Table 12 The different facets of the transformed learner.
4.3. Learning for self and the workplace
Like it was explained in Unit five, Reflexive verbs are what the French grammarian call “Les verbes pronominaux’ hence our calling them reflexive or pronominal verbs in English so as to facilitate the ease of reference for French learners like you. Reflexive or pronominal verbs are verbs used to refer to an action that the subject does to himself/herself. In a situation whereby you want to refer to an action that you do to yourself or the action that another person does to himself or herself, you express the action through the use of reflexive or pronominal verbs in French.
Remember also that the conjugation of this type of verbs takes additional (direct/personal) pronoun in their conjugation. The pronouns me te se
nous vous and se are used to mark this reflexive or pronominal action of the verbs.
To conjugate reflexive verbs in the futur simple, the following endings are then added to the stem of the main verb. For example, if the subject or the speaker wants to say that I will/shall bath myself, he would say: Je me laverai.
Note: Take note of the fact that apart from the introduction of another reflexive pronoun of the same person with that of the subject (personal pronoun) that you will insert so as to denote that reflexive action in the sentence, you will be expected to bring into use also your knowledge of conjugation of verbs ending with -er, -re, -ir, -oir that you have acquired in Units six and seven. Here are some examples of conjugation:
(e) Se laver– to take one’s bath
Je me laverai –I will/shall bath myself Tu te laveras – You will bath yourself
Il/elle se lavera – he/she will bath himself/herself Nous nous laverons – we will bath ourselves Vous vous laverez – you will bath yourselves Ils/Elles se laveront–They will bath themselves (f) Se taire–to keep quiet
Je me tairai– I will/shall keep quiet Tu te tairas –You will keep quiet Il/elle se taira–he/she will keep quiet
Nous nous tairons–we will keep quiet Vous vous tairez–you will keep quiet Ils/elles se tairont–They will keep quiet
(g) Se convertir–to convert oneself
Je me convertirai–I will/shall convert myself Tu te convertiras– You will convert yourself
Il/elle se convertira – he/she will convert himself/herself Nous nous convertirons – we will convert ourselves Vous vous convertirez – you will convert yourselves Ils/elles se convertiront –They will convert themselves
(h) S’asseoir – to take one’s seat
Je m’assoirai – I will/shall sit down/take my seat Tu t’assoiras – You will sit down/take your seat
Il/elle s’assoira –he/she will sit down/take him/her seat Nous nous assoirons – we will sit down/take our seat Vous vous assoirez – you will sit down/take your seat Ils/Elles s’assoiront – They will sit down/take their seat
Or
(f) S’asseoir – to take one’s seat
Je m’assiérai – I will/shall sit down/take my seat Tu t’assiéras – You will sit down/take your seat
Il/elle s’assiéra –he/she will sit down/take him/her seat Nous nous assiérons – we will sit down/take our seat Vous vous assiérez – you will sit down/take your seat Ils/Elles s’assiéront – They will sit down/take their seat
Note: Take good of the fact that, just like in the conjugation of the ‘présent de l’indicatif’ that we did in Unit five,there are two grammatically accepted forms of conjugating the verb s’asseoir in the futur simple. Whichever form you chose or use is correct.
(i) S’appeler–to call oneself
Je m’appellerai – I will call myself (I will be called) Tu t’appelleras –You will call yourself
Il/elle s’appellera – He/She will call himself/herself Nous nous appellerons– We will call ourselves Vous vous appellerez–You will call yourselves Ils/elles s’appelleront – They will call themselves
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Conjugate thefollowing verbs in the “Futur simple” tense:
i. Voir
ii. Se taire iii. se lever
Tu te tairas Vous vous tairez il/elle se taira il / elles se tairont
4.0 CONCLUSION
In this Unit, you have been taught the rules governing the conjugation of Impersonal andReflexive verbs in the ‘futur simple’ tense. As explained, the impersonal verb is a verb that you can only conjugate with third person masculine pronoun (il) since the verb refers to inanimate things that are not human beings. You have been taught also that the futur simple of reflexive verb refers to an action that the subject will do to himself in the future. With the way and manner the explanation is simplified in this Unit, we are convinced that the complication in understanding the futur simple form of impersonal and reflexive verbs, which would have been a problem to French learners like you is alleviated. By now we believe that you can conjugate impersonal and reflexive verbs in the futur simple in French.
5.0 SUMMARY
With this Unit focusing on the conjugation of impersonal and reflexive verbs in the futur simple, we have completed the cycle of conjugation of verbs into that French tense.
Having gone this far in the conjugation of verbs in the ‘futur simple’, it is believed that you must have been adequately informed in all these eight units on the basic techniques of how to conjugate different verbs into
‘présent de l’indicatif’ and thefutur simple.
6.0 TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENTS
1. Conjugate the following verbs in futur simple:
a. Advenir, b. Se regarder c. Se taire, d. S’offrir, e. falloir, f. pleuvoir, g. venter, h. S’agir, i. e lever,
j. Se comprendre.
7.0
REFERENCES AND OTHER RESOURCES
Ade Ojo, Samuel (2002): A comprehensive Revison Handbook of French Grammar. Ibadan: Signal Educational Services Ltd.
Adeleke, Joseph (2014): A Short French Grammar, 2ndedition, Gad Press and Ventures Ltd, Lagos, 2010.
Akeusola, Olu (1995): French grammar for Anglophone Students, Tobak Publishers, Lagos.
Akeusola, Olu (2004): Basic French Grammar for beginners, Tobak Publishers, Lagos.
Bescherelle (1990) : La Conjugaison 12,000 Verbes, Paris, Hâtier.
Beschrelle (1992) : Junior : Grammaire, Orthographe grammatical d’Usage, Conjugaison, Vocabulaire. Paris: Hâtier, 1992.
Eruanga, Oluremi (2018): A New Approach to Contemporary French.
Lagos: Ocean Gate Books Consult.
Glaud, Ludivine ; Lannier, Muriel & Loiseau, Yves (2015) : Grammaire essentielle du français A1-A2. Paris: Editions Didier.
Lee, Wendy et al. (2004): Collins Easy Learning French Grammar.
Glasglow: Harper Collins.