Using French Semi-Auxiliary Verbs

The most common  auxiliary verbs  are  avoir and à ªtre. These are the conjugated verbs that stand in front of another verb in compound tenses to indicate mood and tense. In addition to these two, French has a number of semi-auxiliary verbs, which are conjugated in order to express various nuances of time, mood, or aspect. These verbs are followed by an infinitive. Some semi-auxiliary verbs are equivalent to modal verbs in English and some are verbs of perception. Here are the uses and meanings of some frequently used French semi-auxiliary verbs. Aller In present or imperfect tense, aller means to be going to. Je vais à ©tudier. Im going to study. Jallais à ©tudier. I was going to study. In any tense, aller means  to go to/and. Va chercher les clà ©s. Go and look for the keys. Je suis allà © voir mon frà ¨re. I went to see my brother. In any tense, aller is used to emphasize the verb that follows. Je nirai pas rà ©pondre à   cela. Im not going to dignify that with a response. Je vais te dire une chose. Let me tell you something. Devoir In any tense, except conditional and past conditional, devoir indicates obligation or necessity. Jai dà » partir. I had to leave. Tu dois manger. You must eat. In conditional form, devoir means should. In past conditional, devoir means should have. Je devrais partir. I should leave. Il aurait dà » nous aider. He should have helped us. Faillir Fallir indicates that something almost happened. Il a failli tomber. He almost fell. Jai failli rater lexamen. I nearly failed the test. Faire Causative construction:  to make something happen, to have something done, to make someone do something. Jai fait laver la voiture. I had the car washed. Il me fait à ©tudier. Hes making me study. Laisser To let something happen, to 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. Manquer   Followed by optional de, manquer indicates that something was about to happen or nearly happened. Jai manquà © (de) mourir.   I almost died. Elle a manquà © (de) pleurer.   She nearly cried. Paraà ®tre   Paraà ®tre means to appear/to seem to. Ça paraà ®t à ªtre une erreur. That appears to be an error. Il paraissait à ªtre malade. He seemed to be sick. Partir Partir means 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 à ©tudier en Italie. He went to study in Italy. Passer Passer means to call/drop in on, to call for, to go to. Passe me chercher demain. Come pick me up tomorrow. Il va passer voir ses amis. Hes going to drop in on his friends. Pouvoir Pouvoir means can, may, might, to be able to. Je peux vous aider. I can help you. Il peut à ªtre prà ªt. He might be ready. Savoir Savoir means to know how to. Sais-tu nager? Do you know how to swim? Je ne sais pas lire. I dont know how to read. Sembler Sembler means to seem/to appear to. Cela semble indiquer que†¦ That seems to indicate that†¦ La machine semble fonctionner. The machine appears to be working. Sortir de Sortir de means to have just done something  (informal). On sort de manger. We just ate. Il sortait de finir. He had just finished. Venir Venir means to come (in order) to. Je suis venu aider. Ive 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. Vouloir Vouloir means to want to. Je ne veux pas lire à §a. I dont want to read that. Veux-tu sortir ce soir? Do you want to go out tonight? When Avoir  and  ÃƒÅ tre  Also Act as Semi-Auxiliary Verbs When followed by à   infinitive, avoir means to have to. Avoir  Ãƒ   Vous avez à   rà ©pondre. You have to respond. Jai à   à ©tudier. I have to study. Être Être à   To be in the process of. Es-tu à   partir? Are you leaving? Être censà © To be supposed to. Je suis censà © travailler. Im supposed to work. Être en passe de To be about to (usually indicates something positive). Je suis en passe de me marier. Im about to get married. Être en train de To be in the process of, to be doing something right now. On est en train de manger. Were eating (right now). Être loin de To not be about/going to. Je suis loin de te mentir. Im not about to lie to you. Être pour To be ready/prepared/willing to. Je ne suis pas pour voler. Im not willing to steal. Être prà ¨s de To be about to, ready to. Es-tu prà ¨s de partir? Are you about to leave? Être sur le point de?   To be about to (positive or negative). Il est sur le point de tomber.   Hes about to fall. French Helping Verbs Any verb that can be followed by an infinitive may be a semi-auxiliary, including (but not limited to): adorer: to adore doingaimer:  to like, love doing(s)arrà ªter de:  to stop doingchercher à  :  to look to dochoisir de:  to choose to docontinuer à  /de:  to continue to docroire:  to believe (that one) doesdemander de:  to ask todà ©sirer:  to desire todà ©tester:  to hate doingdire (à   quelquun) de:  to tell (someone) to dosefforcer de:  to endeavor to doespà ©rer:  to hope to doessayer de:  to try doingfalloir:  to be necessary to dohà ©siter à  :  to hesitate to dointerdire (à   qqun) de:  to forbid (someone) to dopenser:  to be thinking of, to consider doingpermettre:  to allow to dopersister à  :  to persist in doingpromettre:  to promise to doprà ©fà ©rer:  to prefer doingrefuser de:  to refuse to dorisquer de:  to risk doing, to possibly dosouhaiter:  to hope to dotà ¢cher de:  to try doingtenter de:  to attempt doingvoir:  to see (someone) do, to see (something) done Word Order with Semi-Auxiliary Verbs   Semi-auxiliary verbs are used in what I call  dual-verb constructions, which have a slightly different word order than compound verb tenses. Dual verb constructions consist of a conjugated  semi-auxiliary verb, such as  pouvoir,  devoir,  vouloir,  aller,  espà ©rer, and  promettre, followed by a second verb in the infinitive. The two verbs may or may not be joined by a preposition. Agreement with Semi-Auxiliary Verbs In semi-auxiliary verb constructions, any direct object belongs to the infinitive, not the semi-auxiliary verb. Therefore, the past participle never agrees with any direct object.   Its a decision that I hated to make.RIGHT: Cest une dà ©cision que jai dà ©testà © prendre.WRONG: Cest une dà ©cision que jai dà ©testà ©e prendre. Here are the books that I wanted to read.Right: Voici les livres que jai voulu lire.  Wrong: Voici les livres que jai voulus lire. However, there may be other kinds of agreement: With the subject of the sentence, if the auxiliary verb of the semi-auxiliary is à ªtre (e.g., Nous sommes venus aider).With the subject of the infinitive.