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 French - Special Uses of Devoir , Present participle, Abbreviations / Slang |
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Special Uses of Devoir
Devoir is one of the trickiest verbs to translate and use in French. The following is a list of the different meanings of devoir used in various tenses.
| Present Tense |
must, have to
probably |
Je dois étudier.
Il doit être malade. |
I must (have to) study.
He's probably sick. |
| Passé Composé |
had to (and did),
must have |
Il a dû partir. |
He had to leave. |
| Imperfect |
was supposed to,
used to have to |
Elle devait chanter ce soir. |
She was supposed to sing tonight. |
| Future |
will have to |
Tu devras payer l'argent. |
You will have to pay money. |
| Conditional |
should |
Vous devriez manger les fruits. |
You should eat fruits. |
| Past Conditional |
should have |
Ils auraient dû jouer. |
They should have played. |
Present participle
Present participles can be used as adjectives, as verbs, or like a qui clause. When an adjective, it agrees with the noun it modifies. When a verb, it is invariable. Preceded by en, (equivalent to while, by, upon or in), it corresponds to the English -ing verb form. Used without en, the present participle can act like a qui clause and can also replace a causative cause. To form this participle, drops the -ons ending of the nous form in the present tense and add -ant.
Three exceptions:
| avoir |
ayant |
| être |
étant |
| savoir |
sachant |
| Est-ce que tu rêves en dormant? |
Do you dream while sleeping? |
| En ouvrant le frigo, j'ai trouvé quelque chose à manger. |
By opening the fridge, I found something to eat. |
| N'ayant pas assez d'argent, il a volé le livre. |
Not having enough money, he stole the book. |
| Elle a vu un corbeau tenant dans son bec un poisson. |
She saw a crow holding a fish in his beak. |
Abbreviations / Slang
| owner
drink before dinner
dictionary
car
laboratory
cinema
photography
microphone
college
slide
advertising
demonstration
soccer
television
friendly
terrific |
la propriétaire
l'apéritif
le dictionnaire
l'automobile
le laboratoire
le cinéma
la photographie
le microphone
la faculté
la diapositive
la publicité
la manifestation
le football
la télévision
sympathique
sensationnel |
proprio
apéro
dico
auto
labo
ciné
photo
micro
fac
diapo
pub
manif
foot
télé
sympa
sensas |
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