X. THE VERB (le Verbe). There are five sorts of Verbs in French : 1. ACTIVE (le verbe actif). : 5. IMPERSONAL (le verbe impersonnel). Verbs have five MOODS (Modes) in French :- 2. The CONDITIONAL (le conditionnel). To which may be added The PARTICIPLE (le participe), which is a verbal adjective. Verbs have eight TENSES (temps) in French, one Present (présent), five Past (passé), and two Future (futur). Tenses are divided into Simple (les temps simples) and Compound (les temps composés), the latter being composed of the past participle with a tense of the auxiliary verbs, avoir or être. The eight tenses are:- 1. PRESENT (le présent): j'aime, I love. 2. IMPERFECT (l'imparfait), expresses a past action going on while another took place, as: je lisais quand vous entrâtes, I was reading when you came in. 3. PAST DEFINITE (le passé défini) expresses a past action entirely finished at a time specified, as: je voyageai l'année dernière, I travelled last year. 4. PAST INDEFINITE (le passé indéfini) or Compound of the Present, expresses a thing as having taken place, without specifying when, or which has happened at a time not entirely past, as: il a beaucoup voyagé, he has travelled much: j'ai écrit aujourd'hui, I wrote to-day. 5. PLUPERFECT (le plus-que-parfait), or Compound of the IMPERFECT, expresses a thing habitual or repeated, but which happened immediately before a past event, as: j'avais déjeuné quand vous entrâtes, I had breakfasted when you came in. 6. PAST ANTERIOR (le passé antérieur) or Compound of the Past Definite, expresses a thing that happened immediately before a past event, as: quand j'eus lu, je partis, when I had read, I went away. 7. FUTURE (le futur): j'aimerai, I shall love. 8. FUTURE ANTERIOR (le futur antérieur): j'aurai aimé, I shall have loved. French Verbs have four CONJUGATIONS (conjugaisons), distinguished by the ending of the Infinitive Mood, as : I. The First Conjugation ends in er: II. The Second { III. The Third IV. The Fourth as, aimer, as, finir, as, rendre, |