French Verb Conjugation: A Cheat Sheet for the Tenses You'll Actually Use

French has dozens of tenses on paper. In real conversation and writing, you will rely on about six. This cheat sheet covers those six, gives you the endings you need, and flags the traps that trip up most learners. Skip the tenses that only appear in 19th-century novels. Focus on the ones that will actually help you speak, write, and pass exams.

The 6 Tenses Worth Your Time

The passé simple exists and you will see it in literature. You do not need to produce it. Recognising it is enough. The same goes for the imparfait du subjonctif and the futur antérieur unless you are aiming for C1 or writing formal documents.

Présent: The Foundation

Regular verbs split into three groups based on their infinitive ending: -er, -ir, and -re. Learn these patterns and you can conjugate hundreds of verbs immediately.

The catch: the most common verbs are irregular. Être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), and faire (to do) do not follow any of the three patterns. Memorise those four first. Everything else gets easier after that.

Passé Composé: How French Actually Talks About the Past

The passé composé is formed with a helper verb (avoir or être in the present) plus the past participle. Most verbs use avoir. A group of about 17 motion and state-change verbs use être, and so do all reflexive verbs.

• Avoir helper: j'ai parlé, tu as fini, il a vendu
• Être helper: je suis allé(e), tu es parti(e), elle est arrivée
• Past participle endings: -er verbs → -é, -ir verbs → -i, -re verbs → -u (mostly)
• With être, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject

The most common mistake is using avoir when être is required. The DR and MRS VANDERTRAMP mnemonic lists the être verbs, but it misses reflexive verbs entirely. A better habit: learn the être verbs as a set and treat reflexive verbs as a separate rule.

Imparfait: Setting the Scene

The imparfait describes background states, repeated past actions, or what was happening when something else occurred. Formation is straightforward: take the nous form of the present tense, drop -ons, and add the imparfait endings.

The only irregular stem in the imparfait is être, which uses ét- (j'étais, tu étais, etc.). Every other verb, even highly irregular ones in the present, follows the nous-form rule above.

Passé composé vs. imparfait is the single biggest stumbling block for English speakers learning French. Passé composé = completed event. Imparfait = background or ongoing state. When in doubt, ask: was the action finished at a specific moment? If yes, use passé composé.

Futur Simple: Plans and Predictions

For regular verbs, the futur simple is formed by adding endings directly to the infinitive. Drop the final -e from -re verbs first.

Irregular futur stems to memorise: être → ser-, avoir → aur-, aller → ir-, faire → fer-, venir → viendr-, pouvoir → pourr-, vouloir → voudr-. There are about a dozen of these. In everyday speech, French speakers often use aller + infinitive (futur proche) instead, so je vais parler replaces je parlerai in most casual contexts.

Conditionnel Présent: Politeness and Hypotheticals

The conditionnel uses the same stems as the futur simple but with imparfait endings. That means if you know both previous tenses, you already know the conditionnel structure.

• Je parlerais, tu parlerais, il parlerait, nous parlerions, vous parleriez, ils parleraient
• Use it for polite requests: Je voudrais un café, s'il vous plaît.
• Use it in si-clauses for hypotheticals: Si j'avais le temps, j'étudierais plus.
• Use it for reported speech about future events: Il a dit qu'il viendrait.

Subjonctif Présent: The One You Keep Avoiding

The subjonctif is used after expressions of doubt, emotion, necessity, and certain conjunctions (bien que, pour que, avant que). It looks intimidating but the pattern is consistent. Take the ils form of the present tense, drop -ent, and add: -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent.

Être and avoir have completely irregular subjonctif forms. Être: que je sois, que tu sois, qu'il soit, que nous soyons, que vous soyez, qu'ils soient. Avoir: que j'aie, que tu aies, qu'il ait, que nous ayons, que vous ayez, qu'ils aient. Learn those two and the rest follows.

How to Actually Retain Conjugations

Tables are a starting point, not an endpoint. Passive reading of conjugation charts does not build the automatic recall you need for conversation. You need active retrieval: see the prompt, produce the form, check it, repeat. Spaced repetition is the most efficient way to do this at scale. The verb SRS practice tool at Fréquence lets you drill conjugations across all six tenses with spaced intervals that adjust to what you get wrong. You can also browse the full French verb library to look up any verb and see all its forms in one place.

• Drill the four core irregular verbs (être, avoir, aller, faire) until they are automatic.
• Learn endings by group, not by verb. One set of -er endings covers 80% of French verbs.
• Practise in sentences, not isolated forms. Context makes forms memorable.
• Review at spaced intervals. Cramming works for a test day but not for speaking.

FAQ

How many French tenses do I actually need to learn?

For conversational fluency at B1-B2, six tenses cover nearly everything: présent, passé composé, imparfait, futur simple, conditionnel présent, and subjonctif présent. If you are preparing for the TCF or TEF Canada exam, those same six tenses plus basic knowledge of the passé simple (recognition only) will cover the written and oral sections.

What is the difference between passé composé and imparfait?

Passé composé marks a completed action with a defined endpoint. Imparfait describes background conditions, ongoing states, or repeated habits. In a single sentence: 'Il lisait (imparfait, ongoing) quand le téléphone a sonné (passé composé, completed event).' The two tenses regularly appear together in the same paragraph for this reason.

Do I need to learn the subjonctif for everyday French?

Yes, but not all of it. A core set of 10-15 trigger phrases accounts for most subjonctif usage in speech and writing. Master those phrases and the most common irregular forms (être and avoir) and you will handle 90% of real-world subjonctif situations. The rarer forms can wait until B2 or C1.

Is it better to memorise verb tables or learn verbs in context?

Both, in sequence. Tables give you the structural pattern quickly. Context practice makes that pattern automatic. Start with a table to understand the rule, then immediately use the verb in example sentences. Spaced repetition tools, like the Fréquence SRS verb drills, combine both approaches by presenting forms in context and scheduling reviews at the right intervals.

If you want to put this cheat sheet to work, Fréquence (frequence.academy) is worth a look. The first three lessons are free and no credit card is required, so you can try the verb practice and grammar lessons before committing to anything. For shorter tips, conjugation breakdowns, and listening practice, follow @frequenceacademy on Instagram and YouTube, where free content goes up regularly.