FRENCH TENSES
…
PRESENT
➔ __ is doing or __ does eg; I am eating or I eat
➔ Take the verb and remove the er, ir, re and add these endings;
➔ However there are some irregulars which don’t follow this pattern
er ir re avoir etre faire aller
je e is s ‘ai suis fais vais
tu es is s as es fais vas
il/elle/on e it / a est fait va
nous ons issons ons avons sommes faisons allons
vous ez issez ez avez etes faites allez
ils/elles ent issent ent ont sont font vont
Eg; I am eating → manger → mang → je mange
Negatives… add the negative around the verb eg; je ne fais pas
SIMPLE FUTURE
➔ __ will do something eg; I will go
➔ Take the infinitive and add on the endings except for re verbs you knock off
the ‘’e’’ and then add the endings
➔ For irregulars they have the same endings just irregular stems
Je -ai, Tu -as, Il/elle/on -a, Nous -ons, Vous -ez, Ils/elles -ont
Irregular stems…
Être → ser, avoir → aur, faire → fer, aller → ir, pouvoir → pourr, devoir →devr
voir → verr, vouloir → voudr, savoir → saur, venir → viendr
Eg; He will go → aller → ir → il ira
Negatives… add the negative around the verb eg; nous ne finirons pas
IMMEDIATE FUTURE
➔ __ is going to happen eg; I am going to walk
➔ Just add the present tense conjugations of aller to the infinitive of the verb
, Je vais, tu vas, il/elle/on va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont
Eg; They are going to eat → aller + manger → ils vont manger
Negatives… add the negative around the aller eg; je ne vais pas regarder
CONDITIONAL
➔ What would be in the future, would like to, should or would eg; I would like to
buy this if I had the money
➔ Just take the infinitive of the verb and add the endings {which are the same as
the imperfect endings}, for re verbs knock the ‘’e’’ off first before adding the
endings on
➔ The irregular stems are the same as the simple future tense irregular stems
Je -ais, tu -ais, il/elle/on -ait, nous -ions, vous -iez, ils/elles -aient
Irregular stems…
Être → ser, avoir → aur, faire → fer, aller → ir, pouvoir → pourr, devoir →devr
voir → verr, vouloir → voudr, savoir → saur, venir → viendr
Eg; I would like to be a lawyer → voudrais → voudr → je voudrais être un avocat
IMPERFECT
➔ Incomplete action in the past where one action interrupts the other action in
the past, habitual action in the past or a description in the past eg; it was
sunny
➔ Take the nous form of the verb in the present tense and -ons then add the
endings on
➔ Irregulars have the same endings just different stems
Je -ais, tu -ais, il/elle/on -ait, nous -ions, vous -iez, ils/elles -aient
Irregular stems…
Être → ét, voir → voy, verbs ending in ger eg; manger → mange, verbs ending in
cer eg; commencer → commenç
Eg; we listened to their discussions everyday → écouter → nous écoutions leurs
discussions tous les jours
Negatives… add the negative around the verb eg; quand j’étais petite je ne jouais
pas au tennis tous les jours
…
PRESENT
➔ __ is doing or __ does eg; I am eating or I eat
➔ Take the verb and remove the er, ir, re and add these endings;
➔ However there are some irregulars which don’t follow this pattern
er ir re avoir etre faire aller
je e is s ‘ai suis fais vais
tu es is s as es fais vas
il/elle/on e it / a est fait va
nous ons issons ons avons sommes faisons allons
vous ez issez ez avez etes faites allez
ils/elles ent issent ent ont sont font vont
Eg; I am eating → manger → mang → je mange
Negatives… add the negative around the verb eg; je ne fais pas
SIMPLE FUTURE
➔ __ will do something eg; I will go
➔ Take the infinitive and add on the endings except for re verbs you knock off
the ‘’e’’ and then add the endings
➔ For irregulars they have the same endings just irregular stems
Je -ai, Tu -as, Il/elle/on -a, Nous -ons, Vous -ez, Ils/elles -ont
Irregular stems…
Être → ser, avoir → aur, faire → fer, aller → ir, pouvoir → pourr, devoir →devr
voir → verr, vouloir → voudr, savoir → saur, venir → viendr
Eg; He will go → aller → ir → il ira
Negatives… add the negative around the verb eg; nous ne finirons pas
IMMEDIATE FUTURE
➔ __ is going to happen eg; I am going to walk
➔ Just add the present tense conjugations of aller to the infinitive of the verb
, Je vais, tu vas, il/elle/on va, nous allons, vous allez, ils/elles vont
Eg; They are going to eat → aller + manger → ils vont manger
Negatives… add the negative around the aller eg; je ne vais pas regarder
CONDITIONAL
➔ What would be in the future, would like to, should or would eg; I would like to
buy this if I had the money
➔ Just take the infinitive of the verb and add the endings {which are the same as
the imperfect endings}, for re verbs knock the ‘’e’’ off first before adding the
endings on
➔ The irregular stems are the same as the simple future tense irregular stems
Je -ais, tu -ais, il/elle/on -ait, nous -ions, vous -iez, ils/elles -aient
Irregular stems…
Être → ser, avoir → aur, faire → fer, aller → ir, pouvoir → pourr, devoir →devr
voir → verr, vouloir → voudr, savoir → saur, venir → viendr
Eg; I would like to be a lawyer → voudrais → voudr → je voudrais être un avocat
IMPERFECT
➔ Incomplete action in the past where one action interrupts the other action in
the past, habitual action in the past or a description in the past eg; it was
sunny
➔ Take the nous form of the verb in the present tense and -ons then add the
endings on
➔ Irregulars have the same endings just different stems
Je -ais, tu -ais, il/elle/on -ait, nous -ions, vous -iez, ils/elles -aient
Irregular stems…
Être → ét, voir → voy, verbs ending in ger eg; manger → mange, verbs ending in
cer eg; commencer → commenç
Eg; we listened to their discussions everyday → écouter → nous écoutions leurs
discussions tous les jours
Negatives… add the negative around the verb eg; quand j’étais petite je ne jouais
pas au tennis tous les jours
