French tenses

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As in other Indo-European languages, French verbs are marked for tense, i.e. for the time (relative to "now") when the action happens.

Moods make things more difficult, but that's explained on the page French subjunctive.

Past

Passé composé describes an action in the past. It corresponds to the English simple past or present perfect, and it is formed with the conjugated present tense form of "avoir" or "être" followed by the past participle of the main verb. The participle is only declined if the auxiliary "être" is used, or if the direct object is mentioned before the verb.
Example: elle a mangé = she ate / has eaten / has been eating

In literary texts, passé simple is often used instead of passé composé.
Example: elle mangea = she ate / has eaten / has been eating

Imparfait describes background information in the past, or events that were happening when something else (which is described in passé compose/simple) started to happen. It corresponds roughly to the English past progressive.
Example: elle mangeait = she was eating

Il pleuvait quand Marie est arrivée.

= It was raining when Mary arrived.

Plus-que-parfait describes events that happened before another action in past tense. It corresponds to the English past perfect, and it is formed just like the passé composé, but with the auxiliary in imparfait rather than présent.
Example: elle avait mangé = she had eaten / had been eating

Present

Présent describes what is happening now. It corresponds to the English present tense (simple or progressive). It is the basic conjugation of all verbs.
Example: elle mange (she eats / is eating)

Future

Futur simple describes actions in the future. It corresponds to the various English future forms.
In spoken French, it is often expressed by conjugating "aller" in present tense followed by the infinitive of the main verb.
Example: elle mangera / elle va manger (she will eat / is going to eat / will be eating)

Futur antérieur describes actions already completed when other future actions happen. It corresponds to the English future perfect
This tense is quite rare, and often replaced with future simple.
Example: elle aura mangé (she will have eaten it)

Please refer to French subjunctive to learn about moods in French.

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