THE PERFECT

1. THE PERFECT TENSE

2. THE PERFECT TENSE IS USED TO EXPRESS THE PAST. IT IS TRANSLATED AS “DID” OR “HAS DONE” IN ENGLISH. IN FRENCH THERE ARE TWO THINGS NEEDED TO FORM THE PERFECT TENSE. THIS IS SIMILAR TO HOW IT WORKS IN ENGLISH.

3. THIS IS THE PERFECT TENSE IN ENGLISH HE HAS DONE SUBJECT AUXILIARY VERB PAST PARTICIPLE TO FORM THE PERFECT TENSE IN FRENCH, WE NEED AN AUXILIARYVERB AND A PAST PARTICIPLE, JUST AS IN ENGLISH.

4. THERE ARE TWO VERBS THAT ARE USED AS AUXILIARY VERBS…… AVOIR ÊTRE AND (TO HAVE) (TO BE) MOST VERBS USE “AVOIR” AS THE AUXILIARY VERB, BUT SOME USE “ÊTRE”, (WE’LL DEAL WITH THIS LATER) HERE ARE THE PARTS OF AVOIR

5. AVOIR - TO HAVE I HAVE J’AI YOU HAVE TU AS IL/ELLE A HE/SHE HAS WE HAVE NOUS AVONS YOU HAVE VOUS AVEZ THEY HAVE ILS/ELLES ONT

6. THE NEXT STEP IS TO FORM A PAST PARTICIPLE HERE’S HOW ………

7. 1 TAKE AN INFINITIVE JOU É ER THIS IS CALLED A STEM FIN IR I VEND RE U 2 REMOVE THE ENDING THESE ARE PAST PARTICIPLES 3 ADD ENDINGS

8. SO... PAST PARTICIPLE ENDS IN ………… VERB ENDS IN………………… -ER É -IR I U -RE LEARN THESE ENDINGS!!!

9. NOW YOU HAVE A PAST PARTICIPLE IT IS COMBINED WITH A PART OF “AVOIR” TO FORM THE PERFECT TENSE LET’S SEE HOW

10. PART OF PAST JOUÉ J’AI PARTICIPLE AVOIR = I PLAYED / I HAVE PLAYED

11. PART OF PAST FINI IL A PARTICIPLE AVOIR = HE FINISHED / HE HAS FINISHED

12. PART OF PAST NOUS AVONS VENDU PARTICIPLE AVOIR = WE SOLD / WE HAVE SOLD

13. PART OF PAST VOUS AVEZ VISITÉ PARTICIPLE AVOIR = YOU VISITED / YOU HAVE VISITED

14. THAT’S HOW TO DO THE PERFECT TENSE. HOWEVER THERE ARE SOME OTHER RULES YOU NEED TO KNOW…

15. NOT ALL VERBS FORM THEIR PAST PARTICIPLES WITH THE METHOD WE HAVE SEEN. SOME VERBS HAVE “IRREGULAR” PAST PARTICIPLES AND NEED TO BE LEARNT HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT ONES

16. PAST PARTICIPLE MEANING INFINITIVE TO BE ÉTÉ ÊTRE TO DO/MAKE FAIRE FAIT SAVOIR SU TO KNOW DEVOIR TO HAVE TO DÛ POUVOIR PU TO BE ABLE TO VOIR TO SEE VU TO HAVE EU AVOIR LEARN THESE PAST PARTICIPLES

17. REMEMBER EARLIER WE SAID THERE ARE TWO VERBS WHICH CAN BE USED AS AN AUXILIARY VERB……… THERE ARE SOME VERBS WHICH USE “ÊTRE” INSTEAD OF “AVOIR”. LET’S SEE HOW THIS WORKS……

18. THERE ARE 13 VERBS WHICH USE “ÊTRE” AS THE AUXILIARY. HERE THEY ARE……… A ller V enir A rriver P artir R ester R etourner M onter D escendre E ntrer S ortir N aître M ourir T omber

19. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO LEARN THESE VERBS FORTUNATELY THERE ARE WAYS TO HELP……

20. 1 A ller V enir A A A rriver P artir R ester R etourner R M M onter D escendre E E ntrer S ortir N N aître M ourir T omber

21. AARMEN REMEMBERING THIS ODD SPELLING OF THE WORD “AMEN” IS ONE WAY OF HELPING TO REMEMBER THE “13 ÊTRE VERBS”. IT ALSO HELPS TO REMEMBER THE MEANINGS. DID YOU NOTICE HOW THE VERBS WERE ARRANGED IN TWO COLUMNS? THE MEANING OF THE VERB ON THE RIGHT IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE VERB ON THE LEFT LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT THEM AGAIN

22. TOMBER VENIR ALLER TO FALL TO COME TO GO PARTIR ARRIVER TO LEAVE TO ARRIVE RESTER RETOURNER TO STAY TO RETURN DESCENDRE MONTER TO GO UP TO GO DOWN SORTIR ENTRER TO GO IN TO GO OUT MOURIR NAÎTRE TO BE BORN TO DIE AND “TOMBER” FALLS DOWN BETWEEN THE REST!!

23. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO HELP REMEMBER THE 13 ÊTRE VERBS. HERE IS ANOTHER POPULAR WAY………

24. MONTER M R S SORTIR RESTER NAÎTRE N A ALLER V VENIR DESCENDRE E ENTRER TOMBER T D R ARRIVER A RETOURNER M MOURIR PARTIR P THE 13 VERBS ARE ALSO KNOWN AS THE “MRS. VAN DE TRAMP” VERBS

25. THESE 13 VERBS WORK IN THE SAME WAY AS HOW WE SAW PREVIOUSLY. FIRST YOU NEED TO MAKE THE PAST PARTICIPLE BUT THIS TIME IT IS COMBINED WITH PARTS OF “ÊTRE” INSTEAD OF “AVOIR”. ONLY THREE OF THE 13 VERBS HAVE AN IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLE. HERE THEY ALL ARE……

26. THE 13 “ÊTRE” VERBS AND THEIR PAST PARTICIPLES PAST PARTICIPLE INFINITIVE INFINITIVE PAST PARTICIPLE ALLER VENIR VENU ALLÉ ARRIVER ARRIVÉ PARTIR PARTI RESTER RESTÉ RETOURNER RETOURNÉ MONTER MONTÉ DESCENDRE DESCENDU ENTRER ENTRÉ SORTIR SORTI NÉ MOURIR MORT NAÎTRE TOMBER TOMBÉ THESE ARE THE IRREGULAR ONES

27. ÊTRE – TO BE I AM JE SUIS YOU ARE TU ES IL/ELLE EST HE/SHE IS WE ARE NOUS SOMMES YOU ARE VOUS ÊTES THEY ARE ILS/ELLES SONT

28. PART OF PAST ALLÉ JE SUIS ÊTRE PARTICIPLE = I WENT

29. PART OF PAST PARTI IL EST ÊTRE PARTICIPLE = HE LEFT

30. THERE IS ONE MORE IMPORTANT THING THAT MUST BE DONE WHEN USING THE PERFECT TENSE WITH ÊTRE…… THE PAST PARTICIPLE MUST AGREE WITH THE SUBJECT. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?? LET’S SEE

31. YOU WILL HAVE SEEN THE USE OF AGREEMENTS BEFORE. ADDING EXTRA LETTERS WHEN DESCRIBING SOMETHING FEMININE OR PLURAL. LIKE THIS……… IL EST PETIT ILS SONT PETITS ELLES SONT PETITES ELLE EST PETITE THESE SAME AGREEMENTS ARE ALSO USED WHEN USING ÊTRE IN THE PERFECT TENSE

32. PART OF PAST ALLÉE ELLE EST ÊTRE PARTICIPLE = SHE WENT

33. PART OF PAST ARRIVÉS ILS SONT ÊTRE PARTICIPLE = THEY ARRIVED

34. PART OF PAST RESTÉES ELLES SONT ÊTRE PARTICIPLE = THEY STAYED

35. ALSO ALL REFLEXIVE VERBS USE ÊTRE IN THE PERFECT TENSE. EG “SE LEVER” “SE REVEILLER” ETC. YOU FORM THE PERFECT TENSE IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY BUT YOU MUST INCLUDE THE CORRECT REFLEXIVE PRONOUN. HERE IS HOW TO DO IT……

36. JE ME SUIS LEVÉ = I GOT UP TU T’ES LEVÉ = YOU GOT UP IL S’EST LEVÉ = HE GOT UP ELLE S’EST LEVÉE = SHE GOT UP NOUS NOUS SOMMES LEVÉS = WE GOT UP VOUS VOUS ÊTES LEVÉS = YOU GOT UP ILS SE SONT LEVÉS = THEY GOT UP ELLES SE SONT LEVÉES = THEY GOT UP

37. AND THAT’S THE PERFECT TENSE IN FRENCH. IT MIGHT SEEM A LOT OF INFORMATION TO REMEMBER BUT EVERY TIME YOU GO TO FORM A VERB IN THIS TENSE THINK ABOUT THE KEY STEPS………

38. FORM THE PAST PARTICIPLE. IS IT REGULAR OR IRREGULAR? 1 DOES THE VERB USE “AVOIR” OR “ÊTRE”? 2 IF IT USES “ÊTRE” DOES THE PAST PARTICIPLE NEED TO AGREE? 3

39. FIN