French Semi-Auxiliary Verbs

In addition to the auxiliary verbs avoir and être, French has a number of semi-auxiliary verbs. Semi-auxiliary verbs are conjugated in order to express various nuances of time, mood, or aspect and are followed by an infinitive. Some semi-auxiliary verbs are equivalent to modal verbs in English and some are verbs of perception. Here are uses and meanings of some common French semi-auxiliary verbs:

Aller

(in present or imperfect tense) to be going to

   Je vais étudier - I'm going to study

   J'allais étudier - I was going to study

(any tense) to go to/and:

   Va chercher les clés - Go and look for the keys

   Je suis allé voir mon frère - I went to see my brother

(any tense) used to emphasize the verb that follows:

   Je n'irai pas répondre à cela - I'm not going to dignify that with a response

   Je vais te dire une chose - Let me tell you something

Lesson on aller


Devoir

(any tense except conditional and past conditional) indicates obligation or necessity

   J'ai dû partir - I had to leave

   Tu dois manger - You must eat

(conditional) should; (past conditional) should have

   Je devrais partir - I should leave

   Il aurait dû nous aider - He should have helped us

Lesson on devoir


Faillir indicates that something almost happened

   Il a failli tomber - He almost fell

   J'ai failli rater l'examen - I nearly failed the test

Lesson on faillir


Faire (causative construction) to make something happen, have something done, make someone do something

   J'ai fait laver la voiture - I had the car washed

   Il me fait étudier - He's making me study

Lesson on faire


Laisser to let something happen, let someone do something

   Vas-tu me laisser sortir ? - Are you going to let me go out?

   Laisse-moi le faire - Let me do it

Lesson on laisser


Manquer (followed by optional de) indicates that something was about to happen or nearly happened

   J'ai manqué (de) mourir - I almost died

   Elle a manqué (de) pleurer - She nearly cried

Lesson on manquer


Paraître to appear/seem to

   Ça paraît être une erreur - That appears to be an error

   Il paraissait être malade - He seemed to be sick

Lesson on paraître


Partir to leave in order to, to go to

   Peux-tu partir acheter du pain ? - Could you go out and buy some bread?

   Il est parti étudier en Italie - He went to study in Italy

Lesson on partir


Passer to call/drop in on, call for, to go to

   Passe me chercher demain - Come pick me up tomorrow

   Il va passer voir ses amis - He's going to drop in on his friends

Lesson on passer


Pouvoir can, may, might, to be able to

   Je peux vous aider - I can help you

   Il peut être prêt - He might be ready

Lesson on pouvoir


Savoir to know how to

   Sais-tu nager ? - Do you know how to swim?

   Je ne sais pas lire - I don't know how to read

Lesson on savoir


Sembler to seem/appear to

   Cela semble indiquer que… - That seems to indicate that…

   La machine semble fonctionner - The machine appears to be working

Lesson on sembler


Sortir de (informal) to have just done something

   On sort de manger - We just ate

   Il sortait de finir - He had just finished

Lesson on sortir


Venir

to come (in order) to

   Je suis venu aider - I've come to help

venir à - to happen to

   David est venu à arriver - David happened to arrive

venir de - to have just done something

   Je viens de me lever - I just got up

Lesson on venir


Vouloir to want to

   Je ne veux pas lire ça - I don't want to read that

   Veux-tu sortir ce soir ? - Do you want to go out tonight?

Lesson on vouloir


Page 1 - French semi-auxiliary verbs
Page 2 - More semi-auxiliary verbs, word order, agreement

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