French conjugation
French conjugation refers to the variation in the endings of French verbs (inflections) depending on the person (I, you, we, etc), tense (present, future, etc) and mood (indicative, imperative and subjunctive). Most verbs are regular and can be entirely determined by their infinitive form (ex. parler) however irregular verbs require the knowledge of more than just the infinitive form known as the principal parts of which there are seven in French. With the knowledge of these seven principal parts of a verb one can conjugate almost all French verbs. However, a handful of verbs, including être, are highly  irregular and the seven principal parts are not sufficient to conjugate the verb fully. French verbs are conventionally divided into three conjugations ("conjugaisons") with the following grouping: The first two groups follow a regular conjugation, whereas the third group is more complex. The third group is considered a closed-class conjugation form, meaning that most new verbs introduced to the French language are of the first group ("téléviser, atomiser, radiographier"), with the remaining ones being of the second group ("alunir"). The verbs "aller", "envoyer", and "renvoyer" are the only verbs ending in -er belonging to the third group. Moods and  tenses. There are seven different moods in French conjugation: indicative ("indicatif"), subjunctive ("subjonctif"), conditional ("conditionnel"), imperative ("impératif"), infinitive ("infinitif"), participle ("participe"), and gerund ("gérondif"). The infinitive, participle, and gerundive are not verbal moods. Tenses are described under the mood to which they belong, and they are grouped as follows. Other tenses are constructed through the use of an auxiliary verb: Auxiliary verbs. There are two auxiliary verbs in French: "avoir" (to have) and "être" (to be), used to conjugate compound tenses according to these rules: Compound tenses are conjugated with an auxiliary followed by the past participle, ex: "j'ai fait  (I did), je suis tombé" (I fell). When "être" is used, the participle is inflected according to the gender and number of the subject. The participle is inflected with the use of the verb "avoir" according to the direct object, but only if the direct object precedes the participle, ex: As stand-alone verbs, the conjugation of the two auxiliaries is listed in the table below: Section::::"Avoir". This verb has different stems for different tenses. These are imperfect "av-" ; present subjunctive "ai-" ; future and conditional "aur-" ; simple past and past subjunctive "e-" (not pronounced: "eus, eusse" are pronounced as bare  inflections ). Although the stem changes, the inflections of these tenses are as a regular "-oir" verb. In the present, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well: <nowiki>*</nowiki> Notice that the imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation. Non-finite forms: Auxiliary verb: "avoir" Section::::"Être". This verb has different stems for different tenses. These are all pronounced differently: imperfect "ét-" ; present subjunctive "soi-" ; future and conditional "ser-" ; simple past and past subjunctive in "f-" . The inflections of these tenses are as a regular "-oir" verb (that is, as an "-re" verb but with the  vowel "u" in the "f-" forms). For example, subjunctive "soyons, soyez" is pronounced with the "y" sound () of other "-re" and "-oir" verbs. In the simple present, not only are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well: <nowiki>*</nowiki> The imperative form uses the subjunctive conjugation. The non-finite forms use the stem "êt-" (before a consonant)/"ét-" (before a vowel): Auxiliary verb: "avoir" First-group verbs ("-er" verbs). French verbs ending in "-er", which constitute the largest class, inflect somewhat differently from other verbs. Between the stem and the inflectional endings that are common across most  verbs, there may be a vowel, which in the case of the "-er" verbs is a silent "-e-" (in the simple present singular), "-é" or "-ai" (in the past participle and the "je" form of the simple past), and "-a-" (in the rest of simple past singular and in the past subjunctive). In addition, the orthographic "-t" found in the "-ir" and "-re" verbs in the singular of the simple present and past is not found in this conjugation, so that the final consonants are "-Ø", "-s", "-Ø" rather than "-s", "-s", "-t." Section::::"Parler". Non-finite forms: Auxiliary verb: "avoir  Exceptional contexts: Exceptional verbs: Second-group verbs (-ir" verbs / gerund ending in -issant). The "-ir" verbs differ from the "-er" verbs in the following points: Section::::"choisir". Non-finite forms: Auxiliary verb: "avoir" ("partir" uses "être") Third group. Most verbs of the third group end in "-re." A few end in "-ir" and three end in "-er." There are more irregularities in the third group than in the first two. There is no single pattern that is followed by third group verbs, but rather a number of different paradigms. The verb "perdre" and its endings are frequently presented as an example  for the third group conjugations. See the irregular verb section for more details. Section::::"perdre". Non-finite forms: Auxiliary verb: "avoir" Irregular verbs and their paradigms. First sub-conjugation: Verbs with seven principal parts. Most irregular French verbs can be described with seven principal parts. In reality, few if any verbs have separate stems for all seven parts; instead, they tend to "inherit" the same stem as another part. Note that the endings for these verbs are basically the same as for regular "-ir" verbs; in fact, regular "-ir" verbs can be fit into this scheme by treating the "-iss-" variants  as different principal parts. The following table shows how the paradigm of an irregular verb is constructed from its principal parts. Note that a few verbs construct the present indicative (especially the singular) differently. Non-finite forms: The following table gives principal parts for a number of irregular verbs. There are a number of fair-sized groups of verbs that are conjugated alike; these are listed first. There are some additional irregularities in the present indicative, which are listed below. Nearly all irregularities affect the singular, and are purely issues of spelling. (Stems that are irregular in the sense of  being unpredictable by the above rules are given in boldface.) The following table shows an example paradigm of one of these verbs, "recevoir" "to receive". Non-finite forms: Verbs with eleven principal parts. Nine verbs also have an irregular subjunctive stem, used at least for the singular and third plural of the present subjunctive. These verbs can be said to have 11 principal parts, because the subjunctive stem may or may not be used for the first and second plural present subjunctive, the imperative and/or the present participle, in ways that vary from verb to verb. The following table shows  how the paradigm of an 11-principal-part irregular verb is constructed from its principal parts. Note that these verbs are generally the most irregular verbs in French, and many of them construct the present indicative (especially the singular) in an idiosyncratic fashion. The verb "aller" also constructs its past participle and simple past differently, according to the endings for "-er" verbs. Non-finite forms: The following table gives the principal parts for the 11-principal-part verbs. (Stems that are irregular in the sense of being unpredictable by the above rules are given in boldface.) Section::::"Aller". The verb "aller  means to go" and is sufficiently irregular that it merits listing its conjugation in full. It is the only verb with the first group ending "er" to have an irregular conjugation. It belongs to none of the three sections of the third group, and is often categorized on its own. The verb has different stems for different tenses. These are all pronounced differently: past "all-" (simple past, imperfect, past subjunctive); present subjunctive "aill-" ; conditional and future "ir-" . The inflections of these tenses are completely regular, and pronounced as in any other "-er" verb. However, in the simple present, not only  are there stem changes, but the inflections are irregular as well: The non-finite forms are all based on "all-" : Auxiliary verb: "être" Inflectional endings of the three verb groups. 1. In an interrogative sentence, the final "e" is written "é" (traditional spelling) or "è" (rectified spelling), and is pronounced as an open "è" . Additionally, the "e" in "je" becomes silent. For example: je marche (I walk), marchè-je? (do I walk?) 2. Only in "je/tu peux" (I/you can), "je/tu veux" (I/you want), and "je/tu vaux" (I am/you are 'worth'). . Verbs in "-dre" have  a final "d" for the 3rd singular person, except for those ending in "-indre" and "-soudre" which take a final "t". The verbs "vaincre" (defeat) and "convaincre" (convince) are conjugated as "vainc" and "convainc", respectively, in 3rd singular person. 3. The only verbs having this ending are: "assaillir" (assail), "couvrir" (cover), "cueillir" (pluck), "défaillir" (default), "offrir" (offer), "ouvrir" (open), "souffrir" (suffer), "tressaillir" (shiver), and in the imperative only, "avoir" (have), "savoir" (know), and "vouloir" (want). 4. Except for "je vins" (I came), "je tins" (I held), etc..., "que je vinsse" (that I come), "que je tinsse" (that I hold), etc