The variation of verb forms in the French language: diachronic aspect

The article analyses the role of the phenomenon of variation of verb infinitives in the process of formation and development of the French language grammar system. Determining the variant as a unit of variation, the author considers different types of infinitive variants that have developed due to linguistic and non-linguistic factors. Analyzing variation in the diachronic aspect, the author shows that this phenomenon operates most intensively during the formation of the language. On the contrary, during the process of codification of the language, the level of variation is lower; variants forms differentiate becoming standard or not standard (regional or colloquial units).