Mode indicative
The indicative mode indicates an action in its reality. This is the mode where we indicate and where what we say is held to be true.
Il lit ce livre.
The indicative is a personal and temporal mode that is to say it contains people and allows to indicate a notion of time.
Indicative tenses
Indicative is the most complete mode because it contains 8 different tenses split into 4 different simple tenses and 4 compound tenses.
| Simple tenses | Compound tenses |
|---|---|
|
Present Indivate present is the basic tense. It indicates main actions. |
Present perfect Present perfect indicates an accomplished action before another one. |
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Imperfect Orally, the imperfect is used to report past actions that are lasting and finished, as well as to express a request in a polite manner. In writing, it reports what lasts. It is complementary with the simple past. |
Pluperfect In writing, the pluperfect expresses actions accomplished before those of basic time. |
|
Simple past Dans le récit écrit au passé, le passé simple sert à rapporter les actions ponctuelles, uniques et successives. Avec l'imparfait, c'est le temps de base du récit. |
Past perfect In the narrative written in the past, it is used to relate an accomplished action before another told to the simple past. |
|
Future Future tense is used to express future actions. |
Past future Past future tense is used to express a future action before another one which is also happening in the future. |