Verbs included on the dictée list are found in their infinitive form. When these verbs are put together with a noun or pronoun, they need to be conjugated depending on the subject and the tense. Our class has been mastering present tense with regular ER verbs. Students have also been learning how to conjugate the irregular verb avoir, which is particularly important in the French language.
The concept of conjugation has been explained to students as "Quand c'est seul…" (When it's by itself...) or "Quand c'est avec…" (When it's with…)
The pronouns used are:
Je - 1st person singular
Tu - 2nd person singular
Il, Elle, On - 3rd person singular
nous - 1st person plural
vous - 2nd person plural (used for 2nd person singular in formal circumstances)
Ils, Elles - 3 person plural
Regular verbs act in a similar way and can follow a rule. Irregular verbs need to be learned on their own.
The concept of conjugation has been explained to students as "Quand c'est seul…" (When it's by itself...) or "Quand c'est avec…" (When it's with…)
The pronouns used are:
Je - 1st person singular
Tu - 2nd person singular
Il, Elle, On - 3rd person singular
nous - 1st person plural
vous - 2nd person plural (used for 2nd person singular in formal circumstances)
Ils, Elles - 3 person plural
Regular verbs act in a similar way and can follow a rule. Irregular verbs need to be learned on their own.
Pronominal verbs
When in their infinitive form, pronominal verbs have the reflexive pronoun "se" in front of it (i.e. se reveiller, s'habiller.) This is indicate the subject is receiving the action.
S'habiller to get dressed
Je m'habille. I dress myself.
Tu t'habilles. You dress yourself.
Il s'habille, He dresses himself.
Nous nous habillons. We dress ourselves.
Vous vous habillez. You dress yourselves.
Ils s'habillent. They dress themselves.
Se réveiller to wake up
Je me réveille. I wake up. (I wake myself up)
Tu te réveilles. You wake up.
Il se réveille. He wakes up.
Nous nous réveillons. We wake up.
Vous vous réveillez. You wake up.
Ils se réveillent. They wake up.
When in their infinitive form, pronominal verbs have the reflexive pronoun "se" in front of it (i.e. se reveiller, s'habiller.) This is indicate the subject is receiving the action.
S'habiller to get dressed
Je m'habille. I dress myself.
Tu t'habilles. You dress yourself.
Il s'habille, He dresses himself.
Nous nous habillons. We dress ourselves.
Vous vous habillez. You dress yourselves.
Ils s'habillent. They dress themselves.
Se réveiller to wake up
Je me réveille. I wake up. (I wake myself up)
Tu te réveilles. You wake up.
Il se réveille. He wakes up.
Nous nous réveillons. We wake up.
Vous vous réveillez. You wake up.
Ils se réveillent. They wake up.
Irregular verb AVOIR (meaning: to have) ÊTRE (meaning: to be)
J'ai Je suis
Tu as Tu es
Il, Elle, On a Il, Elle, On est
Nous avons nous sommes
Vous avez vous êtes
Ils, Elles ont Ils, Elles sont
J'ai Je suis
Tu as Tu es
Il, Elle, On a Il, Elle, On est
Nous avons nous sommes
Vous avez vous êtes
Ils, Elles ont Ils, Elles sont
Passé composé
This is the past tense that is use to describe actions in the past. Another tense called l'imparfait is used to describe ongoing actions that started in the past.
For example:
passé composé: J'ai mangé une pomme. I ate an apple.
l'imparfait: Je mangeais une pomme quand le téléphone a sonné.
I was eating an apple when the phone rang.
When using the passé composé tense, an auxiliary verb (either avoir or être) is needed followed by the past participle of the verb. Most verbs use the auxiliary AVOIR.
For the past participle of regular ER verbs, drop the letter R at the end of the infinitive form, and add an é.
For example:
Infinitive Past participle
parler parlé
manger mangé
jouer joué
This is the past tense that is use to describe actions in the past. Another tense called l'imparfait is used to describe ongoing actions that started in the past.
For example:
passé composé: J'ai mangé une pomme. I ate an apple.
l'imparfait: Je mangeais une pomme quand le téléphone a sonné.
I was eating an apple when the phone rang.
When using the passé composé tense, an auxiliary verb (either avoir or être) is needed followed by the past participle of the verb. Most verbs use the auxiliary AVOIR.
For the past participle of regular ER verbs, drop the letter R at the end of the infinitive form, and add an é.
For example:
Infinitive Past participle
parler parlé
manger mangé
jouer joué
Futur Proche
This is the future tense used to talk about the near future.
The futur proche is composed of the verb "aller" conjugated plus a second verb in its infinitive form.
The verb aller is conjugated as follows:
Je vais
Tu vas
Il, Elle, On va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils, Elles vont
A sentence in present tense may be:
"Je marche à l'école." I walk to school.
The same sentence in futur proche would be:
"Je vais marcher à l'école." I am going to walk to school.
This is the future tense used to talk about the near future.
The futur proche is composed of the verb "aller" conjugated plus a second verb in its infinitive form.
The verb aller is conjugated as follows:
Je vais
Tu vas
Il, Elle, On va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils, Elles vont
A sentence in present tense may be:
"Je marche à l'école." I walk to school.
The same sentence in futur proche would be:
"Je vais marcher à l'école." I am going to walk to school.
- In this sentence, the word vais is the conjugated form of the verb aller, and the word marcher is the verb "to walk" in its infinitive form.
Regular verbs with ER ending
Dictée verbe ending in ER: marcher, chercher, chuchoter, pousser, sauter Je marche Tu marches Il, Elle, On marche Nous marchons Vous marchez Ils, Elles marchent* *"ent" ending is not pronounced when reading. |
The verb changer is slightly different when with the pronoun nous. nous changeons This occurs with other regular ER verbs that have the letter g, such as manger and partager. nous mangeons nous partageons |