What are the different tenses in French?

Tenses can be one of the most overwhelming aspects of French grammar. There are over twenty of them, including seven moods, and it can be tricky to know which one to use at any given time, or even to be able to tell apart two different tenses that might sound very similar. Sometimes context is necessary - or at least a clear awareness of the preceding pronoun - to be able to distinguish between similar-sounding lemmas (that is, different forms of the same word).

The solution? Memorise the different tenses, starting with the most common ones. We've listed each of the tenses you are likely to encounter in French below, beginning with the Présent and ending with the Passé antérieur, so that you can learn them and refer back to this blog whenever you need to.

But don't just look at the different tenses. Try putting them into sentences and using them, as we've done with the examples below. And make sure you have a firm grasp of how different verbs conjugate in each of the different tenses. (It's a good idea to check the verb lists on our website, which contain dozens of verbs across the three different verb groups in all different tenses.) Finally, practise, practise, practise - check back on the list and test yourself to make sure you know what each tense is used for. Do this, and you'll have mastered tenses before you know it.

Tenses show the time of an action or event in a sentence. They tell us when something happens - past, present, or future. More complex tenses help us to locate the timing of an action even more specifically, or to understand whether it is continuous or completed.

To show which tense an action happens in, we need to conjugate the verb accordingly. Alexa's Complete French Course walks you through the conjugations for all the different tenses, starting with the simpler tenses in the A1 module of the course, and advancing to more complex tenses in B2 and upwards.

You may also have come across moods. These are not quite the same as tenses, but they also influence the way a verb is conjugated. See our blog on moods to find out more.

Présent (Present)

Used for actions happening now or regularly.

Je mange une pomme. (I’m eating an apple.)

Elle va à l’école tous les jours. (She goes to school every day.)

Imparfait (Imperfect)

Describes past habits, ongoing past actions, or background descriptions.

Quand j’étais petit, je jouais dehors. (When I was little, I used to play outside.)

Il faisait froid hier. (It was cold yesterday.)

For more on the imparfait, check out Lesson 23 of the Complete French Course.

Passé composé (Compound Past)

Describes completed actions in the past. This is the commonest tense used to describe actions in the past.

J’ai vu ce film. (I saw this movie.)

Elle est allée au marché. (She went to the market.)

For more on the passé composé, check out Lesson 15 of the Complete French Course.

Passé simple (Past Historic)

Used in formal or literary to refer to completed past actions. In informal, everyday speech you are much more likely to hear the passé composé.

Il entra dans la pièce. (He entered the room.)

Elle vit le roi. (She saw the king.)

For more on the passé simple, check out Lesson 37 of the Complete French Course.

Futur simple (Simple Future)

Used for actions that will happen in the future.

Nous partirons demain. (We will leave tomorrow.)

Elle finira bientôt. (She will finish soon.)

For more on the futur simple, check out Lesson 21 of the Complete French Course.

Conditionnel présent (Present Conditional)

Describes hypothetical actions or polite requests.

Je voudrais un café. (I would like a coffee.)

Nous irions dehors s'il faisait beau. (We would go outside if the weather was fine.)

Subjonctif présent (Present Subjunctive)

Used after expressions of doubt, emotion or necessity.

Il faut que tu viennes. (You must come.)

Je doute qu'elle soit heureuse. (I doubt that she is happy.)

Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect / Past Perfect)

Describes an action that happened before another past action.

J’avais fini quand il est arrivé. (I had finished when he arrived.)

Elle était déjà partie. (She had already left.)

For more on the plus-que-parfait, check out Lesson 34 of the Complete French Course.

Futur antérieur (Future Perfect)

Describes an action that will have been completed before another future action.

J’aurai terminé avant midi. (I will have finished before noon.)

Elle sera arrivée d’ici là. (She will have arrived by then.)

For more on the futur antérieur, check out Lesson 35 of the Complete French Course.

Conditionnel passé (Past Conditional)

Expresses a hypothetical action in the past.

J’aurais aimé venir. (I would have liked to come.)

Ils seraient partis plus tôt. (They would have left earlier.)

For more on the conditionnel passé, check out Lesson 36 of the Complete French Course.

Subjonctif passé (Past Subjunctive)

Describes past actions in subjunctive contexts.

Je suis content qu’elle soit venue. (I’m happy she came.)

Il est possible qu’ils aient oublié. (It’s possible they forgot.)

Passé antérieur (Past Anterior – literary)

Use in formal or literary contexts, the Passé antérieur describes a past action which has happened immediately before another.

Dès qu’il eut parlé, elle partit. (As soon as he had spoken, she left.)

Quand elle eut fini, tout le monde applaudit. (When she had finished, everyone applauded.)

Want to learn more about tenses? Check out Alexa's video 'Learn French Tenses in 40 minutes!' to get the hang of the different tenses and when we use them.

For help with visualising the the different tenses, check out Alexa's video 'French verbs & tenses explained in 10 minutes!'