Wednesday, 28 January 2015

FRENCH NOTE 23 THIRD GROUP OF VERBS PRESENT INDICATIVE

FRENCH NOTE 23

THIRD GROUP OF VERBS - PRESENT INDICATIVE


I decided to resume the preparation of French Notes. I would like to deal with the third group of French verbs. In what way the third group of verbs are different from those of the first/second groups?  Simple! The stem for conjugating the verbs are variable. In other words, these verbs are irregular while the first two groups of verbs are regular. When you know the rules of conjugation, you can conjugate any verb of the first two groups , with some slight variation in the first group. But not so in the case of third group . They are highly irregular. You have to learn their conjugations by heart. In this note, let us learn the conjugations of important third group verbs


The third group verbs generally have the following endings except " aller"

-IR, OIR,RE.


I am taking up in all 60 verbs of the third group. If you master them , you will be thorough with almost any other third third group verb for the reason certain verbs form their own sub - groups while conjugating . You should only know which verbs form such sub-groups . This knowledge , will be acquired by practice and also by referring to good dictionaries which guide you in conjugation .

Now let us learn the conjugation of the verbs in the indicative mood / present tense.

1.Aller- to go

Je vais
Tu vas
Il/elle/on va
Nous allons
Vous allez
Ils/elles vont

Note how irregular is this verb! This verb is ubiquitous in French . When you start your French they teach you, " comment allez-vous? , Comment ça va? Je vais bien etc.
The radical is not at all regular . So the verb is highly irregular . Don't say that this verb belongs to the first group by noting its endings.

Now let us take up the verbs ending in -IR.

2. Acquérir - to acquire

J'acquiers
Tu acquiers,
Il/elle/on acquiert
Nous acquérons
Vous acquérez
Ils/elles acquièrent

Note the grave accent in the first/second person plural.
"Conquérir " is conjugated similarly.


3. Bouillir - to boil

Je bous
Tu bous
Il/elle/on bout
Nous bouillons
Vous bouillez
Ils/elles bouillent

4.Courir - to run

Je cours
Tu cours
Il / elle/on court
Nous courons
Vous courez
Ils/elles courent
The verbs, " accourir,parcourir,secourir " are conjugated similarly.

5.Cueillir - to collect

Je cueille
Tu cueilles
Il /elle/on cueille
Nous cueillons
Vous cueillez
Ils/elles cueillent

Accueillir ,recueillir are conjugated similarly.

6.Dormir - to sleep

Je dors
Tu dors
Il/elle/on dort
Nous dormons
Vous dormez
Ils/elles dorment

S'endormir is conjugated similarly.

7. Fuir - to flee

Je fuis
Tu fuis
Il/elle/on fuit
Nous fuyons
Vous fuyez
Ils fuient
S'enfuir is conjugated similarly.


8. Haïr- to hate

Je hais
Tu hais
Il /elle/on hait
Nous haïssons
Vous haïssez
Ils/elles haïssent

9. Mentir - to lie

Je mens
Tu mens
Il/elle/on ment
Nous mentons
Vous mentez
Ils/elles mentent

Démentir is conjugated similarly.

10. Mourir - to die

Je meurs
Tu meurs
Il/elle/on meurt
Nous mourons
Vous mourez
Ils/elles meurent

11. Offrir - to offer

J'offre
Tu offres
Il/elle/on offre
Nous offrons
Vous offrez
Ils/elles offrent

Souffrir is conjugated similarly.

12. Ouvrir - to open

J'ouvre
Tu ouvres
Il/elle/on ouvre
Nous ouvrons
Vous ouvrez
Ils/elles ouvrent

Couvrir,découvrir  are conjugated similarly.

13.  Partir - to leave

Je pars
Tu pars
Il/Elle/on part
Nous partons
Vous partez
Ils/elles partent

Repartir is conjugated similarly.

14. Sentir - to smell
Je sens
Tu sens
Il/elle/on sent
Nous sentons
Vous sentez
Ils /elles sentent
Ressentir is conjugated similarly.

15. Servir- to serve

Je sers
Tu sers
Il/Elle/on sert
Nous servons
Vous servez
Ils/elles servent

Ressortir is conjugated similarly.

16. Tenir - to hold

Je tiens
Tu tiens
Il/elle/on tient
Nous tenons
Vous tenez
Ils/elles tiennent

Abstenir, contenir, détenir , entretenir , maintenir ,obtenir, retenir ,soutenir are conjugated similarly.


17. Venir - to come

Je viens
Tu viens
Il/elle/on vient
Nous venons
Vous venez
Ils/elles viennent

Convenir, devenir,parvenir,revenir, souvenir,prévenir , intervenir. Contrevenir are conjugated
similarly.

18. Vêtir - to dress

Je vêts
Tu vêts
Il/elle/on vêt
Nous vêtons
Vous vêtez
Ils/elles vêtent

Revêtir is conjugated similarly.


Now let us take the verbs with ending -OIR

19. S' asseoir - to be seated

Je m'assieds
Tu t'assieds
Il/elle/on s'assied
Nous nous asseyons
Vous vous asseyez
Ils/elles s'asseyent

Note that the above verb is in the pronomial form of which we shall speak letter.

20. Devoir - must

Je dois
Tu dois
Il/elle/on doit
Nous devons
Vous devez
Ils/ elles doivent

Later we shall study the use of the group of verbs , " devoir, pouvoir , falloir, valoir " .
For the time being , I have given only the conjugation .

21.falloir - to be necessary

Il faut

This verb is conjugated only in third person singular .


22.mouvoir - to move

Je meus
Tu meus
Il/Elle/on meut
Nous mouvons
Vous mouvez
Ils/elles m'ouvrent

Promouvoir , émouvoir are conjugated similarly.

23. Pleuvoir - to rain
Il pleut

For obvious reasons , this verb is conjugated only with " il ". It is an impersonal verb.


24. Pouvoir - can

 Je peux
Tu peux
Il/elle/on peut
Nous pouvons
Vous pouvez
Ils/elles peuvent

26. Recevoir - to receive

Je reçois
Tu reçois
Il/elle/on recevoit
Nous recevons
Vous recevez
Ils/elles reçoivent

Concevoir, décevoir  are conjugated similarly.

27. Savoir - to know
Je sais
Tu sais
Il /elle/on sait
Nous savons
Vous savez
Ils/elles savent


28.  Valoir - to be worth

Je vaux
Tu vaux
Il/elle/on vaut
Nous valons
Vous valez
Ils/elles valent

29. Voir - to see

Je vois
Tu vois
Ils/elle/on voit
Nous voulons
Vous voulez
Ils/elles veulent

Revoir,prévoir are conjugated similarly .

30. Vouloir -to want

Je veux
Tu veux
Il/Elle /on veut
Nous voulons
Vous voulez
Ils/elles veulent


That is all for this note. In the next note, I shall take up verbs ending in -RE.


Learning how to conjugate is a must for writing French correctly. These notes appeal to some English knowing learners. My purpose is served by that. I am not competing with others who are posting other learning materials. I welcome all. Each post has its value.

Au revoir

Sayee Jayaraman

29/01/2015

PS   If any inadvertent error has crept in , learners may point out.
No one is infallible.





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