[Drapeaux] You too can learn French !
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Created by Jacques LΘon
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Lesson 9 - Le temps (Time)
Whether time is the fourth dimension of the Universe - as suggested by
modern physics - or a bio-physical process which makes events irreversible,
it is a reality which nobody can reject ! As a matter of fact, the way
people apprehend time is strongly reflected in the human languages. In the
Western European languages (these are the only languages I can talk about)
time is basically composed of two concepts : the instant and the duration.
The languages try to address these two basic concepts with an arsenal of
verb tenses. Although the main principles are the same, there are sound and
subtle differencies between languages in the way they express time. First,
let's talk about the common concepts.
Time can be thought as a one-dimension rule where events occur. A point, or
a specific position on the rule is an instant while the space between two
instants is a duration. I am sure that you are very familiar with these
definitions. The time - the position on the time rule - of our conscience
is the reference point : it is present time. Before it is the past and
after, the future. In the Western European languages, the basic verb tenses
directly reflect this partition of time : they make provision of present,
past and future tenses. However, present, past and future depict only the
position - the instants - of events relative to the reference point (our
conscience). Expressing the duration is subtler and vary very strongly from
one language to an other one.
In this lesson, we're going to focus on the past tenses. Click here now to
jump to the grammar section.
Lesson plan :
* Vocabulary
* Grammar
* Time on the clock
Vocabulary
Nouns
* aujourd'hui (today)
* hier (yesterday)
* demain (tomorrow)
* un matin (a morning)
* midi (noon)
* une aprΦs-midi (an afternoon)
* un soir (an evening)
* une nuit (a night)
* le prΘsent (the present)
* le passΘ (the past)
* le futur (the future)
* un jour (a day)
* une semaine (a week)
* un mois (a month)
* une annΘe (a year)
* une heure (a hour)
* une minute (a minute)
* une seconde (a second)
Adjectives
* prochain / prochaine (next)
* dernier / derniΦre (last)
Conjunctions & Adverbs
* t⌠t (early)
* tard (late)
* avant (before)
* aprΦs (after)
Grammar
In French, there are 4 past tenses :
* l'imparfait,
* le passΘ simple,
* le passΘ composΘ,
* le plus-que-parfait.
The passΘ simple won't be addressed in this lesson for it is not used in
the spoken language (today, the passΘ simple is exclusively employed in
literrary works such as novels). The three other past tenses are commonly
used in both the spoken and the written language. The most popular of them
is the passΘ composΘ. So, let's start with it.
1. The passΘ composΘ
The passΘ composΘ is the most popular but not the simpler past tense. As
suggested by its name (passΘ composΘ means composed past), the passΘ
composΘ is built up using an auxiliary verb. In French, as opposed to
English and Germanic languages, there are two possible auxiliary verbs :
avoir (to have) and Ωtre (to be). Basically, the passΘ composΘ is
constructed following the pattern below :
auxiliary verb conjugated in the present tense + verb in past participle
Examples :
manger (past participle : mangΘ) :
* j'ai mangΘ
* tu as mangΘ
* il/elle a mangΘ
* nous avons mangΘ
* vous avez mangΘ
* ils/elles ont mangΘ
aller (past participle : allΘ) :
* je suis allΘ(e)
* tu es allΘ(e)
* il/elle est allΘ/allΘe
* nous sommes allΘs (es)
* vous Ωtes allΘs (es)
* ils/elles sont allΘs/allΘes
Notes :
1. In French, the past participle of the 1st group verbs (verbs ending
with -er) is derived from the infinitive tense by replacing the
infinitive ending (-er) by -Θ. This rule is always applicable ... for
the 1st group verbs only !
2. When conjugated with the auxiliary avoir the past participle remains
unchanged whatever the subject is (mangΘ in case of the verb manger)
while when the auxiliary Ωtre is required, the past participle changes
in accordance with the gender and the number of the subject, as shown
in the example above. We're going back to this remarks later on.
3. There is, unfortunately, no rule to help people determine whether a
verb conjougates with the auxiliary avoir or Ωtre. There are some
hints but no rigourous rule. We're going through them later on.
The PassΘ ComposΘ Usage
The passΘ composΘ is used to express actions which took place in the past
and are completed. In addition, to some extent, there may be a link, or a
relationship between this past action and the present. For instance, the
past action may have consequences in the present, or the past action took
place in a period which is not completed yet - though the action itself is
completed - (such a period can be an hour, a day, a week, the duration of a
special event, etc.). In general, the passΘ composΘ does not bear any
duration information by itself : the action may have been very long or very
short. The duration information - if required - must be added explicitly
(see 5th example below).
* Hier, j'ai dΘjeunΘ α 1 heure (Yesterday, I lunched at one o'clock) :
the lunch is now finished ! (the action of lunching is completed)
* L'annΘe derniΦre, elle a visitΘ le Canada (Last year, she visited
Canada) : the action of visiting Canada is now finished.
* L'avion est arrivΘ α 11 heures (The airplane has arrived at 11
o'clock) : the airplane is now arrived (the action of arriving is
completed)
* Hier, j'ai mangΘ avec mon meilleur ami (Yesterday, I ate with my best
friend) : the action of eating is now completed
* J'ai attendu le bus pendant vingt minutes (I've waited for the bus for
twenty minutes) : the action of waiting is now completed.
* Ce matin, j'ai lu un livre (This morning, I read a book) : the book is
now read (the action of reading is completed) and, in addition, the
period of time (the current day in this example) is not completed.
* J'ai apprΘciΘ ton cadeau (I have appreciated your present) : the
action of appreciating is completed but the resulting feeling (good
appreciation) is still alive in the present time.
The Past Participle in French
Basically, past participle is fairly simple in French but there are lots of
irregular verbs which make it more complicated than it seems at the first
look. Remember the 3rd lesson dedicated to verbs : there are three verb
groups in French.
* the 1st group : verbs ending with -er (aller, parler, manger, chanter,
etc.),
* the 2nd group : verbs ending with -ir (finir, courrir, bΓtir, etc.),
* the 3rd group : verbs ending with -re (vendre, boire, rire, etc.).
The past participle for the 1st verb group is built by replacing the
infinitive ending by -Θ. e.g. :
Infinitive Past Participle
manger (to eat) mangΘ
chanter (to sing)chantΘ
aller (to go) allΘ
jouer (to play) jouΘ
The past participle for the 2nd verb group is built by replacing the
infinitive ending by -i. e.g. :
Infinitive Past Participle
finir (to finish) fini
grandir (to grow) grandi
choisir (to choose)choisi
sortir (to go out) sorti
partir (to leave) parti
But there some major exceptions such as :
Infinitive Past Participle
courir (to run) couru
couvrir (to cover)couvert
The 3nd group verbs are strongly irregular. However, in many cases, the
past participle is obtained by replacing the infinitive ending by -u. e.g.
:
Infinitive Past Participle
vendre (to sell) vendu
boire (to drink) bu
prendre (to take) pris
voire (to see) vu
entendre (to hear)entendu
vivre (to live) vΘcu
mettre (to put) mis
The past participles for the verbs Ωtre and avoir are :
* Ωtre (to be) : ΘtΘ (been)
* avoir (to have) : eu (had)
You'll find a list of past participles at the end of this lesson.
The Past Participle Concordance rules
The past participle concordance rules are certainly one of the most
complicated aspects of the written French. There are two basic rules :
* the concordance rule for the verbs which conjugate with the auxiliary
Ωtre,
* the concordance rule for the verbs which conjugate with the auxiliary
avoir.
Let's startwith the simplest one :
Concordance rule for the verbs which conjugate with the auxiliary Ωtre
Rule : the past participle ot the verbs which conjugate with the auxiliary
Ωtre is in concordance with the gender and the number of the subject of the
verb. The concordance complies with the adjective concordance rules (the
feminine is formed by appending a -e and the plural by appending a -s).
e.g.:
* Ils sont allΘs en AmΘrique l'annΘe derniΦre (They went to America last
year) : " ils " is masculine plural.
* Elle est arrivΘe en retard α l'Θcole (literally : she arrived late at
school. She was late at school) : Elle is feminine.
* Le camion et la voiture sont arrivΘs α l'heure (the truck and the car
arrived on time) : there are two items (the truck and the car) so that
the subject is plural. One of the item is masculine (le camion) then
the concordance rule applied is the macho rule (the masculine wins
over the feminine).
Concordance rule for the verbs which conjugate with the auxiliary avoir
Rule : the past participle of the verbs which conjugate with the auxiliary
avoir is in concordance with the gender and the number of the complΘment
d'objet if it is placed before the verb (!!!) otherwise, the past
participle remains unchanged. The concordance complies with the adjective
concordance rules (the feminine is formed by appending a -e and the plural
by appending a -s). e.g.:
* Elle a mangΘ des oranges (She has eaten oranges) : the complΘment
d'objet is ornages. It is placed after the verb, so that the past
participle is not in concordance with it.
* Les oranges qu'elle a mangΘes sont bonnes (The oranges she has eaten
are good) : the complΘment d'objet is oranges. It is placed before the
verb, so that the past participle is in concordance with the gender
(orange is feminine in French) and number (oranges is plural) of the
complΘment d'objet.
Determining the right auxiliary
Most of the verbs conjugate in passΘ composΘ with the auxiliray avoir.
However, the number of verbs which require the auxiliary Ωtre is not
negligable. There is no reliable rule to determine whether a verb conjugate
with the auxiliary Ωtre or avoir. Nevertheless, there are some hints which
can help you use the right auxiliary. The verbs which conjugate with the
auxiliary Ωtre are :
1. the " pronominal " verbs (verbes pronominaux),
2. the " intransitive " verbs (verbes intransitifs) which express a
movement or a change of state
The concepts of pronominal and intransitive verbs will be discussed in
detail later on this course. However, to clarify the previous rules, let's
give the following definition :
* a pronominal verb is reflexive i.e., it directly applies to the
subject. In English, the pronominal verbs are those which require
myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves. e.g. : I
wash myself, you watch yourself in the mirror, he kills himself, etc.
In French, the pronominal verbs are distinguished by se in front of
them in the infinitive form. e.g. se laver (to wash oneself), se
regerder (to watch oneself), se tuer (to kill oneself), se promener
(to walk), s'habiller (to wear), etc. As you see, some verbs are
transitive in French and not in English.
* a intransitive verb is a verb wich does not require a complΘment
d'objet (an accusative). Conversely, the verbs which require a
complΘment d'objet are called transitive. e.g.
transitive verbs conjugation example
manger (to eat) je mange un bon repas (I am eating a good meal)
chanter (to sing)Je chante une chanson (I am singing a song)
boire (to drink) je bois un verre de vin (I'm drinking a glass of wine)
intransitive verbsconjugation example
aller (to go) je vais α l'Θcole (I'm going to school)
voler (to fly) l'avion vole (the airplane flies)
rouler (to run) la voiture roule (the car runs)
So, the main intranstive verbs which must be conjugated with the auxiliary
Ωtre are :
* aller (to go)
* arriver (to arrive)
* devenir (to become)
* entrer (to get in, to get into)
* mourrir (to die)
* naεtre (to be born)
* partir (to leave)
* rester (to stay)
* sortir (to get off, te get out of)
* tomber (to fall)
* venir (to come)
2. The Imparfait
The imparfait is the second most popular past tense in French. As opposed
to passΘ composΘ,it is very easy to conjugate for it does not need any
auxiliary verb. The imparfait conjugation pattern is similar to the present
tense one with some alterations.
Conjugation of the 1st group verbs
chanter (to sing)
* je chantais
* tu chantais
* il/elle chantait
* nous chantions
* vous chantiez
* ils/elles chantaient
parler (to speak, to talk)
* je parlais
* tu parlais
* il/elle parlait
* nous parlions
* vous parliez
* ils/elles parlaient
Θcouter (to listen to)
* j'Θcoutais
* tu Θcoutais
* il/elle Θcoutait
* nous Θcoutions
* vous Θcoutiez
* ils/elles Θcoutaient
You can clearly see the conjugation pattern applying to the the termination
of the 1st group verbs.
* 1st person singular : -ais
* 2nd person singular : -ais
* 3rd person singular : -ait
* 1st person plural : -ions
* 2nd person plural : -iez
* 3rd person plural : -aient
Now, let's try " aller " which irregular in present tense :
* j'allais
* tu allais
* il/elle allait
* nous allions
* vous alliez
* ils/elles allaient
In the imparfait, " aller " is no longer irregular. That's a good news !
Conjugation of the 2nd group verbs
finir (to finish)
* je finissais
* tu finissais
* il/elle finissait
* nous finissions
* vous finissiez
* ils/elles finissaient
venir (to come)
* je venais
* tu venais
* il/elle venait
* nous venions
* vous veniez
* ils/elles venaient
vouloir (to want)
* je voulais
* tu voulais
* il/elle voulait
* nous voulions
* vous vouliez
* ils/elles voulaient
Once again, the conjugation of 2nd group verbs respect some kind of
termination pattern, however, less obvious than in the 1st group. Some of
the 2nd group verbs conjugate like " finir " (termination pattern : -ssais,
-ssais, -ssait, -ssions, -ssiez, -ssaient) and others, like " venir
"conjugate as the 1st group verbs. Once again, you may have noticed that
the imparfait conjugation is less irregular than the present tense.
Conjugation of the 3rd group verbs
boire (to drink)
* je buvais
* tu buvais
* il/elle buvait
* nous buvions
* vous buviez
* ils/elles buvaient
vendre (to sell)
* je vendais
* tu vendais
* il/elle vendait
* nous vendions
* vous vendiez
* ils/elles vendaient
vivre (to live)
* je vivais
* tu vivais
* il/elle vivait
* nous vivions
* vous viviez
* ils/elles vivaient
The 3rd group is still a mess but less than in the present tense.They
respect the same termination pattern as the 1st group verbs (-ais, -ais,
-ait, -ions, -iez, -aient) but might be subject to some alteration.
However, in most cases, the alteration is very simple : the infinitive
termination -re is dropped and replaced by the conjugation termination.
" Ωtre " (to be) and " avoir " (to have)
The auxiliary verbs Ωtre and avoir are as irregular in imparfait as in the
present tense. Let's take a close look at them.
Ωtre (to be)
* j'Θtais
* tu Θtais
* il/elle Θtait
* nous Θtions
* vous Θtiez
* ils/elles Θtaient
avoir (to have)
* j'avais
* tu avais
* il/elle avait
* nous avions
* vous aviez
* ils/elles avaient
Imparfait Usage
Basically, the imparfait tense is used to express actions which were in
progress in a past portion of time, whithout specifying with precision when
they began and when they completed. In general, the imparfait is used when
the action has taken a certain amount of time, i.e. it was not an instant
action. Examples :
* Je marchais silencieusement dans la rue (I was silently walking on the
street)
* A cette Θpoque, je vivais pauvrement (At this time, I was living
poorly)
Most of the time, the imparfait is employed in French in place of the
progressive past (progressive preterit) in English. This rule works very
well.
Time on the Clock
The common way to ask for the time in French is :
Quelle heure est-il ? (What time is it ? literally : what hour is it)
The answer is :
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Il est deux heures (it is two o'clock)
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Il est trois heures (it is three o'clock)
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Il est trois heures cinq (it is five past three)
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Il est trois heures dix (it is ten past three)
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Il est trois heures et quart (it is a quarter past three)
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Il est trois heures vingt (it is twenty past three)
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Il est trois heures vingt-cinq (it is twenty five past three)
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Il est trois heures et demi (it is half past three)
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Il est quatre heures moins vingt-cinq (it is twenty five to four)
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Il est quatre heures moins vingt (it is twenty to four)
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Il est quatre heures moins le quart (it is a quarter to four)
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Il est quatre heures moins dix (it is ten to four)
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Il est quatre heures moins cinq (it is five to four)
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Il est midi (it is noon, 12:00 am) or
Il est minuit (it is midnight, 12:00 pm)
As you see, French people express the time in a way similar to English
people. There are some - minor differencies however :
1. for the first half hour : il est cinq heures vingt could be literally
translated as it is five hours plus twenty minutes.
2. for the second half hour : il est cinq heures moins dix could be
literally translated by it is five hours minus ten minutes.
The French counterparts of quarter and half are respectively quart and
demi.
To distinguish the time in the morning and in the afternoon, English people
use the abbreviations a.m. (ante meridiem) and p.m.(post meridiem). French
people don't use these abbreviations. In French, the time in the morning
and in the afternoon are specified by respectively adding du matin (in the
morning) or de l'aprΦs-midi (in the afternoon) after the time. Examples :
* trois heures du matin = 3:00 am
* cin heures et demi de l'aprΦs-di = 5:30 pm
In addition, there is a more formal way to make this distinction which
works like this :
Time on the clockFrench time
1:00 am une heure
1:00 pm treize heures (13:00)
2:00 am deux heures
2:00 pm quatorze heures (14:00)
2:15 am deux heures quinze
2:15 pm quatorze heures quinze (14:15)
2:30 am deux heures trente
2:30 pm quatorze heures trente (14:30)
2:45 am deux heures quarante cinq
2:45 pm quatorze heures quarante cinq (14:45)
2:50 am deux heures cinquante
2:50 pm quatorze heures cinquante (14:50)
12:00 am douze heures or midi
12:00 pm minuit
This way of expressing the time is utilized in the train stations, the
airports, at work, in any sort of time-tables. But in the day-to-day life,
people prefer to say trois heures de l'aprΦs-midi rather than quinze
heures.
Exercises
In construction
List of Past Participles
verbauxiliary past participle
auxiliary past participle
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