501 French Verbs [antikvár]

Preface to the Third Edition I This is a new edition because two new "tourist attractions" have been added in the back pages. One section contains thirty practical situations you may find yourself in while visiting France or any French-speaking country or region of the world. A detailed description of this is given on page 565. The other section, which begins on page 596, gives you many popular phrases, words, expressions, abbreviations, signs, and notices in French and English in one alphabetical listing. It is convenient if you look in one place instead of two for an entry. One listing also prevents you from looking inadvertently in a French Usting for an English word or in an English listing for a French word. Also, cognates and near-cognates in both languages are reduced to a single entry. On page 564 I devised a simple system of transcription of sounds to help you pronounce the French words effectively. Read page 565 where I explain the reasons for the use of hyphens in the sound transcriptions. i C.K. Inlroduclion This everyday dictionary of 501 commonly used French verbs for students and travelers provides fingertip access to correct verb forms. Verb conjugations are usually found scattered in French grammar books and they are difficult to find quickly when needed. Verbs have always been a major problem for students no matter what system or approach the teacher uses. You will master French verb forms if you study this book a few minutes every day, especially the pages before and after the alphabetical listing of the 501 verbs. I compiled this book in order to help make your work easier and at the same time to teach you French verb forms systematically. It is a useful book because it provides a quick and easy way to find the full conjugation of many French verbs. The 501 verbs included here are arranged alphabetically by infinitive at the top of each page. The book contains many common verbs of high frequency, both reflexive and non-reflexive, which you need to know. It also contains many other frequently used verbs which are irregular in some way. On page 517 1 give you an additional 1,000 French verbs that are conjugated in the same way as model verbs among the 501. If the verb you have in mind is not given among the 501, consult the list on page 517. The subject pronouns have been omitted from the conjugations in order to emphasize the verb forms. 1 give you the subject pronouns on page xxxvi. Turn to that page now and become acquainted with them. The first thing to do when you use this book is to become familiar with it from cover to cover—in particular, the front and back pages where you will find valuable and useful information to make your work easier and more enjoyable. Take a minute right now and turn to the table of contents at the beginning of this book as 1 guide you in the following way: (a) On page xi I explain which verbs are conjugated with avoir or etre to form a compound tense. Study page xi and refer to it frequently until you master those verbs. (b) On page xii I show you how to form a present participle regularly in French and I give you examples. I also give you the common irregular present participles. (c) On page xii I do the same for past participles. I give you the present and past participles of each verb at the top of the page where verb forms are given for a particular verb. (d) On page xiii you will find the principal parts of some important verbs which, in French, are called Les temps primitifs. This is useful because if you know these you can easily form all the tenses and moods from ihem. (e) On pages xiv and xv there are two tables showing the derivation of tenses of a typical verb conjugated with avoir and another conjugated with etre. These are presented as in a picture so that you can see what tenses are derived from the principal parts. (f) On pages xvi and xvii I give you a sample English verb conjugation so that you can get an idea of the way a verb is expressed in the English tenses. Many people do not know one tense from another because they have never learned the use of verb tenses in a systematic and organized way-not even in English! How can you know, for instance, that you need the conditional form of a verb in IX