1

French Grammar: Tenses

1) In any language, when we refer to something happening, we always
use a tense to indicate whether it is going to, is, or has already,
happened.

e.g. I'm going to eat an apple. I am eating an apple. I ate an apple.


2) French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -RE, -IR)

3) To use the verbs in different tenses, we need to know some rules.
These rules are simple and are applied to nearly all verbs.

4) Unfortunately, some verbs do not follow theses rules and it is
therefore important to know these IRREGULAR VERBS such as
aller (to go), faire (to do), avoir (to have) or tre (to be).


5) Tenses:

Le prsent (pg 2-4)
Le pass compos (pg 5-8)
Limparfait (pg 9)
Le futur simple (pg 10-11)
Le conditionnel (pg 12-13)













2

Le Prsent

When to use it: To talk about what is happening at the moment
To talk about what happens usually/normally

Time phrases: Tous les jours (everyday), chaque jour (everyday),
chaque matin (every morning), parfois (sometimes), etc.


Regular Verbs

1) ER verbs: take off the ER and add the endings: -e
-es
-e
-e
-ons
-ez
-ent
-ent

2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add the endings: -is
-is
-it
-it
-issons
-issez
-issent
-issent

3) RE verbs: take off the RE and add the endings: -s
-s
-
-
-ons
-ez
-ent
-ent
3


Examples:

Parler Finir Vendre
Je parle Je finis Je vends
Tu parles Tu finis Tu vends
Il/Elle parle Il/Elle finit Il/Elle vend
Nous parlons Nous finissons Nous vendons
Vous parlez Vous finissez Vous vendez
Il/Elles parlent Ils/Elles finissent Ils/Elles vendent





























4
Irregular Verbs
As in every French tense there are always irregular verbs. These verbs do
not follow the rules. You just have to learn them off!

Examples:

tre Avoir Aller Faire
Je suis Jai Je vais Je fais
Tu es Tu as Tu vas Tu fais
Il/Elle est Il/Elle a Il/Elle va Il/Elle fait
Nous sommes Nous avons Nous allons Nous faisons
Vous tes Vous avez Vous allez Vous faisez
Ils/Elles sont Ils/Elles ont Ils/Elles vont Ils/Elles font


Common irregular verbs:
venir: to come
pouvoir: to be able
vouloir: to want/wish
partir: to leave
prendre: to take
sortir: to go out
voir: to see
lire: to read
boire: to drink
crire: to write









5

Le Pass Compos

When to use it: To talk about something that has happened in the past
and is now finished.

Time phrases: La semaine dernire (last week), hier (yesterday), etc.


Le pass compos is made up of 2 parts:

1) The auxilary verb (the present tense of AVOIR or TRE)
+
2) The past participle (donn, parl, sorti, fait, etc)


Regular AVOIR Verbs
The present tense of avoir + the past participle

1) -ER verbs: take off the ER and add

Donner
Jai donn
Tu as donn
Il/Elle a donn
Nous avons donn
Vous avez donn
Ils/Elles ont donn

2) IR verbs: take off the IR and add i

Finir
Jai fini
Tu as fini
Il/Elle a fini
Nous avons fini
Vous avez fini
Ils/Elles ont fini
6

3) RE verbs: take off the RE and add u

Vendre
Jai vendu
Tu as vendu
Il/Elle a vendu
Nous avons vendu
Vous avez vendu
Ils/Elles ont vendu






























7
Irregular AVOIR verbs

There is a group of irregular verbs that take AVOIR in le pass
compos. These verbs are formed with:

1) present tense of avoir + 2) the irregular past partciple


Irregular past participles:

avoir: to have: eu
tre: to be: t
boire: to drink: bu
connatre: to know: connu
courir: to run: couru
croire: to believe: cru
devoir: to have to: d
dire: to say/tell: dit
crire: to write: crit
faire: to make/do: fait
lire: to read: lu
mettre: to put: mis
ouvrir: to open: ouvert
pouvoir: to be able: pu
prendre: to take: pris
recevoir: to receive: reu
savoir: to know: su
voir: to see: vu
vouloir: to want: voulu

Examples:
Prendre Avoir tre
Jai pris Jai eu Jai t
Tu as pris Tu as eu Tu as t
Il/Elle a pris Il/Elle a eu Il/Elle a t
Nous avons pris Nous avons eu Nous avons t
Vous avez pris Vous avez eu Vous avez t
Ils/Elles ont pris Ils/Elles ont eu Ils/Elles ont t


8

TRE Verbs

A small group of verbs take the present tense of tre as their auxilary
verb.

1) present tense of tre + 2) past participle

An easy way to remember this group of verbs is with the name:

MRS VAN DE TRAMP

Mourir: to die: mort
Retourner: to return: retourn
Sortir: to go out: sorti

Venir: to come: venu
Arriver: to arrive: arriv
Natre : to be born: n

Descendre: to go down: descendu
Entrer: to enter: entr

Tomber: to fall: tomb
Rester: to stay: rest
Aller: to go out: all
Monter: to go up: mont
Partir: to leave: parti

N.B: The past participle must 'agree with' who did the action. So if the person was female
you must add an extra -e to the end of the past participle: e.g. elle est partie - she left.
If two or more females did the action you must add -es:
e.g. elles sont parties - they left.
If the person who did the action was one male, then the past participle does not change:
e.g. il est parti - he left.
If two or more males did the action add -s: e.g. ils sont partis - they left.

9
LImparfait
When to use it: To talk about something that used to happen in the past.
To describe the way something was in the past (the
weather was fine last Tuesday).
Phrases: Quand jtais jeune (when I was young), lanne dernire
(last year).

How to form limparfait:
1) Take the nous part of the present tense: e.g nous donnons
2) Drop the ons: e.g donn
3) Add the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, -aient

Examples:

Parler Finir Lire
Je parlais Je finissais Je lisais
Tu parlais Tu finissais Tu lisais
Il/Elle parlait Il/Elle finissait Il/Elle lisait
Nous parlions Nous finissions Nous lisions
Vous parliez Vous finissiez Vous lisiez
Ils/Elles parlaient Ils/Elles finissaient Ils/Elles lisaient

*There is only one irregular verb in limparfait: tre

tre
Jtais
Tu tais
Il/Elle tait
Nous tions
Vous tiez
Ils/Elles taient

10
Le Futur Simple
When to use it: To describe what will happen at a certain time in the
future.
Time phrases: Demain (tomorrow), la semaine prochain (next week).

Regular Verbs
Regular er, -ir and re* verbs all follow the same rules in the future:

1) Take the infinitive (title) of the verb: e.g donner, finir

2) Add the endings : -ai, -as, -a , -a, -ons, -ez, -ont, -ont

* There is a slight difference for re verbs. Before adding the endings
you must take off the e. For example: vendre = vendr
I will sell = Je vendrai


Examples:

Parler Partir Prendre
Je parlerai Je partirai Je prendrai
Tu parleras Tu partiras Tu prendras
Il/Elle parlera Il/Elle partira Il/Elle prendra
Nous parlerons Nous partirons Nous prendrons
Vous parlerez Vous partirez Vous prendrez
Ils/Elles parleront Ils/Elles partiront Ils prendront








11
Futur Simple: Irregular Verbs

For irregular verbs in the futur simple, you only need to learn the stem as the
endings are the same. For example: tre: ser
I will be: je serai


Irregulars:

aller: to go: ir: j'irai
avoir: to have: aur: j'aurai
envoyer: to send: enverr: j'enverrai
devoir: to have to: devr: je devrai
tre: to be: ser: je serai
faire: to make/do: fer: je ferai
pleuvoir: to rain: pleuvr : il pleuvra
pouvoir: to be able: pourr: je pourrai
revevoir: to receive: recevr je recevrai
savoir: to know: saur: je saurai
venir: to come: viendr : je viendrai
voir: to see: verr: je verrai
vouloir: to want: voudr: je voudrai

Examples:


Aller tre Vouloir
Jirai Je serai Je voudrai
Tu iras Tu seras Tu voudras
Il/Elle ira Il/Elle sera Il/Elle voudra
Nous irons Nous serons Nous voudrons
Vous irez Vous serez Vous voudrez
Ils/Elles iront Ils/Elles seront Ils/Elles voudront








12
Le Conditionnel

When to use it: To talk about things that would happen in the future
(I would buy a sports car if I won the lotto).



Regular verbs
Regular er, -ir and re* verbs all follow the same rules in the conditional:

1) Take the infinitive of the verb, e.g donner, finir

2)Add the endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, -aient
(These are the same endings as limparfait!)

* There is a slight difference for re verbs. Before adding the endings
you must take off the e. For example: boire = boir
I would drink = je boirais



Examples:

Donner Finir Prendre
Je donnerais Je finirais Je prendrais
Tu donnerais Tu finirais Tu prendrais
Il/Elle donnerait Il/Elle finirait Il/Elle prendrait
Nous donnerions Nous finirions Nous prendrions
Vous donneriez Vous finiriez Vous prendriez
Ils/Elles donneraient Ils/Elles finiraient Ils/Elles prendraient









13
Le Conditionnel: Irregular verbs
If you know the irregular stems for the futur simple, you know them for le
conditionnel (they are exactly the same!)

Use the irregular stems from the future tense and add the endings:


aller: to go: ir: j'irais
avoir: to have: aur: j'aurais
envoyer: to send: enverr: j'enverrais
devoir: to have to: devr: je devrais
tre: to be: ser: je serais
faire: to make/do: fer: je ferais
pleuvoir: to rain: pleuvr : il pleuvrait
pouvoir: to be able: pourr: je pourrais
revevoir: to receive: recevr je recevrais
savoir: to know: saur: je saurais
venir: to come: viendr : je viendrais
voir: to see: verr: je verrais
vouloir: to want: voudr: je voudrais


Examples:


Aller tre Vouloir
Jirais Je serais Je voudrais
Tu irais Tu serais Tu voudrais
Il/Elle irait Il/Elle serait Il/Elle voudrait
Nous irions Nous serions Nous voudrions
Vous iriez Vous seriez Vous voudriez
Ils/Elles iraient Ils/Elles seraient Ils/Elles voudraient