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Indicative present — everyday actions, ongoing situations, and habits; the tense you rely on most in conversation.

Near future with aller + infinitive — what you are about to do, very soon after the moment of speaking.

Recent past with venir de + infinitive — something that has just finished, still fresh in the speaker’s mind.

Compound past with être or avoir + past participle — completed, one-off events and the backbone of spoken storytelling.

Conditional mood — polite requests, imagined outcomes, and what would happen under certain conditions.

Simple future — often more formal or literary than the near future; states intentions farther ahead in time.

Imperfect — repeated habits in the past, background description, and actions still in progress when something else occurred.

Present imperative — direct commands and friendly requests; only tu, nous, and vous person forms exist.

Present participle — the -ant form in subordinate clauses, compound tenses, and many fixed expressions.

Gerund with en + present participle — simultaneous action, manner, or cause while something else is going on.