Present Tense Booklet
Present Tense Booklet
The present tense is used to describe events that are happening now, things that you usually do or
things that do not change.
Remember that there is only one form of the present tense in French so, for example,
il travaille means he works and he is working and he does work.
These verbs are called REGULAR VERBS, which means that they follow a REGULAR
pattern.
We remove the er, ir andre then add the following endings, depending on which person
we are talking about.
We call the person or the subject of the verb a subject pronoun
B. IR verbs.
1. finir / you (sg)
2. rougir / he
3. fleurir / it
4. btir / I
5. choisir / we
6. agir / she
7. cueillir / you (pl) _____
8. rougir / they
9. finir / I
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10. choisir / you (sg)
C. RE verbs.
1. perdre / you (pl)
2. vendre / he
3. pondre/ they
4. descendre / I
5. defendre / we
6. pendre / she
7. fondre / it _____
8. mettre / you (pl)
9. perdre / you (sg) 20
10. vendre / they
Irregular Present Tense Verbs
Of course, not all verbs in French are regular/follow a pattern! The 4 most common irregular
verbs are listed below, if you dont know these by heart - you need to learn them!
Tu es as vas fais
Salut! Je mappelle Sophie et 16 ans. trios frres ans et une soeur qui
plus jeune que moi. Nous les caractres trs diffrents! Moi, je assez timide et
trs calme. Je du vlo et de la natation et je souvent en ville avec mes copines.
Tous les samedis, nous du shopping au centre ville et normalement nous mangeons de
la pizza ou une glace sil fait beau. Mon frre an, qui sappelle David 18 ans et il
vraiment parreseux et agaant! Il ne jamais ses devoirs il prfre jouer aux jeux-vidos
ou bavarder avec ses amis sur msn! Il n pas trs sportif mais Il azzez souvent au
stade prs de chez nous pour regarder un match de foot. Ma soeur, qui sappelle Elodie,
13 ans et elle un peu sensible! Elle les cheveux roux et friss; elle de taille
moyenne et elle adore les sports nautiques. Le vendredi matin, par exemple, elle de la
planche voile et de la plonge. Le samedi, elle au club de jeunes avec ses copines.
Aprs, elles de la natation et elles quelquefois du vlo aussi. Elles trs
mignonnes! Voil ma famille! Il est vrai dire que nous trs diffrents!
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More Irregular Verbs!
Below are some more irregular Present Tense verbs which, in addition to the four verbs above, are
common in the IGCSE French course:
Boire Croire Devoir Dormir Ecrire lire Partir
(to drink) (to (to have (to sleep) (to write) (to read) (to leave)
believe) to/must)
Exercise 4 Write the correct forms of the verbs using the infinitives given:
1. Je un nouveau vlo pour mon anniversaire. ( vouloir)
3. Jaime bien aller en vacances avec ma sur parce quelle est amusante!
4. Jadore la France, surtout le sud de la France, parce quil fait chaud et il y a du soleil.
7. Ma mre prfre rester la plage pour se bronzer pendant toutes les vacances.
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10. Le matin, nous buvons du caf et nous mangeons du toast avec de la confiture.
Reflexive verbs
When used accurately, reflexive verbs are impressive in IGCSE writing. With reflexive verbs, the
action is done to oneself, that's why the verb has se in front of it in the infinitive. For example:
laver = to wash but se laver = to wash oneself (je me lave I wash myself)
appeler = to call but sappeler = to call oneself (je mappelle Thomas I call myself Thomas/My
name is Thomas)
However, many verbs are reflexive in French but are not reflexive in English. For Example:
se lever to get up (je me lve I get up)
samuser to have fun (je mamuse I have fun)
sennuyer to be bored (Je mennuie I am bored)
So, there is often no direct translation!
Reflexive verbs are mainly er verbs and most of them follow the same, regular rules that
we revised in Exercises 1 and 2. So, chop off the er and add the regular endings. The only
difference is the extra pronoun!
For Example:
Here is a list of the most common, regular reflexive verbs in the Present Tense:
Sennuyer to be bored
je mennuie
As we can see, nous
tu tennuies and vous are regular
il/elle/on sennuie but the other subject
nous nous ennuyons pronouns are
vous vous ennuyez irregular!
ils/elles sennuient
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Some useful reflexive phrases:
Je mennuie I am bored/I get bored nous nous reposons We relax / we are relaxing
Je me dispute avec I argue with Je mentends bien avec I get on well with
Nous nous entendons bien We get on well Nous nous amusons bien we have fun/we are
Je minquite que I worry that having fun
Je mintresse I am interested in Je me demande I wonder
Now write two sentences of your own in both English and French:
9.
10.
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Acheter, Prfrer and Esprer
Were nearly finished with the Present Tense, but before we do, lets revise those annoying verbs
acheter, prfrer and esprer! Accurate accents will help you to achieve a good mark in IGCSE
writing so dont run and hide, learn them and do the exercise to practice!
What do you notice about the verb acheter with je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles?
I notice that
What do you notice about the verb acheter with nous and vous ?
I notice that
What do you notice about the verb prfrer with je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles?
I notice that
What do you notice about the verb prfrer with nous and vous ?
I notice that
What do you notice about the verb esprer with je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles?
What do you notice about the verb esprer with nous and vous ? 6
I notice that