Grammar: Time

Grammar: Time

Section: Present Tense

  • Present tense in French depicts actions happening currently, habitual actions, or general truths. It corresponds to simple present tense in English (I do, I am doing).

  • It’s formed by dropping the infinitive ending (-er, -ir, -re) and adding the appropriate endings. Example: Je parle (I speak), Tu finis (You finish), Il attend (He waits).

Section: Past Tense

  • Passé composé is used to express actions that occurred and finished in the past. The passé composé is formed with the auxiliary “avoir” (to have) or “être” (to be) and the past participle of the verb.

  • Example: J’ai mangé translates to I have eaten / I ate, Tu es venu translates to You have come / You came.

Section: Future Tense

  • Le Futur Simple is used to express future actions. It’s formed by adding the endings -ai, -as, -a, +ons, -ez, -ont to the infinitive of the verb.

  • Example: Je mangerai translates as I will eat.

Section: Imperfect Tense

  • L’Imparfait is used for describing ongoing, incomplete actions in the past or to describe habitual actions in the past. It’s formed by using the “nous” form in the present tense, dropping the “-ons” ending, and adding appropriate endings.

  • Example: Je parlais translates to I was speaking / I used to speak.

Section: Conditional Tense

  • Le Conditionnel is used for making polite requests, expressing possibility, and talking about hypothetical situations. It’s formed by adding the imperfect endings to the future stem of the verb.

  • Example: Je mangerais translates to I would eat.

Section: Subjunctive Mood

  • The subjunctive mood is used to express doubt, necessity, desire, or subjectivity. Be aware of expressions that trigger the subjunctive mood like il faut que (it is necessary that), je veux que (I want that).

  • Example: Il faut que je parte (It’s necessary that I leave), Je veux que tu viennes (I want you to come).

Section: Basic Time Expressions

  • Key time expressions include hier (yesterday), aujourd’hui (today), demain (tomorrow), maintenant (now), tôt (early), tard (late), souvent (often), rarement (rarely), jamais (never), and toujours (always). Using these words correctly can improve your ability to express time context in sentences.