French Verb Mood

Mood (or  le mode  in French) refers to the verb forms that describe the attitude of the speaker toward the action/state of the verb. In other words, mood indicates how likely or factual the speaker believes the statement to be. The French language has six moods: indicative, subjunctive, conditional, imperative, participle, and infinitive. Personal Moods In French, there are four personal moods.  Personal moods make a distinction between grammatical persons; that is, they are  conjugated. The table below lists the name of the mood in French in the first column, followed by the English translation of the mood in the second column, an explanation of the mood in the third column, and then an example of its use and the English translation in the final two columns. La Mode Mood Explanation Example English Translation Indicatif Indicative Indicates a fact: the most common mood je fais I do Subjonctif Subjunctive Expresses subjectivity, doubt, or unlikelihood je fasse I do Conditionnel Conditional Describes a condition or possibility je ferais I would do Impratif Imperative Gives a command fais-le! do it! Impersonal Moods There are two impersonal moods in French. Impersonal moods are invariable, meaning that they do not distinguish between grammatical persons. They are not conjugated, but  instead, have a single form for all persons.   La Mode Mood Explanation Example English Translation Participe Participle Adjectival form of the verb faisant doing Infinitif Infinitive Nominal form of the verb, as well as its name faire to do As is often the case in French, there is an important exception to the rule that impersonal moods are not conjugated: In the case of  pronominal verbs, the  reflexive pronoun  must  change to agree with its subject. Reflexive pronouns are a special kind of French pronoun that can only be used with  pronominal verbs. These verbs need a reflexive pronoun in addition to a  subject pronoun  because the subject(s) performing the action of the verb are the same as the object(s) being acted upon.   Tenses vs. Moods In French, as in English, the difference between moods and tenses can vex those learning the language, as well as native speakers. The difference between tense and mood is very simple. Tense indicates the when of the verb: whether the action takes place in the past, present, or future. Mood describes the feeling of the verb, or more specifically, the speakers attitude toward the action of the verb. Is s/he saying that its true or uncertain? Is it a possibility or a command? These nuances are expressed with different moods. Moods and tenses work together to give verbs a precise meaning. Each mood has at least two tenses, present, and past, though some moods have more. The indicative mood is the most common—you might call it the normal mood—and has eight tenses. When you conjugate a verb, you do so by first choosing the appropriate mood and then adding a tense to it. To gain more understanding of moods versus tenses, take a few minutes to review  verb conjugation and verb timeline for more information about how tenses and moods fit together.