A Definitive Guide to
French Verbs
1
Contents
Preface........................................................................4
The Basics of Verbs
What is a verb?...........................................................6
Infinitives....................................................................8
Conjugation..............................................................10
Tense and Aspect......................................................12
Tenses
The Present Tense....................................................14
The Present Participle...............................................15
The Perfect Tense.....................................................18
The Auxiliary Verb....................................................19
Reflexive Verbs.........................................................20
The Past Participle....................................................21
The Near Future Tense.............................................25
The Imperfect Tense.................................................27
The Future Tense......................................................30
The Pluperfect Tense................................................32
The Future Perfect Tense.........................................35
The Past Historic Tense............................................39
Moods
What is a Mood?......................................................42
The Conditional Mood..............................................43
The Imperative Mood...............................................48
The Subjunctive Mood..............................................52
Third Person Commands with the Subjunctive........56
The Perfect Subjunctive............................................57
2
Negatives..............................................................................60
Glossary.................................................................................62
Irregular Verb Tables............................................................70
3
Preface
Verbs play a vital role in grammar, in sentences, in language
and understanding them is key to understanding a language.
We learn from a young age that verbs are doing words,
action words or some other naïve and ambiguous definition
that deprives verbs of the credit that they truly deserve they are in fact much more important than that and I hope
that, in learning them in great depth, you come to appreciate
their true responsibility.
You may not yet realise how complex verbs can become,
particularly if you have never studied a language in so much
linguistic depth. It may seem strange to have to study in such
detail something you do unconsciously in your mother
tongue but my aim is to simplify the world of verbs by
stripping them back to the very basics and taking you on a
journey that will allow you to eventually structure your own
sentences with ease.
Linguistic terminology can be confusing for some and it may
well be the reason why many people stop learning languages
altogether. But avoiding the technical terms can be even
more confusing than learning them and I believe that
labelling helps us to understand the construction of language
and eventually helps us to think independently when building
sentences. Do not fret. Any such terminology is written in
bold and is explained fully in the glossary at the back of this
book.
4
Take your time when learning French and make sure that you
understand everything you have learnt before you move on.
Naturally, the topics in this book gradually become more
complex and, if you do not understand the previous section,
you will find it very difficult to understand the next. This book
is not designed to be read in a day and it is important to
spend time understanding and mastering each section before
tackling a new aspect of verbs.
Most of all, enjoy language learning and do not let it become
a source of stress. Re-read anything you do not understand
and practise as much as you can in order to become as
proficient in the language as possible.
Happy learning!
5
What is a verb?
Before you even consider studying verbs in a foreign
language, you must understand them in your own. We are
told at an early age that verbs are doing words, action words
or something of the sort. This is true at a very basic level, but
they are much more important than this. Verbs are the
chassis of a sentence1 and embedded within them is a
plethora of meanings - when the action takes place (tense),
how it takes place (sprint and run both have similar meanings,
but have different connotations), who is completing the
action (subject), who is receiving the action (object) ultimately giving them the most powerful role in meaning.
But before we dive into the unknown, let's stick with what
we know and consider that primary school definition: doing
words. Play, jump, laugh, sit, fall, break, stop, look, grab,
kill...all of them expressing some kind of action; something
which can be done. In the world of linguistics, these are
known as dynamic verbs.
What your teachers didn't tell you is that some verbs express
more abstract concepts; ideas, thoughts, emotions and
other less physical actions: think, know, like, hate, love,
believe, wish, hope, dream, envy...what linguists call stative
verbs. It's not so important to be able to differentiate
between stative and dynamic verbs, but you must
understand that they are more than just physical actions and
1
The Stuff of Thought, Steven Pinker
6
they therefore exceed the old definition of doing words.
Verbs in fact refer to an action or a state and provide the
bulk of meaning in a sentence - give them the credit they
deserve.
Finally, try not to make assumptions about French grammar
based on that of English. Since they both have different roots,
they are bound to differ in some areas and you must not
assume that English is the basis upon which all languages
work. French has its own way of saying things and you will
have to accept this if you wish to go far in language learning.
7
Infinitives
Verbs in all inflected languages have many different forms
which give us more information about the action the word
expresses.
For example, the verb in
John is playing football
John played football...
and
...is the same: to play. However, it appears in different forms
to give us information about the time of the action. The
former is playing indicates that the action is currently
happening whereas the latter played tells us that the action
was completed in the past and is now no longer happening.
Changing verbs in this way is known as conjugation and you
will be learning how to conjugate verbs in many different
ways.
However, for a verb to be conjugated, it must have a root
form onto which we can add suffixes, prefixes and other
elements to alter the meaning. This neutral form of a verb is
known as the infinitive and is the form usually found in
dictionaries. In English, we can recognise an infinitive by the
word to which comes before the verb: to play, to jump, to
laugh, to sit, to fall, to think, to know, to like, to hate, to love.
Here, we are given no indication of who is doing the action,
when it happens or who is the recipient of the action, hence
its use as a neutral form. As a result, looking up the word
8
played in a dictionary is futile because it is a conjugated form
of the word to play and is not a word in its own right. This
can make looking words in any language tricky since some
conjugations do not resemble their infinitive: we know that
ate is the perfect tense form of to eat but it is unlikely that
you will find ate in a dictionary on its own. This is known as
an irregular verb and we will encounter similar situations in
French, but learning about conjugation will help you to
combat this.
French infinitives are very different as they are made up of
just one word. It is the way the verb ends that provides
meaning in French and, for infinitives, there are three
possible endings:
-er
jouer to play, aller to go, arriver to arrive
-ir
finir to finish, partir to leave, mourir to die
-re
attendre to wait, prendre to take, boire to drink
Each group of infinitives has its own set of conjugations,
although there are some similarities that make memorising
them that little bit easier.
-er verbs (or first conjugation verbs) are by far the most
common, followed by -ir (second conjugation) and, finally
the least common of all -re (third conjugation).
This make take some time to get your head around, but it
isn't nearly as confusing as it may initially appear.
9
Conjugation
French, like English, is known as a non pro-drop language,
meaning that it relies on pronouns to tell us who is doing the
action. Saying play football in English gives us no indication as
to who is playing (other than it is not he, she or it since that
would be plays) and sounds more like a command. Likewise,
saying joue au foot in French is ambiguous as the person
doing the action could be I, he, she or it. Subject pronouns
are therefore very important and you must be familiar with
them in order to conjugate verbs successfully.
Je
first person singular
Tu
second person singular
Il / elle / on
third person singular
Nous
first person plural
Vous
second person plural
Ils /elles
third person plural
I
You
when talking about/to a friend,
relative or younger person
He / she / it / one
on means one or we in an informal
manner
We
this is more formal than on
You
when talking about/to an older
person, someone you do not know
well, an authoritative figure or a
group of people.
They
ils is used for a group of men or a
mixed group whereas elles is used
for a group of women only.
10
Il, elle and on are grouped together because the conjugation
of each one is always the same. The same goes for ils and
elles.
Like English, the French subject pronoun comes before the
verb in affirmative statements:
he plays
il joue
we finish
nous finissons
Conjugation of regular verbs is extremely simple since all we
have to do is remove the infinitive ending and add the
endings that correspond to the subject and the tense.
11
Tense and Aspect
The tense of a verb tells us when an action takes, took or will
take place. There are three basic tenses:
Past
happened
Present
happens
Future
will happen
Aspect is a little more difficult to grasp as it indicates the
whether the action is completed or in progress. The two
basic forms of aspect are:
Perfective
completed
Progressive
in progress
It is not important that you understand the different aspects
of a verb and you are not expected to be able to analyse the
differences in meaning, but by combing both tense and
aspect, we form six basic tenses that you will learn from this
book:
Present
Past
Future
Progressive
I play
Present Tense
I was playing
Imperfect Tense
I will play
Future Tense
Perfective
I played
Perfect Tense
I had played
Pluperfect Tense
I will have played
Future Perfect Tense
12
TENSES
13
The Present Tense
The present tense expresses an action that happens on a
regular basis, does happen or is currently happening:
I play
I do play
I am playing
In French, all three of these sentences are expressed in
exactly the same way.
The French present tense is made up of just two parts: the
subject and the verb. So, when it comes to translating I am
playing is important that you do not try to translate each
word individually. You should recognise this as the present
tense and conjugate as follows:
1. Remove the -er, -ir or -re from the infinitive.
2. Add the appropriate, present tense ending:
-er
je
tu
il / elle / on
nous
vous
ils / elles
-e
-es
-e
-ons
-ez
-ent*
-ir
-is
-is
-it
-issons
-issez
-issent*
-re
-s
-s
-ons
-ez
-ent*
* the -ent at the end of a third person, plural verb is not pronounced.
14
OK, so you've got to learn 18 different verb endings, but you
will notice patterns that will make learning them much
simpler.
Examples
She eats / She is eating / She does eat
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. remove the infinitive ending: manger
2. add the appropriate ending for elle - mange
3. she eats = elle mange
We finish / We are finishing / We do finish
we = nous
to finish = finir
1. remove the infinitive ending: finir
2. add the appropriate ending for nous: -finissons
3. we finish = nous finissons
They wait / They are waiting / They do wait
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. remove the infinitive ending: attendre
2. add the appropriate ending for il - attendent
3. They wait = ils attendent
15
The Present Participle
As you should already know, French does not differentiate
between I am playing (the gerund) and I play; both are
expressed using the present tense that you learnt in the
previous section. However, French verbs do have an
equivalent -ing form and, although it is not used as
frequently as in English, it is certainly worth learning.
To form the present participle for any verb conjugation:
1. Take the nous form of the verb in the present tense
2. Remove the -ons
3. Add -ant
This works for most verbs, except the following.
être to be
avoir to have
savoir to know
étant
ayant
sachant
The French present participle cannot be used as often as it is
in English. The following usage, for example, is wrong:
Je suis jouant au foot
I am playing football
We simply cannot translate the gerund in this way and must
use the regular, present tense to say something like this.
16
Another mistake one might make is assuming that we can say:
J'aime jouant au foot
I like playing football
To translate this, we would use the infinitive:
J'aime jouer au foot
I like to play football
So when can we use the present participle?
1. Expressing an action that is/was happening while another
action take/took place:
Entendant le bruit, j'ai fermé la fenêtre
Hearing the noise, I closed the window
Un homme, fumant une cigarette, est entré le bureau
A man smoking a cigarette entered the office
2. Used with en, the present participle can mean by or while:
En lisant ce livre tu deviendras très intelligent
By reading this book you will become very intelligent
Luc s'est fait mal en mangeant son dîner
Luc hurt himself while eating his dinner
17
The Perfect Tense
The perfect tense is used to express an action that happened,
has happened or did happen:
I played
I have played
I did play
As with the present, all of these are expressed in the same
way in French.
The French perfect tense is made up of three parts: the
subject the auxiliary verb and the past participle. The
auxiliary verb the equivalent of the word have in I have
played and is there only to tell us that we are talking about
the past.
In French, the auxiliary verb can either be avoir to have or
être to be. We will learn how to choose the auxiliary verb
later, but first it is important to know the conjugation for
avoir and être which are both irregular:
avoir - to have
être - to be
j'ai
tu as
il/elle/on a
nous avons
vous avez
ils/elles ont
je suis
tu es
il/elle/on est
nous sommes
vous êtes
ils/elles sont
18
The Auxiliary Verb
Most verbs use avoir as their auxiliary verb. There are only 16
verbs which use être, plus all reflexive verbs (page 19).
A common way of remembering the 16 être verbs is DR. &
MRS VANDERTRAMP:
Descendre
Revenir
to go down/descend
descendu
to come back
revenu
Mourir
Rentrer
Sortir
to die
mort
to come in
rentré
to go out
sorti
Venir
Arriver
Naître
Devenir
Entrer
Retourner
Tomber
Rester
Aller
Monter
Partir
to come
venu
to arrive
arrivé
to be born
né
to become
devenu
to enter
entré
to return
retourné
to fall
tombé
to stay
resté
to go
allé
to go up
monté
to leave
parti
19
Reflexive Verbs
A reflexive verb is a verb in which the doer of the action (the
subject) is also the receiver of the action (the object). In
English, reflexive verbs use reflexive pronouns such as myself,
himself, themselves etc.
In French, reflexive pronouns precede the verb and are as
follows:
Infinitive - se
je me
tu te
il/elle/on se
nous nous
vous vous
ils/elles se
se, me and te all become s', m' and t' when they come before
a vowel or silent h.
Be careful, some verbs which are reflexive in French are not
necessarily reflexive in English, and vice versa:
se reposer
se brosser
se blesser
se laver
se baigner
s'attendre
to relax
to brush (hair, teeth)
to hurt/injure oneself
to wash oneself
to bathe
to expect
20
The Past Participle
The past participle is the equivalent of played in I have
played and is the verb the provides the meaning. In English,
past participles usually end with -ed.
In French, regular past participles are formed by removing
the infinitive ending and adding:
-é for -er verbs
-i for -ir verbs
-u for -re verbs
joué played, mangé eaten
fini finished, parti left
attendu waited, descendu descended
When the verb takes être, the past participle must agree
with the subject.
If one man/masculine noun has done the action, the past
participle remains unchanged.
If more than one man/masculine noun has done the action,
add an -s to the end of the past participle.
If one woman/feminine noun has done the action, add an -e
to the end of the past participle.
If more than one women/feminine noun has done the action,
add -es to the end of the past participle.
Some past participles are irregular and can be found in the
verb tables at the back of this book.
21
Now it is simply a case of putting the subject, the auxiliary
verb and the past participle together.

Examples
She ate / She has eaten / She did eat
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. manger takes avoir, which conjugated in the present tense
with elle is elle a
2. manger is regular, so its past participle is mangé
3. she ate = elle a mangé
We finished / We have finished / We did finish
we = nous
to finish = finir
1. finir takes avoir, which conjugated in the present tense
with nous is nous avons
2. finir is regular, so its past participle is fini
3. we finished = nous avons fini
22
They waited / They have waited / They did wait
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. attendre takes avoir, which conjugated in the present
tense with ils is ils ont
2. attendre is regular, so its past participle is attendu
3. they waited = ils ont attendu
You left / You have left / You did leave
you = vous
to leave = partir
1. partir takes être, which conjugated in the present tense
with vous is vous êtes
2. partir is usually irregular, but its past participle is as we
would expect: parti
3. Because partir takes être, the past participle must agree
with the subject. The subject here is plural, so we must add
an -s to the past participle - partis
4. You left = vous êtes partis
She got dressed / She has got dressed / She did get dressed
she = elle
to get dressed = s'habiller
1. s'habiller is reflexive and therefore takes être, which
conjugated in the present tense with elle is elle s'est
2. s'habiller is regular so its past participle is habillé
23
3. Because s'habiller takes être, the past participle must
agree with the subject. The subject here is feminine, so we
must add an -e to the past participle - habillée
4. She got dressed = elle s'est habillée
24
The Near Future
The near future tense is used to express an action that is
going to happen:
I am going to play
This is by far the easiest way of expressing the future as it
does not rely upon a list of endings like the other tenses.
Instead, it is constructed in much the same way as English:
I
subject
je
am going
present tense of to go
vais
to play
infinitive
jouer
In order to construct this tense, it is important to familiarise
yourself with the conjugation of the irregular verb aller to go:
aller - to go
je vais
tu vas
il/elle/on va
nous allons
vous allez
ils/elles vont
Once you have the present tense of aller (the I am going part)
all you need is an infinitive.
25
Examples
She is going to eat
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. Present tense of aller in the elle form - elle va
2. Infinitive to eat - manger
3. She is going to eat = elle va manger
We are going to finish
We = nous
to finish = finir
1. Present tense of aller in the nous form - nous allons
2. Infinitive to finish - finir
3. We are going to finish = nous allons finir
They are going to wait
They = ils
to wait = attendre
1. Present tense of aller in the ils form - ils vont
2. Infinitive to wait - attendre
3. They are going to wait = ils vont attendre
26
The Imperfect Tense
The imperfect tense is used to express an action that was
happening while another action was taking place or that used
to happen:
I was playing
I used to play
Once again, both of the sentences above are expressed in the
same way in French and you should not try to translate them
word-for-word. The imperfect tense in French is made up of
just two parts: the subject and the verb.
To conjugate:
1. Start by taking the nous form of the verb which almost
always ends with -ons.
2. Remove the -ons - this is the imperfect stem
3. Add the imperfect ending which relates to the subject
je
tu
il / elle / on
nous
vous
ils / elles
Imperfect Ending
-ais
-ais
-ait
-ions
-iez
-aient
27
This method works for all verbs, regular or irregular, except
for être whose nous form (sommes) does not end with -ons.
This is no problem. The imperfect stem for être is ét- and all
endings are added as usual.
Examples
She used to eat / she was eating
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. nous form of the verb which slightly irregular for manger mangeons
2. remove the -ons - mangeons
3. Add the appropriate ending for elle - mangeait
4. She used to eat = elle mangeait
We used to finish / we were finishing
We = nous
to finish = finir
1. nous form of the verb finir - finissons
2. remove the -ons - finissons
3. Add the appropriate ending for nous - finissions
4. We used to finish = nous finissions
28
They used to wait / they were waiting
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. nous form of the verb attendre - attendons
2. remove the -ons - attendons
3. Add the appropriate ending for ils - attendaient
4. They used to wait = ils attendaient
29
The Future Tense
We already know how to express the near future, but this
restricts us to actions that are going to happen soon. The
future tense is used to express an action that will happen:
I will play
The future in English is made of three parts. In French, there
are just two: the subject and the verb.
Regular verbs use the infinitive as their future stem and then
add endings to indicate the future. With -re verbs, remove
the -e before adding the ending.
je
tu
il / elle / on
nous
vous
ils / elles
Future Ending
-ai
-as
-a
-ons
-ez
-ont
Some future stems are irregular and you can see these in the
verb tables at the back of this book.


30
Examples
She will eat
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. infinitive form of the verb - manger
2. add the appropriate future ending for elle - mangera
3. she will eat = elle mangera
We will finish
we = nous
to finish = finir
1. infinitive form of the verb - finir
2. add the appropriate future ending for nous - finirons
3. we will finish = nous finirons
They will wait
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. infinitive form of the verb - attendre
2. remove the -e - attendr
3. add the appropriate future ending for ils - attendront
4. they will wait = ils attendront
31
The Pluperfect Tense
The pluperfect tense is used to express an action that had
happened:
I had played
The pluperfect tense works in much the same way as the
perfect tense. It combines the subject, an auxiliary verb and a
past participle. The only difference between the pluperfect
and the perfect tense is the tense of the auxiliary verb. For
the pluperfect, the auxiliary verb must be in the imperfect
tense.
The choice of auxiliary verb is the same as it would be in the
past and the rules of agreement remain.
Examples
She had eaten
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. manger takes avoir, which conjugated in the imperfect
tense with elle is elle avait
2. manger is regular, so its past participle is mangé
3. she had eaten = elle avait mangé
32
We had finished
we = nous
to finish = finir
1. finir takes avoir, which conjugated in the imperfect tense
with nous is nous avions
2. finir is regular, so its past participle is fini
3. we had finished = nous avions fini
They waited / They have waited / They did wait
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. attendre takes avoir, which conjugated in the imperfect
tense with ils is ils avaient
2. attendre is regular, so its past participle is attendu
3. they had waited = ils avaient attendu
You had left
you = vous
to leave = partir
1. partir takes être, which conjugated in the impefect tense
with vous is vous étiez
2. partir is usually irregular, but its past participle is as we
would expect: parti
3. Because partir takes être, the past participle must agree
with the subject. The subject here is plural, so we must add
an -s to the past participle - partis
33
4. You had left = vous étiez partis
She had got dressed
she = elle
to get dressed = s'habiller
1. s'habiller is reflexive and therefore takes être, which
conjugated in the imperfect tense with elle is elle s'était
2. s'habiller is regular so its past participle is habillé
3. Because s'habiller takes être, the past participle must
agree with the subject. The subject here is feminine, so we
must add an -e to the past participle - habillée
4. She had got dressed = elle s'était habillée
34
The Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense is used to express an action that will
have happened:
I will have played
The future perfect tense is another tense that works in much
the same way as the past. It combines the subject, an
auxiliary verb and a past participle. The only difference
between the future perfect and the perfect tense is the tense
of the auxiliary verb. For the future perfect, the auxiliary verb
must be in the future tense.
The choice of auxiliary verb is the same as it would be in the
past and the rules of agreement remain. It is therefore
important to familiarise yourself with the future conjugations
for avoir and être which are irregular:
avoir - to have
être - to be
j'aurai
tu auras
il/elle/on aura
nous aurons
vous aurez
ils/elles auront
je serai
tu seras
il/elle/on sera
nous serons
vous serez
ils/elles seront
35
Examples
She will have eaten
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. manger takes avoir, which conjugated in the future tense
with elle is elle aura
2. manger is regular, so its past participle is mangé
3. she will have eaten = elle aura mangé
We will have finished
we = nous
to finish = finir
1. finir takes avoir, which conjugated in the future tense with
nous is nous aurons
2. finir is regular, so its past participle is fini
3. we will have finished = nous aurons fini
36
They will have waited
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. attendre takes avoir, which conjugated in the future tense
with ils is ils auront
2. attendre is regular, so its past participle is attendu
3. they will have waited = ils auront attendu
You will have left
you = vous
to leave = partir
1. partir takes être, which conjugated in the future tense with
vous is vous aurez
2. partir is usually irregular, but its past participle is as we
would expect: parti
3. Because partir takes être, the past participle must agree
with the subject. The subject here is plural, so we must add
an -s to the past participle - partis
4. you will have left = vous aurez partis
She will have got dressed
she = elle
to get dressed = s'habiller
1. s'habiller is reflexive and therefore takes être, which
conjugated in the future tense with elle is elle se sera
2. s'habiller is regular so its past participle is habillé
37
3. Because s'habiller takes être, the past participle must
agree with the subject. The subject here is feminine, so we
must add an -e to the past participle - habillée
4. she will have got dressed = elle se sera habillée
38
The Past Historic Tense
The past historic is a literary tense used to express actions
that happened in the past, just like the perfect tense. As you
will only ever read it in novels, poetry and possibly
newspapers, it is not important to study it in depth and you
only need to be able to recognise it.
Conjugation in the past historic is as simple as removing the
infinitive ending and adding the appropriate past historic
ending. -er verbs have their own set of endings while -ir and re verbs share the same past historic prefixes:
je
tu
il / elle / on
nous
vous
ils / elles
Past Historic Ending for -er verbs
-ai
-as
-a
-âmes
-âtes
-èrent
je
tu
il / elle / on
nous
vous
ils / elles
Past Historic Ending for -ir/re
verbs
-is
-is
-it
-îmes
-îtes
-irent
39
Of course, there are irregular forms of the past historic, many
of which can be found in the verb tables at the back of this
book.
The past historic is very much a dying tense in French and
being able to conjugate it is not necessary. Regular verbs are
easily recognisable without learning the lists of endings and,
as long as you can recognise the few irregular forms, you will
be able to read the past historic with ease.
40
MOODS
41
What is a mood?
So far, we have been learning to conjugate verbs in the
indicative mood, the mood of certainty, fact or question.
Other moods exist to give commands (imperative), express
emotions, doubt, wishes and uncertainty (subjunctive) and
express an action which would or could happen (conditional).
The conditional is often considered more of a tense than a
mood as it conjugates by combining two other tenses, but it
is technically a mood; the form of the verb that shows the
mode or manner in which a thought is expressed2.
Do not be intimidated by the concept of moods; for the most
part, you'll simply learn when to use each one and never
have to think about it. Listen, read and speak enough and
they will eventually all come naturally without the need to
think about the terminology.
2
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/english-grammar-101-verbmood/
42
The Conditional Mood
The conditional mood is used to express an action that would
or could take place, if the conditions were correct:
I would play
I would have played
The reason it is a mood and not a tense is that it can be
expressed in both the present (the first of the two sentences
above) and the perfect tense (the second sentence).
However, many people consider it a tense because it is
simply a combination of the future tense and the imperfect
tense.
To conjugate in the present tense:
1. Take the future stem (usually the infinitive)
2. Add the conditional endings
Examples
She would eat
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. infinitive form of the verb - manger
2. add the appropriate imperfect ending for elle - mangerait
3. she would eat = elle mangerait
43
We would finish
We = nous
to finish = finir
1. infinitive form of the verb - finir
2. add the appropriate imperfect ending for nous - finirions
3. we would finish = nous finirions
They would wait
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. infinitive form of the verb - attendre
2. remove the -e - attendr
3. add the appropriate imperfect ending for ils - attendraient
4. they would wait = ils attendraient
44
To conjugate the conditional in the perfect tense, as with the
past, pluperfect and future perfect, we use the auxiliary verb
and past participle. Rather predictably, the auxiliary verb for
the conditional perfect must be in the conditional mood.

Examples
She would have eaten
she = elle
to eat = manger
1. manger takes avoir, which conjugated in the conditional
mood with elle is elle aurait
2. manger is regular, so its past participle is mangé
3. she would have eaten = elle aurait mangé
We would have finished
we = nous
to finish = finir
1. finir takes avoir, which conjugated in the conditional mood
with nous is nous aurions
2. finir is regular, so its past participle is fini
3. we would have finished = nous aurions fini
45
They would have waited
they = ils
to wait = attendre
1. attendre takes avoir, which conjugated in the conditional
mood with ils is ils auraient
2. attendre is regular, so its past participle is attendu
3. they would have waited = ils auraient attendu
You would have left
you = vous
to leave = partir
1. partir takes être, which conjugated in the conditional
mood with vous is vous auriez
2. partir is usually irregular, but its past participle is as we
would expect: parti
3. Because partir takes être, the past participle must agree
with the subject. The subject here is plural, so we must add
an -s to the past participle - partis
4. You would have left = vous auriez partis
She will have got dressed
she = elle
to get dressed = s'habiller
1. s'habiller is reflexive and therefore takes être, which
conjugated in the conditional mood with elle is elle se serait
2. s'habiller is regular so its past participle is habillé
46
3. Because s'habiller takes être, the past participle must
agree with the subject. The subject here is feminine, so we
must add an -e to the past participle - habillée
4. She will have got dressed = elle se serait habillée
47
The Imperative Mood
The imperative mood is used to give commands:
Play!
Let's play!
Since we can only give commands to other people, the
imperative mood only exists for the second person singular
(tu), second person plural (vous) and first person plural
(nous).
Regular conjugation is really simple as it is usually the same
as the present indicative, minus the subject pronoun.
The only exception is that the -s is removed from the tu form
of -er verbs.
With reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun is removed and
the equivalent emphatic pronoun (moi, toi, lui, elle, nous,
vous, eux, elles) must follow the verb with a hyphen.
Examples
Eat! (to a friend)
to eat = manger
1. present tense indicative, tu form of manger - tu manges
2. remove the subject pronoun - tu manges
3. manger is an -er verb, so we must remove the -s - manges
4. eat! = mange
48
Let's finish!
we = nous
to finish = finir
1. present indicative, nous form of finir - nous finissons
2. remove the subject pronoun - nous finissons
3. Let's finish! = finissons!
Wait! (to a group of people)
you = vous
to wait = attendre
1. present indicative, vous form of attendre - vous attendez
2. remove the subject pronoun - vous attendez
3. Wait! = attendez!
Hurry up! (to a friend)
you = tu, emphatic form = toi
to hurry = se dépêcher
1. present indicative, tu form of se dépêcher - tu te dépêches
2. remove the subject + reflexive pronouns - tu te dépêches
3. as it is an -er verb, remove the final -s - dépêches
4. add the emphatic pronoun to the end - dépêche-toi
5. Hurry up! = dépêche-toi!
49
Word order with the imperative can become confusing when
we start to add pronouns.
For negative commands (telling somebody not to do
something), pronouns come before the verb and follow the
standard pronoun order, as shown by the table below:
me
te
le
se
la
nous
les
lui
leur
y
en
vous
Ne le fais pas!
Don't do it!
Ne le lui donnez pas!
Don't give it to him!
Ne me le donne pas!
Don't give it to me!
50
Affirmative commands (telling somebody to do something)
are not so simple. Firstly, all pronouns are hyphenated after
the verb in the following order:
le
moi / m'
nous
la
toi / t'
vous
les
lui
leur
Mange-le!
Tuez-les!
y
en
Eat it!
Kill them!
me and se become moi and toi respectively, unless they are
followed by y or en, in which case they become m' and s'.
Ecoutez-moi!
Va-t'en!
Listen to me!
Go away!
The final -s is not dropped from the tu form when followed
by y or en.
Penses-y
Vas-y
Think about it
Go (away)!
Irregular imperatives can be found in the verb tables at the
back of this book but are often the same as their subjunctive
form...
51
The Subjunctive Mood
The subjunctive is rather a complex mood as it can be used in
so many situations. Generally, it is used to express a will,
wish, necessity or doubt although there are many other
situations in which it can be used.
The subjunctive is dying out in English, although its use with
the verb to be remains common:
I wish (that) I were younger
(as opposed to I wish I am younger)
It is important that you be there
(as opposed to It is important that you are there)
In French, the subjunctive only follows the word que. That is
not to say that it always follows que, but cannot be used
unless que appears before it.
Take the phrase: It is important that you be here
We are clearly expressing a necessity, which indicates that
we need to use the subjunctive. The word que is the
equivalent of the English that in this case. Therefore:
Il est important que tu sois ici
...is how to say it is important that you be here.
52
To conjugate regular verbs:
1. Take the ils/elles form of the verb
2. Remove the -ent
3. Add the subjunctive ending
je
tu
il / elle / on
nous
vous
ils / elles
Subjunctive Ending
-e
-es
-e
-ions
-iez
-ent
Most of the time, the subjunctive will look no different to the
indicative because the endings for je, tu, il, elle, on, ils and
elles are the same.
Some subjunctive forms are irregular and can be found in the
irregular verb tables at the back of this book.
NB. There is no future subjunctive. When phrases are used in
the future tense, the present subjunctive is used.
Here are some phrases that the subjunctive must follow:
53
afin que...
pourvu que...
la/le seul(e)...que...
à condition que...
il faut que...
il est important que...
vouloir que...
avant que...*
douter que...
avoir besoin que...
il est possible que...
ne pas penser que...
être content que...
à moins que...*
bien que...
craindre que...*
so that...
provided that...
the only...that...
provided that...
it is important that...
it is important that..
to want
before...
to doubt that...
to need
it is possible that..
to not think that...
to be happy that
unless...
although
to fear that
There are indeed many other phrases that require the
subjunctive and you will certainly come across them if you
read and listen to enough French.
*These phrases also require a ne explétif which comes
before the verb:
Partons avant qu'il n'arrive!
Let's leave before he arrives!
Je ne veux pas le faire à moins
que tu ne le fasses avec moi.
I don't want to do it unless
you do it with me.

54
Examples
It is important that she eats
she = elle
to eat = manger
1.take the ils/elles form of manger - mangent
2. remove the -ent -mangent
3. add the subjunctive ending for elle - mange
4. it is important that she eats - il est important qu'elle
mange
We must / it is important that we finish
we = nous
to finish = finir
1.take the ils/elles form of finir- finissent
2. remove the -ent -finissent
3. add the subjunctive ending for nous - finissions
4. we must finish - il faut qu'on finissions
The only person who waits
The only person = La seule personne
to wait = attendre
1.take the ils/elles form of attendre - attendent
2. remove the -ent -attendent
3. add the subjunctive ending for il/elle/on - attende
4. the only person who waits - la seule personne qui attende
55
Third Person Commands with the Subjunctive
The subjunctive is also used to express a sort of 'command' in
the third person, such as:
Let him do it!
God save the Queen
In French, this is simply the word que, followed by the
subject and the verb in the subjunctive:
Qu'il le fasse!
Let him do it!
Que Dieu sauve la Reine
God Save the Queen
56
The Perfect Subjunctive
The perfect subjunctive is used in the same way as the
present subjunctive, only in the perfect tense. It works in
exactly the same way as the perfect tense, only the auxiliary
verb must be in the subjunctive. It is therefore important
that you are familiar with the subjunctive conjugations for
avoir and être:
avoir - to have
être - to be
j'aie
tu aies
il/elle/on ait
nous ayons
vous ayez
ils/elles aient
je sois
tu sois
il/elle/on soit
nous soyons
vous soyez
ils/elles soient
The rules for auxiliary verbs and agreement remain the same
as those for the perfect tense and it is only the auxiliary verb
that will change.



57
Examples
I am happy that you ate
you = vous
to eat = manger
1. manger takes avoir, which conjugated in the subjunctive
mood with vous is vous ayez
2. manger is regular, so its past participle is mangé
3. I am happy that you ate = je suis content(e) que vous ayez
mangé
I doubt that he has finished
I = je
he = il
to finish = finir
1. finir takes avoir, which conjugated in the subjunctive mood
with il is il ait
2. finir is regular, so its past participle is fini
3. I doubt that he has finished = Je doute qu'il ait fini
58
Although I cried, I was happy
I = je
to cry = pleurer
1. pleurer takes avoir, which conjugated in the subjunctive
mood with je is j'aie
2. pleurer is regular, so its past participle is pleuré
3. Although I cried, I was happy = bien que j'aie pleuré, j'étais
content
I am afraid that he hasn't arrived
I = je
he = il
to arrive = arriver
1. arriver takes être, which conjugated in the subjunctive
mood with il is il soit
2. arriver is regular, so its past participle is arrivé
3. I am afraid that he hasn't arrived = j'ai peur qu'il ne soit
pas arrivé
59
Negatives
By now, you should be an expert in French verbs...in the
affirmative at least! To make a sentence negative, the verb
must be sandwiched by two negative parts
ne
verb
negative word
Ne always appears in negative phrases (except in spoken
French in which it can be omitted) but the negative word
depends on the meaning of the negation.

ne...aucun(e)*
ne...guère
ne...jamais
ne...ni...ni
ne...nulle part
ne...pas
ne...personne
ne...plus
ne...que
ne...rien
not one, not any, no
rarely
never
neither...nor
nowhere
not
nobody
no longer, anymore
only
nothing
*must agree with the noun to which it refers


60
Examples
Je ne l'ai pas fait
I haven't done it / I didn't do it
Il ne mange jamais les légumes
He never eats vegetables
Nous n'avons pas vu personne
We didn't see anyone
Elle n'a ni frère ni soeur
She has neither brother nor sister
Vous n'avez aucune idée
You have no idea
Je ne les ai vus nulle part
I haven't seen them anywhere
On ne se réveille qu'avant midi
We only wake up after midday
Elles ne se sont jamais arrivées
They never arrived
Je ne la vois guère
I rarely see her
61
Glossary
affirmative statement
a declarative sentence; a
sentence which states
something to be true .
auxiliary verb
a verb that does not provide
meaning to a sentence but
helps to establish the tense in
which the action takes place.
compound tense
a tense that is made up of
three parts: subject, auxiliary
verb and past participle.
conditional
a form of writing verbs when
the action could or would
happen if the conditions were
sufficient to allow it to
happen.
conjugation
changing a verb's form so
that it tells us more about
the tense and subject of the
action.
62
connotation
the implications of a word
outside of its denotation
(dictionary definition).
dynamic verb
a verb which expresses a
physical action.
a pronoun used to emphasise
a particular person. In
French, these are: moi (me),
toi (you, to a friend, family
member or younger person),
lui (him), elle (her), nous (us),
vous (you, plural or formal),
eux (them, men or mixed
group), elles (them, women).
emphatic pronoun
feminine noun
a French noun which falls
under the feminine gender.
Grammatical gender does
not necessarily relate to
biological gender and is
simply a way of categorising
nouns.
first conjugation verb
the most common form of
verb in French; all those
whose infinitive ends with
-er.
63
future stem
The form of a verb in the
future tense before the
addition of future endings.
gerund
the -ing form of a verb in
English which either acts as a
noun or to express an action
that is currently taking place.
imperative
a form of writing verbs when
giving commands, making
suggestions or giving
instructions.
imperfect stem
The form of a verb in the
imperfect tense before the
addition of imperfect
endings.
indicative mood
a form of writing verbs when
stating facts, certainties and
questions.
infinitive
the root form or unconjugated form of a verb.
64
infinitive ending
the final two letters of a
French infinitive. Either ---er,ir or re.
inflected language
a language which changes
the way words are spelt to
create different meanings.
irregular verb
a verb which does not follow
the normal pattern of
conjugation.
masculine noun
a French noun which falls
under the masculine gender.
Grammatical gender does
not necessarily relate to
biological gender and is
simply a way of categorising
nouns.
ne explétif
the word ne that appears in
affirmative statements and
carries no meaning
whatsoever. It is used to
indicate a sense of doubt or
fear in some situations but is
very rare.
65
non pro-drop language
noun
a language that relies upon
pronouns to indicate the
subject of a sentence. English
is a non pro-drop language.
a person, place or thing.
object
the person/thing receiving
the action in a sentence.
past participle
The form of a verb that
indicates that the action
happened in the past.
Typically, English past
participles end with -ed. In
French, they usually end with
-é, -i or -u.
perfect tense
the past tense, used to
express an action that
happened in the past, usually
on just one occasion.
prefix
a group of letters that can be
put at the start of a word to
alter its meaning.
66
present participle
The -ing form of a verb that
indicates that the action is
currently happening.
pronoun
a word that replaces a noun.
reflexive pronoun
A pronoun used to indicate
that the subject of the action
is performing said action on
them/itself. In French, they
are me (myself), te (yourself,
to a friend, family member or
younger person), se (himself,
herself, itself), nous
(ourselves), vous (yourself,
plural and formal) and se
(themselves).
reflexive verb
a verb in which the subject is
also the object. Reflexive
verbs are accompanied by
reflexive pronouns.
regular verb
a verb which follows a
pattern in its conjugation.
67
second conjugation verb
French verbs whose
infinitives end with -ir.
stative verb
a verb which expresses a
state of being rather than a
physical action.
subject
the person/thing doing the
action in a sentence.
subject pronoun
a pronoun that replaces the
name of the subject of a
sentence. In French, these
are: je (I), tu (you, to a friend,
family member or younger
person, il (he/it), elle (she/it),
on (we, one), nous (we), vous
(you, plural or formal), ils
(they, men or mixed group),
elles (they, women).
subjunctive
a form of writing verbs when
there is an element of
uncertainty, emotion, wish or
doubt.
68
suffix
a group of letters that can be
put at the end of a word to
alter the meaning.
tense
forms that a verb can take to
indicate the time of the
action.
third conjugation verb
the least common form of
verb in French; all those
whose infinitives end with
-re.
verb
a word which expresses an
action or state of being.
69
Irregular Verb Tables
The following pages contain simple tense conjugations for
some of the most commonly used verbs in French. Some
include similar conjugation sections which list further verbs
that conjugate in a similar way based on their ending. For
example:
to come - venir
to remember - se souvenir
I come - je viens
I remember - je me souviens
Perfect tenses are not included in the tables as they are
made by combining elements from other tenses (pluperfect =
imperfect auxiliary + past participle, for example) and can
therefore be constructed from the information given.
Participles are provided under all tables and the auxiliary
verb is given for each.
70
Present
je vais
tu vas
il/elle/on va
nous allons
vous allez
ils/elles vont
Conditional
j'irais
tu irais
il/elle/on irait
nous irions
vous iriez
ils/elles iraient
aller - to go
Imperfect
j'allais
tu allais
il/elle/on allait
nous allions
vous alliez
ils/elles allaient
Past Historic
j'allai
tu allas
il/elle/on alla
nous allâmes
vous allâtes
ils/elles allèrent
Future
j'irai
tu iras
il/elle/on ira
nous irons
vous irez
ils/elles iront
Subjunctive
j'aille
tu ailles
il/elle/on aille
nous allions
vous alliez
ils/elles aillent
Present Participle: allant
Imperative
(tu) vas-y!
(nous) allons-y!
(vous) allez-y!
Auxiliary verb: être
Past Participle: allé
71
avoir - to have
Present
Imperfect
j'ai
j'avais
tu as
tu avais
il/elle/on a
il/elle/on avait
nous avons
nous avions
vous avez
vous aviez
ils/elles ont
ils/elles avaient
Conditional
Past Historic
j'aurais
j'eus
tu aurais
tu eus
il/elle/on aurait il/elle/on eut
nous aurions
nous eûmes
vous auriez
vous eûtes
ils/elles auraient ils/elles eurent
Future
j'aurai
tu auras
il/elle/on aura
nous aurons
vous aurez
ils/elles auront
Subjunctive
j'aie
tu aies
il/elle/on ait
nous ayons
vous ayez
ils/elles aient
Present Participle: ayant
Imperative
(tu) aie!
(nous) ayons!
(vous) ayez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: eu
72
Present
je bats
tu bats
il/elle/on bat
nous battons
vous battez
ils/elles battent
Conditional
je battrais
tu battrais
il/elle/on battrait
nous battrions
vous battriez
ils/elles battraient
battre - to beat
Imperfect
je battais
tu battais
il/elle/on battait
nous battions
vous battiez
ils/elles battaient
Past Historic
je battis
tu battis
il/elle/on battit
nous battîmes
vous battîtes
ils/elles battirent
Present Participle: battant
Future
je battrai
tu battras
il/elle/on battra
nous battrons
vous battrez
ils/elles battront
Subjunctive
j'batte
tu battes
il/elle/on batte
nous battions
vous battiez
ils/elles battent
Imperative
(tu) bats!
(nous) battons!
(vous) battez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: battu
73
Present
je bois
tu bois
il/elle/on boit
nous buvons
vous buvez
ils/elles boivent
Conditional
je boirais
tu boirais
il/elle/on boirait
nous boirions
vous boiriez
ils/elles boiraient
boire - to drink
Imperfect
je buvais
tu buvais
il/elle/on buvait
nous buvions
vous buviez
ils/elles buvaient
Past Historic
je bus
tu bus
il/elle/on but
nous bûmes
vous bûtes
ils/elles burent
Present Participle: buvant
Future
je boirai
tu boiras
il/elle/on boira
nous boirons
vous boirez
ils/elles boiront
Subjunctive
je boive
tu boives
il/elle/on boive
nous buvions
vous buviez
ils/elles boivent
Imperative
(tu) bois!
(nous)
buvons!
(vous)
buvez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: bu
74
Present
je commence
tu commences
il/elle/on commence
nous commençons
vous commencez
ils/elles commencent
Conditional
je commencerais
tu commencerais
il/elle/on commencerait
nous commencerions
vous commenceriez
ils/elles commenceraient
Imperative
(tu) commence!
commencer - to start
Imperfect
je commençais
tu commençais
il/elle/on commençait
nous commencions
vous commenciez
ils/elles commençaient
Past Historic
je commençai
tu commenças
il/elle/on commença
nous commençâmes
vous commençâtes
ils/elles commencèrent
Future
je commencerai
tu commenceras
il/elle/on commencera
nous commencerons
vous commencerez
ils/elles commenceront
Subjunctive
je commence
tu commences
il/elle/on commence
nous commencions
vous commenciez
ils/elles commencent
Present Participle: commençant
(nous)commençons!
(vous) commencez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: commencé
Isn't commencer regular?
Commencer is regular, but if the ending does not start with
an e- or -i, you must put a cedilla (ç) on the c in order to
soften the [c] sound.
75
Present
je conduis
tu conduis
il/elle/on conduit
nous conduisons
vous conduise
ils/elles conduisent
Conditional
je conduirais
tu conduirais
il/elle/on conduirait
nous conduirions
vous conduiriez
ils/elles conduiraient
Imperative
conduire - to drive
Imperfect
je conduisais
tu conduisais
il/elle/on conduisait
nous conduisions
vous conduisiez
ils/elles conduisaient
Past Historic
je conduisis
tu conduisis
il/elle/on conduisit
nous conduisîmes
vous conduisîtes
ils/elles conduisirent
Future
je conduirai
tu conduiras
il/elle/on conduira
nous conduirons
vous conduirez
ils/elles conduiront
Subjunctive
je conduise
tu conduises
il/elle/on conduise
nous conduisions
vous conduisiez
ils/elles conduisent
Present Participle: conduisant
(tu) conduis!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) conduisons!
(vous) conduisez!
Past Participle: conduit
Similar conjugations:
produire to produce
construire to build
cuire to cook
déduire to deduce
introduire to introduce
réduire to reduce
traduire to translate
76
connaître - to know (a person)
Present
Imperfect
Future
je connais
je connaissais
je connaîtrai
tu connais
tu connaissais
tu connaîtras
il/elle/on connait
il/elle/on connaissait
il/elle/on connaîtra
nous connaissons
nous connaissions
nous connaîtrons
vous connaissez
vous connaissiez
vous connaîtrez
ils/elles connaissent
ils/elles connaissaient ils/elles connaîtront
Conditional
Past Historic
Subjunctive
je connaîtrais
je bus
je connaisse
tu connaîtrais
tu bus
tu connaisses
il/elle/on connaîtrait
il/elle/on but
il/elle/on connaisse
nous connaîtrions
nous bûmes
nous connaissions
vous connaîtriez
vous bûtes
vous connaissiez
ils/elles connaîtraient ils/elles burent
ils/elles connaissent
Imperative
Present Participle: connaissant
(tu) connais!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) connaissons!
(vous) connaissez!
Past Participle: connu
Similar Conjugations
apparaître to appear
disparaître to disappear
paraître to seem
reconnaître to recognise
excl. naître to be born
77
Present
je cours
tu cours
il/elle/on court
nous courons
vous courez
ils/elles courent
Conditional
je courrais
tu courrais
il/elle/on courrait
nous courrions
vous courriez
ils/elles courraient
courir - to run
Imperfect
je courais
tu courais
il/elle/on courait
nous courions
vous couriez
ils/elles couraient
Past Historic
je courus
tu courus
il/elle/on courut
nous courûmes
vous courûtes
ils/elles coururent
Present Participle: courant
Future
je courrai
tu courras
il/elle/on courra
nous courrons
vous courrez
ils/elles courront
Subjunctive
je coure
tu coures
il/elle/on coure
nous courions
vous couriez
ils/elles courent
Imperative
(tu) cours!
(nous) courons!
(vous) courez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: couru
78
Present
je crains
tu crains
il/elle/on craint
nous craignons
vous craignez
ils/elles craignent
Conditional
je craindrais
tu craindrais
il/elle/on craindrait
nous craindrions
vous craindriez
ils/elles craindraient
Imperative
craindre - to fear
Imperfect
je craignais
tu craignais
il/elle/on craignait
nous craignions
vous craigniez
ils/elles craignaient
Past Historic
je craignis
tu craignis
il/elle/on craignit
nous craignîmes
vous craignîtes
ils/elles craignirent
Future
je craindrai
tu craindras
il/elle/on craindra
nous craindrons
vous craindrez
ils/elles craindront
Subjunctive
je craigne
tu craignes
il/elle/on craigne
nous craignions
vous craigniez
ils/elles craignent
Present Participle: craignant
(tu) crains!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) craignons!
(vous) craignez!
Past Participle: craint
Similar Conjugations
se plaindre to complain
atteindre to reach
peindre to paint
teindre to dye
joindre to join
79
Present
je crois
tu crois
il/elle/on croit
nous croyons
vous croyez
ils/elles croient
Conditional
je croirais
tu croirais
il/elle/on croirait
nous croirions
vous croiriez
ils/elles croiraient
croire - to believe
Imperfect
je croyais
tu croyais
il/elle/on croyait
nous croyions
vous croyiez
ils/elles croyaient
Past Historic
je crus
tu crus
il/elle/on crut
nous crûmes
vous crûtes
ils/elles crurent
Future
je croirai
tu croiras
il/elle/on croira
nous croirons
vous croirez
ils/elles croiront
Subjunctive
je croie
tu croies
il/elle/on croie
nous croyions
vous croyiez
ils/elles croient
Present Participle: croyant
Imperative
(tu) crois!
(nous) croyons!
(vous) croyez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: cru
80
devoir - to have to
Present
Imperfect
je dois
je devais
tu dois
tu devais
il/elle/on doit
il/elle/on devait
nous devons
nous devions
vous devez
vous deviez
ils/elles doivent
ils/elles devaient
Conditional
Past Historic
je devrais
je dus
tu devrais
tu dus
il/elle/on devrait
il/elle/on dut
nous devrions
nous dûmes
vous devriez
vous dûtes
ils/elles devraient
ils/elles durent
Future
je devrai
tu devras
il/elle/on devra
nous devrons
vous devrez
ils/elles devront
Subjunctive
je doive
tu doive
il/elle/on doive
nous devions
vous deviez
ils/elles doivent
Present Participle: devant
Imperative
(tu) dois!
(nous) devons!
(vous) devez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: dû
81
Present
je dis
tu dis
il/elle/on dit
nous disons
vous dites
ils/elles disent
Conditional
je dirais
tu dirais
il/elle/on dirait
nous dirions
vous diriez
ils/elles diraient
dire - to say/tell
Imperfect
je disais
tu disais
il/elle/on disait
nous disions
vous disiez
ils/elles disaient
Past Historic
je dis
tu dis
il/elle/on dit
nous dîmes
vous dîtes
ils/elles dirent
Future
je dirai
tu diras
il/elle/on dira
nous dirons
vous direz
ils/elles diront
Subjunctive
je dise
tu dises
il/elle/on dise
nous disions
vous disiez
ils/elles disent
Present Participle: disant
Imperative
(tu) dis!
(nous)
disons!
(vous) dites!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: dit
82
Present
je dors
tu dors
il/elle/on dort
nous dormons
vous dormez
ils/elles dorment
Conditional
je dormirais
tu dormirais
il/elle/on dormirait
nous dormirions
vous dormiriez
ils/elles dormiraient
Imperative
dormir - to sleep
Imperfect
je dormais
tu dormais
il/elle/on dormait
nous dormions
vous dormiez
ils/elles dormaient
Past Historic
je dormis
tu dormis
il/elle/on dormit
nous dormîmes
vous dormîtes
ils/elles dormirent
Future
je dormirai
tu dormiras
il/elle/on dormira
nous dormirons
vous dormirez
ils/elles dormiront
Subjunctive
je dorme
tu dormes
il/elle/on dorme
nous dormions
vous dormiez
ils/elles dorment
Present Participle: dormant
(tu) dors!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) dormons!
(vous) dormez!
Past Participle: dormi
Similar Conjugations
sortir to go out
partir to leave
mentir to lie (tell a lie)
servir to serve
se sentir to feel
83
Present
j'écris
tu écris
il/elle/on écrit
nous écrivons
vous écrivez
ils/elles écrivent
Conditional
je écrirais
tu écrirais
il/elle/on écrirait
nous écririons
vous écririez
ils/elles écriraient
Imperative
écrire - to write
Imperfect
je écrivais
tu écrivais
il/elle/on écrivait
nous écrivions
vous écriviez
ils/elles écrivaient
Past Historic
j'écrivis
tu écrivis
il/elle/on écrivit
nous écrivîmes
vous écrivîtes
ils/elles écrivirent
Future
je écrirai
tu écriras
il/elle/on écrira
nous écrirons
vous écrirez
ils/elles écriront
Subjunctive
j'écrive
tu écrives
il/elle/on écrive
nous écrivions
vous écriviez
ils/elles écrivent
Present Participle: écrivant
(tu) écris!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) écrivons!
(vous) écrivez!
Past Participle: écrit
Similar Conjugations
décrire to describe
transcrire to transcribe
s'inscrire to register
servir to serve
84
Present
j'envoie
tu envoies
il/elle/on envoie
nous envoyons
vous envoyez
ils/elles envoient
Conditional
j'enverrais
tu enverrais
il/elle/on enverrait
nous enverrions
vous enverriez
ils/elles enverraient
envoyer - to send
Imperfect
j'envoyais
tu envoyais
il/elle/on envoyait
nous envoyions
vous envoyiez
ils/elles envoyaient
Past Historic
j'envoyai
tu envoyas
il/elle/on envoya
nous envoyâmes
vous envoyâtes
ils/elles envoyèrent
Present Participle: envoyant
Future
j'enverrai
tu enverras
il/elle/on enverra
nous enverrons
vous enverrez
ils/elles enverront
Subjunctive
j'envoie
tu envoie
il/elle/on envoie
nous envoyions
vous envoyiez
ils/elles envoient
Imperative
(tu) envoie!
(nous)
envoyons!
(vous) envoyez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: envoyé
85
Present
je suis
tu es
il/elle/on est
nous sommes
vous êtes
ils/elles sont
Conditional
je serais
tu serais
il/elle/on serait
nous serions
vous seriez
ils/elles seraient
être - to be
Imperfect
j'étais
tu étais
il/elle/on était
nous étions
vous étiez
ils/elles étaient
Past Historic
je fus
tu fus
il/elle/on fut
nous fûmes
vous fûtes
ils/elles furent
Present Participle: étant
Future
je serai
tu seras
il/elle/on sera
nous serons
vous serez
ils/elles seront
Subjunctive
je sois
tu sois
il/elle/on soit
nous soyons
vous soyez
ils/elles soient
Imperative
(tu) sois!
(nous)
soyons!
(vous) soyez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: été
86
Present
je fais
tu fais
il/elle/on fait
nous faisons
vous faites
ils/elles font
Conditional
je ferais
tu ferais
il/elle/on ferait
nous ferions
vous feriez
ils/elles feraient
faire - to do/make
Imperfect
je faisais
tu faisais
il/elle/on faisait
nous faisions
vous faisiez
ils/elles faisaient
Past Historic
je fis
tu fis
il/elle/on fit
nous fîmes
vous fîtes
ils/elles firent
Present Participle: faisant
Future
je ferai
tu feras
il/elle/on fera
nous ferons
vous ferez
ils/elles feront
Subjunctive
je fasse
tu fasses
il/elle/on fasse
nous fassions
vous fassiez
ils/elles fassent
Imperative
(tu) fais!
(nous) faisons!
(vous) faites!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: fait
87
falloir - to have to / to be necessary
Present
Imperfect
Future
il faut
il fallait
il faudra
Conditional
Past Historic Subjunctive
il faudrait
il fallut
il faille
Present Participle: n/a
Past Participle: fallu
Imperative
n/a
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Falloir is an impersonal verb with only one form. It used
frequently to mean to have to or to be necessary. When used
in a general sense, il faut is followed by an infinitive:
Il faut faire la vaisselle
It is important to do the washing up
When used with a specific person, we use il faut que which
must be followed by the subjunctive
Il faut que je fasse la vaiselle
It is important that I do the washing up
88
Present
je lis
tu lis
il/elle/on lit
nous lisons
vous lisez
ils/elles lisent
Conditional
je lirais
tu lirais
il/elle/on lirait
nous lirions
vous liriez
ils/elles liraient
lire - to read
Imperfect
je lisais
tu lisais
il/elle/on lisait
nous lisions
vous lisiez
ils/elles lisaient
Past Historic
je lus
tu lus
il/elle/on lut
nous lûmes
vous lûtes
ils/elles lurent
Future
je lirai
tu liras
il/elle/on lira
nous lirons
vous lirez
ils/elles liront
Subjunctive
je lise
tu lises
il/elle/on lise
nous lisions
vous lisiez
ils/elles lisent
Present Participle: lisant
Imperative
(tu) lis!
(nous)
lisons!
(vous) lisez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: lu
89
Present
je mange
tu manges
il/elle/on mange
nous mangeons
vous mangez
ils/elles mangent
Conditional
je mangerais
tu mangerais
il/elle/on mangerait
nous mangerions
vous mangeriez
ils/elles mangeraient
Imperative
manger - to eat
Imperfect
je mangeais
tu mangeais
il/elle/on mangeait
nous mangions
vous mangiez
ils/elles mangeaient
Past Historic
je mangeai
tu mangeas
il/elle/on mangea
nous mangeâmes
vous mangeâtes
ils/elles mangèrent
Future
je mangerai
tu mangeras
il/elle/on mangera
nous mangerons
vous mangerez
ils/elles mangeront
Subjunctive
je mange
tu manges
il/elle/on mange
nous mangions
vous mangiez
ils/elles mangent
Present Participle: mangeant
(tu) mange!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) mangeons!
(vous) mangez!
Past Participle: mangé
Isn't manger regular?
Manger is regular, but if the ending does not start with an eor -i, you must one after the -g- in order to soften the [g]
sound.
90
Present
je mets
tu mets
il/elle/on met
nous mettons
vous mettez
ils/elles mettent
Conditional
je mettrais
tu mettrais
il/elle/on mettrait
nous mettrions
vous mettriez
ils/elles mettraient
Imperative
mettre - to put
Imperfect
je mettais
tu mettais
il/elle/on mettait
nous mettions
vous mettiez
ils/elles mettaient
Past Historic
je mis
tu mis
il/elle/on mit
nous mîmes
vous mîtes
ils/elles mirent
Future
je mettrai
tu mettras
il/elle/on mettra
nous mettrons
vous mettrez
ils/elles mettront
Subjunctive
je mette
tu mettes
il/elle/on mette
nous mettions
vous mettiez
ils/elles mettent
Present Participle: mettant
(tu) mets!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) mettons!
(vous) mettez!
Past Participle: mis
Similar Conjugations
permettre to allow/permit
compromettre to compromise
promettre to promise
admettre to admit
91
Present
je meurs
tu meurs
il/elle/on meurt
nous mourons
vous mourez
ils/elles meurent
Conditional
je mourrais
tu mourrais
il/elle/on mourrait
nous mourrions
vous mouriez
ils/elles mourraient
mourir - to die
Imperfect
je mourais
tu mourais
il/elle/on mourait
nous mourions
vous mouriez
ils/elles mouraient
Past Historic
je mourus
tu mourus
il/elle/on mourut
nous mourûmes
vous mourûtes
ils/elles moururent
Present Participle: mourant
Future
je mourrai
tu mourras
il/elle/on mourra
nous mourrons
vous mourez
ils/elles mourront
Subjunctive
je meure
tu meures
il/elle/on meure
nous mourions
vous mouriez
ils/elles meurent
Imperative
(tu) meurs!
(nous)
mourons!
(vous) mourez!
Auxiliary verb: être
Past Participle: mort
92
Present
je nais
tu nais
il/elle/on naît
nous naissons
vous naissez
ils/elles naissent
Conditional
je naîtrais
tu naîtrais
il/elle/on naîtrait
nous naîtrions
vous naîtriez
ils/elles naîtraient
naître - to be born
Imperfect
je naissais
tu naissais
il/elle/on naissait
nous naissions
vous naissiez
ils/elles naissaient
Past Historic
je naquis
tu naquis
il/elle/on naquit
nous naquîmes
vous naquîtes
ils/elles naquirent
Future
je naîtrai
tu naîtras
il/elle/on naîtra
nous naîtrons
vous naîtrez
ils/elles naîtront
Subjunctive
je naisse
tu naisses
il/elle/on naisse
nous naissions
vous naissiez
ils/elles naissent
Present Participle: naissant
Imperative
(tu) nais!
(nous)
naissons!
(vous) naissez!
Auxiliary verb: être
Past Participle: né
93
Present
j'ouvre
tu ouvres
il/elle/on ouvre
nous ouvrons
vous ouvrez
ils/elles ouvrent
Conditional
j'ouvrirais
tu ouvrirais
il/elle/on ouvrirait
nous ouvririons
vous ouvririez
ils/elles ouvriraient
Imperative
ouvrir - to open
Imperfect
je ouvrais
tu ouvrais
il/elle/on ouvrait
nous ouvrions
vous ouvriez
ils/elles ouvraient
Past Historic
j'ouvris
tu ouvris
il/elle/on ouvrit
nous ouvrîmes
vous ouvrîtes
ils/elles ouvrirent
Future
j'ouvrirai
tu ouvriras
il/elle/on ouvrira
nous ouvrirons
vous ouvrirez
ils/elles ouvriront
Subjunctive
j'ouvre
tu ouvres
il/elle/on ouvre
nous ouvrions
vous ouvriez
ils/elles ouvrent
Present Participle: ouvrant
(tu) ouvre!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) ouvrons!
(vous) ouvrez!
Past Participle: ouvert
Similar Conjugations
couvrir to cover
découvrir to discover
souffrir to suffer
offrir to offer/give (gift)
94
pleuvoir - to rain
Present
Imperfect
Future
il pleut
il pleuvait
il pleuvra
Conditional
Past Historic Subjunctive
il pleuvrait
il plut
il pleuve
Present Participle: pleuvant
Imperative
n/a
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: plu
95
Present
je peux
tu peux
il/elle/on peut
nous pouvons
vous pouvez
ils/elles peuvent
Conditional
je pourrais
tu pourrais
il/elle/on pourrait
nous pourrions
vous pourriez
ils/elles pourraient
pouvoir - to be able
Imperfect
je pouvais
tu pouvais
il/elle/on pouvait
nous pouvions
vous pouviez
ils/elles pouvaient
Past Historic
je pus
tu pus
il/elle/on put
nous pûmes
vous pûtes
ils/elles purent
Future
je pourrai
tu pourras
il/elle/on pourra
nous pourrons
vous pourrez
ils/elles pourront
Subjunctive
je puisse
tu puisses
il/elle/on puisse
nous puissions
vous puissiez
ils/elles puissent
Present Participle: pouvant
Imperative
n/a
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: pu
96
Present
je prends
tu prends
il/elle/on prend
nous prenons
vous prenez
ils/elles prennent
Conditional
je prendrais
tu prendrais
il/elle/on prendrait
nous prendrions
vous prendriez
ils/elles
prendraient
Imperative
prendre - to take
Imperfect
je prenais
tu prenais
il/elle/on prenait
nous prenions
vous preniez
ils/elles prenaient
Past Historic
je pris
tu pris
il/elle/on prit
nous prîmes
vous prîtes
ils/elles prirent
Future
je prendrai
tu prendras
il/elle/on prendra
nous prendrons
vous prendrez
ils/elles
prendront
Subjunctive
je prenne
tu prennes
il/elle/on prenne
nous prenions
vous preniez
ils/elles prennent
Present Participle: prenant
(tu) prends!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) prenons!
(vous) prenez!
Past Participle: pris
Similar Conjugations
apprendre to learn
méprendre to mistake
surprendre to surprise
comprendre to understand
97
Present
je reçois
tu reçois
il/elle/on reçoit
nous recevons
vous recevez
ils/elles reçoivent
Conditional
je recevrais
tu recevrais
il/elle/on recevrait
nous recevrions
vous recevriez
ils/elles recevraient
Imperative
recevoir - to receive
Imperfect
je recevais
tu recevais
il/elle/on recevait
nous recevions
vous receviez
ils/elles recevaient
Past Historic
je reçus
tu reçus
il/elle/on reçut
nous reçûmes
vous reçûtes
ils/elles reçurent
Future
je recevrai
tu recevras
il/elle/on recevra
nous recevrons
vous recevrez
ils/elles recevront
Subjunctive
je reçoive
tu reçoives
il/elle/on reçoive
nous recevions
vous receviez
ils/elles reçoivent
Present Participle: recevant
(tu) reçois!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) recevons!
(vous) recevez!
Past Participle: reçu
Similar Conjugations
percevoir to perceive
apercevoir to foresee
décevoir to disappoint
98
Present
je ris
tu ris
il/elle/on rit
nous rions
vous riez
ils/elles rient
Conditional
je rirais
tu rirais
il/elle/on rirait
nous ririons
vous ririez
ils/elles riraient
Imperative
rire - to laugh
Imperfect
je riais
tu riais
il/elle/on riait
nous riions
vous riiez
ils/elles riaient
Past Historic
je ris
tu ris
il/elle/on rit
nous rîmes
vous rîtes
ils/elles rirent
Future
je rirai
tu riras
il/elle/on rira
nous rirons
vous rirez
ils/elles riront
Subjunctive
je reçoive
tu reçoives
il/elle/on reçoive
nous recevions
vous receviez
ils/elles reçoivent
Present Participle: riant
(tu) ris!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
(nous) rions!
(vous) riez!
Past Participle: ri
Similar Conjugations
sourire to smile
99
Present
je m'assieds
tu t'assieds
il/elle/on s'assieds
nous nous asseyons
vous vous asseyez
ils/elles s'asseyent
Conditional
je m'assiérais
tu t'assiérais
il/elle/on s'assiérait
nous nous assiérions
vous vous assiériez
ils/elles s' assiéraient
Imperative
s'asseoir - to sit down
Imperfect
je m'asseyais
tu t'asseyais
il/elle/on s'asseyait
nous nous asseyions
vous vous asseyiez
ils/elles s'asseyaient
Past Historic
je m'assis
tu t'assis
il/elle/on s'assit
nous nous assîmes
vous vous assîtes
ils/elles s'assirent
Future
je m'assiérai
tu t'assiéras
il/elle/on s'assiéra
nous nous assiérons
vous vous assiérez
ils/elles s' assiéront
Subjunctive
je m'asseye
tu t'asseyes
il/elle/on s'asseye
nous nous asseyions
vous vous asseyiez
ils/elles s'asseyent
Present Participle: s'asseyant
(tu) assieds-toi!
Auxiliary verb: être
(nous) asseyonsnous!
(vous) asseyez-vous!
Past Participle: assis
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savoir - to know (a fact)
Present
Imperfect
Future
je sais
je savais
je saurai
tu sais
tu savais
tu sauras
il/elle/on sait
il/elle/on savait
il/elle/on saura
nous nous savons
nous savions
nous saurons
vous vous savez
vous saviez
vous saurez
ils/elles savent
ils/elles savaient ils/elles sauront
Conditional
Past Historic
Subjunctive
je saurais
je sus
je sache
tu saurais
tu sus
tu saches
il/elle/on saurait
il/elle/on sut
il/elle/on sache
nous saurions
nous sûmes
nous sachions
vous sauriez
vous sûtes
vous sachiez
ils/elles sauraient
ils/elles surent
ils/elles sachent
Present Participle: sachant
Imperative
(tu) sache!
(nous) sachions!
(vous) sachiez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: su
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Present
je suis
tu suis
il/elle/on suit
nous nous suivons
vous vous suivez
ils/elles suivent
Conditional
je suivrais
tu suivrais
il/elle/on suivrait
nous suivrions
vous suivriez
ils/elles suivraient
suivre - to follow
Imperfect
je suivais
tu suivais
il/elle/on suivait
nous suivions
vous suiviez
ils/elles suivaient
Past Historic
je suivis
tu suivis
il/elle/on suivit
nous suivîmes
vous suivîtes
ils/elles suivirent
Present Participle: suivant
Future
je suivrai
tu suivras
il/elle/on suivra
nous suivrons
vous suivrez
ils/elles suivront
Subjunctive
je suive
tu suives
il/elle/on suive
nous suivions
vous suiviez
ils/elles suivent
Imperative
(tu) suis!
(nous) suivons!
(vous) suivez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: suivi
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Present
je viens
tu viens
il/elle/on vient
nous venons
vous venez
ils/elles viennent
Conditional
je viendrais
tu viendrais
il/elle/on viendrait
nous viendrions
vous viendriez
ils/elles viendraient
Imperative
venir - to come
Imperfect
je venais
tu venais
il/elle/on venait
nous venions
vous veniez
ils/elles venaient
Past Historic
je vins
tu vins
il/elle/on vint
nous vînmes
vous vîntes
ils/elles vinrent
Future
je viendrai
tu viendras
il/elle/on viendra
nous viendrons
vous viendrez
ils/elles viendront
Subjunctive
je vienne
tu viennes
il/elle/on vienne
nous venions
vous veniez
ils/elles viennent
Present Participle: venant
(tu) viens!
Auxiliary verb: être
(nous) venons!
(vous) venez!
Past Participle: venu
Similar Conjugations
se souvenir* to remember
soutenir to support
tenir to hold
devenir* to become
revenir* to come back
prévenir to warn
appartenir to belong
contenir to contain
entretenir to maintain
* the auxiliary verb is être for these verbs
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Present
je vis
tu vis
il/elle/on vit
nous vivons
vous vivez
ils/elles vivent
Conditional
je vivrais
tu vivrais
il/elle/on vivrait
nous vivrions
vous vivriez
ils/elles vivraient
vivre - to live
Imperfect
je vivais
tu vivais
il/elle/on vivait
nous vivions
vous viviez
ils/elles vivaient
Past Historic
je vécus
tu vécus
il/elle/on vécut
nous vécûmes
vous vécûtes
ils/elles vécurent
Present Participle: vivant
Future
je vivrai
tu vivras
il/elle/on vivra
nous vivrons
vous vivrez
ils/elles vivront
Subjunctive
je vive
tu vives
il/elle/on vive
nous vivions
vous viviez
ils/elles vivent
Imperative
(tu) vis!
(nous) vivons!
(vous) vivez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: vécu
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Present
je vois
tu vois
il/elle/on voit
nous voyons
vous voyez
ils/elles voient
Conditional
je verrais
tu verrais
il/elle/on verrait
nous verrions
vous verriez
ils/elles verraient
voir - to see
Imperfect
je voyais
tu voyais
il/elle/on voyait
nous voyions
vous voyiez
ils/elles voyaient
Past Historic
je vis
tu vis
il/elle/on vit
nous vîmes
vous vîtes
ils/elles virent
Future
je verrai
tu verras
il/elle/on verra
nous verrons
vous verrez
ils/elles verront
Subjunctive
je voie
tu voies
il/elle/on voie
nous voyions
vous voyiez
ils/elles voient
Present Participle: voyant
Imperative
(tu) vois!
(nous) voyons!
(vous) voyez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: vu
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Present
je veux
tu veux
il/elle/on veut
nous voulons
vous voulez
ils/elles veulent
Conditional
je voudrais
tu voudrais
il/elle/on voudrait
nous voudrions
vous voudriez
ils/elles voudraient
vouloir - to want
Imperfect
je voulais
tu voulais
il/elle/on voulait
nous voulions
vous vouliez
ils/elles voulaient
Past Historic
je voulus
tu voulus
il/elle/on voulut
nous voulûmes
vous voulûtes
ils/elles voulurent
Present Participle: voulant
Future
je voudrai
tu voudras
il/elle/on voudra
nous voudrons
vous voudrez
ils/elles voudront
Subjunctive
je veuille
tu veuilles
il/elle/on veuille
nous voulions
vous vouliez
ils/elles veuillent
Imperative
(tu) veuille!
(nous)
veuillons!
(vous) veuillez!
Auxiliary verb: avoir
Past Participle: voulu
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