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French/Lessons/Print version

Grammar

1. Adjectives
2. Adverbs
3. Articles
4. Negation
5. Prepositions
6. Sentences
7. Verbs
8. Conjugations
9. Verb tenses sorted by type
10. Verb moods

Adjectives

Just like articles, French adjectives also have to match the nouns that they modify in gender and plurality.

Regular formation

Spelling

Most adjective changes occur in the following manner:

• Feminine: add an -e to the masculine form
  • un garçon intéressant --> une fille intéressante
  • un ami amusant --> une amie amusante
  • un camion lent --> une voiture lente
• Plural: add an -s to the singular form
  • un garçon intéressant --> des garçons intéressants
  • une fille intéressante --> des filles intéressantes

Pronunciation

Generally, the final consonant is pronounced only when it comes before an -e. Most adjectives, such as those above, are affected by this rule.

• Masculine Pronunciation: intéressan, amusan, len
• Feminine Pronunciation: intéressant, amusant, lent

Irregular formation

Irregular plural formation

Irregular feminine formation

Special rules

Adjectives that precede nouns

List

Adjectives that are used frequently before nouns. These are:

• affreux (affreuse)
• autre
• beau (belle)
• bon(ne) +
• court(e) +
• dernier (dernière) +
• gentil (gentille)
• grand(e) +
• gros(se) +
• haut(e)
• jeune +
• joli(e)
• large
• long(ue)
• mauvais(e)
• méchant(e) +
• meilleur(e)
• nouveau (nouvelle)
• pauvre
• petit(e)
• vieux (vieille)
• vilain(e)

+ sometimes placed after a noun, and may change in meaning

When these adjectives appear before an indefinite plural noun, they will change the article associated with it ^[1]:

• des garçons courageux / de beaux garçons

Changes in meaning

When grand goes before a noun, it means great. However, when it goes after the noun, it means tall. Likewise, when pauvre goes before a noun, it means unfortunate. When it comes after the noun, it means financially poor. This rule works most of the time, but be careful, "pauvre" can mean "financially poor" even when used before the nouns.

Beau, nouveau, and vieux

These three adjectives behave differently when placed before a singular masculine noun starting with a vowel or silent h:

Possessive adjectives

In English, we say "her car" when the owner of the car is a woman and "his car" when the owner is a man. In French, they say "sa voiture" even if the owner is a male. It is not the owner who determines the gender of the possessive adjective but the object owned.

First person singular - mon, ma, mes
Second person singular (informal) - ton, ta, tes
Third person singular - son, sa, ses

First person plural - notre, notre, nos
Second person plural (and polite form) - votre, votre, vos
Third person plural - leur, leur, leurs

Note: Exception. When a feminine noun starts with a vowel or silent 'h', you should utilize "Mon" instead of "Ma". Example:

Mon ami = ok 
Ma amie = error! 
Mon amie = ok.

Demonstrative adjectives

There are four adjectives that demonstrate a specific object:

• Ce garçon (masculin)
• Cet ami (masculin before vowel or silent h)
• Cette fille (feminine)
• Ces enfants (plural)

References

Adverbs

French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. They do not display any inflection; that is, their form does not change to reflect their precise role, nor any characteristics of what they modify.

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent ("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ("slowly"); similarly, heureux → heureusement ("happy" → "happily").

As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix:

• If the adjective ends in an i, then -ment is added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to the feminine singular form:
  • vrai → vraiment ("real" → "really")
  • poli → poliment ("polite" → "politely")
• If the adjective ends in -ant or -ent, then the corresponding adverb ends in -amment or -emment, respectively:
  • constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly")
  • récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently")
• Some adjectives make other changes:
  • précis → précisément ("precise" → "precisely")
  • gentil → gentiment ("nice" → "nicely")

Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:

• bon → bien ("good" → "well")
• mauvais → mal ("bad" → "badly")
• meilleur → mieux ("better"-adjective → "better"-adverb)
• pire → pire ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb)

And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:

• ainsi ("thus" or "thusly")

Placement

The placement of French adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs.

An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:

• complètement vrai ("completely true")
• pas possible ("not possible")
• tellement discrètement ("so discreetly")

An adverb that modifies an Infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive:

• marcher lentement ("to walk slowly")

But negative adverbs, such as pas ("not"), pas plus ("not any more"), and jamais come before the infinitive:

• ne pas marcher ("not to walk")

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

• Lentement il commença à marcher or Il commença lentement à marcher ("Slowly, he began to walk" or "He began slowly to walk").

Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs:

• Jamais je n'ai fait cela or Je n'ai jamais fait cela ("Never have I done that" or "I've never done that")

List of common adverbs

Articles

The definite article · L'article défini

The definite article agrees with a specific noun in gender and number. Like other articles (indefinite, partitive) they present a noun. In English, the definite article is always the (the noun). Unlike English, the French definite article is used also in a general sense, a general statement, or feeling about an idea or thing.

In French, the definite article is dependent on the noun's:

1. gender
2. plurality
3. first letter being a vowel

There are three definite articles and an abbreviation. Le is used for masculine nouns, La is used for feminine nouns, Les is used for plural nouns (both masculine or feminine), and L' is used when the noun begins with a vowel or silent h (both masculine or feminine). It is similar to English, where a changes to an before a vowel.

singular	feminine	la	/la/ (lah)	la fille	(lah fee-yuh)	the daughter
	masculine	le	/lə/ (luh)	le fils	(luh fees)	the son
singular, starting with a vowel sound		l’	/l/	l’enfant	(lah(n)-fah(n))	the child
plural		les	/le/ (lay)	les filles	(lay fee-yuh)	the daughters
				les fils	Template:French/Section (''lay fees'')	the sons
				les enfants	(lay-zah(n)-fah(n))	the children

The indefinite article · L'article indéfini

In English, the indefinite articles are a and an. While some is used as a plural article. In French, indefinite articles take on the gender of the noun it precedes if singular, but also has a plural form that is used for either gender.

singular	feminine	une	/yn/ (ewn)	une fille	a daughter
	masculine	un	/œ̃/ (uh(n))	un fils	a son
plural		des	/de/ (day)	des filles	some daughters
				des fils	some sons

Note that des, like les, is used in French before plural nouns when no article is used in English. For example, you are looking at photographs in an album. The English statement "I am looking at photographs." cannot be translated to French as "Je regarde photographies" because an article is required to tell which photographs are being looked at. If it is a set of specific pictures, the French statement should be "Je regarde les photographies." ("I am looking at the photographs.") . On the other hand, if the person is just randomly browsing the album, the French translation is "Je regarde des photographies." ("I am looking at some photographs.")

Partitive article

The partitive article de indicates, among other things, the word some. As for prepositions, de le contracts (combines) into du, and de les contracts into des. Also, de l' is used in front of words starting with vowels.

When speaking about food, the partitive article is used sometimes, while the definite article (le, la, les) is used at other times, and the indefinite article (un, une) in yet another set of situations. In general "de" refers to a part of food (a piece of pie) whereas the definite article (le) refers to a food in general (I like pie (in general)). The indefinite article refers to an entire unit of a food (I would like a (whole) pie).

When speaking about preferences, use the definite article:

When speaking about eating or drinking an item, there are specific situations for the use of each article.

If the noun taken in a partitive sense happens to be preceded by a qualifying adjective, or a negative verb, then de is used alone.

• un, une, du, de la, des change to de.
• for specific quantities;however, the quantity rather than de is used.

Nouns

Gender of nouns · Genre des noms

In French, all nouns have a grammatical gender; that is, they are either masculin (m) or feminin (f).

Most nouns that express people or animals have both a masculine and a feminine form. For example, the two words for "the actor" in French are l'acteur (m) and l'actrice (f). The two words for "the cat" are le chat (m) and la chatte (f).

However, there are some nouns that talk about people or animals whose gender are fixed, regardless of the actual gender of the person or animal. For example, la personne (f) (the person) is always feminine, even when it's talking about your uncle! Le professeur (m) (the professor) is always masculine, even when it's talking about your female professor/teacher!

The nouns that express things without an obvious gender (e.g., objects and abstract concepts) have only one form. This form can be masculine or feminine. For example, la voiture (the car) can only be feminine; le stylo (the pen) can only be masculine.

Examples
Masculine		Common endings used with masculine nouns
le cheval	the horse	-age	le fromage		the cheese
le chien	the dog	-r	le professeur		the teacher
le livre	the book	-t	le chat		the cat
le bruit	the noise	-isme	le capitalisme		capitalism
Feminine		Common endings used with feminine nouns
la colombe	the dove	-ie	la boulangerie		the bakery
la chemise	the shirt	-ion	la nation		the nation
la maison	the house	-ite/-ité	la fraternité		brotherhood
la liberté	liberty	-nce	la balance		the scales
		-lle	la fille		the girl
		-nne	l’indienne		the Indian

Irregularities and exceptions

There are three nouns in French where gender is altered when put in the plural form:

amour (un amour passionné → des amours passionnées)

orgue

délice

There are many exceptions to gender rules in French which can only be learned. There are even words that are spelled the same, but have a different meaning when masculine or feminine; for example, le livre (m) means the book, but la livre (f) means the pound. Some words that appear to be masculine (like le photo, which is actually short for la photographie) are in fact feminine, and vice versa. Then there are some that just don't make sense; la foi is feminine and means a belief, whereas le foie means liver.

Plurals

Irregular plurals

Prepositions

Common prepositions

Pronouns

Subject pronouns

A pronoun replaces a noun in a sentence. Often used to prevent repeating the noun. French has six different types of subject pronouns: the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person singular and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person plural.

Grammar Subject Pronouns · Les pronoms soumis
1st person	singular	je	I
	plural	nous	we
2nd person	singular	tu	you
	plural	vous*	you
3rd person	singular	il, elle, on**	he, she, one
	plural	ils, elles***	they (masculine) they (feminine)

Notes:

* When referring to more than one person in the 2nd person, “vous” must be used. When referring to a single person, “vous” or “tu” may be used depending on the situation. Tu is informal and used only with well-known acquaintances. In case of unknown persons you have to use the polite form Vous. A good example, to explain that is the following: If two business acquaintances meet another, they say Vous. If they later fall in love, they say Tu. When unsure, it is better to say "vous." Also, grammatically, even the singular form of "vous" behaves as though it were a plural, so even if you are addressing only one person, you would still use verbal grammar consistent with addressing multiple people, similar to English (as in "you are", "you [all] are", "they are.") Nevertheless, the adjectives or past participles are declined according to the true number of the referring pronoun.

Examples, addressing one person:

• Tu chantes - you sing (informal)
• Vous chantez - you sing (polite) - (also, to address many persons)
• Tu es grand - You are tall (informal)
• Vous êtes grand - You are tall (polite, male)
• Vous êtes grande - You are tall (polite, female)

Examples, addressing many persons:

• Vous êtes grands - You are tall (formal or polite, male, many persons)
• Vous êtes grandes - You are tall (formal or polite, female, many persons)

** - il denotes masculine nouns, elle denotes feminine nouns, and on is for indeterminate subjects (see below).

*** - While the third person plural "they" has no gender in English, the French equivalents "ils" and "elles" do. However, when pronounced, they normally sound the same as "il" and "elle", so distinguishing the difference requires understanding of the various conjugations of the verbs following the pronoun. Ils is used with all-male or mixed groups, elles is only used when all members of the group are female. Examples:

• Jack et Philipp parlent - Jack and Philipp speak
  Ils parlent - They speak (all-male group)
• Jack et Lucy parlent - Jack and Lucy speak
  Ils parlent - They speak (mixed group)
• Lucy et Dina parlent - Lucy and Dina speak
  Elles parlent - They speak (all female group)

The pronoun on

French pronouns carry meanings that do not exist in English pronouns. The French third person "on" has several meanings, but most closely matches the English "one", except that it is not so formal, and is more common. It has a number of uses:

• It is used in the same ways as the English personal pronoun one:
  • It is used in expressing generalities: « C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. » ("It is by blacksmithing that one becomes a blacksmith.")
  • It is the implicit subject for an infinitive that has no other implicit subject: « penser qu'on a raison » ("to think that one is right," i.e. "to think oneself right").
• Because of French's limited passive voice, it is often used as an empty subject when the agent is unknown or unimportant: « On me l'a donné. » ("[On] gave it to me" or "I was given it" or "It was given to me.")
• It is used as a less formal substitute for the subject pronoun nous (we). In this case, note that even though on always takes a third-person singular verb, it takes plural adjectives (« On est américains », "We're American"). Also, note that the other forms of nous (direct object, indirect object, and disjunctive) are not replaced by forms of on unless on is the subject as well. (Hence, « Ils nous l'ont donné », "They gave it to us," but « On se l'est donné », "We gave it to ourselves.")
• It is not the number 1, and therefore is not used to mean "one of them." In French as in English, numbers can be used as pronouns — « Deux sont entrés et un est ressorti »,

"Two went in and one came back out" — but the number 1 is un(e), not on.

On does not have ordinary direct- and indirect-object pronouns, only the reflexive pronoun se. Similarly, its disjunctive-pronoun form, soi, is only used when on is the subject and soi refers to the same entity. The pronoun quelqu'un ("someone") can fill some of the roles of on, in the same way that one and someone are sometimes interchangeable in English.

Object Pronouns me, te, se, nous, and vous

Meanings

• me - me, to me
• te - you, to you (singular, informal)
• se - to him/her (or himself/herself/itself - reflexive)
• nous - us, to us
• vous - you, to you (plural, formal)
• se - to them (or themselves - reflexive)

Place in sentences

• These pronouns are placed before the verb that they modify
  • Je te vois. - I see you.
  • Je veux te voir. - I want to see you.
• If a perfect tense is used, these pronouns go before the auxiliary verb.
  • Je t'ai vu. - I saw you.

Direct object replacement

• Il me voit. - He sees me.
• Il te voit. - He sees you.
• Il nous voit. - He sees us.
• Il vous voit. - He sees you.

Indirect Object Replacement

• Il m'appelle. - He calls me.
• Il te le lance. - He throws it to you.
• Il nous le lance. - He throws it to us.
• Il vous le lance. - He throws it to you.

l', le, la, and les

l', le, la, and les are pronouns which are used as direct objects and hence are called direct object pronouns. A direct object is a noun that receives the action of a verb.

• Il lance la balle. - He throws the ball.

In the above sentence la balle is the direct object.

You have learned earlier that names and regular nouns can be replaced by the subject pronouns (je, tu...). Similarly, direct objects, such as "la balle", can be replaced by pronouns.

• le - replaces a masculine singular direct object
• la - replaces a feminine singular direct object
• l' - replaces le and la if they come before a vowel
• les - replaces plural direct objects, both masculine and feminine

The direct object pronouns come before the verb they are linked to.

• Il la lance. - He throws it.
• Il les lance. - He throws them.

Note

When direct object pronouns are being used with the passé composé tense with verbs that do not represent movement (i.e. use the auxiliary AVOIR in a conjugated form before the past participle), some endings are added to the past participle.

Examples: J'ai lu ces livres - I read these books -> Je les ai "lus"

lui and leur

Indirect objects are prepositional phrases with the object of the preposition. An indirect object is a noun that receives the action of a verb.

• Il lance la balle à Jacques. - He throws the ball to Jack.
• Il lance la balle à Marie. - He throws the ball to Mary.
• Il lance la balle à Jacques et Marie. - He throws the ball to Jack and Mary.

Lui and leur are indirect object pronouns. They replace nouns referring to people and mean to him/her and to them respectively.

• lui - replaces a singular masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a person
• leur - replaces a plural masculine or feminine indirect object referring to a person

An example follows:

• Il lui lance la balle. - He throws the ball to him.
• Il lui lance la balle. - He throws the ball to her.
• Il leur lance la balle. - He throws the ball to them.

Whether lui means to him or to her is given by context.

In English, "He throws him the ball" is also said, and means the same thing.

When used with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, lui and leur come after those pronouns.

• Il la lui lance. - He throws it to him.

Note that while le, la, and les are used to replace people or inanimate objects, lui and leur are not used to replace innanimate objects and things.

Also note that unlike le and la, which are shortened to l' when followed by a vowel, lui is never shortened

y

Indirect object pronoun - to it, to them

The French pronoun y is used to replace an object of a prepositional phrase introduced by à.

• Je réponds aux questions. - I respond to the questions.
• J'y réponds. - I respond to them.

Note that lui and leur, and not y, are used when the object refers to a person or persons.

Replacement of places - there

The French pronoun y replaces a prepositional phrase referring to a place that begins with any preposition except de (for which en is used).

• Mes parents vont en France. - My parents go to France.
• Mes parents y vont. - My parents go there.

Note that en, and not y is used when the object is of the preposition de.

Idioms

• Ça y est! - It's done!
• J'y suis! - I'm there!

en

Replacement of a partitive construction

• The pronoun en replaces a noun with a partitive article (l'article partitif: du, de la, de, des) at the front. In this case En goes always with the singular, even if there are many items addressed.

• • Je veux du pain. => J'en veux. - I want some bread. => I want some.

Replacement of quantified nouns

If the quantity of the object is specified, "en" is used for the replacement of the noun.

Example: Il a acheté deux pommes. => Il en a acheté deux.

Note that no agreement is needed between the past participle (le participe passé) and the object (complément d'objet direct).

Replacement of phrases with de

• The pronoun en replaces prepositional phrases beginning with de if the object of the preposition is referring to a thing or place.
  • Je viens de Paris. - I come from Paris.
  • J' en viens. - I come from it.
• Note that stress pronouns, and not en are used if the object refers to a person or persons.

Pronoun order

Order chart

If a sentence uses no infinitive, the pronouns are embedded as follows:

If a sentence uses an infinitive, the pronouns are embedded as follows:

Order rules

• When a sentence uses the indirect object pronouns me, te, nous, and vous with the direct object pronouns le, la, and les, me, te, nous, and vous go first.
  • Il me le donne. - He gives it to me.
• When a sentence uses the indirect object pronouns lui and leur with the direct object pronouns le, la, and l', le, la, and les go first.
  • Il le lui donne. - He gives it to him/her.
• When y is used in the same sentence as other pronouns, y goes after all of them with the exception of en.
  • Il m'emmène à Paris. - He takes me to Paris.
  • Il m'y emmène. - He takes me there.
• Y in conjunction with en is only used in a few cases.
  • Il y en a. - There exist several ones.
  • Est-ce qu'il y a des pommes? (Oui,) il y en a. (No,) il n'y en a (pas/plus). - Are there any apples (left)? Yes, there are. No, there aren't.
• When there are two pronouns in a sentence, en always go last.

L'impératif

When expressing positive commands, there are several rules one must remember when using object pronouns. These are:

• The pronouns are attached to the verb with a hyphen.
  • Retrouve-la. - Find it.
• Me and Te become moi and toi.
  • Donnez-moi les clés. - Give me the keys.
• Le, la, and les precede all other object pronouns.
  • Donnez-le-moi. - Give it to me.
• For the second person singular form, an "s" is added if the object (in the pronoun form) begins with a vowel or "y".
  • Va au tableau. - Go to the blackboard. BUT Vas-y. - Go (there).
  • Vas-y. - Come on.
  • Achète des pommes. - Buy some apples. BUT Achètes-en. - Buy some.

Possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns replace possessive article + noun sets.

• Vous avez votre voiture? - You have your car?
• Oui, nous avons la nôtre. - Yes, we have ours.

À + a stress pronoun is used when the noun replaced is also the subject of the sentence. This usually occurs in sentences with être.

• Elle est à toi cette voiture? - Is this car yours?
• Oui, elle est à moi. - Yes, it is mine.

Sentences

In the introduction of the book the description of a sentence, versus a phrase was outlined. A phrase does not contain a subject + verb, while a sentence includes a subject (what or whom) and a predicate (tells us about the subject). A sentence, and not a phrase, is a grammatical unit, which may have nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Like English, a sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.

In the introduction we highlighted the types of sentences, and these are:

• Declarative (statements)
• Interrogative (questions)
• Exclamatory (exclamations)
• Commanding (commands)

Declarative

A simple declarative sentence is subject + verb + object noun. This word order is pretty much the same as English. "Henry got a car." You may have heard that there are some English sentences that cannot be translated to French. While this is true in the literal sense, it doesn't mean you can't get the point across in another way. The French declarative sentence with direct and indirect object nouns must be in this order: subject + verb + direct object + indirect object.

For example, I can say "Peter bought a car for his son Henry" in French, but I can't say "Peter bought his son Henry a car." In the first example Peter is the subject, bought is the verb, a car is the direct object, and for his son Henry is the indirect object. In the second example you will see that the direct object and indirect object have been swapped. In order to translate an English statement like this, you would have to slide the indirect object to its proper place.

Henri obtenu une voiture. (Simple declarative)

Pierre a acheté une voiture pour son fils Henri. (With direct + indirect object)

Pierre a acheté pour son fils Henri une voiture. (With indirect + direct object - wrong)

Interrogative

Formation

Intonation

As in English, raising the tone at the end of a sentence can turn it into a question.

Example:

Il aime les bonbons. He likes sweets.
Il aime les bonbons? Does he like sweets?

Est-ce que...

"Est-ce que" (ehs kuh) by itself does not mean anything. Like the upside-down question mark in Spanish '¿', it merely indicates the sentence is an informal question. To form a question, attach "Est-ce que..." at the beginning of the sentence. Sometimes "que" has to be modified to "qu'" for elision. Est-ce is actually the inversion of c'est ("it is"). Like all inversions a '-' dash is required.

These questions in this form are typically mean't to elicit a "Oui" or "Non" answer. If you want more than that, you must precede it with an interrogative: Quand est-ce que, Qui est-ce que, or Quel est-ce que, for example.

Some of these later examples can more easily be said by just leaving the inversion off. For example "Quel est le problème ?" is preferred to "Quel est-ce que le problèm ?"

If the question is negative, then the form is: n'est-ce pas, as in: N'est-ce pas qu'il fait beau temps ? ou Il fait beau temps; n'est-ce pas ? (It is good weather, is it not?)

Example: Il aime ce film. => Est-ce qu'il aime ce film ?
(He likes this film. => Does he like this film?)

Inversion

This is considered to be the most formal way to ask a question out of the three.
(The indicative form of the following sentences will be placed in parentheses for comparison.)

To ask a question by inversion, simply invert the verb and the subject (the pronoun) and insert a hyphen (un trait d'union) in between.
Example: Do you like apples? (You like apples.)
Aimes-tu les pommes ? (Tu aimes les pommes.)

In the case where the verb ends in a vowel while the subject starts with one, a "t" needs to be inserted to avoid elision.
Example: Did she make the decision already? (She made the decision already.)
A-t-elle déjà pris la décision ? (Elle a déjà pris la décision.)

(Notice that for compound tense [les temps composés], only the avoir or être part is interchanged with the subject.)

For third person plural (verbs ending in "ent"), there is no need to insert the "t".
Example: Are they buying a house? (They are buying a house.)
Achètent-ils une maison ? (Ils achètent une maison.)

If the subject is a noun instead of a pronoun, invert the verb and the pronoun that represents the subject.
Example: Did Marie choose this shirt? (Marie chose this shirt.)
'Marie a-t-elle choisi cette chemise ? (Marie a choisi cette chemise.)

For negative such as "ne...pas", the verb should be inserted in between:
Example: Didn't you eat the whole pizza? (You didn't eat the whole pizza.)
N'as-tu pas mangé la pizza entière ? (Tu n'as pas mangé la pizza entière.)

If there is a direct or indirect object (complément d'objet [in]direct), it goes before the verb.
Example: Have you been there? (You have been there.)
Y es-tu allé(e) ? (Tu y es allé(e).)

Question/Interrogative words

• Où ? - Where?
• Quand ? - When?
• Pourquoi ? - Why?
• Comment ? - How?
• Quel/Quels/Quelle/Quelles ? - Which?
• Qui ? - Who?
• Combien ? - How much?
• Quoi ? - What?

Exclamatory

Commanding

If...

Si...

With present tense (le présent):

(1) Si + (le présent), (le futur simple)
Example: If you finish your homework, I'll give you some candies.
Si tu finis tes devoirs, je te donnerai des bonbons.

(2) Si + (le présent), (l'impératif)
Example: If you are cold, close the window.
Si tu as froid, ferme la fenêtre.

With imperfect (l'imparfait) past tense (to express hypothetical situations):

(3) Si + (l'imparfait), (le conditionnel)
Example: If I had a million dollars, I would buy a house.
Si j'avais un million de dollars, j'achèterais une maison.

With "plus-que-parfait" (also to express hypothetical situations):

(4) Si + (le plus-que-parfait), (le conditionnel passé)
Example: If I had known (or "had I known") computers were so useful, I would have taken a computer course.
Si j'avais su que les ordinateurs étaient si utiles, j'aurais suivi un cours de l'informatique.

Verbs

Pronominal verbs

Pronominal verbs are verbs that include pronouns. These pronouns are me, te, se, nous, and vous and are used as either direct objects or indirect objects, depending on the verb that they modify. When pronominal verbs are conjugated in perfect tenses, être is used as the auxiliary verb.

The following table shows which reflexive pronoun to use with each form of the verb:

Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject.

• Je me lave. - I wash myself.
• Nous nous lavons. - We wash ourselves.
• Ils se lavent. - They wash themselves.

Reflexive verbs can also be used as infinitives.

• Je vais me laver. - I'm going to wash myself.

Either the conjugated verb or the infinitive can be negated each with slightly different meanings.

• Je ne vais pas me laver. - I'm not going to wash myself.
• Je vais ne pas me laver. - I'm going to not wash myself (for some period of time, e.g.).

In perfect tenses, the past participles agree with the direct object pronoun, but not the indirect object pronoun, in gender and plurality. Therefore it would only agree when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Also remember that the past participle does not agree with the direct object if it goes after the verb.

• Elle s'est lavée. - She washed herself.
• Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s. - We washed ourselves.
• Elle s'est lavé les mains. - She washed her hands.
• Nous nous sommes lavé les mains. - We washed our hands.

Here is an example conjugation of a reflexive verb:

^ 1. The futur simple, passé simple, imperfect, conditional and subjunctive are all conjugated with the reflexive pronoun in the same position as in the present.

^ 2. All reflexive verbs take être in the passé composé and therefore have an e added to the past participle for females and an s for plural.

^ 3. When a reflexive verb is put as an infinitive behind any other verb (e.g. vouloir, pouvoir, aller...) it still takes the appropriate reflexive pronoun.

Reciprocal verbs

With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other.

Nous nous aimons. - We like each other.

Like reflexive verbs, the past participle of reciprocal verbs agrees in number and gender with the direct object if it goes before the verb. It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as direct objects.

Nous nous sommes aimé(e)s. - We liked each other.

The reciprocal pronoun can also function as an indirect object without a direct object pronoun.

Nous nous sommes parlé. - We spoke to each other.

Elles se sont téléphoné. - They telephoned one another.

Vous vous êtes écrit souvent? - You wrote to each other often?

Naturally pronominal verbs

Some verbs are pronominal without performing a reflexive or reciprocal action.

Tu te souviens? - Do you remember?

In perfect tenses, these verbs agree with the direct object if it goes before the verb. Otherwise, the past participle agrees with the subject.

Elle s'est souvenue. - She remembered.

Some verbs have different meanings as pronominal verbs.

• rendre - to return, to give back
• se rendre (à) - to go (to)

Negation

ne..pas

• Simple negation is done by wrapping ne...pas around the verb.
  • Je ne vole pas. - I do not steal.
• In a perfect tense, ne...pas wraps around the auxiliary verb, not the participle.
  • Je n'ai pas volé. - I haven't stolen.
• When an infinitive and conjugated verb are together, ne...pas usually wraps around the conjugated verb.
  • Je ne veux pas voler. - I do not want to steal.
• ne pas can also go directly in front of the infinitive for a different meaning.
  • Je veux ne pas voler. - I want not to steal.
• ne goes before any pronoun relating to the verb it affects.
  • Je ne l'ai pas volé. - I did not steal it.
  • Nous ne nous aimons pas. - We do not love each other.

Other negative expressions

• ne...personne wraps around the entire verb set.
  • Je ne l'ai donné à personne. - I did not give it to anyone.
  • Je ne veux le donner à personne. - I do not want to give it to anybody.
• ne...ni...ni requires two objects, either direct or indirect, and comes before them.
  • Je ne l'ai donné ni à mon frère, ni à ma sœur. - I gave it neither to my brother nor my sister.
  • Je ne peux voir ni mon frère ni ma sœur. - I am able to see neither my brother nor my sister.
• In ne...aucun(e), aucun(e) goes before an object.
  • Il n'a aucun ami. Aucun. - He has no friend. None.
  • Il n'a aucune feuille de papier. Aucune. - He has no sheet of paper. None.
• Il n'a qu'une feuille de papier. - He has only one piece of paper.
• Je ne peux guère voir mon frère et ma sœur - I can hardly see my brother and sister.

Spoken French

Now, the 'ne' sometimes disappears when one speaks. However, it is always used in written French and for formal conversations.

• Je ne l'ai donné à personne -> Je l'ai donné à personne (I didn't give it to anyone)
• Je ne sais pas -> Je sais pas (I don't know)

Summary

To say not, never, or other negative verbs, you have to 'sandwich' the negative words around a verb.

Example:

• Il n'y a pas de cinéma. (meaning: "There is no cinema")
• On ne peut jamais aller en boîte. (meaning: "You can never go partying")
• Il n' y a rien à faire ici. (meaning: "There is nothing to do here")

If " ne " is before a vowel then it changes to " n' ".

Conjugations

French conjugation is the creation of derived forms of a French verb from its principal parts by inflection. French verbs are conventionally divided into three conjugations (conjugaisons) with the following grouping:

• 1^st group: verbs ending in -er.
• 2^nd group: verbs ending in -ir, with the gerund ending in -issant.
• 3^rd group:
  • 1^st section: verbs ending in -ir, with the gerund ending in -ant.
  • 2^nd section: verbs ending in -oir.
  • 3^rd section: verbs ending in -re.

The first two groups follow a regular conjugation, whereas the third group follows an irregular one. The third group is considered a closed-class conjugation form ^[1], meaning that most new verbs introduced to the French language are of the first group (téléviser, atomiser, radiographier), with the remaining ones being of the second group.

It is noteworthy that the verb aller is the only verb ending in -er belonging to the third group.

Auxiliary verbs

There are two auxiliary verbs in French: avoir (to have) and être (to be), used to conjugate compound tenses according to these rules:

• Transitive verbs (direct or indirect) in the active voice are conjugated with the verb avoir.
• Intransitive verbs are conjugated with either avoir or être.
• Reflexive verbs (or "pronominal verbs") are conjugated with être.
• Verbs in the passive voice are conjugated with être.

Compound tenses are conjugated with an auxiliary followed by the past participle, ex: j'ai fait (I did), je suis tombé (I fell). When être is used, the participle is inflected according to the gender and number of the subject. The participle is inflected with the use of the verb avoir according to the direct object, but only if the direct object precedes the participle, ex:

• il a marché, elle a marché, nous avons marché (he walked, she walked, we walked)
• il est tombé, elle est tombée, nous sommes tombés, elles sont tombées (he fell, she fell, we fell, they (fem.) fell)
• Il a acheté une voiture. Voilà la voiture qu'il a achetée. (He bought a car. Here is the car he bought)

As stand-alone verbs, the conjugation of the two auxiliaries is listed in the table below:

Avoir

This verb has different stems for different tenses. These are imperfect av- /av/; present subjunctive ai- /ɛ/; future and conditional aur- /ɔʁ/; simple past and past subjunctive e- (not pronounced: eus, eusse are pronounced as bare inflections /y, ys/). Although the stem changes, the inflections of these tenses are as a regular -oir verb.

However, in the simple present, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well:

* Notice that the imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: avoir /avwaʁ/
• Present participle: ayant /ejɑ̃/
• Gerundive: en ayant /an ejɑ̃/
• Verbal adjective: ayant(s) /ejɑ̃/, ayante(s) /ejɑ̃t/
• Past participle: eu(e)(s) /y/

Auxiliary verb: avoir

Expressing age

Avoir is also used to express age.

Interogitives

Besides using avoir affirmatively. You can also use it interrogatively. A small complication arises, in that without some help, the result does not sound very good. The use of an euphonic (pleasing to the ear) is used with vowels before the pronoun. Thus, the letter -t- is placed between the verb and the pronoun:

Ai-je? (Have I?)
As-tu? (Have you?) informal
A-t-il? (Has he?)
A-t-elle? (Has she?)
Avons nous? (Have we?)
Avez vous? (Have you?) formal
Ont ils? (Have they?) masculine
Ont elles? (Have they?) feminine

The use of liaison fullfils the euphonic for ""ont".

Être

This verb has different stems for different tenses. These are all pronounced differently: imperfect ét- /et/; present subjunctive soi- /swa/; future and conditional ser- /s(ə)ʀ/; simple past and past subjunctive in f- /f/. The inflections of these tenses are as a regular -oir verb (that is, as an -re verb but with the vowel u /y/ in the f- forms). For example, subjunctive soyons, soyez is pronounced with the y sound (/swajɔ̃, swaje/) of other -re and -oir verbs.

However, in the simple present, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well:

* Notice that the imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation.

The non-finite forms use the stem êt- /ɛt/ (before a consonant)/ét- /ɛt/ (before a vowel):

• Infinitive: être
• Present participle: étant
• Gerundive: en étant
• Verbal adjective: étant(e)(s)
• Past participle: été(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

First group verbs (-er verbs)

French verbs ending in -er, which comprise the largest class, inflect somewhat differently than other verbs. Between the stem and the inflectional endings that are common across most verbs, there may be a vowel, which in the case of the -er verbs is a silent -e- (in the simple present singular), -é or -ai /e/ (in the past participle and the je form of the simple past), and -a- /a/ (in the rest of simple past singular and in the past subjunctive). In addition, the orthographic -t found in the -ir and -re verbs in the singular of the simple present and past is not found in this conjugation, so that the final consonants are -, -s, - rather than -s, -s, -t.

Parler

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: parler /paʀle/
• Present participle: parlant /paʀlɑ̃/
• Gerundive: en parlant /ɑ̃ paʀlɑ̃/
• Verbal adjective: parlant(s) /paʀlɑ̃/, parlante(s) /paʀlɑ̃t/
• Past participle: parlé(e)(s) /paʀle/

Auxiliary verb: avoir (arriver, entrer, monter, passer, rester, rentrer, retourner, and tomber use être)

Exceptional contexts:

• When the first-person singular present tense form of the indicative or subjunctive is found in inversion, the writer must change the final e to either é or è, in order to link the two words : « Parlé-je ? », /paʀlɛʒ/, "Am I speaking?" (This is a very rare construction, however.)
• When the second-person singular form of the imperative is followed by its object y or en, a final s is added: « Parles-en ! », [paʀlzɑ̃], "Talk about it!"

Exceptional verbs:

• The verb aller, though it ends in -er is completely irregular and belongs to the third group.
• In -cer verbs, the c becomes a ç before endings that start with a or o, to indicate that it is still pronounced /s/; similarly, in -ger verbs, the g becomes ge before such endings, to indicate that it is pronounced /ʒ/.
• In -oyer and -uyer verbs, the y becomes an i before endings that start with a silent e; in -ayer verbs, the writer may or may not change the y to an i before such endings. Additionally, the future and conditional forms of envoyer start with enverr- rather than envoyer-; and similarly with renvoyer.
• In -é.er verbs, the é becomes an è before silent endings, and optionally in the future and conditional tenses.
• In -e.er verbs other than most -eler and -eter verbs, the e becomes an è before endings that start with a silent e (including the future and conditional endings).
• In most -eler and -eter verbs, the writer must either change the e to an è before endings that start with a silent e, or change the l or t to ll or tt. In the rest of these verbs, only one or the other form is allowed.
• The verbal adjective of following verbs is irregular: adhérer - adhérent(e)(s); coïncider - coïncident(e)(s); confluer - confluent(e)(s); affluer - affluent(e)(s); converger - convergent(e)(s); déterger - détergent(e)(s); différer - différent(e)(s); exceller - excellent(e)(s); diverger - divergent(e)(s); négliger, négligent(e)(s); précéder - précédent(e)(s); violer - violent(e)(s); influer - influent(e)(s); communiquer - communicant(e)(s); suffoquer - suffocant(e)(s); provoquer - provocant(e)(s); naviguer - navigant(e)(s); déléguer - délégant(e)(s); fatiguer - fatigant(e)(s); intriguer - intrigant(e)(s).

Second group verbs (-ir verbs / gerund ending in -issant)

The -ir verbs differ from the -er verbs in the following points:

• The vowel of the inflections is always -i-, for example -isse in the past subjunctive rather than the -asse of the -er verbs.
• A few of the singular inflections themselves change, though this is purely orthographic and does not affect the pronunciation: in the simple present and past, these are -s, -s, -t rather than -, -s, -. (The change in pronunciation is due to the change of vowel from e, ai, a to -i-.)
• In the simple present, imperfect, the present subjunctive, and the gerund, a suffix -iss- /is/ appears between the root and the inflectional endings. In the simple present singular, this suffix has disappeared and the endings are -is, -is, -it.

Choisir

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: choisir /ʃwaziʀ/
• Present participle: choisissant /ʃwazisɑ̃/
• Gerundive: en choisissant /ɑ̃ ʃwazisɑ̃/
• Verbal adjective: choisissant(s) /ʃwazisɑ̃/, choisissante(s) /ʃwazisɑ̃t/
• Past participle: choisi(e)(s) /ʃwazi/

Auxiliary verb: avoir (partir uses être)

haïr

The verb haïr loses its dieresis in the singular of the simple present tense (the i loses its trema, reflecting the pronunciation of the initial syllable as a single vowel /ɛ/ rather than the hiatus /ai/): je hais, tu hais, il hait but nous haïssons, vous haïssez, ils haïssent /ʒə ɛ, ty ɛ, il ɛ, nu aisɔ̃, vu aise, il ais/. Hais is as usual used for the imperative. In all other forms, the root is /ai/ (imperfect and present & past subjunctive /ais/-, future and conditional /aiʀ/-).

Third Group

First Section (-ir verbs / gerund ending in -ant)

dormir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir, sortir

The verbs dormir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir and their derivatives do not take the -iss- infix. The effect of this is that they conjugate as -re verbs rather than -ir verbs, apart from the past participle which is still -i. Sortir and its derivatives are similar in their usual meanings of "to go out" etc., though in their legal senses they conjugate regularly as -ir verbs: les lois sortissent leurs effets (laws produce their effects); ce qui ressortit à… (what is under the jurisdiction of…). Partir serves as an example:

Partir

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: partir
• Present participle: partant
• Gerundive: en partant
• Verbal adjective: partant(e)(s)
• Past participle: parti(e)(s)

Similarly, dormir, mentir, sortir, sentir, servir are je dors, mens, sors, sens, sers /ʒ(ə) dɔʀ, mɑ̃, sɔʀ, sɑ̃, sɛʀ/ etc.

couvrir, offrir, ouvrir, souffrir

The verbs couvrir, offrir, ouvrir, souffrir and their derivatives are similar, but orthographically they differ slightly: they take the simple present endings of the -er verbs. In addition, their past participles end in -ert. Ouvrir will serve as an example:

Ouvrir

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: ouvrir
• Present participle: ouvrant
• Gerundive: en ouvrant
• Verbal adjective: ouvrant(e)(s)
• Past participle: ouvert(s) /uvɛʀ/, ouverte(s) /uvɛʀt/

Venir

venir, tenir

The common verbs venir "to come" and tenir "to hold", as well as their derivatives,^[2] change their stem vowel to a diphthong or nasal in much of their conjugations. Venir will serve as an example; for tenir, simply change the v to a t.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: venir /v(ə)niʀ/
• Present participle: venant /v(ə)nɑ̃/
• Gerundive: en venant
• Verbal adjective: venant(e)(s)
• Past participle: venu(e)(s) /v(ə)ny/

Auxiliary verb: être

acquérir, cueillir, saillir

Second section (-oir verbs)

Verbs ending in -oir tend to have stem changes, which makes them more irregular than the other conjugations. Many have stems ending in -v, which drops before a consonant or the vowel u. Others have stems ending in -l, which undergoes changes similar to the plural of French nouns ending in -l. In addition, the vowel of the stem tends to become oi /wa/ or eu /ø, œ/ when there is no vowel in the inflectional ending (much of the simple present and present subjunctive). They also differ from other verbs in that the vowel of both the simple past and the past participle is -u /y/.

The verbs voir "to see" and seoir "to suit" and their derivatives (prévoir, asseoir) inflect as -ir verbs, not as -oir verbs, as they have the vowel -i- in the past simple and subjunctive: je vis, j'assis, etc.

Pouvoir

^*In case of questions puis is used exclusively: puis-je venir? Can I come? The usage of puis in other cases is mannered.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: pouvoir
• Present participle: pouvant
• Gerundive: en pouvant
• Verbal adjective: pouvant(e)(s)
• Past participle: pu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

Recevoir

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: recevoir
• Present participle: recevant
• Gerundive: en recevant
• Verbal adjective: recevant(e)(s)
• Past participle: reçu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

• Other verbs conjugated along the same model: concevoir, décevoir, percevoir, apercevoir.

Savoir

* Notice that the imperative form uses the present subjunctive stem.

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: savoir
• Present participle: sachant
• Gerundive: en sachant
• Verbal adjective: sachant(e)(s)
• Past participle: su(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

Vouloir

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: vouloir
• Present participle: voulant
• Gerundive: en voulant
• Verbal adjective: voulant(e)(s)
• Past participle: voulu(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

Third Section (-re verbs)

Orthographically, the -re verbs have the inflectional endings of the -ir verbs (singular -s, -s, -t in the simple present and past). However, unlike the -ir verbs, there is no suffix -iss- between the root and the inflection, except in the past subjunctive, which is identical to the -ir verbs. In addition, the vowel of the past participle is -u /y/ rather than -i.

Attendre

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: attendre /atɑ̃dʀ/
• Present participle: attendant /atɑ̃dɑ̃/
• Gerundive: en attendant /an atɑ̃dɑ̃/
• Verbal adjective: attendant(s) /atɑ̃dɑ̃/, attendante(s) /atɑ̃dɑ̃t/
• Past participle: attendu(e)(s) /atɑ̃dy/

Auxiliary verb: avoir (descendre uses être)

• If the verb stem ends with a t or d (as in attend or bat), the -t inflection of the third person simple present drops, as here. However, elsewhere it is retained: rompre → il rompt.
• Battre, mettre and all verbs on -aindre or -eindre are irregular

Dire

to say, talk

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: dire
• Present participle: disant
• Gerundive: en disant
• Verbal adjective: disant(e)(s)
• Past participle: dit(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

Prendre

to take

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: prendre
• Present participle: prenant
• Gerundive: en prenant
• Verbal adjective: prenant(e)(s)
• Past participle: pris(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

• apprendre, comprendre, entreprendre, reprendre, and surprendre follow the same pattern

Faire

to do, make

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: faire
• Present participle: faisant
• Gerundive: en faisant
• Verbal adjective: faisant(e)(s)
• Past participle: fait(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: avoir

• défaire, refaire, and satisfaire follow the same pattern.

Naître

to be born

Non-finite forms:

• Infinitive: naître
• Present participle: naissant
• Gerundive: en naissant
• Verbal adjective: naisant(e)(s)
• Past participle: né(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: être

Aller

The verb aller "to go" has the unique quality of having a first group ending with an irregular conjugation. It belongs to none of the three sections of the third group, and is often categorized on its own. The verb has different stems for different tenses. These are all pronounced differently: past all- /al/ (simple past, imperfect, past subjunctive); present subjunctive aill- /aj/; conditional and future ir- /iʀ/. The inflections of these tenses are completely regular, and pronounced as in any other -er verb. However, in the simple present, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well:

The non-finite forms are all based on all- /al/:

• Infinitive: aller
• Present participle: allant
• Gerundive: en allant
• Verbal adjective: allant(e)(s)
• Past participle: allé(e)(s)

Auxiliary verb: être

Inflectional endings of the three verb groups

1. In an interrogative sentence, the final e is written é, and is pronounced as an open è [ɛ]. Additionally, the e in je becomes silent. For example: je marche [ʒe maʁʃ] (I walk), marché-je? [maʁʃɛːʒ] (do I walk?)
2. The following verbs have the ending -ont: ils sont (they are), ils ont (they have), ils font (they do), ils vont (they go).
3. only in je/tu peux (I/you can), je/tu veux (I/you want), and je/tu vaux (I am/you are 'worth').
4. Verbs in -dre have a final d for the 3^rd singular person, except for those ending in -indre and -soudre which take a final t.
5. The only verbs having this ending are: assaillir (assail), couvrir (cover), cueillir (pluck), défaillir (default), offrir (offer), ouvrir (open), souffrir (suffer), tressaillir (shiver), and in the imperative only, avoir (have), savoir (know), and vouloir (want).
6. Except for je vins (I came), je tins (I held), etc..., que je vinsse (that I come), que je tinsse (that I hold), etc...

References

• Larousse de la conjugaison, 1980.
• Sample french verb conjugation whole-translated in english for all tenses

Verb tenses sorted by type

Simple tenses

Present indicative

Usage of the Present

When you want to talk about something that's happening now.

Formation of the Present

To form the present tense, there are seven categories of verbs that you need to know about, sorted by their endings, and if they are regular (follow the rules) or irregular (have their own rules).

They are:

• -er verbs
• -ir verbs
• -re verbs

and

• irregular -er verbs
• irregular -ir verbs
• irregular -re verbs
• really really irregular verbs

Regular Verbs

Regular -er Verbs

• For non stem-changing regular -er verbs, the stem is determined by removing the final -er.
• After determining the stem, conjugate by adding the appropriate endings.

Conjugation of Regular -ir Verbs

• For regular -ir verbs, the stem is determined by removing the final -ir.
• After determining the stem, conjugate by adding the appropriate endings.

Conjugation of Regular -re Verbs

• For regular -re verbs, the stem is determined by removing the final -re.
• After determining the stem, conjugate by adding the appropriate endings.

Irregular Conjugations

• Several verbs are irregularly conjugated in the present.
• Some verbs can be categorized by the general pattern they follow, while others are completely irregular.
• Irregular verbs are too numerous to be entirely provided here. Only some common irregular verbs will be shown.

Stem Changing -er Verbs

• Several French verbs are stem-changing; the endings for conjugation basically remain the same, but slight changes occur with the stem.
• One may divide the category of stem-changing verbs into two subcategories: verbs whose stems change only in the nous form and verbs whose stems change only in the je, tu, il, and ils forms.

-cer Verbs

• To conjugate a -cer verb in the nous form, change the c to a ç.
• Conjugations in the je, tu, il, vous, and ils forms remain unaffected.

-ger Verbs

• To conjugate a -ger verb in the nous form, add an e between the final g and the ending ons.
• Conjugations in the je, tu, il, vous, and ils forms remain unaffected.

-ayer, -oyer, and -uyer Verbs

• To conjugate an -ayer, -oyer, or -uyer verb in the je, tu, il, and ils forms, change the y to i.
• Conjugations in the nous and vous forms remain unaffected.

-eler Verbs

• To conjugate an -eler verb in the je, tu, il, and ils forms, change the l to ll.
• Conjugations in the nous and vous forms remain unaffected.

-eter Verbs

• To conjugate an -eter verb in the je, tu, il, and ils forms, change the t to tt.
• Conjugations in the nous and vous forms remain unaffected.

Verbs with e in the second to last syllable

• To conjugate a verb with an e in the second to last syllable in the je, tu, il, and ils forms, change the e to è.
• Conjugations in the nous and vous forms remain unaffected.

Verbs with é in the second to last syllable

• To conjugate a verb with an é in the second to last syllable in the je, tu, il, and ils forms, change the é to è.
• Conjugations in the nous and vous forms remain unaffected.

Irregular -ir Verb Patterns

Couvrir

• The verbs couvrir, cueillir, offrir, ouvrir, and souffrir, follow this pattern.
• The stem is determined by removing the final -ir.
• Although the verbs are -ir verbs, they are treated like regular -er verbs for the purpose of conjugation. Thus, they utilize the regular endings for -er verbs.

Dormir

• The verbs dormir, mentir, partir, sentir, servir, and sortir follow this pattern.
• For conjugating the plural forms (nous, vous, ils), the stem is determined by removing the final -ir.
• For conjugating the singular forms (je, tu, il), the stem is the same as the plural stem, except that the last letter of the plural stem is removed in addition to the -ir.
• The verb ending pattern for these verbs is as follows:

Irregular -re Verb Patterns

-aindre, -eindre, and -oindre Verbs

• Verbs ending with -aindre, -eindre, and -oindre follow this pattern.
• For conjugating the singular forms (je, tu, il), the stem is determined by removing the final -dre.
• For conjugating the plural forms (nous, vous, ils), the stem is the same as the singular stem, except that a g is immediately after the final i and before the final n.
• The verb ending pattern for these verbs is as follows:

Completely Irregular Verbs

Aller

S'asseoir

Avoir

Boire

Conduire

Connaître

Croire

Devoir

Dire

Écrire

Être

Faillir

Faire

Falloir (This verb can only be used in the impersonnal form)

Lire

Mettre

Mourir