Contents

Introduction

Useful grammatical terminology for verbs

A few remarks about French pronunciation

I     THE PRESENT TENSE

1   The present tense of regular verbs

The conjugation of regular -er verbs

The conjugation of -er verbs with spelling changes

The conjugation of regular -ir verbs

The conjugation of regular -re verbs

Asking questions

Verbs and their objects

2   The present tense of irregular verbs

The conjugation of irregular verbs

The uses of the present tense

Special uses of aller and venir

Savoir and connaître

Exercices de révision

Idioms with avoir, faire, être, aller, vouloir, and prendre

Plaire (à)

3   A few impersonal verbs

Weather verbs

The impersonal use of être

The impersonal use of avoir

Other impersonal expressions

4   Reflexive verbs

The present tense of reflexive verbs

Common French reflexive verbs and their use

Exercices de révision

Reflexive and non-reflexive use

The use of the reflexive pronoun to indicate reciprocal action

Reflexive constructions with a passive meaning

II    THE PAST TENSES

5   The passé composé

The formation of the passé composé

The passé composé of verbs conjugated with avoir

The passé composé of verbs conjugated with être

Verbs that can be conjugated with être or avoir

The passé composé of reflexive verbs

Exercices de révision

The uses of the passé composé

6   The imperfect tense

The formation of the imperfect tense

The uses of the imperfect tense

The uses of the passé composé and imperfect tense contrasted

7   The pluperfect tense

The formation of the pluperfect tense

The uses of the pluperfect tense

8   The passé simple

The formation of the passé simple

The uses of the passé simple

III   THE FUTURE TENSES, THE CONDITIONAL, AND THE SUBJUNCTIVE

9   The future tenses

The formation of the simple future

The uses of the simple future

The close future (le futur proche)

The formation of the future perfect

The uses of the future perfect

10   The conditional

The formation of the present conditional

The uses of the present conditional

The formation of the past conditional

The uses of the past conditional

Tense sequences in conditional sentences

11   The subjunctive

The present subjunctive of regular verbs

The present subjunctive of irregular verbs

The past subjunctive

The uses of the subjunctive

Exercices de révision

The use of the subjunctive in the main clause

IV   THE INFINITIVE, THE IMPERATIVE, THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE AND GERUND, AND THE PASSIVE VOICE

12   The infinitive

The formation of the infinitives

The negative infinitive

The uses of the infinitive

Faire + infinitive (causative faire)

Verb + de quoi (something, enough) + infinitive

Exercices de révision

13   The imperative

Regular forms of the imperative

The negative imperative

Irregular forms of the imperative

The position of object pronouns with the imperative

The imperative of reflexive verbs

14   The present participle and the gerund

The formation of the present participle

The uses of the present participle

The gerund and its uses

15   The passive voice

The formation of the passive voice

The uses of the passive voice

 

Review exercises

Appendix A: Numbers, dates, time

Appendix B: Verb tables

French-English glossary

English-French glossary

Answer key