CONJUGATION OF THE IMPERSONAL VERB. TONNER (to thunder). IMPERSONAL verbs are conjugated like ordinary regular verbs but in the third person singular only; they generally take avoir in their compound tenses. PRACTICAL RULES FOR TRANSLATION FROM ENGLISH INTO FRENCH. 1. The PASSIVE VOICE is not so often used in French as in English. In most cases the English passive verb denoting action must be translated by an Active or a Reflective verb. Ex.: He was often told by his friends. Ses amis lui ont souvent dit (Active verb). The door was opened. La porte s'ouvrit* (Reflective verb). * The reflective form is preferred when the agent is not mentioned. II. The English PAST TENSE should be translated: (a.) By the Present perfect (or Passé indéfini) in every-day conversation. Ex.: I saw him this morning. Je l'ai vu ce matin. (b.) By the Past tense (or Passé défini) in narrating historical events, or recording any succession of past actions, no particular time being mentioned. Ex.: The battle began and ended in the midst of a snow-storm. La bataille commença et prit fin au milieu d'une tempête de neige. Two foxes entered a poultry-yard, killed the fowls, and appeased their hunger. Deux renards entrèrent dans une basse-cour, étranglèrent les poules et apaisèrent leur faim. OBS.: The Past tense is called the historical tense; we often use the Present instead to make the narrative the more lively, and to avoid a too frequent repetition of the same endings. III. I used to, followed by a verb in the Infinitive tense-I was, followed by a Present participle—I did, followed by an Infinitive when expressing state—and any English PAST tense denoting an habitual fact or a continuous state, should be translated by the French IMPERFECT. Ex.: |