Tenses

• French grammar is organized around six main tenses: the present (le présent), the past (le passé), the imperfect (l’imparfait), the future (le futur), the conditional (le conditionnel), and the subjunctive (le subjonctif).

Present Tense (Le Présent)

• Demonstrates what is happening in the present moment.
• Regular verbs follow a set pattern: ER verbs drop the ER, IR verbs drop the IR, and RE verbs drop the RE. Then, specific endings are added.

Past tense (Le Passé Composé)

• Used to express actions in the past that are fully completed.
• It’s composed of a helping verb (either “avoir” or “être”), and the past participle of the main verb.
• Be careful with verbs using “être” - their past participle needs to agree with the subject in gender and number.

Imperfect Tense (L’Imparfait)

• Illustrates actions or conditions in the past that were not quite completed.
• Formed by taking the nous form of the present tense, removing the -ons ending and adding the appropriate imperfect ending.

Future Tense (Le Futur)

• Used to describe events that will happen in the future.
• Formed by adding future tense endings to the infinitive of the verbs.

Conditional Tense (Le Conditionnel)

• Describes actions that would or could occur under certain circumstances.
• Formed by using the future stem of the verb and adding the imperfect endings.

Subjunctive Mood (Le Subjonctif)

• Expresses wishes, doubts, suggestions, necessities, or actions that have not occurred yet.
• To form the subjunctive, begin with the third person plural (they) form of the present tense, drop the -ent, and add the subjunctive endings.

• A handful of verbs have irregular subjunctive forms.

• Remember to use each tense/mood in the appropriate context - practice makes perfect.
• Watch out for irregular verbs as they do not always follow the rules and will need to be memorized.
• Listen and read French language regularly to identify how these tenses are used naturally. Practice these tenses in writing and speaking.