GCSE French Tenses Guide
Present tense is your foundation - it describes what's happening right now. For regular verbs, you take the infinitive and add specific endings: -e, -es, -e for -er verbs, and -is, -is, -it for -ir verbs. Key irregular verbs like être (to be), avoir (to have), and aller (to go) have their own patterns that you'll need to memorise.
The near future tense is brilliant because it's so straightforward. You use the present tense of "aller" plus any infinitive: je vais jouer (I'm going to play). This covers most situations where you'd say "going to" in English.
Perfect tense describes completed actions using avoir or être plus a past participle. Most verbs use avoir, but MRS VANDERTRAMP verbs (like monter, revenir, sortir) use être. Remember that être verbs need agreement with the subject!
Quick tip: Start with present, near future, and perfect tenses - these three will get you through most conversations and writing tasks.
Imperfect tense describes ongoing past actions or background information. Take the "nous" form of the present tense, remove "-ons", then add -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. The irregular verb être becomes j'étais, tu étais, etc.
Future tense uses the whole infinitive (remove -e if it ends in -e) plus endings -ai, -as, -a, -ons, -ez, -ont. Some verbs have irregular stems like aller → ir- and avoir → aur-. The conditional uses the same stems but with imperfect endings - perfect for polite requests!
Reflexive verbs describe actions you do to yourself and always have "se" in the infinitive. Use reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nous, vous, se. For example: je me brosse les dents (I brush my teeth).
The subjunctive expresses doubt, emotion, or uncertainty after certain phrases. Form it using the ils/elles present tense stem plus special endings. Common triggers include il faut que and je doute que.