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French language |
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In French, a verb is inflected to reflect its mood and tense, as well as to agree with its subject in person and number. Following the tradition of Latin grammar, the set of inflected forms of a French verb is called the verb's conjugation.
French verbs have a large number of simple (one-word) forms. These are composed of two distinct parts: the stem (or root, or radix), which indicates which verb it is, and the ending (inflection), which indicates the verb's tense (imperfect, present, future etc.) and mood and its subject's person (I, you, he/she etc.) and number, though many endings can correspond to multiple tense-mood-subject combinations. In certain parts of the second conjugation there is also a suffix -iss- between the stem and the ending, which derives historically from an inchoative suffix.
These verb conjugations are most often coupled with a subject pronoun to reinforce who the subject of the verb is (i.e. who is doing the action). Note that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the stem from the ending, especially in irregular verbs such as avoir (to have), aller (to go), dire (to say), être (to be), faire (to do, make), pouvoir (can), savoir (to know), valoir (to be worth, to cost), and vouloir (to want):
In these examples, there is no obvious stem – the verbs conjugate without a stem.
The stem normally stays fixed in the first two conjugations:
In the third it is often modified, sometimes even between persons in the same tense:
But such irregularities apart, the principle is that nothing is removed from the stem. Consequently, verbs ending in -guer and -quer keep the -gu- or -qu- throughout the conjugation, even where simplifying this combination to -g- or -c- would be consistent with the rules of French orthography:
But although things are generally not removed from the stem, it is permissible to add letters when this is necessary. Certain stems can undergo various orthographic changes (which are not strictly speaking considered to be irregularities) in order to retain the correct pronunciation:
The ending is a suffix which tells us:
Apart from a few frequent verbs which are considered totally irregular (mainly avoir, être, aller and faire), for each tense of each mood a series of six endings (one for each person singular and plural) is associated with a group or subgroup of verbs. Each of these series must now remain fixed throughout a single tense. Consequently, no ending may be modified even when orthographical simplification would be possible:
These tenses are not formed with an auxiliary, and their formation is discussed in the following section.
A verb is normally named by its present infinitive (Infinitif présent). Starting from this infinitive, the conjugations can be classified into three different groups:
Note that the auxiliaries être and avoir, although they would naturally seem to belong to the third conjugation, are traditionally classed separately.
The present indicative is the form of the verb used to describe an action in the present e.g. Je parle means "I speak" or "I am speaking".
The stem of the present indicative is not always regular and can vary (especially in the third conjugation) and there are three main sets of endings:
1st group Parler (to speak) | 2nd group Finir (to finish) | 3rd group Descendre (to go/get down) | ||
singular | 1st person | je parle | je finis | je descends |
2nd person | tu parles | tu finis | tu descends | |
3rd person | il/elle/on parle | il/elle/on finit | il/elle/on descend | |
Plural | 1st person | nous parlons | nous finissons | nous descendons |
2nd person | vous parlez | vous finissez | vous descendez | |
3rd person | ils/elles parlent | ils/elles finissent | ils/elles descendent |
The imperfect indicative is a past tense, where the action either continues into the present or is a repeated action e.g. "je parlais" means "I was speaking" or "I used to speak". It may be used when someone or their action is interrupted e.g. "je parlais avant que tu m'arrêtes" meaning "I was speaking before you stopped me"
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlais | je finissais |
tu parlais | tu finissais |
il, elle, on parlait | il, elle, on finissait |
nous parlions | nous finissions |
vous parliez | vous finissiez |
ils parlaient | ils, elles finissaient |
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlois | je finissois |
tu parlois | tu finissois |
il, elle, on parloit | il, elle, on finissoit |
nous parlions | nous finissions |
vous parliez | vous finissiez |
ils parloient | ils, elles finissoient |
Note that in modern language this tense is used only in formal writing, usually referring to historical, historic events, or in novels; it was replaced by passé composé in other contexts. The stem of the past historic tense is not always regular but is always invariant for a single verb. There are four sets of endings for this tense:
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlai | je finis |
tu parlas | tu finis |
il, elle, on parla | il, elle, on finit |
nous parlâmes | nous finîmes |
vous parlâtes | vous finîtes |
ils, elles parlèrent | ils, elles finirent |
The future endings correspond to the present indicative of the verb avoir. They are always regular: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont, pronounced /e, a, a, ɔ̃, e, ɔ̃/.
1st group | 2nd group | 3rd group |
je parlerai | je finirai | je descendrai |
tu parleras | tu finiras | tu descendras |
il, elle, on parlera | il, elle, on finira | il, elle, on descendra |
nous parlerons | nous finirons | nous descendrons |
vous parlerez | vous finirez | vous descendrez |
ils, elles parleront | ils, elles finiront | ils, elles descendront |
The following verbs have a double r in future forms: envoyer, renvoyer (j'enverrai, je renverrai), mourir (je mourrai), courir (je courrai), choir and échoir (il cherra, il écherra), acquérir and conquérir (j'acquerrai, je conquerrai), voir (je verrai), pouvoir (je pourrai).
The conditional endings correspond to those of the imperfect indicative. They too are always regular: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, and in some rare cases, -it, pronounced /ɛ, ɛ, ɛ, jɔ̃, je, ɛ/...
1st group | 2nd group | 3rd group |
je parlerais | je finirais | je descendrais |
tu parlerais | tu finirais | tu descendrais |
il, elle, on parlerait | il, elle, on finirait | il, elle, on descendrait |
nous parlerions | nous finirions | nous descendrions |
vous parleriez | vous finiriez | vous descendriez |
ils, elles parleraient | ils, elles finiraient | ils, elles descendraient |
Sometimes the past imperfect subjunctive is used to replace the present conditional. This form is called the present conditional second form (Conditionnel présent deuxième forme). In contrast the regular conditional is then called present conditional first form (Conditionnel présent première forme). This has become very unusual, only in sentences starting with Même si and the expression fût-ce this form is still used. The perfective tense (the past conditional second form (Conditionnel passé deuxième forme) is however used very often in literature.
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlasse | je finisse |
tu parlasses | tu finisses |
il, elle, on parlât | il, elle, on finît |
nous parlassions | nous finissions |
vous parlassiez | vous finissiez |
ils, elles parlassent | ils, elles finissent |
1st group | 2nd group |
(il faut que) je parle | (il faut que) je finisse |
(que) tu parles | (que) tu finisses |
(qu') il, elle, on parle | (qu') il, elle, on finisse |
(que) nous parlions | (que) nous finissions |
(que) vous parliez | (que) vous finissiez |
(qu') ils, elles parlent | (qu') ils, elles finissent |
The imperfect subjunctive is always constructed from the past historic; hence, if the past historic does not exist ( defective verbs) neither will the imperfect subjunctive. To be more exact, the imperfect subjunctive stem consists of the second person singular of the past historic, except that in the third person singular of the imperfect subjunctive the final -s- of the stem is replaced with a circumflex over the preceding vowel. The stem is otherwise stable for a single verb, and the endings are always: -se, -ses, -ˆt, -sions, -siez, -sent, pronounced /s, s, -, sjɔ̃, sje, s/.
1st group | 2nd group |
(il faut que) je parlasse | (il faut que) je finisse |
(que) tu parlasses | (que) tu finisses |
(qu') il, elle, on parlât | (qu') il, elle, on finît |
(que) nous parlassions | (que) nous finissions |
(que) vous parlassiez | (que) vous finissiez |
(qu') ils, elles parlassent | (qu') ils, elles finissent |
Recall two unusual features of the imperative: it exists only in three persons (second singular, first plural and second plural) and its subject pronoun is always omitted.
-er verbs | -ir verbs | -re verbs |
parle | finis | descends |
parlons | finissons | descendons |
parlez | finissez | descendez |
The present participle (le participe présent) is typically formed from the first-person plural of the present indicative by replacing -ons with -ant. There are exceptions to this, as with avoir, être, and savoir (whose present participles are ayant, étant, and sachant, respectively), but in all cases the present participle ends in -ant.
The gerundive (le gérondif) consists of the preposition en together with the present participle; for example, the present participle of faire is faisant, so its gerundive is en faisant.
The present participle and the gerundive are both invariable; that is, they do not change form to agree with any other part of a sentence.
Past participles, unlike present participles and gerundives, may be inflected to show gender and number by adding -e and -s, as with a normal adjective. Hence, "un fruit confit", "une poire confite", "des fruits confits", and "des poires confites." As they are passive participles, this inflection only occurs with transitive verbs, and with certain reflexive verbs.
The plain (masculine singular) form of a past participle may end in -é (1st group verbs, naître [né], être [été] and aller [allé]), -i (2nd group; sortir [sorti], partir [parti], etc.), -u (entendre [entendu], boire [bu], lire [lu], etc. and savoir [su], voir [vu], pouvoir [pu]), -is (mettre [mis], prendre [pris], etc.), -us (inclure [inclus] and reclure [reclus] and only these verbs), -it (maudire, [maudit], dire [dit], etc.),-t (verbs in -indre : peindre [peint]), -ert (ouvrir [ouvert], couvrir [couvert], offrir [offert] and souffrir [souffert]), or eu (avoir [eu]).
Irregular verbs:
Out of the present verbal adjectif, a present verbal adverb (adverbe verbal présent) can be formed for every verb by replacing nt with mment:
Out of the past verbal adjectif, a past verbal adverb (adverbe verbal passé) can be formed for some verbs by adding ment:
Some verbs have incomplete conjugations: they do not have forms for certain tenses, moods, or persons. Such verbs are said to be defective. They include:
Part of a series on the |
French language |
---|
History |
Grammar |
Orthography |
Phonology |
In French, a verb is inflected to reflect its mood and tense, as well as to agree with its subject in person and number. Following the tradition of Latin grammar, the set of inflected forms of a French verb is called the verb's conjugation.
French verbs have a large number of simple (one-word) forms. These are composed of two distinct parts: the stem (or root, or radix), which indicates which verb it is, and the ending (inflection), which indicates the verb's tense (imperfect, present, future etc.) and mood and its subject's person (I, you, he/she etc.) and number, though many endings can correspond to multiple tense-mood-subject combinations. In certain parts of the second conjugation there is also a suffix -iss- between the stem and the ending, which derives historically from an inchoative suffix.
These verb conjugations are most often coupled with a subject pronoun to reinforce who the subject of the verb is (i.e. who is doing the action). Note that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the stem from the ending, especially in irregular verbs such as avoir (to have), aller (to go), dire (to say), être (to be), faire (to do, make), pouvoir (can), savoir (to know), valoir (to be worth, to cost), and vouloir (to want):
In these examples, there is no obvious stem – the verbs conjugate without a stem.
The stem normally stays fixed in the first two conjugations:
In the third it is often modified, sometimes even between persons in the same tense:
But such irregularities apart, the principle is that nothing is removed from the stem. Consequently, verbs ending in -guer and -quer keep the -gu- or -qu- throughout the conjugation, even where simplifying this combination to -g- or -c- would be consistent with the rules of French orthography:
But although things are generally not removed from the stem, it is permissible to add letters when this is necessary. Certain stems can undergo various orthographic changes (which are not strictly speaking considered to be irregularities) in order to retain the correct pronunciation:
The ending is a suffix which tells us:
Apart from a few frequent verbs which are considered totally irregular (mainly avoir, être, aller and faire), for each tense of each mood a series of six endings (one for each person singular and plural) is associated with a group or subgroup of verbs. Each of these series must now remain fixed throughout a single tense. Consequently, no ending may be modified even when orthographical simplification would be possible:
These tenses are not formed with an auxiliary, and their formation is discussed in the following section.
A verb is normally named by its present infinitive (Infinitif présent). Starting from this infinitive, the conjugations can be classified into three different groups:
Note that the auxiliaries être and avoir, although they would naturally seem to belong to the third conjugation, are traditionally classed separately.
The present indicative is the form of the verb used to describe an action in the present e.g. Je parle means "I speak" or "I am speaking".
The stem of the present indicative is not always regular and can vary (especially in the third conjugation) and there are three main sets of endings:
1st group Parler (to speak) | 2nd group Finir (to finish) | 3rd group Descendre (to go/get down) | ||
singular | 1st person | je parle | je finis | je descends |
2nd person | tu parles | tu finis | tu descends | |
3rd person | il/elle/on parle | il/elle/on finit | il/elle/on descend | |
Plural | 1st person | nous parlons | nous finissons | nous descendons |
2nd person | vous parlez | vous finissez | vous descendez | |
3rd person | ils/elles parlent | ils/elles finissent | ils/elles descendent |
The imperfect indicative is a past tense, where the action either continues into the present or is a repeated action e.g. "je parlais" means "I was speaking" or "I used to speak". It may be used when someone or their action is interrupted e.g. "je parlais avant que tu m'arrêtes" meaning "I was speaking before you stopped me"
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlais | je finissais |
tu parlais | tu finissais |
il, elle, on parlait | il, elle, on finissait |
nous parlions | nous finissions |
vous parliez | vous finissiez |
ils parlaient | ils, elles finissaient |
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlois | je finissois |
tu parlois | tu finissois |
il, elle, on parloit | il, elle, on finissoit |
nous parlions | nous finissions |
vous parliez | vous finissiez |
ils parloient | ils, elles finissoient |
Note that in modern language this tense is used only in formal writing, usually referring to historical, historic events, or in novels; it was replaced by passé composé in other contexts. The stem of the past historic tense is not always regular but is always invariant for a single verb. There are four sets of endings for this tense:
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlai | je finis |
tu parlas | tu finis |
il, elle, on parla | il, elle, on finit |
nous parlâmes | nous finîmes |
vous parlâtes | vous finîtes |
ils, elles parlèrent | ils, elles finirent |
The future endings correspond to the present indicative of the verb avoir. They are always regular: -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont, pronounced /e, a, a, ɔ̃, e, ɔ̃/.
1st group | 2nd group | 3rd group |
je parlerai | je finirai | je descendrai |
tu parleras | tu finiras | tu descendras |
il, elle, on parlera | il, elle, on finira | il, elle, on descendra |
nous parlerons | nous finirons | nous descendrons |
vous parlerez | vous finirez | vous descendrez |
ils, elles parleront | ils, elles finiront | ils, elles descendront |
The following verbs have a double r in future forms: envoyer, renvoyer (j'enverrai, je renverrai), mourir (je mourrai), courir (je courrai), choir and échoir (il cherra, il écherra), acquérir and conquérir (j'acquerrai, je conquerrai), voir (je verrai), pouvoir (je pourrai).
The conditional endings correspond to those of the imperfect indicative. They too are always regular: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient, and in some rare cases, -it, pronounced /ɛ, ɛ, ɛ, jɔ̃, je, ɛ/...
1st group | 2nd group | 3rd group |
je parlerais | je finirais | je descendrais |
tu parlerais | tu finirais | tu descendrais |
il, elle, on parlerait | il, elle, on finirait | il, elle, on descendrait |
nous parlerions | nous finirions | nous descendrions |
vous parleriez | vous finiriez | vous descendriez |
ils, elles parleraient | ils, elles finiraient | ils, elles descendraient |
Sometimes the past imperfect subjunctive is used to replace the present conditional. This form is called the present conditional second form (Conditionnel présent deuxième forme). In contrast the regular conditional is then called present conditional first form (Conditionnel présent première forme). This has become very unusual, only in sentences starting with Même si and the expression fût-ce this form is still used. The perfective tense (the past conditional second form (Conditionnel passé deuxième forme) is however used very often in literature.
1st group | 2nd group |
je parlasse | je finisse |
tu parlasses | tu finisses |
il, elle, on parlât | il, elle, on finît |
nous parlassions | nous finissions |
vous parlassiez | vous finissiez |
ils, elles parlassent | ils, elles finissent |
1st group | 2nd group |
(il faut que) je parle | (il faut que) je finisse |
(que) tu parles | (que) tu finisses |
(qu') il, elle, on parle | (qu') il, elle, on finisse |
(que) nous parlions | (que) nous finissions |
(que) vous parliez | (que) vous finissiez |
(qu') ils, elles parlent | (qu') ils, elles finissent |
The imperfect subjunctive is always constructed from the past historic; hence, if the past historic does not exist ( defective verbs) neither will the imperfect subjunctive. To be more exact, the imperfect subjunctive stem consists of the second person singular of the past historic, except that in the third person singular of the imperfect subjunctive the final -s- of the stem is replaced with a circumflex over the preceding vowel. The stem is otherwise stable for a single verb, and the endings are always: -se, -ses, -ˆt, -sions, -siez, -sent, pronounced /s, s, -, sjɔ̃, sje, s/.
1st group | 2nd group |
(il faut que) je parlasse | (il faut que) je finisse |
(que) tu parlasses | (que) tu finisses |
(qu') il, elle, on parlât | (qu') il, elle, on finît |
(que) nous parlassions | (que) nous finissions |
(que) vous parlassiez | (que) vous finissiez |
(qu') ils, elles parlassent | (qu') ils, elles finissent |
Recall two unusual features of the imperative: it exists only in three persons (second singular, first plural and second plural) and its subject pronoun is always omitted.
-er verbs | -ir verbs | -re verbs |
parle | finis | descends |
parlons | finissons | descendons |
parlez | finissez | descendez |
The present participle (le participe présent) is typically formed from the first-person plural of the present indicative by replacing -ons with -ant. There are exceptions to this, as with avoir, être, and savoir (whose present participles are ayant, étant, and sachant, respectively), but in all cases the present participle ends in -ant.
The gerundive (le gérondif) consists of the preposition en together with the present participle; for example, the present participle of faire is faisant, so its gerundive is en faisant.
The present participle and the gerundive are both invariable; that is, they do not change form to agree with any other part of a sentence.
Past participles, unlike present participles and gerundives, may be inflected to show gender and number by adding -e and -s, as with a normal adjective. Hence, "un fruit confit", "une poire confite", "des fruits confits", and "des poires confites." As they are passive participles, this inflection only occurs with transitive verbs, and with certain reflexive verbs.
The plain (masculine singular) form of a past participle may end in -é (1st group verbs, naître [né], être [été] and aller [allé]), -i (2nd group; sortir [sorti], partir [parti], etc.), -u (entendre [entendu], boire [bu], lire [lu], etc. and savoir [su], voir [vu], pouvoir [pu]), -is (mettre [mis], prendre [pris], etc.), -us (inclure [inclus] and reclure [reclus] and only these verbs), -it (maudire, [maudit], dire [dit], etc.),-t (verbs in -indre : peindre [peint]), -ert (ouvrir [ouvert], couvrir [couvert], offrir [offert] and souffrir [souffert]), or eu (avoir [eu]).
Irregular verbs:
Out of the present verbal adjectif, a present verbal adverb (adverbe verbal présent) can be formed for every verb by replacing nt with mment:
Out of the past verbal adjectif, a past verbal adverb (adverbe verbal passé) can be formed for some verbs by adding ment:
Some verbs have incomplete conjugations: they do not have forms for certain tenses, moods, or persons. Such verbs are said to be defective. They include: