French Verb Tenses Overview

Overview

This lecture provides an overview of the most common French verb tenses, explaining when to use each one and basic patterns of conjugation.

Present Tense (Le Présent)

• Used for actions happening right now.
• Regular patterns exist for -er, -ir, and -re verbs.
• Many irregular verbs must be memorized.

Past Tenses

• Le Passé Composé: Describes completed past actions; formed with present auxiliary (avoir/être) + past participle.
• Use avoir unless the verb is reflexive or in the “Dr & Mrs Vandertramp” group (then use être).
• Past participle formed by dropping -er/-ir/-re endings and adding é/i/u, with irregulars to memorize.
• L’Imparfait: For ongoing or repeated past actions or descriptions; stem from present “nous” form (minus -ons) + imperfect endings; only être is irregular.
• Le Passé Récent: Describes actions that just happened; formed with present of venir + de + infinitive.
• Le Plus-que-parfait: Describes a past action before another past action; imperfect auxiliary + past participle.
• Le Passé Simple: Used in literature for completed past events; not needed for speech.

Future Tenses

• Le Futur Proche: For actions happening soon; formed with present aller + infinitive.
• Le Futur Simple: For future actions; formed with infinitive + future endings; irregular stems for some verbs.
• Le Futur Antérieur: For a future action completed before another future action; futur simple auxiliary + past participle.

Other Verb Forms and Moods

• Le Subjonctif: Used for wish, doubt, emotion, necessity, etc.; formed from “ils” stem + subjunctive endings; many irregulars.
• Triggered by expressions like “il faut que” or “bien que,” but not always with “je pense que” or “je crois que.”
• L’Impératif: For commands and suggestions; no subject pronoun, only three forms.
• Le Conditionnel Présent/Passé: Describes what would happen under certain conditions; uses infinitive + imperfect endings or conditional auxiliary + past participle.
• Le Gérondif Présent/Passé: Indicates simultaneous actions; uses “en” + present participle (stem + -ant).

Key Terms & Definitions

• Auxiliary Verb — A helping verb (avoir/être) used to form compound tenses.
• Past Participle — The form of the verb used in compound tenses (e.g., mangé, fini, vendu).
• Infinitive — The basic, unconjugated form of a verb (e.g., manger, finir).
• Subjunctive Mood — Verb form expressing doubt, desire, or necessity.
• Imperfect Tense — Describes ongoing or habitual actions in the past.

Action Items / Next Steps

• Practice writing using different French tenses on platforms like LangCorrect or Reddit WriteStreak.
• Review and memorize irregular verb forms for each tense.
• Glance over passé simple conjugations for reading French literature.