French verbs — Conjugate verbs in French
One difficulty in French is to conjugate verbs. Not only you need to learn the infinite of a verb (ex: TO GO = ALLER), but you also need to know how to conjugate the verb for each subject (personal pronouns)
— Ex: I go = Je vais / You go = Tu vas / He (she) goes = Il (elle) va / We go = Nous allons / You go = Vous allez / They go = Ils (elles) vont
Here is a technic to ease the process:
- Look up a verb in the dictionary as you would do for any new words. Example, what is the French word for “To eat”? – Using google translate or any other translator/dictionary you will find it is “Manger”
- Find the verb for each subject (Je, tu., il…) by using a conjugator online or as an app. For example you can look at http://www.conjugation-fr.com/
- Enter the infinitive form of the French verb in the field, ex: Manger
- You will then see a page with the conjugated form of verb “Manger” for all tenses and personal pronouns
- Choose the tense and pronoun you want to use —> Ex: Present and Nous–> Nous mangeons
- Which tenses will you use the most? INDICATIVE FORM: Present for action in the present / Present Perfect and Imperfect (for past actions ). Note Future tense can be simplified by using a “near future” form like “… going to + verb at infinitif” . Example: I am going to eat late tonight —> Je vais manger tard ce soir. Once you know the present form of Aller and add any verb at the infinitive form, you get the future tense for that verb!
More about French verbs
Passe compose (Present perfect)
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