Master Conjugation of the French Verb 'Aller'

In my last post, I exposed the very basics of the french conjugation, but today, I'll write about something more specific and problematic: how french conjugation really works?
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In my last post, I already said that french conjugation is simply made like that: subject + verb + termination, so if you want to say "I'll eat", you take "Je" + mange" (radical of "manger") + rai (termination for "Je" in the "futur de l'indicatif" tense) which makes "je mangerai".
I also explained that verbs are divided in 3 groups (1er groupe -> -er group + 2ème groupe -> -ir group + 3° groupe -> irregular group) and each group can be divided in many sub groups (the group of the verbs that are conjugated like "manger", the group of verb that are conjugated like "venir",...)
A comment in my previous post also mentionned the Bescherelle which is a book for french conjugation. You should definitively check it (online version of it) as it will help you find how to conjugate a verb properly.
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So with that in mind, you should be able to conjugate the regular verbs in french with the simple tenses. But, if there are "regular" verbs, there are also irregular verbs. Here is a good list of the irregular verbs for you all. Also, if there are "simple" tenses, there are tenses that are not simple. But dont worry, they are easy if you master the conjugation of "être" and "avoir". Let me explain:
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Composed tense are tenses where the verbal group is like that: "subject + auxiliary + verb (in its participe passé form)". You are probably familiar with that syntax as it is also how the english verbs are conjugated in their composed tenses, and the similarities don't stop there. In french, the auxiliaries are "être" (to be) and "avoir" (to have). The verbs are always in their participe passé form which is made of the radical of the verb and with the termination "é" (-er verbs, not only of the 1rst group), "u" (-ir and -ire verbs) or are irregular (like "être" which becomes "été" or "avoir" which becomes "eu").
In the composed tenses, the auxiliary is the only verb that is conjugated, and in order to master the composed tenses, you will need to master the conjugations of "être" and "avoir" in the following tenses: présent, imparfait, passé simple and futur simple of the indicatif mode; présent and imparfait of the subjonctif mode and présent of the conditionel mode.
There are no thumb rule to know if a verb have "avoir" or "être" as an auxiliary, except for that one "it's almost always "avoir" except for some verbs (that you should know by heart) and even then, it's "avoir" if the verb is followed by a complément d'objet direct".
finaly, the verb in its participe passé form is accorded in gender and in number of the subject if the auxiliary is "être" but not if it's "avoir". For example: "Elles ont mangé du pain" (mangé is still "mangé" even though the subject is feminine and plural) and "Elles étaient parties au restaurant" ("parti" have an "être" auxiliary, so it take the "e" because the subject is feminine and an "s" because the subject is plural)
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And while we're at it, let's talk a bit about when to use the composed tenses, because if you remember from my last post, I said that french aimed for precision when it comes to conjugation, hence the numerous tenses and the importance of knowing when to use them. So here we go:
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Passé composé (auxiliary in its present conjugation) is the most commonly used composed tense in french. It is used as a way to talk about a past action that has ended. ex: j'ai été malade toute la semaine. tu as vu le dernier Avenger? Nous sommes allés ("allé" takes the "s" because the auxiliary is "être" and the subject is plural) en Norvège cet été.
The conditionnel passé (auxiliary in its conditionel présent conjugation) is also oftenly used, so you should know it aswell. It is used to talk about an action that would have happened if a condition was checked (usually a regret or a charge). ex: si j'avais eu un peu plus de jugeotte, je n'aurais pas fait ça. Elle était abrutie ("abruti" takes an "e" because the auxiliary is "être" and the subject is feminine) par le vin hier soir!
The plus que parfait (auxiliary in its imparfait conjugation) is to refer to an action that happen before the narrative time if the narrative tense is already in the past (it's the past of the past). ex: J'étais aux courses et je ne me suis pas rendu compte que j'avais oublié ma liste! Tu avais perdu ton portable.
The futur antérieur (auxiliary in its futur simple conjugation) is as used as the plus que parfait. It is used for an action that happened before the narative time if the narative time is in the future. For example: Tu seras déjà couchée quand je sortirai du travail. (the narrative time is given by "when I'll be out of work").
The futur antérieur can also be used to talk about an action that will happen at a given time (so the time must be given). ex: les travaux seront finis en Janvier.
The subjonctif passé (auxiliary in its subjonctif présent conjugation) is used to talk about an action that might (or might not) have happened. ex: Il faut que tu aies passé ton bac pour aller à l'université.
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And now, we get on the rarely used tenses of french.
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The passé antérieur (auxiliary in its passé simple conjugation) is like the plus que parfait, but only used when you use the "passé simple" tense (which is not commonly used). example: "Quand il eut fini, elle hurla"
The subjonctif plus que parfait (auxiliary in its subjonctif imparfait conjugation) is to talk about an action that might (or might not) have happened in the time of the naration if the time is the past. It is almost only used in litterature. example: Quand je les ai lu, je doutais qu'il eût écris ces lettres.
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And here you have it! One of the most boring part of french conjugation, but a part that you should know. Don't hesitate to share your thoughts or ask for a question :)
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EDIT: L'ironie de faire un post sur la conjugaison sans penser à la vérifier. J'ai corrigé ça grâce aux commentaires de lackaisicalquokka et de Deathletterblues et un peu de relecture.

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French regular -RE verbs are a small group of French verbs which share a conjugation pattern. Here are the most common regular -RE verbs:
attendre to wait (for)
défendre to defend
descendre to descend
entendre to to hear
étendre to stretch
fondre to melt
pendre to hang, suspend
perdre to lose
prétendre to claim
rendre to give back, return
répandre to spread, scatter
répondre to answer
vendre to sell
Irregular verbs are so named because they do not follow any of the regular conjugation patterns. But that doesn't mean that every irregular French verb is unique; many of them share a conjugation pattern with at least one other verb. By learning how to conjugate one verb in a group and memorizing the list of similar verbs, you'll be able to conjugate all the verbs in that group.
French has five irregular -RE verb patterns - see examples at the bottom of the page:
1.The first group includes prendre and all of its derivations (comprendre, etc). These verbsdrop the din all three plural forms and alsodouble the nin the third person plural.
2.The second group includes battre and all of its derivations (débattre, etc). These verbsdrop the stem's final tin the singular forms.
3.The third group includes mettre and all of its derivations (promettre, etc). These verbs are conjugated just like battre verbs in the present tense, but I consider them a separate group because they are conjugated differently in the passé simple, imperfect subjunctive, and past participle.
(As you can see in the table below, the first three groups take the same present tense verb endings.)
4.The fourth group of irregular -RE verbs includes rompre and its derivations (corrompre, etc). These verbs are conjugated exactly like regular -RE verbs with the single exception of the third person singular present tense, which adds atafter the stem.
5.The fifth group of irregular -RE verbs includes all verbs that end in -aindre (e.g., craindre), -eindre(like peindre), and -oindre (such as joindre). These verbsdrop the din the root in all forms, andadd a g in front of the nin the plural forms.
The rest of the irregular -RE verbs have unique or unwieldy conjugations, so you have to memorize each one separately. Try working on one verb a day until you've mastered them all: absoudre, boire, clore, conclure, conduire, confire, connaître, coudre, croire, dire, écrire, faire,inscrire, lire, moudre, naître, plaire, rire, suivre, vivre.
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French imperfect conjugations are very easy, as the imperfect of virtually all verbs—regular and irregular—is formed the same way: drop the -ons ending from the present indicative nous form of the verb and adding the imperfect endings.
Être is the only irregular verb in the imperfect, because the present tense nous sommeshas no -ons to drop. So it has the irregular stem ét- and uses the same endings as all other verbs.
As in many other tenses, spelling change verbs, that is, verb which end in -cer and -ger, have minor spelling changes in the imperfect.
Verbs that end in -ier have an imperfect root that ends in i, so end with double i in thenous and vous form of the imperfect. This isn't irregular, but it looks kind of weird.
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There are five main kinds of verbs in French: regular -ER, -IR, -RE; stem-changing; and irregular. Once you've learned the rules of conjugation for each of the first three kinds of verbs, you should have no problem conjugating regular verbs in each of those categories. The majority of French verbs are regular -ER verbs - see the next page for a list of some common -ER verbs.
The verb form that ends in -ER is called the infinitive (in English, the infinitive is the verb preceded by the word "to"), and -ER is the infinitive ending. The verb with the infinitive ending removed is called the stem or radical. To conjugate -ER verbs, remove the infinitive ending to find the stem and add the endings in the table below.
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French regular -ER verbs, by far the largest group of French verbs, share a conjugation pattern. Here are just a few of the most common regular -ER verbs:
aimer to like, to love
arriver to arrive, to happen
chanter to sing
chercher to look for
commencer* to begin
danser to dance
demander to ask for
dépenser to spend (money)
détester to hate
donner to give
écouter to listen to
étudier** to study
fermer to close
goûter to taste
jouer to play
laver to wash
manger* to eat
nager* to swim
parler to talk, to speak
passer to pass, spend (time)
penser to think
porter to wear, to carry
regarder to watch, to look at
rêver to dream
sembler to seem
skier* to ski
travailler to work
trouver to find
visiter to visit (a place)
voler to fly, to steal
There are a lot of French verbs that end in -ER and there are a lot of irregular French verbs, but there is only one irregular -ER verb. However, there are three groups of -ER verbs that have some irregularities.
Aller Aller (to go) is the only truly irregular -er verb in French - its conjugations are unique and, according to some, very odd.
Spelling change verbs Spelling change verbs are verbs that end in -cer or -ger. Their stem formation and verb endings are the same as for regular -er verbs, but there is a slight spelling change for pronunciation purposes in certain conjugations.
Stem-changing verbs Stem-changing verbs are -er verbs that take the regular endings but have two different radicals. There are five categories of French stem-changing verbs: -yer, -eler, -eter, -e_er, and -é_er.
-IER verbs There is nothing actually irregular about the conjugation of -ier verbs - they are conjugated like regular -er verbs, but some of their forms look strange.
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French regular -IR verbs, the second largest group of French verbs, share a conjugation pattern. Here are just a few of the most common regular -IR verbs:
abolir to abolish
agir to act
avertir to warn
bâtir to build
bénir to bless
choisir to choose
établir to establish
étourdir to stun, deafen, make dizzy
finir to finish
grossir to gain weight, get fat
guérir to cure, heal, recover
maigrir to lose weight, get thin
nourrir to feed, nourish
obéir to obey
punir to punish
réfléchir to reflect, think
remplir to to fill
réussir to succeed
rougir to blush, turn red
vieillir to grow old
Irregular verbs are the bane of every French student's existence, but there is some good news. There are some patterns in the irregularities - once you learn the conjugations for one verb in a group, you shouldn't have any trouble with the other verbs in that group.
There are two groups of irregular -IR verbs:
1.The first group of irregular verbs includes dormir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir, sortir, and all of their derivatives (repartir, etc). These verbs drop the last letter of the radical in the singular conjugations - see example in table below.
2.The second group of verbs includes couvrir, cueillir, découvrir, offrir, ouvrir, souffrir, and their derivatives (recouvrir, etc). These verbs are conjugated like regular -ER verbs - see example in table below.
The rest of the irregular -IR verbs don't follow a pattern - you have to memorize the conjugations for each one separately: asseoir, courir, devoir, falloir, mourir, pleuvoir, pouvoir, recevoir, savoir,tenir, valoir, venir, voir, vouloir
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The passé composé is the most common French past tense, often used in conjunction with the imperfect. The passé composé can express any of the following:
I. An action completed in the past
As-tu étudié ce weekend ? Did you study this weekend?
Ils ont déjà mangé. They have already eaten.
II. An action repeated a number of times in the past
Oui, j'ai mangé cinq fois hier. Yes, I did eat five times yesterday.
Nous avons visité Paris plusieurs fois. We've visited Paris several times.
III. A series of actions completed in the past
Quand je suis arrivé, j'ai vu les fleurs. When I arrived, I saw the flowers.
Samedi, il a vu sa mère, a parlé au médicin et a trouvé un chat. Saturday he saw his mother, talked to the doctor, and found a cat.
The passé composé is a compound conjugation, which means it has two parts:

1. present tense of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être)
   
2. past participle of the main verb
   

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Imperfect
Quand j'avais 15 ans, je voulais être psychiatre. Je m'intéressais à la psychologie parce que je connaissais beaucoup de gens très bizarres. Le week-end, j'allais à la bibliothèque et j'étudiais pendant toute la journée.
When I was 15, I wanted to be a psychiatrist. I was interested in psychology because I knew a lot of really weird people. On the weekends, I used to go to the library and study all day.
Passé composé
Un jour, je suis tombé malade et j'ai découvert les miracles de la médecine. J'ai fait la connaissance d'un médecin et j'ai commencé à étudier avec lui. Quand la faculté de médecine m'a accepté, je n'ai plus pensé à la psychologie.
One day, I got sick and discovered the wonders of medicine. I met a doctor and started studying with him. After the medical school accepted me, I didn't think about psychology any more.
Indicators
The following key words and phrases tend to be used with either the imperfect or the passé composé, so when you see any of them, you know which tense you need:
The imperative, called l'impératif in French, is a verb mood which is used to
· give an order
· express a desire
· make a request
· offer advice
· recommend something
Unlike all other French verb tenses and personal moods, the subject pronoun is not used with the imperative:
Fermez la porte. Close the door.
Mangeons maintenant. Let's eat now.
Ayez la bonté de m'attendre. Please wait for me.
Veuillez m'excuser. Please excuse me.
The above are called "affirmative commands," because they are telling someone to do something. "Negative commands," which tell someonenotto do something, are made by placing ne in front of the verb and the appropriate negative adverb after the verb:
Ne parle pas ! Don't speak!
N'oublions pas les livres. Let's not forget the books.
N'ayez jamais peur. Never be afraid.
-ER verbs (regular, stem-changing, spelling change, and irregular) The imperative conjugations for nous and vous are the same as the present indicative, and the tu form of the imperative is the indicative minus the final s (but see item 4 on this page):
parler (tu) parle (nous) parlons (vous) parlez
lever (tu) lève (nous) levons (vous) levez
aller (tu) va (nous) allons (vous) allez
Verbs which are conjugated like -ER verbs (meaning that in the indicative the tu form ends in -es), such as ouvrir and souffrir, follow the same rules as -ER verbs.
ouvrir (tu) ouvre (nous) ouvrons (vous) ouvrez
-IR verbs and -RE verbs The imperative conjugations for all regular and most* irregular -IR and -RE verbs are the same as the present indicative conjugations.
finir (tu) finis (nous) finissons (vous) finissez
attendre (tu) attends (nous) attendons (vous) attendez
faire (tu) fais (nous) faisons (vous) faites
*Except for verbs conjugated like -ER verbs and the following four irregular imperative verbs:
avoir (tu) aie (nous) ayons (vous) ayez
être (tu) sois (nous) soyons (vous) soyez
savoir (tu) sache (nous) sachons (vous) sachez
vouloir (tu) veuille (nous) n/a (vous) veuillez
The order of words in a French sentence can be very confusing due to affirmative and negative imperative constructions and object and adverbial pronouns. This lesson will teach you exactly how to order your sentences when using the imperative. Remember that there are two kinds of imperatives, affirmative and negative, and the word order is different for each of them.
Negative imperatives are easier, because their word order is the same as that of all other simple verb conjugations: any object, reflexive, and/or adverbial pronouns precede the verb and the negative structure surrounds the pronoun(s) + verb:
Finis ! - Finish! Ne finis pas ! - Don't finish! Ne le finis pas ! - Don't finish it!
Lisez ! - Read! Ne lisez pas ! - Don't read! Ne le lisez pas ! - Don't read it! Ne me le lisez pas ! - Don't read it to me!
Affirmative commands are more complicated, for several reasons.
1.The word order is for affirmative commands is different from that of all other verb tenses/moods: any pronouns follow the verb and are connected to it and to each other with hyphens.
Finis-le ! - Finish it! Allons-y ! - Let's go! Mangez-les ! - Eat them! Donne-lui-en ! - Give him some!
2.The order of the pronouns in affirmative commands is slightly different from all other verb tenses/moods (see table at the bottom of the page):
Envoie-le-nous ! - Send it to us! Expliquons-la-leur ! - Let's explain it to them! Donnez-nous-en ! - Give us some! Donne-le-moi ! - Give it to me!
3.The pronouns me and te change to the stressed pronouns moi and toi...
Lève-toi ! - Get up! Parlez-moi ! - Talk to me! Dis-moi ! - Tell me!
...unless they are followed by y or en, in which case they contract to m' and t'
Va-t'en ! - Go away!
Faites-m'y penser. - Remind me about it.
4.When a tu command is followed by the pronouns y or en, the final s is not dropped from the verb conjugation:
Vas-y ! - Go away! Parles-en. - Talk about it.
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I'm a bit confused on how verbs and the conjugations work in French. Like the whole er, ir, re, etre, avoir, aller, past tense and stuff like that. I makes absolutely no sense and after like 8 years of taking French class I’m school I still don’t get it.

If you are a French learner with an A2-B2 level, this post will be very useful to you. I’ve been working as a French tutor for 5 years and I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most common speaking mistakes I hear my students make. These are SO common that I truly believe that if a learner stops making all 10 of them, their French would already improve by like 50%. If you have any questions or if you don't understand some of the mistakes, feel free to comment and I will gladly give a more detailed explanation.
** Also, please note: Almost every single grammar rule in French has exceptions. But the rules listed below work 95%+ of the time.
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#1: When saying “to the” or “at the”, you cannot say “à le”. The preposition “À” + the masculine article “le” merge and become “au”.
CORRECT: Je veux aller au cinéma
WRONG: Je veux aller à le cinéma.
ALSO WRONG: Je veux aller au le cinéma. (I hear “au le” a lot but that literally means “to the the”)
Same thing for “de” + “le” and “de” + “les”. “De” + “le” merge and become “du”, and “de” + “les” become “des”.
CORRECT: Le nom du chanteur du groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité des pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol.
WRONG: Le nom de le chanteur de le groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité de les pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol.
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#2: To say “A lot of…” you have to say “Beaucoup de” or “Beaucoup d’” (if the next word starts with a vowel). “Beaucoup” can NEVER be followed by des or du or de la.
CORRECT: Il y a beaucoup de personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup d’amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup de chocolat.
WRONG: Il y a beaucoup des personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup des amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup du chocolat.
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#3: Sometimes, people don’t know where to place the negation “ne” in the sentence. But it’s actually very simple. “Ne” comes right after the subject or the subject pronoun.
CORRECT: Je ne suis pas fatigué / Je n’ai pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants ne veulent pas aller à l’école.
WRONG: Je suis ne pas fatigué / J’ai ne pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants veulent ne pas aller à l’école.
Another important thing to remember is that when the sentence has another negation word like “rien” or “jamais” or “personne”, these words will replace the “pas”.
CORRECT: Je ne suis jamais allé en France / Il n’y a rien à manger / Personne n’aime faire des devoirs.
WRONG: Je ne suis pas jamais allé en France / Il n’y a pas rien à manger / Personne n’aime pas faire des devoirs.
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#4: This one is extremely common. Learners often use the conjugated form of the verb when it should be the infinitive or they use the infinitive form when it should be the conjugated form.
When to use the infinitive?: When the verb is used with what I call a “connector verb” (vouloir, aimer, aller, pouvoir, devoir…) or right after prepositions like “à”, “de”, and “pour”.
CORRECT: Je veux manger une pomme / J’aime prendre l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demander quelque chose? / Tu dois faire tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménager au Canada. / Pour apprendre une langue, il faut étudier souvent.
WRONG: Je veux mange une pomme / J’aime prend l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demande quelque chose? / Tu dois fais tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménage au Canada. / Pour apprend une langue, il faut étudie souvent.
Now, when to use the conjugated form of a verb?: When it comes after a subject or a subject pronoun, or after “qui”.
CORRECT: Ça prend beaucoup de temps / Mes parents ont une grande maison / C’est un film qui parle de l’Égypte / Je te vois.
WRONG: Ça prendre beaucoup de temps / Mes parents avoir une grande maison / C’est un film qui parler de l’Égypte / Je te voir
You can understand why it’s wrong by comparing it to English. You wouldn’t say “It to take a lot of time”. You would say “It takes a lot of time”.
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#5: In French, the verb "connaître" and "savoir" both mean "to know", but they are used differently.
“Connaître” means “to know” with the idea to be personally familiar with, to have experienced it yourself. It is used with books, movies, cities, people...
CORRECT: Je ne connais pas le film Titanic / Connais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu les connais?
WRONG: Je ne sais pas le film Titanic / Sais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu les sais?
"Savoir" has to do with acquired knowledge. It is followed by interrogative expressions (où, pourquoi, qui, avec qui, quand, etc…), or by verbs.
CORRECT: Sais-tu où il habite? / Je ne sais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je sais parler français.
WRONG: Connais-tu où il habite? / Je ne connais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je connais parler français.
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#6: This mistake is fairly easy to fix. Pronouns “je”, “te”, “me”, “le”, “la”, and "se" have to be attached to words that start with a vowel or with an “h”.
CORRECT: J’habite à Montréal / J'apprends le français / Je ne t’entends pas / Il m’a demandé si j’étais célibataire / Je l’ai vu au restaurant. / Il s'est réveillé tôt.
WRONG: Je habite à Montréal / Je apprends le français / Je ne te entends pas / Il me a demandé si je étais célibataire / Je le ai vu au restaurant. / Il se est réveillé tôt.
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#7: Most French verbs in the past tense (passé composé) use the auxiliary verb “avoir”. But some use the auxiliary verb “être”. Here are the most important ones to remember:
CORRECT: Je suis allé au casino / Il est devenu pilote / Je suis revenu à la maison / Nous sommes retournés dans notre ville natale / Chantal est venue à mon anniversaire / Ils sont arrivés à Montréal ce matin / Je suis resté chez moi toute la journée.
WRONG: J'ai allé au casino / Il a devenu pilote / J’ai revenu à la maison / Nous avons retourné dans notre ville natale / Chantal a venu à mon anniversaire / Ils ont arrivé à Montréal ce matin / J’ai resté chez moi toute la journée.
Also, useful tip: Every single reflexive verbs (se + verb) use the auxiliary “être” in the passé composé. For example: Je me suis réveillé / Nous nous sommes promenés / etc...
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#8: In English, words like “sometimes, never, always, often, already…”, usually come right after the subject or subject pronoun. But in French, it isn’t so. They must come after the verb.
CORRECT: François va souvent au parc / Je ne mange jamais de viande / J’ai déjà fini mon projet / Nous passons toujours du temps ensemble.
WRONG: François souvent va au parc / Je ne jamais mange de viande / Je déjà ai fini mon projet / Nous toujours passons du temps ensemble.
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#9: In French, “que” and “qui” can both mean “that”, but they are used differently. “Que” is used before subjects or subject pronouns whereas “qui” is used before verbs.
CORRECT: La robe que tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens qui n’aiment pas voyager. / Aimes-tu le plat que j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film qui a gagné un oscar.
WRONG: La robe qui tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens que n’aiment pas voyager / Aimes-tu le plat qui j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film que a gagné un oscar.
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#10: In English, you can express the present tense by saying for example “I eat” or “I am eating”. But in French, the “I am eating” tense does not exist. We only use 1 present tense. You can NEVER say “I am + infinitive verb” to express the present tense in French.
CORRECT: Je mange une pomme / Marie fait ses devoirs / Je cuisine / Il prend une douche
WRONG: Je suis manger une pomme / Marie est faire ses devoirs / Je suis cuisiner / Il est prendre une douche.
Saying “Je suis manger une pomme” would literally mean “I am to eat an apple”. It does not make sense in French.
However, there is one thing that we sometimes say. It’s “Je suis en train de + infinitive verb”. It means “I am in the process of…”. So, you could actually say “Je suis en train de manger”, which technically means I’m eating / I’m in the process of eating.
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If you are a French learner with an A2-B2 level, this post will be very useful to you. I’ve been working as a French tutor for 5 years and I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most common speaking mistakes I hear my students make. These are SO common that I truly believe that if a learner stops making all 10 of them, their French would already improve by like 50%. If you have any questions or if you don't understand some of the mistakes below, feel free to comment and I will gladly give a more detailed explanation.
** Also, please note: Almost every single grammar rule in French has exceptions. But the rules listed below work 95%+ of the time.
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#1: When saying “to the” or “at the”, you cannot say “à le”. The preposition “À” + the masculine article “le” merge and become “au”.
CORRECT: Je veux aller au cinéma
WRONG: Je veux aller à le cinéma.
ALSO WRONG: Je veux aller au le cinéma. (I hear “au le” a lot but that literally means “to the the”)
Same thing for “de” + “le” and “de” + “les”. “De” + “le” merge and become “du”, and “de” + “les” become “des”.
CORRECT: Le nom du chanteur du groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité des pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol.
WRONG: Le nom de le chanteur de le groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité de les pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol.
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#2: To say “A lot of…” you have to say “Beaucoup de” or “Beaucoup d’” (if the next word starts with a vowel). “Beaucoup” can NEVER be followed by des or du or de la.
CORRECT: Il y a beaucoup de personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup d’amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup de chocolat.
WRONG: Il y a beaucoup des personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup des amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup du chocolat.
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#3: Sometimes, people don’t know where to place the negation “ne” in the sentence. But it’s actually very simple. “Ne” comes right after the subject or the subject pronoun. (There are exceptions, but this rule works 95% of the time)
CORRECT: Je ne suis pas fatigué / Je n’ai pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants ne veulent pas aller à l’école.
WRONG: Je suis ne pas fatigué / J’ai ne pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants veulent ne pas aller à l’école.
Another important thing to remember is that when the sentence has another negation word like “rien” or “jamais” or “personne”, these words will replace the “pas”.
CORRECT: Je ne suis jamais allé en France / Il n’y a rien à manger / Personne n’aime faire des devoirs.
WRONG: Je ne suis pas jamais allé en France / Il n’y a pas rien à manger / Personne n’aime pas faire des devoirs.
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#4: This one is extremely common. Learners often use the conjugated form of the verb when it should be the infinitive or they use the infinitive form when it should be the conjugated form.
When to use the infinitive?: When the verb is used with what I call a “connector verb” (vouloir, aimer, aller, pouvoir, devoir…) or right after prepositions like “à”, “de”, and “pour”.
CORRECT: Je veux manger une pomme / J’aime prendre l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demander quelque chose? / Tu dois faire tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménager au Canada. / Pour apprendre une langue, il faut étudier souvent.
WRONG: Je veux mange une pomme / J’aime prend l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demande quelque chose? / Tu dois fais tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménage au Canada. / Pour apprend une langue, il faut étudie souvent.
Now, when to use the conjugated form of a verb?: When it comes after a subject or a subject pronoun, or after “qui”.
CORRECT: Ça prend beaucoup de temps / Mes parents ont une grande maison / C’est un film qui parle de l’Égypte / Je te vois.
WRONG: Ça prendre beaucoup de temps / Mes parents avoir une grande maison / C’est un film qui parler de l’Égypte / Je te voir
You can understand why it’s wrong by comparing it to English. You wouldn’t say “It to take a lot of time”. You would say “It takes a lot of time”.
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#5: In French, the verb "connaître" and "savoir" both mean "to know", but they are used differently.
“Connaître” means “to know” with the idea to be personally familiar with, to have experienced it yourself. It is used with books, movies, cities, people...
CORRECT: Je ne connais pas le film Titanic / Connais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu connais?
WRONG: Je ne sais pas le film Titanic / Sais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu sais?
"Savoir" has to do with acquired knowledge. It is followed by interrogative expressions (où, pourquoi, qui, avec qui, quand, etc…), or by verbs.
CORRECT: Sais-tu où il habite? / Je ne sais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je sais parler français.
WRONG: Connais-tu où il habite? / Je ne connais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je connais parler français.
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#6: This mistake is fairly easy to fix. Pronouns “je”, “te”, “me”, “le”, “la”, and "se" have to be attached to words that start with a vowel or with an “h”.
CORRECT: J’habite à Montréal / J'apprends le français / Je ne t’entends pas / Il m’a demandé si j’étais célibataire / Je l’ai vu au restaurant. / Il s'est réveillé tôt.
WRONG: Je habite à Montréal / Je apprends le français / Je ne te entends pas / Il me a demandé si je étais célibataire / Je le ai vu au restaurant. / Il se est réveillé tôt.
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#7: Most French verbs in the past tense (passé composé) use the auxiliary verb “avoir”. But some use the auxiliary verb “être”. Here are the most important ones to remember:
CORRECT: Je suis allé au casino / Il est devenu pilote / Je suis revenu à la maison / Nous sommes retournés dans notre ville natale / Chantal est venue à mon anniversaire / Ils sont arrivés à Montréal ce matin / Je suis resté chez moi toute la journée.
WRONG: J'ai allé au casino / Il a devenu pilote / J’ai revenu à la maison / Nous avons retourné dans notre ville natale / Chantal a venu à mon anniversaire / Ils ont arrivé à Montréal ce matin / J’ai resté chez moi toute la journée.
Also, useful tip: Every single reflexive verbs (se + verb) use the auxiliary “être” in the passé composé. For example: Je me suis réveillé / Nous nous sommes promenés / etc...
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#8: In English, words like “sometimes, never, always, often, already…”, usually come right after the subject or subject pronoun. But in French, it isn’t so. They must come after the verb.
CORRECT: François va souvent au parc / Je ne mange jamais de viande / J’ai déjà fini mon projet / Nous passons toujours du temps ensemble.
WRONG: François souvent va au parc / Je ne jamais mange de viande / Je déjà ai fini mon projet / Nous toujours passons du temps ensemble.
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#9: In French, “que” and “qui” can both mean “that”, but they are used differently. “Que” is used before subjects or subject pronouns whereas “qui” is used before verbs.
CORRECT: La robe que tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens qui n’aiment pas voyager. / Aimes-tu le plat que j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film qui a gagné un oscar.
WRONG: La robe qui tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens que n’aiment pas voyager / Aimes-tu le plat qui j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film que a gagné un oscar.
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#10: In English, you can express the present tense by saying for example “I eat” or “I am eating”. But in French, the “I am eating” tense does not exist. We only use 1 present tense. You can NEVER say “I am + infinitive verb” to express the present tense in French.
CORRECT: Je mange une pomme / Marie fait ses devoirs / Je cuisine / Il prend une douche
WRONG: Je suis manger une pomme / Marie est faire ses devoirs / Je suis cuisiner / Il est prendre une douche.
Saying “Je suis manger une pomme” would literally mean “I am to eat an apple”. It does not make sense in French.
However, there is one thing that we sometimes say. It’s “Je suis en train de + infinitive verb”. It means “I am in the process of…”. So, you could actually say “Je suis en train de manger”, which technically means I’m eating / I’m in the process of eating.
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If you are a French learner with an A2-B2 level, this post will be very useful to you. I’ve been working as a French tutor for 5 years and I’ve compiled a list of the 10 most common speaking mistakes I hear my students make. These are SO common that I truly believe that if a learner stops making all 10 of them, their French would already improve by like 50%. If you have any questions or if you don't understand some of the mistakes below, feel free to comment and I will gladly give a more detailed explanation.
** Also, please note: Almost every single grammar rule in French has exceptions. But the rules listed below work 95%+ of the time.
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#1: When saying “to the” or “at the”, you cannot say “à le”. The preposition “À” + the masculine article “le” merge and become “au”.
CORRECT: Je veux aller au cinéma
WRONG: Je veux aller à le cinéma.
ALSO WRONG: Je veux aller au le cinéma. (I hear “au le” a lot but that literally means “to the the”)
Same thing for “de” + “le” and “de” + “les”. “De” + “le” merge and become “du”, and “de” + “les” become “des”.
CORRECT: Le nom du chanteur du groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité des pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol.
WRONG: Le nom de le chanteur de le groupe Queen est Freddie Mercury. / La majorité de les pays d'Amérique du Sud parlent espagnol.
.........................................................................................
#2: To say “A lot of…” you have to say “Beaucoup de” or “Beaucoup d’” (if the next word starts with a vowel). “Beaucoup” can NEVER be followed by des or du or de la.
CORRECT: Il y a beaucoup de personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup d’amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup de chocolat.
WRONG: Il y a beaucoup des personnes au supermarché / Marc a beaucoup des amis / J’ai mangé beaucoup du chocolat.
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#3: Sometimes, people don’t know where to place the negation “ne” in the sentence. But it’s actually very simple. “Ne” always comes right after the subject or the subject pronoun.
CORRECT: Je ne suis pas fatigué / Je n’ai pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants ne veulent pas aller à l’école.
WRONG: Je suis ne pas fatigué / J’ai ne pas étudié pour mon examen / Les enfants veulent ne pas aller à l’école.
Another important thing to remember is that when the sentence has another negation word like “rien” or “jamais” or “personne”, these words will replace the “pas”.
CORRECT: Je ne suis jamais allé en France / Il n’y a rien à manger / Personne n’aime faire des devoirs.
WRONG: Je ne suis pas jamais allé en France / Il n’y a pas rien à manger / Personne n’aime pas faire des devoirs.
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#4: This one is extremely common. Learners often use the conjugated form of the verb when it should be the infinitive or they use the infinitive form when it should be the conjugated form.
When to use the infinitive?: When the verb is used with what I call a “connector verb” (vouloir, aimer, aller, pouvoir, devoir…) or right after prepositions like “à”, “de”, and “pour”.
CORRECT: Je veux manger une pomme / J’aime prendre l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demander quelque chose? / Tu dois faire tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménager au Canada. / Pour apprendre une langue, il faut étudier souvent.
WRONG: Je veux mange une pomme / J’aime prend l’avion / Est-ce que je peux te demande quelque chose? / Tu dois fais tes devoirs. / J’ai décidé de déménage au Canada. / Pour apprend une langue, il faut étudie souvent.
Now, when to use the conjugated form of a verb?: When it comes after a subject or a subject pronoun, or after “qui”.
CORRECT: Ça prend beaucoup de temps / Mes parents ont une grande maison / C’est un film qui parle de l’Égypte / Je te vois.
WRONG: Ça prendre beaucoup de temps / Mes parents avoir une grande maison / C’est un film qui parler de l’Égypte / Je te voir
You can understand why it’s wrong by comparing it to English. You wouldn’t say “It to take a lot of time”. You would say “It takes a lot of time”.
...........................................................................................
#5: In French, the verb "connaître" and "savoir" both mean "to know", but they are used differently.
“Connaître” means “to know” with the idea to be personally familiar with, to have experienced it yourself. It is used with books, movies, cities, people...
CORRECT: Je ne connais pas le film Titanic / Connais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu connais?
WRONG: Je ne sais pas le film Titanic / Sais-tu mon amie Vanessa? / Mon groupe favori est Twenty One Pilots, tu sais?
"Savoir" has to do with acquired knowledge. It is followed by interrogative expressions (où, pourquoi, qui, avec qui, quand, etc…), or by verbs.
CORRECT: Sais-tu où il habite? / Je ne sais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je sais parler français.
WRONG: Connais-tu où il habite? / Je ne connais pas à quelle heure le bus arrive / Je connais parler français.
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#6: This mistake is fairly easy to fix. Pronouns “je”, “te”, “me”, “le” and “la” have to be attached to words that start with a vowel or with an “h”.
CORRECT: J’habite à Montréal / J'apprends le français / Je ne t’entends pas / Il m’a demandé si j’étais célibataire / Je l’ai vu au restaurant.
WRONG: Je habite à Montréal / Je apprends le français / Je ne te entends pas / Il me a demandé si je étais célibataire / Je le ai vu au restaurant.
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#7: Most French verbs in the past tense (passé composé) use the auxiliary verb “avoir”. But some use the auxiliary verb “être”. Here are the most important ones to remember:
CORRECT: Je suis allé au casino / Il est devenu pilote / Je suis revenu à la maison / Nous sommes retournés dans notre ville natale / Chantal est venue à mon anniversaire / Ils sont arrivés à Montréal ce matin / Je suis resté chez moi toute la journée.
WRONG: J'ai allé au casino / Il a devenu pilote / J’ai revenu à la maison / Nous avons retourné dans notre ville natale / Chantal a venu à mon anniversaire / Ils ont arrivé à Montréal ce matin / J’ai resté chez moi toute la journée.
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#8: In English, words like “sometimes, never, always, often, already…”, usually come right after the subject or subject pronoun. But in French, it isn’t so. They must come after the verb.
CORRECT: François va souvent au parc / Je ne mange jamais de viande / J’ai déjà fini mon projet / Nous passons toujours du temps ensemble.
WRONG: François souvent va au parc / Je ne jamais mange de viande / Je déjà ai fini mon projet / Nous toujours passons du temps ensemble.
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#9: In French, “que” and “qui” can both mean “that”, but they are used differently. “Que” is used before subjects or subject pronouns whereas “qui” is used before verbs.
CORRECT: La robe que tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens qui n’aiment pas voyager. / Aimes-tu le plat que j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film qui a gagné un oscar.
WRONG: La robe qui tu portes est très belle / Il y a des gens que n’aiment pas voyager / Aimes-tu le plat qui j’ai cuisiné? / C’est un film que a gagné un oscar.
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#10: In English, you can express the present tense by saying for example “I eat” or “I am eating”. But in French, the “I am eating” tense does not exist. We only use 1 present tense. You can NEVER say “I am + infinitive verb” to express the present tense in French.
CORRECT: Je mange une pomme / Marie fait ses devoirs / Je cuisine / Il prend une douche
WRONG: Je suis manger une pomme / Marie est faire ses devoirs / Je suis cuisiner / Il est prendre une douche.
Saying “Je suis manger une pomme” would literally mean “I am to eat an apple”. It does not make sense in French.
However, there is one thing that we sometimes say. It’s “Je suis en train de + infinitive verb”. It means “I am in the process of…”. So, you could actually say “Je suis en train de manger”, which technically means I’m eating / I’m in the process of eating.
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I was told by a French person that you conjugate the past tense of "allonger" ("we lay down on the bed") with "etre", not "avoir." I thought I knew the short list of French verbs conjugated with "etre" (aller, mourir, descendre, etc.).
Is there some other list I should know about? Or is this another phenomenon?
Thanks!

Hi,
I am currently a Dutch engineering student and I've applied to do an internship in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. I was assured that on the work floor most staff would be fluent in English, as the institute where I'll be working for six months is very international in nature, and that there is Dutch speaking support staff that can help me out with complexities that may arise in getting settled.
Regardless, since I will be living and working in a French speaking part of the world, I think it is worth the effort to learn French. During middle school I've had three years of French class, and I always got decent grades for the subject.
Since the Dutch education system groups certain subjects together, those willing to go further in to science and engineering have to drop some foreign languages -- sadly French was a victim to this. The last time I got French lessons was in 2015, and I've never really used French after that.
I still remember the basics, and I still know the conjugations of regular verbs (-er) and irregular verbs like être, avoir, aller and faire. Basic stuff like how to order something in a restaurant, how to greet someone and how to introduce myself have also stuck, along with a some vocabulary. While I wouldn't call myself a beginner necessarily, I wouldn't want to call myself anywhere near advanced either.
I basically forgot everything about past tense, future tense and I guess I lack a lot of vocabulary to properly hold a conversation. (I think) I know basic word order and how to form a sentence, it's just that the problem of always being stuck in the present tense and not knowing a lot of words without looking them up which is holding me back.
To the point: My question is if you could give me some tips and maybe link me to some resources that would at least get me to the point where I can hold a conversation. I downloaded Duolingo, but to be perfectly honest, it's way under my skill level as I already know very well the difference between chat, chien, femme, fille, homme, garçon and cheval.
Not only that, I would also very much appreciate if you guys could maybe highlight some key differences between Swiss French and standard French, which I was taught in schools.
And a more specific question: what's the deal with tu and vous? When am I allowed to refer to someone as a tu? In Dutch we also have an informal and formal way of addressing someone, although I know from experience that we're much looser in it than countries surrounding us. There's plenty of faculty members at my uni who are fine with being called 'jij' (=tu) after you've known them for a while. More importantly, how is this in Switzerland?

I've got a French summer assignment that consists of copying down verbs in their present and imperative forms, plus the passe compose. I need to copy down the passe compose form for a few irregular verbs. aller has a different form from other irregular verbs for this tense, however; I believe the past participle ends up acting as an adjective? I'm wondering why this doesn't apply to other irregular verbs, like boire for example. Online sites say that the "past participle" part is bu for boire, but the "past participle" part for aller varies, like "allée" or "allés". Basically, the past participle in the passe compose conjugation for aller ends up having various forms, but the past participle in the passe compose for boire just ends up being bu with no other variations. If I could get a clear explanation on why this happens to aller, that would be great, thanks. Please correct me if my examples are incorrect, and if a clearer explanation is needed, just say the word.

In Franhongo, only 2 tenses : Present and past.
Present is like an infinitive.
Ja'hattrav = I work.
Past ? Suffix ! This is 'ta.
Ja'hattrav'ta = I worked
One point of this conlang about level of language. In Franhongo, there is 2 : Formal and non-formal.
Basically, you pronounce every vowel or not.
Then the formal way to use past would be "ita" Non-formal is 'ta (the "i" is skipped)
Ja'hattravita (I worked (formal))
Ja'hattrav'ta (I worked (non formal))
Then, let's learn some verbs !
Remember "mang" ? To eat !
Bor = drink (yes, irregular like "mang", ("Boire" is French for drink) sound like this kind of very usual verbs are going to be from French only).
No'bor = we drink / No'borita = we drinked
Suviv = Live (sumu (jap) + vivre (fr))
Lo'suviv = They live... in France ?
Then it's : Frans'ni lo'suviv... 'ni ? Yes, we will come back to this particle later.
2 very important verbs :
Vak = to go ("Va" is 3rd sing. of the verbe "Aller" ("to go" in French) + the "k" of "iku" ("to go" in Japanese))
Vik = to come ("Vi" are the first letters of the verb "venir" conjugated ("to come" in French) + the "k" of "kuru" ("to come" in Japanese)
Why are they important ?
Because they can be used as prefix for "near future" and "near past", basically : "I am going to... I'm about to..." and "I just..."
'va' (from the verb "Vak") is the prefix for near future.
Ja'va'hattrav = I am going to work
'vi' (from the verbe "Vik") is for the recent past.
Ja'vi'borita = "I just drinked"... like... 2 minutes ago... can't drive now buddy... hic...
Agdon = to give (ageru (jap) + donner (fr))
Interesting point, there is no verb "to receive". Just because I don't want. Then the emphasis is about the act of giving, charity, generosity... not receiving.
Ja'agdon... = I give...
Ja'lo'agdon... = I give them...
Ja'va'vo'agdon... = I am about to give you(plural)...
Ok ?
See you later.