French Grammar: Compound Tenses – Basics
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French Grammar: Compound Tenses – Basics
la grammaire française: les temps composés – introduction
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French verb conjugations fall into one of two categories: either Simple tenses or Compound tenses. Simple tenses have only one verb (e.g., je parle) and compound tenses have two verbs – a conjugated auxiliary (helper) verb + the Past Participle of the main verb (e.g., j’ai parlé).
The helper verb in a compound tense will be either AVOIR or ÊTRE, depending on which main verb is used.
The Simple tenses in French are: the Present Tense (le présent), the Imperfect Tense (l’imparfait), the Historic Past Tense (le passé simple), the Future Tense (le futur), the Conditional Tense (le conditionnel), the Present Subjunctive (le présent du subjonctif), and the Imperfect Subjunctive (l’imparfait du subjonctif).
The Compound tenses in French are the passé composé, the Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait), the Past Anterior (le passé antérieur), the Future Perfect (le futur antérieur), the Past Conditional (le conditionnel passé), the Past Subjunctive (le passé du subjonctif), and the Pluperfect Subjunctive (le plus-que-parfait du subjonctif).
a) In the Passé Composé, the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the Present tense:
Auxiliary AVOIR –> il a parlé : he spoke
Auxiliary ÊTRE –> il est allé : he went
b) In the Pluperfect (le plus-que-parfait), the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the Imperfect tense (l’imparfait):
Auxiliary AVOIR –> il avait parlé : he had spoken
Auxiliary ÊTRE –> il était allé : he had gone
c) In the Past Anterior (le passé antérieur), the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the Historic Past Tense (le passé simple):
Auxiliary AVOIR –> il eus parlé : he had spoken
Auxiliary ÊTRE –> il fut allé : he had gone
d) In the Future Perfect (le futur antérieur), the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the Future tense (le futur):
Auxiliary AVOIR –> il aura parlé : he will have spoken
Auxiliary ÊTRE –> il sera allé : he will have gone
e) In the Past Conditional (le passé conditionnel), the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the Conditional tense (le conditionnel):
Auxiliary AVOIR –> il aurait parlé : he would have spoken
Auxiliary ÊTRE –> il serait allé : he would have gone
f) In the Past Subjunctive (le passé du subjonctif), the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the Present Subjunctive (le présent du subjonctif):
Auxiliary AVOIR –> il ait parlé : he had spoken
Auxiliary ÊTRE –> il soit allé : he had gone
g) In the Pluperfect Subjunctive (le plus-que-parfat du subjonctif), the auxiliary (helper) verb is in the Imperfect Subjunctive (l’imparfait du subjonctif):
Auxiliary AVOIR –> il eût parlé : he had spoken
Auxiliary ÊTRE –> il fût allé : he had gone
Adapt:
Tu as été ici pour dix minutes.
You (informal) have been here for ten minutes.
Ils étaient partis tôt.
They (masculine) had left early.
Nous eûmes mangé avant son arrivée.
We had eaten before his arrival.
J’aurai fait les devoirs.
I will have done the homework.
Elle aurait venue si elle pouvait.
She would have come if she could have.
Il est possible que vous ayez oublié.
It is possible that you (formal) have forgotten.
Je doutais qu’elles eussent dit la vérité.
I doubted that they (feminine) had told the truth.
