TABLE OF CONTENTS

Lesson Plan 12: GETTING INTO GEAR! .............................................. 2

Fast Forward! ........................................................................ 2
General Patterns of Action Words ................................................ 2

Par Exemple ............................................................. 2

How Endings Change for Verbs in the Present Tense ............. 3

Using the Present Tense............................................................ 4

Par Exemple ............................................................. 4

Action Replay! ....................................................................... 6
More Audio!........................................................................... 6

Extra Words .............................................................. 6

Les Activités .......................................................................... 7
Getting it into the Right Gear! ................................................. 7
Eat, Drink and be Merry! ........................................................ 8
All Mixed up? ...................................................................... 9
Les Réponses ........................................................................11
Getting it into the Right Gear! ................................................11
Eat, Drink and be Merry! .......................................................11
All Mixed Up? .....................................................................12

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Lesson Plan 12: GETTING INTO GEAR!
Fast Forward!
You can imagine a verb being a bit like a three-gear car. When you first get
into the car, the gears are not engaged, the car is in neutral. For example,
“to be”, être, and “to have”, avoir, as we have seen previously, refer to
the verb in its neutral state. In grammar this is known as the verb being in
the infinitive.
In neutral, a car is stationary. You are not actually moving forward or
backward. Putting a verb in the present engages the car into first gear. So
“to be”, être, becomes “I am”, Je suis, in the present tense.
The use of tenses is really important in French to express ourselves
confidently when talking about the past, the present or the future. This
means being able to use a pattern which automatically changes the verb
according to when the action is happening.
There are more variations in French tenses, than in English ones.
We have already looked at how pronouns work with a verb and how the verb
changes to suit the person, for example, “you”, “he”, “she”, “we”, or
“they” (refer to Lesson Plans 3 and 4). In summary, verbs change to reflect
both the subject (who) as well as the tense (present, past, or future).
This Lesson Plan focuses exclusively on learning all about the present tense
before you speed on ahead with the future, and reverse into the past.

General Patterns of Action Words

In English, an action word in the infinitive or neutral form, is defined by a
“to” in front of it. In French, we know that an action word is still neutral
and not “in gear” yet by the ending of the verb. These endings are “er”,
”re”, ”oir” and “ir”.

Par Exemple
12.1 Verb ending in “er” manger to eat
12.2 Verb ending in “re” être to be
12.3 Verb ending in “oir” avoir to have
12.4 Verb ending in “ir” venir to come
In French, verbs are referred to as regular or irregular. This means in
effect, that some endings are easy to anticipate and a pattern begins to
form which is recognized as the present, future or past (regular verbs).
Others are in a group on their own and have random endings (irregular
verbs).
In the case of verbs, it often makes more sense in English to say “I am
waiting”, “I am giving”, rather than “I wait”, or “I give”. Bear this in mind
as you look through the following examples.

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Pay special attention to the pronunciation as you listen to the audio track.
Some endings are silent, and others are surprising!

How Endings Change for Verbs in the Present Tense

12.5 Donner (to give)
12.6 Je donne I give, I am giving
12.7 Tu donnes You give, you are giving
12.8 Il donne He gives, he is giving
12.9 Elle donne She gives, she is giving
12.10 Nous donnons We give, we are giving
12.11 Vous donnez You give, you are giving
12.12 Ils donnent They give, they are giving (masculine)
12.13 Elles donnent They give, they are giving (feminine)

12.14 Attendre (to wait)

12.15 J’attends I wait, I am waiting
12.16 Tu attends You wait, you are waiting
12.17 Il attend He waits, he is waiting
12.18 Elle attend She waits, she is waiting
12.19 Nous attendons We wait, we are waiting
12.20 Vous attendez You wait, you are waiting
12.21 Ils donnent They wait, they are waiting (masculine)
12.22 Elles donnent They wait, they are waiting (feminine)

12.23 Croire (to believe)

12.24 Je crois I believe
12.25 Tu crois You believe
12.26 Il croit He believes
12.27 Elle croit She believes
12.28 Nous croyons We believe
12.29 Vous croyez You believe
12.30 Ils croient They believe (m) Il donne du poulet
12.31 Elles croient They believe (f)

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12.32 Finir (to finish)
12.33 Je finis I finish, I am finishing
12.34 Tu finis You finish, you are finishing
12.35 Il finit He finishes, he is finishing
12.36 Elle finit She finishes, she is finishing
12.37 Nous finissons We finish, we are finishing
12.38 Vous finissez You finish, you are finishing
12.39 Ils finissent They finish, they are finishing (masculine)
12.40 Elles finissent They finish, they are finishing (feminine)
In summary
► There are 4 main endings to verbs in the neutral form : er, re, oir and
ir.
► The type of ending of verbs in the neutral form gives a general
indication to the patterns formed in the present tense.
► There are both regular and irregular patterns to verbs in the present
tense.

Using the Present Tense

Using the general pattern of endings as explained above, let’s look at the
following examples in the context of broader sentences.
In most sentences, at least two actions are described, sometimes more.
This means that more than one verb is often used, as in “I am going to
work”. The first verb here is “I am going” in the present tense. The second
verb is “to work”, in the infinitive, or neutral form.
In the examples below, the neutral verb is in italics, and the verb used in
the present tense is underlined: Je vais (I am going) travailler (to work).

Par Exemple
12.41 Je donne du pain à Marie
I give some bread to Mary
12.42 Ils vont travailler aujourd’hui
They are going to work today
12.43 J’ai faim et je mange cette viande avec plaisir!
I am hungry and I am eating this meat with pleasure!
12.44 Elle écrit un livre
She is writing a book
12.45 Nous allons donner du fromage à Marie
We are going to give some cheese to Mary

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12.46 Vous partez tôt aujourd’hui!
You are leaving early today!
12.47 Je finis mon travail de la journée
I am finishing my work for the day
12.48 Pouvez-vous écrire cette liste?
Can you (to) write this list?
12.49 Je prends le temps de penser
I am taking the time (of) to think

Elle écrit un livre J’ai faim et je mange

cette viande avec plaisir

Ils vont travailler aujourd’hui

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Action Replay!
► There are 4 main endings to verbs in the neutral form : er, re, oir and
ir.
► The type of ending of verbs in the neutral form gives a general
indication to the patterns formed in the present tense.
► There are both regular and irregular patterns to verbs in the present
tense.

More Audio!
These audio tracks are for all the words in this Lesson Plan that you haven’t
heard yet! Most of them will be used in the following exercises.

Extra Words
12.50 Aujourd’hui Today
12.51 Maintenant Now
12.52 En ce moment At the moment
12.53 Aussi Also
12.54 Avec With
12.55 Et And
12.56 Tout All, every
12.57 Peut-être Maybe
12.58 Chez At (someone’s place)
12.59 Dormir To sleep
12.60 Nous dormons We are sleeping
12.61 Ce soir Tonight

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Les Activités
Getting it into the Right Gear!
Look back through your Lesson Plan before completing the following gaps for
verbs in the present.
Q.1

DONNER ÊTRE FINIR AVOIR

Je Je suis J’ai

Tu Tu donnes Tu finis Tu as

You

Il Il est ll finit

He

Elle Elle donne Elle est Elle a

She

Nous Nous finissons Nous avons

We

Vous Vous finissez

You

Ils Ils donnent Ils sont

They

Elles Elles finissent

They

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Eat, Drink and be Merry!
Complete the spaces below for three new verbs, to eat, manger, to drink,
boire and to be happy, être heureux to agree with each pronoun.

Manger= to eat
Q.2 Je ____________________ I eat, I am eating
Q.3 Tu ____________________ You eat, you are eating
Q.4 Il _____________________ He eats, he is eating
Q.5 Elle ___________________ She eats. she is eating
Q.6 Nous __________________ We eat, we are eating
Q.7 Vous __________________ You eat, you are eating
Q.8 Ils ____________________ They eat, they are eating (m)
Q.9 Elles __________________ They eat, they are eating (f)
Boire = to drink
Q.10 Je _____________________ I drink, I am drinking
Q.11 Tu _____________________ You drink, you are drinking
Q.12 Il ______________________ He drinks, He is drinking
Q.13 Elle ____________________ She drinks, She is drinking
Q.14 Nous ___________________ We drink, we are drinking
Q.15 Vous ___________________ You drink, you are drinking
Q.16 Ils _____________________ They drink, they are drinking (m)
Q.17 Elles ___________________ They drink, they are drinking (f)
Être heureux = to be happy
Q.18 Je _________ ______________ I am happy
Q.19 Tu ________ _______________ You are happy
Q.20 Il _________ _______________ He is happy
Q.21 Elle _______ _______________ She is happy
Q.22 Nous ________ _____________ We are happy
Q.23 Vous ________ _____________ You are happy
Q.24 Ils ________ _______________ They are happy
Q.25 Elles ________ _____________ They are happy

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All Mixed up?
Re-arrange the following words to make sentences and translate into
English.
Q.26 heureuses elles aujourd’hui sont
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Q.27 dormons bien nous

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Q.28 tout finis est!
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Q.29 Boire peut-être ce soir nous allons

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

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Q.30 viens moi avec maintenant
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Q.31 Marie sont et Jean heureux

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Q.32 aussi vais au cinéma je
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

Q.33 “Le Grand Vin” bon restaurant est un!

_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________

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Les Réponses
Getting it into the Right Gear!
A.1
DONNER ÊTRE FINIR AVOIR

Je Je donne Je suis Je finis J’ai

I I give I am I finish I have

Tu Tu donnes Tu es Tu finis Tu as

You You give You are You finish You have

Il Il donne Il est ll finit Il a

He He gives He is He finishes He has

Elle Elle donne Elle est Elle finit Elle a

She She gives She is She finishes She has

Nous Nous donnons Nous sommes Nous finissons Nous avons

We We give We are We finish We have

Vous Vous donnez Vous êtes Vous finissez Vous avez

You You give You are You finish You have

Ils Ils donnent Ils sont Ils finissent Ils ont

They They give They are They finish They have

Elles Elles donnent Elle sont Elles finissent Elles ont

They They give They are They finish They have

Eat, Drink and be Merry!

Manger
A.2 Je mange
A.3 Tu manges
A.4 Il mange
A.5 Elle mange
A.6 Nous mangeons
A.7 Vous mangez
A.8 Ils mangent

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A.9 Elles mangent
Boire
A.10 Je bois
A.11 Tu bois
A.12 Il boit
A.13 Elle boit
A.14 Nous buvons
A.15 Vous buvez
A.16 Ils boivent
A.17 Elles boivent
Être heureux
A.18 Je suis heureux
A.19 Tu es heureux
A.20 Il est heureux
A.21 Elle est heureuse
A.22 Nous sommes heureux
A.23 Vous êtes heureux
A.24 Ils sont heureux
A.25 Elles sont heureuses
All Mixed Up?
A.26 Elles sont heureuses aujourd’hui
They are happy today
A.27 Nous dormons bien
We sleep well
A.28 Tout est finit
Everything is finished
A.29 Nous allons peut-être boire ce soir
We are going to maybe drink tonight
A.30 Viens avec moi maintenant
Come with me now
A.31 Marie et Jean sont heureux
Mary and John are happy
A.32 Je vais aussi au cinéma
I am going to the cinema
A.33 “Le Grand Vin” est un bon restaurant
“Le Grand Vin” is a good restaurant
La Fin

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