Conjugation Essentials: Mastering the Present Indicative in French
Module 1 – Lesson 3: The Present You Probably Never Heard About So in the first unit, I listed a very few number of ways in which the present tense was traditionally presented to students in French classes. It is startling to see that teachers would generally limit themselves to teaching only 5 or 6 values of the present to their students when they can very easily show them everything with very little effort to make.
In this unit, I want to give you an idea of the scope of the present tense and what it can do for you if you know it well. Very soon, you, too, will be able to use this verb tense with a lot of variety in your sentences. You will no longer be limited to the basic values of the present tense that your French teachers or many books frugally provide.
The Present as Disjunctive Threat Did you know that the present indicative can be used to make a threat in French? Yes, you heard me right; you can threaten to do (or not to do) something just with the present. We will call this form of the present disjunctive threat.
I assume you already know what the word “threat” means. But how about the word “disjunctive”? What? Okay, no worries. I’ve got you covered. I will explain soon what the term disjunctive means right after these two examples:
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Vous cessez de crier ou je vous assomme. Stop screaming or I’ll knock you unconscious
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N’approche pas ou j’appelle la police. Don’t come near or I’ll call the police.
As you can see above, the present is being used in these sentences to make some kind of threats. The value of this present is, of course, quite different to what you were normally taught (or you will have been taught if you were going to sign up for a French class) – In a dedicated unit, we will study how to make sentences of this kind. For now, just know that the present tense can help you express threats in French. Now, let’s define the term “disjunctive”.
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Conjugation Essentials: Mastering the Present Indicative in French
A menace disjunctive or disjunctive threat is simply a threat made that you utter in a sentence that has two opposing / disjunctive alternatives. For the threat to be disjunctive, you need to express a couple of opposing choices. Look at the examples “Tu recules ou je te giffle” (you back off or I slap you). In this example, we have the choice #1 (tu recules) and the choice #2 (je te giffle). These opposing choices are disjunctive and express as a whole a threat if choice #1 is acted upon.
The Present as Orders, Instructions, Commands and Advice As you’re already starting to figure out, the present tense can be used for much more than just describe an action happening at the moment one is speaking. Here, I want to briefly introduce another great value of the present tense, which allows you to give instructions, or commands. This present can also let you give an order or an advice. Check out the following sentences:
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À 23h, tu rentres. Come home by 11pm. (order)
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Tu prends 3 comprimés à chaque repas. Take 3 tablets each meal. (instructions)
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Tu m’appelles immédiatement si tu as un problème. Call me at once if you have any problem (advice)
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Tu portes ce livre à ta mère. Bring this book to your mother. (command)
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Vous ramassez vos affaires et vous quittez ce lieu à l’instant. Pick up your stuff and leave this place now. (order)
You will receive extensive practice on how to make sentences of this kind in another chapter. For now, you only need to know that you can give an advice, an instruction, a command or an order to anyone in the present.
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Conjugation Essentials: Mastering the Present Indicative in French
The Present as Interrogative Auto-injunction Okay, I know. You read “Interrogative Auto-injunction” and you must be thinking “Herman must be joking now”. ☺ Well, if you still doubt the power of the present, do no more, because you’re about to discover its many fascinating values.
You’ll soon realize that you’ve used the Interrogative Auto-injunction quite often, although you may not know this is how it is called. Look at the following sentences and you’ll see what I mean by that:
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J’éteins la lumière? (Should) I turn off the lights?
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Je vous rends ce rapport demain ? (Should) I turn in this report tomorrow?
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Est-ce que je te dépose à la gare ? (Should) I take you to the station?
I’m quite certain that by now, you’ve figured the “Interrogative” part of the sentence. These are questions, as you can easily see. Now, what about the “Auto-injunction” part? That’s quite simple answer. Just break up this term in two.
a) Auto = self, as in done to oneself. b) Injunction = order, as in giving an order, a command.
Put all of these parts together and this is what you get: An Interrogative Auto-injunction is sort of an order you give to yourself in the form of a question. Simple, isn’t it? Now go back to the sentences above, and you’ll see that in each of them, the main subject is “je” (I). Also, they all imply some kind of task or command to be executed, hence the word “auto-injunction” – order to myself. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to practice this.
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Conjugation Essentials: Mastering the Present Indicative in French
The Present as Recent Past So do you still think you could only express current events with the present tense in French? Think again. You can also use the present to describe events occurred in a recent past. If you’ve taken beginner French, you must be aware of the “Venir + de” formula in the present.
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Léa vient de sortir. Léa just went out.
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Nous venons de voir nos anciens amis. We just saw our old friends.
But there is more to expressing the past with the present tense in French. (I told you the present was packed with goodies ha-ha)
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Nous apprenons à l’instant la mort de cet artiste célèbre. We’ve just learned about the passing of this famous artist.
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Je sors directement de chez le médecin. I’ve just visited the doctor.
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Ta mère? Elle quitte le travail à l’instant. Your mother ? She just left work.
But wait, there is even more ways to expressing the past with the present.
The Present as Historical Present (or Present of Narration) This present is generally used to breathe life into past actions and to make them appear still alive and current (as if you were present at the time of their occurrence). The main objective of the historical present is to turn a past event or action into current one. It is systematically used by the person telling the story.
For example, when you say the sentence below (referring to the famed King of France, Louis XIV), as the narrator of the story, you certainly give your listeners the impression that they are witnessing the death of this great historical figure. You bring the past into the present. (Or put the present into the past)
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Conjugation Essentials: Mastering the Present Indicative in French
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Louis XIV meurt le 1er septembre 1715. Louis XIV dies on September 1st, 1715.
Also, when telling a story whose events happened a while ago, you can choose to use the present. This plays like a lively reenactment of the story in the eyes of the audience.
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J’arrive à la maison tout fatigué après le travail, et qui je vois? Un cambrioleur qui s’occupe à vider mes placards dans ma chambre à coucher. J’appelle immédiatement la police qui lui met le grappin là-dessus. I arrived home all tired after work and who did I see? A burglar who was busy emptying my closets in my bedroom. I immediately called the police who arrested him.
The Present as Immediate or Near Future It’s hard to understand that many students of French can barely express themselves past the present tense and while still ignoring the many advantages it can offer them. Below, you also see that you can talk about actions about to happen immediately or actions that will happen in the near future.
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J’arrive. I’m coming.
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Elle part demain soir. She’s leaving tomorrow evening.
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Nous partons dans dix minutes. We are leaving in ten minutes.
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Je passe mon examen dans deux jours. I’ll be taking my exam in two days.
For the most part, this present makes use of the time markers such as demain, dans dix minutes, dans deux jours, in order to emphasize the sense of immediacy or urgency. You will also learn very soon how to speak like this in a unit devoted entirely to it.
The Present as Unavoidable Future Still in line with the present as future, you can also express an action that is bound to happen no matter what (or at least, one that you want to make happen with absolute certainty). In the 14 Copyright © FrenchtasticPeople.com
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Conjugation Essentials: Mastering the Present Indicative in French
following sentences, you can see how you can project certainty and confidence onto a future action by using the French present tense.
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Dans deux ans, je prends ma retraite. I’ll retire in two years.
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Je suis millionnaire dans cinq ans. I’ll be a millionnaire in five years
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Je rends ma démission dans un an. I’ll resign in one year.
You can make an infinite number of sentences of this sort in the present and you’ll be actually expressing actions in the future. This is the power of the present tense I was telling you about all along in this unit. And trust me, there are many more valued of the present I have not yet mentioned.
I want to tell you about the many benefits you will receive in this course (as if you have noticed yet the incredible values you’re already receiving☺). But before I do that, I want to quickly list the other remaining aspects of the present I haven’t yet talked about.
So Many More Values of the Present Tense to Discover In addition to everything we have already said about the present, there are many more secrets left to discover.
One of them is the present used in a performative manner. We call this présent illocutoire. This present is used in juridical settings (court) or formal ceremonies (marriage, baptism) or anywhere where verbs in the present act like true actions. These verbs used in the present aren’t just verbal (i.e. oral), but they also perform the action they formulate orally.
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Je vous déclare mari et femme. I declare you husband and wife
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J’accepte vos conditions. I accept your terms.
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Je vous condamne à trois mois de prison. I sentence you to three months of prison
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Conjugation Essentials: Mastering the Present Indicative in French
Another important value of the present is the present tense employed in the main clause in combination with a subordinate one (which can take other tenses). So there exist in French a number of pre-defined sentences that will take the present tense in these main clauses. Learn them, they will make your life easier and your language skills better. Here are a few:
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C’est que… (to express a causality)
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Est-ce que… qu’est-ce qui (to form questions)
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C’est…que/qui… (to highlight a specific phrase or part of a sentence)
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…comme il faut (invariable adjective said when something/someone is “correct in behavior or in etiquette”
Don’t worry about mastering them now as we will spend more time on them later in a dedicated unit.
The present is used to talk about a subject’s abilities, tendencies or potentials.
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Hussein Bolt court cent mètres en 9 secondes. Hussein Bolt runs (can run) the 100 m. in 9 seconds.
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Le serpent cobra peut tuer ses victimes en moins d’une minute. The cobra can kill its victims in less than a minute.
And of course, the present of Être and Avoir is used to form the famous and all-tooimportant passé composé tense in French. You definitely want to know learn it
See now, folks? Next time you hear somebody talk about the present tense as if he knows it all, gently remind them about the other important aspects they are forgetting. They will be amazed to learn about these unknown, but practical things you can do with just the present tense, and I’m sure, they will certainly thank you for making them more knowledgeable, which brings me to our next unit. There, I’m going to talk about the many benefits you will receive and are already receiving by taking this course on the French present tense.
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