Images de page
PDF
ePub

FORMATION OF TENSES.

1. Tenses are Primitive or Derivative.

Primitive tenses are those from which

the others are formed.

2. The Primitive Tenses are

INFIN. PRES.

PRESENT PART. | PAST PART. | INDIC. PRES. | PAST DEFIN.

3. The Derivative Tenses formed from these, are

[blocks in formation]

4. The future is formed from the infinitive, by changing r, re, oir, into rai, ras, ra, &c.; as, couper, je couperai; finir, je finirai; recevoir, je recevrai; vendre, je

vendrai.

5. The conditional is formed from the infinitive, by changing r, re, oir, into rais, rais, rait, &c.; as, couper, je couperais; finir, je finirais; recevoir, je recevrais; vendre, je vendrais.

6. The three persons plural of the indicative present are formed from the present participle, by changing ant into ons, ez, ent; as, coupant, nous coupons, vous coupez, ils coupent; finissant, nous finissons, vous finissez, ils finissent; vendant, nous vendons, vous vendez, ils vendent. But the verbs of the third conjugation change evant, for the third person plural, into oivent; as, recevant, nous recevons, vous rece vez, ils reçoivent.

7. The imperfect of the indicative is formed from the present participle, by chang ing ant into ais, &c.; as, coupunt, je coupais; finissant, je finissais; recevant, je recevais; vendant, je vendais.

8. The present of the subjunctive is formed from the present participle, by chang ing ant into e, &c.; as, coupant, que je coupe; finissant, que je finisse; vendant, que je vende. But the verbs of the third conjugation change evant into oive; as, recevant, que je reçoive.

9. The compound tenses are formed by joining the past participle to the corres ponding simple tense of the auxiliary (avoir or être).

10. The imperative is formed from the indicative present, by omitting the subject, and by suppressing, for the verbs of the first conjugation, the final s of the second person singular; as, tu coupes, coupe; nous coupons, coupons; vous coupez, coupez; tu finis, finis; nous finissons, finissons; vous finissez, finissez, &c. The third per son singular and plural of the imperative, are like the third person singular and plural of he subjunctive present.

11. The imperfect of the subjunctive is formed from the past definite by changing ai into asse, &c., for the first conjugation, and by adding se, &c., for the three others; as, je coupai, que je coupasse; je finis, que je finisse ; je reçus, que je reçusse ; je vendis, que je vendisse.

MODEL VERBS OF THE

(In the following list of irregular verbs, the primitive parts only are

[blocks in formation]

IRREGULAR CONJUGATIONS.

given, and those derivative tenses which are not regularly derived.

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

* Besides the regular imperative, there is also the irregular form, veuillez.

« PrécédentContinuer »