French tenses, explained: what each one is for, with examples

French tenses are the verb forms that place an action in time, and this page explains the indicative ones a learner meets: what each is for, how it is built, and one example each. Every French form and sentence below is quoted from two Québec references: the Banque de dépannage linguistique of the Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF), and Usito, the Université de Sherbrooke’s online dictionary. The English glosses are ours. For why verb forms can feel hard to English speakers, read Is French hard to learn. For how to spend your study hours, see How to learn French fast. For tenses at work in an exam text, TEF Canada writing has two samples. For a tap-to-answer grammar drill, try French grammar exercises.

What are the French tenses?

The French tenses come in two parallel series, simple forms and compound forms, according to the OQLF [1]. A compound form is the auxiliary avoir or être plus the past participle, with the auxiliary in the tense of the matching simple form [1]. In the indicative, the OQLF’s table pairs five simple forms with five compound ones, using the verb conjuguer [1].

The compound forms mainly express a completed action or one that comes before another, the OQLF says [1]. The conditionnel is in this table too: the OQLF says most linguists and grammarians now treat it as a tense of the indicative, not a separate mood [2]. The subjonctif and the impératif have their own simple and compound forms [1]; this page stays with the indicative.

The futur proche is not in the table. The OQLF describes it on its own page as aller in the present followed by an infinitive [9].

How does one verb change across the French tenses?

One verb shows the pattern best. Usito’s entry for finir (to finish) carries its full conjugation, and the table below copies its je and nous forms [11]. Usito gives avoir as the auxiliary for finir [11].

In Usito’s table, je finis is both the présent and the passé simple form [11]. Context tells them apart.

What is each French tense for?

Présent

The présent describes what is happening at the moment of speaking, shown as it unfolds [3]. It also has a timeless use, for general truths, habits and lasting states [3]. Usito’s example under finir: Le cours finit à onze heures. (The class ends at eleven.) [11]

Passé composé

The passé composé is avoir or être in the présent plus the past participle [4]. It can show a finished action whose result still matters now, and it can simply place an event in the past, where it competes with, and often replaces, the passé simple [4]. Example: J’ai reçu ta carte et je t’en remercie. (I got your card, and thank you for it.) [4]

Most verbs take avoir. Être is used with all pronominal verbs and with certain intransitive verbs of movement or change, such as aller, arriver, devenir, entrer, mourir, naître, partir, rester, sortir, tomber and venir [5].

Imparfait

The imparfait shows a past action in progress, without saying when it began or ended [6]. In a story, it gives the circumstances, while the passé simple carries the events [6]. Example: J’avais vingt ans et je croyais que tout était possible. (I was twenty and believed anything was possible.) [6]

Plus-que-parfait

The plus-que-parfait is the compound partner of the imparfait: the auxiliary in the imparfait plus the past participle, as in tu avais conjugué [1]. Example: Il avait commencé à pleuvoir tôt ce matin-là. (It had started to rain early that morning.) [5]

After si, it states a past condition that did not happen, with the conditionnel passé for the result [7]: Si j’avais compris ce qu’elle voulait dire, j’aurais réagi tout autrement. (If I had understood what she meant, I would have reacted quite differently.) [7]

Futur simple

The futur simple names actions or states to come, seen from the present [8]. It often comes with time markers such as demain or la semaine prochaine [8]. Example: Nous irons vous rejoindre en voiture. (We will join you by car.) [8]

Futur proche

The futur proche is aller in the présent followed by an infinitive, as in je vais partir [9]. In everyday language, especially spoken, it competes with the futur simple, and what it says is considered less hypothetical [9]. The OQLF says the difference lies in the link to the moment of speaking, not in how far away the event is [9]. Its pair: Je vais revenir dès que possible. (more certain) and Je reviendrai dès que possible. (more hypothetical) [9].

Conditionnel présent

The OQLF calls the conditionnel a hypothetical future: the action depends on a condition, stated or not [2]. Its endings join the -r- of the future to the imparfait endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez and -aient [2]. Compare J’ai acheté un livre que tu aimeras. (that you will like) with J’ai acheté un livre que tu aimerais. (that you would like) [2].

Passé simple

The passé simple is the least used tense of the indicative today [10]. The OQLF says it is practically absent from spoken French and, in writing, kept mainly for narratives; in speech, and often in writing, the passé composé is preferred [10]. It is still written, mainly in the third person, in literature and also in scientific and news texts [10]. Example with the imparfait: Quand elle arriva, il dormait. (When she arrived, he was asleep.) [6]

Which French tenses do I need first?

No source opened for this page sets a learning order, so the order below is this page’s suggestion, not a rule. It follows how the OQLF describes everyday use.

1. Présent. It covers the moment of speaking and general truths [3].
2. Passé composé. Speech prefers it to the passé simple [10].
3. Futur proche. It competes with the futur simple in everyday spoken language [9].
4. Imparfait. It sets the scene in the past [6], next to the passé composé in a story.
5. Futur simple and conditionnel présent. Both carry the -r- of the future [2], so they are easier to learn as a pair.
6. Plus-que-parfait. It reuses the imparfait of avoir or être [1].
7. Passé simple. Learn to recognise it in reading, mainly in the third person [10].

This order makes no promise about how fast you will learn the tenses, and no exam requires it.

How should you do French verb tense practice?

For French verb tense practice, try pulling forms out of memory instead of rereading a table. In a 2006 study, students who took recall tests on prose passages kept substantially more after 2 days and after 1 week than students who restudied the same material [12]. That study did not involve French or verb tenses [12], so read it as evidence about memory, not a promise.

Three ways to apply it with this page:

• Cover a column. Hide the je or nous column of the finir table and say each form aloud, then uncover it.
• Name the tense. Read each quoted example and say which tense it uses and why, using the descriptions above.
• Tell a short story. Write a few lines about yesterday, with the passé composé for events and the imparfait for the background, as the TEF Canada writing samples do.

For short tense drills on this site, try French conjugation practice and Passé composé practice. The spacing and recall ideas in How to learn French fast apply to verb forms too.

Common mistakes

• Treating the futur proche as “the near future” only. The OQLF says the difference from the futur simple is the link to the moment of speaking, not the distance in time [9].
• Using the passé simple in conversation. It is practically absent from spoken French [10].
• Using avoir with every verb. Pronominal verbs and some verbs of movement or change take être [5].
• Reading je finis as always present. In Usito’s table it is also the passé simple [11].
• Learning the forms without the uses. The imparfait and the passé composé both talk about the past, but the imparfait shows an action in progress [6].
• Relying on a grammar summary, including this one. Reference pages are updated. Compare each source page’s date with the date at the top of this one.

See also: common French verbs and French connectors.

See also: avoir conjugation and être conjugation and vouloir, pouvoir and devoir.

See also: the passé composé and the imparfait and the French subjunctive.

See also: the French imperative and the French future tense and the French conditional.

See also: the French grammar guide.

Sources