French Verb Tenses
French Verb Tenses
French Verb Tenses
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Let’s face it – French verb tenses can be a little confusing. But, with a little bit of study, you can master
them. In this guide, we’ll be looking at all of the French verb tenses, what they mean, and when to use
them (if at all).
For the purposes of this guide, we’ll be focusing less on French verb conjugation and more on what all
the tenses are and how they fit together.
But before we dive in, let’s start with the basics, to make sure we’re all on the same page.
A verb tense is what we use to express where a verb sits in time, typically sorted into past, present, and
future tenses. For example, “I ate,” “I eat,” and “I will eat” all use the same verb, but in different tenses.
Of course, there’s often more than one way to speak about something within the same time period,
which is why we have more than just 3 tenses in each language. Think “I sit” versus “I am sitting” in the
present tense, or “I jumped” versus “I was jumping” or “I had jumped” in the past.
In French, to conjugate a verb into another tense, you need the stem of the word, formed by taking the
infinitive of the verb and removing its ending (-er, -ir, or -re).
Those infinitive endings are then replaced with the appropriate new ending based on the tense and the
subject. (As you may well know by now, in French, verb endings change not just with the tense but also
based on the subject performing the action of the verb, as in nous mangeons – from manger, or vous
restez – from rester.)
Some tenses are simple, meaning the conjugated verb is the only verb required and the ending is the
only thing that changes. Others are compound tenses, where a second verb is added (and conjugated) to
create the new tense.
We use different tenses, just like in English, to more precisely describe events, feelings, and possibilities
in the past, present, and future.
In French, as in many other languages, we have tenses, but we also have something called verb moods
(sometimes referred to as “modes”). This is how we classify what the different verb tenses are used for.
The French verb moods are: indicative (indicatif) subjunctive (subjonctif) conditional (conditionnel)
imperative (imperatif) impersonal, which is broken down into infinitive (infinitif) and participles
(participes).
*Some people consider the conditional a tense rather than a mood; you can decide what you feel it is in
your heart.
There are 21 verb forms in French, but some are much more useful than others. To make this easier,
we’ve created this handy French verb tense chart with all the tenses, their moods, what they each
mean, and how useful they are, using the verb laver (to wash) as an example.
As you’ll see in the chart, there are 4 tenses that are really only used in heightened, formal speech and
literature – passé simple, passé antérieur, subjonctif imparfait, subjonctif plus-que-parfait, and
conditionnel passé II – and one that is very rarely used simply because it’s not all that useful – l’impératif
passé. These can be your lowest priority if you’re just setting out learning French verb tenses, but are
worth learning eventually, especially if you’re interested in reading older French writings.
Passé Composé Past Indicative I washed, I have washed J’ai lavé Most Common
Passé Antérieur Past Indicative I had washed (formal) J’eus lavé Literary
Futur Antérieur Future Indicative I will have washed J’aurai lavé Uncommon
Subjonctif Présent Present Subjunctive That I wash Que je lave Common
Subjonctif Passé Past That I had washed Que j’aie lavé Common
Subjonctif Plus-Que-Parfait Past Subjunctive That I had washed Que j’eusse lavé
Literary
Conditionnel Passé Past Conditional I would have washed J’aurais lavé Common
Conditionnel Passé II (Formal) Past Conditional I would have washed (formal) J’eusse lavé
Literary
(formal)
L’impératif passé Past Aie lavé! Have washed! Imperative Extremely uncommon
L’infinitif passé Past Infinitive / Impersonal To have washed Avoir lavé Uncommon
If this is too much to take in at once, you can always break your learning up into bite-sized pieces with
Busuu! Our award-winning language-learning platform will teach you the French verb tenses one at a
time, with exercises to help you master each of them. (And yes, if you already speak some French, you
can test into the right level for you!)
Get started
Indicative Tenses
Present tense can also be used to say someone is currently doing something or that someone does
something on a regular basis. It’s an essential tense for all French learners and should be familiar before
you worry about any other tenses.
Just to review, let’s look at the conjugation of a regular verb ending in -er in the present tense.
je - saute
tu - sautes
il/elle - saute
nous - sautons
vous - sautez
ils/elles - sautent
When we talk about other more complex tenses, we’ll frequently be taking just the stem, in this case
saut-, and combining it with new endings or using its past participle to create compound verbs.
Imparfait
Use: Common
The imparfait, or imperfect, tense in French is also known as the past continuous. It refers to actions
that were ongoing at the moment being described, like “I was singing” or “I was writing.” And it’s
indicative, meaning it talks about certainties in the past (and can be used for questions).
The imparfait can also be used to describe habitual actions in the past, like “I was ordering from that
bakery every day until it closed.”
The good news is, the French imperfect is actually easy to master. You simply take the root of the verb
and add the appropriate ending from this list:
je -ais
tu -ais
il/elle -ait
nous -ions
vous -iez
ils/elles -aient
Passé simple
Use: Literary
The passé simple is a rarely used past tense largely reserved for literature. It means the same thing as
the much more commonly used passé composé, it’s just a more formal or heightened way of saying the
same thing. It’s not exactly the equivalent of Shakespearean language, but you’d be about as likely to
use it in day-to-day speech.
Je lavai le tapi.
Passé composé
If you’re just getting started with the past tense in French, the passé composé is the most useful tense,
and it’s easy enough to learn.
Also sometimes confusingly called the “present perfect”, passé composé can be used to mean someone
did something or has done something and is formed by combining either être or avoir with the past
participle (participe passé) of the verb in question.
A few examples:
Il a entendu.
He heard.
Futur simple
The future tense in French is delightfully less complicated than talking about the past. There are only 3
ways to talk about the future in French.
The first way is not, in fact, considered a tense at all. It is simply to combine the verb aller (conjugated)
and a verb’s infinitive to create the sentence structure “...will (do something)”. For example, tu vais laver
(you will wash) or nous allons dancer (we will dance).
The second way to talk about the future in French is with the futur simple tense. Futur simple is really
the French future tense, so it definitely comes in handy. It also translates to “will (verb)”, but is formed
instead by taking a verb’s infinitive and adding the following endings:
je -ai
tu -as
il/elle -a
nous -ons
vous -ez
ils/elles -ont
There’s also technically one more future tense in French, futur antérieur, but we’ll get to that in a
minute.
Plus-que-parfait
Use: Common
Another indicative past tense in French that’s commonly used is the plus-que-parfait. The plus-que-
parfait, or “pluperfect,” is used to say that someone had done something.
That is, the verb being put into the plus-que-parfait describes an action that was finished at the time of
the past action being described.
This is in contrast to the imparfait, where someone is being described performing a continuous action in
the past, or the passé composé, where something is occurring at the moment in the past being
described.
In short:
Imparfait:
Je jouais de la trompette.
Passé composé:
Plus-que-parfait:
The plus-que-parfait is formed by combining either être or avoir, conjugated to their imperfect forms
(for example, j’avais, tu étais) and combined with the past participle. Thus, you’re combining the
imperfect (imparfait) and present perfect (passé composé), to create the plus-que-parfait – more than
perfect.
Passé antérieur
Use: Literary
Passé antérieur is one of the purely literary tenses. It means the same thing as the plus-que-parfait, just
made to sound a little more rarefied. It combines some very funky conjugations of avoir and être with
the past participle. While you probably don’t need to memorize this one tomorrow, it’s good to be able
to recognize it when it comes up.
Futur antérieur
Use: Uncommon
The futur antérieur, on the other hand (told you we’d get to the final future tense eventually), is a little
more useful than its passé equivalent. Sometimes called the “past future”, it refers to things that will be
done in the future.
For example:
You’re talking about the future, but things that will be in the past by the time that future comes. Make
sense?
To put it together, you take the futur simple version of either être or avoir (as appropriate to the verb in
question!) and add the past participle.
On Busuu, you can review grammar and vocabulary words that have tripped you up in the past, get help
from native French speakers, and help other language learners to learn your language.
Subjunctive Tenses
Congratulations, you made it through all of the indicative tenses! The good news is, from here on,
there’s much less to wrap your head around.
As a reminder, all the subjunctive tenses are used for emotions and things that are possible but not
certain. They’re used exclusively in sentences that have two clauses, and are always preceded by either
qui or que, as in “that (someone) (will do or did something).”
The ones you actually need to learn are the present subjunctive and past subjunctive.
The imperfect and pluperfect subjunctive, on the other hand, are only in use in literary and historical
contexts, but it’s still worth looking them in the eye, just in case they show up on your radar.
Present subjunctive
Use: Common
A simple tense, the present subjunctive typically uses the infinitive stem combined with the following
verb endings:
-e
-es
-e
-ions
-iez
-ent
-ir
-isses
-isse
-issions
-issiez
-issent
There are 11 exception verbs, but the most important ones are avoir and être:
avoir
aie
aies
ait
ayons
ayez
aient
être
sois
sois
soit
soyons
soyez
soient
Example sentence:
Past subjunctive
Use: Common
This is an easy one to learn once you have the subjunctive present under control. Take a look at it in
action:
Imperfect subjunctive
Use: Literary
Formation: Que + stem from the il form of the passé simple + unique imperfect subjunctive endings(!)
Honestly, this is rare and complicated enough that we’re not going to get into the nitty-gritty now, but
here’s a peek at the imperfect subjunctive:
Use: Literary
Conditional Tenses
Like with the subjunctive, for the French conditional tenses, it’s worth looking at them altogether, now
that you’re on a roll.
The conditional tense is all about “would” – someone would do or would have done something.
The conditionnel présent and conditionnel passé (I) are both useful, but there is a second conditionnel
passé (II) that’s in literary use only.
Conditionnel présent
Use: Common
The conditionnel présent works just like the futur simple, where we take the infinitive of the verb and
add to it, but with new endings.
For when someone would do something in the present (but hasn’t done it).
Use: Common
For when someone would have done something in the past, but didn’t.
Tu serais sorti.
You would have gone out.
As you may have guessed by now, avoir and être are both irregular verbs in a wide variety of ways, so
when push comes to shove, you’ll probably just need to spend some time memorizing all their various
forms if you want to become a grammatical mastermind en français.
Use: Literary
Again, this means the same thing as conditionnel passé (I), but is simply less in use in modern speech
and writing.
As you can see, many of the more formal, literary tenses interact with each other. While they may look
complicated (and no judgment if your mind is boggled, this isn’t an easy subject!), the good news is, the
more you learn, the more of a leg up you’ll have when it comes to learn the next thing.
Imperative Tenses
L’impératif présent
Use: Common
The present imperative, which is by far the more common imperative tense, is formed by simply saying
the present tense conjugation of the verb (conjugated to the corresponding subject). Except the tu form
drops the -s, because nothing is easy.
For example:
L’impératif passé
The past imperative, on the other hand, is a little more complicated, but the good news is you’ll almost
never see it.
The past imperative is formed by combining the subjunctive present of avoir or être and the past
participle. That’s aie, ayons, ayez, sois, soyons, and soyez. Just so you know. In case you ever have to
answer three questions from a French grammar troll or something.
Impersonal Tenses
Last but certainly not least, we come to the impersonal tenses – infinitives and participles. These are
verb forms that don’t change with the subject (unlike all those other, less cool tenses).
L’infinitif présent
Probably one of the most recognizable verb forms, the present infinitive is essentially a verb’s most
neutral form, meaning “to (verb).” Think laver, manger, tenir, avoir. To wash, to eat, to hold, to have.
You know, the classics
L’infinitif passé
Use: Uncommon
The past infinitive, on the other hand, is kind of a funky fresh thing. You’re less likely to see this floating
around, but it’s not totally obscure. This is, as the name suggests, the infinitive form for past tense
verbs.
That may sound more confusing than it is, so let’s take a look at some examples.
Avoir aimé et perdu vaut mieux que ne jamais avoir aimé du tout.
To have loved and lost is better than never to have loved at all.
Le participe présent
Use: Common
To form the present participle, we take our verb stem and simply add -ant. It’s essentially the French
equivalent of -ing, and has the same effect.
So laver (to wash) because lavant (washing) and courir (to run) becomes courant (running), as in,
“L'enfant arriva en courant” (The child came running). It’s more common to simply use the présent
conjugation to discuss current activities, but this is certainly a handy bit of knowledge to have in your
pocket.
Le participe passé
Here we are, at the end of the French verb tenses road, talking at last about a tense that’s in use
throughout many of the other tenses.
The participe passé is the neutral (impersonal) past tense verb that functions sort of like a verb with an -
ed slapped onto the end of it in regular English verbs.
In general, regular French verbs are transformed from infinitive to past participle like this:
However, there are many notable exceptions. As you’ve seen, knowing the participe passé for a verb
definitely comes in handy, so it’s worth taking time to learn the irregular and regular past participles if
you want to make yourself understood when talking about the past in French.
Get practice and dive into the nitty gritty details with Busuu’s award-winning online French course,
designed by language learning experts to help you meet your goals.
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