FRENCH TENSES - PART 1 / LES TEMPS FRANÇAIS

Welcome everyone ! :)

In this lesson, we will talk about tenses. French tenses. Let me quickly explain: as you probably know, there is a lot of tenses in French. But usually, we don’t use them all. In this lesson, we will review all the tenses by their names and I will quickly give you a little explanation about how and when using them. Let’s get started!

The first thing you should know is that there is several categories, and in every category, you find the different tenses. Let’s take a look:

CATEGORIES:

INDICATIVE / L’INDICATIF

SUBJUNCTIVE / LE SUBJONCTIF

IMPERATIVE / L’IMPERATIF

CONDITIONAL / LE CONDITIONNEL

INFINITIVE / L’INFINITIF

TENSES :

Present / Présent
Simple past / Passé simple

Compound past / Passé composé

Past perfect / Passé antérieur

Imperfect / Imparfait

Pluperfect / Plus-que-parfait

Simple future or just Future / Futur simple

Future perfect / Futur antérieur

Usually, if you want to find to which category a verb is linked, you take a look at the ending of this verb, but this is something we will see in another lesson. For now, let’s break it down and try to see in which context and how to use each tense. Let’s be simple and precise, remember: it’s easier to begin by simple things than trying to learn everything in one lesson and being confused later because you tried to memorize too much similar information…

As you can see, we have 8 tenses, if not more in certain circumstances. That’s a lot, I agree, but as I said before, we don’t use them every single day on a daily basis, don’t worry! First, let’s take a look to the three principal tenses we use all the time:

PAST / PRESENT / FUTURE - PASSÉ / PRÉSENT / FUTUR

PAST/PASSÉ

We have three kind of past. Past simple or just called Past, Compound past and Past perfect.

● The Past simple/Passé simple is usually used to speak about an action that occurred in the past. It’s the simpliest way to speak in the past tense.

● The Compound past/Passé composé is very used too, it is used to speak about a past action as well, to express an action that has been completely done or finished (depending of the context of course) at the time of speech or at an unknown time in the past. But, if you try to use it in English, it is equal to the English past simple.

● The Past perfect/Passé antérieur is used to express an anterior action to the simple past. It can also express an action who takes place just after another. It is rarely used nowadays, usually in written form, in novels, and it is used to mark immediate precedence over a simple past. It’s essentially formed with the verb “to have” (avoir).

Examples :

Past simple/Passé simple

● J’ai vu / I saw

● J’ai entendu qu’il parlait de moi. / I heard he was talking about me.

● J’ai laissé mes chaussures aux vestiaires. / I left my shoes in the locker rooms.

● J’étais très fatigué hier, donc je ne t’ai pas répondu. / I was very tired yesterday, so I didn’t reply to you.

Compound past/Passé composé

● J’ai eu peur ! / I was scared ! (here an example of equality with English : « J’ai eu peur » should literally be « I have been scared », but the « Passé composé » is like the Past simple in English if you translate it literally. So it’s better not to try to make the link between English and French and just memorize directly in French without trying to remember how it could sounds in English. The best translation for “I was scared” here would be by using the Past simple in French and by saying: “J’étais effrayé” or “J’ai eu peur”

● Avez-vous eu assez d’eau chaude ? C’est étonnant ! / Have you had enough hot water ? It’s surprising!

● Tu as eu suffisamment de temps. / You had enough time.

● Elle a eu une dure journée. / She had a tough day.

Past perfect/Passé antérieur

● Dès que j’eus assez de place… / As soon as I had enough place…

● Dès qu'il eut fini de parler, il partit. / As soon as he finished speaking, he left.

● Lorsqu’il eut recu cette lettre, il l’appela immédiatement. / When he received this letter, he called him/her immediately.

● Il eut reçu sa paie plus tôt qu’il l’escomptait. / He had received his pay earlier than he expected.

PRESENT / PRÉSENT:

We only have one present tense. Unlike English with the Present Perfect Simple and the Present Perfect Continuous, which is used to talk about an action from the past that is unfinished, or to talk about an everyday habit. In French, Present is present. Now, the moment.

Examples:

● Je travaille maintenant. / I am working now.

● Je ne sais pas. / I don’t know.

● J’ai du temps. / I have some time.

● Ils ont beaucoup d’argent. / They have a lot of money.

● Je suis occupé, mais rappelle-moi demain ! / I am busy, but call me back tomorrow !

FUTURE/FUTUR:

Like past, we have two kind of futures. Very distinct, you will see:

● Simple future or just Future/Future simple ou juste Futur : this future is the simpliest in French. The basic one.

● Future perfect/Futur antérieur : it can express a probability, an assumption. Presenting a fact as accomplished and certain, linked to a moment of the future.

Examples:

Simple future/Futur simple

● J’irai demain. / I will go tomorrow.

● Je le ferai dans la nuit. / I will do it during the night.

● Je vais étudier/ J’étudirai dur pour le test de samedi. / I will study hard for Saturday’s test.

Future perfect/Futur antérieur

● Il aura probablement été coincé dans les embouteillages. / He will probably have been stuck in traffic jams.

● Elle aura peut-être eu un accident. / She may have had an accident.

● Nous aurons eu de la chance ! / We will have been lucky!

● Ils auront surement appelé la Police. / They will surely have called the Police.

So far, I hope these explanations and examples about the tenses would have help you! In part 2, we will see the rest of the tenses with more precision and examples!

BELOW, let's take a look to some pictures taken from one of my books about French grammar. You have an example of the verb "To have = Avoir" in French, and how to conjugate it with the three tenses we have seen so far! You can clearly see with the examples I wrote, the tenses I have used to write the sentences above, using each one of the three tenses we have seen in this lesson! Enjoy!