FRENCH VERBS
French verbs are formed by: a stem + an ending (-ER, -IR or –RE).
To use the verbs in different tenses, we need to know some rules.
These rules are simple and are applied to nearly all verbs. Unfortunately,
some verbs do not follow theses rules and it is therefore important to know
these IRREGULAR VERBS such as “aller” (to go), “faire” (to do), “avoir” (to
have) or “être” (to be).
Most of the time, the rule is: keep the stem, take away the ending and
replace it by another ending depending on the person/subject.
PRESENT TENSE (e.g.: I play)
To write in the present tense, we only change the ending (the stem
remains the same).
Let’s have a look at the endings: they are different according to the
ending of the infinitive: verbs in –ER are different from those in –IR or –RE.
Je
Tu
Il/Ell
e/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Ell
es
JOUER
(to play)
joue
FINIR (to
finish)
finis
ATTENDRE
(to wait)
attends
joues
finis
attends
joue
finit
attend
jouons
finissons
attendons
jouez
finissez
attendez
jouent
finissent
attendent
On a piece of paper, conjugate the following verbs in the present tense:
aimer
travailler choisir
réussir
rendre
entendre
to
succeed
to choose
to like
to work
to make to hear
je
tu
Il/elle/on
Nous
Vous
Ils/elles
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Test yourself:
perdre
(to lose)
trouver
(to find)
grandir
(to grow up)
PERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I played)

Two groups
There are two groups of verbs for the perfect tense:
- the “être” verbs: refer to the MR AND MRS V.TAPE list in your
vocabulary book
- the “avoir” verbs: all the other verbs

Three parts
The perfect tense is made by 3 parts:
subject (I, you...) + “être” or “avoir” in the present tense + main verb
We already know how to do être” and “avoir” in the present tense.
The ending of the main verb changes in the perfect tense as well.

The ending
For example, “I played” will not be “J’ai jouer” but “J’ai joué”!
It is very simple, and you need to make sure you write this ending
properly as examiners are very strict on this.
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So, how do we know how to change the endings? EASY!
-ER verbs: -er turns into -é (jouer
j’ai joué)
-IR verbs: -ir turns into -i (finir
j’ai fini)
-RE verbs: -re turns into -u (attendre
j’ai attendu)
Unfortunately, there are some irregular verbs, and we need to know
them. The main ones are: “être”(j’ai été), “avoir” (j’ai eu), “faire” (j’ai fait).
So all the “avoir” verbs are very easy to form.
Now, we need to concentrate on the “être” verbs, as they require a bit
more attention.

The “être” verbs
Do you remember what we need to add at the end of the adjectives if
they are feminine or plural? Yes, an -s or an -e (or even both).
For example, if we are talking about a tall boy, we would say “un grand
garcon”, but for a tall girl, we would say “grande”, and for more than one
girl, we would say “grandes”.
The “être” verbs work the same way: the ending of the main verb will
also need an -e or an -s depending on the subject.
Let’s take an example: “rester” (to stay). As this is an –ER verb, we
already know the -er will turn into -é.
So, if a boy says “I stayed”, we would say “je suis resté”,
but if a girl says “I stayed”, we would say “je suis restée”.
And if a group of boys says it, we would say “nous sommes restés”,
and a group of girls, “nous sommes restées”.
Note: if we have a group of boys and girls, this will be in the masculine
form (no -e).
Summary: to write in the perfect tense, we need to answer these questions:
- is it an “être” or “avoir” verb?
- if it is an “être” verb, who is the subject? (Masculine? Feminine?
Plural?)
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Last but not least, never forget the accent on the -e for the –ER
verbs: if you write “j’ai joue” instead of “j’ai joué”, you will not be
awarded any mark!
Your turn now: do you remember “être” and “avoir” in the present
tense?
ÊTRE
Je.............................
Nous........................
Tu.............................
Vous.........................
Il/Elle/On...................
Ils/Elles.....................
AVOIR
J’..............................
Nous........................
Tu.............................
Vous.........................
Il/Elle/On...................
Ils/Elles.....................
Now, an “avoir” verb in the perfect tense.
TRAVAILLER
J’..............................
Nous........................
Tu.............................
Vous.........................
Il/Elle/On...................
Ils/Elles.....................
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And an “être” verb.
ALLER- to go
Je suis allé M
Je suis allée F
Tu es allé M
Tu es allée F
Il est allé M
Elle est allée F
On est allé
I went
Nous sommes allés M PL
Nous sommes allées F PL
Vous êtes allé(e) M/F SING
Vous êtes allé(e)s M/F PLU
Ils sont allés M PL
Elles sont allées F PL
you went
he went
she went
one went
NOW FILL OUT THIS TABLE FOR THE VERB
SORTIR – to go out
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THE FUTURE TENSE (e.g.:I will play/I am going to play)
In French, there are two future tenses, as in English: I
am going to play and I will play. Both are very easy: let’s have
a look.
 First, the “simple” future (“I will...”):
 to form this tense, we keep the whole infinitive and add
the following endings:
Je
-ai
Nous
-ons
Tu
-as
Vous
-ez
Il/Elle/On
-a
Ils/Elles
-ont
So, we will have:
TRAVAILLER
Je travaillerai
Tu travailleras
Il/Elle/On travaillera
Nous travaillerons
Vous travaillerez
Ils/Elles travailleront
This pattern is used for all –ER and –IR verbs.
For the –RE verbs, we need to take the -e away: saying
“j’attendreai” would not be very easy to pronounce! This is
why we will say “j’attendrai” instead.
Unfortunately, there are irregular verbs. These verbs
will have their stem changed, but the ending will follow the
same pattern as all the other verbs. You will have to refer to
your vocabulary book to see which verbs are irregular, but
here are some:
Être
je serai
Avoir
j’aurai
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Faire
je ferai
 The second future (“I am going to...”) is even simpler!
All you need to do is to know how to do “ALLER” in the
present tense. Do you remember it?
Je .......vais............
Nous......................
Tu...........................
Vous......................
Il/Elle/On................
Ils/Elles....................
And now, we add the infinitive of the main verb!
Example:
I am going to play
Je vais jouer
This is most probably the easiest tense of all: this rule is
applied to all the verbs, even the “usually irregular” ones
such as “aller”, “faire”, “avoir” or “être”.
THE IMPERFECT TENSE (e.g.: I used to play)
Like for the present and simple future tenses, to do the
imperfect tense, we need to take the ending of the infinitive
and change it into:
Je
-ais
Nous
Tu
-ais
Vous
Il/Elle/On
-ait
Ils/Elles
-ions
-iez
-aient
So we have:
TRAVAILLER
Je travaillais
Nous travaillions
Tu travaillais
Vous travailliez
Il/Elle/On travaillait
Ils/Elles travaillaient
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THE CONDITIONAL (e.g.: I would play)
This is the last tense we are going to have a look at
and is very easy.
You already know one by heart:
I would like = je voudrais.
But how do we get this?
To form this tense, we take the stem of the simple
future (if you remember, in most of the case, this is the whole
infinitive), and add the endings of the imperfect tense.
Let’s take two examples.
First, a regular verb: “jouer”.
Future
tense
Imperfect
ending
Conditional: replace the
ending
Je jouerai
-ais
Je jouerais
Tu jouerais
Il/elle/on jouerait
Nous jouerions
Vous joueriez
Ils/elles joueraient
Now, an irregular verb: “être”
Future
tense
Imperfect
ending
Conditional: replace the
ending
Je serai
-ais
Je serais
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Now, try to fill these tables:
Subject
Je
Verb
Regular verbs
Future
tense
Imperfect
ending
Conditional
Future
tense
Imperfect
ending
Conditional
retourner
Tu
Il/Elle/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Elles
descendre
rester
sortir
arriver
partir
Irregular verbs
Subject
Je
Tu
Il/Elle/On
Nous
Vous
Ils/Elles
Verb
aller
avoir
faire
être
aller
faire
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