Verb modes
We call mode, the way in which the verb expresses the state or the action. In French, there are two types of mode:
- personal modes: they are introduced by a personal pronoun, Je, tu il etc.
- impersonal modes: all modes having no personal pronoun: the infinitive, the participle and the gerund.
There are four personal modes:
- The indicative expresses actions and general truths.
- The subjunctive expresses a wish, a will or a council.
- The conditional expresses a condition.
- The imperative expresses an order.
Some grammars tend to attach the conditional to the indicative and do not consider it as a mode in itself. It is true that on the form and the direction, one can bring it closer to the indicative. For reasons of tradition, Le Conjugueur presents the conditional as a mode in itself.
As for the imperative, it has an incomplete person flexion because it is not formed with all people. "Je", "il" and "ils" are the great ones absent from the imperative.
The impersonal modes are three in number: the infinitive, the participle and the gerund. They make it possible to confer on the verb jobs reserved for other classes such as nouns or adjectives.