Si le brouillard se (lever), nous verrions mieux les panneaux. Je crois que nous finirions ce mur avant la fin de la semaine sil ne (pleuvoir) pas autant. Si le beau temps (persister), nous aurions eu des abricots en une semaine. And even if it is true this expression is often encounter in present, it is not a necessity. Complétez en écrivant au temps convenable (imparfait ou plus-que-parfait) les verbes à linfinitif. So in a nutshell, the present here is due to the fact you are speaking of now, and that the information taught to you is still used today. And here, the use of the present would be incorrect. Here, I am alive, but the information is quite useless today. Je tenais d'un ami de mon frère qu'un emploi de comptable venait de se libérer dans une grande banque. For example:Įn 1970, j'eus la chance de ma vie. You could not say «Ce jour là, je tiens fermement sa main», as it is not true anymore.Īnd finally, it is perfectly possible to encounter this expression at a past tense if you refer to a past fact, which has not much to do with today, even if the protagonist is still alive. The verb «tenir» is normally at the past tense outside of this expression, like : Napoléon tenait de sa mère l'art de la cuisine japonaise.
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If she was dead, then you should use the past tense for the second expression.Īctually, you have to say something like : In fact, in your first sentence, you as well implies that your mother is still alive. What do you find difficult concerning tense and mood? Share your problem areas of grammar gripes below! All images supplied by Katerina Forrester.Well, that is actually because «je le tiens de X» means literally that it is X you taught you that, and that this fact is still true and useful today. Just remember to use the correct tense, and you will achieve the right result! The important time sequencing is represented in this simple timeline: This means that he always found French grammar rather easy, after studying it at school (it happened over a continuous period of time). This means that at that particular or fixed moment, he found the grammar easy due to his school knowledge.Ģ) Il trouvait la grammaire française assez facile, car il l’avait étudiée à l’école. Just think of timing!ġ) Il a trouvé la grammaire française assez facile, car il l’avait étudiée à l’école. However, it is not always that simple, as in English we can just as easily say ‘because he studied it at school’, without indicating that the action occurred earlier.Ī similar issue occurs when deciding whether to use le passé composé or l’imparfait. In the above sentence, you can see that the event of ‘studying at school’ comes before the event of ‘finding grammar easy’. He found French grammar easy enough because he had studied it at school. Let’s look at two events that occurred in the past:ġ) Il a trouvé la grammaire française assez facile car il l’avait étudiée à l’école. This does not mean that you can always translate from English to French and get a perfect result! This is because the French think in time sequences, whereas in English, we don’t always consider this necessary, and leave it up to the listener to decipher when certain events occurred. It does all this in the one phrase: John mange un croissant. How easy for us French learners!
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The present progressive: ‘John is eating a croissant’ Īnd the present emphatic: ‘John does eat a croissant’. Le présent, for example:Ĭovers our present tense: ‘John eats a croissant’ The English language is actually quite troubling, as it has many more tenses than French.
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Le passé composé (simple past/present perfect).For example, the difference between using an imperative mood:Īnd using the indicative mood: ‘He passed me the cheese’ – gives a very different ‘attitude’ to the expressed sentence.įirstly, we will look closely at the indicative mood, as it is made up of many tenses which indicate when the action of the verb occurred: So, let’s get in the ‘mood’, with some mood and tense talk. The word ‘mood’ describes the main categories of verbal inflections that we use to express our attitude on a phrase. Over the next articles in this series, ‘Easy French Grammar’, we will be exploring the simplicity of syntax, and the neat nuances that make the French language. There is nothing about French grammar that is hard, and I’ll tell you why. The language has rules and order, and we repeat these same steps every time we have to communicate so that other speakers can understand us. If language were random, no one would understand anyone. Are you the type of person who hears ‘French grammar’, and runs? Then lock yourself in for the easiest and simplest grammar ride of your French learning career.