L'ART DE CONJUGUER
Today we are going to learn a special skill: how to conjugate a verb in French. Whereas a verb is an action, conjugation tells us WHO or WHAT is or are performing that action. That WHO or WHAT is called PERSON.
Suppose we are talking about dogs.
Suppose we are talking about dogs.
- Am I talking about myself to you or am I talking to you about yourself?
- Am I talking just to you or to you and somebody else?
- Am I talking to you about somebody else or am I talking about you and me?
- Am I talking to you about another guy? A girl? A girl and a guy? A bunch of girls?
- Am I talking about a specific person, or just anybody in general?
Sounds complicated? Yes! That is why we conjugate! Look how much easier and clearer it is to understand if I say:
- I like dogs. Do you like dogs?
- You like dogs. You all like dogs.
- Herman likes dogs. We like dogs.
- He likes dogs. She likes dogs. They like dogs.
- Lucy likes dogs. Everybody and anybody likes dogs.LES PRONOMS PERSONNELS
The Personal Pronouns
We organize verbs around the PERSON who is talking. There are basically three PERSONS in our three-dimensional universe. This is a universal phenomenon in every human language. Within each PERSON we have either one or several PERSONAL PRONOUNS -this is the area where languages differ. This is how English is organized:
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| ENGLISH |
• The First Person: 2 categories: singular "I" and plural "we"
• The Second Person; 2 categories: singular "thou" (no longer in use). Plural "you" used for both singular and plural.
• The Third Person: 4 categories: a human male "he"; human female "she", a non-person singular "it" and a plural "they"that can represent humans or non-humans.
French is organized this way:
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FRANÇAIS |
• The First Person or PREMIÈRE PERSONNE: 2 categories: singular "je" and plural "nous"
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| je /ʒə/ or /ʒ/ + vowel Other forms: à moi, me, m', me, me, mon, ma, mes, mien, miens, mienne, miennesI am talking only about myself English: "I" Other forms: to me, myself, me, me, my, mine |
 |
| nous /nu/ or /nuz/ + vowel Other forms: à nous, nous, nous, notre, nos, le nôtre, les nôtresI am talking about myself plus you or somebody else English "we" Other forms: to us, ourselves, us, us, our, ours |
• The Second Person or DEUXIÈME PERSONNE; 2 categories: singular and informal "tu". Plural "vous" used for both the formal singular and the plural.
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| tu /ty/ Other forms: toi, te, ton, ta, tes, tien, tiens, tienne, tiennes I am talking only about you to you in an informal or familiar way The old English: "thou" Other forms: to thee, thyself, thee, thee, thy, thyself, thine |
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| vous /vu/ or /vuz/ + vowel Other forms: votre, vous, votre, vos, vôtre I am talking to a singular "you" in a formal and polite way English: "you" Other forms: to you, yourself, you, you, your, yours |
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| vous/vu/ or /vuz/ + vowel Other forms: votre, vous, votre, vos, vôtre Same word and same conjugation, but this time I am talking to a plural "you". Just think of Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia in the southern USA and the way some people there say "you all"English: "you (all)" Other forms: to you (all), yourselves, you, you, your, yours |
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| elle /ɛl/ Other forms: se, son, sa, ses, la, lui, le sien, les siens, la sienne, les siennes, à elle
This is the third person singular feminine, translated directly into English as "she". The pronoun "elle" or "she" also covers words of feminine gender that are not human. This is not new to English. We often refer to cars, boats, and motorcycles as "she": "She's a beauty!" Whereas in English it is an exception, in French it is a rule: all words of feminine gender take the pronoun "elle" or "she". The French will literally ask, "Your house, how much did you buy her for? House (la maison) is feminine. English: "she" Other forms: to her, herself, her, her, her, hers
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| il /il/ Other forms: à lui, se, son, sa, ses, le, lui, sien, siens, sienne, siennes
The pronoun il is the third person singular masculine, translated directly into English as "he". Unlike English, the pronoun "il" or "he" also covers words of masculine gender that are not human. As I mentioned above, there is no such thing as the word "it" in French. Everything in the French universe is either "he" or "she". English: "he" Other forms: to him, himself, him, him, his, his
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| ils /il/ or /ilz/ + vowel Other forms: à eux, se, leur, leurs, les, leur, le leur, la leur, les leurs
The pronoun ils is the third person plural masculine. The pronoun can also refer to a group of mixed gender: La fenêtre, la chaise, et le bureau sont dans la classe= ils sont dans la classe. You can have one hundred, one thousand items that are feminine and only the one that is masculine will render the pronoun masculine to represent the whole group. Sexist? Yes. Unfair? Depends on how you see it!
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| elles /ɛl/ or /ɛlz/ + vowel Other forms: à elles, se, leur, leurs, les, leur, le leur, la leur, les leurs
The pronoun elles is the third person plural masculine. The pronoun EXCLUSIVELY refers to a group of feminine gender: La fenêtre, la chaise, et la porte sont dans la classe= elles sont dans la classe. Sexist? Yes. Unfair? Depends on how you see it! Words of feminine gender get their own exclusive pronoun. Unfair to masculine words, who are forced to share their plurality with feminine words.
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| on / ɔ̃/ or / ɔ̃n/ + vowel Other forms: à soi, the rest same as "il", "ils" or "nous" depending on usage
Finally here is the weird one of the bunch! The third person singular pronoun on is not the pronoun "it" in English. We said there was no "it" in French, Remember? The pronoun "on" is called the "le pronom indéterminé" or the unspecified pronoun. It is the Joker pronoun, the wild card pronoun. In English, the words "you" and "they" have a similar function. When I say, "You can damage your lungs by smoking" I am not particularly referring to your lungs, but to people in general - In English, that "you" is called the "universal you". We can also say, "People can damage their lungs by smoking" which means exactly the same thing. In French "on" can mean the universal "you", people in general, "they", and it can even mean "we": Est-ce qu'on va au cinéma? Although you treat it like a third person singular, remember that it does not mean "it"!
English: the universal "you", people, "they", "we" plus corresponding forms.
Here they are again!
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| aimer /e'me/ «to love» or «to like» |
Today we are going to learn how to conjugate the verb aimer
which means "to love" or simply "to like". The French make no
distinction between "to love" and "to like". I guess they've figured out
that if you like what you love then you love what you like!
Here it is. Easier to write "il" than "il/ elle/ on":
CONJUGATING A VERB
WHICH ENDS IN -ER
OK. We know how to conjugate the verb "aimer". Let's conjugate the verb "adorer" which means the same thing in English "to adore" or to "love somebody or something very much".
adorer
The verb "adorer" is an -er verb... that means that it ends in the letters -er. It also means that it is a regular verb. Most verbs in French end in the letter -er. The ending -er is the most common or regular ending. That is why -er is a regular verb. To conjugate "adorer", we first must remove the
-er ending. When we do, we are left with:
adorer
What we are left with is the STEM of the verb, which is ador. To conjugate ador we must (1) specify the pronoun (2) conjugate the verb by adding the ending.
je adore
Wait, we have a problem. The French language does not like a word ending in a vowel next to a word starting in a vowel, so we must eliminate the e in je and add an apostrophe:
j'adore
Now let's conjugate it by changing the pronouns (tu, il, elle, nous, vous, ils, elles) and the endings (-es, -e, -ons, -ent):
Now let's conjugate the verb "détester" which means "to hate" or "to detest". First, find the stem.
What is the stem of the verb détester (hint: remove the ending). What ending? The -er ending. You should end up with something like this:
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL...........
|
|
1er
personne
|
-e
|
-ons
|
je déteste
|
nous
détestons
|
|
2e
personne
|
-es
|
-ez
|
tu détestes
|
vous
détestez
|
|
3e
personne
masculin
|
-e
|
-ent
|
il
déteste
|
ils
détestent
|
Notice that you did not have to eliminate the e in je because the verb "détester" does not start with a vowel.
EXERCICE
EXERCICE
The verb "regarder" means "to watch" in English. So regarder la télévision means "to watch television: Now conjugate the verb regarder below:
regarder
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL...........
|
|
1er
personne
|
 |
|
je .............
|
nous .............
|
|
2e
personne
|
|
|
tu .............
|
vous .............
|
|
3e
personne
masculin
|
|
|
il .............
|
ils .............
|
Here is a more simplified way of looking at the verbs in -ER, we'll begin with "aimer":
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AIMER: "to love" or simply "to like". J'aime la musique classique. I like classical musique.
Je t'aime. I love you. Est-ce que vous aimez aller au cinéma? Do you like to go to the movies?
|
REG
VERB
|
aimer
| |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL
| |
1e
| j'aime | nous aimons |
2e
| tu aimes | vous aimez |
3e
| il aime | ils aiment |
*****
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| ADORER: "to adore" Same meaning in English. To love somebody or something to the point of worship, either real or metaphorical. Les bergers dans la peinture adorent le petit Jésus. The shepherds in the painting are adoring the baby Jesus. Mon père adore les champignons. My father really loves mushrooms. |
REG
VERB
|
adorer
| |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL
| |
1e
| j'adore | nous adorons |
2e
| tu adores | vous adorez |
3e
| il adore | ils adorent |
*****
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| DÉTESTER: "to detest" In both French and English we see the same meaning. English speakers, though, prefer to use the verb "to hate". The French have a word for "hate" haïr - but it is too strong and almost scary! Therefore the ideal translation for "I hate onions" would be "Je déteste les oignons" or I detest onions. Saying "Je hais les oignons" would be too strong! |
REG
VERB
|
détester
| |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL
| |
1e
| je déteste | nous détestons |
2e
| tu détestes | vous détestez |
3e
| il déteste | ils détestent |
*****
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| DANSER: "to dance". Notice that in English, dance is spelled with a C. In French the C is replaced by a S. Elle danse très bien. She dances very well. Je danse comme un éléphant. I dance like an elephant. Est-ce que tu voudrais danser avec moi? Would you like to dance with me? Je ne danse pas très bien. I don't dance very well. |
REG
VERB
|
danser
| |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL
| |
1e
| je danse | nous dansons |
2e
| tu danses | vous dansez |
3e
| il danse | ils dansent |
*****
 |
| REGARDER: "to watch" as in "Normalement, on regarde la television après le dîner" Normally we watch (one watches) television after dinner. Je ne regarde pas les actualités parce que c'est trop déprimant. I don't watch the news because it is too depressing. J'aime regarder les bateaux quand je suis à la plage. I like to look at boats when I am on the beach. |
REG
VERB
|
regarder
| |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL
| |
1e
| je regarde | nous regardons |
2e
| tu regardes | vous regardez |
3e
| il regarde | ils regardent |
*****
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| HABITE: "to live" in the sense of "to occupy a place and call it home". Les oiseaux habitent dans les arbres. Birds live in trees. J'habite à Jakarta. I live in Jakarta. Ma nièce habite à Paris. My niece lives in Paris. Je n'habite pas dans une maison. J'habite dans un appartement au centre-ville. I don't live in a house, I live in an appartment in the center of town, |
REG
VERB
|
habiter
| |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL
| |
1e
| j'habite | nous habitons |
2e
| tu habites | vous habitez |
3e
| il habite | ils habitent |
*****
EXERCICE 1a.
♀❤ ✈ Elle aime voyager.
♂❤ ✍ ✉ Il aime écrire des lettres.
♂♀☹ ☂ Ils détestent la pluie.
♂❤✍ ✉ ..........................................
♀☹ ✈ ..........................................
♀♀ ☹ ☂ ..........................................
♂❤ ✈ ..........................................
♂♀☹ ✍ ✉ ........................................
EXERCICE 1b.
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| 1)........................................................................... |
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| 2)........................................................................... |
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| 3)........................................................................... |
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| 4)........................................................................... |
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| 5)........................................................................... |
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| 6)...........................................................................
Et toi? Qu'est-ce que tu aimes? Qu'est-ce que tu détestes?
J'aime ....................................................................
Je déteste ..............................................................
EXERCICE 2: Trouve la question
|
Oh oui, j'aime le tennis.
b) Et toi, André, .....................................................?
Non, je n'aime pas regarder la télévision.
c) Monsieur............................................................?
Non, je déteste la boxe.
d) Et toi, Alfred, ....................................................?
Oh oui, j'adore le jazz.
LA NÉGATION
FORME AFFIRMATIVE - FORME NÉGATIVE
J'aime le jazz. Je n'aime pas le jazz.
Tu aimes le cinéma. Tu n'aimes pas le cinéma.
Il aime les sports. Il n'aime pas les sports.
Elle aime la pluie. Elle n'aime pas la pluie.
On aime la télévision. On n'aime pas la télévision
Nous aimons le français. Nous n'aimons pas le français.
Vous aimez le théâtre? Vous n'aimez pas le théâtre?
Ils aiment voyager Ils n'aiment pas voyager
Elles aiment écrire des lettres Elles n'aiment pas écrire des
lettres.
REG
VERB
|
pas aimer = détester
(forme négative) | |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL
| |
1e
| je n'aime pas | nous n'aimons pas |
2e
| tu n'aimes pas | vous n'aimez pas |
3e
| il n'aime pas | ils n'aiment pas |
REG
VERB
|
pas détester = aimer
(forme négative) | |
SINGULIER
|
PLURIEL..................................
| |
1e
| je ne déteste pas | nous ne détestons pas |
2e
| tu ne détestes pas | vous ne détestez pas |
3e
| il ne déteste pas | ils ne détestent pas |
LA NÉGATION
- ne is placed right after the noun
- pas is placed right after the verb
- Note that ne becomes n' before a vowel sound!
EXERCICE: Transformez les phrase suivantes comme dans l'exemple:
Exemple: Je déteste l'avion
✒ ____ Je n'aime pas l'avion_________
(a) Vous détestez les voitures.
✒________________________________
(b) Tu détestes danser.
✒________________________________
(c) Je déteste les parfums.
✒________________________________
(d) Tu détestes la boxe.
✒________________________________
(e) Vous détestez regarder la télévision.
✒________________________________
*****
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