Soyez - Moods and Tenses

Moods and Tenses

There are seven different moods in French conjugation: Indicatif, Subjonctif, conditionnel, impératif, infinitif, participe, and gérondif. (Note: the infinitive, participle, and gerundive are not verbal moods)

Tenses are described under the mood to which they belong, and they are grouped as follows. An asterisk indicates a simple form. Other tenses are constructed through the use of an auxiliary verb:

• Indicatif
  • Présent (Present) *
  • Passé composé (present perfect), literally 'compound past', formed with an auxiliary verb in the present
  • Imparfait (Imperfect) *
  • Plus-que-parfait (pluperfect), literally 'more than perfect', formed with an auxiliary verb in the imperfect
  • Passé simple (simple past) *
  • Passé antérieur (past perfect), formed with an auxiliary verb in the passé simple
  • Futur simple (simple future) *
  • Futur antérieur (future perfect), formed with an auxiliary verb in the futur simple

• Subjonctif
  • Présent *
  • Passé (past), formed with an auxiliary verb in the subjunctive present
  • Imparfait *
  • Plus-que-parfait, formed with an auxiliary verb in the subjunctive imperfect

• Impératif
  • Présent *
  • Passé, formed with an auxiliary verb in the present imperative (rare)

• Conditionnel
  • Présent *
  • Passé 1ere forme (Past - form I), formed with an auxiliary verb in the present conditional
  • Passé 2eme forme (Past - form II), formed with an auxiliary verb in the imperfect subjunctive (rare)

• Infinitif
  • Présent *
  • Passé, formed with an auxiliary verb in the present infinitive

• Participe
  • Présent *
  • Passé *

• gérondif (constructed by preceding the present participle with the preposition 'en')

Note that some of these tenses are very rarely used in contemporary French. Others, such as the passé simple, the passé antérieur or the imparfait du subjonctif and the plus-que-parfait du subjonctif, are still used, but only in the written language (especially in literature) or in extremely formal speech.