Lesson 5: Youth

Imperfect – Imparfait

The imparfait is used to “set the tone” of a past situation. An example in English being: “We were singing when Dad came home.” It tells what was going on when a particular action or event occurred. In French, the above example would be: “Nous chantions quand papa est rentré.”
In order to conjugate the imperfect,

• take the 1st person plural of the verb you want to conjugate:

French Verb • Youth jouer to play
	singular	plural
first person	je joue	nous jouons
second person	tu joues	vous jouez
third person	il joue	ils jouent

• Remove the -ons ending to find the stem, and add these endings:

• Note: The only verb that has an irregular stem (one not derived from the nous form of the present idicative) is être. The imperfect endings are added to ét___. Every other verb uses the nous form of the present indicative as its root.

Possesive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace possessive article + noun sets.

French Grammar • Youth Possesive Pronouns Les pronoms possesifs
mon copain my friend	ton copain your friend	son copain his/her friend	notre copain our friend	votre copain your friend	leur copain their friend
le mien mine	le tien yours	le sien his/hers	le nôtre ours	le vôtre yours	le leur theirs
mes copains my friends	tes copains your friends	ses copains his/her friends	nos copains our friends	vos copains your friends	leurs copains their friends
les miens mine	les tiens yours	les siens his/hers	les nôtres ours	les vôtres yours	les leurs theirs
ma copine my friend	ta copine your friend	sa copine his/her friend	notre copine our friend	votre copine your friend	leurs copine their friend
la mienne mine	la tienne yours	la sienne his/hers	la nôtre ours	la vôtre yours	la leur theirs
mes copines my friends	tes copines your friends	ses copines his/her friends	nos copines our friends	vos copines your friends	leurs copines their friends
les miennes mine	les tiennes yours	les siennes his/hers	les nôtres ours	les vôtres yours	les leurs theirs

• Vous avez votre voiture? – You have your car?
• Oui, nous avons la nôtre. – Yes, we have ours.

À + a stress pronoun is used when the noun replaced is also the subject of the sentence. This usually occurs in sentences with être.

• Elle est ta voiture? – Is that your car?
• Oui, elle est à moi. – Yes, it is mine.

Stem Changing Verbs Review

-exer Verbs

-exer are regular -er verbs, but also are stem changing. The stem change applies to all forms except nous and vous. The stem change involves adding a grave accent ( ` ) over the e in the stem.

• Tenses affected by this rule:

-éxer Verbs

Like -exer verbs, the accent aigu above the e ( é ) changes to an accent grave ( è ).

• Tenses affected by this rule:

-yer Verbs

-yer verbs are regular -er verbs. However, when y is part of the last syllable, it changes to i in order to keep the ay sound. In the present indicative of -yer verbs, this affects all forms except nous and vous.

• Tenses affected by this rule:

appuyer
payer

Appeler

All forms except nous and vous have the l doubled.

• Tenses affected by this rule:

-cer Verbs

The last c in the verb changes to ç in the nous form.

• Tenses affected by this rule:

commencer

-ger Verbs

An e is added after the g in the nous form.

• Tenses affected by this rule:

changer
manger

V: Children’s Games and Toys

• un hochet
• un cheval de bois
• une poupée
• une dinette
• un train électrique
• des légos
• un ours en peluche
• une console de jeu (une nintendo, une gameboy, une ps2)
• des jeux de société : le monopoly, le cluedo, la bonne paye
• des “transformers”

French Children’s Poems, Songs, and Stories

Petit Papa Noël

Petit Papa Noël
Quand tu descendras du ciel
Avec des jouets par milliers
N’oublies pas mes petits souliers
Mais avant de partir
Il faudra bien te couvrir
Dehors tu vas avoir si froid
C’est un peu à cause de moi
…