- Regular Verbs:
- -er verbs (e.g., parler): drop -er and add endings (-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent)
- -ir verbs (e.g., finir): drop -ir and add endings (-is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent)
- -re verbs (e.g., vendre): drop -re and add endings (-s, -s, -, -ons, -ez, -ent)
- Key Tenses:
- Present: for current actions or general truths
- Passé Composé: for completed past actions using auxiliary verbs être or avoir
- Imparfait: for ongoing or repeated past actions
- Futur Simple: for future actions
- Irregular Verbs: common verbs like être, avoir, aller, and faire have unique conjugations that must be memorized.
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Table of Contents
- Present Tense
The French present tense (le présent) describes current actions, general truths, and near-future events. It is used with regular and irregular verbs.
- Past Tenses
Introduction to French past tenses for describing completed actions, habits, and background events in storytelling.
- Passé Composé
The passé composé is a French past tense used to express completed actions, events, or changes that happened at a specific time in the past.
- Imparfait
The imparfait is a French past tense used to express ongoing or habitual actions, describe settings, and talk about states of being in the past.
- Plus-que-parfait
The plus-que-parfait is a French past tense that expresses actions completed before another past action or point in time.
- Passé Simple (literary)
Passé simple, a literary French past tense used in formal writing, reported speech, and narrative storytelling.
- Future Tenses
Introduction to French future tenses for expressing actions that will happen, including the simple future and the near future.
- Futur Proche
Futur Proche in French grammar, showing how to use the near future tense with conjugation rules and examples.
- Futur Simple
The French futur simple tense, including how to form it, common irregular verbs, and examples of usage in context.
- Futur Antérieur
The futur antérieur is a French past future tense used to describe actions that will have been completed before another future event or point in time.
- Conditional Tenses
Introduction to French conditional tenses for expressing hypothetical situations, polite requests, and future-in-the-past scenarios.
- Present Conditional
The French present conditional is a verb tense used to express hypothetical situations, polite requests, or actions that depend on a condition. It is formed by taking the future stem of the verb and adding imperfect endings. For regular verbs, the future stem is the infinitive (or the infinitive minus the final "e" for -re verbs). Then, add the following endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient.
- Past Conditional
The past conditional (le conditionnel passé) in French expresses what would have happened if certain conditions had been met; it is formed using the conditional of avoir or être plus the past participle.
- Subjunctive Mood
Introduction to the French subjunctive mood
- Present Subjunctive
The French present subjunctive tense, its uses, formation rules, and examples to express doubt, emotion, desire, and necessity.
- Past Subjunctive
The past subjunctive in French expresses doubt, emotion, or necessity about actions that have already been completed.
Last updated: Wed Jun 18, 2025
