1. Point de départ
In Level 1, you learned the verb aller and the futur proche. Now you will learn how to conjugate and use the irregular verb venir (to come) and the passé récent.
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3. Venir takes the auxiliary être in the passé composé
Venir takes the auxiliary être in the passé composé. Its past participle is venu.
Venir can also be used with de and an infinitive to say that something has just happened. This is called the passé récent.
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4. Venir can be used with an infinitive to say that someone has come to do something.
The verbs devenir (to become) and revenir (to come back) are conjugated like venir. They, too, take être in the passé composé.
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5. The verbs tenir (to hold), maintenir (to maintain), and retenir (to keep, to retain, to remember) are also conjugated like venir. However, they take avoir in the passé composé.
A command form of tenir is often used when handing something to someone.
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6. Depuis, pendant, il y a [+ time]
To say that something happened at a certain time ago in the past, use il y a + [time ago].
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7. Depuis, pendant, il y a [+ time] (continued)
To say that something happened for a particular period of time that has ended, use pendant + [time period]. Often the verb will be in the passé composé.
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8. Depuis, pendant, il y a [+ time] (continued)
To say that something has been going on since a particular time and continues into the present, use depuis + [time period, date, or starting point]. Unlike its English equivalent, the verb in the French construction is usually in the present tense.
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9. Essayez! Choisissez l’option correcte pour compléter chaque phrase.
1. Chloé, tu _____ avec nous à la cantine?
2. Vous _____ d’où, Monsieur?
3. Les Aubailly _____ de dîner au café.
4. Julia Child est _____ célèbre en 1961.
5. Qu’est-ce qu’ils _____ dans la main?
6. Ils sont _____ du supermarché à midi.
7. On parlait facilement _____ dix ans.
8. On mange bien _____ l’arrivée de maman.
a. viennent
b. revenus
c. viens
d. il y a
e. tiennent
f. depuis
g. devenue
h. venez c
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