BASIC GRAMMAR
In French, there are four (04) compound tenses : le passé
composé (the present perfect),
le plus-que-parfait (the past perfect),
le passé antérieur (the past perfect) and le futur antérieur (the future perfect).
The le plus-que-parfait or le
passé antérieur is just one tense in English : past perfect.
Before conjugating the compound tenses, we first need to take a look at the
formation of the past participle of second-group verbs. Second-group verbs form
their
past participles by changing the ending
from
"ir" to "i".
So, to conjugate a verb in the compound tense, we use the auxilary followed by the
past participle of the verb concerned.
In English, compound tenses are only conjugated with the auxiliary to have, whereas
in French, we use the auxiliary to be (être) or
to have. It all depends on the verb. When the verb expresses
movement, we use the auxiliary to be (être), and when
there is no movement, we use the auxiliary to have (avoir).
Let's put their ending and past participle in the following
table :
| 2nd group Verbs' Ending | Their Past participle |
|---|---|
| ir | i |
Example
Finir : (to finish).
Affirmative
form :
j'ai
fini :
I have finished.
tu as
fini :
you have finished.
il a
fini :
he has finished.
elle a
fini :
she has finished.
nous avons
fini :
we have finished.
vous avez
fini :
you have finished.
ils ont
fini :
they have finished.
elles ont
fini :
they have finished.
Negative
form :
je n'ai pas fini
:
I have not finished.
tu n'as pas fini
:
you have not finished.
il n'a pas fini
:
he has not finished.
elle n'a pas fini
:
she has not finished.
nous n'avons pas fini
:
we have not finished.
vous n'avez pas fini
:
you have not finished.
ils n'ont pas fini
:
they have not finished.
elles n'ont pas fini
:
they have not finished.
Interrogative
form:
ai-je
fini ? :
have I finished ?
as-tu
fini ? :
have you finished ?
a -t-il
fini ? :
has he finished ?
a-t-elle
fini ? :
has she finished ?
avons-nous
fini ?
:
have we finished ?
avez-vous
fini ? :
have you finished ?
ont-ils
fini ? :
have they finished ?
ont-elles
fini ?
:
have they finished ?
Interronegative
form:
n'ai-je
pas fini
?
:
have I not finished ?
n'as-tu
pas fini
?
:
have you not finished ?
n'a-t-il
pas fini
? :
has he not finished ?
n'a-t-elle
pas fini ? :
has she not finished ?
n'avons-nous
pas fini ?
:
have we not finished ?
n'avez-vous
pas fini ? :
have you not finished ?
n'ont-ils
pas fini ? :
have they not finished ?
n'ont-elles
pas fini ?
:
have they not finished ?
