1. REMEMBER: The il form is the same for elle and on too!
Time phrases
normalement
d’habitude
de temps en temps
l’année dernière
il y a … ans
le mois dernier
la semaine dernière
l’année prochaine
à l’avenir
Key Verbs & Tenses
Who are we talking about?
je – I
il – he
elle – she
on – we
nous – we
ils – they (all male/mixed)
elles – they (all female)
ma mère – my Mum
mon frère – my brother
Remember if you are aiming for a C grade or above:
*If you can use a variety of tenses, you stand a better chance of increasing your marks.
*Add in the past (perfect and imperfect), present and the future to help you gain those marks.
*If you’re feeling confident, you could add in the conditional.
*You need to aim for accuracy: CHECK your tenses in your preparation time – DON’T take a random guess!
The Present Tense – REGULAR VERBS
This is used to talk about what you generally do or what you are doing
right now. If you look up a verb in the dictionary, it ends in one of the
following: -er, -ir or –re. This is known as the infinitive. To form the
regular present tense, follow these rules:
-er verbs ir verbs -re verbs
je chante je finis je vends
tu chantes tu finis tu vends
il/elle/on chante il/elle/on finit il/elle/on vend
nous chantons nous finissons nous vendons
vous chantez vous finissez vous vendez
ils/elles chantent ils/elles finissent ils/elles vendent
When you look up the verb in the dictionary, e.g. choisir. Follow these instructions:
Remove the ir from the end: chois
Add the correct ending from above, depending on who you are talking about: je choisis
EASY!
The Present Tense – IRREGULAR VERBS
However, some verbs are irregular and need checking and learning. Here are some common ones:
j’ai/il a/nous avons – I have/he has/we have
je suis/il est/nous sommes – I am/he is/we are
je vais/il va/nous allons – I go/he goes/we go
je fais/il fait/nous faisons – I do/he does/we do
je lis/il lit/nous lisons – I read/he reads/we read
je peux/il peut/nous pouvons – I can/he can/we can
je bois/il boit/nous buvons – I drink/he drinks/we drink
je mange/il mange/nous mangeons – I eat/he eats/we eat
j’achète/il achète/nous achetons – I buy/he buys/we buy
je sors/il sort/nous sortons – I go out/he goes out/we go out
REMEMBER: The il form is the same for elle and on too!

2. Key Verbs & Tenses Past tenses
There are two types of past tense in French:
The perfect tense
The imperfect tense
The perfect tense is the one you need the
most. It is used to describe something you
did in the past, e.g. Hier j’ai regardé un film.
The imperfect tense is used to describe
something which happened regularly. It is
also used to describe what something was
like in the past, e.g. weather or feelings, e.g.
Il faisait beau.
Just a reminder of the most important
people:
je – I
il – he
elle – she
nous – we
ils/elles - they
The perfect tense
DR & MRS. VANDERTRAMP
The following verbs are all formed with
être. For this you need:
je suis – tu es – il/elle est –
nous sommes – vous êtes – ils/elles sont
Devenir – to become (devenu)
Revenir – to come back (revenu)
Monter – to climb (monté)
Rester – to stay (resté)
Sortir – to go out (sorti)
Venir – to come (venu)
Aller – to go (allé)
Naître – to be born (né)
Descendre – to go down (descendu)
Entrer – to enter (entré)
Rentrer – to come back (rentré)
Tomber – to fall (tombé)
Retourner – to return (retourné)
Arriver – to arrive (arrivé)
Mourir – to die (mouru)
Partir – to leave (parti)
e.g. Je suis parti.
Il est tombé.
Je suis né.
See the box next to this for more advice on how to form the perfect tense in French!
Key Verbs & Tenses
The perfect tense – how to form it:
The perfect tense has three parts:
The person you are writing about, e.g. je
The auxiliary verb, either avoir or être
The past participle, e.g. fait
Most verbs are made up with avoir. For this
you need:
j’ai – tu as – il a – nous avons – vous avez – ils ont
This is how to form REGULAR past
participles:
acheter – achet – acheté
finir – fin – fini
vendre – vend – vendu
Here are some examples:
J’ai acheté un stylo.
Il a fini ses devoirs.
Ils ont vendu des glaces.
The perfect tense! An extra rule to remember!
When you are using the Dr & Mrs Vandertramp verbs, you have to add agreements depending on the person you are talking about.
e.g. For a female, add an extra e.
For a male, add nothing.
For more than one female, add an extra e and an s.
For more than one male, add an extra s.
For a group of males and females, add an extra s.
Examples: Elle est allée à la plage. Nous sommes allés aux musées.

3. Key Verbs & Tenses The Imperfect Tense
For your essays, the imperfect tense will be
mainly used to describe, e.g. the weather. If
you then describe what you did in the past in
certain weather types, you will need to use
the imperfect tense.
If you are using the imperfect with je, the
verb will end in –ais and if you’re talking
about he/she/it, the verb will end in –ait.
Some key verbs:
Je faisais
Je jouais
J’allais
Je mangeais
Il pleuvait
Il faisait
Il y avait
Remember to use these with the weather in
the past, e.g. Quand il faisait beau, j’allais à
la plage.
Key Verbs & Tenses
The future tense!
The future tense is used to talk about something you will do in the future, i.e. tomorrow, next
week, next month, next year, in ten years!
There are two ways to form the future tense.
Use the present tense of aller + an infinitive, e.g. je vais manger = I’m going to eat.
je vais
il/elle va
nous allons
ils/elles vont
This is used generally for things which are happening in the near future.
2. Take the infinitive (remember all infinitives end in –ER, -IR or –RE) and add the endings below. *Make sure you take the –e off the end of any –RE verbs!*
je – ai
il/elle – a
nous – ons
ils/elles – ont
e.g. Je regarderai. Il finira. Ils vendront.
Irregular Future Tense Verbs
There are some irregular verbs which you need to learn:
j’irai – I will go
je ferai – I will do
j’aurai – I will have
je serai – I will be
il y aura – there will be
ce sera – it will be
e.g. L’année prochaine, j’irai en Australie.
The conditional tense
This is used to describe a ‘what if’ situation:
So far, you have learnt:
si je gagnais à la loterie – if I won the lottery
je voudrais – I would like

4. What makes a C grade (or above!) essay?
You must:
Write 150 words or more.
Include opinions: adjectives – positive & negative and good opinion phrases.
Use connectives, e.g. and, but, however.
Include a range of tenses: past, present & future, and if you can, the conditional.
Use time phrases.
Structure your essay: planning is key!
Talk about other people.