Tenses (1 Viewer)

[Kris Q]

Ok, I kinda know the tenses but not their names (eg imperfect, perfect, future ect..) or what they actually translate to (I seem to fluke it). Could someone please show me the names of the tenses and how they translate to english.

 

[timmwah]

Hi!

I'll try to help out un peu:

Indicative Tenses

Present tense le présent

e.g. Je suis, tu as, il mange
Describes concrete actions taking place in the present.

Simple Future Tense futur proche

aller + infinitive

je vais manger - I am going to eat
Tu vas avoir - You are going to have

Imperfect tense L'imparfait

Describes continuous actions that happened in the past

eg j'allais - I was going/I used to go
Il faisait - He was doing/He used to do


Future Tense - le futur

Describes actions in the future that very likely to occur

eg Vous serez - You will be
Nous nagerons - We will swim


Perfect Tense (past) - le passé composé

describes actions which are locked in the past, complete

eg j'ai mangé - I have eaten
Tu as fini - You have finished


Conditional - le conditionnel

Strictly speaking, a grammatical mood
Used to express possibilities that may occur, also used to give polite requests or orders


eg Je serais médecin - I could be a doctor
Pourriez-vous m'aider? - Could you help me?

 

[Kris Q]

Thankyou it makes more sense to me

 

[Kittikhun]

Don't forget the subjunctive which is used to express wishes and conditions (close to the conditional)

par exemple

Puis-je fasse ceci?

Can I do this?

 

[aussie-boy]

^^^^
thats a mood of multiple tenses

 

[Kittikhun]

Sorry, my mistake. Quite frankly I have no idea but I do use the subjective when I'm asking or requesting something, for example,

Il faut que j'achete ce livre, maman!

I must buy this book, mum!

 

[purplecupcake]

There is also the plu perfect tense which is handy if you want to talk about things that happened BEFORE the past. Hopefully that statement will make better sense with an example;

Je n'avais pas fini ma redaction, donc je suis restee chez moi.
I hadn't finished my essay, so I stayed at home.

 

[Kittikhun]

Is the plu tense similar to the imperfect tense in a sort of way?

 

[aussie-boy]

well sort of...
i was doing something
vs i had done something