Verb conjugation is an important part of learning to speak French. The 21 verb forms in French represent differences in tense and mood, and they’re the keys to unlocking effective communication. Knowing when and how to use each French tense plays an integral role in what you understand and how well you can express yourself.
Twenty-one French tenses for verbs is a lot, but memorizing all of them at once isn’t necessary. We’ll give you a concise explanation of the different French verb tenses in the passé (past), présent (present), and futur (future). We’ll also provide a framework for understanding the indicatif (indicative), subjonctif (subjunctive), conditionnel (conditional), and impératif (imperative) moods.
Table of Contents
Why are verb tenses important in French?
Verb tenses in French are important because each tells you a necessary detail about the action in the sentence.
Verb tense tells you when an action happens
Verb tense tells you the difference between an action that’s already completed and something that has yet to happen.
- Je suis allée au supermarché, et j’ai acheté du beurre. (passé composé) = I went to the grocery store, and I bought some butter.
- J’irai au supermarché, et j’achèterai du beurre. (futur simple) = I will go to the grocery store, and I will buy some butter.
Verb tense helps order events
Specific tenses can help you put events in order.
- J’avais écrit six lettres quand ils m’ont répondu. (plus-que-parfait) = I had written six letters when they replied to me.
Verb tense provides a focus or background information
Even when both French tenses are in the past timeframe, such as the passé composé vs. l’imparfait, tense can change the focus on the event or on the background information.
- Hier, j’ai étudié. Ma mère m’a téléphoné. (passé composé) = Yesterday, I studied. My mom called me.
- Hier, j’étudiais quand ma mère m’a téléphoné. (imparfait followed by passé composé) = Yesterday I was studying when my mom called me.
In the first example, it sounds like two unrelated, completed events. In the second example, the use of the imperfect implies that the mother’s phone call interrupted the study time.
French verb tense chart
This at-a-glance overview will help you begin to understand why there are so many French tenses for verbs. We’ll give you deeper descriptions and examples of each tense later on.
| Verb Tense | Use |
| le présent | what’s happening now |
| le passé composé | completed events in the past |
| l’imparfait | description or background information, habitual actions in the past |
| le passé simple | literary simple past tense |
| le futur simple | what will happen |
| le plus-que-parfait | what had happened |
| le passé antérieur | literary form of the plus-que-parfait |
| le futur antérieur | what will have happened |
| le subjonctif présent | unknown outcomes or suggestions |
| le subjonctif passé | doubt or judgment over what has happened |
| le subjonctif imparfait | literary subjunctive past tense |
| le subjonctif plus-que-parfait | literary subjunctive of the plus-que-parfait |
| le conditionnel présent | what would happen |
| le conditionnel passé i | what would have happened |
| le conditionnel passé ii | literary conditional past tense |
| l’impératif présent | command |
| l’impératif passé | command for something to be done by a specific time |
| l’infinitif présent | basic unconjugated verb form |
| l’infinitif passé | helping verb in the unconjugated form plus the past participle |
| le participe présent | impersonal form similar to “-ing” verbs in english |
| le participe passé | impersonal past participle; uses a helping verb to form other tenses |
Indicative French tenses for verbs
In French, just like in English, l’indicatif (the indicative) is the most commonly used mood. This mood is used to discuss facts and to ask questions in the past, present, or future. No judgment, doubt, or imposition: These are just descriptions of reality.
- Il est resté chez les voisins. = He stayed at the neighbors’ house.
- Mes fils jouent au foot, donc ma famille est très occupée. = My sons play soccer, so my family is very busy.
- Il pleut aujourd’hui, mais il va faire beau demain. = It’s raining today, but it’s going to be beautiful tomorrow.
Le présent (the present tense)
The French présent tense in the indicative form is used to talk about something happening in the current moment. It can also indicate what usually happens or what does happen. Present tense indicative verbs in French can be regular (and follow a pattern) or irregular (breaking the typical rules). Many common verbs in French are irregular! Just because a verb is irregular in French doesn’t necessarily mean it will be an irregular verb in English, and vice-versa.
- Je danse avec mes amis = I dance with my friends. / I am dancing with my friends.
- Nous mangeons du chocolat. = We eat chocolate. / We are eating chocolate.
French doesn’t have a separate present continuous verb form like in English, so “I dance” and “I am dancing” are represented by the same verb: je danse. If you want to emphasize the present moment, you can say that you are currently dancing using the phrase être en train de (to be in the action of/to be in the middle of doing something).
- Je suis en train de danser. = I am dancing (right now).
Le passé composé (the past perfect tense)
The passé composé is a compound tense made of an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and a past participle. Use it to express specific, completed events in the past. This form is used to narrate the main events of a story.
- Ce matin j’ai mangé le petit-déjeuner, et après, j’ai regardé la télé.= This morning I ate breakfast, and afterward, I watched TV.
- Hier, j’ai travaillé de 8h à 20h.= Yesterday, I worked from 8:00am to 8:00pm.
There are certain cases where the past participle must follow French gender rules and match the subject in number, such as when the auxiliary verb is être (to be), when the verb is reflexive, or when the direct object comes in front of the helping verb.
- Mes sœurs sont arrivées à 21h.= My sisters arrived at 9pm.
- Elles se sont réveillées très tôt. = They woke up very early.
- J’ai trouvé la banane, et je l’ai mangée. = I found the banana, and I ate it.
L’imparfait (the imperfect tense)
The imparfait works alongside the passé composé as one of the main past tense verbs in French but plays a different role. The imparfait handles descriptive background information such as:
- date, time, and weather
- description of age, characteristics, and personality
- most feelings, states of being, and conditions
- what people wanted, had or didn’t have, and needed.
In these examples, the imperfect sets the scene rather than narrates events.
- Il faisait beau, mais j’étais triste. = It was nice out, but I was sad.
- Quand j’avais cinq ans, je voulais un chien, mais mon père avait des allergies, donc je ne pouvais pas en avoir un. = When I was five years old, I wanted a dog, but my father had allergies, so I couldn’t have one.
The imperfect also differentiates between specific past events and habitual or repeated actions, or what was happening at the time that another specific event occurred.
This puts the actions in the background as an “interrupted” action or as ongoing non-specific actions in the past.
- Quand j’habitais en Californie, je buvais un smoothie chaque matin. = When I lived in California, I used to drink a smoothie every morning.
- Le téléphone sonnait quand il est rentré.= The phone was ringing when he came back.
Le passé simple (the simple past tense)
The passé simple is used in the same situations as the passé composé but is rarely used in everyday speech. It is a literary tense used in professional French writing and fairy tales. Since you’ll never need to utilize the passé simple while speaking, it is sufficient to get the meaning from the context.
- Il parla au roi. = He talked to the king.
- Nous mangeâmes du foie gras.= We ate foie gras.
Le futur simple (the simple future tense)
The futur simple is the equivalent of saying that one “will” do something. It is called simple because it is formulated with just one word.
- Tu demanderas à la fleuriste demain. = You will ask the florist tomorrow.
- Nous donnerons à Thomas son cadeau jeudi.= We’ll give Thomas his present on Thursday.
A common way to talk about the future in French is to conjugate aller (to go) in the present tense, and then add the infinitive of any verb. This construction is called le futur proche (the near future tense).
- Tu vas demander à la fleuriste demain.= You are going to ask the florist tomorrow.
- Nous allons donner à Thomas son cadeau jeudi. = We’re going to give Thomas his present on Thursday.
Le plus-que-parfait (the pluperfect tense)
We think this tense is “more than perfect” because it’s used to talk about an event that happened before another event in the past.
- J’avais beaucoup pratiqué avant d’étudier en France.= I had practiced a lot before studying in France.
- Elle avait acheté une flûte avant de suivre des cours de flûte.= She had bought a flute before she took flute lessons.
Passé antérieur (the anterior past tense)
Passé antérieur is only used in literary texts and very formal speech. Similar to how the passé simple is aligned to the uses of the passé composé, the passé antérieur follows the plus-que-parfait, but for formal text and speech.
- Lorsqu’il eut reçu son premier salaire, Thomas courut acheter une maison. = As soon as he had received his first pay, Thomas ran to buy a house.
Le futur antérieur (the future anterior tense)
When you finish this section, you will have completed all of the indicative tenses. Like in English, use it to refer to a future event that will have been completed. Use the futur simple form of the auxiliary verb avoir or être followed by the past participle of the next verb.
- D’ici à la fin de ma fête d’anniversaire, j’aurai mangé trois parts de gâteau. = By the end of my birthday party, I will have eaten three slices of cake.
- Nous serons déjà partis quand vous arriverez. = We will have already left when you arrive.
Subjunctive French tenses for verbs
The subjunctive mood deserves a lengthy post of its own. It’s used to talk about uncertain actions, doubts, hopes and dreams, and for certain judgments. It expresses a sort of “fuzzy” reality—one that could potentially occur, but by employing the subjunctive, the speaker casts doubt. This uncertain reality occurs when one subject tries to impose their will or desire on another.
Subjonctif présent (present subjunctive)
Luckily, the subjunctive present has almost the same conjugation as indicative verbs in the present. With regular verbs like manger (to eat), the subjunctive present is precisely the same as the indicative present except for in its nous and vous forms (mangions and mangiez, respectively).
Common irregular verbs like faire (to do/to make) will sound quite different.
- J’exige que tu fasses tes devoirs de français. = I insist that you do your French homework.
- Il n’est pas certain qu’ils soient coupables. = It’s not certain that they are guilty.
- Il faut que j’aille. = It is necessary that I go.
Subjonctif passé (past subjunctive)
WIth the subjonctif passé, you simply conjugate être or avoir in the subjunctive, and then tack on the past participle.
- J’étais contente qu’il ait fini ses devoirs.= I was happy that he finished his homework.
- Je suis ravie que tu sois venue ! = I am delighted that you came!
Subjonctif imparfait (imperfect subjunctive)
You can probably guess that the subjonctif imparfait is the subjunctive version of the imparfait. This form is very rare, so you are unlikely to encounter it.
- Il était important qu’il ne sût pas. = It was important that he didn’t know.
Subjonctif plus-que-parfait (pluperfect subjunctive)
Like the subjonctif imparfait, the subjonctif plus-que-parfait is uncommon in everyday speech. It’s probably the rarest form, but we’ll give it a nod here. It is formed by using the subjunctive of the helping verb avoir or être and the past participle.
- Je doutais qu’ils eussent fini leur devoirs avant minuit.= I doubted they could have finished their homework before midnight.
Conditional French tenses for verbs
The conditional in French is discussed in language learning settings as both a mood and a tense. It is used to express a possible future event that could happen under certain conditions. Think of the example:
- Je te donnerais de l’argent. = I would give you some money.
Implied in this statement is the condition “if you needed it,” or “if you asked me to.” It isn’t a reality yet, but it’s a possibility under certain conditions.
In English, we use the conditional mood when we use the word “would.” It’s commonly used in si (if) clauses, just like it is in English.
- Si j’avais un million de dollars, j’achèterais cette maison. = If I had a million dollars, I would buy this house.
Conditionnel présent (conditional present)
If you know the futur simple stems (usually the infinitive) and the imparfait (imperfect) endings, you have all the ingredients for the present conditional! It’s an incredibly useful tense because it also forms the English expressions “could” and “should.”
- Je vivrais à la plage.= I would live at the beach.
- Il resterait au lit toute la journée ! = He would stay in bed the whole day!
- Pourrais-tu m’aider ? = Could you help me?
- Ils devraient économiser s’ils voudraient partir en vacances ! = They should save money if they would like to go on vacation !
Conditionnel passé (conditional past) and conditionnel passé II (conditional past II)
When narrating in the past timeframe, use the conditionnel passé (past conditional) by putting the helping verb avoir or être in the conditional tense and adding the past participle. Conditionnel passé II also exists but is only used in very formal written French. They both have the same translation in English.
- Nous aurions aimé habiter en Europe quand les enfants étaient plus jeunes.= We would have liked to live in Europe when the children were younger.
- Si tu m’avais donné la robe, je te l’aurais redonnée. = If you had given me the dress, I would have given it back. (conditionnel passé)
- Si tu m’avais donné la robe, je te l’eusse redonnée. = If you had given me the dress, I would have given it back. (conditionnel passé II)
What are verb moods in French?
While tense gives you important information about the timeframe of an action, the mood can express the difference between certainty and doubt, or reality and possibility under certain conditions.
- Il est évident qu’il est coupable. (indicative mood) = It’s clear that he is guilty.
- Je ne crois pas qu’il soit coupable ! (subjunctive mood) = I don’t believe that he could be guilty!
Sometimes, a different verb tense (or mood) can express an important nuance or a different level of politeness.
- Je veux une serviette. (present indicative) = I want a napkin.
- Je voudrais une serviette. (conditional) = I would like a napkin.
The first example feels a bit arrogant, whereas the second sounds more polite because it allows for a bit of uncertainty—I would like a napkin (if you would be willing to give me one).
L’infinitif (the infinitive mood)
When you first encounter a verb, especially in a vocabulary list, it is likely in its infinitive, or most basic form. It hasn’t been changed or conjugated, and there is no subject-verb agreement. You’ll often see a verb’s infinitive form at the top of a verb conjugation chart. So, the infinitive isn’t a tense—it’s technically an impersonal mood.
In English, infinitives start with the word “to” as in “to study.” In French, infinitives are generally split into three categories:
- –ER verbs, like parler (to talk)
- –IR verbs, like finir (to finish)
- –RE verbs, like prendre (to take)
You will encounter infinitives in all different timeframes, especially when paired with another conjugated verb in a double-verb structure.
- J’aime nager. = I like to swim.
- J’aimais nager. = I liked to swim.
- J’aimerais nager. = I would like to swim.
- Je vais nager. = I am going to swim.
L’impératif (the imperative mood)
The imperative is commonly known as the command form. It is used with an exclamation mark and is a common way to get to the point when getting someone else to take action. Because it is always directed at someone else, it only has three forms: tu, nous, and vous.
- Mange ! = Eat!
- Allons-y ! = Let’s go!
- Courez ! = Run!
Le participe présent (present participle) / Le participe passé (past participle)
Just like the infinitive mood, le participe présent (the present participle) is considered an impersonal mood. There is only one form. The English version of a present participle is a verb ending in “-ing.” In French, the form ends in “–ant.” The present participle can be used to modify a noun.
- Ayant faim, elle a mangé deux hamburgers.= Being hungry (having hunger), she ate two hamburgers.
When en is added before the present participle, it becomes a gerund (le gérondif), which can be used to describe an action that co-occurs with another, to explain how something happens, or to replace a relative clause.
- J’écoute de la musique en travaillant. = I listen to music while working.
Le participe passé (past participle) is used in compound tenses that have two parts, like the passé composé and the plus-que-parfait. These are formed by conjugating the auxiliary, or “helping” verb avoir or être, and then adding the participe passé.
- Le chien a mangé le poulet. = The dog ate (has eaten) the chicken.
Build your French skills quickly with Rosetta Stone
Language learners can use knowledge of the structure of the language to boost their understanding and ability to communicate. As helpful as different French verb conjugations are, meaningful context is also useful. Use your knowledge of the 21 verb tenses in French like a shortcut to speed your way to real-life conversations in Rosetta Stone Tutoring sessions. With the information in this guide, you can pick up on differences in tone, certainty, and timeframe.
0 Commentaires