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    French 101

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    • Introduction and Review
      • 1.1Greetings and Introductions
      • 1.2Basics (Numbers, Days of the week, etc.)
      • 1.3Review of A1 French Level grammar
    • Everyday Conversations
      • 2.1Shopping vocabulary and dialogue
      • 2.2Restaurant & food vocabulary
      • 2.3Conversations at work
    • Travel and Transportation
      • 3.1Transportation vocabulary
      • 3.2Navigating airports and train stations
      • 3.3Making travel reservations
    • Professional French
      • 4.1Business language and formalities
      • 4.2Emails and professional writing
      • 4.3Handling professional phone conversations
    • French Grammar (Advanced)
      • 5.1Verb Conjugations
      • 5.2Tenses (Past, Present, Future)
      • 5.3Conditional and subjunctive
      • 5.4Review exercise
    • Understanding French Culture
      • 6.1French traditions and history
      • 6.2French customs and etiquette
      • 6.3French art, music and cinema
    • Living in France
      • 7.1Housing and accommodation vocabulary
      • 7.2Discussing likes and dislikes
      • 7.3French cooking and wine tasting vocabulary
    • Vocabulary Builder
      • 8.1Health and wellness
      • 8.2Environment and nature
      • 8.3Politics and society
    • Advanced Conversations
      • 9.1Debating
      • 9.2Using colloquial language
      • 9.3Expressing complex ideas
    • Review and Practice
      • 10.1Review of topics from weeks 1-5
      • 10.2Practice exercises
      • 10.3Review of topics from weeks 6-9
      • 10.4Practice exercises
    • Preparation for B2 Level
      • 11.1B2 Level grammar
      • 11.2Developing rich vocabulary
      • 11.3Mastering French pronunciation
    • B2 Level Practice
      • 12.1Practice conversations (B2 Level)
      • 12.2Writing exercises (B2 Level)
      • 12.3Reading comprehension (B2 Level)
    • Course Summary and Review
      • 13.1Recap of course learnings
      • 13.2Areas of improvement
      • 13.3Resources for continuous learning

    French Grammar (Advanced)

    Understanding French Tenses: Past, Present, and Future

    Mastering the tenses in French is a crucial step towards fluency. This unit will guide you through the intricacies of the present, past, and future tenses in French, including their regular and irregular forms.

    Present Tense

    The present tense in French, like in English, is used to express current actions or states of being.

    • Regular Verbs: These verbs follow a specific conjugation pattern. For example, for verbs ending in -er (like "parler" - to speak), the endings are as follows: je parle, tu parles, il/elle/on parle, nous parlons, vous parlez, ils/elles parlent.

    • Irregular Verbs: These verbs do not follow a specific pattern and need to be memorized. Some common irregular verbs include "être" (to be), "avoir" (to have), and "aller" (to go).

    Past Tense

    French has two main past tenses: the passé composé and the imparfait.

    • Passé Composé: This tense is used to express actions that happened at a specific time in the past or actions that were completed. It is formed with the present tense of "avoir" or "être" (auxiliary verb) and the past participle of the main verb.

    • Imparfait: This tense is used to express ongoing or repeated actions in the past. It is formed by taking the nous form of the present tense, dropping the -ons ending, and adding the imparfait endings.

    Future Tense

    French has two main ways to express future actions: the simple future and the near future.

    • Simple Future: This tense is used to express actions that will happen in the future. It is formed by adding the future endings to the infinitive of the verb.

    • Near Future: This tense is used to express actions that are going to happen in the near future. It is formed with the present tense of "aller" followed by the infinitive of the main verb.

    Compound Tenses

    Compound tenses are used to express more complex temporal relationships.

    • Plus-que-parfait: This tense is used to express an action that had occurred before another action in the past. It is formed with the imparfait of "avoir" or "être" and the past participle of the main verb.

    • Future Perfect: This tense is used to express an action that will have occurred by some time in the future. It is formed with the future tense of "avoir" or "être" and the past participle of the main verb.

    • Past Conditional: This tense is used to express an action that would have occurred but didn't. It is formed with the conditional of "avoir" or "être" and the past participle of the main verb.

    By understanding and practicing these tenses, you will be able to express a wide range of actions and states of being in French. Remember, practice makes perfect!

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    Next up: Conditional and subjunctive