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English
The LibraryODERSA publishing house
An ODERSA resource · Knowledge programmeA book only goes online once it is whole and read by someone else.

Chapter 2 of 17 · Conjugating French Without Hesitating

Chapter 1. Finding the verb and its subject

Before conjugating, you have to know which word you are conjugating and what you are agreeing it with: finding the verb, its infinitive, its subject, and cutting the form in two.

The move that comes before all the others

Almost every conjugation mistake is settled before the ending. Writing "les enfants joue" is not a mistake about the présent (the present tense): it is a mistake about the subject, made by someone who knew the ending of the présent perfectly well. This chapter therefore installs the four moves that come first: finding the conjugated verb, recovering its infinitive, finding its subject, and cutting the verb form into two pieces.

These moves are not guessed, they are repeated. The sets that follow ask for no ending at all: nothing is conjugated here, things are spotted. It is the only chapter of the workbook in that case, and it is also the one with the fewest exercises.

Reminder · the words to have in mind

These four words come back throughout the workbook. The glossary, at the end of the volume, takes them up again with the others. The French term is the one the book teaches, and its English equivalent follows in brackets.

Le verbe conjugué
The conjugated verb. The word in the sentence that changes form according to the moment being spoken of and according to who is doing the action. In "nous partons demain", the conjugated verb is "partons".
L'infinitif
The infinitive. The form of the verb that carries neither person nor tense, the one under which it is listed in a dictionary: partir, chanter, prendre. It is the name of the verb.
Le sujet
The subject. The group of words that commands the agreement of the verb. You find it by putting the question "qui est-ce qui ?" or "qu'est-ce qui ?" in front of the verb.
La personne
The person. The rank of the subject, from the first to the third, singular or plural. It is stated with the pronouns je, tu, il or elle, nous, vous, ils or elles.

Reminder · finding the conjugated verb in three moves

  1. Step 1

    Look for the word that says what is happening: an action, a state, a change.

  2. Step 2

    Check that it changes when you change the moment: if "aujourd'hui" becomes "hier" and the word changes form, it is the conjugated verb.

  3. Step 3

    Check that it also changes when you change the person: if replacing the subject with "nous" makes the word change again, the check is done.

Exercise 1. Finding the conjugated verb

Copy out each sentence and underline the conjugated verb. There is only one per sentence.

  1. Le vent secoue les volets.
  2. Chaque matin, ma voisine arrose ses tomates.
  3. Les élèves du fond entendent mal.
  4. Une longue file d'attente occupe tout le trottoir.
  5. Nous rangeons la salle après le repas.
  6. Ton frère connaît la réponse.
  7. Dans la cour, deux enfants comptent à voix haute.
  8. Cette machine fabrique des boîtes en carton.

A trap in the next set: a conjugated verb does not always look like its infinitive. "Nous allons" comes from "aller", but so does "je vais", and so does "nous irons". A verb can change its stem without changing its name.

Exercise 2. Recovering the infinitive

Write the infinitive of the conjugated verb in each sentence. When you hesitate, use the turn of phrase "il est en train de..." to help you.

  1. Les voitures ralentissent devant l'école.
  2. Tu prends le chemin le plus court.
  3. Nous voyons le clocher d'ici.
  4. Mon oncle vient tous les dimanches.
  5. Les feuilles tombent depuis une semaine.
  6. Vous dites toujours la même chose.
  7. Ce sac pèse trop lourd.
  8. Elles vont au marché ensemble.
  9. Je peux porter la caisse.
  10. Le boulanger pétrit la pâte à cinq heures.

Reminder · finding the subject, and not being led astray

  1. Step 1

    Put the question "qui est-ce qui ?" right in front of the conjugated verb: the answer is the subject.

  2. Step 2

    Take the whole group, not just its last word: in "le chien des voisins aboie", the subject is "le chien des voisins", and it is "le chien" that commands.

  3. Step 3

    Beware of the word placed just before the verb: it is not always the subject, and that is where most agreements go wrong.

Exercise 3. Finding the subject and stating the person

For each sentence, write the subject of the conjugated verb, then the person of that subject, for example "troisième personne du singulier".

  1. Le facteur distribue le courrier.
  2. Les enfants du quartier jouent au ballon.
  3. Tu oublies toujours ton écharpe.
  4. Le panier de fruits sent très bon.
  5. Nous partons avant la nuit.
  6. Les fenêtres de la cuisine ferment mal.
  7. Vous arrivez au bon moment.
  8. Un troupeau de vaches traverse la route.
  9. Ma sœur et moi préparons le repas.
  10. Les livres de la pile du bas dorment depuis des années.

Reminder · cutting a verb form in two

A conjugated form cuts into two pieces. The first, le radical (the stem), carries the meaning of the verb and does not change in the simplest cases: in chanter, the stem is chant-. The second, la terminaison (the ending), changes according to the tense and according to the person: in chantais, the ending is -ais.

That cut is the tool of the whole workbook. To conjugate is to choose the right ending and stick it onto the right stem, and nothing else. When a form is surprising, it is almost always the stem that has changed, not the ending.

The cut is always made in the same place: just after the part that carries the meaning. The chapters that follow will sometimes present a form differently, for convenience of writing, starting from the whole infinitive rather than from the stem. Both presentations are correct and serve two different purposes: this one is for understanding how a form is made, the other will be for writing it quickly.

Exercise 4. Separating the stem from the ending

Copy out each verb form, separating the stem from the ending with a hyphen, as in "chant-ons". All these forms say what is happening right now.

  1. nous marchons
  2. tu regardes
  3. ils poussent
  4. elle chante
  5. vous portez
  6. je danse
  7. nous crions
  8. tu joues

Exercise 5. All of it together

For each sentence, write three things in this order: the conjugated verb, its infinitive, its subject.

  1. Les nuages cachent le soleil depuis ce matin.
  2. Mon voisin repeint sa barrière.
  3. Vous choisissez toujours la file la plus lente.
  4. Le train de six heures part du quai numéro deux.
  5. Nous apprenons une chanson nouvelle.
  6. Ces vieilles portes grincent dès qu'on les touche.

The worked answers for this chapter are in the answers chapter, at the end of the volume, in the order the exercises appear here. Do the whole set before going there.