Translating Compound Tenses and Moods

Traduire les temps et modes composés

Translating compound French verb conjugations
Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

French and English have a number of important differences in verb tenses and moods, which can make translating the various conjugations from one language to the other a bit tricky, as explained in the intro to this lesson: French verb conjugation translations.

Please be sure to keep all of that in mind as you look at the verb donner (to give) conjugated into every compound French verb form. For a more detailed look, click the heading above any table for the in-depth French lesson.

 You’ll notice a lot of the same English translations in the past tenses – this is because French has numerous verb forms, particularly in writing, that express distinctions that don’t really exist in English.

Passé composé

    Simple past Present perfect Past emphatic
j’ai donné   I gave I have given I did give
tu as donné   you gave you have given you did give
il a donné   he gave he has given he did give
elle a donné   she gave she has given she did give
nous avons donné   we gave we have given we did give
vous avez donné   you gave you have given you did give
ils ont donné   they gave they have given they did give

Past subjunctive

    Simple past Present perfect
que j’aie donné   that I gave that I have given
que tu aies donné   that you gave that you have given
qu’il ait donné   that he gave that he has given
qu’elle ait donné   that she gave that she has given
que nous ayons donné   that we gave that we have given
que vous ayez donné   that you gave that you have given
qu’ils aient donné   that they gave that they have given

Future perfect

    Future
j’aurai donné   I will have given
tu auras donné   you will have given
il aura donné   he will have given
elle aura donné   she will have given
nous aurons donné   we will have given
vous aurez donné   you will have given
ils auront donné   they will have given

Conditional perfect

    Conditional perfect
j’aurais donné   I would have given
tu aurais donné   you would have given
il aurait donné   he would have given
elle aurait donné   she would have given
nous aurions donné   we would have given
vous auriez donné   you would have given
ils auraient donné   they would have given

Second form of the conditional perfect

    Conditional perfect
que j’eusse donné   that I would have given
que tu eusses donné   that you would have given
qu’il eût donné   that he would have given
qu’elle eût donné   that she would have given
que nous eussions donné   that we would have given
que vous eussiez donné   that you would have given
qu’ils eussent donné   that they would have given

Pluperfect

    Past perfect
j’avais donné   I had given
tu avais donné   you had given
il avait donné   he had given
elle avait donné   she had given
nous avions donné   we had given
vous aviez donné   you had given
ils avaient donné   they had given

Past anterior

    Past perfect
j’eus donné   I had given
tu eus donné   you had given
il eut donné   he had given
elle eut donné   she had given
nous eûmes donné   we had given
vous eûtes donné   you had given
ils eurent donné   they had given

Pluperfect subjunctive

    Past perfect
que j’eusse donné   that I had given
que tu eusses donné   that you had given
qu’il eût donné   that he had given
qu’elle eût donné   that she had given
que nous eussions donné   that we had given
que vous eussiez donné   that you had given
qu’ils eussent donné   that they had given

More about translating French verb conjugations

 Related lessons

 Share / Tweet / Pin Me!

Translating compound French tenses and moods

  Lawless French Files:  

Stay up to date with Lawless French

Questions about French?

 Visit the Progress with Lawless French Q+A forum to get help from native French speakers and fellow learners.

More Lawless French

 Subscribe to my twice-weekly newsletter.

Support Lawless French

  This free website is created with love and a great deal of work.

If you love it, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation.

Your support is entirely optional but tremendously appreciated.

Leave a Reply