| French Verb Tenses | | | | être, and avoir. |
| 1. Present (same as in English but no -ing form) | | | | 4. Le Futur ( In English and in French implies an action |
| Use to express actions which: | | | | you will do in the future) |
| You are currently doing, Je parle français. | | | | I will study tommarrow. J'étudierai demain. |
| You do every day, Je mange une pomme tous les | | | | 5. Le Conditionnel |
| jours. | | | | In English and in French to express: |
| Are generally true, Sarah aime la pizza. | | | | Politeness : Je voudrais du café s'il vous plait. |
| 2. Le Passé Composé | | | | An Action you would do if something else were |
| In English: I ate an apple. | | | | possible. |
| Use to express an action which: | | | | Si j'étais riche, j'irais en France. |
| Happened one time and is not still occurring: Je suis | | | | An obligation or duty je devrais préparer mes |
| allé au magasin. | | | | devoirs. |
| Happened on a specific date, or gives an indicator of a | | | | Can also be used in the past tense to express |
| specific day in the past. Nous avons nagé dans | | | | something you would have done if something else had |
| la mer hier. Nous sommes allés à la | | | | been possible. J'aurais fait le travail, si j'avais |
| plage lundi matin. | | | | étudié. (no future conditional exists.) |
| 3. L'Imparfait. | | | | 6. Le Subjonctif (is a mood not a tense, does not |
| In English: I was singing. | | | | express what happened in time) |
| Use to express an action which: | | | | English rules are too different from French. |
| Was already happening when another action occurred. | | | | Use to express a mood, a feeling, a doubt, an opinion, |
| Je parlais avec mon ami quand le | | | | a necessity or with other special phrases. |
| téléphone a sonné. | | | | Il faut que vous soyez à l'heure. |
| Happened several times. J'allais à l'école | | | | Je suis content que tu apprennes le français. |
| tous les jours. | | | | (can be used in the past but not in the future) |
| Uses an emotion, physical characteristic or feeling | | | | 7. Le Plus que parfait. |
| which implies the past, Je voulais parler avec mon | | | | Used in French and in English to explain a past action, |
| père. Elle était belle quand elle avait huit | | | | which happened before another past action. |
| ans. | | | | J'avais étudié la leçon que le |
| Often used with the verbs savoir, vouloir, pouvoir, | | | | professeur a enseigné. |