

For example, you have the simple present like “I eat,” but you also have simple continuous like “I am eating.” In both situations, the subject is eating in the present, but the meanings are slightly different. But there are a lot of variations on these three main tenses. We talked a little bit about verb tenses earlier, so you’ll probably remember that they come in three main tenses: past, present, and future. A verb tense shows the time period of the verb. For now here is a list of all 21 of the French verb forms:īefore we really get started, I want to clear up a few grammar definitions because these French explanations aren’t going to be helpful if you don’t understand what the English vocabulary even means. But don’t stress too much about the moods, we’ll get more into those later. Still, for the most part, it’s used to talk about situations, emotions, or feelings that aren’t considered inevitable or the present reality.

The rules for the subjunctive tense aren’t always straightforward. Therefore, the verb “like” would be in the subjunctive mood because it isn’t a sure fact. But you also have the subjunctive mood, which can’t technically belong in the simple past or simple present and requires its own present and past tenses because actions in the subjunctive mood are considered subjective and uncertain.įor example, in French, the subjunctive mood is used with verbs like “believe.” If you say, “I believe Sarah likes chocolate,” you aren’t sure she likes chocolate. In general, grammar experts believe there are three main tenses: past, present, and future. You have languages like Indonesian with no verb tenses, which makes French’s 21 different verb forms seem pretty complex. Language learning is more of a roller coaster than a walk in the park, so we’re here to keep the fear to a minimum and the fun to a maximum.įrench grammar is on the more complicated side as grammar systems go. We’ve been there, and we feel you, which is why we wanted to put together this master guide to help you along with your grammar-learning journey.

If you’re learning French, and it’s 21 different verb forms, you’ve probably struggled over a few verbs charts or stumbled through telling a story in the future tense. The system of language gets a bad rap among language learners. > ABOUT THIS SITE: Copyright Laurent Camus - Learn more / Help / Contact | Do not copy or translate - site protected by an international copyright | Legal | Cookies. | Get | Grammar | Guide | Harry Potter | Have | Homonyms | How words are built | Human body | I like, I dislike | Idioms | Imperative | Impersonal | Infinitive | Introducing someone | Inversion | Irregular verbs | Jobs | Journeys | Linking words | Literature | Make or do? | Making portraits, describing | Mars | Matilda | Methodology | Modals | Movements | Music | Nature | Negation | Newspaper | Nouns | Numbers | Online activities | Opinions | Opposite words | Particles | Passive voice | Past | Past habits | Phone calls | Placement tests | Plural | Poems | Politeness | Prepositions | Present | Present participle | Pronouns | Pronunciation | Punctuation | Quantities | Question Tags | Questions | Relative sentences | Say, tell or speak? | School | Several tests | Slang words, colloquial words | Snow | Songs | Speaking | Sports | Subject-Verb agreement | Subjunctive | Subordinate clauses | Suggesting | Synonyms | Tales | The Internet | The house | The weather | There is/There are | This or That? | To have someone do something | Towns | Translations | USA | United Kingdom | Video | Waiting for approval | What time is it? | With a lesson | Writing a letter | Clothes | Colours/Colors | Comparisons | Compound words | Conditional and hypothesis | Conjunctions | Contractions | Countries and nationalities | Dates, days, months, seasons | Dictation | Direct/Indirect speech | Diseases | Etre | Exclamative sentences! | False friends | Family | Films | Find the correct tense | Find the missing letter | Find the word | Food | Frequent mistakes | Future | Games | Gender | General | Geography, history, politics, literature. | Banks, money | Beginners | Betty's adventures | Bilingual dialogues | Business | Buying in a shop | Capital letters | Cars | Celebrations: Thanksgiving, new year. | Adjectives | Adverbs | Agreement/Disagreement | Alphabet | Animals | Articles | Audio test | BE, HAVE, DO, DID, WAS. LESSONS AND TESTS: Abbreviations and acronyms.
