The present and past progressive (être en train de + infinitif)
Le passé récent (venir de + infinitif)
Le futur proche (aller + infinitif)

Le futur simple
Le futur antérieur
Le conditionnel présent
Le conditionnel passé

 
How is the present progressive formed?

The present progressive is a complex verb phrase consisting of the indicatif présent of the expression être en train de, placed before an infinitive.

La secrétaire est en train d'imprimer la lettre.

When is the present progressive used?

A statement such as La secrétaire imprime la lettre (in the indicatif présent) could be seen as answering a real or fictional question such as Que fait la secrétaire ? There is no implied message. It is a factual statement. If what is intended should go beyond a simple factual statement, it may be appropriate to use the present progressive instead, for instance:

• when informing someone not to disturb the secretary (she is busy doing something and must be left alone)
• when requesting someone to be patient (the letter is being printed at this very moment and will be ready anytime)
• when describing the secretary's workflow "from within" (she has just typed the letter and is going to mail it, but right now it is in the printer)

In the latter case, the passé récent would presumably be used for the preceding event(s) and the futur proche for any subsequent one(s):

La secrétaire est en train d'imprimer la lettre. Elle vient de la taper et, dans un instant, va la mettre au courrier.

In other words, the present progressive is used to emphasize the fact that the event referred to is in progress. Because it is highly expressive in nature, it must not be overused. Instead, it should be used as sparingly as its English counterparts, viz. phrases such as to be in the midst of or to be in the process of + present participle (e.g. The secretary is in the midst of / in the process of printing the letter).

What about the past progressive?

If the expression être en train de is used in the imparfait (the only other tense allowed, apart from the indicatif présent), the result is something called the past progressive. The latter indicates that some action was in the midst of occurring when some other event (expressed in the passé composé) interrupted it:

Marie-Odile était en train de prendre sa douche quand une explosion a détruit la maison d'en face.

Like the present progressive, the past progressive must not be overused. The main reason has to do with the fact that the imparfait, by its very nature, already refers to an ongoing event in the past.

 
How is the passé récent formed?

The passé récent is a complex verb phrase consisting of the indicatif présent of the expression venir de, placed before an infinitive.

Si seulement tu étais venu cinq minutes plus tôt... Elle vient de partir.

When is the passé récent used?

The passé récent is used to refer to a recently completed event. It is usually translated by means of English phrases such as a short while ago (followed by a simple past, as in She left a short while ago) or just (followed by a present perfect, as in She has just left). Here is another example:

Je viens de me rendre compte que j'ai perdu mon portefeuille.

The use of the French adverb juste in this context (as in Je me suis juste rendu compte que...) would not only be wrong; it would also create confusion. Juste expresses:

• either that more wasn't, isn't, or won't be the case:

  Il y avait plein de nourriture, mais j'ai juste mangé une pomme.
     (= j'aurais pu manger plus, mais je me suis contenté d'une pomme)
  Henri veut juste te parler. Il n'y aura pas de violence de sa part.
     (= il pourrait faire plus, mais il se contentera de te parler)

• or, often in conjunction with the adverb tout, that more wasn't, isn't, or won't be possible:

  La plupart des étudiants ont tout juste réussi à avoir la moyenne.
     (= il leur a été impossible de faire mieux)
  Nous aurons tout juste le temps de te dire bonjour.
     (= il nous sera impossible de faire plus)

Can the passé récent be used in the past?

Apart from the indicatif présent, venir de (like être en train de) can only be used in the imparfait. It must not be used in the passé composé.

When venir de is used in the imparfait, reference is made to a recent past from the perspective of another past event, itself expressed in the passé composé. The most appropriate English translation would be had just instead of have (or has) just:

Nous venions de garer la voiture quand Marie a aperçu un gros voleur coincé dans la fenêtre.
Tout à coup, Marie a aperçu un gros voleur coincé dans la fenêtre. Nous venions de garer la voiture.

Had just, followed by a past participle, is formally identical to an English pluperfect to which the adverb just has been added. This should not be taken to mean that, in French, venir de may be used in the plus-que-parfait. To refer to a recent past from the perspective of another past event, the only grammatically correct tense to be used with venir de is the imparfait.

 
How is the futur proche formed?

The futur proche is a complex verb phrase consisting of the indicatif présent of the verb aller, placed before an infinitive.

Tu n'arrives pas à réparer l'aspirateur ? Ne t'inquiète pas, Gérard va le faire ce soir.

When is the futur proche used?

Of the three periphrastic tenses reviewed in this chapter, the futur proche is likely to be the least problematic. It is equivalent to, and as commonly used as, the English phrase to be going to, which is also followed by an infinitive. Both express a future which is not entirely dissociated from the present (e.g. a future one is looking forward to). The futur simple is used when the association with the present is not as keenly felt.

Can the futur proche be used in the past?

The past counterpart of the futur proche (as that of the present progressive and the passé récent) requires the use of an imparfait, in which case reference is made to an event that was imminent when some other event in the past cut it short:

Le juge allait prononcer son verdict quand un dernier témoin a demandé à prendre la parole.

The use of a passé composé would result in a quasi nonsensical assertion. The speaker would be saying that both events took place, and that the event in the main clause was the most recent of the two. He or she would be saying that the judge left the courtroom to pronounce his verdict as soon as the last witness had asked for (but not necessarily been granted!) permission to speak. The verb aller would revert to its primary meaning, which is that of a motion verb.

 
How is the futur simple formed?

The futur simple or future tense is extremely regular in its formation. For most verbs, it consists of a stem which is identical in spelling (though not in pronunciation) to the infinitive (less any final "e"), followed by the endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont.

Examples:

parler (base: parler)	entendre (base: entendr)
je parlerai tu parleras il, elle, on parlera nous parlerons vous parlerez ils, elles parleront	j'entendrai tu entendras il, elle, on entendra nous entendrons vous entendrez ils, elles entendront

Many verbs, however, have irregular future stems.

• Verbs like mener, acheter and lever (characterised by a mute e towards the end of the stem) take an accent; the accented vowel is pronounced exactly like the accented vowel in the indicatif présent.

  Je me lèverai demain matin à six heures.

  The most common exceptions to this rule are jeter, appeler and any verbs derived from them: they double their consonant. The preceding e is pronounced as in the singular forms of the indicatif présent.

  Elle m'appellera demain matin à six heures.

• Verbs like céder and préférer can either maintain the accent aigu towards the end of the stem (old spelling) or change it into an accent grave (new spelling). The new spelling is closer to the actual pronunciation.

  Tu préféreras / préfèreras mon livre au sien, tu verras...

• Verbs like employer and payer are spelled with an i instead of a y:

  Ils paieront la note à temps, j'espère.

Other irregular stems are listed below:

être -- ser- (elle sera) avoir -- aur- (j'aurai) aller -- ir- (nous irons) faire -- fer- (tu feras) vouloir -- voudr- (ils voudront) pouvoir -- pourr- (vous pourrez) devoir -- devr- (elle devra) falloir -- faudr- (il faudra) venir -- viendr- (je viendrai) voir -- verr- (il verra)

savoir -- saur- (elle saura) courir -- courr- (je courrai) envoyer -- enverr- (nous enverrons) falloir -- il faudra mourir -- mourr- (ils mourront) pleuvoir -- il pleuvra recevoir -- recevr- (elle recevra) savoir -- saur- (il saura) tenir -- tiendr- (je tiendrai) valoir -- il vaudra, ils vaudront

When is the futur simple used?

The simple future (futur simple) is the unmarked future tense corresponding to shall / will + infinitive in English. It coexists with the so-called futur proche.

Elle ira à la bibliothèque ce soir. (She will go to the library this evening.)
Nous danserons toute la nuit. (We will dance all night long.)

In French the future is also used with certain conjunctions (such as quand, lorsque, dès que, aussitôt que) when they indicate future actions. The translations in brackets show that this is not the case in English.

Elle viendra quand elle pourra. (She'll come when she can.)
Il nous paiera aussitôt que nous finirons. (He'll pay us as soon as we finish.)

 
How is the futur antérieur formed?

The future perfect (futur antérieur) is a compound tense consisting of the simple future of the auxiliary (avoir or être) followed by the past participle:

Elle aura fini avant huit heures. (She will have finished before eight o'clock.)
Demain matin, ils seront tous partis. (Tomorrow morning they will all have left.)

(See past participle agreement for rules on agreement.)

When is the futur antérieur used?

The futur antérieur is generally used to mark a future event that precedes another future. It commonly occurs with conjunctions such as quand, lorsque, dès que, and aussitôt que:

Ils auront déjà fini de manger quand nous arriverons. (They will already have finished eating by the time we get there.)
J'enverrai la lettre aussitôt que je l'aurai écrite. (I'll send the letter as soon as I have written it.)

 
How is the conditionnel présent formed?

The present conditional (conditionnel présent) is as straightforward in its formation as the futur simple. The stem is identical; the endings are those of the imparfait (-ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient).

Examples:

parler (base: parler)	entendre (base: entendr)
je parlerais tu parlerais il, elle, on parlerait nous parlerions vous parleriez ils, elles parleraient	j'entendrais tu entendrais il, elle, on entendrait nous entendrions vous entendriez ils, elles entendraient

The list of irregular stems is an exact replica of the corresponding list for the futur simple.

• Verbs like mener, acheter and lever (characterised by a mute e towards the end of the stem) take an accent; the accented vowel is pronounced exactly like the accented vowel in the indicatif présent.

  Je ne me lèverais jamais à une heure pareille !

The most common exceptions to this rule are jeter, appeler and any verbs derived from them: they double their consonant. The preceding e is pronounced as in the singular forms of the indicatif présent.

Elle m'a dit qu'elle m'appellerait demain matin à six heures.

• Verbs like céder and préférer can either maintain the accent aigu towards the end of the stem (old spelling) or change it into an accent grave (new spelling). The new spelling is closer to the actual pronunciation.

  Tu préférerais / préfèrerais sans doute regarder la télévision.

• Verbs like employer and payer are spelled with an i instead of a y:

Ils paieraient n'importe quoi pour avoir une maison comme la nôtre.

Other irregular stems are listed below:

être -- ser- (elle serait) avoir -- aur- (j'aurasi) aller -- ir- (nous irions) faire -- fer- (tu ferais) vouloir -- voudr- (ils voudraient) pouvoir -- pourr- (vous pourriez) devoir -- devr- (elle devrait) falloir -- faudr- (il faudrait) venir -- viendr- (je viendrais) voir -- verr- (il verrait)

savoir -- saur- (elle saurait) courir -- courr- (je courrais) envoyer -- enverr- (nous enverrions) falloir -- il faudrait mourir -- mourr- (ils mourraient) pleuvoir -- il pleuvrait recevoir -- recevr- (elle recevrait) savoir -- saur- (il saurait) tenir -- tiendr- (je tiendrais) valoir -- il vaudrait, ils vaudraient

When is the conditionnel présent used?

The conditionnel présent is used in the following contexts:

• With certain verbs to indicate politeness:

  Je voudrais la carte, s'il vous plait.
  Auriez-vous deux minutes?

  Voulez-vous du thé ou du café ? may be considered rather rude (except when speaking to close friends and family).

• To speak about the imaginary. Compare the following:

  La nouvelle maison ? Elle se trouvera loin des grandes villes : je la ferai construire sur le terrain que j'ai hérité de mon grand-père...
  Ma maison de rêve ? Elle se trouverait loin des grandes villes...

  In the first sentence, the speaker is not referring to a dream home or an ideal. Although the house is not yet a reality, he/she has every intention of getting it built. This certainty is expressed by the future tense (se trouvera, ferai). In contrast, the second sentence expresses a wish the realisation of which is entirely uncertain.

• To express "the future of the past", i.e. to speak about future events in relation to a moment in the past. Compare the regular future (as used in direct discourse) with the future of the past (used in indirect discourse):

  Direct discourse - Elle a dit : "Je viendrai à la fête." (She said, "I will come to the party.")
  Indirect discourse - Elle a dit qu'elle viendrait à la fête. (She said she would come to the party.)

• In si constructions expressing possible or hypothetical situations. These sentences follow a relatively inflexible pattern entailing a "si-clause" and a "result clause":

  "Si + imparfait" followed by "conditionnel présent"
  Si j'avais le temps, je ferais mes devoirs. (If I had the time, I would do my homework.)

  "Si + imparfait" preceded by "conditionnel présent"
  Je ferais mes devoirs, si j'avais le temps. (I would do my homework, if I had the time.)

• To say that the information which is being provided needs to be confirmed. This is a very common use of the conditionnel présent in journalism. In English, special phrases such as it is alleged that would normally have to be used to achieve a comparable effect.

  Le document publié aujourd'hui serait le résultat de plusieurs mois de travail assidu.

 
How is the conditionnel passé formed?

The past conditional (conditionnel passé) is a compound tense consisting of the conditionnel présent of the auxiliary (avoir or être) followed by the past participle:

J'aurais été heureux de venir à la fête. (I would have been happy to come to the party.)
À ta place, je serais allé au commissariat! (Had I been in your shoes, I would have gone to the police station!)

(See past participle agreement for rules on agreement.)

When is the conditionnel passé used?

• The conditionnel passé is used to express hypothetical or "contrary to fact" statements:

  Elle m'a dit qu'elle aurait voulu venir nous voir. (She told me that she would have liked to come and see us.)
  À votre place, j'aurais fait la même chose. (In your position, I would have done the same thing.)

• More often than not, the past conditional is used in si constructions expressing hypothetical situations. These sentences follow a relatively inflexible pattern entailing a "si-clause" and a "result clause".

  "Si + plus-que-parfait" followed by "conditionnel passé"
  Si j'avais eu le temps, j'aurais fait mes devoirs. (If I had had the time, I would have done my homework)

  "Si + pluperfect" preceded by "conditionnel passé"
  J'aurais fait mes devoirs, si j'avais eu le temps. (I would have done my homework, if I had had the time.)

• Finally, as was the case for the conditionnel présent, the conditionnel passé may be used to say that the information which is being provided needs to be confirmed.

  Le tremblement de terre aurait fait plus de cent mille victimes.