#hovee.studies

[hovee-studies]

Imparfait vs. Passé Composé

As you may or may not already know, both Imparfait and Passé Composé and are past tenses.

So how do you differentiate between them?

Think of it this way:

Imparfait is like the background of whatever is happening and Passé Composé is like the specific event that happen in the foreground.

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When to use Imparfait?

As I already said, Imparfait is like the background of your story. It is used when when giving general information about an event that happened in the past or simply just giving some context.

However, it can also be used when describing activities, states, or habits, e.g.

Il était une fois une princesse. There was once a princess.

Elle vivait dans un château avec ses parents. She lived in a castle with her parents.

Elle était toujours sage et ne se promenait jamais seule. She was always well-behaved and never went for a walk alone.

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When to use Passé Composé?

Once again, Passé Composé is is used to describe specific events that happened in the past, but it can also be used when describing activities and events that happened as a one-off or series of events, e.g.

Un jour, ses parents sont sortis et elle a visité le château. One day, her parent went out and she checked out the castle.

Elle s'est piqué le doigt, a crié, est tombée et s'est endormie. She pricked her finger, screamed, fell, and fell asleep.

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Hello! I hope that this helped you guys understand the difference between Imparfait and Passé Composé a little bit better :)

I plan on doing a "How To Form" on these two sometime in the future however I'm not sure when it'll be posted.

Au revoir!

[hovee-studies]

What are the different tenses used in French?

In French there are many different tenses. 

Here’s a list of the tenses going from the furthest is the past, to the furthest in the present:

❥ Passé simple

❥ Plus-que-parfait

❥ Passé composé

❥ Imparfait

❥ Présent

How to form - {x}

❥ Futur proche

❥ Futur simple

❥ Futur antérieur

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Don’t worry, my friends, there’s more!

❥ Conditionnel présent

❥ Conditionnel passé

❥ Subjonctif présent

❥ Subjonctif passé

❥ Impératif

❥ Voix passive

❥ Gérondif

As this blog progresses, I will add links to posts explaining how to form each of these tenses, when to use them, and a list of how to conjugate verbs in these tenses.

[hovee-studies]

A much needed rant about the SQA

This has been said by countless people before but MAN the SQA sure do love screwing us over, huh?

Like they have the AUDACITY to say that Exams are cancelled, and then they give us last years exam paper but under the name "Holistic Assessment".

I'm sorry but the fact that you changed the name of it, does not make it any less of an exam since it still determines our final grade, y'know.

Not to mention that these pseudo-exams have been split up into sections; I understand how it's a good thing because we get to prepare ourselves a little bit more however I do not appreciate that I, and the rest Senior Phase pupils in Scotland have to be constantly stressed out for 6 bloody weeks straight!

It is currently week 4 and I'm already running out of my will to live and I still have 7 assessments to do. I am constantly exhausted and ngl I think I'm on the edge of a burnout.

Who the fuck thought that this was a good idea? Seriously, who thought that this was the best way to go after two bloody lockdowns?

Remember how back in 2019 people were planning to storm Area 51? How about we storm the SQA headquarters, hm? Make those classist arseholes pay for ruining our mental health for years on end.

[hovee-studies]

Présent - How to form

How to form the present tense using -ER verbs

Most verbs ending in -ER are regular, meaning that to conjugate them you can just follow a pattern.

Let’s take the verb parler (to speak) as an example.

First, you are going to want to chop off the -er at the end of the verb. This should leave with just the stem parl.

Then, you just add on the correct ending depending on the pronoun you are using.

je parle (I speak / I am speaking) tu parles (You speak / You are speaking) il/elle/on parle (He/She/One speaks/is speaking) nous parlons (We speak / We are speaking) vous parlez (You speak / You are speaking) ils/elles parlent (They speak / They are speaking)

But, of course, there are exceptions to this rule as some verbs require you to change a letter or add a letter in order to keep the pronunciation from changing.

-CER verbs

With verbs ending in -cer, the only change that really occurs is in the 1st person plural form (nous), the rest is conjugated as seen in the example above.

Let’s take the verb lancer (to throw) as our example.

The conjugation is as follows:

je lance (I throw) tu lances (You throw) il/elle/on lance ( He/She/One throws) nous lançons (We throw) vous lancez (You throw) ils/elles lancons (They throw)

As you can see, in the 1st person plural form the “c” was swapped out for a “ç”. Why? Because otherwise the pronunciation would change and basically it’d throw the balance off and the French didn’t want that.

If we kept the “c” as it was, it would’ve been pronounced as “nous lankons” and honestly, it’s a no from me. It doesn’t sound right and so it must be changed.

Other verbs that follow this rule are:

commencer (to begin / to start / to commence)

annoncer (to announce)

placer (to put / to place)

prononcer (to pronounce)

And other verbs related to those, such as: balancer (to swing / to rock), recommencer (to start again / to begin again), s’élancer (to throw yourself forward), etc.

-GER verbs

Just like in -CER verbs, the only change that occurs is in the conjugation of the 1st person plural form. This time, a letter is added, not swapped out.

Let’s use the verb manger (to eat) as our example.

The conjugation is as follows:

je mange (I eat) tu manges (You eat) il/elle/on mange (He/She/One eats) nous mangeons (We eat) vous mangez (You eat) ils/elles mangent (They eat)

As you can see, we added an extra letter “e” into the 1st person plural form. Once again, it was added in order to keep the pronunciation from changing.

If we hadn’t added the extra “e” the “g” would take on the harder sound, like in the English word “gum”.

Other verbs that follow this rule are:

nager (to swim)

plonger (to dive / to plunge)

ranger (to tidy / to clean)

changer (to change)

Related verbs also follow this rule, these include: déranger (to disturb / to bother / to interrupt), se changer (to get changed)

-YER verbs

In the case of verbs ending in -ayer, -oyer, and -uyer, a letter is changed in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular form as well as the 3rd person plural form.

For our example, let’s use payer (to pay).

The conjugation is as follows:

je paie (I pay) tu paies (You pay) il/elle/on paie (He/She/One pays) nous payons (We pay) vous payez (You pay) ils/elles paient (They pay)

This pattern can also be used with verbs like nettoyer (to clean) and essuyer (to wipe), you just take the “y” and replace it with an “i” in all forms except 1st and 2nd person plural.

However, with the verbs ending in -ayer there are also forms which do not swap out the “y” for an “i” (je balaie, je balaye (I sweep)) but they aren’t used often.

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Bonjour! So this post is already very long and there’s still a lot to cover so I will do a part 2 and even a part 3 if I have to.

I hope that it isn’t too complicated to read and that I’ve got all of the information correct. If not, please let me know!

Have a lovely day! :3

[hovee-studies]

Pronouns

In my posts, I will be talking a lot about things such as the first person singular form or third person plural forms and I realize this might confuse some people so here's a little guide to what these mean :)

To keep things simple, I will only use the present tense in the examples.

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Singular Forms

First Person

This is used when we are describing something we are doing, so in English, it's the pronoun I and in French, it's je or j'.

E.g. je joue au foot - I play/am playing football

Second Person

This is used when describing what the person you're talking to is doing, in English, we use the pronoun you, and in French we use tu.

E.g. tu joues au foot - You play/are playing football

Third Person

This is used when describing what someone else is doing, in English, we usually use he, she, or they pronouns or other pronouns that people may use, and in French, we use il, elle, or on, however, I believe that there are also iel and/or ielle pronouns but I'm not sure if these get used often or not (please correct me if you can!)

E.g. il/elle/on joue au foot - he/she/one plays/is playing football

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Plural Forms

First Person

This is used when we are describing something we are doing as a group, in English we use we, and in French we use nous.

E.g. nous jouons au foot - we play/are playing football

Second Person

This is used when we are describing something we group of people we're talking to is doing, or when we want to address someone formally. In English we simply use you, and in French we use vous.

E.g. Vous jouez au foot - You (all) play/are playing football

Third Person

This is used when describing what another group of people are doing. In English we use they and in French we use ils or elles.

Remember that when a group contains both males and females, in French we will use the masculine form.

E.g. ils/elles jouent au foot - They play/are playing football.

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I hope that this was helpful :)

Also, about the iel and/or ielle thing I'm really not sure whether these are actually being used in French as it's a gendered language which sadly doesn't have any gender neutral things so if someone is able to educate me on the matter a little more I would greatly appreciate it!