Les Amis as French verb tenses:
Enjolras: futur antérieur. Used to denote future actions that will specifically happen before other actions or time frames. Example: Nous aurons renversé le gouvernement avant le fin du siècle (We will have overthrown the government before the end of the century.)
Combeferre: futur simple. Used to generally denote future actions, albeit sometimes with less connotation of immediacy. Example: Je lirai un nouveau livre (I will read a new book.)
Courfeyrac: présent. The standard present tense, used to express what is currently happening. Example: Il est heureux (He is happy.)
Jehan: passé simple. A form of the past tense seen most often in literature rather than in modern spoken French. Used for narrating actions with a definite beginning and end. Example: Vous écrivîtes ce poème (You wrote this poem.)
Feuilly: futur proche. Used to denote actions definitely happening in the near future, similar to futur antérieur but without the expectation of specifically occurring before anything. Formed by conjugating the verb aller (to go) with the infinitive of the main verb. Example: Le monde va être égal (The world is going to be equal.)
Bahorel: imparfait. A past tense that denotes previous states of being or actions without a defined start or end. Example: L'émeute était puissante (The riot was powerful.)
Joly: conditionnel. A tense in which the action described is contingent upon another factor. Also used for polite requests. Example: Je voudrais une baguette, s'il vous plaît (I would like a baguette, please.)
Bossuet: infinitif. The unconjugated form of a verb, which encompasses the action or state of being in its essence, with no modifiers. Examples: être (to run), parler (to speak), choisir (to choose), etc.
Grantaire: subjonctif. A tense with no strict English equivalent, generally used to express doubt, negation, uncertainty, fear, desire, superlativity, and (perhaps surprisingly) necessity, among other things. It's often considered a difficult tense to master, particularly when one's first language doesn't have an equivalent, due to many irregularities and exceptions in its formation. Example: Je ne crois pas que tu comprennes (I don't believe that you understand.)
