Lesson 7: Rural Life

Suivre

French Verb • Rural life suivre to follow
past participle: suivi
	Singular			Plural
first person	je suis	jeuh swee	I follow	nous suivons	noo sweevohn	we follow
second person	tu suis	too swee	you follow	vous suivez	voo sweevay	you follow
third person	il suit	eel swee	he follows	ils suivent	eel sweeve	they follow (masc. or mized)
	elle suit	ell swee	she follows
	on suit	ohn swee	one follows	elles suivent	ell sweeve	they follow (fem.)

Vivre

French Verb • Rural life vivre to live
past participle: vécu [vaycoo]
	Singular			Plural
first person	je vis	jeuh vee	I live	nous vivons	noo veevohn	we live
second person	tu vis	too vee	you live	vous vivez	voo veevay	you live
third person	il vit	eel vee	he lives	ils vivent	eel veeve	they live (masc. or mized)
	elle vit	ell vee	she lives
	on vit	ohn vee	one lives	elles vivent	ell veeve	they live (fem.)

Naître

French Verb • Rural life naître to be born
past participle: né(e)(s)1
	Singular			Plural
first person	je nais	jeuh nay	I am born	nous naissons	noo nehssohn	we are born
second person	tu nais	too nay	you are born	vous naissez	voo nehssay	you are born
third person	il naît	eel nay	he is born	ils naissent	eel nesse	they are born (masc. or mized)
	elle naît	ell nay	she is born
	on naît	ohn nay	one is born	elles naissent	ell nesse	they are born (fem.)

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

Reflexive Verbs with Perfect Tenses

When proniminal verbs are conjugated in perfect tenses, être is used as the auxiliary verb.

Reflexive Verbs

In perfect tenses, the past participles agree with the direct object pronoun, but not the indirect object pronoun, in gender and plurality. Therefore it would only agree when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Also remember that the past participle does not agree with the direct object if it goes after the verb.

• Elle s’est lavée. – She washed herself.
• Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s. – We washed ourselves.
• Elle s’est lavé les mains. – She washed her hands.
• Nous nous sommes lavé les mains. – We washed our hands.

Reciprocal Verbs

• Like reflexive verbs, the past participle of reciprocal verbs agrees in number and gender with the direct object if it goes before the verb. It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as direct objects.
• Nous nous sommes aimé(e)s. – We liked each other.

The reciprocal pronoun can also function as an indirect object without a direct object pronoun.

• Nous nous sommes parlé. – We spoke to each other.
• Elles se sont téléphoné. – They called one another.
• Vous vous êtes écrit souvent? – You wrote to each other often?

Naturally Pronominal Verbs

• In perfect tenses, these verbs agree with the direct object if it goes before the verb. Otherwise, the past participle agrees with the subject.
• Elle s’est souvenue. – She remembered.
• Le chien se couche. – The dog lies down.

Note that assis(e)(es), the past participle of s’asseoir (to sit), does not change in the masculine plural form.