What are the literary tenses in French?

There are 8 different verb tenses in the indicative mood: présent (present), imparfait (imperfect), passé simple (simple past), futur simple (simple future), passé composé (perfect), plus-que-parfait (pluperfect), passé antérieur (past anterior), and futur antérieur (future anterior).

Why does French have a literary tense?

At one time, literary tenses were used in spoken French, but they have gradually disappeared. When they are used, they raise the speaker’s register to an extremely refined (some might even say snobbish) level of French. They may also be used for humorous effect.

What are the most important tenses in French?

6 French Verb Tenses You Must Know

  • Present tense (le présent)
  • Compound past (passé composé)
  • Imperfect (l’imparfait)
  • Simple future (le futur simple)
  • Conditional (le conditionnel présent)
  • Present subjunctive (le présent du subjonctif)

How many French tenses do I need to know?

There are over 20 tenses in French! Before you start to freak out, let’s clarify a few things. French tenses include the present, past, and future tenses. They indicate when an action occurs.

Which tenses are most used in French?

Present Tense – le présent de l’indicatif This is the verb tense that you’ll use most of the time when you’re speaking French.

Is passé simple still used?

The “passé simple” is definitely still used by contemporary writers, and it is not considered as bad or outdated style.

Why is passé simple no longer used?

We find three main causes for the disappearance of the passe simple (e.g.,je chantai ‘I sang’) and its satellite tenses, the passe anterieur (e.g.,j’eus chante ‘I had sung’), and the two subjunctives, the imperfect (e.g., que je chantasse ‘that I might sing’) and the pluperfect (e.g., que j’eusse chante ‘that I might …