ESPACES - PROGRAM SAMPLER

Leçon 2A 2A.1 Present tense of regular -er verbs • The infinitives of most French verbs end in -er . To form the present tense of regular -er verbs, drop the -er from the infinitive and add the corresponding endings for the different subject pronouns. This chart demonstrates how to conjugate regular -er verbs. parler (to speak) je parle tu parles il/elle/on parle I speak you speak he/she/it/one speaks nous parlons vous parlez ils/elles parlent we speak you speak they speak • Here are some other verbs that are conjugated the same way as parler . Common -er verbs adorer aimer aimer mieux arriver chercher commencer dessiner détester donner étudier to love; to adore to like; to love to prefer (to like better) to arrive to look for to begin, to start to draw; to design to hate to give to study habiter (à) manger oublier partager penser (que/qu’…) regarder rencontrer retrouver travailler voyager to live (in) to eat to forget to share to think (that…) to look (at) to meet to meet up with; to find (again) to work to travel • Note that je becomes j’ when it appears before a verb that begins with a vowel sound. J’habite à Bruxelles. I live in Brussels. J’étudie la psychologie. I study psychology. • With the verbs adorer , aimer , and détester , use the definite article before a noun to tell what someone loves, likes, prefers, or hates. J’aime mieux l’ art. I prefer art. Marine déteste les devoirs. Marine hates homework. • Use infinitive forms after the verbs adorer , aimer , and détester to say that you like (or hate, etc.) to do something. Only the first verb should be conjugated. Ils adorent travailler ici. They love to work here. Ils détestent étudier ensemble. They hate to study together. • The present tense in French can be translated in different ways in English. The English equivalent for a sentence depends on its context. Éric et Nadine étudient le droit. Éric and Nadine study law. Éric and Nadine are studying law. Éric and Nadine do study law. Nous travaillons à Paris. We work in Paris. We are working in Paris. We do work in Paris. • Sometimes the present tense can be used to indicate an event in the near future, in which case it can be translated using will in English. Je retrouve le professeur demain. I will meet up with the professor tomorrow. Elles arrivent à Dijon demain. They will arrive in Dijon tomorrow. Boîte à outils To express yourself with greater accuracy, use these adverbs: assez ( enough ), d’habitude ( usually ), de temps en temps ( from time to time ), parfois ( sometimes ), quelquefois ( sometimes ), rarement ( rarely ), souvent ( often ), toujours ( always ). Tutorial STRUCTURES ESPACE 54 cinquante-quatre Communicative Goal Describe familiar actions and daily activities