French is an easy language to learn and speak but many people find it difficult. In the French language verbs are the most troublesome. Many French books will inform many people what the verbs are but fail in edifying them on verb conjugation in a manner that francophone (French-speaking individuals) can comprehend. Below is a discussion on some of the common verbs and how they are conjugated. Similar to English, verbs in fresh can be in past tense, imperative tense and past perfect tenses among others.
The most frequently used verb is the irregular verb ‘to be’ which is étre in French has no specific pattern of conjugation hence the need for a person to memorize it. Examples include the following;
I am- Je suis
You are- Tu es
We are- Nous sommes
The other irregular verb is ‘to have’ which also requires the individual to memorize them. It is ‘Avoir’ in French. Examples include
I have- J’ ai
You have- Tu as
We have- Nous avons
The third irregular verb is ‘to go’ and requires the individual to memorize its conjugation. It is pronounced ‘Aller’ in French. Examples of these verbs in different forms and its French conjugation include;
I go- Je vais
They go- tu vas
We go- Nous allons
Most of the verbs used in the French are ‘er’ verbs; however, it should be noted that ‘aller’ or to go and ‘payer’ or to go are not regarded as ‘er’ verbs since they are irregular verbs. With such irregular verbs the ‘er’ is removed and replaced with such words like Je, Tu es and Nous among others. For all the other regular verbs such as to listen; ‘ecouter’ and to like ‘aimer’ and others the conjugation remains the same. All of the above conjugations have been used in the present tense. The past tense however, is more intricate. It comprises of a helping verb in past participle. Verbs in the Past tense are used to describe events that occurred in the past. The imperfect tense is used to set scenes (in stories) describing what used to occur or describing
The imperfect verb tense is used in a different manner. The endings of most of the words normally changes except for the irregular verbs. The form of stems for the verbs is ‘nous’ without the ending ‘ons’. All the verbs follow this stem apart from the irregular verbs with the stem ‘ét’. The imperative verbs are quite easy since they are used to give commands. This involves the dropping of ‘tu’ or ‘vous’ form the verb which leaves the rest of the verb conjugated correctly. The commands are usually basic and tend to become more and more complicated as it turns to reflexive verbs, suggestions or such things. For instance, ‘tu ecoute’ means ‘you listen’ in English. On the other hand, removing ‘tu’ and just saying ‘ecoute’ stands for ‘listen’ like a command.
The past participle is another verb tense that is used in French. (In French it is plus-que-parfait). It describes an event that occurred prior to a past event. When past participle verbs are used, the helping verbs are conjugated in the imperfect tense. This is similar to combining past tense with the imperfect. With enough practice, learning French verb tenses is easy.