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French Tenses and Negatives Cheat Sheet by

Negatives, Present, Imperfect, Perfect, Simple Future, Conditional

Present

-ER Verbs
-IR Verbs
-RE Verbs
e
is
s
es
is
s
e
it
ons
issons
ons
ez
issez
ez
ent
issent
ent
Remove the endings and replace them

Perfect - Infinitive

After having bought the ingred­ients, my parents made pancakes
Having been to school, I was very tired
After having fallen down the stairs, she went to the hospital
Après avoir acheté des ingréd­ients. mes parents ont fait des crêpes
Étant allé au collège, j'étais très fatigué
Après être tombée en bas de l'esca­lier, elle est allée à l'hôpital
avoir: Après avoir or ayant + past participle
être: Après être or étant + past participle
It's either after having... or having....
When using être, the past particple must agree with the subject
Used to show two details in the past in a sequence in one sentence

Imperfect

Stem endings
Example - écouter
ais
écoutais
ais
écoutais
ait
écoutait
ions
écoutions
iez
écoutiez
aient
écoutaient
Stem + ending
To get the stem, get the nous present form of the verb and remove the ons. Then add the ending.
e.g. écouter > écoutons > écout - stem

Present Particple

Example - placer
Example - jeter
Example - préfére
plaçant = placing
jetant = throwing
préférant = preferring
Stem + ant
To get the stem, get the nous present form of the verb and remove the ons. Then add the ant.
e.g. placer > plaçons > plaç - stem
-ing form usually used with a prepos­ition to form a gerund
e.g. en plaçant = by placing

Present Subjun­ctive

Stem endings
Example - finir
e
finisse
es
finisses
e
finisse
ions
finissions
iez
finissiez
ent
finissent
Stem + ending
To get the stem, get the ils/elles present form of the verb and remove the ent. Then add the ending.
e.g. finir > finissent > finiss - stem
 

Reflexive Verbs

Pronouns
Example - s'appeller
me (m')
Je m'appelle
te (t')
Tu t'appelles
se (s')
Il/elle/on s'appelle
nous
Nous nous appelons
vous
Vous vous appelez
se
Ils/elles s'appe­llent
Subject + pronoun + verb
m' + t' + s' used before vowels or silent h

Perfect - Reflexive Verbs

Example - se disputer
Je me suis disputé(e)
Tu t'es disputé(e)
Il/elle/on s'est disput­é(e)(s)
Nous nous sommes disput­é(e)s
Vous vous êtes disput­é(e)(s)
Ils/elles se sont disput­é(e)s
Subject + pronoun + form of être + past participle
Past participle should agree with the subject

Perfect - avoir

Stem endings
Example - chanter
-ER Verbs - é
J'ai chanté
-IR Verbs - i
Tu as chanté
-RE Verbs - u
Il/elle/on a chanté
 
Nous avons chanté
 
Vous avez chanté
 
Ils/elles ont chanté
Subject + auxiliary verb + past participle
Remove the ending and replace them to get past participle
Most verbs use avoir as the auxiliary verb but movement verbs use être

Simple Future

Stem endings
Example - regarder
Example - perdre
ai
regarderai
perdrai
as
regarderas
perdras
a
regardera
perdra
ons
regard­erons
perdrons
ez
regarderez
perdrez
ont
regard­eront
perdront
Stem + ending
er and ir verbs-the stem is the infinitive
re verbs-the stem is infinitive but chop off the e
irregular-the stem is the same for the condit­ional

Pluperfect

Example - trouver
Example - monter
J'avais trouvé
J'étais monté(s)
T'avais trouvé
T'étais monté(s)
Elle avait trouvé
Elle était monté(­e)(s)
Nous avions trouvé
Nous étions monté(e)s
Vous aviez trouvé
Vous étiez monté(­e)(s)
Ils/elles avaient trouvé
Ils/elles étaient monté(e)s
Subject + auxillary verb (imper­fect) + past participle
J'avais trouvé = I had found
When using être, the past particple must agree with the subject
 

Perfect - être

Stem endings
Example - sortir
-ER Verbs - é
Je suis sorti(e)
-IR Verbs - i
Tu es sorti(e)
-RE Verbs - u
Il/elle/on est sorti(­e)(s)
 
Nous sommes sorti(e)s
 
Vous êtes sorti(­e)(s)
 
Ils/elles sont sorti(e)s
Subject + auxiliary verb + past participle
Remove the ending and replace them to get past participle
Movement verbs from A to B use être as their auxiliary verb (DRMRS­VAN­DER­TRAMP)
When using être as the auxiliary verb, the past participle has to agree with the subject e.g. Je suis allée (female)

Condit­ional

Stem endings
Example - manger
Example - répondre
ais
mangerais
répondrais
ais
mangerais
répondrais
ait
mangerait
répondrait
ions
mangerions
répond­rions
iez
mangeriez
répondriez
aient
manger­aient
répond­raient
Stem + ending
er and ir verbs-the stem is the infinitive
re verbs-the stem is infinitive but chop off the e
irregular-the stem is the same for the simple future

Near Future

Je vais porter
I'm going to wear
Tu vas porter
You're going to wear
Il/elle/on va porter
He/she/we are going to wear
Nous allons porter
We're going to wear
Vous allez porter
You're going to wear
Ils/elles vont porter
They're going to wear
Subject + part of aller + infinitive

Negatives

Negatives
English
ne ... jamais
never
ne ... ni ... ni
neither ... nor
ne ... pas
not
ne ... personne
no one, nobody, anyone, anybody
ne ... plus
no more, no longer
ne ... rien
nothing
ne ... que
only
ne ... guère
hardly
Subject + ne + verb + pas
AKA the negative sandwich
       
 

Metadata

  • Languages:
  • Published: 12th May, 2019
  • Last Updated: 11th June, 2022
  • Rated: 4 stars based on 4 ratings

Favourited By

Rosebella

Comments

bravo, je l'aime beaucoup

e.g. Je suis allées <--- f and pl ! Absolutely incorrect. It's "Je suis allée" if you are a female and "Je suis allé" if you are a male. There is no plural here. Nous sommes allées / allés is the 2nd person plural of the first person singular "Je"

I've seen way too may mistakes / errors / typos on all of these French cheat sheets unfortunately.
e.g. elle est allée au hôpital ---> it's Elle est allée à l'hôpital.

thatgabperson thatgabperson, 20:30 11 Jun 22

Thanks for spotting the errors! I no longer study French for school so I had a friend help correct it aswell.

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