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French/Grammar/Tenses

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French Tenses - The Basics

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In English, an infinitive is given with to in the front of it. To talk in English is an infinitive. In French, however, all infinitives are in the form of a single word. To talk in French is parler.

There are three types of "regular" verbs in French. That is, these verbs follow a common pattern when conjugated. For these verbs, all you need to know is the infinitive and you can conjugate them for every tense. These verbs are the -er, -ir, and -re verbs. Meaning they all share the common -er, -ir, or -re ending. Just because a verb ends in one of these endings doesn't necessarily make it regular, it could still be irregular.

Irregular verbs follow no real common pattern and must each be learned. In most cases, the form of an irregular verb is different from the common patterns that regular verbs follow in every tense.

In addition to past, present, and future tenses, French has a series of conjugations depending on the usage of the verb.

Verb tenses sorted by mood

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Non-finite forms

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L'indicatif (The indicative mood)

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Simple tenses

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Perfect tenses

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Other tenses

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Le subjonctif (The subjunctive mood)

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L'impératif (The imperative mood)

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Le conditionnel (The conditional mood)

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Verb tenses sorted by type

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Simple tenses

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Perfect tenses

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Perfect tense components

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Other tenses

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Verb tenses sorted by time

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Past

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Present

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Future

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Future Simple

See also

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Grammar

Adjectives · Adverbs · Articles · Nouns · Prepositions · Pronouns · Sentences · Verbs (Tenses and moods · Conjugations)

French : Lessons · Vocabulary · Grammar · Appendices · Texts

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