1. Chapitre 1 – Structures I
Interaction
Chapitre 1 – Structures I

2. Some basics…. French verbs change to reflect their subject.
Regular verbs change according to a pattern that makes them easily manageable.
-Er verbs are the most common verbs in the French language.

3. Making the verb agree…
When making the verb agree with the subject, decide whether the subject is singular or plural and which “person” it is. First person – “I” or “we” Second person – “you” and “you” plural – “y’all” in the south! Third person – “he”, “she”, “it” or “they”

4. In French… Singular Plural je nous tu vous * il/elle ils/elles
* “Vous” is also used to be polite whether talking to one person or more

5. -ER verbs - the pattern.. Take the infinitive: jouer
Take off the “-er” ending jou
Add endings according to the following pattern:
je -e nous -ons
tu -es vous -ez
il/elle -e ils/elles -ent

6. For the verb “jouer” –
je joue nous jouons
tu joues vous jouez
il/elle joue ils/ellesjouent
In English –
I play we play
you play you play
he/she plays they play

7. All regular –er verbs follow this pattern in the present tense
All regular –er verbs follow this pattern in the present tense. You can conjugate a verb even if you do not know its meaning!
The French have recently started using the verb “googler.”

8. Apply the pattern…
googler – to google je _________ nous ___________ tu __________ vous ___________ il/elle ________ ils/elles __________

9. Note: In French, “je google” covers all of the following in English:
I google
I am googling
I do google

10. To make the negative…
In French, you put ne….. pas around the verb to negate: Je mange. = I eat Je ne mange pas. = I don’t eat/am not eating

11. “On”
The pronoun “on” is used a lot in French, especially informal spoken French. It means “one” as in “you”, “people”, “we”.
Verbs used with “on” have the same ending as verbs used with “il/elle”
- il parle/ on parle

12. Some –er verbs with quirks…
When conjugating some –er verbs, the stem changes slightly for pronunciation reasons.
These verbs are called “stem-changing” verbs.

13. é to è préférer – to prefer * The first é is NOT affected!!
The “nous” and “vous” forms are not affected – giving the “boot” shape.
je préfère nous préférons
tupréfères vouspréférez
il préfère ils préfèrent

14. l to ll appeler – to call j’appelle nous appelons
tu appelles vous appelez
il appelle ils appellent

15. e to è
acheter – to buy j’achète nous achetons tu achètes vous achetez il achète ils achètent

16. y to i
payer – to pay je paie nous payons tu paies vous payez il paie ils paient

17. t - tt
jeter – to throw je jette nous jetons tu jettes vous jetez il jette ils jettent

18. Other changes
Some verbs change their stem but there is no “boot” shape. Only the “nous” form is affected”
g to ge - manger nous mangeons
c to ç - commencer nous commençons

19. À vous… Je ________ la balleàmon frère. (jeter)
Nous ___________ de la glace. (manger)
Jean-Paul _________ du pain. (acheter)
Moi et ma mère __________. (payer)
Vous ________ le vinblanc. (préférer)
Marie et Philippe m’_________. (appeler)

20. The imperative
To make the imperative (command form) of –er verbs, just use the verb with no subject:
Vous jouez - Jouez! Play!
Nous jouons - Jouons! Let’s play!
BUT in –er verbs you must leave off the “s” for the “tu” form –
Tu joues - Joue! Play!

21. Negative
To give a negative command (Don’t do it!), put ne… pas around the verb: Mange ta soupe! Ne mange pas de gâteau!

22. Some irregular verbs…
Some verbs – mostly very common verbs – do not follow a strict pattern and must be learned.
To learn a verb: look at it, say it, copy it, try to reproduce it without looking. Review regularly!
Learning present tense forms is an important base for future work because many tenses ( the imperfect, for example) are formed using the present tense as a base.

23. The four basic verbs…
The first four irregular verbs studied are the basics to communication –
être – to be
avoir – to have
aller – to go
faire – to do, to make
“Être ou ne pas être: telle est la question.”
William Shakespeare

24. Être – to be je suis (I am) nous sommes (we are)
tu es (you are) vous êtes (you are)
il est (he is) ils sont (they are)
elle est (she is) elles sont (they are)
on est
Imperative: sois, soyons, soyez

25. Avoir – to have j’ai (I have) nous avons(we have)
tu as (you have) vous avez(you have)
il a (he has) ils ont(they have)
elle a (she has) elles ont(they have)
on a
Imperative: aie, ayons, ayez

26. Aller – to go je vais( I go) nous allons(we go)
tu vas (you go) vous allez(you go)
il va (he goes) ils vont(they go)
elle va (she goes) elles vont(they go)
on va
Imperative: va, allons, allez
Note: Vas-y! (Has “s” for pronunciation)

27. Faire – to do, to make je fais (I do) nous faisons (we do)
tu fais (you do) vous faites (you do)
il fait (he/it does) ils font (they do)
elle fait (she/it does) elles font (they do)
on fait
Imperative: fais, faisons, faites

28. Aller and faire with Infinitives
Aller + infinitif To be going to + infinitive Subject Aller Infinitive Predicate Je vais acheter du lait. I am going to buy some milk. Nous allons voir un film. We are going to see a film

29. Faire + Infinitive
To have/get something done… Subject Faire Infinitive Predicate Je fais préparer le repas. (I am having the meal prepared.)