Franco-fun 20 novembre 2006

Les verbes modaux
Could, would, should, etc... - pouvoir, devoir, vouloir, etc....

Nous avons commencé à voir les verbes modaux en forme simple :

ABILITY

• Can = Pouvoir (present tense) + [infinitive verb]
• Could (past) = Pouvoir (imperfect) + [infinitive verb]

POSSIBILITY

• Could (present) = Pouvoir (conditional) + [infinitive verb]
• May, might = Pouvoir (conditional) + [infinitive verb]
• OR Future + peut-être (order reversible)
• OR Pouvoir (present) + [infinitive verb]
• Shall, will = French future tense

OBLIGATION

• Must = Devoir (present) + [infinitive verb]

CAN/COULD

Quelques phrases typiques :

• Can you help me? – Pouvez-vous m’aider?
• Could you help me? – Pourriez-vous m’aider?
• It may rain. – Il peut pleuvoir. OR Il pleuvra peut-être.

La différence entre la forme simple et la forme composée?

• Simple : Could you help me? – Pourriez-vous m’aider?

• Composée : Could you have helped me last night? – Auriez-vous pu m’aider hier soir?

WILL/SHALL = FUTUR SIMPLE ou FUTUR PROCHE (ALLER + INFINITIF)

The hand-out I gave in class explained that WILL and SHALL is usually rendered in French by the future tense (“future simple”), e.g.:

• I will help you. – Je vous aiderai.

Tanya brought up a very good point: why can’t it be formed with the “future proche”? It can! E.g.:

• I will help you. – Je vais vous aider.

“Je vais vous aider” is closer to “I am going to help you.”

MUST = DEVOIR (INDICATIF PRESENT) + INFINITIF

• I must leave. - Je dois partir.

Once again, the hand-out I gave in class explained that MUST is usually rendered in French by devoir in the present tense the infinitive verb used in English. There is also another form: “Il faut que …” + verb in subjunctive present. I did not introduce this form because I didn’t want to introduce the subjunctive yet, e.g.

• I must leave. – Il faut que je parte.

Or

• You have to leave. – Vous devez partir. (devoir à l’indicatif present + infinitif)

• Il faut que je vous partiez. (partir au subjonctif présent)

Que and the subjonctive :

I am afraid that I completely confused participants when I said that the subjunctive always follows que. The subjunctive does not always follow que, but if the subjunctive is used, que is not far!!

A good explanation in English can be found at: http://french.about.com/library/weekly/aa111799.htm

“The subjunctive mood is used to express actions which are subjective: will/wanting, emotion, doubt, possibility, necessity, judgment. It is nearly always found in dependent clauses introduced by que or qui. […]

The subjunctive is used when the main clause expresses subjectivity, as with the following cases:

• I. Verbs/expressions of will which express an order, a need, a piece of advice, or a want;
• II. Verbs/expressions of emotion or feeling which indicate fear, happiness, anger, regret, surprise, or other sentiments;
• III. Verbs/expressions of doubt, possibility, and opinion;
• IV. Some conjunctions;
• V. The verbs in sentences with the indefinite pronoun ne ... personne, ne ... rien, quelqu'un, or quelque chose as the subject of the main clause;
• VI. Main clauses which contain the words seul, unique, premier, dernier, or any superlative (optional - it depends on how concrete the speaker feels about what is being said);”

And of course, there are a handful of exceptions!

However, to answer Tanya’s question regarding the use of devoir in the subjunctive (que je doive), here are some examples that follow from the explanation available at the above link:

• I. Il est normal que je doive beaucoup à mes parents. (It is normal that I owe a lot to my parents.)
• II. Il est surpris qu’il doive encore tant d’argent à la banque. (He is surprised that he still owes the bank so much money.)
• III. Il se peut que nous devions aller chez le médecin avec notre bébé. (It is possible that we will have to take our baby to the doctor’s.)
• IV. Jusqu’à ce que je ne doive plus d’argent sur mon hypothèque, je ne fais pas de voyage à l’étranger. (Until I have finished owing money on my mortgage, I am not travelling abroad.)
• V. [still thinking of an example here]
• VI. C’est le dernier paiement que je doive. (It’s the last payment that I owe).

Here are examples that we looked at in class:

• Je veux que vous m’accompagniez à la gare. – I want you to accompany me to the train station.
• Je doute qu’il vienne. – I doubt that he will come.
• J’aurais dû le savoir. – I should have known that.
• Nous aurions dû être capables de le faire. – We should have been to do it.

VOCABULAIRE

Many ways to say “But of course!”:

• Bien sur!
• Tout a fait!
• Mais oui!
• Absolument!