Introduction to all moods and tenses in French
Ok, so you probably have some idea of what a tense is, but no idea what a mood is. I’m going to try and explain it in the most simple way, but hang in there for a moment.
A mood refers to the attitude of the speaker toward the action. Think of it as the way the speaker feels or intends the action to be understood to the listeners. So in a way, you change the verb to convey your own feeling.
Tense is especially about the time of the action (past, present, future). Furthermore, tense can be simple or combined. Each mood can have various tenses associated with it. In French, the indicative mood has several tenses, for example:
French moods
Moods convey modality, which involves the intention or attitude behind a statement, such as certainty, doubt, command, necessity, or possibility. In French, there are 7 moods:
- Indicative (Indicatif): Used for stating facts and objective statements.
- Subjunctive (Subjonctif): Used to express doubt, emotion, wishes, or uncertainty.
- Conditional (Conditionnel): Used to express actions that are dependent on certain conditions.
- Imperative (Impératif): Used to give commands or requests.
- Infinitive (Infinitif): The base form of the verb, used in compound tenses.
- Participle (Participe): Used to form compound tenses and as adjectives.
- Gerund (Gérondif): Used to express simultaneous actions or manner.
Read more about moods in French here
French tenses
A tense in French verb conjugation, and in most other languages, indicates time (present, past and future). It also can be in simple or compound.
Indicative Mood Tenses
- Présent (Present)
- Imparfait (Imperfect)
- Passé Simple (Simple Past)
- Futur Simple (Future)
- Passé Composé (Present Perfect)
- Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect)
- Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior)
- Futur Antérieur (Future Perfect)
Subjunctive Mood Tenses
- Présent (Present)
- Imparfait (Imperfect)
- Passé (Past)
- Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect)
Conditional Mood Tenses
Imperative Mood Tenses
- Présent (Present)
- Passé (Past)
Infinitive Mood Tenses
- Présent (Present)
- Passé (Past)
Participle Mood Tenses
- Présent (Present)
- Passé (Past)
Gerund Mood Tenses
- Présent (Present)
- Passé (Past)
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