Education Tips > Tenses Quick Guide.

PRESENT TENSE (I - / I do - / I am -ing)

There are two types of verb: irregular and regular

In the present tense regular verbs follow the pattern shown below. Remove the “-er” “-ir” or “re” and add the appropriate endings

	« -er » verbs parler	« -ir » verbs choisir	« -re » verbs vendre
je	parle	choisis	vends
tu	parles	choisis	vends
il/elle/on	parle	choisit	vend
nous	parlons	choisissons	vendons
vous	parlez	choisissez	vendez
ils/elles	parlent	choisissent	vendent

* Irregular verbs you probably know *…

aller / avoir / devoir / dire / être / faire / mettre / pouvoir / prendre / savoir / vouloir

**some present tense reminders**

-         ‘-cer’ verbs use ç in “nous” form (eg. je commence / nous commençons)

-         ‘-eter’ / ‘-eler’ verbsà all subjects except for “nous/vous” use double consonant (eg. j’appelle / nous appelons)

-         ‘-ger’ verbs add an “e” in “nous” form (eg. je mange / nous mangeons)

-         ‘-ayer’ / ‘oyer’ / ‘-uyer’ verbs à “y” is changed to an “i” in “nous/vous” forms (eg. j’envoie / nous envoyons)

-         some verbs add a grave accent except for “nous/vous” forms (eg. j’achète / nous achetons)

PERFECT TENSE (what happened/ has happened)

The perfect tense is used to talk about something that happened in the past - an action that is completely finished.

In the perfect tense regular verbs follow the pattern shown below
   
RULE = subject    +    present tense auxiliary verb    +    past participle = PERFECT TENSE
                                    (-er verbs)             (-ir verbs)           (-re verbs)

j’ai                             porté                        choisi                vendu
tu as                            porté                       choisi                vendu
il / elle / on a               porté                       choisi                vendu
nous avons                porté                       choisi                 vendu
vous avez                   porté                       choisi                vendu
ils / elles ont               porté                       choisi                vendu

• some verbs have a past participle that is irregular and not formed in this way

              Examples: avoir=eu / être=été / faire=fait / vouloir=voulu / prendre=pris / mettre=mis

• for the perfect tense, most verbs use “avoir” as the auxiliary verb. The remaining groups (MRSVANDERTRAMP & reflexives) use “être” as the auxiliary verb
• If “être” is used as the auxiliary verb, check for agreements

je suis                        allé(e)              
tu es                          allé(e)
il / elle / on est          allé(e)
nous sommes           allé(e) s
vous êtes                   allé(e) (s)
ils / elles sont            allé(e) s

IMPERFECT TENSE (what used to happen / was happening)

In the imperfect tense the verbs follow the pattern shown below.

RULE = subject    +    stem (take “nous” form of present tense and remove ‘-ons’) = IMPERFECT TENSE
                                    (-er verbs)                 (-ir verbs)           (-re verbs)

je                               portais                     choisissais             vendais
tu                                 portais                     choisissais             vendais
il / elle / on                  portait                      choisissait             vendait
nous                           portions                   choissions             vendions
vous                           portiez                      choissiez               vendiez
ils / elles                     portaient                  choisissaient         vendaient

• for the imperfect tense, the endings are the same as those used for the conditional tense
• the only verb that has an irregular stem is : être= et-
• the imperfect tense is used to express what used to happen or what was happening. In other words, it’s used to describe something in the past that happened often or that has not finished, or to give a description of what something was like

CONDITIONAL TENSE (what would happen)

In the conditional tense regular verbs follow the pattern shown below.

RULE = subject    +    stem (infinitive of verb + ending) = CONDITIONAL TENSE
                                    (-er verbs)                 (-ir verbs)           (-re verbs)

je                               porterais                     choisirais             vendrais
tu                                 porterais                     choisirais             vendrais
il / elle / on                  porterait                      choisirait             vendrait
nous                           porterions                   choisirions             vendrions
vous                           porteriez                      choisiriez               vendriez
ils / elles                     porteraient                  choisiraient         vendraient

• when forming the stem for “-re” verbs remove the “e”
• the conditional tense uses the same stem as the future tense (for regular and irregular verbs) and the endings (for all verbs) are the same as those used in imperfect tense
• the conditional of :   “pouvoir” can mean ‘could’    AND    “devoir” can mean ‘should’
•  some verbs have irregular stems(but the endings are the same)

Examples: avoir= aur- / être= ser- / faire= fer / vouloir= voudr- / prendre=pren / aller= ir-

 FUTURE TENSE (what will happen)      

RULE = subject    +    stem (infinitive of verb + ending) = FUTURE TENSE
                                     (-er verbs)                 (-ir verbs)           (-re verbs)

je                               porterai                     choisirai               vendrai
tu                                 porteras                    choisiras             vendras
il / elle / on                  portera                      choisira                vendra
nous                           porterons                  choirons              vendrons
vous                           porterez                     choirez              vendrez
ils / elles                     porteront                  choisiront             vendront

o   the same endings are also used for all irregular endings. The only part that is irregular is the stem. For example:

avoir= aur- / être= ser- / faire= fer- / aller= ir-

o   when forming “-re” verbs, take off the ‘e’