L’imparfait, le conditionnel, et le futur simple Unité 3 L’imparfait, le conditionnel, et le futur simple
L’Imparfait The Imperfect
Comment c’est formulé nous form of present tense verb drop –ons ending, creates imperfect stem add the following endings: -ais -ions -iez -ait -aient Comment c’est formulé
et les verbes irréguliers ? Only one irregular verb in l’imparfait Bien sûr, c’est être nous sommes – no –ons ending imperfect stem for être = ét- et les verbes irréguliers ?
Use l’imparfait when you want to talk about past actions that took place over a period of time that happened habitually that happened over and over again to talk about feelings, weather, background details that were interrupted by another past action (the interrupter is in the passé composé) Comment c’est utilisé
La Duration Quand j’étais petite … (l’enfance) Elle ne faisait rien pendant ses vacances. Nous habitions une petite maison. Ils apprenaient lentement. La Duration
L’Habitude Chaque été, j’allais chez ma grand-mère à la Floride. Pour le Noël, ma famille décorait le sapin après le Jour de l’Action de Grâce. Après l’école, je passais par la maison de mes grands-parents. L’Habitude
La Répétition Chaque semaine, on faisait les cours à Kroger. Je réussissais à mes examens de français. Il pleuvait pendant huit jours. La Répétition
Les Sentiments, Le Temps, Les Détails Je me sentais très heureuse quand j’étais petite. Il faisait très froid. Il était dix heures quand il est retourné chez lui. Les Sentiments, Le Temps, Les Détails
L’Intérruption Je notais les devoirs quand ils ont téléphoné. Elle jouais du piano quand son chat a sauté sur le clavier. On faisait une pique-nique quand un étranger s’est présenté tout d’un coup. L’Intérruption
Le passé composé vs. l’imparfait
le passé composé l’imparfait past actions that past actions that ended in the past interrupted another past action narrate events in informal writing and orally past actions that happened repeatedly and/or habitually were interrupted by another past action describe feelings, weather, details
Le Conditionnel
Comment c’est formulé Regular verbs: Irregular verbs: Endings: -ais conditional stem is the infinitive form Irregular verbs: see the following list Endings: same as l’imparfait -ais -ions -iez -ait -aient Comment c’est formulé
Les racines irréguliers acheter > achèter- similar verbs: achever, amener, emmener, lever, promener falloir > faudr- acquérir > acquerr- similar verbs: conquérir, s'enquérir jeter > jetter- similar verbs: feuilleter, hoqueter, projeter, rejeter appeler > appeller- similar verbs: épeler, rappeler, renouveler nettoyer > nettoier- similar verbs: employer, noyer, tutoyer aller > ir- pleuvoir > pleuvr- avoir > aur- pouvoir > pourr- devoir > devr- savoir > saur- envoyer > enverr- tenir > tiendr- similar verbs: maintenir, obtenir, soutenir, more essayer > essaier- similar verbs: balayer, effrayer, payer valoir > vaudr- essuyer > essuier- similar verbs: appuyer, ennuyer venir > viendr- similar verbs: devenir, parvenir, revenir, more être > ser- voir > verr- similar verb: revoir faire > fer- vouloir > voudr- Les racines irréguliers
Use le conditionnel to express hypothetical situations Generally, this tense will be used in conjunction with l’imparfait to create an if/then phrase Si j’avais un milliard de dollars (l’imparfait) This sentence sets up the hypothetical situation j’achèterais un château en France. (le cond.) this sentence explains the result of the hypothetical situation Comment c’est utilisé
Le futur simple
Comment c’est formulé Le futur simple has only one part/verb Unlike the future tense in English, which is made up of two parts I will go to Paris. will + go The stems are the same as those used for le conditionnel The endings are based on the present tense of avoir: -ai -ons -as -ez -a -ont Comment c’est formulé
Comment c’est utilisé To express future actions Elle ira à Nice pour ses vacances d’été. Nous aurons beaucoup d’argent. Tu seras célèbre. Je ferai mon mieux. Comment c’est utilisé
If/Then en français
If-then clauses, also known as si clauses, conditionals, or conditional sentences, are sentences with one clause stating a condition or possibility, and a second clause naming a result which is dependent upon that condition. There are different types of si clauses, but they all have two things in common: 1) The English result clause might be preceded by "then," but there is no equivalent word preceding the French result clause. Si tu conduis, je paierai. If you drive, (then) I'll pay. 2) The clauses can be in either order, si clause followed by result clause, or result clause followed by si clause, just so long as the verb forms are paired correctly and si (if) is placed in front of the condition. Je paierai si tu conduis. I'll pay if you drive.
Si clauses are divided into types based on the likeliness of what is stated in the result clause: what does, will, would, or would have happened if.... The first verb form listed for each type names the condition upon which depends the result, which is indicated by the second verb form. First conditional: Likely / Potentiel Present or present perfect + present, future, or imperative Second conditional: Unlikely / Irréel du présent Imperfect + conditional Third conditional: Impossible / Irréel du passé Pluperfect + conditional perfect These verb pairings are very specific: for example, in the second conditional, you can only use the imperfect in the si (if) clause and the conditional in the result clause. Memorizing these pairings is probably the most difficult part of si clauses Types of si clauses
The first conditional refers to an if-then clause which names a likely situation and the result dependent upon it: something that happens or will happen if something else happens. The first conditional is formed with the present tense or present perfect in the si clause, and one of three verb forms - present, future, or imperative - in the result clause. First Conditional
Present + PresentThis construction is used for things that happen regularly. Note that the si in these sentences could probably be replaced by quand (when) with little or no difference in meaning. S'il pleut, nous ne sortons pas. / Nous ne sortons pas s'il pleut. If it rains, we don't go out. / We don't go out if it rains. Si je ne veux pas lire, je regarde la télé. / Je regarde la télé si je ne veux pas lire. If I don't want to read, I watch TV. / I watch TV if I don't want to read.
Present + Future The present + future construction is used for events that are likely to occur. The present tense follows si; it is the situation that is required before the other action will take place. Si j'ai le temps, je le ferai. / Je le ferai si j'ai le temps.. If I have time, I will do it. / I will do it if I have time. Si tu étudies, tu réussiras à l'examen. / Tu réussiras à l'examen si tu étudies. If you study, you will pass the test. / You'll pass the test if you study.
Present + Imperative This construction is used to give an order, assuming that the condition is met. The present tense follows si; it is the situation that is required before the other action becomes a command. Si tu peux, viens me voir. / Viens me voir si tu peux. If you can, come see me. / Come see me if you can. (If you can't, then don't worry about it.) Si vous avez de l'argent, payez la facture. / Payez la facture si vous avez de l'argent. If you have money, pay the bill. / Pay the bill if you have money. (If you don't have any money, someone else will take care of it.)
Passé composé + Present, Future, or Imperative Si clauses may also use the passé composé followed by the present, future, or imperative. These constructions are basically the same as above; the difference is that the condition is in the present perfect rather than the simple present. Si tu as fini, tu peux partir. / Tu peux partir si tu as fini. If you have finished, you can leave. Si tu n'as pas fini, tu me le diras. / Tu me le diras si tu n'as pas fini. If you haven't finished, [you will] tell me. Si tu n'as pas fini, dis-le-moi. / Dis-le-moi si tu n'as pas fini. If you haven't finished, tell me.
The second conditional expresses something that is contrary to present fact or unlikely to occur: something that would happen if something else happened.For the second conditional, use si + imperfect (stating the condition) + conditional (stating what would happen). Second Conditional
Si j'avais le temps, je le ferais. / Je le ferais si j'avais le temps Si j'avais le temps, je le ferais. / Je le ferais si j'avais le temps. If I had time, I would do it. / I would do it if I had time. (Fact: I don't have time, but if I did [contrary to fact], I would do it.) Si tu étudiais, tu réussirais à l'examen. / Tu réussirais à l'examen si tu étudiais. If you studied, you would pass the test. / You would pass the test if you studied. (Fact: You don't study, but if you did [unlikely to occur], you would pass the test.) Si elle vous voyait, elle vous aiderait. / Elle vous aiderait si elle vous voyait. If she saw you, she would help you. / She would help you if she saw you. (Fact: She doesn't see you so she isn't helping you [but if you get her attention, she will].)
The third conditional is a conditional sentence which expresses a hypothetical situation that is contrary to past fact: something that would have happened if something else had happened.To form the third conditional, use si + pluperfect (to explain what would have had to occur) +conditional perfect (what would have been possible). Third Conditional
Si j'avais eu le temps, je l'aurais fait Si j'avais eu le temps, je l'aurais fait. / Je l'aurais fait si j'avais eu le temps. If I had had time, I would have done it. / I would have done it if I had had time. (Fact: I didn't have time so I didn't do it.) Si tu avais étudié, tu aurais réussi à l'examen. / Tu aurais réussi à l'examen si tu avais étudié. If you had studied, you would have passed the test. / You would have passed the test if you had studied. (Fact: You didn't study so you didn't pass the test.) Si elle vous avait vu, elle vous aurait aidé. / Elle vous aurait aidé si elle vous avait vu. If she had seen you, she would have helped you. / She would have helped you if she had seen you. (Fact: She didn't see you so she didn't help you.)
Practice
Pick 10 of the following prompts and create complete sentences: Si on mange trop Si on ne vote pas Si on tombe malade à l'école Si je me lève tôt Si l'ordinateur ne marche pas Si tu es en retard Si je parle trop vite Si tu ne sais pas nager Si je perds mon portefeuille Si tu trouves mon livre Si je ne réussis pas à cet examen Si tu vois Jean-Marc Si un mobile commence à sonner pendant la classe Si je ne trouve pas mes clés Si je trouve une bague de diamants Si je vois mon ex-copain Si je voyage en Afrique Si nous regardons la télé Si nous travaillons ensemble Si on fais les devoirs tous les jours Activité A
Pick five of the following situations and write complete sentences: Si je pouvais visiter n'importe quel pays Si je trouvais un portefeuille dans la rue Si j'allais à la lune Si j'avais un souhait Si je voyais un OVNI (objet volant non identifié) Si je n'avais qu'une semaine à vivre S'il y avait des formes de vie intelligente sur d'autres planètes Si j'étais le président Si j'étais riche Si les chiens pouvaient parler Si j'étais toi Si je faisais mes devoirs tous les jours Si mon meilleur ami me mentait Si je me cassais la jambe Si notre professeur était en retard Si je me mariais Si je pouvais faire la connaissance de n'importe qui dans le monde Si nous étudiions ensemble Si nous savions le secret du bonheur Si je pouvais remonter dans le temps Activité B