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

Chapter 6 of 17 · Conjugating French Without Hesitating

Chapter 5. Review · the whole présent mixed up

A review that deliberately mixes every verb seen so far, because a page on which every verb is alike gets filled in without thinking.

Why a mixed set is harder, and why that is deliberate

As long as a page holds nothing but -er verbs, it can be filled in almost without reading: the hand writes -ons after "nous" and the matter is settled. The result is good, the feeling is excellent, and nothing has been learnt. On the day a sentence has to be written for real, the verb is not announced by a chapter heading, and the reflex does not exist.

This house therefore mixes its sets at regular intervals, and this is the first of them. It is slower and produces more mistakes than the earlier ones: that is the sign that it is working. Public work on practice shows that what is done easily during an exercise is retained badly, and that what is done with effort is retained. The sources chapter gives the references.

Do this review without going back. What is missing will show up in the worked answers, and that is exactly what needs to be known before starting on a new tense.

Exercise 21. Every verb, every person

Copy out each sentence, writing the verb in the présent (the present tense). Look for the subject before writing, every single time.

  1. Nous (commencer) toujours par le plus dur.
  2. Vous (dire) que ce n'est pas grave.
  3. Le voisin du dessous (avoir) une nouvelle voiture.
  4. Les portes (être) déjà fermées.
  5. Tu (jeter) les épluchures.
  6. Elles (venir) sans prévenir.
  7. On (pouvoir) essayer autrement.
  8. Ma tante et ses filles (aller) au bord de la mer.
  9. Je (finir) dans un instant.
  10. Le paquet de gâteaux ne (peser) presque rien.
  11. Vous (faire) une erreur.
  12. Les enfants (vouloir) rester dehors.
  13. Nous (essuyer) la vaisselle ensemble.
  14. Il (prendre) son manteau et il (sortir).
  15. Les rues du centre (être) très étroites.
  16. Tu (voir) le clocher là-bas ?

The next set does not ask you to conjugate: it asks you to spot. Looking for a mistake in a written text is a different move from writing one yourself, and it is only learnt by doing it. It is that move that serves when you reread your own work.

Exercise 22. Find the mistake and correct it

Each sentence holds one single conjugation mistake. Copy out the corrected sentence, then say in a few words what was wrong.

  1. Les enfants joue dans la cour.
  2. Vous faisez trop de bruit.
  3. Nous mangons à midi et demi.
  4. Ils prend le train de sept heures.
  5. Le chien des voisins aboient toute la nuit.
  6. Tu va bien ?
  7. Nous finissons nos devoirs et ils finit les leurs.
  8. Vous disez toujours la même chose.
  9. On sont en retard.
  10. Je peut venir demain.
  11. Les voitures ralentit au virage.
  12. Elle appele son frère.

Exercise 23. From the singular to the plural

Copy out each sentence, putting the subject into the plural, then make the verb agree. A few other words in the sentence have to follow the change: the worked answers point them out to you, and those agreements are not the ones the set is training.

  1. L'élève choisit son livre.
  2. Le train part à huit heures.
  3. Elle vient tous les jeudis.
  4. Il prend son parapluie.
  5. Le camion avance lentement.
  6. Tu vois la différence.
  7. La lampe est allumée.
  8. Ce chien a peur de l'eau.
  9. Le boulanger fait son pain lui-même.
  10. Il va à la piscine le mercredi.

Exercise 24. From the plural to the singular

Copy out each sentence, putting the subject into the singular, then make the verb agree. Watch out for the verbs whose stem changes between the two numbers. Here again a few other words follow, and the worked answers point them out.

  1. Les enfants viennent de rentrer.
  2. Nous prenons le petit chemin.
  3. Vous pouvez entrer.
  4. Ils veulent tout savoir.
  5. Les voisins vont déménager.
  6. Nous voyons la mer depuis la fenêtre.
  7. Les élèves finissent leur exercice.
  8. Elles sont très patientes.
  9. Ils ont raison.
  10. Nous faisons le tour du parc.