In French, the infinitive form is quite important as it acts as a guide in determining the verb group. Verbs fall into two main categories: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Regular verbs usually form their tenses in a consistent way. The stem is not changed and the endings are regular.
Irregular verbs have inconsistent tense formation with changes in both the stem and ending. They need to be memorized individually. For irregular verbs consult the dictionary and see Appendix of Irregular Verbs.
Regular verbs include three major groups based on the infinitive ending:
verbs ending in -er, verbs ending in -ir, verbs ending in -re.
Note: Verbs with endings -er represent the largest and most dynamic verb group, with over 4000 entries.
The Present Participle is the adjectival form:
chanter/chantant (singing), courir/courant (running), prendre/prenant (taking).
The Past Participle is used in all compound tenses:
chanter/chanté (sang), courir/couru (ran), prendre/pris (taken).
See Also: