accourir — French conjugation

to rush

Frequency#854Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jeaccoursI rush
tuaccoursyou rush
il/elleaccourthe/she/it rushes
nousaccouronswe rush
vousaccourezyou (pl.) rush
ils/ellesaccourentthey rush

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jeaccourusI rushed
tuaccourusyou rushed
il/elleaccouruthe/she/it rushed
nousaccourûmeswe rushed
vousaccourûtesyou (pl.) rushed
ils/ellesaccoururentthey rushed

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jeaccourais
tuaccourais
il/elleaccourait
nousaccourions
vousaccouriez
ils/ellesaccouraient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jeaccourraisI would rush
tuaccourraisyou would rush
il/elleaccourraithe/she/it would rush
nousaccourrionswe would rush
vousaccourriezyou (pl.) would rush
ils/ellesaccourraientthey would rush

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jeaccourraiI will rush
tuaccourrasyou will rush
il/elleaccourrahe/she/it will rush
nousaccourronswe will rush
vousaccourrezyou (pl.) will rush
ils/ellesaccourrontthey will rush

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 accouruI have rushed
tutu as accouruyou have rushed
il/elleil/elle a accouruhe/she/it has rushed
nousnous avons accouruwe have rushed
vousvous avez accouruyou (pl.) have rushed
ils/ellesils/elles ont accouruthey have rushed

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 accouruI had rushed
tutu avais accouruyou had rushed
il/elleil/elle avait accouruhe/she/it had rushed
nousnous avions accouruwe had rushed
vousvous aviez accouruyou (pl.) had rushed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient accouruthey had rushed

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 accouru
tutu aurais accouru
il/elleil/elle aurait accouru
nousnous aurions accouru
vousvous auriez accouru
ils/ellesils/elles auraient accouru

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 accouruI will have rushed
tutu auras accouruyou will have rushed
il/elleil/elle aura accouruhe/she/it will have rushed
nousnous aurons accouruwe will have rushed
vousvous aurez accouruyou (pl.) will have rushed
ils/ellesils/elles auront accouruthey will have rushed

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jeaccoure
tuaccoures
il/elleaccoure
nousaccourions
vousaccouriez
ils/ellesaccourent

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
jeaccourusse
tuaccourusses
il/elleaccourût
nousaccourussions
vousaccourussiez
ils/ellesaccourussent

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
tuaccours
nousaccourons
vousaccourez