Cheat Sheet

French Verbs For Dummies

From French Verbs For Dummies by Zoe Erotopoulos
If youre studying French, you need to get a handle on French verbs.
Luckily, theres a pattern to conjugating regular French verbs into the
simple and compound tenses, so once you know how to conjugate
one, you know hundreds! Learn how to give commands, directions, or
requests by studying the imperative conjugations of French verbs.
Conjugating the Simple Tenses of Regular French
Verbs
If the infinitive of a regular French verb ends in -er, -ir, or -re, you can follow a
fixed pattern in conjugating the verb. If you learn to conjugate one verb in each of
the groups, you will know how to conjugate hundreds of others. The following
chart has the conjugation of the five simple tenses of three common regular
verbs: parler (to speak), finir (to finish), and vendre (to sell). Just take the
appropriate stem for each tense and add the required ending.
Regular -er Verb Endings
Tense (stem) je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles
Present (parl) -e -es -e -ons -ez -ent
Imperfect (parl) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient
Future (parler) -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont
Conditional (parler) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient
Subjunctive (parl) -e -es -e -ions -iez -ent
Regular -ir Verb Endings
Tense (stem) je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles
Present (fini) -s -s -t -ssons -ssez -ssent
Imperfect (finiss) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient
Future (finir) -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont
Conditional (finir) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient
Subjunctive (finiss) -e -es -e -ions -iez -ent
Regular -re Verb Endings
Tense (stem) je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles
Present (vend) -s -s (nothing) -ons -ez -ent
Imperfect (vend) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient
Future (vendr) -ai -as -a -ons -ez -ont
Conditional (vendr) -ais -ais -ait -ions -iez -aient
Subjunctive (vend) -e -es -e -ions -iez -ent
Conjugating Compound Tenses with Regular French
Verbs
To conjugate French compound tenses, you need an auxiliary verb, usually avoir
(to have) or tre (to be), plus the past participle of the desired verb. The following
example shows French compound tenses conjugated with the past participles of
parler (to speak) with avoir as the auxiliary and arriver (to arrive) with tre as
the auxiliary.
Creating Compound Tenses with the Auxiliary Avoir (Parler)
Tense je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles
Pass
Compos
ai parl as
parl
a parl avons
parl
avez
parl
ont parl
Pluperfect avais
parl
avais
parl
avait
parl
avions
parl
aviez
parl
avaient
parl
Future
Perfect
aurai
parl
auras
parl
aura
parl
aurons
parl
aurez
parl
auront
parl
Past
Conditional
aurais
parl
aurais
parl
aurait
parl
aurions
parl
auriez
parl
auraient
parl
Past
Subjunctive
aie
parl
aies
parl
ait parl ayons
parl
ayez
parl
aient
parl
Creating Compound Tenses with the Auxiliary tre (Arriver)
Tense je tu il/elle/on nous vous ils/elles
Pass
Compos
suis
arriv
(e)
es
arriv
(e)
est
arriv (e)
sommes
arrivs
(es)
tes
arriv (e)
(s) (es)
sont
arrivs
(es)
Pluperfect tais
arriv
(e)
tais
arriv
(e)
tait
arriv (e)
tions
arrivs
(es)
tiez
arriv (e)
(s) (es)
taient
arrivs
(es)
Future
Perfect
serai
arriv
(e)
seras
arriv
(e)
sera
arriv (e)
serons
arrivs
(es)
serez
arriv (e)
(s) (es)
seront
arrivs
(es)
Past
Conditional
serais
arriv
(e)
serais
arriv
(e)
serait
arriv (e)
serions
arrivs
(es)
seriez
arriv (e)
(s) (es)
seraient
arrivs
(es)
Past
Subjunctive
sois
arriv
(e)
sois
arriv
(e)
soit
arriv (e)
soyons
arrivs
(es)
soyez
arriv (e)
(s) (es)
soient
arrivs
(es)
Imperative Forms of French Verbs
In French, the imperative mood expresses an order, request, or directive and is
created with regular verbs by using the verb directly and eliminating the subject
pronoun. The imperative uses the present tense of most verbs and the
conjugations of three subject pronouns: tu (when speaking to someone familiar),
vous (when speaking to someone unfamiliar, older, a group, or a superior), and
nous (when including yourself in the group). Regular -er, -ir, and -re verbs follow
the same pattern in commands as shown in the following example, along with an
example of a command using a pronominal verb and pronoun.
Parler (to speak) Finir (to finish) Vendre (to sell) Se laver (to wash)
Parle! Finis! Vends! Lave-toi!
Parlons! Finissons! Vendons! Lavons-nous!
Parlez! Finissez! Vendez! Lavez-vous!
Copyright 2014 & Trademark by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.