To use the correct form of a French verb, you have to use the right tense. The indicative mood, which deals with objectivity — things really happening — includes many time aspects called tenses. A tense defines the time frame in which the action of the verb takes place: past, present, or future.
The following French verb tenses chart explains when to use each tense. It shows how compound tenses build off simpler ones and conjugate verbs for each tense: chanter (to sing) and se laver (to wash oneself).
| Time Frame | French Tense | How to Build from Other Tenses | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| What happens, is happening, or does happen | Present indicative/présent de l’indicatif | je chante je me lave | |
| What just happened | Near past/passé récent | Present venir + de + infinitive | je viens de chanter je viens de me laver |
| What is going to happen | Near future/futur proche | Present aller + infinitive | je vais chanter je vais me laver |
| What [has] happened precisely and completely | Passé composé | Present avoir/être + past participle | j’ai chanté je me suis lavé(e) |
| What was happening or used to happen or just was a certain way | Imperfect/Imparfait | je chantais je me lavais | |
| What had happened | Pluperfect/plus-que-parfait | Imparfait avoir/être + past participle | j’avais chanté je m’étais lavé(e) |
| What will happen | Simple future/futur simple | je chanterai je me laverai | |
| What will have happened | Future perfect/futur antérieur | Simple future avoir/être + past participle | j’aurai chanté je me serai lavé(e) |
