A Comparative Study of English TENSE and French TENSE

Abstract

Since English and French, under Indo-European family, are subject to different branches, these two languages have similarities and differences which are quite essential for Chinese students either majoring in English with French as their second foreign language or in French with English as their second foreign language. The similarities between English and French make it easier for students to learn French or English, while the differences usually confuse the students’ French-learning or English-learning. And above all, when students learn French TENSE, they often compare it with English TENSE, trying finding the similarities and differences between these two languages. The present paper aims at conducting a comparative study of English and French TENSES to find out the similarities and differences in their usages and structures, which is significant to enhance the students’ impression of two languages’ TENSES and clarify some misunderstandings in both English TENSE and French TENSE learning.