French verbs
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French verbs are a complex area of French grammar, with a conjugation scheme that allows for three finite moods (with anywhere from one to five synthetic tenses), three non-finite moods, three voices, and two aspects.
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[edit] Conjugation
French verbs are conjugated by isolating the stem of the verb and adding an ending. In the first and second conjugation classes, the stem is easily identifiable from the infinitive, and remains essentially constant throughout the paradigm. For example, the stem of parler ("speak") is parl- and the stem of finir ("finish") is fin-. In the third group, the relationship between the infinitive form and the stem is less transparent, and several distinct stems are needed to produce all the forms in the paradigm. For example, the verb boire ("drink") has the stems boi-, boiv-, bu-, and buv-.
The ending depends on the mood, tense, and voice of the verb, as well as on the person and number of its subject. Every conjugation exhibits some degree of syncretism, where the same (homophonous, and possibly also homographic) form is used to realize distinct combinations of grammatical features. This is most noticeable for -er verbs. For instance, the conjugated form parle can be the 1st or 3rd person singular indicative or subjunctive form of parler, or the singular familiar imperative. Furthermore, the 2nd person singular indicative and subjunctive form parles and the 3rd person plural form parlent are pronounced the same way as parle (except in liaison contexts). The prevalence of syncretism in conjugation paradigms is one functional explanation for the fact that French does not allow null subjects, unlike most of the other Romance languages.
[edit] Classification
Aside from être and avoir (considered categories unto themselves), French verbs are traditionally grouped into three conjugation classes (groupes):
- The first conjugation class consists of all verbs with infinitives ending in -er, except for the irregular verb aller; the verbs in this conjugation, which together constitute the great majority of French verbs, are all conjugated similarly, though there are a number of subclasses with minor changes arising from orthographical and phonological considerations.
- The second conjugation class consists of most verbs with infinitives ending in -ir, as well as a few verbs in -ïr; these verbs are all conjugated identically (except for the diæresis mark in -ï-), and reflect the Latin inchoative infix -isc-/-esc- (though the modern French -iss- does not retain any aspectual semantics).
- The third conjugation class consists of all other verbs: aller, a number of verbs in -ir (including all verbs in -oir, which is an etymologically unrelated ending), and all verbs in -re. Nonetheless, this class is very small compared to the other two, though it does contain some of the most common verbs. This class has a few dozen subclasses, often differing substantially; indeed, this class is essentially a catch-all for verbs, besides être and avoir, that do not fit into the first two classes.
[edit] Moods
As with English verbs, French verbs have both non-finite moods (les modes impersonnels), also called verbals, and three finite ones (les modes personnels): an indicative (l'indicatif), an imperative (l'impératif), and a subjunctive (le subjonctif). While the rules that determine the correct mood are quite complex, they are simplified and summarized in the following table:
| indicative |
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|---|---|---|
| imperative |
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| subjunctive |
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Many linguists consider a fourth mood, the conditional (le conditionnel), which is used in almost exactly the same circumstances as the conditional in English. In French, « Je le ferais si j'avais assez de temps » is "I would do it if I had enough time" in English. Other linguists consider the conditional to be a tense of the indicative mood. The two camps do not disagree in the rules for when and how to use the conditional.
[edit] Tenses and aspects
[edit] Tenses and aspects of the indicative mood
The indicative mood has five "simple" (synthetic) tenses: the present (le présent), the simple past (le passé simple), the imperfect (l'imparfait), the future (le futur), and the conditional (le conditionnel). Note that, as discussed above, the conditional can be considered a separate mood completely, rather than a tense of the indicative. The use of the various tenses is described in the following table:
| present |
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|---|---|---|
| simple past (past perfective) |
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| imperfect (past imperfective) |
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| simple future |
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| conditional (future-in-past) |
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Additionally, the indicative has five compound (two-word) tenses, each of which results from applying the perfect aspect (e.g., "have done") to one of the above simple tenses. These tenses are used to indicate events prior to the corresponding simple tenses; for example, « À ce moment-là, il se souvint de ce qu'il avait promis » ("At that moment, he remembered what he had promised"). In addition, except in literature or very formal speeches, the present perfect is used in modern French wherever the simple past would have been used in older or more literary writing. Since this use is much more common than its use as a true present perfect, it is usually called the compound past (le passé composé). Further, where older or more literary French would have used the perfect aspect of the simple past tense (le passé antérieur), modern non-literary French uses the pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait; the perfect aspect of the imperfect tense), or sometimes a new form called the surcomposé (literally, "over-compound"), which re-applies the perfect aspect to the compound past, resulting in a structure like « Je l'ai eu fait » (literally, "I it have had done").
Unlike English or Spanish, French does not mark for a continuous aspect. Thus, "I am doing it" (continuous) and "I do it" (not) both translate to the same sentence in French: « Je le fais. » However, this information is often clear from context; and when not, it can be conveyed using periphrasis; for example, the expression être en train de [faire quelque chose] ("to be in the middle of [doing something]") is often used to convey the sense of a continuous aspect. (For example, "I'm doing it" might be expressed as « Je suis en train de le faire », "I'm in the middle of doing it.") In the case of the past tense, neither the simple nor the compound past tense is ever used with a continuous sense; therefore, the imperfect often indicates a continuous sense (though it does have other uses, as discussed above).
Similarly to English, the verb aller (to go) can be used as an auxiliary verb to create a near-future tense (le futur proche). Whereas English uses the continuous aspect (to be going), French uses the simple present tense; for example, the English sentence "I'm going to do it tomorrow" would in French be « Je vais le faire demain » (literally, "I go it to do tomorrow"). As in English, this form can generally be replaced by the present or future tense: "I'm doing it tomorrow", "I'll do it tomorrow", « Je le fais demain », « Je le ferai demain ».
[edit] Tenses and aspects of the subjunctive mood
The subjunctive mood has only two simple tenses: a present (le présent du subjonctif) and an imperfect (l'imparfait du subjonctif). Of these, only the present is used nowadays; like the simple past indicative, the imperfect subjunctive is only found in older and more literary works. When both tenses are used, there is no difference in meaning between the two; the present is used in subordinate clauses whose main clauses are in a present or future tense, as well as in the few main clauses that use the subjunctive, and the imperfect is used in subordinate clauses whose main clauses are in a past tense (other than present perfect). Except in literature and very formal speeches, modern French uses the present subjunctive wherever an older or more literary work would use the imperfect.
As with the indicative, the subjunctive also has one compound tense for each simple tense. The difference between the present perfect subjunctive (le passé du subjonctif) and the pluperfect subjunctive (le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif) is analogous to the difference between the present subjunctive and imperfect subjunctive; of the two, only the present perfect subjunctive is found in modern French.
[edit] Tenses and aspects in other verb forms
The tenses and aspects of other verb forms are mostly as in English, except for the lack of a continuous aspect marking:
- The imperative only has a present tense, with a rarely-used perfect aspect: "fais-le" and "aie-le fait" both mean "do it", with the latter implying a certain deadline (somewhat like English "have it done").
- The infinitive has a present tense, with a perfect aspect: "faire" means "to do," while "avoir fait" means "to have done."
- There is a present participle, with a perfect aspect: "faisant" means "doing," while "ayant fait" means "having done." As noted above, this participle is not used in forming a continuous aspect. Further, it cannot be used as a noun, in the way that present participles in English have the same form as gerunds; the only noun verbal is the infinitive.
- There is a separate past participle: "fait" means "done." As in English, it can be used in the passive voice, in the perfect aspect, or on its own as an adjective. The past participle has no perfect aspect, except arguably in the special surcomposée tense described above.
- There is a gérondif ("gerundive," but different from the Latin gerundive), formed with the clitic en and the present participle: "en faisant" means "by doing" or "while doing." (It is analogous to the English "in doing," but in English, since "doing" can act as a noun, "in doing" is taken as a prepositional phrase rather than as a separate verb form. That interpretation is not available for "en faisant.") Similarly, "en ayant fait" means "by having done."
[edit] Temporal auxiliary verbs
In French, all compound tenses are formed with an auxiliary verb (either être "to be" or avoir "to have"). Most verbs use avoir as their auxiliary verb. The exceptions are all reflexive verbs and a number of verbs of motion or change of state, including some of the most frequently used verbs of the language:
- aller — to go
- arriver — to arrive
- décéder — to pass away
- descendre¹ — to go down
- devenir — to become
- entrer¹ — to enter
- monter¹ — to climb/go up
- mourir — to die
- naître — to be born
- partir — to leave or part
- passer¹ — to pass by
- rester — to stay
- retourner¹ — to send back/to return
- sortir¹ — to go out
- tomber¹ — to fall
- venir — to come
Verbs that are derived from these by prefixation may continue to select être, but this is not always the case. For example:
- (with être)
- derived from venir: advenir, intervenir, parvenir, provenir, survenir
- prefix re-: redevenir, remonter¹, renaître, rentrer¹, ressortir¹, revenir, etc.
- (with 'avoir')
- derived from venir: circonvenir, contrevenir, convenir, prévenir, subvenir
- transitive verbs: démonter, surmonter, remonter (trans.), dépasser, outrepasser, repasser (trans.), surpasser, etc.
(The verbs marked with "¹" above combine with être in their intransitive uses, and avoir when used transitively.)
A small number of verbs, including some already mentioned above, can in fact be found with either auxiliary (croître, monter, descendre, convenir, paraître, apparaître, descendre, trépasser). There may be a subtle change of meaning depending on the auxiliary chosen, and one auxiliary is usually more "literary" or "old-fashioned" than the other.
The distinction between the two auxiliary verbs is important for the correct formation of the compound tenses and is also essential to the agreement of the past participle.
[edit] Past participle agreement
The past participle is used in three ways in French: as an adjective, in the passive construction, and to form the compound tenses. When it is used as an adjective, it follows all the regular adjective agreement rules. In passive constructions, it always agrees with the passive subject.
In compound tenses, more complicated agreement rules apply.
A. The auxiliary verb is avoir.
- If there is no direct object (the verb is intransitive) or the direct object appears after the past participle, then the past participle does not agree (i.e., it takes the default masculine singular form).
- (intransitive) Elles ont dormi.
- (direct object after verb) Claire a vu deux baleines.
- If there is a direct object, but it does not appear after the past participle, then the participle must agree with it. Three cases:
- (pronoun before the auxiliary) Il y avait deux baleines. Claire les a vues.
- (clause-initial wh-question element) Quelles baleines Claire a-t-elle vues ?
- (relative clause introduced by que) les deux baleines que Claire a vues
B. The auxiliary is être, and the verb is not reflexive. The past participle agrees with the subject:
-
- Elles sont arrivées
C. The auxiliary is être and the verb is reflexive. The agreement rules are in fact the same as those for structures with avoir in A, keeping in mind that the reflexive pronoun corresponds either to the direct object or the indirect object of the verb.
- There is no direct object, or the direct object appears after the past participle → no agreement. In these cases the reflexive pronoun expresses the indirect object.
- (no direct object) Elles se sont succédé. Nous nous sommes parlé.
- (direct object after verb) Elles se sont posé des questions.
- There is a direct object, but it does not appear after the past participle. → The past participle agrees with this object.
The first three cases are the same as in A.2 above (the reflexive pronoun is the indirect object).
- (direct object pronoun) J'ai fait une tarte. Les enfants se la sont partageé.
- (wh-question) Quelle tarte se sont-ils partagée ?
- (que relative) la tarte que les enfants se sont partagée
The reflexive pronoun can itself be the direct object, in which case the participle agrees with it (and therefore with the subject). This also includes "inherently reflexive" verbs, for which the reflexive pronoun cannot be interpreted semantically as an object (direct or indirect) of the verb.
- (ordinary reflexive) Elles se sont suivies. Nous nous sommes salués.
- (inherently reflexive) Ils se sont moqués de moi. Nous nous sommes souvenus de l'événement.
(exception: Elles se sont ri du danger.)
[edit] References
- L. Tasmowski and S. Reinheimer. "Variations dans le radical du verbe roman". In D. Godard (ed), Les langues romanes; Problèmes de la phrase simple. Paris, CNRS Editions, 2003.
