Various verb tenses French Q&A

Bill

Kwiziq community member

10 October 2018

5 replies

Various verb tenses

Hello, i'm probably getting ahead of myself (only been studying French for 2 months) but wanted to see if anyone would be willing to let me know if I'm correct or not on below conjugations.

I ate = j'ai mangé

I was eating / used to eat = je mangaisI should eat = je devrais mangerI will eat = je mangeraiI should not eat = je ne devrais pas mangerI will have eaten = j'aurai mangéI will not have eaten yet = je n'aurai pas mangé encoreI had eaten = j'avais mangéI had not eaten yet = je n'avais mangé encoreI have to eat = je doit mangerI can't eat right now = je ne peux pas manger maintenant/tout de suite?I should have eaten = j'aurais pas dû mangerIt seems in general that "should" future uses conditional present and "should" future uses conditional past.I apologize in advance if this is too much for a single post :(

This question relates to:
French lesson "Position of negation with two verbs (conjugated + infinitive)"

Bill

Kwiziq community member

10 October 2018

10/10/18

oops, correction.

I should have eaten = J'aurai dû mangé ?

Chris

Kwiziq community member

11 October 2018

11/10/18

I had not eaten yet -- Je n'avais pas encore mangé
I have to eat -- Je dois manger
I should have eaten -- J'aurais dû manger

Bill

Kwiziq community member

11 October 2018

11/10/18

Merci beaucoup! I realized I had a couple stupid errors in my original post (je doit, par exemple eek) & the "pas" in my translation of I should have eaten - oops!

I understand my error in reposting "Je aurai dû..." should have been "aurais", (because doubt, certainty, wish, etc. requires conditional?) i think that was a typo the 2nd time around. I guess i had that correct initially (minus the "pas"), and shouldn't have changed the verb form for manger.

I need to read up more on the placement of adverbs such as "encore" around the pas, that is a little confusing to me. To me, the "encore" sounds better after pas, but that obviously doesn't mean anything.

Oh also to say "right now" in that context is it better to say maintenant or tout de suite?

Thanks so much! This site is awesome, i'm learning a lot from it.

Bill

Kwiziq community member

11 October 2018

11/10/18

oh and i had a spelling error. I used to eat s/b Je mangeais.

thanks again.

Chris

Kwiziq community member

12 October 2018

12/10/18

For "right now", either maintenant or tout de suite is fine. For my feeling, tout de suite carries a bit more urgency, but I might be wrong.

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