-uire Verbs
-uire verbs are conjugated irregularly.
Formation
| Singular | Plural | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| first person | je conduis | jzeuh cohndwee | I drive | nous conduisons | noo cohndweezoh | we drive |
| second person | tu conduis | too cohndwee | you drive | vous conduisez | voo cohndweezay | you drive |
| third person | il conduit | eel cohndwee | he drives | ils conduisent | eel cohndweez | they drive (masc. or mixed) |
| elle conduit | ell cohndwee | she drives | ||||
| on conduit | oh cohndwee | one drives | elles conduisent | ell cohndweez | they drive (fem.) | |
Other -uire Verbs
- produire - to produce
Driving
| ouvrir | to open |
| fermer | to close |
-rir Verbs
These verbs are conjugated irregularly, following the -er conjugation scheme. A common -rir verb is ouvrir.
Formation
- j'ouvre
- tu ouvres
- il ouvre
- nous ouvrons
- vous ouvrez
- ils ouvrent
- past participle: ouvert
Other Standard -rir verbs
In past participle form, -rir is replaced with -ert for these verbs.
- couvrir - to cover
- découvrir - to discover
- offrir - to offer
- souffrir - to suffer
-rir Verb Exceptions
Courir - To Run
- je cours
- tu cours
- il court
- nous courons
- vous courez
- ils courent
- past participle: couru
Mourir - To Die
- je meurs
- tu meurs
- il meurt
- nous mourons
- vous mourez
- ils meurent
- past participle: mort(e)(s)1
1Mourir is the only -rir verb that takes être as its helping verb in perfect tenses (and therefore agrees with the subject as a past participle in a perfect tense).
Acquérir - To Acquire
- j'acquiers
- tu acquiers
- il acquiert
- nous acquérons
- vous acquérez
- ils acquièrent
- past participle: acquis
Traffic Signs and Laws
Passé Composé with Être
Most verbs form the passé composé with avoir, however there are a small number of verbs that are always conjugated with être.
List of Verbs
| The verbs that take être can be easily remebered by the acronym MRS. RD VANDERTRAMP: | ||||||||||
| M | R | S | R | D | ||||||
| monté | resté | sorti | revenu | devenu | ||||||
| V | A | N | D | E | R | T | R | A | M | P |
| venu | arrivé | né | descendu | entré | rentré | tombé | retourné | allé | mort | parti |
Direct Objects
One must know that these verbs take their conjugated avoir when they are immediately followed by a direct object
- For Example:
- Je suis descendu with the direct object "mes baggages"
- becomes:
- J'ai descendu mes baggages.
- Je suis descendu with the direct object "mes baggages"
- Another example:
- Je suis monté with the direct object "mes baggages"
- becomes:
- J'ai monté mes baggages.
- Je suis monté with the direct object "mes baggages"
- Yet another example but with ils instead of Je:
- Ils sont sortis with direct object "leur passport"
- becomes:
- Ils ont sorti leur passport.
- Ils sont sortis with direct object "leur passport"
Subject-Past Participle Agreement
The past participles of the above verbs must agree with the the subject of a sentence in gender and plurality. Note that there is no agreement if these verbs are conjugated with avoir.
- If the subject is masculine singular, there is no change in the past participle.
- If the subject is feminine singular, an -e is added to the past participle.
- If the subject is masculine plural, an -s is added to the past participle.
- If the subject is masculine singular, an -es is added to the past participle.
| J suis allé(e). | Nous sommes allé(e)s. |
| Tu es allé(e). | Vous êtes allé(e)(s). |
| Il est allé. | Ils sont allés. |
| Elle est allés. | Elles sont allées. |
Trains and Stations
| Taking the Train | |
|---|---|
The Pronoun Y
Indirect Object Pronoun - to it, to them
The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by à.
- Je réponds à les questions. - J' y réponds.
- I respond to the questions. - I respond to them.
Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the object refers to a person or persons.
Replacement of Places - there
The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preoposition except de (for which en is used).
- Les hommes vont en France. - Les hommes y vont.
- The men go to France - The men go there.
Note that en, and not y is used when the preposition of the object is de.
Idioms
- Ça y est! - It's Done!
- J'y suis! - I get it!
Content is available under GNU Free Documentation License Source: Wikibooks