Grammaire 1- study guide
The passé composé and the imparfait
Imparfait
passé composé
Gives background information
tells what happened at a specific time
Sets the scene
tells what happened during a limited time period
Explains the circumstances
tells about a change
Describes
tells what happened suddenly
Talks about actions that were
Continuous, habitual or repeated
Interruped actions
Ex: I was studying when the phone rang.
J’étudiais quand le téléphone a sonné.
Être en train de
The French use the expression “être en train de” to express the present progressive. It describes an action
that is in progress as the person is talking. It is more specific than just using the regular present tense since
that can be translated as present indicative, present progressive, present perfect or present emphatic.
Je nage:
I swim, I am swimming, I have been swimming, I do swim.
So, to emphasize that this action is happening at a particular moment, say:
Je suis en train de nager.
In the past tense, use only the imparfait:
J’étais en train de nager quand un requin m’a mordu!
“Fence” verbs
There are a few verbs from the house of être that “jump over the fence” and become “butterflies” therefore
using avoir as a helping verb and following the rules of transitive verbs.
Sortirto go out
to take out
Monterto go up
to put up
Descendreto go down
to put down
Passerto pass by
to spend time, to take a test
When these verbs indicate the movement of the subject, they are non-transitive: they use a form of être and
the past participle agrees with the subject’s number and gender.
When these verbs are followed by a noun, they become transitive because the action is transferred to that
noun. Therefore, avoir becomes the helping verb and there is no agreement.
Elise est sortie avec Georges samedi soir.= Elise went out with Georges Saturday night.
Elise a sort son portefeuille pour payer