French Verb Conjugation: An Easy Beginner's Guide

French is a beautiful and interesting language to learn. And while some people are afraid of the many rules and grammar that it contains, there is really nothing to be afraid of. Learning some simple French verb conjugation is the first step in starting to understand, read, and speak French. This way, you can start communicating in French, take higher level classes, and express yourself with confidence.

Let’s take a look at some of the essentials of French verb conjugation.

First, Definite & Indefinite Articles

Since nouns often precede verbs, we’ll need to look at some of the ways you’ll best introduce nouns when forming French sentences.

French is a little different from English in the sense that it has masculine, feminine, and plural definite and indefinite articles.

That means that before you way any French noun, you’ll need to precede it with a definite article (the) or an indefinite article (a, an).

You’ll need to know:

The definite article: le, la, les, du, de, de la, des

The indefinite article: un, une, des

Specifically, you’ll need to know which of these articles matches the masculine, feminine, or plural form of the word you want to introduce.

For example, since the word “table” is feminine, it requires an article that is feminine. Therefore, we can say “la table” because the word table is feminine. But we cannot say “le table” because the word “table” is feminine. It must have a feminine definite article (la) or an indefinite feminine article (une) that precedes the word table.

Placing the article (le) before “table” is a mistake, since “table” is feminine. The appropriate article is (la or une).

Grammatically, we say la table or une table. But not le table or un table. The mistake is that since the word “table” is feminine, it cannot combine with a masculine article “le”.

Combining “Etre” (To Be) With Definite & Indefinite Articles

In French, you can add the verb “Etre” or “to be”, with an adjective. For example, you can use the verb “to be” with a color to identify an object.

For example, a sentence using the verb “Etre” (to be) in this context would be “la table est noire”. That’s the present tense, and it means “the table is black.”

On the other hand, we need to know the conjugation of the verb “Etre” (to be) to plug it into different sentences according to its tense.

By conjugating the verb, “to be” you can change the whole meaning of the sentence. For example, you can say, “the table used to be black,” or “the tables will have been black”.

To clarify, the verb holds all the power in French sentences. By simply conjugating a French verb, you can adjust and specify exactly what you want to say.

For example, the present tense of the verb “Etre” is:

• Je suis, tu es

• il est

• nous sommes

• vous etres

• ils sont

 

The perfect tense is:

• j’etais

• tu etais

• il etait

• nous etions

• vous etiez

• ils etaient

 

The perfect participle is:

• je fus

• tu fus

• il fut

 

The future is:

• je serai

• tu seras

• il sera

• nous serons

• vous serez

• ils seront

 

The past participle is:

• J’ai ete

• tu as ete

• il a ete

• nous avons ete

• vous avez ete

• ils ont ete

 

The past perfect is:

• j’avais ete

• tu avais ete

• il avait ete

• nous avions ete

• vous aviez ete

• ils avaient ete

 

The subjunctive is:

• Que je sois

• que tu sois

• qu’il soit

• que nous soyons

• que vous soyez

• qu’ils soient

 

Imperative present is:

• Sois

• Soyons soyez

 

“To Have” in French

Also, in French, the verb that expresses possession is “Avoir” or “to have”. For example “J’ai une voiture”, or “I have a car”.

By changing the tense of the verb “to have” to different tenses, you can say things like “I had a car,” or “you have a car” or “we’ll have a car in the future”.

The verb has all the power in these sentences, by simply conjugating the verb, you can change the whole meaning of the sentence. Let’s take a look at the conjugations of “Avoir”.

The present tense of the verb “Avoir” is:

• J’ai

• tu as