Tohu-Bohu

For weeks I was happily fumbling about in the French present with limited forays into one sort of past (passé composé) and a only a peek at the "going to..." future (futur proche). Then suddenly my teacher ripped me out of my present happiness and dragged me at mach 5 across the french timelines further into the land of tohu-bohu (yep- sounds exactly what I'm talking about: confusion)!

présent (equivalent to three different English tenses)
passé composé (equivalent to three different English tenses)
imparfait
futur
futur proche

To be quite frank, I'm just getting a grip on the present. I am content with limited retrospection and not having to worry about what lies ahead, in any language.

Here I am with the the possibilities of articulating my past, present and future with a dizzying array of endings in French. Go ahead, ask me a question in any tense!

So what DO I do with la question du jour: Quels sont vos plans pour ce week-end? Brave on and answer resolutely with I will or I am going to? No, mes amis, I stay firmly rooted in the comfortable présent and hope for the best:

Mes plans ce week-end est de me soigner.
J'espère avoir une bonne journée avec une "presque-tout-petit déjeuner"!!
J'espère regarder un bon film, peut-être même un film français.
Je veux aussi faire la grasse matinee.
Bon weekend tout le monde!

...and hoping is one way of sneaking out of conjugating the future, oui?

Je espère = I hope

Photo: On the grounds of Hacienda la Boticaria
à Alcála de Guadaira, le premier de l'an dans 2006