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Temps périphrastiques
The name might be scary but the grammar is easy: a periphrastic tense is a verbal construction consisting of a specific semi-auxiliary verb plus an infinitive. These verbal phrases offer additional nuance to the normal range of verb tenses.
French has three periphrastic tenses, each of which can be used with the semi-auxiliary verb conjugated into the present tense or the imperfect.
1) Venir de + infinitive
Passé récent
| Il vient de me regarder. | He just looked at me. | |
| Je viens de manger. | I just ate. |
Passé récent dans le passé
| Il venait de me regarder. | He had just looked at me. | |
| Je venais de manger quand il est arrivé. | I had just eaten when he arrived. |
2) Être en train de + infinitive
Présent progressif
| Il est en train de regarder la peinture. | He is looking at the painting. | |
| Je suis en train de manger. | I am eating. |
Passé progressif
| Il était en train de regarder la peinture. | He was looking at the painting. | |
| J’étais en train de manger quand il est arrivé. | I was eating when he arrived. |
3) Aller + infinitive
Futur proche
| Il va regarder l’horaire. | He’s going to look at the schedule. | |
| Je vais manger. | I’m going to (am about to) eat. |
Futur proche dans le passé
| Il allait regarder l’horaire. | He was going to look at the schedule | |
| J’allais manger quand il est arrivé. | I was going to (was about to) eat when he arrived. |
Note for grammar lovers
Periphrastic tenses are one type of verbal periphrasis (périphrase verbale); the parent category also includes compound tenses (like the passé composé) and progressive tenses (which don’t exist in French).
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