French Verbs and Tenses

Present Tense

Présent

Actions that are happening right now.

"I eat / I am eating"

"Je mange"

-ER Verbs

Subject	Ending	Example: parler
je	-e	je parle
tu	-es	tu parles
il/elle	-e	il parle
nous	-ons	nous parlons
vous	-ez	vous parlez
ils/elles	-ent	ils parlent

-IR Verbs

Subject	Ending	Example: finir
je	-is	je finis
tu	-is	tu finis
il/elle	-it	il finit
nous	-issons	nous finissons
vous	-issez	vous finissez
ils/elles	-issent	ils finissent

-RE Verbs

Subject	Ending	Example: vendre
je	-s	je vends
tu	-s	tu vends
il/elle		il vend
nous	-ons	nous vendons
vous	-ez	vous vendez
ils/elles	-ent	ils vendent

Impératif

An actions that is used as an order.

"Eat!" / "Let's eat!"

"Mange!" / "Mangeons!"

Présent Progressif

Actions that are currently happening and in progress.

"I am currently eating"

"Je suis en train de manger"

Past Tenses

Passé Composée

Actions that occurred in the past and are finished.

"I ate"

"J'ai mangé"

A compound tense, the conjugation is composed of an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and the past participle.

Past Participle

The past participle is the form of the verb used in compound tenses like the passé composé, typically paired with avoir or être.

Infinitive Ending	Rule	Example
-er	drop -er, add -é	parler → parlé
-ir	drop -ir, add -i	finir → fini
-re	drop -re, add -u	vendre → vendu

Irregular Past Participles

Infinitive	Past Participle	English Meaning
avoir	eu	had
être	été	been
faire	fait	done / made
dire	dit	said
écrire	écrit	written
mettre	mis	put / placed
prendre	pris	taken
comprendre	compris	understood
apprendre	appris	learned
ouvrir	ouvert	opened
offrir	offert	offered
souffrir	souffert	suffered
voir	vu	seen
boire	bu	drunk
savoir	su	known (a fact)
connaître	connu	known (a person)
courir	couru	run
vivre	vécu	lived
lire	lu	read
tenir	tenu	held
recevoir	reçu	received
devoir	dû	had to
pouvoir	pu	been able to
vouloir	voulu	wanted
falloir	fallu	been necessary
pleuvoir	plu	rained
naître	né	born
mourir	mort	died
venir	venu	came
devenir	devenu	became
revenir	revenu	came back
tenir	tenu	held

Auxiliary Verbs

Avoir

Je	Tu	Il/Elle	Nous	Vous	Ils
ai	as	a	avons	avez	ont

Être

Je	Tu	Il/Elle	Nous	Vous	Ils
suis	es	est	sommes	êtes	sont

Avoir and Être

Verbs are mostly conjugated with "Avoir" but "Être", but to determine which to use some rules should be obeyed. Most use "Avoir", but a limited group use "Être".

Être verbs are mostly verbs that describe motion or a change of physical state.

Dr. & Mrs. Vandertramp

A useful acronym for remembering the verbs that will be conjugated with Être as the auxiliary verb in passé composée.

• Descendre (to go down)
• Rentrer (to return home)
• Monter (to go up)
• Rester (to stay)
• Sortir (to go out)
• Venir (to come)
• Arriver (to arrive)
• Naître (to be born)
• Devenir (to become)
• Entrer (to enter)
• Retourner (to return)
• Tomber (to fall)
• Revenir (to come back)
• Aller (to go)
• Mourir (to die)
• Partir (to leave)

Note: The rule for movement verbs also applies here, except for exceptions "Naître" and "Mourir".

"I died"

"Je suis mort"

Reflexive Verbs

Verbs in which the action is performed upon the subject are reflexive, and are conjugated with "Être".

"I washed myself"

"Je me suis lavé"

Imparfait

Ongoing actions that started in the past.

"I was eating/I used to eat"

Imparfait Rules

• Take the "nous" form of the verb in present tense
• Remove the -ons ending
• Add the imparfait endings

Subject	Ending
je	-ais
tu	-ais
il/elle	-ait
nous	-ions
vous	-iez
ils/elles	-aient

Passé Récent

Actions that have just happened.

"I have just eaten"

Passé Récent Rules

Subject + present tense of venir + de + infinitive

Subject	Venir (present)
je	viens
tu	viens
il/elle	vient
nous	venons
vous	venez
ils/elles	viennent

"Ils viennent de manger"

Plus-que-parfait

Actions that have happened in the past of the past.

"I had already eaten when you arrived"

"J'avais déja mangé quand tu as arrivé"

Plus-que-parfait Rules

Imparfait of avoir/être + past participle of the main verb

Avoir/Être rules are the same as passé composée.

Avoir Plus-que-parfait

Subject	Avoir
je	avais
tu	avais
il/elle	avait
nous	avions
vous	aviez
ils/elles	avaient

"Nous avions mangé"

Être Plus-que-parfait

Subject	Être
je	étais
tu	étais
il/elle	était
nous	étions
vous	étiez
ils/elles	étaient

"Nous étions mort"

Future Tenses

Futur Proche

Actions that are about to happen.

"I am going to eat"

"Je vais manger"

Futur Proche Rules

present tense of aller + infinitive

Subject	Aller (present)
je	vais
tu	vas
il/elle/on	va
nous	allons
vous	allez
ils/elles	vont

Futur Simple

Actions that are far in the future.

"I will eat"

"Je mangerai"

Futur Simple Rules

Infinitive of the verb (or irregular stem) + future endings

Subject	Ending
je	-ai
tu	-as
il/elle	-a
nous	-ons
vous	-ez
ils/elles	-ont

Futur Antérieur

Actions that will happen by a certain time in the future.

"I will have eaten"

"J'aurai mangé"

Future Antériur is a compound type, similar to passé composée, and follows the same rules except it uses the futur simple form of avoir or être.

Futur Antérieur Rules

Futur simple of avoir or être + past participle of the main verb

Avoir (Futur simple)

Subject	Futur of avoir
je	aurai
tu	auras
il/elle	aura
nous	aurons
vous	aurez
ils/elles	auront

Être (Futur simple)

Subject	Futur of être
je	serai
tu	seras
il/elle	sera
nous	serons
vous	serez
ils/elles	seront