Let’s take for example the verb

“JOUER” TO PLAY

JOU ER Once you “cut” away the VERB ENDING in the

Infinitive form, what you are left with is the

VERB STEM

What is the VERB STEM of a regular verb?

STEM VERB ENDING

Yes, the stem almost never changes

whatever the tense used.

Is that always true for the 3 families of regular verbs?

What do you mean by “almost never

changes”?

Well, sometimes it varies a little depending on its spelling, but we don’t need to worry ourselves for

that now.

Well Roger, if the verb stem doesn’t change,

what does then?

Dear Alice! It is the verb ending of

course.

What makes the verb ending change, Bernard?

Two things, Sophie. 1.The choice of the Personal Pronoun

(who or what does the action)2. The choice of the Tense. (When the action takes place)

What are the Personal Pronouns?

The Personal Pronouns are little words which replace the name

of people or things.Follow me and I will show you

Here is the list of all the French Personal Pronouns and their

equivalent in English and Welsh.

Oh!

je or j’

Français English Cymraeg

tu

il

elle

nousvousilselles

I

you (familiar)

he

she

weyou (formal)they (masculine)they (feminine)

fi

ti

fo

hi

nichinhw nhw

Let’s go and see what difference the pronouns

make to the verb ending.

Let’s use the present

tense of the verb JOUER...

...And you will see how the ending changes when I use a

different pronoun.

Je joutu jouil jouelle jounous jouvous jouils jouelles jou

Présent

Rydw iRwyt tiMae oMae hiRydan niRydych chiMaen nhwMaen nhw

Presennol

Just like in Welsh, then!

eeseeonsezentent

yn chwarae

yn chwaraeyn chwarae

yn chwaraeyn chwaraeyn chwaraeyn chwaraeyn chwarae

RED=

Changes due to

pronoun and tense

BLUE=

PersonalPronoun

The effect of the pronoun is not so marked in English.

Je joutu jouil jouelle jounous jouvous jouils jouelles jou

Présent

What happens in

English?

eeseeonsezentent

playIyouhesheweyoutheythey

This is why you need to be more

careful when translating

plays

play

play

plays

playplay

play

am playingIyouhesheweyoutheythey

are playingis playingis playingare playingare playingare playingare playing

Present Present Progressive

When translating “you” remember to use:- “tu” if you address only one person (your family or friends) - “vous” if you address more than one person or somebody you do not know or someone you must show respect to, like your Headmaster or a teacher.

When translating “they” or “nhw” remember to use:-“ils” when it refers to - a masculine plural noun,- more than one male or -a mixed group (males and females).

When translating “they” or “nhw” remember to use:-“elles” when it refers to - a feminine plural noun,- more than one female.

Let’s see what effect the Tense

has on the Verb Ending!

We’ll show the changes only with

the pronoun “je” as we will deal with each complete tenses in a next

lesson.

Je joueRydw i’n ChwaraeI play / I am playing

Présent

Je jouaisRoeddwn i’n ChwaraeI played / I was playing

Imparfait

J’ai jouéRydw i wedi ChwaraeI played/ I have played

Passé composé

Je joueraiMi fydda i’n ChwaraeI will play

Futur

Je joueraisMi fyddwn i’n ChwaraeI would play

Conditionnel

J’avais jouéRoeddwn i wedi ChwaraeI had played

Plus-que-parfait

Click on the big eggs for some practice

Task 1Multiple choice

Task 2 Quiz