accepter — French conjugation

to accept

Frequency#84RegularReflexives'accepter — to accept oneself

Indicative

Present (Présent) Regular

Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

Elle parle arabe et français.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeaccepteI accept
tuacceptesyou accept
il/elleacceptehe/she/it accepts
nousacceptonswe accept
vousacceptezyou (pl.) accept
ils/ellesacceptentthey accept

Simple past (Passé simple) Regular

The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.

Ils virent le roi s'approcher.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeacceptaiI accepted
tuacceptasyou accepted
il/elleacceptahe/she/it accepted
nousacceptâmeswe accepted
vousacceptâtesyou (pl.) accepted
ils/ellesacceptèrentthey accepted

Imperfect (Imparfait) Regular

The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.

Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.

PronounFrench
jeacceptais
tuacceptais
il/elleacceptait
nousacceptions
vousacceptiez
ils/ellesacceptaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Regular

The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.

Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeaccepteraisI would accept
tuaccepteraisyou would accept
il/elleaccepteraithe/she/it would accept
nousaccepterionswe would accept
vousaccepteriezyou (pl.) would accept
ils/ellesaccepteraientthey would accept

Future (Futur) Regular

The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.

Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jeaccepteraiI will accept
tuaccepterasyou will accept
il/elleaccepterahe/she/it will accept
nousaccepteronswe will accept
vousaccepterezyou (pl.) will accept
ils/ellesaccepterontthey will accept

Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular

The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.

Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'ai acceptéI have accepted
tutu as acceptéyou have accepted
il/elleil/elle a acceptéhe/she/it has accepted
nousnous avons acceptéwe have accepted
vousvous avez acceptéyou (pl.) have accepted
ils/ellesils/elles ont acceptéthey have accepted

Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular

The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.

Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'avais acceptéI had accepted
tutu avais acceptéyou had accepted
il/elleil/elle avait acceptéhe/she/it had accepted
nousnous avions acceptéwe had accepted
vousvous aviez acceptéyou (pl.) had accepted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient acceptéthey had accepted

Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular

The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).

J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.

PronounFrench
jej'aurais accepté
tutu aurais accepté
il/elleil/elle aurait accepté
nousnous aurions accepté
vousvous auriez accepté
ils/ellesils/elles auraient accepté

Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular

The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.

D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'aurai acceptéI will have accepted
tutu auras acceptéyou will have accepted
il/elleil/elle aura acceptéhe/she/it will have accepted
nousnous aurons acceptéwe will have accepted
vousvous aurez acceptéyou (pl.) will have accepted
ils/ellesils/elles auront acceptéthey will have accepted

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Regular

The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…

Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.

PronounFrench
jeaccepte
tuacceptes
il/elleaccepte
nousacceptions
vousacceptiez
ils/ellesacceptent

Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular

The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.

Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.

PronounFrench
jeacceptasse
tuacceptasses
il/elleacceptât
nousacceptassions
vousacceptassiez
ils/ellesacceptassent

Other forms

Imperative (Impératif) Regular

The imperative is for direct orders and advice to tu, nous, and vous. For many -er verbs, the tu form drops the final -s of the present (parle!); negatives use the subjunctive-like forms in practice.

Fermons la porte, s'il vous plaît !

PronounFrench
tuaccepte
nousacceptons
vousacceptez