Lesson 5: Transportation

-uire Verbs

-uire verbs are conjugated irregularly.

Formation

French Verb • Present Indicative conduire to drive (past participle – conduit)
	Singular			Plural
first person	je conduis	jeuh cohndwee	I drive	nous conduisons	noo cohndweezoh	we drive
second person	tu conduis	too cohndwee	you drive	vous conduisez	voo cohndweezay	you drive
third person	il conduit	eel cohndwee	he drives	ils conduisent	eel cohndweez	they drive (masc. or mixed)
	elle conduit	ell cohndwee	she drives
	on conduit	oh cohndwee	one drives	elles conduisent	ell cohndweez	they drive (fem.)

Other -uire Verbs

• produire – to produce
• traduire – to translate
• reduire – to reduce

Driving

-rir Verbs

These verbs are conjugated irregularly, and normally follow the -er conjugation scheme. A common -rir verb is ouvrir.

Formation

• j’ouvre
• tu ouvres
• il ouvre
• nous ouvrons
• vous ouvrez
• ils ouvrent
• past participle: ouvert

Other Standard -rir verbs

In past participle form, -ir is replaced with -ert for these verbs.

• couvrir – to cover
• découvrir – to discover
• offrir – to offer
• souffrir – to suffer

-rir Verb Exceptions

Courir – To Run

• je cours
• tu cours
• il court
• nous courons
• vous courez
• ils courent
• past participle: couru

Mourir – To Die

• je meurs
• tu meurs
• il meurt
• nous mourons
• vous mourez
• ils meurent
• past participle: mort(e)(s)¹

¹Mourir is the only -ir verb that takes être as its helping verb in perfect tenses (and therefore agrees with the subject as a past participle in a perfect tense).

Acquérir – To Acquire

• j’acquiers
• tu acquiers
• il acquiert
• nous acquérons
• vous acquérez
• ils acquièrent
• past participle: acquis

Traffic Signs and Laws

Passé Composé with Être

Most verbs form the passé composé with avoir, however there are a small number of verbs that are always conjugated with être. In a general case, these verbs indicate a change in state or position.

List of Verbs

French Grammar • Transportation Perfect Past with Être Passé composé avec être
Verb	Example
aller	Je suis allé au cinéma.	I went to the cinema.
venir	Je suis venu en France.	I came to France.
arriver	Le train est arrivé.	The train has arrived.
partir	Elle est partie travailler.	She left to go to work.
rester	Je suis resté à la maison.	I stayed home.
retourner	Il est retourné au restaurant.	He returned to the restaurant.
tomber	Je suis tombé dans la piscine.	I fell into the pool.
naître	Je suis né en octobre.	I was born in october.
mourir	Il est mort en 1917.	He died in 1917.
passer	Il est passé devant la maison.	It happened in front of the house.
monter	Je suis monté au sommet.	I climbed to the top.
descendre	Il est descendu du train.	He got out of the train.
sortir	Je suis sorti avec mes amies.	I went out with my friends.
entrer	Je suis entré dans ma chambre.	I entered my room.
rentrer	Il est rentré tôt de l’école.	He came back early from school.

Moreover, all the pronominal verbs (with se), like se cacher (to hide oneself) or se demander (to wonder), are ALWAYS conjugated with être.

Direct Objects

One must know that these verbs take their conjugated avoir when they are immediately followed by a direct object

• For Example:
  • Je suis descendu with the direct object “mes bagages”
    • becomes:
  • J’ai descendu mes bagages.

• Another example:
  • Je suis monté with the direct object “mes bagages”
    • becomes:
  • J’ai monté mes bagages.

• Yet another example but with ils instead of Je:
  • Ils sont sortis with direct object “leur passeport”
    • becomes:
  • Ils ont sorti leur passeport.

Subject-Past Participle Agreement

When conjugating with être, the past participles of the above verbs must agree with the the subject of a sentence in gender and plurality. Note that there is no agreement if these verbs are conjugated with avoir.

• If the subject is masculine singular, there is no change in the past participle.
• If the subject is feminine singular, an -e is added to the past participle.
• If the subject is masculine plural, an -s is added to the past participle.
• If the subject is feminine plural, an -es is added to the past participle.

Trains and Stations

The Pronoun Y

Indirect Object Pronoun – to it, to them

The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by à.

• Je réponds aux (à les) questions. – J’y réponds.
• I respond to the questions. – I respond to them.

Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the object refers to a person or persons.

Replacement of Places – there

The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preposition except de (for which en is used).

• Les hommes vont en France. – Les hommes y vont.
• The men go to France – The men go there.

Note that en, and not y is used when the preposition of the object is de.

Idioms

• Ça y est! – It’s Done!
• J’y suis! – I get it!