How many tenses may a French verb have?

A French verb has 10 tenses, although some argue it can have 12, depending on how you classify certain tenses.

Here are the 10 most commonly recognized tenses:

Simple tenses:

* Présent (Present)

* Imparfait (Imperfect)

* Passé simple (Simple Past)

* Futur simple (Simple Future)

Compound tenses:

* Passé composé (Past Indefinite)

* Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect)

* Passé antérieur (Past Anterior)

* Futur antérieur (Future Perfect)

* Conditionnel présent (Present Conditional)

* Conditionnel passé (Past Conditional)

Additional tenses (depending on perspective):

* Passé récent (Recent Past): This is sometimes considered a separate tense, but it's more commonly seen as a variation of the Passé Composé.

* Passé immédiat (Immediate Past): This is also considered a variation of the Passé Composé by many.

Ultimately, the number of tenses in French is a matter of perspective, but the 10 most common tenses are those listed above.