This French Tenses Cheat Sheet offers a comprehensive overview of the various tenses used in the French language, categorized into past, present, and future tenses for easier understanding. Each tense is detailed with its mood, usage, and examples that demonstrate the translation from French to English. It serves as an essential resource for learners aiming to grasp the nuances of French grammar and enhance their proficiency in expressing time-related actions.
Present Tenses
Présent (Indicative)
- Time: Present
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- Je vais à l'école. → I go to school.
- J'aide mon ami tous les jours. → I help my friend every day.
- Use: Most Common
- Usage: Used for actions that are happening now or habitual actions.
Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive)
- Time: Present
- Mood: Subjunctive
- Example:
- Que j'aille à l'école. → That I go to school.
- Que j'aide mon ami tous les jours. → That I help my friend every day.
- Use: Common
- Usage: Expresses doubt, necessity, desire, or uncertainty.
Conditionnel Présent (Conditional)
- Time: Present
- Mood: Conditional
- Example:
- J'irais à l'école. → I would go to school.
- J'aiderais mon ami tous les jours. → I would help my friend every day.
- Use: Common
- Usage: Expresses a hypothetical situation in the present or future.
L’impératif présent (Imperative)
- Time: Present
- Mood: Imperative
- Example:
- Va à l'école! → Go to school!
- Aide ton ami! → Help your friend!
- Use: Common
- Usage: Used for giving orders or advice.
L’infinitif présent (Infinitive / Impersonal)
- Time: Present
- Mood: Infinitive / Impersonal
- Example:
- Aller à l'école. → To go to school.
- Aider mon ami. → To help my friend.
- Use: Most Common
- Usage: Expresses the action in a general, abstract manner.
Le participe présent (Impersonal)
- Time: Present
- Mood: Impersonal
- Example:
- Allant à l'école. → Going to school.
- Aidant mon ami. → Helping my friend.
- Use: Common
- Usage: Used to form compound tenses or as an adjective.
Past Tenses
Imparfait (Indicative)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- J'allais à l'école. → I was going to school.
- J'aidais mon ami tous les jours. → I was helping my friend every day.
- Use: Common
- Usage: Describes past actions without a specific endpoint, habitual past actions, or setting descriptions in the past.
Passé Simple (Indicative)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- J'allai à l'école. → I went to school.
- J'aidai mon ami. → I helped my friend.
- Use: Literary
- Usage: Used in literature for actions completed in the past, similar to passé composé in spoken French.
Passé Composé (Indicative)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- Je suis allé à l'école. → I went to school.
- J'ai aidé mon ami. → I helped my friend.
- Use: Most Common
- Usage: Expresses actions completed in the past, specific actions that occurred at a specific time.
Plus-Que-Parfait (Indicative)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- J'étais allé à l'école. → I had gone to school.
- J'avais aidé mon ami. → I had helped my friend.
- Use: Common
- Usage: Indicates an action that occurred before another action in the past.
Passé Antérieur (Indicative)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- J'eus été à l'école. → I had gone to school.
- J'eus aidé mon ami. → I had helped my friend.
- Use: Literary
- Usage: Very formal, used in literature, to indicate an action completed before another past action.
Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Subjunctive
- Example:
- Que je sois allé à l'école. → That I had gone to school.
- Que j'aie aidé mon ami. → That I had helped my friend.
- Use: Common
- Usage: Used after conjunctions that express a condition that could have happened in the past.
Conditionnel Passé (Conditional)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Conditional
- Example:
- Je serais allé à l'école. → I would have gone to school.
- J'aurais aidé mon ami. → I would have helped my friend.
- Use: Common
- Usage: Used to express a hypothetical situation in the past.
L’impératif passé (Imperative)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Imperative
- Example:
- Aie été à l'école! → Have gone to school!
- Aie aidé ton ami! → Have helped your friend!
- Use: Extremely uncommon
- Usage: Very rare, used to give an order that involves a past action.
L’infinitif passé (Infinitive / Impersonal)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Infinitive / Impersonal
- Example:
- Être allé à l'école. → To have gone to school.
- Avoir aidé mon ami. → To have helped my friend.
- Use: Uncommon
- Usage: Refers to a completed action in a general, abstract manner.
Le participe passé (Impersonal)
- Time: Past
- Mood: Impersonal
- Example:
- Été à l'école. → Gone to school.
- Aidé mon ami. → Helped my friend.
- Use: Most Common
- Usage: Used to form compound tenses or as an adjective.
Future Tenses
Futur Simple (Indicative)
- Time: Future
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- J'irai à l'école. → I will go to school.
- J'aiderai mon ami tous les jours. → I will help my friend every day.
- Use: Most Common
- Usage: Refers to future actions, things that will happen.
Futur Antérieur (Indicative)
- Time: Future
- Mood: Indicative
- Example:
- J'aurai été à l'école. → I will have gone to school.
- J'aurai aidé mon ami. → I will have helped my friend.
- Use: Uncommon
- Usage: To indicate an action that will have been completed before another future action.