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A LW AY S L E A R N I N G
 Verbs The present tense: regular verbs Foundation p. 16
Higher p. 7, p. 30

G The present tense is the most commonly used, so crack it and it’s a great start!
There are three types of regular verbs (–er, –ir and –re verbs), but the most common are –er verbs.
To form the present tense of these regular verbs, cross off –er, –ir or –re and add the following endings:
–er verbs –ir verbs –re verbs
je –e –is –s
tu –es –is –s
il/elle/on –e –it –
nous –ons –issons –ons
vous –ez –issez –ez
ils/elles –ent –issent –ent

In English we use the continuous present ‘I am playing’ as well as ‘I play’, but in French the present tense
covers both these meanings.

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jouer to play finir to finish vendre to sell
je joue I play/am playing je finis I finish/am finishing je vends I sell/am selling

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tu joues you play/are playing tu finis you finish/are finishing vends
tu vends you sell/are selling
il/elle/on joue he/she/one plays/ il/elle/on finit he/she/one finishes/ il/elle/on he/she/one sells/
is playing is finishing vend is selling
nous jouons we play/are playing nous finissons we finish/are finishing vendons
nous vendons we sell/are selling

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vous jouez you play/are playing vous finissez you finish/are finishing vendez
vous vendez you sell/are selling
ils/elles jouent they play/are playing finissent they finish/are finishing
ils/elles finissent vendent
ils vendent they
they sell/are selling

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Some –er verbs have spelling changes:
• Verbs ending in –ger
–ger (e.g. manger,
manger, nager)
nager) add –e in the nous form to soften the g sound: nous mangeons.
• Verbs ending in –ler
–ler and –ter
–ter (e.g. appeler,
appeler, jeter)
jeter) double the l or the t in the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles

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forms: j’appelle,
j’appelle, elle jette.
• Verbs ending in –yer
–yer (e.g. envoyer,
envoyer, payer)
payer) change the y to i in the je, tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles forms:
tu envoies,
envoies, ils paient.
paient.
• Some verbs change e or é to è (e.g. acheter – j’achète,
j’achète préférer – je préfère). This change only happens in
the je,
je, tu,
tu, il/elle/on and ils/elles forms.

1 Choose the correct form of the verb to

complete each sentence.

1 Elle joue / jouent au foot.

2 Nous finissez / finissons à 15 heures.
3 Ils achetent / achètent du poisson.
4 Je jette / jettes le ballon.
5 Il habites / habite en France.
6 Vous vend / vendez des portables.

2 Put the verb in brackets into the correct form.

1 elles (bavarder) 4 on (répondre)
2 nous (manger) 5 tu (envoyer)
3 vous (choisir) 6 je (porter)

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 Verbs

3 How would you say the following in French?

1 you (sg) live 4 I sell
2 we find 5 you (pl) finish
3 she plays 6 they (m) wait

4 Fill in the correct part of the verb and translate the sentences into English.

1 Ils (habiter) en Espagne.

You use the il/elle form (‘he/she’)
when it is someone’s name. When it is
a plural noun (e.g. les filles), you use
2 Anna (préférer) le dessin à l’école.
the ‘they’ form (ils/elles).

3 Je (rougir) car je suis timide.

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4 Les filles (attendre) leurs amis devant le cinéma.

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5 Tu (aimer) le français?

6 Vous

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(nettoyer) la maison.

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5 Translate these sentences into French.
1 My friend is choosing a present. There is no word for ‘is’ or ‘are’ in
sentences like ‘he is waiting’ or ‘they

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are talking’ when you translate them
2 They tidy the bedrooms.
into French. You just need the correct
part of the present tense.
3 I am selling my bike.

H 6 Now translate this passage into French.

What preposition do you need to use here?
We live in a village in the mountains. It snows a lot here. I play hockey and I swim at
the sports centre. My friend finishes school at 3 p.m. and we eat in a restaurant near
the station. In the evening, my family watches TV. Do you like TV?

Make sure you have the correct nous ending. Remember that ‘near’ is près de.

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 Translation: French–English Identity and Culture

1a Read the passage about Thomas’s hobbies. Translate the words below into English.

Moi, j’adore faire du vélo, surtout le weekend avec mes copains. J’aime aussi regarder la télé et je
préfère les dessins animés car ils sont amusants. Je déteste faire des achats et je n’aime pas faire des
promenades parce que c’est très ennuyeux.

1 surtout 4 car
2 aussi 5 faire des achats
3 les dessins animés 6 ennuyeux

b Now translate the whole text into English. Try reading the
passage to yourself
before attempting to

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translate it. Identify
any words you don’t
already know. Can

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you work them out
from the context?
2a Read this text about Amélie’s family.

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Je m’appelle Amélie et je vais vous parler de ma famille. J’ai un petit frère qui s’appelle Luc et il m’énerve.
Je m’entends bien avec ma sœur, Caroline, qui a douze ans. Elle est jolie et généreuse. Ma mère est gentille
et nous allons souvent au centre sportif ensemble.

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b Someone has translated the passage but has made mistakes. Correct them if you can!

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My name is Amélie and I 1 go to talk to you about my family. I have a little brother who is
called Luc and he 2 is nervous . I get on well with my sister, Caroline, who is 3 10
years old. She is 4 jolly and generous. My mum is kind and we 5 go often
to the sports centre together.

3 Now translate the following two passages into English.

1 En juillet chaque année, il y a un festival de musique dans ma ville. Tout a commencé il y a dix ans mais
maintenant, le festival est plus grand et plus important. Pourtant, à mon avis, il y a trop de touristes.

2 Ma meilleure copine, Jennifer, passe beaucoup de temps à faire

de l’équitation. Elle a un cheval gris mais elle en voudrait un When you have completed your translation,
autre. Je me passionne pour les sports d’hiver et je vais aller en read it out loud to make sure that it sounds
Italie faire du ski en janvier. natural. If it doesn’t, then make some changes.

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 Translation French–English

H 4 As a practice for translating passages from French to English, here is a passage which has been partly
translated. Fill in the gaps with the correct English translation.

Ma passion, c’est faire du VTT. J’en fais presque tous les jours et selon moi c’est non seulement
bon pour la forme mais aussi intéressant parce qu’on peut apprécier le paysage et respirer l’air frais.
Le weekend dernier, j’ai fait du vélo tout seul dans les belles collines près de chez moi.

Can you think of a natural way of translating this? How are you going to translate this?

My passion is going 1 . I do this 2

and in my opinion it’s 3
but also interesting because 4
. Last weekend I went cycling
5 .

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H 5 Translate these passages into English.
Don’t try to translate word for word.

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1 Je sais que je ne pourrais pas vivre sans Internet. J’aime poster mes There might be times when you cannot
photos sur Facebook et rester en contact avec mes copains qui do this. Remember too that word order
habitent loin de chez moi, même à l’étranger. Cependant, j’accepte can be different in French, as adjectives
qu’il y a des risques: par exemple, ma cousine a été victime de usually come after the word they describe.

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cyber-harcèlement et elle était vraiment inquiète.

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2 J’ai plein d’amis, mais Mani est le meilleur. On a les mêmes centres d’intérêts, on bavarde, on va au ciné
et bien qu’on se dispute de temps en temp, ce n’est jamais grave. Il est rigolo et compréhensif, alors on
s’entend bien. Récemment, on est allés en vacances avec sa famille et tout le monde s’est bien amusé.

3 J’habite dans le sud-est de la France dans un petit village a la campagne. Le 14 juillet est la journée la plus
importante de l’année pour nous. En général, il y a des compétitions sportives ou culturelles et le soir, on
peut regarder un feu d’artifice, mais l’année prochaine, il y aura un cirque avec des animaux sauvages.

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Typeset by Tek-Art, West Sussex.
Original illustrations © Pearson Education Limited 2016.
Illustrated by Tek-Art, Beehive Illustration, KJA artists, Oxford Designers & Illustrators and John Hallet

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Cover images: Front: Shutterstock.com: Sergey Kelin