20+10)

As a result:
Numbers Spelling
70

soixante-dix

71

soixante et onze

72

soixante-douze

73

soixante-treize

74

soixante-quatorze

75

soixante-quinze

76

soixante-seize

77

soixante-dix-sept

78

soixante-dix-huit

79

soixante-dix-neuf

80 is quatre-vingts:
Numbers Spelling
80

quatre-vingts(*)

81

quatre-vingt-un

82

quatre-vingt-deux

83

quatre-vingt-trois

84

quatre-vingt-quatre

85

quatre-vingt-cinq

86

quatre-vingt-six

87

quatre-vingt-sept

88

quatre-vingt-huit

89

quatre-vingt-neuf

Note: (*) vingt takes an s when it is not in the middle of a number.

90 is quatre-vingt-dix:

Numbers Spelling
90

quatre-vingt-dix

91

quatre-vingt-onze

92

quatre-vingt-douze

93

quatre-vingt-treize

94

quatre-vingt-quatorze

95

quatre-vingt-quinze

96

quatre-vingt-seize

97

quatre-vingt-dix-sept

98

quatre-vingt-dix-huit

99

quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

5 - 100, 200, etc...

100 is written cent. It takes an s when it is not in the middle of a number.
Numbers Spelling
100

cent

200

deux cents

300

trois cents

400

quatre cents

500

cinq cents

600

six cents

700

sept cents

800

huit cents

900

neuf cents

No "s" here:
Numbers Spelling
103

cent trois

240

deux cent quarante

561

cinq cent soixante-et-un

796

sept cent quatre-vingt-seize

6 - 1.000, 2.000, etc...

First of all, you may have noticed that numbers higher than 999 are written with dots (or spaces) and not with
commas.

In French 1,123,241 is written 1.123.241 or 1 123 241 .

1.000 is written mille. It is invariable. So, no "s" for mille.

Numbers Spelling
1.000

mille

2.000

deux mille

3.000

trois mille

4.000

quatre mille

5.000

cinq mille

6.000

six mille

7.000

sept mille

8.000

huit mille

9.000

neuf mille

Some examples:
Numbers Spelling
2.200

deux mille deux cents

3.450

trois mille quatre cent cinquante

7.272

sept mille deux cent soixante-douze

7 - One million and more

1.000.000 is written million
Numbers Spelling
1.000.000 un million
2.000.000 deux millions
3.000.000 trois millions
4.000.000 quatre millions
5.000.000 cinq millions
6.000.000 six millions
7.000.000 sept millions
8.000.000 huit millions

. Million takes an s in the plural.

9.000.000 neuf millions

Some examples:
Numbers Spelling
1.200.000 un million deux cents mille
3.234.000 trois millions deux cent trente-quatre mille
7.120.213 sept millions cent vingt mille deux cent treize

Someone owning several millions is called "un millionnaire" (WARNING: 2n in French).

8 - One billion and more

1.000.000.000 is written milliard
Numbers

Spelling

1.000.000.000 un milliard
2.000.000.000 deux milliards
3.000.000.000 trois milliards
4.000.000.000 quatre milliards
5.000.000.000 cinq milliards
6.000.000.000 six milliards
7.000.000.000 sept milliards

. Add an "s" for plural.

8.000.000.000 huit milliards

9.000.000.000 neuf milliards
Some examples:
Numbers

Spelling

1.000.200.000 un milliard deux cents mille

3.250.000.000 trois milliards deux cent cinquante millions

Someone owning several billions is called "un milliardaire".

9 - Exercises
Ok, do you need some exercises to be sure you fully understood how to count in French ?
How do you spell...
(type in your answers and compare them to the correct ones using the drop-downs)
Numbers

76

200

309

Answers

4.912

7.100.000

1.182.000.000

The comparative

OK, now you have seen how to count in French. It is the right moment to see how to compare things, persons and
how to rank.
In this chapter you will learn how to say:

William is taller than Harry.

Graham is as tall as Susan.
William is the tallest guy.

Roger is the 3rd.

Press next to continue.

1 - Higher/lower degree comparative

Here is how to compare things or persons. "plus ... que" is the French equivalent of "more ... than" and "moins ... que"
means "less ... than".
plus
or

adjective que

moins
plus

grand

que

plus

petit

que

moins important que

Note: que becomes qu' when the following letter is a vowel.

Examples

Jrome est plus grand que Sbastien.

Jrome is taller than Sbastien.

Isabelle est moins curieuse qu'Aurlie.
Isabelle is less curious than Aurlie.

plus
de noun

que

plus

de chance

que

plus

d'

or

moins

argent

que

moins de courage que

Note: de becomes d' when the following letter is a vowel.

Examples

Lionel a plus d'argent qu'Herv.

Lionel has more money than Herv.

Jean a plus de chance que Sbastien.
Jean has more luck than Sbastien.

2 - Same degree comparative

When 2 things or persons are equivalent, use "aussi ... que". It means "as ... as".
aussi adjective que
aussi grand

que

aussi petit

que

aussi important que

Note: que becomes qu' when the following letter is a vowel.

Examples

Jean est aussi grand que Sbastien.

Jean is as tall as Sbastien is.

Isabelle est aussi curieuse qu'Aurlie.
Isabelle is as curious as Aurlie is.

autant de noun

que

autant de chance que

autant d'

amour

que

Note: de becomes d' when the following letter is a vowel.

Example

Roger est aussi chanceux que Thomas = Roger a autant de chance que Thomas.
Roger is as lucky as Thomas = Roger has as much luck as Thomas has.

3 - Superlative

le plus (the most)

le
or la plus
or les

adjective

le

plus fort

la

plus jolie

les

plus importants

Examples:

Jrome est le plus grand.

Jrome is the tallest.
Voici les fichiers les plus importants.
Here are the most important files.
Note: Je suis le meilleur (=le plus bon) joueur.
I am the best player.

le moins (the least)

le
or la moins
or les

adjective

le

moins fort

la

moins jolie

les

moins importants

Examples:

William est le moins rapide.

William is the slowest.

Note: Roger est le pire (=le moins bon) attaquant.
Roger is the worst forward.

4 - The comparative and maths

When comparing figures, here is how French proceeds:

either they say "est plus petit/grand que"

or "est infrieur/suprieur "

Examples:

4 < 10

quatre est plus petit que dix

quatre est infrieur dix

15 > 2

quinze est plus grand que deux

quinze est suprieur deux

When 2 numbers are equal,

either say "gale" (verb galer: this is the most frequently used)
or "est gal "

Examples:

4 = 2+2

quatre gale deux plus deux

quatre est gal deux plus deux

5 - Ranking
In the previous chapter, you have seen how to count in French. Now that you are familiar with numbers, you can learn
rank:
Get the number and add "ime" at the end (except for 1)
Rank French

English

1er

premier / premire

first

2me

deuxime

second

3me

troisime

third

4me

quatrime

fourth

5me

cinquime

fith

6me

sixime

sixth

7me

septime

seventh

8me

huitime

eigth

9me

neuvime

nineth

10me dixime

tenth

Examples

Sverine est arrive la premire.

Sverine came first.
Jean a fini dix-huitime.
Jean took 18th place.

For larger numbers, the rule is the same:

41me: quarante-et-unime
203me: deux cent troisime
4608me: quatre mille six cent huitime
4616me: quatre mille six cent seizime

6 - Coming next
You know how to compare in French, congrats!
In the next chapter, you will learn all about time and date.

Time and date

At the end of this chapter, you will be able to read and write time and date. You will also be able to schedule a
meeting and to catch a plane on time!

1 - Quelle heure est-il?

"What time is it?" in French is "Quelle heure est-il?"

. Asking for time or answering this question is easy.

Most of the time, French people use a 24-hour time format. So, 1pm is rather 13 heures (treize heures). Some
examples:

Je vais au travail 7 heures.

Everyday, I go to my office at 7am.

J'ai un rendez-vous 15 heures.

I have a meeting at 3pm.

Time is written in a HHhMM format and a French day can be divided into 5 parts:
5h - 12h

le matin

12h - 14h

le midi

14h - 18h

l'aprs-midi

18h - 23h

le soir

23h - 5h

la nuit

or la matine

Sometimes, French use a 12-hour time format to insist on the time.

Je me lve 6 heures du matin.

I wake-up at 6 o'clock. (IT IS EARLY)

Je me couche 11 heures du soir.
I go to bed at 11pm. (IT IS LATE)

Let's answer the basic question: "Quelle heure est-il ?"...

Time

Pronounciation

8h

il est huit heures

8h07

il est huit heures sept

8h15

il est huit heures quinze

8h30

il est huit heures trente

8h35

il est huit heures trente cinq

8h45

il est huit heures quarante cinq

8h54

il est huit heures cinquante quatre

<?php include "../../include/i_numbers.php"; $current_time = time(); ?>

Current time, in Paris, is <?php echo date("H\hi", $current_time) ?>: "il est <?php echo
ft_get_french_for_time($current_time) ?>"
"Il est" is impersonal. Nobody is represented by "il", just like in English when you say "it is 8 o'clock".

2 - Quel jour sommes-nous?

"What is today's date?" is said "Quel jour sommes-nous ?"

Days of the week are the following. Note that monday is the first day of a French week (a week=une semaine):
Days

Jours de la semaine

monday

lundi

tuesday

mardi

wednesday

mercredi

thursday

jeudi

friday

vendredi

saturday

samedi

sunday

dimanche

In French, samedi and dimanche are called "le week-end" ! It is pronounced the same as in English.
Here are the names of the months in French:
Months

Mois

january

janvier

february

fvrier

march

mars

april

avril

may

mai

june

juin

july

juillet

august

aot

september

septembre

october

octobre

november

novembre

december

dcembre

A complete date is built on this model:

day day# month year

For example, when we wrote this page the date was:
mercredi 10 novembre 1999
A particular case occurs on the first day of the month. French write: "samedi 1er janvier 2000". "er" means "premier"
(first).
To the question "Quel jour sommes-nous ?", we could have answered:

nous sommes le mercredi 10 novembre 1999

or nous sommes le mercredi 10 novembre
or nous sommes le mercredi 10
or nous sommes le 10
or nous sommes mercredi

N.B.: Date is sometimes written DD/MM/YYYY. For example, November 2nd 1999 is written 02/11/1999 or 2/11/1999.

3 - Time and date examples

This page introduces useful examples and vocabulary around time and date concepts:

Quelle heure est-il ?

What time is it?

Il est seize heures vingt.

It is 4.20pm

Pourriez-vous me donner l'heure s'il vous plat ?

Could you please tell me the time ?
Quel jour sommes-nous ? or Quelle est la date d'aujourd'hui ?
What is the date?
Aujourd'hui, nous sommes le 12 juillet 1998.
Today is the twelfth of july, 1998.

avant-hier
the day before
yesterday

une semaine (f)

a week

un jour (m)
a day

midi
midday

hier
yesterday

aujourd'hui
today

demain
tomorrow

aprs-demain
the day after
tomorrow

minuit
midnight

J'ai un rendez-vous 16 heures. (1)

I have a meeting at 4pm.

Je prend le train de 20h15.

I take the 8:15pm train.

une saison (f)

a season

le printemps (m)
spring

l't (m)
summer

l'automne (m)
autumn

l'hiver (m)
winter

(m)=masculine, (f)=feminine
(1) a "rendez-vous" is not only something romantic. It can also deal with business.

4 - Bonjour or bonne journe?

Should I say bonjour, bonne journe, bonsoir, etc... when meeting/leaving someone ?
The table below gives the answer:
when meeting s.o.
in the morning

when leaving s.o.

bonne matine

bonjour
in the afternoon

bon aprs-midi

in the evening

bonne soire
bonsoir

at night
Some examples:

Bonjour Maman, tu as bien dormi ?

Good morning Mum, did you sleep well?
Bonne journe monsieur Roland.
Have a good day Mr Roland.
Bonsoir! Comment allez-vous ?
Good evening! How are you doing?

bonne nuit

Bonne nuit Antoine.

Good night Antoine.

5 - Coming next
In this chapter, you've learned how to use date and time in French.
Next chapter will teach you the future tense... press NEXT to continue.

Conjugation: le futur

In the third chapter, we saw how to conjugate verbs in the present.

Now that you know how to count in French and how to give time and date, it would be interesting to learn "le futur"
(no final e).
Press next button to continue.

1 - Endings are always the same!

As we did for the present, we'll have to consider the 3 different groups of verbs but one thing is really nice with "le
futur": endings are always the same...
Person

ending

Je/J'

-ai

Tu

-as

Il/Elle/On

-a

Nous

-ons

Vous

-ez

Ils/Elles

-ont

2 - First group verbs (er) in the future tense

This is really easy to deal with first group verbs in the future tense.
Take the infinitive form and just add endings. As a consequence, the verb "aimer" (to love) becomes:

aimer
English

French

I will love

j'aimerai

you will love

tu aimeras

he/she will love

il/elle aimera

we will love

nous aimerons

you will love

vous aimerez

they will love

ils/elles aimeront

Example

Je suis sr que vous aimerez la plage.

I am sure you'll love the beach.

Let's try with another example: calmer (to calm someone down)

calmer
English

French

I will calm him down

je le calmerai

you will calm him down

tu le calmeras

he/she will calm him down

il/elle le calmera

we will calm him down

nous le calmerons

you will calm him down

vous le calmerez

they will calm him down

ils/elles le calmeront

3 - Second group verbs (ir) in the future tense

For second group verbs, such as finir (to finish) and har (to hate), it is exactly the same as 1st group verbs. Keep the
infinitive form and add endings.
finir becomes:

English

French

I will finish

je finirai

you will finish

tu finiras

he/she will finish

il/elle finira

we will finish

nous finirons

you will finish

vous finirez

they will finish

ils/elles finiront

Examples

Maman, je finirai mes devoirs plus tard.

Mummy, I will finish my homework later.

Tu finiras ton roman la plage.
You will finish the novel on the beach.

4 - Third group verbs in the future tense

Most of the 3rd group verbs are regular.

partir (to leave)

English

French

I will leave

je partirai

you will leave

tu partiras

he/she will leave

il/elle partira

we will leave

nous partirons

you will leave

vous partirez

they will leave

ils/elles partiront

Some verbs end in "e". Replace it by le futur endings.

prendre (to take)

English

French

I will take

je prendrai

you will take

tu prendras

he/she will take

il/elle prendra

we will take

nous prendrons

you will take

vous prendrez

they will take

ils/elles prendront

Vivre (to live)

English

French

I will live

je vivrai

you will live

tu vivras

he/she will live

il/elle vivra

we will live

nous vivrons

you will live

vous vivrez

they will live

ils/elles vivront

There are however particular cases:

Verbs with "-enir" ending

Replace "-enir" by "-iendr". For example:
venir (to come) >>>> je viendrai
tenir (to hold) >>>> je tiendrai
tenir (to hold)

English

French

I will hold

je tiendrai

you will hold

tu tiendras

he/she will hold

il/elle tiendra

we will hold

nous tiendrons

you will hold

vous tiendrez

they will hold

ils/elles tiendront

verbs with "-rir" endings

Verbs such as mourir (to die) or courir (to run) have a double-r in the future. When saying "je courrai", pronounce "je
courrrrrrrai"! ;-)
mourir (to die)

English

French

I will die

je mourrai

you will die

tu mourras

he/she will die

il/elle mourra

we will die

nous mourrons

you will die

vous mourrez

they will die

ils/elles mourront

faire (to do)

No rule, sorry! Just learn...
faire (to do)

English

French

I will do

je ferai

you will do

tu feras

he/she will do

il/elle fera

we will do

nous ferons

you will do

vous ferez

they will do

ils/elles feront

And the others

voir (to see) >>>> je verrai, tu verras, ...

verbs as joindre (to join) >>>> je joindrai, tu joindras, ...
and many many many you'll have to learn !

5 - Etre, avoir, aller

tre (to be), avoir (to have) and aller (to go) are irregular verbs in any tense. Here are their endings for the future:

tre
English

French

I will be

je serai

you will be

tu seras

he/she will be

il/elle sera

we will be

nous serons

you will be

vous serez

they will be

ils/elles seront

Examples
Je serai de retour 16h.
I will be back at 4pm.
Vous serez sains et saufs.
You will be safe and sound.

avoir
English

French

I will have

j'aurai

you will have

tu auras

he/she will have

il/elle aura

we will have

nous aurons

you will have

vous aurez

they will have

ils/elles auront

Examples
Tu auras plein d'amis.
You will have lots of friends.
Nous aurons 3 enfants.
We will have 3 children.

aller
English

French

I will go

j'irai

you will go

tu iras

he/she will go

il/elle ira

we will go

nous irons

you will go

vous irez

they will go

ils/elles iront

Examples
L't prochain, elle ira sur la Cte d'Azur.
Next summer, she will go to the French Riviera.
Ils iront au Stade de France.
They will go to the Stade de France.

6 - Remember that...
Endings in le futur tense are always the same:
-ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont

For most of the verbs, just add endings to the infinitive.

There are particular cases for the 3rd group verbs: learn by heart!

7 - Coming next
In this chapter, you've learned how to talk in the future.
Next chapter will show you how to conjugate using the "pass compos".

Press NEXT to continue.

Conjugation: le pass compos

Many of The French Tutorial users sent me messages asking to explain the "pass compos" (perfect).
The pass compos is one of those tenses rather difficult to learn for a foreigner... Why? Because again, you'll have
to learn by heart a lot of things.
Anyway, you are reading this and you will see by yourself in a few minutes ;-)

1 - How it works
The main thing to remember is this construction:

Subject

avoir
or tre

Past participle

in the present
Vous

avez

mang

tt.

J'

ai

termin

mon travail 14:00.

Je

suis

parti

la piscine.

Nous

sommes

alls

en vacances Royan.

Unlike English language, the auxiliary (auxiliaire in French) can be either to have (avoir) or to be (tre)!

2 - Past participle agreement

OK, so first you have to learn by heart which verbs are using tre and which others are using avoir but ... That's not
all!
Remember also that the past participle agrees with the subject when the auxiliary is tre.

Let's conjugate rester (to stay) to illustrate this rule.

rester
masculine subject

rester
feminine subject

to stay

je suis reste

I have stayed
or
I stayed

tu es reste

you have stayed

or
you stayed

elle est reste

he/she has stayed

or
he/she stayed

nous sommes restes

we have stayed
or
we stayed

vous tes rests

vous tes restes

you have stayed

or
you stayed

ils sont rests

elles sont restes

they have stayed

or
they stayed

je suis rest

tu es rest

il est rest

nous sommes rests

Don't make the past participle agree with the subject when using avoir as an auxiliary.

3 - Agreement with the direct object

This rule is one of the most difficult in French (even French people have trouble with it!).
The past participle agrees with the direct object when it is located before avoir auxiliary.

Subject

Direct Object
before avoir

in the present

Nous

les

avons

envoys

hier.

Je

l' (=la)

ai

apprise

par coeur.

avoir

Past participle

Some examples:

J'ai envoy les lettres hier. Je les ai envoyes hier.

I sent the letters yesterday. I sent them yesterday.
Pierre a pris la voiture pour aller au ski. Pierre l'a prise.
Pierre took the car to go skiing. He took it.
Elle a vrifi les rsultats trois fois. Elle les a vrifis trois fois.
She checked the results three times. She checked them three times.

4 - Examples
Here are a few more examples:

Elle a commenc travailler chez Renault .

She has begun to work at Renault's.
Je suis rentr ce matin.
I came back this morning.
Les gens n'ont pas compris.
People did not understand.
Nous avons appris la leon.
We have learnt the lesson.
Ils ont commenc la runion sans nous.
They have started the meeting without us.

5 - tre and avoir at perfect

tre (to be), avoir (to have) in the perfect tense follow the same rules as others:

tre
English

French

I have been

j'ai t

you have been

tu as t

he/she has been

il/elle a t

we have been

nous avons t

you have been

vous avez t

they have been

ils ont t

Example

J'ai t surprise de te revoir.

I've been surprised to see you again.

avoir
English

French

I have had

J'ai eu

you have had

tu as eu

he/she has had

il/elle a eu

we have had

nous avons eu

you have had

vous avez eu

they have had

ils/elles ont eu

Example

Ils ont eu des problmes.

They've had some troubles.

6 - Coming next
That's all concerning the perfect for the moment.
Next chapter will give you useful vocabulary classified by themes.
Press NEXT to continue...

Vocabulary classified by themes

In this chapter, you will find vocabulary resources classified by themes: learning,
savoir-vivre, sports, etc...
This vocabulary is basic but very useful during a conversation.

1 - Learning
The vocabulary about learning will help you describing school things.
First, the verb "apprendre" has two different meanings, depending on the context.
1. apprendre quelque chose quelqu'un
means to teach something to someone but:
2. apprendre le franais
means to learn French
You can avoid misunderstanding by using "enseigner" instead of case 1.

enseigner quelque chose quelqu'un

means to teach something to someone

The teacher is called "un professeur". He/She teaches to "un lve" (boy) or "une lve" (girl).
A school is called "une cole".
Noms

Anglais

Franais

a school

une cole (f)

un professeur (m)

a teacher

un enseignant (m)
une enseignante (f)

a pupil

un/une lve (m/f)

a lesson

un cours (m)

a university

une universit (f)

Verbes

Anglais

Franais

to learn

apprendre
apprendre qch qq

to teach
enseigner qch qq
to take classes in sth

suivre des cours de qch

Let's see a few examples:

Ils suivent des cours de Franais l'universit.

They take classes in French at university.
Mon fils va l'cole en bus.
My son goes to school by bus.
Je suis professeur d'histoire.
I am a history teacher.
Je suis en retard pour le cours d'Anglais.
I am late for the English class.

2 - Learning: French educational system

The French educational system is well known because of the famous baccalaurat (also called "bac"). This diagram
sums-up the main ways to French diplomas:
Age

22-23

DESS
Ing.

21-22

Ecole
d'ingnieur

20-21

Matrise
Licence

19-20

Maths Sp.

DEUG

DUT

BTS

18-19

Maths Sup.

DEUG

DUT

BTS

Terminale Pro BAC pro

17-18

Terminale (T) BAC

Premire Pro.

16-17

Premire (1re)

CAP

BEP

15-16

Seconde (2nde)

CAP

BEP

14-15

Troisime (3e) Brevet des collges

13-14

Quatrime (4e)

12-13

Cinquime (5e)

11-12

Sixime (6e)

10-11

Cours Moyen 2 (CM2)

9-10

Cours Moyen 1 (CM1)

8-9

Cours Elmentaire 2 (CE2)

7-8

Cours Elmentaire 1 (CE1)

6-7

Cours Prparatoire (CP)

5-6

Grande Section de maternelle

4-5

Moyenne Section de maternelle

3-4

Petite Section de maternelle

2-3

Each color used in the above diagram represents the place where courses are given:
cole d'ingnieur
Institut Universitaire de Technologie (I.U.T.)
Universit
Lyce professionnel
Lyce
Collge
cole primaire
cole maternelle
All this could be confusing for you but here are further explanations:

Children can go to school when aged 2

French start reading, writing and counting at 6 in the CP class
At the end of the Seconde class, you choose the BAC you want to pass:
Science (BAC S)
Arts (BAC L)
Economy (BAC ES)
Tertiary (BAC STT).
For example, if you choose S, you follow a 1re S and a Terminale S.
You can't have access to universities or Engineering schools without a BAC. You have to repeat a year
(=reboubler) until you get your Baccalaurat.
Maths Sup and Maths Sp are also called Classes prparatoires. They give no diploma but students are
prepared for competitive examinations (=les coucours) in order to access Les Grandes Ecoles or some
Engineering schools.

Please read official French Ministry of Education web site for more.

3 - Introducing yourself or someone

Very often, you have to introduce yourself... The most common sentence to do so is:

Bonjour, je m'appelle Jean.

Hello, my name is Jean.

To introduce someone else, your wife for example:

Je vous prsente Fabienne, ma femme.

Let me introduce you my wife, Fabienne.

Voici Fabienne, mon pouse.

My wife, Fabienne. (pouse = femme, see family)

The verb "to introduce" is "se prsenter" (1st group verb). It can be used to introduce yourself or to introduce
someone.

Je me prsente: Xavier Renault. I am Xavier Renault.

Il prsente sa femme ses amis. He introduces his wife to his friends.
Il leur prsente sa femme. He introduces his wife to them. (leur = ses amis)
Nous prsentons Robert nos parents. We introduce Robert to our parents.

If you want to talk about your living place:

J'habite Marseille I live in Marseilles

habiter (to live) is a 1st group verb.
Je vis Marseille I live in Marseilles
vivre (to live) is a 3rd group verb.

... or about your age

J'ai 28 ans. I am 28.

So, a good introduction would probably be:

Bonjour, je m'appelle [your name]. J'ai [your age] ans et j'habite [your town].

4 - Family
This page gives the tree structure of a French family.
le grand-pre

la grand-mre

le grand-pre

la grand-mre

the grand-father

the grand-mother

the grand-father

the grand-mother

le pre

la mre

the father

the mother

le frre, la soeur
the brother, the sister

VOUS !
YOU

l'pouse
the wife

le mari

the husband

le fils, la fille = les enfants

the son, the daugter = the children

Here are other words you may need:

l'oncle (m) the uncle

la tante (f) the aunt
le beau-pre (m) the father-in-law
la belle-mre (f) the mother-in-law
les beaux-parents (pl) the parents-in-law
les parents (pl) the parents

Also, here are common sentences:

C'est mon pre/ma mre. He/She is my father/my mother.

Elle est la soeur de Julie. She's Julie's sister.
Je suis mari avec Sylvie. I am Sylvie's husband.
Je suis marie avec Georges. I am Georges's wife.
Ils se sont maris le 4 dcembre. They got married December 4th.

5 - At home
Home vocabulary is useful when you travel to France.

Rooms
Anglais

Franais

the hall

l'entre (f)

the bed room

la chambre (f)

the living room

la salle de sjour (f)

or le salon (m)

the kitchen

la cuisine (f)

the bathroom

la salle de bain (f)

the garage

le garage (m)

the attic

le grenier (m)

the cellar

la cave (f)

On the table
Anglais

Franais

the knife

le couteau (m)

the fork

la fourchette (f)

the spoon

la cuillre (f)

the tea-spoon

la petite cuillre (f)

6 - How to apologize
The verb to apologize is s'excuser. Excuser (or pardonner) means to forgive.
There are many ways to apologize, depending on the seriousness and on the person you got in front of you.

Minor trouble and known person

For example, you hit someone you know:

Pardon !
Excuse !
Excuse-moi ! forgive me!

Minor trouble and unknown person

For example, you ask for the time...

Excusez-moi... Auriez-vous l'heure s'il vous plait ?

Serious trouble

Je suis vraiment dsol(e)... veuillez m'excuser.

I am really sorry... please forgive me.

7 - Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Let's celebrate year 2005 together !
Anglais

Franais

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Nol
Bonne Anne !

Happy New Year!

Heureuse Anne !
to wish sb a happy New Year

adresser ses voeux quelqu'un

a greetings card

une carte de voeux (f)

Greetings card examples:

Je vous souhaite une bonne et heureuse anne 2005.

Nous vous souhaitons une bonne et heureuse anne 2005.
Je vous adresse tous mes voeux pour la nouvelle anne.
Nous vous adressons tous nos voeux pour la nouvelle anne.

8 - Pets
Fond of pets ? In French, they are called animaux domestiques, which could be translated as "animals living at
home".
In France, most of the pets are either dogs or cats.
Spelling is different depending of the pet's gender. The following table gives you the French words for the most
common pets.

Animal
Pet
Male

Female

a dog

un chien

une chienne

a cat

un chat

une chatte

a rat

un rat

une rate

a hamster

un hamster (*)

a goldfish

un poisson rouge (*)

a parrot

un perroquet (*)

(*) For some animals, French make no difference beetween male and female!

J'ai promen le chien. (promener, 1st gr verb) I've taken the dog out for a walk.
Je caresse le chat. (caresser, 1st gr verb) I'm stroking the cat.
Tu nourris les poissons rouges. (nourrrir, 2nd gr verb) You're feeding goldfishes.

9 - Clothes
This page will teach you clothes names and verbs.

Nouns
English

French

a dress

une robe (f)

a T-shirt

un T-shirt (m)

a shirt

une chemise (f)

trousers

un pantalon (m)

a vest

un gilet (m)

a coat

un manteau (m)

a jacket

une veste (f)

a sweater
a pullover

un pull (m)

underpants
knickers
panties

un slip (m)

socks

des chaussettes (f)

a shoe

une chaussure (f)

Verbs
English

French

to wear

porter (1st group v.)

to dress

s'habiller (1st group v.)

to undress

se dhabiller (1st group v.)

Examples

Je porte une chemise manches longues/courtes

I am wearing a long/short-sleeved shirt

Mes chaussures sont en cuir.
My shoes are made of leather.

10 - Information technology
This page teaches you how French talk about computers and the Internet.

Computer related
English

French

a computer

un ordinateur
or un PC

a screen

un cran

a keyboard

un clavier

a mouse

une souris

a printer

une imprimante

a digital camera un appareil photo numrique

Example

Alain utilise un clavier sans fil.

Alain uses a wireless keyboard.

Internet related
English

French

the Internet

Internet

an e-mail

un e-mail (*)
un courrier lectronique

un ml (official word but never used)

un e-mail (*)
an e-mail address
une adresse lectronique
the web

le web (*)

an URL

une URL
or une adresse

a web site

un site web
or un site

dot com

point com

a modem

un modem

(*) English pronounciation

Examples

J'ai reu un e-mail.

I have new mail.

Donne moi ton e-mail.

Give me your e-mail address.

Quelle est l'adresse du site ?

What is the site's URL?

Note: Internet is often use instead of Web.

Je l'ai trouv sur Internet.

I found it on the Web.

11 - Euro
Since the first of January 2002, the Euro (or EUR) is the currency unit in France but also in the following countries:

Austria (l'Autriche)
Belgium (la Belgique)
Finland (la Finlande)

Germany (l'Allemagne)
Greece (la Grce)
Ireland (l'Irlande)
Italy (l'Italie)
Luxembourg (le Luxembourg)
Netherlands (les Pays-Bas)
Portugal (le Portugal)
Spain (l'Espagne)

These 12 countries are called the Euroland or "la Zone Euro". 1 is approximately equal to 1.10 Dollar (as of February
2003).
One Euro is equal to 100 Cent. In France, people are used to using the word centime(s) in place of Cent. You also
have to remember that, in French, Euro takes an 's' in the plural.
Examples

0.15 (15 centimes)

1.00 (1 Euro)
4.54 (4 Euros 54)

12 - Colors
The French word for "color (US) /colour (UK)" is very similar: "couleur". What about the names of the colors in
French? Here is the list:
French

English

Noir

Black

Blanc

White

Rouge

Red

Vert

Green

Bleu

Blue

Jaune

Yellow

Orange

Orange

Gris

Gray

Gris fonc

Dark gray

Gris clair

Light gray

Marron

Brown

Violet

Purple

Rose

Pink

Examples

Lance Armstrong porte le maillot jaune.

Lance Armstrong wears the yellow jersey (=he is the leader in the Tour de France).

De quelle couleur est-il ? Il est rouge.

What color is it? It is red.

Elisabeth et Sylvie ont les yeux bleus.

Elisabeth and Sylvie have blue eyes.

Allez les bleus !

(encouraging the team in blue) Come on!

Hair
NB: "cheveux" means "hair". Unlike the English, it is plural.
French

English

les cheveux noirs

black hair

les cheveux bruns

dark hair

les cheveux blonds

fair hair

les cheveux roux

red hair

les cheveux chatains

brown hair

les cheveux gris

gray hair

les cheveux blancs

white hair

Example

Il a les cheveux blonds.

He has fair hair.

13 - Weather
French love to talk about the weather. The weather forecast on TV is really popular and millions of people watch it
everyday at 8:40pm.
This vocabulary will help you understand those TV programs.
Anglais

Franais

the weather

le temps (m) or la mto (f)

the weather forecast

le bulletin mto (m) or la mto (f)

the sun

le soleil (m)

the cloud

le nuage (m)

the sky

le ciel (m)

the rain

la pluie (f)

the wind

le vent (m)

the storm

la tempte (f)

the thunder

l'orage (m)

the flash of lightning

l'clair (m)

the rainbow

l'arc-en-ciel (m)

And concerning temperatures:

Anglais

Franais

the heat

la chaleur (f)

the cold

le froid (m)

the temperature

la temprature (f)

the degree

le degr (m)

Here are now some examples:

Il fait chaud !
It's hot!
Quelle chaleur !
It's boiling!
It fait doux. or Il fait bon.
It's warm.
Il fait soleil. or Il fait beau.
It's sunny.
Il pleut. (future: Il pleuvra.)
It's raining.
Il fait froid.
It's cold.
La temprature a mont (baiss) de 10 degrs.
The temperature has risen (fallen) by 10 degrees.
Il y a beaucoup de nuages dans le ciel.
There are lots of clouds in the sky.
Le temps est nuageux.
It's a cloudy weather.
La mto est mauvaise.
Weather is bad.
Le soleil brille.
The sun shines.
Hint: have a look at the Mto France (French Weather Services) web site. There is also a French weather TVchannel called La Chane Mto.
-++break++-

Fin

This is the end of this tutorial. But while we are improving it, you could go on-line and browse other nice resources.
Pressing NEXT button will give you fine URLs to improve your French.

1 - Education links
Here are interesting web sites dealing with the French language:
Yahoo!

French language (Yahoo! category)

about.com French

about.com gives you lots of free resources and links about the language
BBC.co.uk French Experience Online

Lots of quizzes and explanations

2 - French cities web sites

Want to visit French towns ? Some links for you...
Hint: most French cities have their web site. Try: (replacing NAME by a city name)
http://www.mairie-NAME.fr/ or
http://www.ville-NAME.fr/

Bordeaux

The wine city !

Lyon

Office du Tourisme de Lyon

Place Bellecour
B.P. 2254
69214 Lyon Cedex 02, FRANCE
Tel: (33 4)78.42.25.75 -- Fax: (33 4)78.37.02.06
Marseille

Office du Tourisme de Marseille

4, La Canebiere
13001 Marseille, FRANCE
Tel: (33 4)91.13.89.00 -- Fax: (33 4)91.13.89.20
Nantes

Nantes official web site.

Paris(1)
Paris(2)

Office du Tourisme de Paris

127, avenue des Champs-Elyses
75008 Paris, FRANCE
Tel: (33 1)49.52.53.54 -- Fax: (33 1)49.52.53.00
Toulouse

Office du Tourisme de Toulouse

Square Charles De Gaulle
31000 Toulouse, FRANCE
Tel: (33 5)61.11.02.20

Melun

Melun isn't famous at all, apart from being close to the Vaux-le-Vicomte castle but our headquarters
are there, so... ;-)

3 - Merci !
The end? Not really... I'll soon improve this tutorial with new examples, more audio support, etc, etc...
In March 2006, more than 2,400 visitors a day came on the site to learn French. It is a real pleasure to see that
people like the tutorial.
Many thanks for visiting frenchtutorial.com. Many MANY thanks for sending me
bug reports, typos, greetings, etc...

author of The French Tutorial

Interested in sponsoring The French Tutorial? Contact me.
-++break++-

Appendix A

This appendix shows verbs conjugations for the following tenses:

Present
Future
Perfect
Imperfect
Past historic
Subjonctive present

Conditional present
Conditional past

You will also find present and past participles, and some examples.

1 - tre (to be)

tre (to be) is irregular.

Present

Future

je suis

je serai

tu es

tu seras

il est

il sera

nous sommes

nous serons

vous tes

vous serez

ils sont

ils seront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai t

j'tais

tu as t

tu tais

il a t

il tait

nous avons t

nous tions

vous avez t

vous tiez

ils ont t

ils taient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je fus

que je sois

tu fus

que tu sois

il fut

qu'il soit

nous fmes

que nous soyons

vous ftes

que vous soyez

ils furent

qu'ils soient

Conditional present

Conditional past

je serais

j'aurais t

tu serais

tu aurais t

il serait

il aurait t

nous serions

nous aurions t

vous seriez

vous auriez t

ils seraient

ils auraient t

Present participle
tant

Past participle
t

2 - avoir (to have)

avoir (to have) is also irregular.

Present

Future

j'ai

j'aurai

tu as

tu auras

il a

il aura

nous avons

nous aurons

vous avez

vous aurez

ils ont

ils auront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai eu

j'avais

tu as eu

tu avais

il a eu

il avait

nous avons eu

nous avions

vous avez eu

vous aviez

ils ont eu

ils avaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

j'eus

que j'aie

tu eus

que tu aies

il eut

qu'il ait

nous emes

que nous ayons

vous etes

que vous ayez

ils eurent

qu'ils aient

Conditional present

Conditional past

j'aurais

j'aurais eu

tu aurais

tu aurais eu

il aurait

il aurait eu

nous aurions

nous aurions eu

vous auriez

vous auriez eu

ils auraient

ils auraient eu

Present participle
ayant

Past participle
eu

3 - aimer (to love, to like)

aimer (to love, to like) is a first group verb and is easy to conjugate.

Present

Future

j'aime

j'aimerai

tu aimes

tu aimeras

il aime

il aimera

nous aimons

nous aimerons

vous aimez

vous aimerez

ils aiment

ils aimeront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai aim

j'aimais

tu as aim

tu aimais

il a aim

il aimait

nous avons aim

nous aimions

vous avez aim

vous aimiez

ils ont aim

ils aimaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

j'aimai

que j'aime

tu aimas

que tu aimes

il aima

qu'il aime

nous aimmes

que nous aimions

vous aimtes

que vous aimiez

ils aimrent

qu'ils aiment

Conditional present

Conditional past

j'aimerais

j'aurais aim

tu aimerais

tu aurais aim

il aimerait

il aurait aim

nous aimerions

nous aurions aim

vous aimeriez

vous auriez aim

ils aimeraient

ils auraient aim

Present participle
aimant

Past participle
aim

Examples:

J'aime les films franais.

I love French movies.

Vous aimerez les Martin.

You will be fond of the Martins.

Il aurait aim le film.

He would have enjoyed the film.

4 - parler (to talk)

parler (to talk) is also a first group verb.

Present

Future

je parle

je parlerai

tu parles

tu parleras

il parle

il parlera

nous parlons

nous parlerons

vous parlez

vous parlerez

ils parlent

ils parleront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai parl

je parlais

tu as parl

tu parlais

il a parl

il parlait

nous avons parl

nous parlions

vous avez parl

vous parliez

ils ont parl

ils parlaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je parlai

que je parle

tu parlas

que tu parles

il parla

qu'il parle

nous parlmes

que nous parlions

vous parltes

que vous parliez

ils parlrent

qu'ils parlent

Conditional present

Conditional past

je parlerais

j'aurais parl

tu parlerais

tu aurais parl

il parlerait

il aurait parl

nous parlerions

nous aurions parl

vous parleriez

vous auriez parl

ils parleraient

ils auraient parl

Present participle
parlant

Past participle
parl

Examples:

Je parle souvent de lui.

I often talk about him.

Quand nous tions jeunes, nous parlions ensemble.

We we were young, we used to talk together.

5 - payer (to pay)

payer (to pay) is a first group verb but it ends with -yer. It has a particular conjugation since you must replace y by
i before mute e. Other verbs follow the same rule such as envoyer (to send) and employer (to employ).

Present

Future

je paie

je payerai

tu paies

tu payeras

il paie

il payera

nous payons

nous payerons

vous payez

vous payerez

ils paient

ils payeront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai pay

je payais

tu as pay

tu payais

il a pay

il payait

nous avons pay

nous payions

vous avez pay

vous payiez

ils ont pay

ils payaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je payai

que je paie

tu payas

que tu paies

il paya

qu'il paie

nous paymes

que nous payions

vous paytes

que vous payiez

ils payrent

qu'ils paient

Conditional present

Conditional past

je paierais

j'aurais pay

tu paierais

tu aurais pay

il paierait

il aurait pay

nous paierions

nous aurions pay

vous paieriez

vous auriez pay

ils paieraient

ils auraient pay

Present participle
payant

Past participle
pay

Examples:

Nous paierons la note. (mute e)

We will pay the bill.

J'ai pay la note.

I have paid the bill.

6 - finir (to end)

finir (to end, to finish) is a second group verb.

Present

Future

je finis

je finirai

tu finis

tu finiras

il fini

il finira

nous finissons

nous finirons

vous finissez

vous finirez

ils finissent

ils finiront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai fini

je finissais

tu as fini

tu finissais

il a fini

il finissait

nous avons fini

nous finissions

vous avez fini

vous finissiez

ils ont fini

ils finissaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je finis

que je finisse

tu finis

que tu finisses

il finit

qu'il finisse

nous finmes

que nous finissions

vous fintes

que vous finissiez

ils finirent

qu'ils finissent

Conditional present

Conditional past

je finirais

j'aurais fini

tu finirais

tu aurais fini

il finirait

il aurait fini

nous finirions

nous aurions fini

vous finiriez

vous auriez fini

ils finiraient

ils auraient fini

Present participle
finissant

Past participle
fini

7 - devoir (to have to)

devoir (to have to or must or to owe depending on the circumstances) is a third group verb and is irregular.

Present

Future

je dois

je devrai

tu dois

tu devras

il doit

il devra

nous devons

nous devrons

vous devez

vous devrez

ils doivent

ils devront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai d

je devais

tu as d

tu devais

il a d

il devait

nous avons d

nous devions

vous avez d

vous deviez

ils ont d

ils devaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je dus

que je doive

tu dus

que tu doives

il dut

qu'il doive

nous dmes

que nous devions

vous dtes

que vous deviez

ils durent

qu'ils doivent

Conditional present

Conditional past

je devrais

j'aurais d

tu devrais

tu aurais d

il devrait

il aurait d

nous devrions

nous aurions d

vous devriez

vous auriez d

ils devraient

ils auraient d

Present participle
devant

Past participle
d

Example (to have to)

Il doit partir tous les matins 5 heures

He has to leave at 5 o'clock every morning.

Examples (must)

Tu dois tre fatigu...

You must be tired...

Nous devons finir ce travail!

We must finish that work!

Example (to owe sth to sby)

Vous deviez 30 francs Jrome.

You owed 30 francs to Jrome.

8 - dire (to say)

dire (to say) is a third group verb.
N.B.: Do no say "Vous disez" but "Vous dites" (partilar case).

Present

Future

je dis

je dirai

tu dis

tu diras

il dit

il dira

nous disons

nous dirons

vous dites

vous direz

ils disent

ils diront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai dit

je disais

tu as dit

tu disais

il a dit

il disait

nous avons dit

nous disions

vous avez dit

vous disiez

ils ont dit

ils disaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je dis

que je dise

tu dis

que tu dises

il dit

qu'il dise

nous dmes

que nous disions

vous dtes

que vous disiez

ils dirent

qu'ils disent

Conditional present

Conditional past

je dirais

j'aurais dit

tu dirais

tu aurais dit

il dirait

il aurait dit

nous dirions

nous aurions dit

vous diriez

vous auriez dit

ils diraient

ils auraient dit

Present participle
disant

Past participle
dit

Examples:

Vous dites le contraire.

You deny it.

Il disait n'importe quoi.

He talked nonsense.

Maman a dit "oui".

Mummy has said "yes".

9 - savoir (to know)

savoir (to know) is a third group verb and is irregular.

Present

Future

je sais

je saurai

tu sais

tu sauras

il sait

il saura

nous savons

nous saurons

vous savez

vous saurez

ils savent

ils sauront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai su

je savais

tu as su

tu savais

il a su

il savait

nous avons su

nous savions

vous avez su

vous saviez

ils ont su

ils savaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je sus

que je sache

tu sus

que tu saches

il sut

qu'il sache

nous smes

que nous sachions

vous stes

que vous sachiez

ils surent

qu'ils sachent

Conditional present

Conditional past

je saurais

j'aurais su

tu saurais

tu aurais su

il saurait

il aurait su

nous saurions

nous aurions su

vous sauriez

vous auriez su

ils sauraient

ils auraient su

Present participle
sachant

Past participle
su

Example:

Je ne veux pas que tu le saches.

I don't want you to know about it.

10 - vouloir (to want)

vouloir (to want) is a third group verb and is irregular.

Present

Future

je veux

je voudrai

tu veux

tu voudras

il veut

il voudra

nous voulons

nous voudrons

vous voulez

vous voudrez

ils veulent

ils voudront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai voulu

je voulais

tu as voulu

tu voulais

il a voulu

il voulait

nous avons voulu

nous voulions

vous avez voulu

vous vouliez

ils ont voulu

ils voulaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je voulus

que je veuille

tu voulus

que tu veuilles

il voulut

qu'il veuille

nous voulmes

que nous voulions

vous voultes

que vous vouliez

ils voulurent

qu'ils veuillent

Conditional present

Conditional past

je voudrais

j'aurais voulu

tu voudrais

tu aurais voulu

il voudrait

il aurait voulu

nous voudrions

nous aurions voulu

vous voudriez

vous auriez voulu

ils voudraient

ils auraient voulu

Present participle
voulant

Past participle
voulu

Example:

Je veux venir avec toi.

I want to come with you.

Il aurait voulu voir ses parents.

He would have wanted to see his parents.

11 - faire (to do)

faire (to do) is a third group verb and is irregular.
N.B.: Do not say "Vous faisez" but "Vous faites".

Present

Future

je fais

je ferai

tu fais

tu feras

il fait

il fera

nous faisons

nous ferons

vous faites

vous ferez

ils font

ils feront

Perfect

Imperfect

j'ai fait

je faisais

tu as fait

tu faisais

il a fait

il faisait

nous avons fait

nous faisions

vous avez fait

vous faisiez

ils ont fait

ils faisaient

Past historic

Subjonctive present

je fis

que je fasse

tu fis

que tu fasses

il fit

qu'il fasse

nous fmes

que nous fassions

vous ftes

que vous fassiez

ils firent

qu'ils fassent

Conditional present

Conditional past

je ferais

j'aurais fait

tu ferais

tu aurais fait

il ferait

il aurait fait

nous ferions

nous aurions fait

vous feriez

vous auriez fait

ils feraient

ils auraient fait

Present participle
faisant

Past participle
fait

Examples:

Je fais mes devoirs.

I do my homework.

Je fais le mnage.
I do the housework.

Ce film m'a fait rire/pleurer/dormir. (faire + infinitive)

This movie made me laugh/cry/sleep.

Vous feriez mieux de partir. (faire mieux de + infinitive)

You'd better go.