1) French Relative Pronouns: Qui, Que, et Dont

Pronoun
qui

Meaning
Who, which, that, whom

Use
Subject, for persons and things
Object of preposition, for

que (qu)

Whom, which, that

persons
Direct object, for persons and

dont

Of whom, of which, whose

things
Object of preposition for

persons and things

Youre probably thinking so what is the difference between QUI and QUE?
*QUI is used when you replace the subject of the subordinate clause whether it is a person
or a thing.
Example: Cest Catherine qui aime la classe de francais.
^Here, Catherine is the person who is doing the liking of French class, so you use qui instead of
que because Catherine is the subject of the second part of the sentence.
*QUE is used when you replace the direct object of the subordinate clause whether it is a
person or a thing.
Example: Cest Catherine que nous avons vu hier
^In this case, Catherine is direct object of the second part of the sentence so you use que instead
of qui.
*Dont replaces any person or thing after de
Example: Ou est le recu? Jai besoin du recu Ou est le recu dont jai besoin?
(where is the receipt THAT I need?)
-When used in a possessive construction, dont corresponds to English whose.
-Dont is used frequently with verbs or verbal expressions that require de, for example: parler,
avoir besoin, avoir envie, avoir peur, se server, se souvenir
Exercice: Completer avec QUI, QUE, ou DONT
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Pierre est le jeune professeur_____elle parlait.

Ne vous inquitez pas, je ferai ce ______vous m'avez demand.
Heureusement, j'ai fini la partie______tait la plus pnible.
La personne______peut rpondre vos questions est dj partie.
On va voir le film_______a gagn la palme d'or.
La matresse d'cole______je me souviens tait petite et grosse.

TimeFrame

FrenchTense

HowtoBuild

Examples

fromOther
Tenses

Whathappens,ishappening,or

Presentindicative/prsent

doeshappen

delindicatif

What[has]happenedprecisely

Passcompos

andcompletely

jechante

jemelave

Present
avoir/tre+past
participle

Whatwashappeningorusedto

Imperfect/Imparfait

happenorjustwasacertainway

Whatwillhappen

jaichant

jemesuis
lav(e)

jechantais

jemelavais

Simplefuture/futursimple

jechanterai

jemelaverai

2) Past Tense with Avoir

The pass compose is formed by combining two elements: WHEN the action has taken place and
WHAT has taken place. WHEN requires the helping verb avoir and WHAT requires the past
participle of the regular or irregular verb showing the specific action.
REGULAR VERBS: -ER, -IR, -RE
SUBJECT + HELPING VERB + PAST PARTICIPLE
What is the helping verb?
jai

nous avons

tu as

vous avez

il a

ils ont

elle a

elles ont

How do you form the past participle?

-ER verbs take off ER and add
-IR verbs take off IR and add I
-RE verbs take off RE and add U
Examples:
Jai mangeI ate
Il a finiI finished
Ils ont venduthey sold
IRREGULAR VERBS:
SUBJECT + HELPING VERB + IRREG. PAST PARTICIPLE
What is the helping verb?
jai

nous avons

tu as

vous avez

il a

elles ont

elle a

elles ont

What are the irregular past participles?

Avoir: to have eu
Boire: to drink bu
Devoir: to have to du
Dire: to say dit
crire: to write crit
Etre: to be t
Faire: to do/to make fait
Lire: to read lu
Pouvoir: to be able to pu
Prendre: to take pris
Mettre: to put/place mis
Savoir: to know su
Voir: to see vu
Vouloir: to want voulu

Examples:
Nous avons eu we had
Tu as vu you saw
Vous avez lu you read

Past Tense with tre

Instead of using avoir (to have) as a helping verb, some French people use etre (to be) depending
upon the meaning of the sentence or what they are trying to say.
SUBJECT + HELPING VERB + PAST PARTICIPLE + AGREEMENT
What is the helping verb?
Je suis

nous sommes

Tu es

vous etes

Il est

ils sont

Elle est

elles sont

Which verbs use etre? DR MRS VANDERTRAMP

Devenir devenu
Revenir - revenu
Monter - monte
Rester - rest
Sortir - sorti
Venir - venu
Aller - all
Naitre - n
Descendre descend
Entrer entr
Rentrer rentr
Tomber tomb
Retourner retourn
Arriver arriv
Mourir - mort
Partir - parti
Passer par - pass par

Examples and agreement:

Je suis arriv (e)
Tu es arriv (e)
Il est arriv

3) The Conditional Mood

When is it used? The conditional tense is used when you are saying what you would do. For
example, you would use it to express what would occur IF something else happened.
How do you conjugate it? To form the conditional in French, you must start with the future
simple tense root.
*For regular 1st group verbs, like parler, this root is the same as the infinitive: parler*For regular 2nd group verbs, like choisir, this root is the same as the infinitive as well: choisir*For regular 3rd group verbs, like descendre, this root is the same as the infinitive, minus the
final e: descendrConditional of Regular Verb Endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient
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Examples: je danserais, tu danserais, il/elle danserait, nous danserions, vous danseriez, ils/elles
danseraient
Irregular Verbs in the Conditional
Infinitive
Aller to go
Avoirto have
Courir to run
Devoir to owe, have to
Envoyer to send
tre to be
Faire to do
Falloir to be necessary
Pleuvoir to rain
Pouvoir to be able to
Recevoirto receive
Savoir to know
Venir to come
Voir to see
Vouloir to want

Conditional
Jirais
Jaurais
Je courrais
Je devrais
Jenverrais
Je serais
Je ferais
Il faudrait
Il pleuvrait
Je pourrais
Je recevrais
Je saurais
Je viendrais
Je verrais
Je voudrais

*because the conditional stem is the same as the future stem, any verb that is irregular in the
conditional is also irregular in the future.

Exercice: Complter les phrases avec le verbe au conditionnel prsent.

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Tu____(tre) la cliente
Je te____(demander) ce que tu voudrais
Tu me____ (prendre) des oeufs
Nous____ (vouloir) tlphoner nos amis
J'____ (aller) en chercher dans ma rserve

4) Future
When is it used? The future tense is used to express a future action or state, that is, what WILL
happen as time continues on. In other words, it expresses what is going to happen in the future.

How do you conjugate it? The future tense is formed by adding the following endings to the
infinitive: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.
Examples: je danserai, tu danseras, il/elle dansera, nous danserons, vous danserez, ils/elles
danseront
person
1stpersonsingular
2ndpersonsingular
3rdpersonsingular
1stpersonplural
2ndpersonplural
3rdpersonplural

erverbs
jaimerai
tuaimeras
il/elle/onaimera
nousaimerons
vousaimerez
ils/ellesaimeront

irverbs
jefinirai
tufiniras
il/elle/onfinira
nousfinirons
vousfinirez
ils/ellesfiniront

reverbs
jevendrai
tuvendras
il/elle/onvendra
nousvendrons
vousvendrez
ils/ellesvendront

Irregular Verbs in the Future

Infinitive
Aller to go
Avoir to have
Courir to run
Devoir to owe, have to
Envoyer to send
tre to be
Faire to do
Falloir to be necessary
Mourir to die
Pleuvoir to rain
Pouvoir to be able to
Recevoir to receive
Savoir to know
Venir to come
Voir to see
Vouloir to want

Future
Jirai
Jaurai
Je courrai
Je devrai
Jenverrai
Je serai
Je ferai
Il faudra
Je mourrai
Il pleuvra
Je pourrai
Je recevrai
Je saurai
Je viendrai
Je verrai
Je voudrai

Exception: The future tense is generally used in the same way as the English future with will;
however, in some cases, French requires the future tense where English uses the present. In
particular, after quand and lorsque (when) and after aussitt que and ds que (as soon as).
-Use dans with a length of time to say when something will happen in the future.
To negate a sentence in the future, simply put NE and the negative word around the conjugated
verb: Nous NE saurons pas tout de suite les rsultats. (We won't know the results immediately).

Il ne fera rien demain. (He won't do anything tomorrow).

Exercice: Put the following verbs in brackets to a future form
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Je (sortir)____ aprs le film.

Nous (attendre)____ de te voir plus longtemps.
J'espre que vous (vouloir)____ bien me recevoir.
Je (tre)____ au rendez-vous.
Tu (manger)____ plus tard.
Tu (jeter)____ ce papier la poubelle.

7) Demain je (finir)____ de lire cette bande-dessine.

8) La semaine prochaine il (visiter)_____ le nouveau muse.
9) Tu (prendre)_____ un th.
10) Nous (rester)_____ un jour de plus.
11) Juliette et Camille (prparer)_____ le repas.
12) Est-ce que vous (aller)_____ la piscine en t?
13) Le week-end prochain ils (courir)_____ un marathon.
14) Mardi prochain nous (pouvoir)______ nous rencontrer.

5) LImparfait
Limparfait is considered one of the past tenses and is used for:
1) a description in the past
2) an action / a habit that used to happen in the past but does not anymore
3) an unfinished action in the past and / or an action which was in progress in the past
when it was interrupted by another shorter action
To conjugate a verb in the imparfait, you need to:
1) take the nous form of the verb in the PRESENT TENSE
2) take off the nous and the ons ending
3) add the correct imperfect ending

IMPARFAIT ENDINGS: ais, ais, ait, ions, iez, aient

person

1stpersonsingular
2ndpersonsingular
3rdpersonsingular
1stpersonplural
2ndpersonplural
3rdpersonplural

erverbs
(nousaimons)
jaimais
tuaimais
il/elle/onaimait
nousaimions
vousaimiez
ils/ellesaimaient

irverbs
(nousfinissons)
jefinissais
tufinissais
il/elle/onfinissait
nousfinissions
vousfinissiez
ils/ellesfinissaient

reverbs
(nousvendons)
jevendais
tuvendais
il/elle/onvendait
nousvendions
vousvendiez
ils/ellesvendaient

PASS COMPOS VS IMPARFAIT:

*Imparfait = what was happening all around you (including you), background. Also ongoing
events, habits, or what used to be.
*Pass compos = what took place at that very moment: a specific event or a succession of
specific events, the main storyline.
Words typically associated with Imparfait: chaque semaine, tous les jours, le soir,
toujours, souvent, autrefois, rarement, de temps en temps, quelquefois, dhabitude
Words typically associated with Pass Compos: une semaine, un week-end, lundi,
mardi, un jour, un soir, enfin, soudainement, plusieurs fois
Exercice: Pass Compos ou Imparfait?
1) Je (J') __________ sept ans quand ma famille a dmnag en France.
2) Mon pre __________ quand j'avais quinze ans.
3) Thomas __________ retourner aux EU, mais je lui ai demand de rester.
4) Nous __________ le Louvre le samedi, sauf quand il pleuvait.
5) Il __________ peur des chiens.
6) Mon frre __________ il y a deux ans.
7) Nous __________ les achats le dimanche.
8) Il ne (n') __________ l'heure.
9) Qui __________ ta voiture ?
10) Je (J') __________ la tlvision quand tu as tlphon.

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