Chapter 9Looking Forward and Back: The Immediate Future and Past In This Chapter Forming the immediate future Forming the immediate past Using prepositions with verbs of coming and goin
Trang 1Chapter 9
Looking Forward and Back:
The Immediate Future and Past
In This Chapter
Forming the immediate future
Forming the immediate past
Using prepositions with verbs of coming and going
The two types of future tense are the simple future, which I discuss in Chapter 15, and the immediate future, which I talk about in this chapter Although the two types of future tenses can be and are used interchangeably, you use the immediate future to express some-thing that you’re going to do pretty soon in the future, as the name indicates Similarly to the immediate future, the immediate past expresses actions that you’ve just done For example,
I have just taken a test or She has just eaten In this chapter, I show you how to form the
immediate future and the immediate past
Creating the Immediate Future Tense
In order to form the immediate future, conjugate the verb aller (to go) in the present tense
and add the infinitive of a verb of your choice Because aller is an irregular verb, check out
the following conjugations in the present tense to refresh your memory
aller (to go)
Now add an infinitive to form the immediate future The following examples show you how
to do it
Je vais lire (I’m going to read.) Nous allons sortir (We are going to go out.)
To construct the immediate future with pronominal verbs, place the pronominal pronoun, which agrees with the subject, before the infinitive
Je vais me promener dans le parc (I’m going to walk in the park.) Elle va se reposer (She is going to rest.)
Trang 2In order to make the immediate future negative, simply place ne before the conjugated aller and pas, or any other negative word you want to use, after the conjugated verb.
Nous n’allons pas voyager cet été (We are not going to travel this summer.)
Now take the time to try it Work through the following practice problems and conju-gate the verb so that the sentence is in the immediate future tense
Q.Je dors (I am sleeping.)
A.Je vais dormir (I am going to sleep.)
1 Il mange.
2 Nous nageons.
3 Tu ne travailles pas.
4 Les clients paient.
5 Elle se maquille.
Creating the Immediate Past Tense
Just like the immediate future (see the previous section), you also have an immediate past tense, which you use when you’ve just done something Form the immediate
past tense with the verb venir conjugated in the present tense, the preposition de, and the infinitive (venir de + infinitive) (Note that the immediate future has no preposition in front of the infinitive, but the immediate past does) Venir by itself
means to come, but when it’s followed by de + infinitive, it means to have just done
something I conjugate venir in the present tense for you in the following table.
venir (to come)
Nous venons d’acheter les billets (We have just bought the tickets.)
How do you construct the immediate past with pronominal verbs? (Check out Chapter 5 for a complete discussion on pronominal verbs in the present tense.) Just place the pronominal pronoun before the infinitive, like so:
Trang 3Je viens de me réveiller (I just woke up.) Elle vient de se coucher (She has just gone to bed.)
In order to make the immediate past negative, simply place ne before the conjugated verb (venir) and pas, or any other negative word you want to use, after the
conju-gated verb
Ils ne viennent pas de manger (They have not just eaten.)
Transform the following sentences from the present to the immediate past, as in the example If the sentence is negative, keep it negative in your answer
Q.Nous jouons au tennis (We are playing tennis.)
A.Nous venons de jouer au tennis (We have just played tennis.)
6 Il se coupe les cheveux.
7 Vous attendez.
8 Je pleure.
9 Je me mets à travailler.
10 Elle se coiffe.
Going and Coming with Aller and Venir
How do you go to the movies or the market and most importantly, how do you come back from these and other places? Well, you use the same verbs you did to form the immediate future and the immediate past (see the two previous sections), but they’re followed by nouns instead of by infinitives In this section, I show you what
preposi-tions to use to get to where you are going aller (to go) and what preposipreposi-tions you use
to come back venir (to come).
Going to and coming back
Go anywhere you want to go by adding the preposition à to aller, thus forming aller à
(to go to).
Je vais au cinéma (I am going to the movies.)
Trang 4The preposition à contracts with the definite article le (masculine singular) to form
au and with the plural les to form aux It doesn’t contract with the feminine singular
la or with the l’.
Tu vas à la banque (You are going to the bank.)
Now that you can go anywhere in town, how do you get back? You get back with the
verb venir and the preposition de, which means to come (back) from.
Je viens du marché (I’m coming back from the market.) Elle vient de l’école (She’s coming back from school.)
The same types of transformations occur with the preposition de as with the preposi-tion à The two contracpreposi-tions are de + le, which form du, and de + les, which form des.
Table 9-1 shows you a list of the two prepositions with the definite articles so that you can keep track of them when you use them
Table 9-1 Combining Definite Articles and Prepositions
Before you work on the practice problems, review this list of places around town that you can go to and come back from
l’aéroport (the airport)
la banque (the bank)
la bibliothèque (the library)
la boîte de nuit (the nightclub)
la boulangerie (the bakery)
le café (the café)
le centre commercial (the mall)
le cinéma (the movies)
le club (the club)
le collège (middle school)
l’école (the school)
l’église (the church)
l’épicerie (the grocery store)
la gare (the train station)
le grand magasin (the department store)
l’hôtel (the hotel)
la librairie (the bookstore)
le lycée (high school)
le magasin (the store)
la maison (the house)
le marché (the market)
le musée (the museum)
Trang 5Go to the following places and come back by conjugating the verbs aller in the first sentence and venir in the second sentence Make sure you add the correct
preposi-tions Check out the example I provide the translations in the Answer Key
Q.Il _ le lycée
A.Il va au lycée (He is going to high school.)
Il vient du lycée (He is coming back from high school.)
11 Nous _ le magasin.
12 Ils _ la pharmacie.
13 Ma sœur _ le centre commercial.
14 Papa _ la gare.
15 Tu _ la librairie.
Going to and coming from
If you want to get out of town and go to Morocco or Australia, for example, you need
the verbs aller and venir again All you have to do is change the prepositions To go
to any city, use the preposition à + the name of the city To come back, use the prepo-sition de + the name of the city Most islands follow this rule as well.
Je vais à Bruxelles (I am going to Brussels.)
Je viens de Bruxelles (I come/am coming from Brussels.)
Je vais à Hawaii (I am going to Hawaii.)
Je viens d’Hawaii (I come/am coming from Hawaii.)
l’opéra (the opera)
la pharmacie (the pharmacy)
la piscine (the swimming pool)
la plage (the beach)
la poste (the post office)
le restaurant (the restaurant)
le stade (the stadium)
le supermarché (the supermarket)
le théâtre (the theater)
Trang 6Countries, provinces, and states are divided into masculine, feminine, and plural nouns What determines gender for these geographic areas is a matter of spelling
Aside from some exceptions, countries, provinces, and states that end in an e or
begin with a vowel are considered feminine, and they use the prepositions en (to, in,
at ) and de (from) Those that don’t end in an e or that begin with a consonant are con-sidered masculine, and they use the prepositions au (to, in, at) and du (from).
For plural countries like the United States, use aux (to, in, at) and des (from).
Nous allons en France (We are going to France.) Nous venons de France (We are coming from France.)
Tu vas au Canada (You are going to Canada.)
Tu viens du Canada (You are coming from Canada.)
Il va aux Pays-Bas (He is going to the Netherlands.)
Il vient des Pays-Bas (He’s coming from the Netherlands.)
Table 9-2 puts everything together
Table 9-2 Prepositions to Use for Going and Coming Location Prepositions Examples of Prepositions Examples of
for Going to Going Verbs for Coming Coming Verbs
Cities and à Je vais à Paris. de Je viens de Paris.
Countries, en Je vais en Grèce. de Je viens de Grèce.
states, Je vais en Californie Je viens de Californie.
provinces, and Je vais en Normandie Je viens de Normandie.
continents that end in e or begin with a vowel Countries, au Je vais au Canada. du Je viens du Canada.
provinces that Je vais au Québec Je viens du Québec.
begin with a consonant Plural countries aux Je vais aux États-Unis des Je viens des États-Unis.
Je vais aux Pays-Bas Je viens des Pays-Bas.
Table 9-2 shows the general rules for verbs of coming and going, but some exceptions
do exist Some cities have an article in conjunction with the preposition For example,
if you want to say I am going to or am in New Orleans, Mans, Havre, and Cairo, you
say à la Nouvelle Orléans, au Mans, au Havre, au Caire And if you’re coming from these places, de la Nouvelle Orléans, du Mans, du Havre, du Caire Also, some countries do end in an e but are considered masculine For example, if you go to or are in Mexico, you say au Mexique, and coming back from Mexico is du Mexique.
Form sentences by conjugating the verbs and putting in the correct preposition I pro-vide the translations in the Answer Key
Trang 7Q.Nous (aller/Irlande).
A.Nous allons en Irlande (We are going to Ireland.)
16 Mes parents (aller/Tunisie).
17 Tu (aller/Suisse).
18 Nous (venir/Sénégal).
19 Mon assistante (venir/San Francisco).
20 Vous (venir/Chine).
Trang 8Answer Key
This section contains the answers for all the practice problems in this chapter Compare your answers to see how well you did
a Il va manger (He is going to eat.)
b Nous allons nager (We are going to swim.)
c Tu ne vas pas travailler (You are not going to work.)
d Les clients vont payer (The clients are going to pay.)
e Elle va se maquiller (She is going to put on makeup.)
f Il vient de se couper les cheveux (He has just cut his hair.)
g Vous venez d’attendre (You have just waited.)
h Je viens de pleurer (I have just cried.)
i Je viens de me mettre à travailler (I have just begun to work.)
j Elle vient de se coiffer (She has just done her hair.)
k Nous allons au magasin (We are going to the store.) Nous venons du magasin (We are coming back from the store.)
l Ils vont à la pharmacie (They are going to the drugstore.) Ils viennent de la pharmacie (They are coming back from the drugstore.)
m Ma sœur va au centre commercial (My sister is going to the mall.)
Ma sœur vient du centre commercial (My sister is coming back from the mall.)
n Papa va à la gare (Dad is going to the train station.) Papa vient de la gare (Dad is coming from the train station.)
o Tu vas à la librairie (You are going to the bookstore.)
Tu viens de la librarie (You are coming back from the bookstore.)
p Mes parents vont en Tunisie (My parents are going to Tunisia.)
q Tu vas en Suisse (You are going to Switzerland.)
r Nous venons du Sénégal (We are coming back from Senegal.)
s Mon assistante vient de San Francisco (My assistant comes from San Francisco.)
t Vous venez de Chine (You come from China.)