Notre planète est en crise : infinitives as nouns, 'en train de' and 'venir de' | French

Starter quiz

Which of these verbs are infinitives?

choisi

détruire ✓

jeter ✓

décrit

coùter ✓
Which of these verbs are past participles?

accompagné ✓

mort ✓

lu ✓

naître

santé
Match the French words below to the correct English translations.

les déchets

⇔

rubbish ✓

le réchauffement

⇔

warming ✓

la terre

⇔

earth ✓

l'inondation

⇔

flood ✓

la lutte

⇔

battle, fight, struggle ✓

augmenter

⇔

to increase, increasing ✓
Fill in the gap to complete the following sentence: 'Il ne faut pas jeter les ______ par terre.' (You mustn't throw rubbish on the ground.)

'déchets' ✓
Which of the below is the correct verb phrase to start the following sentence? '__________ ma décision.' (I regretted my decision.)

Je vais regretter

Tu as regretté

Je regrette

J'aime regretter

J'ai regretté ✓
Sort the words below into the correct order to translate the following sentence into French: 'I avoid using too much water.'

1

⇔

j'

2

⇔

évite

3

⇔

d'

4

⇔

utiliser

5

⇔

trop

6

⇔

d'

7

⇔

eau

Match the French words below to the correct English meanings.

menacer de

⇔

to threaten to ✓

s'augmenter

⇔

to increase ✓

être en train de

⇔

to be in the process, middle of ✓

venir de

⇔

to have just ✓

l'étranger

⇔

abroad, foreigner, stranger ✓
Fill in the gap to complete the following sentence: 'Je ne reste pas en France. Je préfère aller à ______.' (I don't stay in France. I prefer to go abroad.)

'l'étranger' ✓
Match each subject to the correct verb form.

je

⇔

viens de ✓

il

⇔

vient de ✓

nous

⇔

venons de ✓

vous

⇔

venez de ✓

elles

⇔

viennent de ✓
Which of these statements is true?

After 'venir de', always use a past participle.

After 'venir de', always use the present tense.

After 'venir de', always use an infinitive. ✓

After 'venir de', always use the present participle, e.g., making, listening.
Which French verb do you need to know very well in the present tense when saying what you are in the process of doing?

avoir

être ✓

faire

aller

aimer
What word is missing in the following sentence? 'Nous venons de ______ le dîner.' (We have just eaten dinner.)

'manger' ✓

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To talk about something that is 'in the process of' happening, we can use 'être en train de' + infinitive.
The phrase 'être en train de' is usually translated using the -ing form of the verb in English.
To talk about something that has just happened, we can use 'venir de' + infinitive.
The English past participle translates the French infinitive when using 'venir de' + infinitive.

When using 'venir de' (to have just), the next word needs to be a past participle, like in English.

In French, 'venir de' is like every other French verb followed by 'de'. It is always followed by a second verb in the infinitive.

Periphrastic phrase - a single idea expressed by several words, often including two verbs, e.g., 'is going to go'
Past participle - verb form that forms the perfect tense, together with the auxiliary verb