French grammar present past tenses. Past tense: Le passé en français, qu’est-ce que c’est? Subjonctif - exile

Problems often arise when translating sentences from Russian into English. Most often this happens due to the difference between these languages, which is clearly manifested in the order of words in a sentence.

Word order in an English sentence

The word order in an English sentence is not exactly the same as in Russian.
In Russian, word order is not fixed, plus you can easy to omit subject or predicate(that is, the one who performs the action or about whom we're talking about, and the action itself). Thus, in the sentence “I am a student” there is no verb (predicate) at all, and in the sentence “Sunny” there is neither a verb nor a noun.
In English, on the contrary, there must always be both a subject and a predicate.

How to write a sentence in English

Let’s translate the sentence “I am a teacher” into English word for word: we get “I teacher.” But we know that an English sentence must have a subject and a predicate. “I” is the subject, the one we are talking about, everything is fine here, but the verb (predicate) in this sentence is just missing. Then we get “I am a teacher”, where am is exactly the verb we need. That is, if you translate this sentence literally into Russian, you get "I be a teacher" or "I am a teacher".

“You are a teacher” will be translated as “You are a teacher”, which literally means "You are the teacher". Here the verb is the word are.

Forms of the verb to be

In fact, “am” and “are” are forms of the same verb: “to be” bi (which translates as “to be, to appear”), but the present tense forms of this verb are not at all similar to it.

Conjugation table for the verb to be

Let's look at the table and imagine everything in a two-column system. With “I” to be turns into “am” ([əm] em). With “he/she/it” - in “is” ([ɪz] from), and for “we/you/they” the form “are” ([ɑː] а) is used. Thus,

I am a student. I am a student.
Are you student. You are a student.
He is a student. He is a student.
She is a student. She is a student.

We are students. We are students.
You are students. You are students.
They are students. They are students.

It’s easy to remember these forms, because there are only three of them: with I – am, with he/she/it – is, for everything else – are. And don't forget this not different verbs, these are forms of the same verb to be.

Making a sentence with nouns

With pronouns, forms of the verb to be are remembered for simplicity, but there may be other words in their place. For example, "Mike is a student" Let's translate it as “Mike is a student”, because Mike is he (he), and with he we use the is form. Using the same logic we translate "This boy is a student" like "This boy is a student". Another example: “Children at home” will be translated as “Children are at home”, because children are they, and with them we use the form are. "Mike and Monica are students" let's translate it as "Mike and Monika are students", because Mike and Monica together are also “they”.

Knowing this, you will be able to easily compose simple sentences in English. The main thing to remember is that if there is no verb in Russian, it should still be in English, and most likely it will be the verb to be.

Let's make a sentence out of words

We have come up with interactive exercises for making sentences from words try

Exercise to consolidate the material (interrogative sentences)

You need to make sentences from English words. After which you will find out its translation. Words can be dragged with the mouse or finger (on smartphones)

New York is a great city

NY- great city!

The students in my class are really friendly

The students in my class are really friendly.

I am with my friend Pedro in this photo

In this photo I am with my friend Pedro.

He is a teacher at a language school

Offer – This is a separate statement that has intonation and semantic completeness. A sentence is a word or group of words, organized according to the rules of grammar, that convey a specific message, question, exclamation, or incentive to action.

• It's raining.
• - It's raining.
• Go outside!

- Get outside! What are you doing? - What are you doing? Offers

• English language, as in Russian, depending on how many grammatical bases (combinations of subject and predicate) in a sentence, are divided into
• simple and complex sentences. Simple sentences
• There is my house.

• - This is my home.
• simple I have to go to the university.– I have to go to university.
• Complex sentences is the house where my family lives.

– This is the house where my family lives. I have to go to the university now but I will come back soon. – I have to go to university now, but I’ll be back soon. Simple sentence

• (simple sentence) is a sentence that only contains one grammatical basis
• (one combination of subject and predicate).– We go for a run every Sunday.
• They didn't go to school last year. They didn’t go to school last year.

Simple sentences for the purpose of the statement

All simple sentences, depending on the purpose of the statement, may be narrative, interrogative, imperative, exclamation marks.

Declarative sentences

Declarative sentence(declarative sentence) – a sentence that communicates a specific fact or information in affirmative or negative form. The intonation of such a sentence is mainly descending; direct word order is used (subject before predicate).

• My name is Paul.
• - My name is Paul.

• Kate is good at cooking.
• Kate is a good cook. I don't like honey.

- I don't like honey. George hasn’t finished his work yet. George hasn't finished his work yet.

• In English, as a rule, there can be only one negative in a sentence, in contrast to the Russian language, where there can be double negation (using together the particle not, nor and negative pronouns, adverbs, etc.).
• I know nothing., in contrast to the Russian language, where there can be double negation (using together the particle not, nor and negative pronouns, adverbs, etc.).

• - I do not know anything.
• I don't know anything.

We met no one yesterday.– We didn’t meet anyone yesterday.

• I know We didn’t meet anyone yesterday.– We didn’t meet anyone yesterday.
• Twice no in English it can be used to further strengthen the negation, but this is not common. ain't got no money.

– I don’t have any money.

We

don’t need no education, we don’t need no thought control.“We don’t need any education, we don’t need any thought control. Interrogative sentences Imperative sentences Imperative sentence.

• (imperative sentence) - a sentence that encourages the interlocutor to action, that is, expresses an order, request, command, invitation, etc. In such sentences the subject is often omitted you
• (you, you), since it is clear from the context, the verb is used only in the infinitive form without a particle to
• Watch this!- Look at this!

Listen to me. Interrogative sentences- Listen to me.

• Go and buy some bread, please.- Go buy some bread, please.
• Sometimes in imperative sentences the pronoun does not lower itself in order to emotionally highlight and strengthen an order or command. You sleep now.
• - You're going to bed now. We will rest and

you drive. “We’ll rest, and you drive the car.”(prohibition or request), an auxiliary verb is always used do in the negative form, even with a verb to be.

• Don't give me orders!- Don't order me!
• Don't touch it, please.- Don't touch this, please.

• Don't be so silly!- Don't be so stupid!
• Oh come on don't be mad.- Oh, come on, don't be mad.

To form an order, command directed to third parties, the verb is used to let(allow). To let also used to offer help or when asking for permission to do something.

• Let her go.- Let her go. (Let her go.)
• Let him do whatever he wants.- Let him do whatever he wants.
• Let the children play with our dog.– Let the children play with our dog.

• Let me help you.- Let me help you.
• Let us do this.- Let us do this.

Form let's(short for let us) is used to suggest joint action. In this meaning full form let us practically not used.

• Let's go for a walk!- Let's go for a walk!
• Let's play football outside.- Let's play football in the street.
• Let's invite Paul and Janice to the party.- Let's invite Paul and Janice to the party.

Exclamatory sentences

Exclamatory sentence(exclamatory sentence) – a sentence expressing certain emotions or feelings. Often such sentences begin with the words what And how, but end exclamation point.

IN exclamatory sentences Only direct word order is used. However, often a sentence may only consist of one or two words.

• Marvelous!
• - Wonderful! (also with a hint of sarcasm)
• How wonderful!
• - How wonderful!

It’s such a beautiful life!

English language, as in Russian, depending on how many grammatical bases (combinations of subject and predicate) in a sentence, are divided into- How wonderful life is! What a lovely day it is.– What a wonderful day today. Types of simple sentences by structure according to their structure (the presence or absence of some members of the sentence) are divided into two-part– What a wonderful day today. And.

one-piece

, as well as on undistributed

• common Two-part sentence
• Two-member sentence(two-part sentence) - a sentence in which both main members of the sentence (subject and predicate) are present, or one of them is omitted because it is clear from the context or the previous sentence.

I don't like this book.– I don’t like this book. We had a lot of fun in Brazil! Swimming in the ocean, drinking cocktails, dancing.(full sentence) - a two-part sentence in which there is both a subject and a predicate.

• The baby was smiling to us.– The child smiled at us.
• We've bought a lot of candies for you.- We bought you a lot of sweets.
• simple was a big party at Caroline’s place. Caroline had a big party.

Incomplete sentence(incomplete sentence) - a sentence in which one of the main members of the sentence or both of them is missing, since they are clear from the context. Such proposals are often found in colloquial speech, dialogues.

• Who did that? Mark, of course.- Who did it? Of course Mark.
• What did he do? Nothing at all!- What did he do? Nothing at all!
• What were we doing? Just chilling and talking.-What did we do? We just relaxed and talked.

One-part sentence

One-member sentence(one-part sentence) is a special type of sentence in which there is only one main member of the sentence, and it cannot be clearly defined as a noun or predicate. Sometimes such proposals are called in sentences-phrases.

One-part sentences can be expressed using a noun or an infinitive of a verb.

• To be or not to be?- To be or not to be?
• To stay here – alone, forgotten by everyone.- Stay here - alone, forgotten by everyone.
• Spring! Birds singing, the sun shining, flowers in blossom.- Spring! The birds are singing, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming.

Uncommon and common offers

Unextended sentence(unextended sentence) - a sentence in which there are no minor members of the sentence, but only grammatical basis. Both one-part and two-part sentences can be uncommon.

• Spring.
• - Spring.
• To live!- Live!
• Don't talk!- Do not chat!
• She is sleeping.- She is sleeping.

Matt is a student.– Matt is a student. Extended sentence(common sentence) – a sentence in which there is one or more

• minor members of the sentence depending on the subject or predicate.
• Beautiful spring!- Wonderful spring!
• Don't talk to me now!- Don't talk to me now!
• My little sister is sleeping upstairs.- My little sister is sleeping upstairs.

Matt is not really a good student.

Why? The answer is simple. If you know what you need to follow, then the result will be correct. First we multiply, then we add. Approximately the same thing happens in English, where word order is clearly established. And if we have the right to express ourselves in Russian as we please, then we must think in English according to the rules.

• Affirmative sentence

Initially, you should remember that the subject, expressed by a noun or pronoun, comes first.

The Earth revolves around the sun. - The earth revolves around the sun.

First place comes subject– subject, what follows predicate– predicate, after it is located adverbial modifier- a circumstance expressed by an adverb.

It is big and round. – It (the Earth) is big and round.

At the first place - pronoun– pronoun, then the form of the verb to be in the present tense (am, is, are), after it – object- addition.

Let us pay attention to the fact that in English there is ALWAYS a subject and a predicate, regardless of the context.

So, for example, “Morning. It's getting light." can only be translated as It is morning now. The day is dawning.

A definition may appear before the word it characterizes:

Early morning – It is early morning.

So, if the subject comes first and the predicate comes after it, then they are followed by object– addition and adverbial modifier– circumstance.

A loving couple watched the movie yesterday. – A couple in love watched a film yesterday. So we would translate the sentence literally, which we will not do, because in Russian you can say differently: Yesterday a couple in love watched a film.

By the way, the circumstance, in this case the word yesterday, can be placed either at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.

• Negative sentences

The basic rule is to remember that after the subject an auxiliary verb with a particle appears not.

So, for example, returning to the sentence with a couple in love, we note that the negation will be formed as follows:

The loving couple did not watch the movie yesterday. – The couple in love did not watch the film yesterday.

Each tense of the English language has its own auxiliary verbs:

Present Simple – do/does

Past Simple – did

Future Simple – will

For the tenses of the Continuous group, you don’t need to add anything other than not. For example,

She is NOT cooking brownies right now. She is sleeping. She's not making brownies now. She is sleeping.

• Interrogative sentences

If in Russian we ask a question using intonation, without rearranging words, then in English a question word and an auxiliary verb appear before the subject. What does this look like?

Why did you refuse to go to the party last night? – Why did you refuse to go to the party yesterday?

Why– question word

Did– auxiliary verb in Past Simple

When have the Post Office workers come out in support of their pay rise claim? When did postal workers go on strike for higher wages?

Frankly speaking, auxiliary verbs there can only be 3:

1. to do
2. to be
3. to have

Now the main thing is to learn to understand in what case each of them can be used.

What do you feel? - What do you feel?

Have you ever been to Miami? – Have you ever been to Miami?

Is it raining now? - It's raining now?

Despite the difficulties that arise, learn to speak English, mind your own business and remember that the final result depends only on you!

In the lesson below we will look at a very important grammatical topic - construction narrative sentences in English. The construction of a declarative sentence in Russian is very different from English. Therefore, be careful and pay enough attention to this topic.

First, answer the question - what is a declarative sentence? A declarative sentence is a sentence that expresses the idea of ​​the presence or absence of some actual or alleged phenomenon. Accordingly, they can be affirmative or negative. They are usually pronounced with a falling intonation.

Features of the English sentence

The Russian language is characterized by free word order, i.e. we can rearrange words in a sentence and its meaning will remain the same. This is due to the fact that the Russian language has a developed system of case endings.

For example:

• The bear killed the hare.
• The hare was killed by a bear.

As you can see, the meaning of the sentence has not changed much. Only the semantic emphasis depends on which member of the sentence comes first. That is, what we want to emphasize comes first. The word "bear" is in the nominative case and is the subject of the sentence wherever it appears. The word "hare" is in accusative case and is a direct object wherever it appears.

Now let's do the same with the English sentence:

• The bear killed the rabbit.
• The rabbit killed the bear.

Rearranging the words in an English sentence radically changed its meaning. Now the second sentence is translated as “The hare killed the bear.” And all because in the English language there are practically no case endings and the function of a word is determined by its place in the sentence. In English, the subject always comes before the verb. And the word after the verb will serve as a direct object. Therefore, in the second English version and it turned out that the word “rabbit” became the subject.

Remember the rule:

The word order in an English declarative sentence is direct (i.e., the subject first, and then the predicate) and strictly fixed!

Rules for constructing narrative sentences

Scheme of word order in an English sentence

Following the rules of this scheme, when constructing sentences in English, the grammatical basis is first put, i.e., subject and predicate. The complements follow immediately after the predicate. The indirect object answers the question “to whom?”, the direct object answers the question “what?”, and the prepositional object answers “for what?” How?".

As for circumstances, the circumstances of place and time can be either at the end of the sentence, or in the zero place before the subject. Review the following table:

According to the rules, the definition can appear with any member of the sentence that is expressed by a noun. It doesn't have permanent place in a sentence and also does not change the general obligatory pattern for a declarative sentence. For example:

If necessary, each member of a sentence expressed by a noun can have two definitions: left (located to the left of the word to which it refers) and right definition or attributive phrases (located to the right of the word to which it refers).

Direct word order:

Inversion in a declarative sentence

Inversion in English is a change in word order in relation to the subject and predicate. That is, the placement of the predicate (or part of it) in front of the subject is called inversion.

In declarative sentences, inversion is observed:

1. If the predicate is expressed by the phrase there is/ are (there was/ were, there’ll be, there has been, there can be, etc.).
Examples:

• There is a big lake near our house - There is a big lake near our house (there is - predicate, a lake - subject)
• There was nothing on the table when I returned - There was nothing on the table when I returned

2. In short sentences expressing confirmation or denial with the words so or neither - “So (Neither) do (have, am, can) I”, which are translated by the expression “And I too.” In such replica sentences, the auxiliary verb do is placed before the subject (if in the predicate of the previous sentence the main verb was in Present Simple or Past Simple) or the verbs will, be, have and other auxiliary and modal verbs(if they were contained in the predicate of the previous sentence).

• She knows Spanish very well. − So does her brother. (She knows Spanish very well. - Her brother too.)
• I like the ice-cream very much. − So do I. (I love ice cream. - Me too.)
• They came too late. − So did we. (They came too late. - So did we.)
• I haven’t eaten this ace-cream yet. − Neither have I. (I haven’t eaten this ice cream yet. — Me neither.)
• She can't go home now. − Neither саn I. (She can’t go home now. — Neither can I.)

3. If the sentence begins with the adverbs here - here, there - over there, now, then, and the subject is expressed by a noun.

• Here are the pencils you’d been looking for − Here are the pencils you were looking for
• Here is an example - Here is an example

If the subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, direct word order is used in the sentence.

• Nehe you are − Here you go
• Here it is − Here it is

4. With the verbs had, were, should in a non-union conditional clause.

• Should you meet him in town, ask him to ring me up - If you meet him in the city, ask him to call me

5. In words introducing direct speech, when these words come after direct speech and the subject is expressed by a noun.

• “Who can read the text?” — asked the teacher — “Who can read the text?” - asked the teacher

If the subject in words introducing direct speech is expressed by a personal pronoun, inversion is not used.

• “Who can read the text?” — he asked — “Who can read the text?” - he asked

By remembering the rules for constructing narrative sentences in English, you will be able to correctly express your thoughts. The main thing is to remember what direct word order looks like in English, i.e. learn the scheme. Good luck in learning English!

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Everyone has probably already understood that Basic English is the simplest English for beginners. Having memorized 850 words, you just need to learn how to put them into understandable and correct sentences. And this is where the fun begins.

In Russian, you can calmly say: “Take an apple.” In this case, there is no need to specify which one (and it’s clear: the one that is offered). And meticulous Englishmen will definitely insert one short but meaningful word in front of the apple: either “a” or “the”. That is, articles. Thanks to these words, all speakers immediately understand that this means any apple on the table or the same one with a red barrel and a lucky worm inside.

The article “a” (or “an” before a word that begins with a vowel) is called the indefinite article. This means that you are undecided what you mean. But to be serious: such an article denotes ANY object. For example: “Take an apple” can be translated as “Take any apple (and which one is up to the limit of your conscience).”

The article “the” is definite. That is, it is clear that this apple is clearly meant and no other. “Take the apple” will be translated as “Take THIS apple (and move away from the table).”

There is only one pitfall: you cannot put the article “a” in front of some words. The fact is that it has evolved from the numeral one (one), therefore it is placed only before countable nouns. This means that you cannot say a meal, because food is always singular.

2. Plural and ending -s (-es)

Plurals in English are very easy to indicate: just add an s to the end of the word, and everything is fine: boys, mothers, oranges.

3. Forms of the verb to be

You have probably witnessed more than once attempts by foreigners to speak in Russian: “I am John.” Whom he is going to eat or why he separately reports about his existence seems incomprehensible to us. Because in Russian a sentence can easily consist of even one noun or verb: “Morning. It was getting light." The British don't know this. They don't have sentences without a subject or predicate. They would definitely add: “There is morning. It was getting light."

Therefore, it is important to always remember: do you want to translate a sentence from Russian, but it does not have a subject? Add a pronoun. Do you want to translate a sentence from Russian, but there is no predicate? Add a verb. Most often this is one of the forms of the verb “to be”.

There are three forms in total:

Am- only for pronoun I (I)
Is- for any other word in the singular
Are- for any other word in the plural.

For example, I want to tell you: “I am Vanya.” What do you need to insert between you and Vanya? I don’t know what you were thinking about, but I’m thinking about the form am. It turns out: I am Vanya.
Guess for yourself what to put in the following sentences: “He is Vasya”, “They are Katya and Masha”. Right. In the first case - is, in the second - are.
Now you can combine words-pictures and qualities with all your might: The apple is red. Balls are new.

4. Word order in an affirmative sentence

The British are very pedantic. Their sentences are constructed in strict sequence: first the subject, then the predicate. You cannot get chairs in the morning and money in the evening. In Russian we can say: “I’m tired.” In English this will be perceived as interrogative sentence, because the word order is broken.

So, let's learn to make the correct English sentences: I see a flag. You like the trousers.

5. Auxiliary verbs

For some reason, those who begin to study English language, are very afraid of auxiliary verbs. In vain. They just help us build the kind of proposal we need.

In Basic English the scope of these verbs was limited may, will, be, do, have:

. may helps to formulate a request. For example, you were tired of sitting at a conference, raised your hand and innocently asked: May I go? If they nod your head, you can safely pack your suitcase and go home.

. w ill can also in some way mean a request. Let's say Will you open the window, please? But in fact, most often this verb is used to form the future tense. For example, You will be there at 5.

. be We have already discussed in point 3.

. do helps form questions and negative sentences (which we’ll talk about next time).

. have forms the perfect tense and also means a forced action. For example, I have to go(I have to go). In addition, this verb is very often used to make a polite request: Have a seat, please. Will you have a drink?(Please sit down. Will you drink something?)

In principle, even such knowledge is already enough to communicate at a quite decent level with foreigners and at the same time be understood. But there are no limits to perfection. That's what we'll do next time, but you can and should take grammar tests now.