How many tenses are there in French grammar?
The eight simple forms can also be categorized into four tenses (future, present, past, and future-of-the-past), or into two aspects (perfective and imperfective). The three non-finite moods are the infinitive, past participle, and present participle. There are compound constructions that use more than one verb.
How do you know what tense to use in French?
To use the correct form of a French verb, you have to use the right tense. The indicative mood, which deals with objectivity — things really happening — includes many time aspects called tenses. A tense defines the time frame in which the action of the verb takes place: past, present, or future.
How many types of French verbs are there?
Types of verb in French There are three main categories of French regular verbs, regular verbs with an infinitive ending in -er, such as manger, regular verbs with an infinitive in -ir, such as finir, regular verbs with an infinitive in -re, such as vendre.
What is the perfect tense in French?
The perfect tense is used in French to describe completed actions or events. It is made up of two parts, which is why it is called le passé composé (‘compound past’) in French. The first part is either the verb avoir or the verb être, the second part is the past participle of the main verb.
Which is the present tense in the French language?
Le Présent – Present Tense While the English language uses simple and progressive versions of the present tense, the French has just one: le présent. All you have to do is take the regular verb stem and add a different present tense ending, depending on which verb group it belongs to. Present tense verb endings
How many indicative tenses are there in French?
The indicative is a personal mood and is the most commonly used mood in French. French has 10 indicative tenses, but not all of them are used in everyday language.
How is the conditional tense formed in French?
It’s formed by conjugating the auxiliary verb “avoir” in the conditional tense, with the endings as shown above, then adding the past participle of each verb. This French tense is frequently used with the irregular verbs pouvoir and devoir to show regret (could have, should have).
What are the irregular verbs in French grammar?
French verb families have their black sheep too; they are called irregular verbs. In other words, they do not follow rules. With them, all bets are off. You therefore have tolearnhow they behave in the present tense, the passé composé etc on a case by case basis. The most useful irregular verbs to know are: avoir= to have être= to be aller= to go