A-level French:  Rough guide to modal verbs

 

 

It is not always wise to look for a word for word translation for verb tenses, but this rough guide may be useful.  Study a good grammar for more subtle uses of these verb forms. The hardest thing is probably deciding between perfect and imperfect tenses and the difference is not always obvious to a non-native speaker.

 

Pouvoir                                                            Devoir

 

Je peux          I can, I’m able to                           Je dois         I must, I have to, I’m due to

J’ai pu            I could (on one occasion)                   J’ai dû         I had to, I must have

Je pouvais      I could                                          Je devais     I was due to, I was meant to

Je pourrais     I could (= I might be able to)               Je devrais    I ought to, I should

J’aurais pu      I could have                                  J’aurais dû   I should have, I ought to have

J’avais pu       I had been able to                         J’avais dû    I had had to

Puis-je           May I…?

 

Vouloir                                                             Savoir                                     

 

Je veux            I want                                         Je sais        I know, I can (=know how)   

J’ai voulu         I wanted (on one occasion)               J’ai su         I knew (once, suddenly?)         

Je voulais        I wanted  (e.g. incomplete act)          Je savais     I knew, I could (= knew how)

Je voudrais      I would like                                  Je saurais    I would know

J’aurais voulu   I would have liked                        J’aurais su   I would have known

J’avais voulu    I had wanted                                J’avais su    I had known

 

Traduire

 

1.                   He’s due to arrive by ten o’clock this evening.

2.                   I could make an effort if I wanted to.

3.                   When I was young I could recite the alphabet in Greek.

4.                   They would have liked to come to the party.

5.                   We were supposed to finish the work before lunch.

6.                   I should have known that he couldn’t swim.

7.                   I couldn’t give him the answer he wanted yesterday.

8.                   I knew he should have told me the truth.

9.                   I want to know if you can finish the job by Friday.

10.               When I saw him I knew immediately that he was Italian.

11.               We could have saved her if we had known how to do first aid.

12.               She might turn up at the restaurant this evening.

13.               This morning I was able to contact Yves at home.

14.               They should go to France more often.

15.               May I tell you a secret?

16.               If you could speak three languages, I would know.

17.               We must have waited all our lives for this moment.

18.               They were due to go out at ten.

19.               Could you clear the table for me?

20.               If I had known what you could do, I would have been able to help you.