Indicative in French
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The indicative (French: l'indicatif) is a personal mood and you use it to talk about life in general. It has 8 tenses.
- le présent
- l'imparfait
- le passé simple
- le futur simple
- le passé composé
- le plus-que-parfait
- le passé antérieur
- le futur antérieur
Lesson outline
HideThe present tense
The present (French: le présent) is used to express what is happening at the moment we talk.
Its endings are various depending of the group verbs:
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) |
|---|---|---|
| je/j' | aime | grandis |
| tu | aimes | grandis |
| il/elle/on | aime | grandit |
| nous | aimons | grandissons |
| vous | aimez | grandissez |
| ils/elles | aiment | grandissent |
Note that the 3rd group verbs have three different endings.
| 3rd group verbs | general | prendre (to take) | pouvoir (can) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | mets | prends | peux |
| tu | mets | prends | peux |
| il/elle/on | met | prend | peut |
| nous | mettons | prenons | pouvons |
| vous | mettez | prenez | pouvez |
| ils/elles | mettent | prennent | peuvent |
All infinitive verbs ending in -dre conjugate like "prendre" except 'joindre' (to join)
'Valoir' (to worth) and 'vouloir' (want) also conjugate like "pouvoir"
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The imperfect
The imperfect (French: l'imparfait) expresses an action or fact that already happened at the moment we talk but is still progressing.
The endings of the imperfect are the same for all group verbs
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) | 3rd group verb: mettre (to put) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je/j' | aimais | grandissais | mettais |
| tu | aimais | grandissais | mettais |
| il/elle/on | aimait | grandissait | mettait |
| nous | aimions | grandissions | mettions |
| vous | aimiez | grandissiez | mettiez |
| ils/elles | aimaient | grandissaient | mettaient |
The literary past tense
The literary past tense (French: le passé simple) expresses a completed action in the past.
The endings are various depending on the group verbs.
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) |
|---|---|---|
| je/j' | aimai | grandis |
| tu | aimas | grandis |
| il/elle/on | aima | grandit |
| nous | aimâmes | grandîmes |
| vous | aimâtes | grandîtes |
| ils/elles | aimèrent | grandirent |
Note that for the 3rd group verbs, there are 3 different endings:
| 3rd group verbs | prendre (to take) | venir (to come) | croire (to believe) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | pris | vins | crus |
| tu | pris | vins | crus |
| il/elle/on | prit | vint | crut |
| nous | prîmes | vînmes | crûmes |
| vous | prîtes | vîntes | crûtes |
| ils/elles | prirent | vinrent | crurent |
The future simple
The future simple (French: le futur simple) is used when you want to talk about a fact or an action in the near future. It didn't happen yet at the moment of speaking.
The endings of the future simple are the same for all group verbs:
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) | 3rd group verb: mettre (to put) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je/j' | aimerai | grandirai | mettrai |
| tu | aimeras | grandiras | mettras |
| il/elle/on | aimera | grandira | mettra |
| nous | aimerons | grandirons | mettrons |
| vous | aimerez | grandirez | mettrez |
| ils/elles | aimeront | grandiront | mettront |
The future of the verb 'aller' is: irai, iras, ira, irons, irez, iront.
The past completed
The past completed (French: le passé composé) is a used when you want to talk in the past about a fact or an action that already happened at the moment of speaking.
It is formed with an auxiliary avoir or être conjugated in the present tense and the past participle.
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group: grandir (to grow) | 3rd group verb: partir (to leave) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je/j' | ai aimé | ai grandi | suis parti(e) |
| tu | as aimé | as grandi | es parti(e) |
| il/elle/on | a aimé | a grandi | est parti(e) |
| nous | avons aimé | avons grandi | sommes partis(e) |
| vous | avez aimé | avez grandi | êtes partis(e) |
| ils/elles | ont aimé | ont grandi | sont partis(e) |
The pluperfect
The pluperfect (French: le plus-que-parfait) is used to accentuate on the anteriority of a fact or an action related to a past action. In this case, you can either use it with the past completed or the literary past tense.
It is formed with an auxiliary avoir or être conjugated in the imperfect tense and the past participle.
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) | 3rd group verb: partir (to leave) |
|---|---|---|---|
| j' | avais aimé | avais grandi | étais parti(e) |
| tu | avais aimé | avais grandi | étais parti(e) |
| il/elle/on | avait aimé | avait grandi | était parti(e) |
| nous | avions aimé | avions grandi | étions partis(e) |
| vous | aviez aimé | aviez grandi | étiez partis(e) |
| ils/elles | avaient aimé | avaient grandi | étaient partis(e) |
The past anterior
The past anterior (French: le passé antérieur) is always used with the past simple to accentuate the anteriority of a completed action.
It is formed with the auxiliary avoir or être conjugated in the past simple and the past participle.
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) | 3rd group verb: partir (to leave) |
|---|---|---|---|
| j' | eu aimé | eu grandi | fus parti(e) |
| tu | eus aimé | eus grandi | fus parti(e) |
| il/elle/on | eut aimé | eut grandi | fut parti(e) |
| nous | eûmes aimé | eûmes grandi | fûmes partis(e) |
| vous | eûtes aimé | eûtes grandi | fûtes partis(e) |
| ils/elles | eurent aimé | eurent grandi | furent partis(e) |
The future perfect
The future perfect (French: le futur antérieur) has two uses: it can be used all alone in this case, it expresses a fact or an action which will be completed at the moment. It can be used along with the future simple, in this case, it expresses an action that will happen after a second action.
It is formed with the auxiliary avoir or être conjugated in the future simple and the past participle.
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) | 3rd group verb: partir (to leave) |
|---|---|---|---|
| j' | aurai aimé | aurai grandi | serai parti(e) |
| tu | auras aimé | auras grandi | seras parti(e) |
| il/elle/on | aura aimé | aura grandi | sera parti(e) |
| nous | aurons aimé | aurons grandi | serons partis(e) |
| vous | aurez aimé | aurez grandi | serez partis(e) |
| ils/elles | auront aimé | auront grandi | seront partis(e) |
The near future
Even if the near future (French: le futur proche) is not considered as a tense, the French grammar use it to talk about an action that will take place very soon.
It is formed with the verb aller conjugated in the present tense and the infinitive of the verb.
| Pronouns | 1st group verb: aimer (to like) | 2nd group verb: grandir (to grow) | 3rd group verb: partir (to leave) |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | vais aimer | vais grandir | vais partir |
| tu | vas aimer | vas grandir | vas partir |
| il/elle/on | va aimer | va grandir | va partir |
| nous | allons aimer | allons grandir | allons partir |
| vous | allez aimer | allez grandir | allez partir |
| ils/elles | vont aimer | vont grandir | vont partir |
Verbs that uses the auxiliary être agrees in gender and number.
Learn more about the past participle by clicking the link.
Learn about the conjugation of avoir and être to form the compound times.
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Lou works in a very structured way and sent me teaching material before the lesson. After a bit of small talk, we worked on the topic of the lesson, with the lesson divided into reading comprehension, discussion of the text, listening comprehension of a video and a written assignment on the topic. Lou picked an interesting topic that created plenty of opportunity for conversation. She corrected mistakes in a friendly manner and responded very well to my learning requests. That was fun!
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