Verbs

There are 3 groups of verb in French

  1. First group : the verbs whose infinitive ends with er
    • All regular verbs ending with er belongs to this group except aller(to go)
    • Parler(to speak)
  2. Second group : the verbs whose infinitive ends with ir
    • Finir(to finish)
  3. Third group : the verbs whose infinitive ends with re
    • Attendre(to wait)

Tenses

French has no continuous tenses (as in 'I am eating', 'I was going', 'I will be arriving' etc). The 'be' and '-ing' parts of English continuous tenses are not translated as seperate words. 

-je mange(I am eating)
-je mangerai(I will be eating)

Types of tenses

  • Présent(Present)
  • Passé composé(Perfect past tense)
  • Passé simple(past simple)
  • Imparfait(Imperfect)
  • Plus-que-parfait(Plus Perfect)
  • Conditionnel(Conditional)
  • Future simple(Future)
  • Future perfait(Future perfect)
  • Passé antérieur(Past Prior(anterior))
  • Future antérieur(Future Prior(anterior))
  • Passé Historique(Past Historic)

Moods

Verb moods are classifications that indicate the attitude of the speaker. Grammatical mood is a form of verb used to refer to the quality of the verb in the sentence. It also indicates the tone of a verb in a sentence.

  • Indicative Mood This mood is used to express a fact statement. The verb in the indicative mood expresses an action as a statement of fact.

    -Elle aime le cadeau(She likes the gift)
-Il cuisine toujours ses repas(He always cooks his meals)

  • Imperative Mood (more in chapter 8.) This mood is used to express a command or a request statement. The tone of the sentence is a direct command, not a suggestion.

    -Range ta chambre(Clean your room)

  • Interrogative Mood This mood is used to express a sense of uncertainty by asking a question. The question contains an auxiliary verb (helping verb) and then a main verb.

    -Vous venez au camp d'été?(Are you coming to the summer camp?)

  • Conditional Mood (more in chapter 8.) This mood is used to express a condition statement. The sentence contains an auxiliary verb (helping verb) that supports a main verb.

    -Si vous voulez rendre visite à vos amis, vous devriez étudier maintenant(If you want to visit your friends, you should study now)

  • Subjunctive Mood (more in chapter 8.) This mood is used to express a wish, doubt, demand, or a hypothetical situation. The verb in the subjunctive mood always changes.

    -Si j'étais dans sa situation, je ne conduirais jamais(If I were in her situation, I would never drive)