assignment conjugation in french

French verb conjugation, irregular verbs

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French Conjugation

In French, you can type in infinitive forms such as " manger ", " partir " ... but also conjugated forms (" mis ", " disait ", " rompu "). The conjugator recognizes reflexive verbs (" s'émouvoir ", " se laver ") and negative verbs (" ne pas pouvoir "), as well as verbal forms with "y" and "en": en prendre , s'en aller , y aller , s'y voir .

The conjugator uses conjugation rules for: the verb , the auxiliaries , the groups and the models . You can click on the corresponding section to learn more.

The conjugator allows you to conjugate any verb as long as it corresponds to an existing conjugation model. They may be imaginary verbs, they may contain spelling mistakes or often be buzz verbs or anglicisms, not yet aggregated to our conjugation tables like déradicaliser, écoresponsabiliser .

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The three French verb groups and the present tense

Think of all the things you can possibly do in one day, that’s also a lot of verbs to conjugate ! To simplify things, French has classified regular verbs into three groups, based on the ending of their infinitives :  -er ( mang er   to eat),  -ir  ( fin ir   to finish),  -re  ( attend re   to wait).  Each verb groups follows a pattern of conjugation for every tense. In this lesson you will learn how to recognize the verb groups using infinitives, and  their pattern of conjugation in the present tense.

The “first group” :  -er verbs

More than 80 percent of French verbs are  -er  verbs. It’s great for you, because after you know their pattern of conjugation in the present tense, you can pretty much conjugate 80 percent of French verbs !

To conjugate a regular  -er  verb, drop the  -er  of the infinitive to get the stem (  le radical in French) . Then add the six present tense endings specific to  -er  verbs :  -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent . That’s it… easy !

Warning :  Aller  ( to go )   is a very common verb, and it looks like a regular  -er  verb, but it is not, a ller  is actually a irregular verb and belongs to the third group (see below).

The “second group” :  -ir verbs

The  -ir  verb group is the second most common verb type. To form the present tense of a regular  -ir  verb, drop the  -ir  of the infinitive to get the stem for the present tense conjugation. Then add the present tense endings specific to  -ir  verbs:  -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent.

Most of  -ir  verbs follow this pattern of conjugation but be careful, some  -ir  verbs actually belong to the third group and follow an other pattern. To make sure that an  – ir  verb belongs to the second group you have to look to its present participle, if it ends with  -issant  this verb belongs to the second group and follows the pattern you just learned, otherwise it’s a third group verb…

examples of present participles :

finissant  (finishing) ; grandissant (growing);  réussissant  (succeeding) ;  choisissant   (choosing)

The “third group” : the irregular verbs

Here are all the verbs that don’t belong to the first or second groups because they are actually irregular. This third group can be divided into four  sub-categories : irregular verbs in  -ir , verbs in  -oir , verbs in  -re , and the verb  aller  (to go).

Unfortunately there are no general pattern here so you will have to learn those verbs one by one… However some  -dre   verbs like  attendre  ( to wait ) or  vendre  ( to sell ) do follow a certain pattern : for those verbs drop the  -dre  then add the six endings  -ds, -ds, -d, -dons, -dez, -dent . But be careful because some  -dre  verbs like prendre  ( to take ) or  éteindre  ( to switch off ) don’t follow this pattern…

Here are some third group verbs conjugations :

6 Tips For How To Master French Verb Conjugations

How to master French verb conjugations

This page provides a comprehensive introduction to French verb conjugations with six very specific learning tips. One of the single most daunting questions every new student to learning French asks is: “What is the best say to learn the French verb conjugations?”. This post will answer that question and much more.

There are so many verbs and conjugation tables that you’ll find either online or in books will make your head spin. At first glance, you’ll see pages and pages of verbs with lots of confusing and advanced tenses. This post will help you to focus on what you really need to learn.

What is a verb conjugation?

One of the first and most important things to understand is: What is French verb conjugation ?

In English, all verbs have what are called “endings”. These are the last few letters of very that change depending on the subject of the sentence.

For example: I speak versus her or she speaks. In English, adding the -s is required for the he/she form.

This is no different in French.

So, to answer the question, a French verb conjugation is the act of either writing out or saying a verb using all of the personal pronouns (I, you, he, she, etc.).

If you haven’t learned already, this lesson explains the French personal pronouns .

In a nutshell you have: Je (I), tu (you informal), il, elle and on (he, she and one), nous (we), vous (you plural and formal) and ils/elles (they mixed company and female only).

How to conjugate a French verb

The following is a basic French verb conjugation. Below the verb, I will write out several terms which are not fun to learn but necessary for learning French.

Parler = to speak Je parl e I speak Tu parl es You speak Il, elle, on parl e He, she one speaks Nous parl ons We speak Vous parl ez You speak Ils, elles parl ent They speak

“Parler” means to speak”. Parler is the “infinitive” or “to” form of the verb to speak. Many French teachers called this the “mother from.

Within the word “ parler “, there are two things to highlight: 1) The “parl” part of the word is called the “stem” or “root” of the verb and 2) The -er is what makes this the “to” or infinitive of the verb.

The next key thing to highlight is the bolded last letters of each person. These are called “verb endings”.

When learning how to conjugate French verbs, you’ll always have to 1) Identify the stem (parl in this case) and 2) know which endings to attach to each person.

How to pronounce each person for the verb parler

At first glace, there is no way to know how to go about pronouncing the verb parler.

There are several key points here.

Firstly, the “to” form is pronounced “parlay”. The -er sounds like -ay as in play.

Secondly, the vous form (you formal and plural) has the EXACT same pronunciation. Thus, the to form (parler) and vous form (parlez) sound identical: “parlay”.

Here’s the third key point: The Je form (I), tu form (you informal), il, elle and on (he, she, one) as well as the ils and elles form (they) ALL sound the exact same. Simply say “parl”.

• On the je form, ignore the -e. It completely silent.
• On the tu form, ignore the -es. They are also completely silent.
• On the il, elle and on forms, ignore the -e. It is silent.
• On the ils and elles form, ignore the -ent. In fact the -ent is ALWAYS silent on ALL French verbs.

Thus, now that we’ve established that both the “to” form (parler) and “vous” form (parlez) sound the same, an je/tu/il/elle/on/ils/elles forms all sound the same (parl), that leaves us with one final form: nous.

For the nous form, “nous parlons”, simply say, “parl + nasal ons”. To say this sound correctly it’s useful to have a good French teacher.

How do I go about conjugating other verbs?

Now that we’ve established the basics of how to conjugate a verb, the next logical question is: How do I conjugate more verbs?

One of the keys to leaning French verbs is identifying set patterns.

If we take the French verb “regarder” as an example, you will see that the “to” form ends in -er. This means that 1) The stem of the verb is “regard” and 2) The verb endings are EXACTLY the same as parler.

Let’s look at the conjugation. Again, I’ll underline the stem and highlight the endings.

Regarder = to watch, look at Je regard e I watch, look at Tu regard es You watch, look at Il, elle on regard e He, she one watches, looks at Nous regard ons We watch, look at Vous regard ez You watch, look at Ils, elles regard ent They watch, look at

Wow…that’s easy! Do all French verbs work the same way?

Unfortunately the answer to this question is “no”. It would be nice if all French verbs simply followed the pattern of removing the -er on the “to” form, identifying the stem and simply adding the right endings.

In reality, life is not that simple and neither are French verbs.

I’ve heard the terms “regular” and “irregular” verbs – What does that mean?

If you’ve surfed YouTube videos for learning French or looked at other websites, you will surely have come across the terms French “regular” and “irregular” verbs.

What are they?

In French, there are three groups of what are called regular verbs . Each group is identified with the last two letters of the infinitive (to) forms: -er, -ir and -re .

Each group has its own set of verb endings. We just learned the endings are -e, -es ,-e, -ons, -ez and -ent for parler. These are the same endings for ALL regular -er verbs.

Thus, all of the verbs in the group of regular -ir and and all the verbs under the group of regular -re verbs have the exact same endings.

I know what you’re thinking: By now your head this spinning. This is the reason that if you’ve a pure beginner and have never leaned French, it’s a very good idea to have a teacher further explain the basics.

What is an irregular verb? What makes it “irregular”?

Another key term which you’ll hear in French lessons is “irregular” verb. What does this mean?

Simply put, an irregular verb is a verb that does NOT follow the conjugation patterns (or ending patterns) of a regular -er, -ir, or -re verb.

This means that while the last two letters of the infinitive form might be the same, the endings are different. The difference in endings is what makes the verb “irregular”.

The following two verbs illustrate this point and an explanation will follow.

The main point here is that although the “to” or infinitive forms of parler (to speak) and aller (to go) both end in -er, the verb endings of aller are different .

The endings of aller are -ais, -as, -a, -ons, -ez and -ont. These are NOT the endings of regular -er verbs. This the verb aller is considered “irregular”.

Should I learn some irregular verbs?

Indeed, there are some irregular verbs which you should learn. The following three irregular verbs are extremely common and are necessary to learn.

• Être to be
• Avoir to have
• Faire to make, do

While I could make a much longer list, I don’t want to scare you away from learning French. This is simply a short list of essential and initial irregular verbs.

Tips for learning French verb conjugations

After having taught French since 2013 and as a learner of many languages myself, I have a number of tips for learning French verb conjugation.

1) Forget about memorization

The first tip might sound a bit silly and counter intuitive, but I’m serious. Forget about trying to list massive lists of French verbs. This will just drive you mad.

Instead, let your eyes simply see the verbs. When you see them for the first time, try sounding them out aloud.

If you don’t know how to pronounce the verbs, do a quick search on YouTube and you’ll surely find some useful videos.

The most important thing is to let your eyes and ears get exposure to the verbs. You’ll see the verbs over and over again. Hence, with some time and persistence leaning will occur naturally without gruelling and unpleasant memorization.

2) Say the verbs aloud and don’t say them in the exact order

The second tip is to say the verbs aloud. Don’t simply write lists over and over. This is boring and usually doesn’t work.

I got the second part of this tip from Camille’s article called The Secret To Mastering French Verb Conjugation on Frenchtoday.com.

When you’re trying to learn the verb conjugations, don’t say the verbs in the exact order (je, tu, il, elle, etc.). Mix it up. For example, say the “nous” form first, then say the “tu” form.

3) Learn one verb at a time

As an adult learner, don’t put too much pressure on yourself and try to learn an entire list of top-100 French verbs , for example. This will only lead to frustration.

There’s a famous book on Amazon that people like to buy: 501 French Verbs .

While I do think this is a good book to own as a reference, I think you’ll make your head explode if you try to memorize all 501 verbs! Don’t do it!

Each time you sit down to study, try to just focus on one, two or three verbs at most. Again, a few YouTube videos will help.

4) Try some online lessons

One of the single most effective ways to learn French verb conjugations I’ve found has been to work with a private one-on-one teacher.

In my online lessons, I’ve been helping students to learn French verbs since 2013. Here are some student testimonials .

A good teacher will help you by “drilling” verbs. This means that she or he call out different forms and you’ll have to give the right forms.

For example, teacher might say “she speaks” and you’ll have to come up with “elle parle”.

I’ve found that drilling verbs WITH ANOTHER HUMAN BEING has been the single most effective way to go about mastering French verbs.

5) Try some exercises in books

As much as I dislike doing exercises in books (I’d rather sweep the garage!), I find this activity to be very helpful.

In my blog post on the best books for learning French , I suggested the two titles Practice Makes Perfect: Complete French All-in-One as well as The Ultimate French Review and Practice.

The reason I suggested these two books is that I like their verb exercises.

As an adult learner, one thing you can do is read through the exercises and corresponding answers. I’ve found this activity to be very effective between online lessons.

6) Watch movies with French subtitles

This tip might not be very suitable for people who are the very initial stages of learning French, but I’ve found it to be very helpful.

If you spend any amount of time trying to learn French verbs, you’ll surely benefit from this tip.

Simply try to watch a French TV show or movie with French subtitles. One great way to to do this is to get a subscription to Lingopie they offer streaming French content showing both English and French subtitles simultaneously.

Netflix also has lots of French programs.

Try to watch one scene at a time. As you’re watching it – even if you’re a beginner – try to identify some verbs you might have already seen. In particular, make a mental note of the form of the verb (Je, tu, il, elle, etc.). You might be surprised by the number of verbs you recognize!

The purpose of this article was not to teach every single verb in French but to provide a comprehensive overview of French verb conjugations and provide some useful and applicable learning tips.

I hope this article has helped and wish you all the very best in your adventures learning French. Bonne chance!

Become a pro at French verbs Of all the books and courses out there, we’d like to suggest taking a look at Frenchtoday’s French Conjugation Verb Drills course. Each verb has a six-minute drill which you can use to build confidence fast.

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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Your Complete Guide to French Verb Conjugation

Conjugating verbs in French means to change the ending based on the verb’s subject, tense or mood—and learning how to do this is a cornerstone of speaking French. 

Whether you’ve been daydreaming about chatting with a waiter at a chic Parisian bistro or traveling through Marrakech , you’ll need to learn French conjugation to reach your goals.

In this post, we’ll provide a comprehensive overview of French verb conjugation to help kickstart your fluency. 

Let’s get into it!

What Is French Verb Conjugation?

Three french verb types, present tense french conjugation, irregular verbs in the present tense, past french conjugation, passé composé tense, imparfait tense, plus-que-parfait tense, future french conjugation, futur simple tense, futur antérieur tense, future tense with aller, the french conditional, present conditional tense, past conditional tense, french imperative and subjunctive moods, imperative mood, subjunctive mood, more french conjugation resources, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Conjugation means to change a verb in a way that reflects different meanings—either in terms of its subject, tense or mood.

The usual way of conjugating verbs in French is to remove the ending of the infinitive form and add a new ending.

The endings are determined by:

• Who is performing the action
• Which tense and mood you are using

The pattern for how conjugation works depends on the specific verb ending , though it can vary with irregular verbs .

We’ll cover these verb endings in the next section before moving on to conjugation rules for different tenses and moods.

In their infinitive form , French verbs fall into three categories based on their endings:

Group one: Verbs ending in -er

Group two: Verbs ending in -ir

Group three: All other verbs (verbs that don’t end in -er or -ir , irregular verbs, and verbs which actually do end in -ir but have a present participle that doesn’t end in -issant )

Each of these verb categories has its own conjugation rules, which you’ll see later in the post.

Verbs that have the -er ending (group one) are by far the most useful regular verbs in the French language—that is because some 90% of all French verbs have this ending! So, if you master this group of verbs and the associated tenses, you should be well on your way to French verb mastery.

First, let’s focus on the present tense. Just like in English, the French present tense is used to describe actions that are currently happening, actions that happen repeatedly or general truths .

In the present tense, each French verb has two parts: a pronoun, and a conjugated verb.

The French pronouns are as follows:

• Tu — You (informal)
• On — One / we 
• Vous — You (formal)  / You all
• Ils —  They (male groups or mixed gender)
• Elles — They (female groups)

Note that the pronoun o n can be used to mean “we” for speaking generally or in the passive voice. 

Let’s look at examples of conjugation of regular verbs for each verb type, putting together the pronoun and its matching conjugation. I’ve gone ahead and underlined the verb endings: these are the same ending used for all regular verbs.

We’ll take a look at the -er verb cacher (to hide), the -ir verb finir (to finish) and the -re verb (from the third group) prendre (to take).

Their conjugation in present tense is as follows:

French grammar has a lot of exceptions, and this applies to conjugations as well.

Lots of the most important verbs in French are irregular , including: être (to be), avoir (to have), aller (to go), and faire (to do).

They’re conjugated as follows:

The passé composé is one of three French past tenses. 

It’s used for events that happened completely in the past, with a defined start and end date, and events that began in the past but continue into the present.

To conjugate in the passé composé , we use this formula:

pronoun + auxiliary verb ( avoir or être ) in the present tense + past participle

Note that when using avoir (to have) and être (to be) in the past tense as auxiliary verbs, they do not mean “to have” and “to be.” Think of them as more like placeholders in this case.

In the  passé composé , cacher uses the auxiliary verb avoir and the verb venir (to come) uses the auxiliary verb être.

They are conjugated as follows:

As you can see, each of these verbs uses the present-tense conjugation of avoir and être as auxiliary verbs. 

Why so many parentheses? When you use ê tre as the auxiliary verb, you must change the past participle to agree in gender and number with the pronoun.

You might be wondering: When do you use one auxiliary verb or the other?

In part, you have to memorize which verb’s past tense uses avoir and which uses être.  Don’t worry, though—there aren’t too many être verbs (in fact, here’s a list of all of them ).

An easy way to start memorizing them is to remember that most of them involve some sort of movement, such as the above example, venir (to come). 

The imparfait  is used  to express events that happened continuously in the past.

For example, you would use this tense to talk about something that you habitually did during your childhood but that you no longer do.

Some learners may find this conjugation easier because it doesn’t involve any auxiliary verbs!

The -re verb prendre conjugated in the imparfait looks like this:

These endings are the same for -re, -er and -ir regular verbs. 

Finally, the plus-que-parfait describes events that happened completely in the past, that happened before other events in the past.

Think of the sentence: “I had fallen asleep before she arrived.”

Because both events (the falling asleep and the arriving) happened in the past, but the falling asleep happened first, you would conjugate this verb using the  plus-que-parfait.

Get ready, because we’re about to combine the previous two tenses you just learned to create something beautiful:

To conjugate the plus-que-parfait, use the same formula as the passé composé (pronoun + auxiliary verb + past participle), but conjugate the auxiliary verb in the imparfait tense.

Let’s go back to our friends cacher and venir to see how this tense compares to the passé composé.

As you can see, the past participles remain exactly the same, and the only thing that changes is the conjugation of the auxiliary verb.

We’re heading into the future ! The futur simple allows you to express actions that will happen in the future  with almost definite certainty.

With -er and -ir verbs, you just add the endings to the infinitive form of the verb.

With -re (third group) verbs, the process is almost the same, but we have to delete the -e at the end of the verb.

For example:

The second way to talk about the future is by using the futur antérieur .

This tense is used to describe future events that happen before other future events, such as with the sentence: “by the time you arrive, I will have cleaned the house.”

You’re well-prepared for this tense because the conjugation is similar to the passé composé and  plus-que-parfait.

The only difference is that you’ll conjugate your auxiliary verb, avoir or être, in the futur simple tense.

Take the following two examples:

You know how in English you can say, “I will do my homework,” but you can also say “I am going to do my homework”?

Well, French has a similar construction. You can talk about future events using the formula:

pronoun + present-tense form of aller + action verb in infinitive

As an example, let’s use the verb jouer (to play).

The present conditional tense is used to express what “would” or “could” happen.

It uses the same formula as the futur simple : add the proper endings directly onto the infinitive for -er and -ir verbs.

Likewise, for -re verbs, we take off the -e and add the endings.

Use the past conditional tense to talk about something that might have happened in the past, but didn’t. It’s like the English construction “would have.”

We’re going to apply the same concept as in the futur antérieur, except that instead of using the futur simple form of the auxiliary verb, we’ll use the conditional form as follows:

French conjugation isn’t just about tense—it’s also about mood.

So far we’ve been working with the indicative mood, used for expressing statements of fact or objectivity.

But there are two other important moods in French:

• Imperative mood : used to express orders and commands
• Subjunctive mood : used in situations where there is doubt or uncertainty

In most verbs, the imperative (giving orders)  uses the same conjugation as the present simple tense. For example:

Prendre (to take) :

(Tu) prends ça !  ([You] Take this!)

(Nous) prenons ça ! (Let’s take this!)

(Vous ) prenez ça ! ([You/You all] Take this!)

Note that there’s no imperative conjugation for je, il/elle/on or ils/elles .

A few irregular verbs do have irregular forms in the imperative mood as well:

Être (to be):

(Tu) sois gentil ! ([You] Be nice!)

(Nous) soyons gentil ! (Let’s be nice!)

(Vous) soyez gentil ! ([You/You all] Be nice!)

Avoir (to have):

(Tu) aie confiance ! ([You] Have faith!)

(Nous) ayons confiance ! (Let’s have faith!)

(Vous) ayez confiance ! ([You/You all] Have faith!)

To fully explain the French subjunctive would require a whole other article . For our purposes, think of the subjunctive mood as a way to express doubt or emotion.

Je sais qu’il est ici (I know that he is here) uses the indicative mood, but…

Je doute qu’il soit ici (I doubt he is here) uses the subjunctive mood.

In most verbs, the only difference between the normal (indicative) conjugation and the subjunctive conjugation is that you have to add an i in the nous and vous forms.

Nous cachons vs. Nous cachions

Vous cachez vs. Vous cachiez

However, some verbs are exceptions and have different conjugations. This is the case for our favorite irregulars: être, aller, avoir and faire:

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This may seem like a lot of information to digest, but soon, it’ll all feel like second-nature . Just think of all the French learners who have mastered this before you!

As you learn, I recommend making use of one of the many great online conjugators available for free, as well as fantastic resources for practicing what you’ve just learned.

WordReference’s Conjugator

WordReference’s Conjugator has to be the most comprehensive tool of its kind. Just type in the verb and every possible conjugation appears.

WordReference is well-organized and succinctly explains every conjugation, including highlighted stem changes and rarely used (mostly literary) conjugations.

Conjugation-fr

Conjugation-fr is another great practice resource. It offers a database of over 12,000 French verbs, making it perfect for whenever you get stuck in the middle of French reading or writing practice.

One advantage of this tool is that it gives a brief summary of each verb along with its translation. Plus, its accessible format makes for easy reading and learning.

Francais Interactif

If you want some extra practice, the University of Texas has made French conjugation exercises freely available at Francais Interactif .

They offer over a hundred different lessons, so there’s truly something for everyone here! You can also filter exercises by the type of verb and the verb tense, for extra targeted practice.

ListeningPractice.org

This website offers a free game to practice your French conjugation skills .

It has a ton of options for customization: you can sort by how common the verb is, by tense, by pronoun or by level of difficulty.

You can even make an account to track your progress over time!

Once you’ve mastered the basics of French conjugation, you’ll start to notice the patterns while practicing your French reading and listening skills .

As you get used to seeing and hearing French verbs used in everyday French sentences, it will reinforce those verb conjugations so you remember them even better.

One great way to get exposure to the language is to watch French movies and TV shows — especially if you can turn on subtitles.

Conjugating French correctly takes commitment and practice . Fortunately, most verbs you’ll come across fall into predictable categories in all their forms.

In time, you’ll master irregular verbs as well as uncommon French tenses that show up in literature.

If you keep practicing, French conjugation will become second nature to you in no time at all!

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

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Conjugate faire in the present tense in French (Le Présent)

The verb faire   (to make/do)  is irregular in French (it doesn't conjugate the same way as most verbs ending in -re ). 

Learn how to conjugate FAIRE (to make/do) in  Le Présent (Indicatif)  in French

Note that nous  f ai sons sounds like " f e sons "

You can also listen to these examples:

Je fais toujours mon lit. I always make my bed.

Tu fais du sport ? Do you do sport?

Mon amie fait ses propres bijoux. My friend makes her own jewellery.

Nous faisons un gâteau. We are making a cake.

Vous faites tous vos devoirs? Are you all doing your homework?

Les enfants font un château de sable. The children are making a sandcastle.

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Learn more about these related French grammar topics

• Le Présent (Indicatif)
• Verbe irrégulier

Examples and resources

• French Conjugation Rules
• French Tenses
• French Verbs
• French Auxiliaries Verbs
• French First Group Verbs
• French Second Group Verbs
• French Third Group Verbs
• Most Common French Verbs
• Avoir conjugation
• Être conjugation
• Aimer conjugation
• Manger conjugation
• Finir conjugation
• Partir conjugation
• Aller conjugation
• Faire conjugation
• Dire conjugation
• Lire conjugation
• Voir conjugation
• Venir conjugation
• Pouvoir conjugation
• Prendre conjugation
• Vouloir conjugation
• Devoir conjugation
• Savoir conjugation
• Mettre conjugation
• Present Indicative
• Imperfect Indicative
• Simple Past Indicative
• Simple Future Indicative
• Present Perfect Indicative
• Pluperfect Indicative
• Past Perfect Indicative
• Future Perfect Indicative
• Present Subjunctive
• Past Subjunctive
• Imperfect Subjunctive
• Pluperfect Subjunctive
• Present Conditional
• Past Conditional
• Present Imperative
• Past Imperative
• French Conjugation
• French conjugation rules

French conjugation

• First group verbs : verbs ending in -er (except aller )
• Second group verbs : verbs ending in -ir , with the gerund ending in -issant
• 1st section: verbs ending in -ir , with the gerund ending in -ant
• 2nd section: verbs ending in -oir
• 3rd section: verbs ending in -re
• The verb aller

Stems and endings

Tenses of the french conjugation.

• Present (présent)
• Present perfect (passé composé) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the present
• Imperfect (imparfait)
• Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the imperfect
• Simple past (passé simple)
• Past perfect (passé antérieur) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the simple past
• Simple future (futur simple)
• Future perfect (futur antérieur) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the simple future
• Past (passé) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the subjunctive present
• Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the subjunctive imperfect
• Past form 1 (passé première forme) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the present conditional
• Past form 2 (passé deuxième forme) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the imperfect subjunctive
• Past (passé) : formed with an auxiliary verb in the present imperative
• Past (passé): formed with an auxiliary verb in the present infinitive
• Past (passé)
• Gerund (Gérondif): (constructed by preceding the present participle with the preposition en )

French verbs

Auxiliaries of the french conjugation, first group verbs, endings for the conjugation of the french first group verbs.

• INFINITIVE  : -er
• Present  :-e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent
• Imperfect  : -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient
• Simple Future  : -erai, -eras, -era, -erons, -erez, -eront
• Simple Past  : -ai, -as, -a, -âmes, -âtes, -èrent
• Present  : -e, -es, -e, -ions, -iez, -ent
• Imperfect  : -asse, -asses, -ât, -assions, -assiez, -assent
• Present  : -erais, -erais, -erait, -erions, -eriez, -eraient
• Present  : -e, -ons, -ez
• Present  : -ant
• Past  : -é, -és, -ée, ées

Compound tenses

• auxiliary in present indicative + past participle of main verb = present perfect indicative ( passé composé de l'indicatif )
• auxiliary in imperfect indicative + past participle of main verb = pluperfect indicative ( plus-que-parfait de l'indicatif )
• auxiliary in simple past indicative + past participle of main verb = past perfect indicative ( passé antérieur de l'indicatif )
• auxiliary in simple future indicative + past participle of main verb = future perfect indicative ( futur antérieur de l'indicatif )
• auxiliary in present subjunctive + past participle of main verb = past subjunctive ( passé du subjonctif )
• auxiliary in imperfect subjunctive + past participle of main verb = pluperfect subjunctive ( plus-que-parfait du subjonctif )
• auxiliary in present conditional + past participle of main verb = past conditional ( conditionnel passé )
• auxiliary in present imperative + past participle of main verb = past imperative ( impératif passé )

Second group verbs

Endings for the conjugation of the french second group verbs.

• INFINITIVE  : -ir
• Present  : -is, -is, -it, -issons, -issez, -issent
• Imperfect  : -issais, -issais, -issait, -issions, -issiez, -issaient
• Simple future  : -irai, -iras, -ira, -irons, -irez, -iront
• Simple past  : -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent
• Present  : -isse, -isses, -isse, -issions, -issiez, -issent
• Imperfect  : -isse, -isses, -ît, -issions, -issiez, -issent
• Present  : -irais, -irais, -irait, -irions, -iriez, -iraient
• Present  : -is, -issons, -issez
• Present  : -issant
• Past  : -i

Third group verbs

Present indicative, simple past indicative, simple future indicative, present conditional, present subjunctive, imperfect subjonctive, past participle.

• for verbs in -ir ( couvrir, offrir, mourir, ouvrir, souffrir ): Couvert, offert, mort, ouvert, souffert
• for verbs in -indre and in -uire (except for luire and nuire ): Craint, joint, peint, bruit, cuit
• for verbs in -re ( confire, dire, écrire, frire, faire, traire ): Confit, dit, écrit, frit, fait, trait
• Terms of use

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French verbs: list, exercises and conjugation

If there is something difficult to learn in languages ​​and very hated by students, it is conjugate verbs in French . Luckily, in the native language of France, the fundamental principles of conjugation are identical to those we use in Spanish, by this we mean that the verbs are modified according to the subject that performs them and the tense (past, present or future) in which they happen.

The French language has 16 verb tenses in its entirety and of these, 5 are the most frequently used and which comprise most of the scenarios. Today we are going to give you 4 ways / steps so you can easily conjugate French verbs.

Form No. 1: Compression of the conjugation

Shaping the verbs.

Remember that the conjugation is the same as "shaping" a verb according to the subjects you are referring to, this also happens in Spanish, as an example: we can say "they jump" but obviously we would change the verb to "jump" if the person or rather, the subject who performs it is “you”. If we go to French, the conjugation is similar: each subject (we, them, you) has a different conjugation.

Remember the pronouns

It is VERY important to conjugate French verbs that remember which are the pronouns that are used in this language , which has an additional pronoun to Spanish.

• He, she, it = il, elle, on.
• They, They = ils, they.
• You or you = vous.

Keep in mind the different infinitives used in verbs

If a verb is missing its corresponding conjugation, it is known as an “infinitive”. In the Spanish language, the different verbal actions in infinitives end in ar, ir, and er (for example walk, run, etc.). In the French language, infinitives consist of verbs like aller (to go) or respondre (to respond). The infinitive makes the verb base and is what is modified when we give it the desired conjugation.

Identify the so-called regular verbs (there are three in total)

Most of the verbs in French can be divided into 3 types according to the ending of the infinitive that corresponds to them. Each type includes several conjugation rules and you need to know them in order to conjugate French verbs.

-Verbs that end in “go”: for verbs like “applaudir” (clap) and “finir” (finish).

-Verbs that end in “re”: includes verbs like “understand” (listen).

-Verbs that end in “er”: for verbs like “manger” (to eat) or “parler” (to speak).

Study irregular verbs

As in any language, and French is not the exception, there are verbs that stopped using the same conjugation rules as the others, in these exceptions, most of the verb tenses are different, so for irregular verbs it is usually searched for punctually the conjugations.

We will show you a list where you can find some frequently used irregular verbs.

• Being = Être:
• Want = Vouloir
• Have = Avoir
• Put, place = Mettre

Form Nº 2: Conjugate French verbs in the past simple = passé composé

Use the past simple for verbs that have ended in the past.

The passé composé or past simple is used for verbs in which their beginning and ending are well established, for example “I threw a pencil” or “they have run a lot”. For verbs that occur regularly in the past tense, such as the weather, another verb tense is used. The past simple or passé composé is the most common past tense in the French language.

Conjugate the verb “avoir” in the present

In order to start conjugating verbs in French from the simple past, it should be noted that the latter forms a compound tense, that is, it is made up of two parts. The first part is formed from the conjugation of the verb to have (avoir), which will fulfill the same function as the verb "to have" in the Spanish language, for example "I have ironed" or "He has tied". Let's remind you of the conjugation of the verb “avoir”:

• Have = Avoir = elles ont, tu as, j'ai, vous avez, il a, nous avons.

Find the past participle of the actions

If we analyze the sentence "I have run", you will see that "run" does not resemble any conjugation of the action "run", this also occurs in the French language, the participles of the actions in the past tense have ways of ending different, and the best thing is that they are not difficult to remember:

• Verbs that end in “er”: “e” For example: montré
• Verbs that end in "go": "i" Example: réussi
• Verbs ending in "re": "u" For example. I understood

Past = Join the two parts

What you must do now is join the conjugation of the verb “avoir” with the past participle and as a result we will have the verb tense in the past. If we are talking about equivalences, the equivalent of the conjugation in Spanish that we saw in the previous point would be "I have run" or "They have shot", although it can also be translated as "I ran" or "They shot". Examples:

• First person: "ai + verb" I spoke = J'ai parlé
• Second person "as + verb" You finished = You so fini
• Third person "a + verb" He heard = Il a compreu.
• First person plural "avons + verb" We were successful = Nous avons réussi
• Second person plural "avez + verb" You tried = You tried
• Third person plural "ont + verb" They responded = They ont répondu.

Verbs that use being instead of avoir

Almost all actions in French use a formula (avoir + past participle), although in order to make the conjugation of some actions in the past simple we must use: être (to be) + past participle, in the same way its translation will be as actions in tense past (for example: I fell). The verbs mentioned are:

• rester, become, descendre, come, return, monter, depart, arriver, tomber, sortir, aller, naître, entrer, rentrer, retourner, mourir.

These verbs are known as intransitive verbs.

Use «être» instead of «avoir»

We must do this to conjugate verbs in French that we mentioned in the previous step. Once we study which verbs should be conjugated with « being »(“ To be ”) we must join them to the past participle to give them their conjugation in the past tense, a detail to keep in mind is that the participle must be in coordination with the person who performs the action. For plural subjects an "s" is added to the participle and for female persons the letter "e" is added:

• First person (suis + verb) Yo caí = (In the mentioned case the person is female) Je suis tombee
• Second person (es + verb) You fell = You are tombé
• Third person (est + verb) He fell = He fell
• First person plural (sommes + verb) We fell = Our sommes tombés
• Second person plural (êtes + verb) You fell = You are tombés
• Third person plural (sont + verb) They fell = They are tombées

Form No. 3: Conjugation of the present

Present = habituality / present.

You must use the present when the verb is used in a habitual or current way. Luckily, in French the present is used very similar to Spanish, this verb tense is used to translate sentences such as "He fells the tree." In the different verbs, there are 3 basic categories and some irregular verbs (actions that do not use the general rules). The basic categories of verbs are:

• Verbs ending in "go"
• Verbs that end in "re"
•   Verbs that end in "er"

Conjugate those that end in "er"

We must conjugate verbs in French that end in “er”, replacing that ending with another; each of the different pronouns (she, we, I, etc.) has a different ending for which the ending “er” must be replaced. The endings are: e, e, es, ons, ez, ent. As an example we will use the verb "parler" (to speak):

• First person "e" I speak = Je parle
• Second person "is" You speak = You speak
• Third person "e" He speaks = Il parle
• First person plural "ons" We speak = Nous parlons
• Second person plural "ez" You speak = Vous parlez
• Third person plural "ent" They speak = Elles parlent

Conjugate French verbs that end in "go"

Replace these verbs with another ending, this is done by changing it according to the pronoun:

Issons, issent, is, it. Let's use the conjugation of clap (“applaud”) as an example for this occasion:

• First person "is" I applaud -> J'applaudis.
• Second person "is" You applaud -> Tu applaud
• Third person "it" He claps -> I applaud
• First person plural "issons" We applaud -> Our applaudisons
• Second person plural "issez" You clap -> You applauded
• Third person plural "issent" They clap -> Ils applaudissent,

Conjugate verbs ending in re

In this case we will also replace that ending with another, we must emphasize that these are less frequent regular verbs, but it is important that you know how to conjugate them the same. The endings to change will be: nothing, ons, ez, ent, s and s. The conjugation of the third person, that is to say she or he, has no conjugation. As an example we will take the verb to respond (répondre):

• First person "s" I answer -> Je answer
• Second person "s" You answer -> Your replies
• Third person "nothing" He responds -> Il répond
• First person plural "ons" We respond -> Nous repldons
• Second person plural "ez" You respond -> You reply
• Third person plural "ent" They respond -> They respond

Study conjugate frequent irregular verbs

You may know that irregular verbs are quite a lot, but we regret to tell you that it is necessary to know how to conjugate them, below we will give you just a few examples, the rest you can search for by putting “verb + conjugation in French” in Google.

• Have = avoir = Nous avons, J'ai, vous avez, il a, elles ont, tu as
• Ir = Aller = you go, il goes, vous allez, elles vont, nous allons, je vais

Form Nº 4: Conjugation of verbs in the imperfect past tense

Verbs performed over a period of time.

Importantly, the past imperfect is used for verbs that occur over a period of time . In Spanish this topic is similar, the named tense is used for verbs that happened in the past tense but not at a certain moment (Ex: “I played basketball when I was 15 years old” or “They asked for pizza every day” , in these examples you may be pointing to some of all the times when they ordered pizza or played basketball)

This verb tense should be used for example for frequent actions or verbs, age, climatic time, states of being, filler data or the different feelings.

The simple past tense is used for circumstances that occur in a story (“I swept the street”) and the imperfect past tense is used for the fill data (“I was 15 years old”, “It was cloudy”)

Find the root of the actions by suppressing the "ons"

Esto applies to French verbs that are conjugated in the first person plural and present tense To find the root, you have to delete the ending "ons", it also works for irregular verbs. If you want to start conjugating French verbs in the past imperfect, delete the “ons” from the conjugation of the person and the tense said at the beginning. This can also be applied or governed in the Spanish language, for example the root of the verb andar is "and" (ando, andas, andamos, anduviste). Examples:

• Fiare = faisons = fais
• finir = finissons = finniss
• Avoir = avons = av

There is a exception to the rule that we mention and is the verb «Être» , its conjugation in the first person plural does not end in “ons” (« we are «). The root of this action is "ét".

Unify the endings of the imperfect past tense to the root

We will do this to obtain the conjugation in French, unlike the passé composé or past simple, the past imperfect is constituted in a word. So what we have to do is unify the endings at the root. As an example we will conjugate the verb to irrigate (to look):

• First person (ais) I looked = I was looking
• Second person (ais) You looked = You will water
• Third person (ait) He looked = Il irrdait.
• First person plural (ions) We looked = Nous regards
• Second person plural (iez) You looked = You regardiez
• Third person plural (aient) They looked = Elles irrdaient

So far our tutorial on how to conjugate verbs in French has come, we hope it has served you, although no one said that it is an easy language, it is a matter of studying it and putting it into practice. Good luck with it!

Note: If reading everything is tedious for you, we leave you some videos so that you can learn to conjugate verbs in the French language easier, especially to learn the French pronunciation:

Conjugate regular verbs in ER

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French Verbs that End in -ir

French verbs, how verbs change, to infinitif and beyond, conjugating regular -ir verbs in the present tense, common irregular -ir verbs, irregular -ir patterns, learn french now, get more from lingvist.

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What is the translation of "assignment" in French?

"assignment" in french, assignment {noun}.

• volume_up mission
• affectation
• assignation
• tâche assignée

assign {noun}

• volume_up ayant droit
• ayant cause

assignability {noun}

• volume_up cessibilité

assigned {adj.}

• volume_up assignées

assigning {adj.}

• volume_up cédant

Translations

• open_in_new Link to source
• warning Request revision

assigned {adjective}

Assigning {adjective}, context sentences, english french contextual examples of "assignment" in french.

These sentences come from external sources and may not be accurate. bab.la is not responsible for their content.

Monolingual examples

English how to use "assignment" in a sentence, english how to use "assign" in a sentence, english how to use "assignability" in a sentence, english how to use "assigned" in a sentence, english how to use "assigning" in a sentence, english how to use "ayant cause" in a sentence, english how to use "cessibilité" in a sentence, collocations, "give the assignment" in french.

• volume_up donner la mission

"accept the assignment" in French

• volume_up accepter l'affectation
• volume_up accepter la cession

"assignment editors" in French

• volume_up éditeurs d'affectations
• volume_up éditeurs d'affectation

Synonyms (English) for "assignment":

• appointment
• designation
• duty assignment
• assigned role
• assigned seat
• assigned seating
• assigned target
• assigned task
• assigned value
• assigned work
• assignee in bankruptcy
• assignment editors
• assignment include
• assignment involve
• assignment of debt
• assignment reporter
• assignment require
• assignments
• assimilate the information

Have a look at the English-Vietnamese dictionary by bab.la.

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Les temps: Indicative Tenses in French Grammar

How many tenses does french have.

French has 10 indicative tenses, but not all of them are used in everyday language:

Le passé simple (the past historic) and le passé antérieur (the anterior past) are only used in literature, while le présent (the present) , le passé composé (the simple past) , l’imparfait (the imperfect) , le passé récent (the recent past) , le plus-que-parfait (the past perfect) , le futur proche (the near future) , le futur simple (the future simple) and le futur antérieur (the future perfect) are used in day-to-day contexts.

Learn how to conjugate verbs in the indicative tenses in French with Lingolia, just click on a tense below to get started.

To learn how to conjugate verbs in other moods in French such as the conditional , the imperative and the subjunctive , go to the section on verbs .

Overview of the Tenses

The overview of French tenses lists all the different French verb tenses together with their conjugations for - er/-ir/-re verbs. You can also find tips on how to use each of the tenses correctly.

The présent corresponds to the present tense in English. We mostly use this tense to speak about regular and one-time actions that take place in the present as well as scheduled future events.

Le passé composé

The passé composé corresponds to the simple past tense in English. We use it to talk about completed actions in the past, and to emphasise the results or outcome of a past action.

L’imparfait

The imparfait corresponds to the English past progressive tense and phrases like used to. It can talk about an action or situation that was in progress at a certain point in the past, as well as expressing a regular and repeated past action.

L’imparfait/Passé composé

The imparfait and the passé composé both refer to the past, but cannot be used interchangeably.

Le passé récent

We use the passé récent to speak about an action that was completed shortly before the moment of speaking. It corresponds to the English structure have just + past participle .

Le passé simple

The passé simple is the literary equivalent of the passé composé . It expresses one-time, completed actions in the past.

Le plus-que-parfait

The plus-que-parfait corresponds to the past perfect tense in English. We use it to express actions that took place before a certain point in the past.

Le futur proche

The futur proche is used for actions in the near future. It corresponds to the English structure going to + infinitive . This tense emphasises that there is already an intention behind the action and that it will shortly take place.

Le futur simple

The futur simple corresponds to the will-future tense in English. We mainly use this tense to talk about future plans or to make predictions.

Le futur antérieur

The futur antérieur corresponds to the future perfect tense in English. It indicates that an action will have been completed by a certain point in the future. It also makes suppositions about possible past events.

Les verbes irréguliers

Get to know the irregular verbs with our list of the most common irregular verbs in French. The verbs are presented together with their conjugations in all tenses.

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French translation of 'assignment'

Browse Collins English collocations assignment

Video: pronunciation of assignment.

Examples of 'assignment' in a sentence assignment

Trends of assignment.

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Browse alphabetically assignment

• assiduousness
• assignation
• assimilation
• All ENGLISH words that begin with 'A'

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• tough assignment
• challenging assignment
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• teaching assignment
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Le, La, L’, Les, Un, Une, Des: A beginner’s guide to the French articles

What is a French article ? Articles are important elements of French grammar, enabling us to indicate some level of specifics to nouns. In this post we’ll examine the three different types of French articles , and go over how to use all of them!

This article is brought to you by LingoCulture, Where you can get unlimited private French classes via Zoom with native teachers for a flat monthly rate. It’s the closest thing to immersion you can get without living in a French-speaking country. Click here to learn more.

French Articles: The Basics

There are three types of French articles: definite articles , indefinite articles , and partitive articles . Each type has a different meaning, but they all follow a set of standard rules:

1. An article comes before a noun. A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea.

2. As nouns have gender in French, the article must match the gender of the noun (masculine or feminine).

3. Each noun’s article must also match its number (singular or plural).

4. While articles can often be omitted in English, they cannot be omitted in French. In English, for example, we can say “I like bread,” whereas in French we would have to say “J’aime le pain,” which literally translates to “I like the  bread.”

Definite Articles: “The” in French

Definite articles refer to known or specific nouns. All of the French definite articles translate to English as  the . They must match the gender and number of the noun they precede. The definite articles in French  are:

Both le  and la will form contractions with nouns that begin with a vowel or vowel sound (like a silent “h”) in French. To make these contractions, we simply drop the last letter from the article and add an apostrophe. Both le  and la  will become l’ before a noun that begins with a vowel, regardless of whether that noun is masculine or feminine. This is the closest comparison we have to your English article an , which is also placed before vowel sounds.

Les  is used before both masculine plural nouns and feminine plural nouns.

Let’s see the French definite articles with some examples:

• Le  cahier – The  notebook (masculine)
• La  recette – The  recipe (feminine)
• L’ ordinateur – The  computer (masculine)
• Les  cahiers – The  notebooks (masculine, plural)
• Les  recettes – The  recipes (feminine, plural)
• Les  ordinateurs – The  computers (masculine, plural)

Masculine vs feminine nouns

Unfortunately, there is not a simple way to tell whether a French noun is masculine or feminine on its own, so you’ll need to memorize each noun’s gender as you learn it. You can do this by memorizing the definite (or indefinite) article that precedes it. We describe other ways to determine whether a noun is masculine or feminine in our detailed post on French gender rules .

If the noun begins with a vowel (preceded by l’ ) or is plural (preceded by les ), however, the definite article will not indicate the noun’s gender, so you’ll need to identify the noun’s gender in another way. Most language resources indicate a noun’s gender with an abbreviation, usually “m.” for masculine and “f.” for feminine.

Contractions with “à” and “de”

When used with the French prepositions à  (indicating to , at , or in ) and de  (indicating from , of , or about ), the masculine and plural definite articles le  and les  become contractions. We’ll look at these specifics in the following tables, along with examples demonstrating each one. Note that with the feminine definite article la , as well as with the definite article l’ preceding a vowel, there is no change.

À  is a preposition that generally translates as to , at , or in , so all four forms shown in this table can translate as to the , at the , or in the .

• Au  parc (m.) – To the  park, At the  park, In the  park
• À la librarie (f.) – To the bookstore, At the bookstore, In the bookstore
• À l’école (f.) – To [the] school, At [the] school
• Aux  magasins (m.) – To the  stores, At the  stores, In the  stores

De  is a preposition that generally translates as from , of , or about , so all four forms shown in this table can translate as from the , of the , or about the .

• Du  parc (m.) – From the  park, Of the  park, About the  park
• De la plage (f.) – From the beach, Of the beach, About the beach
• De l’ambassade (m.) – From the embassy, Of the embassy, About the embassy
• Des  amis (m.) – From the  friends, Of the  friends, About the  friends

Indefinite Articles: “A,” “An,” and “Some” in French

Indefinite articles refer to unknown or general nouns. The French indefinite articles un and une  are for singular nouns, which in English can be either a  or an , while the indefinite article des  for plural nouns generally translates as some . The indefinite articles in French must match the gender and number of the nouns they precede. The indefinite articles in French  are:

The indefinite articles un  and une  can also mean one , and will still agree with the noun’s gender.

Des  is used for both masculine plural nouns and feminine plural nouns.

Now let’s see the French indefinite articles with the same nouns we saw when introducing the French definite articles:

• Un  cahier – A  notebook, One  notebook
• Une  recette – A  recipe, One  recipe
• Des  cahiers – Some  notebooks
• Des  recettes – Some  recipes

Partitive Articles: “Some” or “Any” in French

Partitive articles  in French refer to “part of” or “some of” a whole object, or to several objects among many. The partitive articles du , de   la , de   l’ , and des  generally translate as some  in French, while they can also take other translations depending on the context, namely any .

When the noun is singular, the partitive article indicates “part of” or “some of” a whole object, or “some” of a noncount noun. A noncount noun is a noun that cannot be counted and only exists in abstract quantities (such as “butter” or “water”). When the noun is plural, the partitive article indicates several objects. The partitive articles in French  are:

• Veux-tu du  gâteau. – Do you want some  cake? – Do you want any  cake?
• Je mets toujours de la moutarde dans mes sandwichs. – I always put [ some ] mustard in my sandwiches.
• Le chanteur utilise toujours de l ’argot dans ses textes. – The singer always uses some  slang in his lyrics.
• Il nous faut des pièces de monnaie pour les parcomètres. – We need some  change for the parking meters.

“Du,” “De la,” “De l’,” “Des”: Contraction or partitive article?

You may have noticed that the definite article contractions with de and the partitive articles in French are the same words. You can tell the difference from the context of the phrase or sentence.

Examples of contractions:

• C’est le bureau du  professeur. – That’s the desk of the  teacher. (Here, the contraction du  means of the  and indicates possession .)
• Je viens de la  bibliothèque. – I am coming from the  library. (Here, de la  means from the  and indicates direction.)
• Tu parles des  trains ? – Are you talking about the  trains? (Here, the contraction des  means about the  and indicates subject matter.)

Examples of partitive articles:

• Je voudrais du  bacon, s’il vous plaît. – I would like some  bacon, please. (Here, the partitive article du  means some  of a noncount noun: bacon.)
• Tu veux de la  baguette ? – Would you like some  bread? (Here, the partitive article de la  means some  of a whole object: a long, thin loaf of French bread.)
• Reste-t-il de l’ avocat ? – Is there any  avocado left? (Here, the partitive article de l’  means any  of an object: avocado.)
• Elle mange des  raisins. – She is eating some  grapes. (Here, the partitive article des  means  some  grapes. We could also simply consider this to be an indefinite article on its own.)

Conclusion: Articles in French

We’ve written a lot here to give a full explanation on all the ways to say the  and a  in French. Known respectively as the definite articles  and indefinite articles , the main difference with their English counterparts is that French has different forms of each one to match the gender and number of the nouns they precede. In plural, the indefinite article generally translates as some .

In addition to getting to know the basic list of French articles, we saw some specific contractions where the masculine and plural forms of the articles combine with the prepositions à  and de . Finally, we looked at the partitive articles  in French, which enable us to talk about imprecise portions of whatever noun we’re describing.

We hope this post has helped you clear up all the differences between the various articles in French, while also helping to understand their parallels with the English articles you already know, or even with the Spanish definite and indefinite articles . As one of the fundamental building blocks of basic grammar, mastering the French articles will come quickly enough as you improve your skills in the language!

KEEP READING

French accent marks: a quick guide to the five french diacritics, bonjour mon ami 12 ways to say friend in french, an vs année, jour vs journée, and nuit vs nuitée: subtle french word pairs, bonjour: meaning in english, history, and uses.