Today, we’ll be talking about two things:
A shortcut in French tenses
Vocabulary about chores
Here’s a question for you. If offered a quick way to express past, present, and future tense in French, would you grab it?
I don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what your answer is. Of course you would, right? Today, I’m happy to let you in on this secret: there is a shortcut you can use to express French tenses. You can use this with some verbs and expressions to talk about:
An action/event that recently happened,
An action that is still going on, and
An action that is about to happen in the near future.
With all three, we will make use of the indicative form of the verbs.
I. Expressing recent past using the verb venir
Venir is one of the most commonly used French verbs. It is an irregular verb, which basically means “to come,” and it can be easily used to conjugate the recent past or convey the idea that you have just done something recently.
To use venir in recent past, use the following formula:
o The conjugated present form of ‘venir’ + de + the infinitive form of the action that recently happened.
Viens de is the closest translation for the English word “just.”
Examples using venir:
Listen Track 97
Je viens — Je viens de manger. (I just ate.)
Tu viens — Tu viens de manger. (You just ate.)
Il vient — Il vient de manger. (He just ate.)
Nous venons — Nous venons de manger. (We just ate.)
Vous venez — Vous venez de manger. (You just ate.)
Ils viennent — Ils viennent de manger. (They just ate.)
Listen Track 98
Adam: Je viens de rentrer (I just returned)
Léa: C’est parfait, je viens de faire à manger (Perfect, I just cooked)
Adam: Nous venons de partir (We just left)
Léa: Nous venons d’arriver (We just arrived)
II. Expressing the near future using the verb aller (Futur Proche)
Aller can be used as a casual way to express the near future tense.
Some French learners have trouble with futur proche and futur simple and their uses are often interchanged. Here are the differences:
o The futur proche or near future makes use of the auxiliary aller, while the futur simple or simple future tense changes the ending of the infinitive and is formed by a single word.
o Unlike the simple future, the near future is often used in informal speech and less in writing.
o The near future is more immediate and refers to something that is about to happen at a closer time.
o The simple future is more of a statement of something that the speaker is sure about. Example: ‘Il va tomber!’ (He is going to fall!) versus ‘Il tombera!’ (He will fall!)
To use aller in near future, do the following:
The conjugated present form of ‘aller’ + the infinitive form of the action that is about to happen.
Aller can be translated literally to mean “going to” in English.
Some examples using aller:
Listen Track 99
Je vais — Je vais partir dans cinq minutes. (I am going to leave in five minutes.)
Tu vas — Tu vas partir dans cinq minutes. (You are going to leave in five minutes.)
Il va — Il va partir dans cinq minutes. (He is going to leave in five minutes.)
Nous allons — Nous allons partir dans cinq minutes. (We are going to leave in five minutes.)
Vous allez — Vous allez partir dans cinq minutes. (You are going to leave in five minutes.)
Ils vont — Ils vont partir dans cinq minutes. (They are going to leave in five minutes.)
Listen Track 100
Adam: Je vais bientôt rentrer. (I’m going to return soon.)
Léa: Je vais faire à manger. (I’m going to cook.)
Adam: Nous allons partir en vacances. (We are going to go on holiday.)
Léa: Vous allez bien profiter (You are going to enjoy.)
III. Expressing ongoing action using the expression être en train de
Unlike English, the French language does not have a direct counterpart of the present progressive verb form. The simple present tense is often used in French to mean both simple present and present progressive.
Example: Je parle, which literally means ‘I speak,’ can also be used to mean ‘I am speaking.’
To be more precise, you can use the French expression être en train de, which means to be _____ -ing or to be in the process of doing a certain action.
To use être en train de to express an ongoing action, follow this format:
The conjugated present form of ‘être’ + en train de + the infinitive form of the action that is about to happen
Examples:
Listen Track 101
Je suis — Je suis en train de parler. I am speaking (right now).
Tu es — Tu es en train de parler. You are speaking (right now).
Il est — Il est en train de parler. He is speaking (right now).
Nous sommes — Nous sommes en train de parler. We are speaking (right now).
Vous êtes — Vous êtes en train de parler. You are speaking (right now).
Ils sont — Ils sont en train de parler. They are speaking (right now).