Yesterday, today and tomorrow
🎯 Say what you did, what you are doing and what you will do.
🗣️ Say these out loud
- Aujourd'hui je travaille. 🔊 oh-zhoor-DWEE zhuh tra-VYE Today I am working. Travailler is 'to work' — and travail is where the English word 'travail' comes from.
- Hier j'ai mangé. 🔊 ee-AIR zhay mon-ZHAY Yesterday I ate. The past is built from avoir + the verb's -é form. Two words, one past tense.
- Demain je vais étudier. 🔊 duh-MAN zhuh vay ay-tew-DYAY Tomorrow I am going to study. Just like English: 'I am going to' + the verb. The easiest future there is.
- J'ai fini. 🔊 zhay fee-NEE I have finished. Also means 'I finished'. French uses one form for both.
- Qu'est-ce que tu as fait ? 🔊 kess-kuh tew ah FAY What did you do? Qu'est-ce que (kess-kuh) is simply 'what' at the start of a question. Say it as one lump.
- Je n'ai pas eu le temps. 🔊 zhuh nay pah EW luh TON I did not have the time. The ne … pas sandwich again, this time around ai.
Read every line aloud twice before moving on. The mouth learns a language, not the eye.
🔍 The three-word past
To speak about yesterday, take avoir in the present and add the verb's past form. Almost every -er verb makes it by swapping -er for -é.
- manger (to eat) → j'ai mangé (I ate)
- parler (to speak) → j'ai parlé (I spoke)
- regarder (to watch) → j'ai regardé (I watched)
- A small group uses être instead of avoir — je suis allé (I went) — but learn that after this is easy.
🌍 Among the people
French people ask 'ça va ?' (sa VA — how's it going?) constantly, and the expected answer is short: ça va, et toi ? It is a greeting, not an interview.
🔁 Practise today
- Write three sentences about yesterday with j'ai + -é verbs.
- Say what you will do tomorrow using je vais + verb, three times.
- Keep a two-line French diary for one week. Two lines is enough; every day is the point.
