GRAMMAR BUILDING BLOCKS

 

The components we use to construct the verb tenses are:

          • infinitives     • past participles        • present participles

 

1)  The infinitive is the basic building block of a verb. It is the verb form found in the dictionary (go, see, walk...).  All of the other verb forms (i.e. conjugations and participles) are constructed from the infini­tive. We some­times use the long infinitive (to + infinitive), particularly in non-conju­gated verbs.

 

2)  To construct the past participle:

            a) If verb is on the IRREGULAR VERBS handout, use the irregular form

               and skip the following steps.

            b) If the verb ends in the combination consonant-"y", change

               the "y" to an "i".

            c) If the verb ends in the combination consonant-vowel-consonant,

               double the final consonant (but don't double w, x, or y)

            d) If the verb ends in the combination vowel-consonant-"e",

               remove the "e".

            e) add "-ed".

 

3)  To construct the present participle (Note: there are no irregular

          present participles, and we do not change "y" to "i") :

            a) If the verb ends in the combination consonant-vowel-consonant,

               double the final consonant (but don't double w, x, or y)

            b) If the verb ends in the combination vowel-consonant-"e",

               remove the "e".

            c) add "-ing"

 

Exercise - Complete the following table:

French infini­tive	(short) English infini­tive	Past participle	Present parti­ciple
écrire	write	written (2a)	writing (3b-c)
étudier	study	studied (2b-e)	studying(3c)
arrêter	stop	stopped (2c-e)	stopping(3a-c)
utiliser	use	used    (2d-e)	using   (3b-c)
commencer	start	started (2e)	starting(3c)
acheter
jouer
essayer
aimer
vouloir
planifier
fermer
avoir
arriver