Conjugating the Simple Tenses of Regular French Verbs

If the infinitive of a regular French verb ends in –er, -ir, or –re, you can follow a fixed pattern in conjugating the verb. If you learn to conjugate one verb in each of the groups, you will know how to conjugate hundreds of others. The following chart has the conjugation of the five simple tenses of three common regular verbs: parler (to speak), finir (to finish), and vendre (to sell). Just take the appropriate stem for each tense and add the required ending.

Regular -er Verb Endings

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Tense (stem)	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
Present (parl)	-e	-es	-e	-ons	-ez	-ent
Imperfect (parl)	-ais	-ais	-ait	-ions	-iez	-aient
Future (parler)	-ai	-as	-a	-ons	-ez	-ont
Conditional (parler)	-ais	-ais	-ait	-ions	-iez	-aient
Subjunctive (parl)	-e	-es	-e	-ions	-iez	-ent

Regular -ir Verb Endings

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Tense (stem)	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
Present (fini)	-s	-s	-t	-ssons	-ssez	-ssent
Imperfect (finiss)	-ais	-ais	-ait	-ions	-iez	-aient
Future (finir)	-ai	-as	-a	-ons	-ez	-ont
Conditional (finir)	-ais	-ais	-ait	-ions	-iez	-aient
Subjunctive (finiss)	-e	-es	-e	-ions	-iez	-ent

Regular -re Verb Endings

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Tense (stem)	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
Present (vend)	-s	-s	(nothing)	-ons	-ez	-ent
Imperfect (vend)	-ais	-ais	-ait	-ions	-iez	-aient
Future (vendr)	-ai	-as	-a	-ons	-ez	-ont
Conditional (vendr)	-ais	-ais	-ait	-ions	-iez	-aient
Subjunctive (vend)	-e	-es	-e	-ions	-iez	-ent

Conjugating Compound Tenses with Regular French Verbs

To conjugate French compound tenses, you need an auxiliary verb, usually avoir (to have) or être (to be), plus the past participle of the desired verb. The following example shows French compound tenses conjugated with the past participles of parler (to speak) with avoir as the auxiliary and arriver (to arrive) with être as the auxiliary.

Creating Compound Tenses with the Auxiliary Avoir (Parler)

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Tense	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
Passé Composé	ai parlé	as parlé	a parlé	avons parlé	avez parlé	ont parlé
Pluperfect	avais parlé	avais parlé	avait parlé	avions parlé	aviez parlé	avaient parlé
Future Perfect	aurai parlé	auras parlé	aura parlé	aurons parlé	aurez parlé	auront parlé
Past Conditional	aurais parlé	aurais parlé	aurait parlé	aurions parlé	auriez parlé	auraient parlé
Past Subjunctive	aie parlé	aies parlé	ait parlé	ayons parlé	ayez parlé	aient parlé

Creating Compound Tenses with the Auxiliary Être (Arriver)

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Tense	je	tu	il/elle/on	nous	vous	ils/elles
Passé Composé	suis arrivé (e)	es arrivé (e)	est arrivé (e)	sommes arrivés (es)	êtes arrivé (e)(s) (es)	sont arrivés (es)
Pluperfect	étais arrivé (e)	étais arrivé (e)	était arrivé (e)	étions arrivés (es)	étiez arrivé (e) (s) (es)	étaient arrivés (es)
Future Perfect	serai arrivé (e)	seras arrivé (e)	sera arrivé (e)	serons arrivés (es)	serez arrivé (e) (s) (es)	seront arrivés (es)
Past Conditional	serais arrivé (e)	serais arrivé (e)	serait arrivé (e)	serions arrivés (es)	seriez arrivé (e) (s) (es)	seraient arrivés (es)
Past Subjunctive	sois arrivé (e)	sois arrivé (e)	soit arrivé (e)	soyons arrivés (es)	soyez arrivé (e) (s) (es)	soient arrivés (es)

Imperative Forms of French Verbs

In French, the imperative mood expresses an order, request, or directive and is created with regular verbs by using the verb directly and eliminating the subject pronoun. The imperative uses the present tense of most verbs and the conjugations of three subject pronouns: tu (when speaking to someone familiar), vous (when speaking to someone unfamiliar, older, a group, or a superior), and nous (when including yourself in the group). Regular –er, -ir, and –re verbs follow the same pattern in commands as shown in the following example, along with an example of a command using a pronominal verb and pronoun.

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Parler (to speak)	Finir (to finish)	Vendre (to sell)	Se laver (to wash)
Parle!	Finis!	Vends!	Lave-toi!
Parlons!	Finissons!	Vendons!	Lavons-nous!
Parlez!	Finissez!	Vendez!	Lavez-vous!