Family Celebrations: Grammar (AQA GCSE French): Revision Note
Exam code: 8652
In the topic of family celebrations, you might need to talk about how you used to celebrate events, what you used to do - we use the imperfect tense for this. To use key verbs for this topic (e.g. sending, giving, thanking), you need to be able to use object pronouns. Let's look at these grammar points in more detail.
Imperfect
You need to know two key past tenses in French: the perfect and the imperfect
Use the imperfect tense to say what used to happen in the past
To form it:
Step 1: take the nous form of the present tense
jouons
Step 2: remove the -ons
jou-
Step 3: add the pronoun and correct ending
je jouais
-er verbs chanter | -ir verbs finir | -re verbs vendre | |
je | chantais | finissais | vendais |
tu | chantais | finissais | vendais |
il / elle / on | chantait | finissait | vendait |
nous | chantions | finissions | vendions |
vous | chantiez | finissiez | vendiez |
ils / elles | chantaient | finissaient | vendaient |
Examples | Je chantais des chansons avec ma famille. | Les feux d’artifice finissaient à minuit. | Le magasin vendait beaucoup de cadeaux. |
I used to sing songs with my family. | The firework displays used to finish at midnight. | The shop used to sell lots of presents. |
All verbs are regular in the imperfect tense except for être
It has an irregular stem but the same endings as regular verbs:
j’ | étais |
tu | étais |
il, elle, on | était |
nous | étions |
vous | étiez |
ils, elles | étaient |
Some useful imperfect tense phrases are:
Quand j'étais petit(e)
When I was small
Quand j'étais (plus) jeune
When I was young(er)
Quand j’avais … ans
When I was .. years old
C’était
It was
Il y avait
There was / there were
Use the perfect tense instead for one-off, completed actions in the past - the imperfect tense is more descriptive
Direct and indirect object pronouns
Direct object pronouns and indirect object pronouns replace nouns in a sentence
They are useful to avoid repetition
Direct object pronouns replace direct objects - the person or thing directly affected by the verb
Indirect object pronouns replace indirect objects - the person or thing indirectly affected by the verb
Normally, direct and indirect object pronouns come between the subject and the verb
Direct object pronouns
French | English | Examples | |
me, m’ | me | Mes parents m'achètent un cadeau. | My parents buy me a present. |
te, t’ | you | Mon frère te remercie pour la carte. | My brother thanks you for the card. |
vous | you (formal) | Je vous invite au restaurant. | I invite you to the restaurant. |
le, la, l’ | him, her, it | C’est une fête géniale. Je la prépare chaque année. | It’s a great party. I prepare it every year. |
Indirect object pronouns
French | English | Examples | |
me, m’ | (to) me | Mes amis me donnent un cadeau. | My friends give me a present / give a present to me. |
te, t’ | (to) you | Je te souhaite un joyeux anniversaire ! | I wish you a happy birthday! |
vous | (to) you (formal) | Je vous envoie toujours une carte. | I always send you a card / send a card to you. |
lui | (to) him, her, it | C’est l’anniversaire de ma sœur. Nous lui offrons des fleurs. | It’s my sister’s birthday. We give her flowers / give flowers to her. |
Higher tier only
For Higher tier, you also need to know plural direct and indirect object pronouns.
Direct object pronouns
French | English | Examples | |
nous | us | Notre frère nous remercie pour la carte. | Our brother thanks us for the card. |
vous | you (plural) | Je vous invite au restaurant. | I invite you (plural) to the restaurant. |
les | them | Les gâteaux sont délicieux. Je les prépare chaque année. | The cakes are delicious. I prepare them every year. |
Indirect object pronouns
French | English | Examples | |
nous | (to) us | Nos amis nous donnent un cadeau. | Our friends give us a present / give a present to us. |
vous | (to) you (plural) | Je vous envoie toujours une carte. | I always send you (plural) a card / send a card to you (plural). |
leur | (to) them | C’est le mariage de nos amis. Nous leur offrons des fleurs. | It’s our friends’ wedding. We give them flowers / give flowers to them. |
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