French Tenses

French Tenses
Imperfect Tense
E.g. J'arrivais I was arriving/I used to arrive
je faisais I was doing/I used to do

Formation




Irregulars

Être j'étais. So the stem is ét.
In the present tense, verbs like manger, ranger etc. take an extra -e in the nous form to soften the g…

Pluperfect Tense
j'avais fait I had done




Perfect Tense
j'ai fait I have done/I did




Formation with Être

When forming the perfect, perfect conditional or pluperfect tense with être, the past participle
agrees with person doing the action. So an (e) is added for a feminine subject and the (s)…

Perfect Conditional Tense

e.g. Je serais arrivé I
would have arrived




Pluperfect Tense

e.g. j'étais arrivé I had arrived




Perfect Tense

E.g. je suis arrivé I arrived




Past Participle

The past participle for all regular verbs is found using their infinitive endings.




Irregulars

There are similar patterns in a few irregulars, which is what the bracketed verbs represent.

Infinitive Past Participle
Avoir eu
Boire (voire, croire, lire, pouvoir, savoir, bu (vu,…

Courir (tenir, venir) couru (tenu, venu)
Devoir dû
Dire (écrire) dit (écrit)
Être été
Faire fait
Mettre mis
Mourir mort
Naître né
Ouvrir ouvert
Prendre pris
Recevoir reçu
Rire ri
Vivre vécu
Vouloir voulu




Present Tense
E.g. je fais I am doing/I do
j'arrive I am arriving/I arrive




However, there…

Infinitive English Je Tu Il/Elle Nous Vous Ils/Elles
Mourir to die meurs meurs meurt mourons mourez meurent
Naitre to be born nais nais nait naissons naissez naissent
Ouvrir to open ouvre ouvres ouvre ouvrons ouvrez ouvrent
Partir to leave pars pars part partons partez partent
Pouvoir to be able to…

Future Tense and Conditional Tense
Future Tense

E.g. je ferai I will do/I am going to do
je arriverai I will arrive/I am going to arrive




Conditional Tense

E.g. je ferais I would do
je arriverais I would arrive




Irregulars

Infinitive Future stem
Aller ir
Avoir aur
Faire fer
Courir…