[PDF] English-French Verb Phrase Alignment in Europarl for Tense

What are the tenses in French?

What you perhaps already know, tenses in French include past, present, and future. The French language has ten tenses. However, not all of them are used in everyday conversations. Some are used in certain cases, others can be found only in literature, etc. To make a bit clearer, let’s start with verb forms or moods and see why they are important.

What is an example of a tense?

This tense is formed of the verbs ‘avoir’ and ‘être’ in passé simple as auxiliary verbs and past participles of the main verb. The verb ‘avoir’ is used in most verbs. The verb ‘être’ is used with reflexive verbs and 14 verbs of motion or staying. Examples: J’eus aimé recontrer Anne- I would have liked to meet Anne. Vous vous fûtes couchés.-

Is it hard to learn French tenses?

French learners say that French tenses are very challenging, some even say that it’s almost impossible to learn all of them, let alone use them successfully. Tenses in French are, just like in any other language, inevitable and necessarily. In this article you’ll find explanations and examples that will make studying easier for you.