French Conjugation: Tables for Every Tense and Group

French verbs change their ending for each of six persons (je, tu, il/elle/on, nous, vous, ils/elles) and for each tense. Learn the three groups (-er, -ir with -iss-, and the irregular rest), the four verbs that do most of the work (être, avoir, aller, faire), and the two auxiliaries of the compound past. Every other tense is built from those pieces.

This page explains how the system works and gives the tables for every common tense. To look up one specific verb in full, use the French verb conjugation tables: every common verb, every tense and person, on a page of its own.

The three verb groups

French verbs are traditionally divided into three groups based on the infinitive and conjugation pattern:

The first group is by far the largest (~90% of verbs) and is almost entirely regular - apart from spelling adjustments in the stem (-ger, -cer verbs), -er verbs follow a single pattern. The second group is smaller but also highly regular. The third group is where most irregularity lives.

Critical caveat: the "second group" label specifically means -ir verbs that take the -iss- infix in the plural present (e.g. finissons, finissez, finissent). Many -ir verbs (partir, sortir, dormir, venir) belong to the irregular third group, not the second group, despite the -ir ending.

Each group has its own present-tense primer with the full ending pattern and the verbs you meet first: regular -er verbs, -ir verbs, with and without -iss- and -re verbs.

The six persons

French conjugates verbs in six persons:

Pattern point: French does NOT drop subject pronouns the way Spanish or Italian do. Je, tu, il/elle, nous, vous, ils/elles are essentially always written (with elisions like "j'" before vowels).

Present tense (présent de l'indicatif)

The present tense covers current ongoing actions, habitual actions, and near-future actions. The endings:

First group (-er, e.g. parler)

Second group (-ir with -iss-, e.g. finir)

Third group (irregular, varies)

Examples covered later in the irregular verbs section.

Pattern points:

• For -er verbs, the je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms are pronounced identically (parle, parles, parle, parlent all sound like "parl"). The spelling differs but the pronunciation does not - a major French phonological feature.
• For -ir verbs (second group), the je, tu, and il/elle/on forms also sound identical (fini).

Passé composé - the workhorse past tense

The passé composé is the everyday French past tense for completed actions (the passé composé guide covers it in depth). It is a compound tense:

auxiliary verb (avoir or être, present tense) + past participle

Past participle formation

• -er verbs: replace -er with -é (parler → parlé).
• -ir verbs (2nd group): replace -ir with -i (finir → fini).
• -re verbs (regular): replace -re with -u (vendre → vendu).
• Many irregular verbs have irregular past participles (être → été, avoir → eu, faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu).

Avoir-conjugated verbs

Most verbs use avoir as auxiliary:

• J'ai parlé - I spoke / I have spoken.
• Tu as fini - You finished / you have finished.
• Nous avons vendu - We sold / we have sold.

Être-conjugated verbs

A specific set of intransitive verbs of movement or change of state ("Dr Mrs Vandertramp" mnemonic) use être as auxiliary, AND the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject:

• Je suis allé (masculine) / Je suis allée (feminine) - I went.
• Nous sommes allés / Nous sommes allées - We went.
• Elles sont parties - They (feminine) left.

The Vandertramp set: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, retourner, tomber, revenir, rentrer, devenir, passer (in some uses), and their compounds. The avoir vs être guide sorts out the verbs that switch to avoir when they take a direct object.

All reflexive verbs also take être as auxiliary.

Imparfait - past ongoing or habitual

The imparfait expresses past ongoing, habitual, or background actions ("I used to live," "she was speaking").

Formed from the nous form of the present indicative (drop -ons), then add the endings:

Pattern points:

• The imparfait is extremely regular - only one verb (être) has an irregular imparfait stem (ét-).
• The je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms sound identical (parlais, parlais, parlait, parlaient all pronounced "parlè").

Passé composé vs imparfait

The major past-tense distinction for French learners:

• Passé composé = completed, bounded action. "I lived in Paris for 3 years" (boundary stated) = j'ai vécu.
• Imparfait = ongoing, habitual, or background past. "I lived in Paris when I was young" (no boundary, background context) = j'habitais.

Useful tests:

• Can you replace it with "used to" in English? → imparfait.
• Is there a specific endpoint mentioned? → passé composé.
• Is the verb describing a state, weather, or background? → imparfait.
• Is the verb describing a discrete event? → passé composé.

The two tenses often co-occur in narrative: imparfait for background ("il pleuvait" - it was raining), passé composé for events ("soudain, il est tombé" - suddenly, he fell). The passé composé vs imparfait guide has the decision table and the contrasting pairs.

Future tense (futur simple)

The future tense expresses future actions. Endings are added to the full infinitive (with -re verbs dropping the final -e):

Pattern points:

• All three groups share identical future endings.
• The endings derive from the present tense of avoir (ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont).
• Some irregular verbs have irregular futur stems (être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-, venir → viendr-, voir → verr-, savoir → saur-, pouvoir → pourr-, vouloir → voudr-).

Note on usage: Like Spanish, French often replaces the simple future with aller + infinitive ("Je vais parler" - I'm going to speak) in spoken language. The simple future remains common in writing and for emphasis. The French future tense guide sets the two side by side.

Conditionnel

The conditional expresses hypothetical or polite actions ("I would speak," "she would eat"). Same stem as the future, same endings as the imparfait:

Critical for polite requests: je voudrais (I would like), pourriez-vous (could you).

Subjonctif

The subjunctive expresses doubt, emotion, possibility, desire, and other non-factual contexts.

Present subjunctive formation

Formed from the ils/elles form of the present indicative (drop -ent), then add the subjunctive endings:

Pattern points:

• The je, tu, il/elle/on, and ils/elles forms sound identical (and the same as their present indicative counterparts for -er verbs).
• For most verbs, the nous and vous forms are identical to the imparfait (not for être, avoir, faire, savoir or pouvoir: que nous soyons, ayons, fassions, sachions, puissions).
• Several verbs have irregular subjunctive stems (être → soi-, avoir → ai-, aller → aill-, faire → fass-, savoir → sach-, pouvoir → puiss-, vouloir → veuill-).

When to use the subjunctive

• After expressions of doubt: Je ne pense pas qu'il vienne (I don't think he's coming).
• After expressions of emotion: Je suis content que tu sois là (I'm glad you're here).
• After expressions of desire/will: Je veux que tu viennes (I want you to come).
• After impersonal expressions: Il faut que tu étudies (You must study).
• After certain conjunctions: bien que, pour que, avant que, sans que.

The French subjunctive deep-dive covers the full usage rules.

Imparfait du subjonctif

Largely a literary tense in modern French. Most speakers replace it with the present subjunctive. Used in formal writing.

Imperative (impératif)

Used for commands. The three imperative forms:

Tu form (informal singular)

• For -er verbs: present indicative tu form WITHOUT the final -s (parle, mange, NOT parles, manges).
• For -ir and -re verbs: present indicative tu form (finis, vends). Aller and the ouvrir-type verbs drop the -s like -er verbs (va, ouvre).

Nous form (let's command)

• Same as present indicative nous form (parlons, finissons, vendons).

Vous form (formal/plural)

• Same as present indicative vous form (parlez, finissez, vendez).

Examples:

• Parle! - Speak! (informal).
• Parlez! - Speak! (formal or plural).
• Allons-y! - Let's go!
• Ne parle pas! - Don't speak!

The most important irregular verbs

French has many irregular verbs but the workhorses are these (the French irregular verbs chart sorts the rest into the patterns that repeat):

Être (to be)

Avoir (to have)

Aller (to go)

Faire (to do/make)

Venir (to come)

Pouvoir (to be able)

Other high-frequency irregulars worth memorising: dire (to say), vouloir (to want), savoir (to know), voir (to see), prendre (to take), mettre (to put), devoir (must), lire (to read), écrire (to write).

Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs take reflexive pronouns:

Example with se laver (to wash oneself):

• Je me lave - I wash myself.
• Tu te laves - You wash yourself.
• Nous nous lavons - We wash ourselves.

All reflexive verbs take être in the passé composé, with past participle agreement:

• Je me suis lavé(e) - I washed myself.

Spelling-change verbs in -er

Several subclasses of -er verbs have minor spelling shifts to preserve pronunciation:

• -ger verbs (manger): add -e- before -ons (nous mangeons not "mangons") to keep soft g.
• -cer verbs (commencer): change c to ç with cedilla before -ons (nous commençons) to keep soft c.
• -eler / -eter verbs: double the consonant before silent endings (j'appelle, je jette), with a few exceptions that take an accent instead (j'achète, je gèle).
• -yer verbs: change y to i before silent endings (je paie, je nettoie); for -ayer verbs the change is optional (je paye is also correct).

Common mistakes English speakers make

Using avoir for a verb that takes être. English has one auxiliary ("I have gone", "I have eaten"), so learners put avoir on everything: j'ai allé is wrong, je suis allé is right. The same goes for every reflexive verb: je me suis levé, never je m'ai levé. The reverse trap: monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, retourner and passer switch to avoir when they take a direct object. Je suis sorti (I went out), but j'ai sorti la poubelle (I took the bin out).

Forgetting, or overdoing, past-participle agreement. With être, the participle agrees with the subject: elle est partie, ils sont arrivés, nous sommes allées (a group of women). With avoir it does NOT agree with the subject, so elle a mangée is wrong: it is elle a mangé. It agrees only with a direct object placed before the verb: je les ai vues (I saw them, feminine), les lettres que j'ai écrites (the letters I wrote).

Dropping the spelling fix on -ger and -cer verbs. A g or c before a or o goes hard, so these verbs patch the spelling to keep the soft sound: nous mangeons, nous commençons. The fix applies wherever an ending starts with a or o, which catches people out in the imparfait: je mangeais, il commençait, but nous mangions and vous commenciez, because no fix is needed before i.

Pronouncing the silent -ent. Ils parlent is said exactly like il parle. Sounding the ending ("parl-ENT") is the commonest spoken giveaway of a textbook learner. The -ent of a third-person plural verb ending is always silent; the -ent of an adverb or noun (souvent, le vent) is not.

More slips of this kind, beyond verbs, are in the common mistakes English speakers make in French.

How to actually internalise French conjugation

Four practical recommendations:

1. Master the present tense of être, avoir, aller, faire first. These four verbs do most of the conjugation work in spoken French (être and avoir as auxiliaries, aller as the "going to" future, faire in countless idioms). Completely memorising them is the highest-leverage first step.
2. Drill the passé composé vs imparfait distinction. The two-past-tense system is the biggest hurdle for French learners after the early stages. Real fluency requires hearing thousands of examples until choice becomes intuitive.
3. Accept that pronunciation flattens the conjugation. Many French verb forms sound identical (the je, tu, il, ils forms of -er verbs all sound the same). Learning to listen for context rather than ending sounds is essential. The spelling distinction matters for writing but not for speaking.
4. Produce forms rather than reading them. Recognising "finissons" in a table is not the same as producing it mid-sentence. The French conjugation game asks you for the form, which is the skill a conversation actually tests.

Cross-references

• The French for adult learners pillar covers the wider French learning approach.
• The French grammar cheatsheet covers the A1-B1 grammar overview.
• The intermediate (B1-B2) grammar page covers the next-level structures.
• The advanced (C1-C2) grammar page covers complex structures.
• The French subjunctive deep-dive covers subjunctive usage in detail.
• The Spanish vs French subjunctive comparison covers how the two systems diverge.
• The common mistakes for English speakers in French article covers the most frequent conjugation errors.