Celui que l’on n’attendait pas !
5 Put the text into the negative:
8.2 Characteristics of the verb
Verbs can be classifi ed and regrouped into linking verbs, transitive verbs, intransitive verbs, pronominal verbs and impersonal verbs, as in the table.
Person 6 persons:
je, tu, il / elle, nous, vous, ils / elles
Je parle anglais. (1st person) I speak English.
Tu parles français. (2nd person) You speak French.
Elle parle russe. (3rd person) She speaks Russian.
Number Singular: je, tu il / elle Plural: nous, vous, ils / elles
Je parle anglais. (singular) I speak English.
Nous parlons français. (plural) We speak French.
Mood* 7 moods:
- 4 personal: indicative, imperative, conditional and subjunctive
and
- 3 impersonal: infi nitive, participles (present and past), gerund
Vous parlez anglais, je le sais ! (indicative) You speak English, I know it!
Parlez français, S.V.P. ! (imperative) Speak French, please!
Il faut que nous parlions russe.
(subjunctive) We have to speak Russian.
Avec de la pratique tu parlerais mieux. (conditional) With practice you would speak better.
un candidat parlant 3 langues (present participle) a candidate speaking 3 languages
Il a peu parlé à la conférence. (past participle) He did not speak much at the conference.
En parlant tu as dévoilé ton origine.
(gerund) By speaking you revealed your origin.
Tense Present, imperfect, compound past, future, etc.
Je parle anglais. (present) I speak English.
Je parlerai français. (future) I will / shall speak French.
Avant je parlais mieux. (imperfect) I used to speak better before.
VERBS 1
Type 4 types of verb:
– verb (standing on its own) – auxiliary and semi-auxiliary – transitive and intransitive – impersonal
J’ai une vieille voiture. (verb) I have an old car.
J’ai acheté une vieille voiture.
(auxiliary) I’ve bought an old car.
Elle va parler. (near future) (semi-auxiliary) She’s going to speak.
Tu as gagné un million ? Tu parles ! (intransitive verb) You’ve won a million? You must be joking ! Je gagne de l’argent. (transitive) I earn money.
Il fait beau. (impersonal) It’s fi ne weather.
Voice** 3 voices
active, passive or pronominal
Il parle anglais. (active) He speaks English.
L’anglais est parlé partout. (passive) English is spoken everywhere.
Ils ne se parlent plus. (pronominal) They don’t speak to each other any more.
Aspect Numerous ways of describing an action (e.g. beginning it, fi nishing it, showing its duration, repeating it, etc.)
Elle parle. (the simple present = the duration of the action is not indicated) She speaks.
Elle est en train de parler. (the present continuous = the duration of the action is emphasized) She is speaking.
* Note that in English it is usual to speak of 3 important grammatical moods (i.e., expressions of the speaker’s attitude by means of the verb): the indicative, the subjunctive and the imperative.
** Note that English differs from French in specifying that there are 2 voices only, active and passive.
The different forms that a verb can take are called conjugations (see 9.2.1).
8.2.1 Linking verbs
A linking verb, or copula, is one which connects the subject to the predicate.This type includes:
être
Steinbeck était américain. Steinbeck was American.
Steinbeck était un écrivain américain. Steinbeck was an American writer.
verbs or verbal expressions of state, indicating the idea of:
appearance:
apparaître (comme) to look like
avoir l’air to look like
être tenu pour to be considered to be
paraître to appear, seem
passer pour to be taken for
sembler to seem
se trouver to be
remaining:
Des banques américaines furent tenues pour responsables de la crise.
American banks were considered to be responsible for the crisis.
demeurer to remain
rester to stay
Il est resté infi rme après son accident. He remained disabled after his accident.
designation:
être fait to be made
être élu to be elected
être choisi pour to be chosen for
être proclamé to be proclaimed
Elizabeth II a été proclamée Reine en 1952. Elizabeth II was proclaimed Queen in 1952.
François Hollande a été élu Président en mai 2012.
François Hollande was elected President in May 2012.
naming:
être appelé to be called
être dit to be said to be
être traité de to be called
s’appeler to be called
se nommer to be called / named
Il a été traité de paresseux par son professeur. He was called lazy by his teacher.
VERBS 1
state:
devenir to become
se faire to become
tomber to fall
Il est tombé malade. He fell ill.
8.2.2 Auxiliary verbs: avoir and être
The verbs avoir (to have) and être (to be) have a meaning in their own right as verbs but their basic meaning is lost when they:
act as auxiliaries to form compound tenses of verbs;
are used in the formation of the passive voice;
are used to form pronominal verbs.
avoir
As an auxiliary verb, avoir is used to form the compound tenses of:
all transitive verbs (followed by a direct or an indirect object) in the active voice, and not pronominal verbs:
Elle a changé de style, mais nous l’avons reconnue tout de suite.
She’s changed her style, but we recognized her straight away.
avoir and être themselves:
Ils ont eu beaucoup de chance à l’oral. They’ve had a lot of luck in the oral exam.
Vous avez été souvent en retard cet hiver. You’ve often been late this winter.
J’ai été heureuse de vous rencontrer. I was happy to meet you.
many intransitive verbs:
Il a dormi tout l’après-midi. He’s slept the whole afternoon.
most impersonal verbs:
Il a fait chaud en mai mais il a plu en juin. It was hot in May but it rained in June.
être
As an auxiliary verb être is used:
to form the passive voice of all tenses:
La ferme est constituée de trois bâtiments principaux.
The farm comprises [lit. is composed of]
three main buildings.
Les bagages avaient été mis dans le coffre. The luggage had been put in the boot.
Il est découragé par le mauvais temps. He’s put off by the bad weather.
Elle était submergée de travail. She was snowed under with work.
to conjugate the compound tenses of all pronominal verbs:
Elle s’est levée tôt, s’est douchée et s’est précipitée à l’arrêt d’autobus.
She got up early, had a shower and hurried off to the bus stop.
to conjugate the compound tenses of a number of intransitive verbs, which for the most part express movement or a change of state (see 9.5.2):
Il est entré. He came in.
Elle est tombée en cours de route et elle est arrivée couverte de boue.
She fell on the way and arrived covered with mud.
Note
When a sequence of verbs has the same compound tense and uses the same auxiliary, the auxiliary can be omitted on the second and subsequent occasions:
Ils ont d’abord lu puis déclamé le texte. First they read and then declaimed the text.
Nous avons pris place dans l’amphithéâtre, ouvert nos livres et commencé à écrire.
We took our seats in the lecture theatre, opened our books and began to write.
But when the auxiliaries are different, they cannot be omitted:
Ils sont sortis de l’autobus, ont crié et chanté à tue-tête et se sont enfuis.
They got off the bus, shouted and sang at the top of their voices and ran off.
8.2.3 Active and passive voices
When the subject of the verb carries out the action, the verb is in the active voice:
Le lion poursuit la gazelle The lion hunts the gazelle.
Daniel jouera le rôle. Daniel will play the part.
When the subject of the verb receives the action, the verb is in the passive voice.
An active statement, in which the verb has a direct object, may be turned into a passive one, as follows:
Le rôle sera joué par Daniel. The part will be played by Daniel.
VERBS 1
Active sentence: Daniel will play the part.
1 the auxiliary verb être is used in the same tense as the active verb (jouera)
sera will be
2 the active verb (jouera) becomes a past participle
(sera) joué (will be) played
3 the direct object of the active verb (le rôle) becomes the subject of the verb être in the passive voice.
Le rôle (sera joué) The part (will be played)
4 the subject of the active voice sentence (Daniel) becomes the agent and is introduced by par, de, or à
(Le rôle sera joué) par Daniel. (The part will be played) by Daniel.
Passive sentence: The part will be played by Daniel.
Similarly, La gazelle est poursuivie par le lion. (The gazelle is hunted by the lion.)
In theory, all verbs which take a direct object can be used in the passive voice, but in practice French uses the passive far less than English. Two important alternatives to the passive voice exist in French:
on plus an active verb as an alternative to the passive:
On dit que les Anglais achètent de plus en plus de maisons en France.
It is said that the English are buying more and more houses in France.
De nos jours, on construit moins de lignes TGV en France.
Nowadays fewer TGV lines are being built in France.
a pronominal verb as an alternative to the passive (see 8.4):
Les abricots se vendent au marché à des prix modérés.
Apricots are sold at the market at reasonable prices.
La Tour Eiffel se voit de loin. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from afar.
8.2.4 Semi-auxiliary verbs
Semi-auxiliary verbs in French, such as aller (to go), devoir (to have to), pouvoir (to be able), commencer à (to begin), venir de (to have just) are always followed by an infi nitive, except for aller (to go) which can be followed by the form ending in -ant.
Like auxiliary verbs they lose their meaning when they express certain nuances of tense, mood and aspect:
Elle vient d’arriver mais elle va partir tout de suite.
She has just arrived (recent past), but she is going to leave (near future) at once.