Start French Conjugation on the Right Foot
Stop struggling. Master the terminology.
The French conjugation system is not a walk in the park...even for French people.
To make matters worse, in academic French courses, you’ll hear a whole lot of jargon that you may not understand:
infinitives, present participles, gerunds, past participles, auxiliary, moods, tenses, subject pronouns, compound tenses, and simple tenses…
Knowing these basic terms should be, therefore, the first & most crucial step to mastering French conjugations.
This guide was designed for this purpose.
Ready? Let’s get started!
TABLE OF CONTENTLESSON 01 – Subject PronounsLESSON 02 – Infinitive VerbsLESSON 03 – Auxiliary VerbsLESSON 04 – Past ParticiplesLESSON 05 – Present Participles & GerundsLESSON 06 – Moods & Tenses
LESSON 01 - Subject Pronouns
A noun is a word used to design a person, an animal, a place, a thing, or an idea.
French nouns are either:
masculine or feminine
singular or plural.
A pronoun is a word used to replace one or more nouns.
Pronouns avoid repeating the same noun(s) within a sentence or paragraph.
Pronouns can replace people, animals, places, things, and even phrases.
Without using pronouns: => repetitive & bad style
<- The result is not natural.
<- It also sounds repetitive.
Harry est gentil avec Annie. Harry a donné de l’argent à Annie.
Harry is kind to Annie. Harry gave Annie some money.
With pronouns: => natural and smooth style
Harry est gentil avec Annie. Il lui a donné de l’argent. (Il=Harry ; lui=Annie)
Harry is kind to Annie. He gave her some money.
There are 6 main categories of pronouns in French.
Used to designate a person without naming them
Subject Pronouns: je, tu, il, elle, on, nous, vous, ils, elles
Direct Object Pronouns: me, te, le, les, nous, vous, leur
Indirect Object Pronouns: me, te, lui, en, y, nous, vous, leur
Adverbial pronouns: en, y (replace quantity or place)
Stressed pronouns: moi, toi, lui, elle, nous, vous, eux, elles
Don’t worry! We’ll focus only on Subject Pronouns today!
ce, ceci, cela, ça (events, opinions) | celui, celle, ceux, celles, ce/c’ (simple form)
celui-ci, celui-là, celle-ci, celle-là, ceux-ci, ceux-là, celles-ci, celles-là, ceci, cela ça
le mien, la mienne, le tien, le sien, la sienne, le/la nôtre, le/la vôtre, le/la leur, les miens, les miennes, les tiens, les tiennes, les siens, les siennes
qui ? que ? à qui ?....
qui, que, qu’, dont, où (simple form) | lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles
auquel, à laquelle, auxquels, auxquelles | duquel, de laquelle, desquels, desquels
me, te, se, nous, vous
Like in English, French subject pronouns can be singular or plural.
je = I
tu = informal/singular ‘you’
il = he, masculine ‘it’*
elle = she, feminine ‘it’*
on = impersonal/informal ‘we’
nous = we
vous = formal/plural ‘you’
ils = masculine ‘they’
elles = feminine ‘they’
*Note: you have to use ‘il’ and ‘elle’ to speak about an animal or a thing, depending on its gender.
➼ it = elle or il
In conversation, people tend to use much more ‘on’ than ‘nous’.
Verbs conjugated with 'on' are conjugated as with ‘il’ and ‘elle’ (singular).
On can be translated with ‘we’, ‘one’, ‘people’
• tu is used with family, friends, lovers, colleagues, children, and classmates
Positive aspects: indicates intimacy, equality, love, friendship
Negative aspects: can be perceived as rude and offensive if doesn’t suit the relationship.
• vous is used for doctor-patient, professor-student, boss-employee, waiter-client, and kids-adults relationships.
Positive aspects: indicates respect, professionalism, politeness, formality, deference
Negative aspects: can be seen as cold, distant, snobbery, and dislike.
• Basic & unconjugated form of a verb.
• Verb in two parts: root (chant) + ending (-er)
• Doesn’t say when the action took place.
• No one is performing the action.
• Its form never changes.
• Cannot be the main verb in a sentence.
•to drive/conduire by itself cannot say ‘who’ or ’when’. It is not the main verb which is ‘vas/are going’ with the subject ‘you/tu’.
You are going to drive soon.
Tu vas conduire bientôt.
• Says when the action took place (past, present, or future).
• Verb in two parts: root (chant) + ending (-ait) for imperfect 3rd-person singular for instance.
• Its form changes according to its tense, person, and number.
• Can be the main verb of the sentence.
•wished/ai souhaité tell us ‘who’ (I/je) & ’when’ (in the past). It is the main verb of the sentence.
•Eat becomes ‘eats’ with ‘she’ for the present tense.
I wished /J’ai souhaité
She eats well/Elle mange bien
2 words (Full infinitive)
➳ to + verb
. to run, to dance, to drink
1 word (Bare infinitive)
➳ verb without to
. I can do my homework
. you should stay home
➳ Bare infinitives are used with auxiliary verbs:
will, would, must, can, could, shall, should, do, did
1 word:
➳ root + ending
. aimer, prendre, rougir, falloir
Grouped by their endings.
1st group: -ER verbs (parler) - except verb Aller - to go.
2nd group: –IR verbs
But not all -IR verbs are part of the 2nd group. Some belong to the 3rd!
3rd group: -RE, -OIR, -IR endings
(prendre, voir, partir) + Aller
•In the 1st & 2nd group, verbs follow the same patterns, not in the 3rd!
Besides the 3 groups of verbs, there are also two auxiliary verbs in French être and avoir, also known as helping verbs.
être and avoir being irregular, their conjugations have to be learned by heart.
The auxiliary verbs être & avoir are used when constructing compound tenses such as the passé composé or the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect).
Compound tenses have 2 verbs: ➳ j’ai parlé (here passé composé)
Simple tenses have only 1 verb ➳ je parle (here présent)
NOTE:
For each simple tense in the indicative mood* there is a compound tense:
Présent ➳ passé-composé
Futur ➳ futur antérieur
Conditionnel ➳ conditionnel passé
Imparfait ➳ plus-que-parfait
Subjonctif ➳ subjonctif passé
*Check out ‘LESSON 05 - French Moods & Tenses’ to understand what is a mood.
Depending on the compound tense, the auxiliary may be:
- in the present (here indicative present):
il a parlé (he spoke) / il est allé (he went) - passé composé
- in the past (here imperfect):
il avait parlé (he had spoken) / il était allé (he had gone) – pluperfect
- in the future (here simple future):
il aura parlé (he will have spoken) / il sera allé (he will have gone) - future perfect
In English, the past participle typically ends in “-ed,” as in walked ➳ I have walked for a while
In French, the typical past participle endings are:
for -ER verbs: ➳ -é endings
(1st group) ➳ aimer ➳ aim + -é ➳ aimé
for –IR verbs: ➳ -i endings
(2nd group + some verbs of the 3rd)
➳ finir fin + -i fini
However, in the 3rd group, the past participles are very irregular!
Some past participles end in:
-u such as in eu (avoir), tenu (tenir), plu (plaire), lu (lire)
-û such as in mû (mouvoir), crû (croître), dû (devoir)
-is such as in acquis (acquérir), mis (mettre)
-t such as in peint (peindre), cuit (cuire), conduit (conduire)
-ert such as in ouvert (ouvrir), couvert (couvrir)
-ort such as mort (mourir)
-os such as clos (clore)
7 different endings for past participles in the 3rd group!
So you can see those past participles of the 3rd group are difficult to predict.
Therefore, you need to learn them by heart as you need them for compound tenses such as the passé composé.
Moreover, past participles are also used as adjectives and even nouns so they are very useful.
TIP
To know the most useful French verbs in French with their past & present participles, get the free PDF
Master the 185 Most Useful French Verbs
English present participles end in -ing such as in liking or walking.
French present participles end:
in –ant (1st and 3rd group) such as in aimant, partant
or in –issant (2nd group) such as finissant, rougissant
3. Present participles can function as nouns, verbs, adjectives.
present participle + preposition ‘en’ = a gerund
(en parlant, en mangeant, etc. While speaking, while eating)
present participle + no preposition ‘en’ = a past participle
(marchant trop vite, il est tombé. Walking too fast, he fell)
There is no progressive tense in French! (to be + -ing verb= I’m walking in the park)
I’m closing the door is NOT translated by Je suis fermant la porte
Instead, French uses either:
-‘être en train de’ + infinitive
I am closing the door. Je suis en train de fermer la porte.
or
- a simple tense
I am closing the door. Je ferme la porte. (present tense ➳ simple tense)
I was closing the door. Je fermais la porte. (imperfect ➳ simple tense)
To express a way, a manner, or simultaneous actions (2 actions occurring at the same time)
They function as verbs and are invariable (their form never changes).
Used to express an action that occurs parallel to the main action – 1 subject + 2 verbs
Je ne peux pas travailler en mangeant. I cannot work while eating.
(in action#1) (action#2)
En partant, j’ai perdu mes clés. When I left, I lost my keys.
4. Used to explain how or why something happens: 2 subjects + 2 verbs
C’est en pratiquant que vous réussirez. It’s by practicing that you’ll succeed. (explains the how)
Voulant marquer un but, Max s’est concentré sur le ballon.
Wanting to score a goal, Max focused on the ball. (explains the why)
Present participles function as adjectives, nouns, and verbs.
As adjectives (agreement needed)
une fille amusante. a funny girl (fille: fem. + sing.)
des livres très amusants. some very amusing books (livres: masc. + plur.)
un enfant bruyant – a noisy child (enfant: masc. + sing.)
des rues bruyantes – some noisy streets (rues: fem. + plur.)
3. As nouns (agreement needed)
As adjectives, they express a state or quality
un assistant – une assistante (an assistant)
un commerçant – des commerçants (a shopkeeper - shopkeepers)
4. As verbs to show simultaneous action (no agreement)
Entrant dans la classe, j’ai vu mon copain.
When I entered the classroom, I saw my friend.
5. As verbs to replace a relative clause (qui + verb) - (no agreement)
Aux Etats-Unis, les personnes qui parlent français sont rares.
Aux Etats-Unis, les personnes parlant (=qui parlent) français sont rares.
In the United States, people who speak/speaking French are rare.
The traditional method suggests that in order to know how to form present participles you need to:
Take the verb in the present tense with ‘nous’
manger ➳ nous mangeons
2. Drop the –ons ending
nous mangeons ➳ mange
3. Then, add the –ant ending
mange + -ant ➳ mangeant
4. 3 exceptions to this method: être, avoir, savoir
MY GRAIN OF SALTThis method works only if you know already the present tense of all the verbs you need to know.
Therefore, for new verbs, it will be easier to learn their:
present participles
past participles
their infinitives & their meaning
Don’t forget to get the free PDF of the most useful French verbs with their present and past participles.
Indicates the mindset of the subject.
French has 4 moods.
• Indicative: to relate facts & objective statements (the most common mood).
Il se réveille tôt le matin. He gets up early the morning.
•Subjunctive: expresses opinions, feelings, doubt, unlikelihood (commonly used).
Il est dommage qu’il soit mort. It is too bad he is dead.
•Imperative: gives a command, advice, or express a wish.
Marie, réveille-toi! Marie, get up! (command)
Ne cherche pas à comprendre, tu perdras ton temps. Do not try to understand, you will waste your time. (advice)
•Conditional: describes a condition, possibility, or contrary-to-fact statements.
Si j’étais riche, j’achèterais une maison.
If I were rich, I would buy a house.
Indicates the time of the action.
•in the past
•in the present
•in the future
Therefore, there are:
•past tenses
•present tenses
•future tenses
two categories of tenses:
•simple tenses (built with 1 verb)
•compound tenses (built with 2 verbs)
