French Verb Tense Cheat Sheet Present Tense: It tells what is currently happening.

. It is formed by taking the infinitive and adding the appropriate ending: e! es! e! ons! e"! ent. o #e mange des pommes. I am eating some apples. Aller + infinitive: It tells what is going to happen in the near future. It is formed by writing the appropriate form of aller then the infinitive of another verb. o #e vais manger les pommes. I am going to buy some apples. Imperative: It gives commands and makes suggestions. It is formed by eliminating the sub$ect but still con$ugating the verb. %&T': (rop the s on the tu form of the )er imperative. o *ange+ ,ou eat+ Pass Compos It tells what happened in the past. It is formed by con$ugating the helping verb! avoir or -tre! then adding the past participle. o #.ai mang/ des pommes. I ate some apples. Imperfect: It is used to tell how something! or someone! was or what happened repeatedly. It is formed by taking the verb stem of the nous form and adding an ending to it: ais! ais! ait! ions! ie"! aient. o #e mangeais des pommes. I was eating some apples. Conditional: It is used to tell what people would do or what would happen. It is formed by taking the infinitive and adding the appropriate ending. %ote: it uses the same ending as the imperfect. o #e mangerais des pommes. I would eat some apples. Conditional with Si: It is used to tell what would happen is a condition was met or if some contradiction contrary to reality were met. It is formed by using si plus the imperfect! then using the conditional. o Si $e mangeais des pommes! $e l.aimerais. If I were to eat an apple! I would love it. Present Participle: It is used as an e0uivalent to adding )ing to the end of an 'nglish word. It is formed by adding )ant to stem. o #e suis tou$ours heureu1 en mangeant des pommes. I am happy when I am eating apples.

Subjunctive: The sub$unctive is used to e1press uncertainty! doubt! necessity! possibility! wishes! feeling or emotion. It is formed by taking the stem of the ils form and adding the appropriate ending: e! es! e! ions! ie"! ent. It can be followed by the phrase Il faut que. o Il faut 0ue $e mangeais des pommes. It is necessary that I eat apples. There are certain phrases that will yield the sub$unctive. o Il est essential 0ue $e mangeais des pommes. It is essential that I east apples. It is also formed after e1pressions of wish! will! or desire. o #e souhaite 0ue $e mangeais des pommes. I wish I were eating apples. It can be used after e1pressions of emotions. o #e suis content 0ue $e mangeais des pommes. I am glad I ate apples. Future: It is used to tell of events that will happen in the future. It is formed by taking the infinitive and adding the appropriate ending: ai! as! a! ons! e"! ont. o #e mangerai des pommes. I will eat apples. Future with Si: It is used to tell if a certain condition is met what will then happen. It is formed by using si plus a present tense verb! then using the future. o Si $e mange des pommes! $e serai heureu1. If I eat apples! I will be happy. Future with uand: It is used to tell what will happen when something else happens in the future. It is formed by saying 0uand! using the future tense! then the future again. o 2uand $e acheterais des pommes! $e les mangerais. 3hen I buy apples! I eat them. Faire + Infinitive!Causative Faire: It tells the idea of having someone do something or having something done. It is formed by con$ugating the verb faire then putting the infinitive of the following verb. %&T': The form of faire can be put into any tense. o #e a fait acheter des pommes. I had bought the apples. Past Infinitive: It is used to say that one action happened before another. It is formed by using apr4s! the infinitive of either -tre or avoir! then the past participle. o 5pr4s avoir achet/ les pommes! $e les ai mang/es 5fter I bought the apples! I ate them. Past Perfect!Pluperfect: It is used to tell what had happened in the past before something else in the past. It is formed by using the imperfect form of -tre or avoir and the past participle. o 2uand $.ai achet/ les pommes! $e les avais mang/.

 3hen I bought the apples! I had eaten them. Past Conditional: It tells what would have happened in the past if certain conditions had been met. It is formed by using the conditional form of -tre or avoir then the past participle. o #.aurais voulu manger les pommes tout de suite. I would have wanted to eat the apples right away.