actionner — French conjugation

to activate

Frequency#104Regular

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
jeactionneI activate
tuactionnesyou activate
il/elleactionnehe/she/it activates
nousactionnonswe activate
vousactionnezyou (pl.) activate
ils/ellesactionnentthey activate

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
jeactionnaiI activated
tuactionnasyou activated
il/elleactionnahe/she/it activated
nousactionnâmeswe activated
vousactionnâtesyou (pl.) activated
ils/ellesactionnèrentthey activated

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
jeactionnais
tuactionnais
il/elleactionnait
nousactionnions
vousactionniez
ils/ellesactionnaient

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
jeactionneraisI would activate
tuactionneraisyou would activate
il/elleactionneraithe/she/it would activate
nousactionnerionswe would activate
vousactionneriezyou (pl.) would activate
ils/ellesactionneraientthey would activate

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
jeactionneraiI will activate
tuactionnerasyou will activate
il/elleactionnerahe/she/it will activate
nousactionneronswe will activate
vousactionnerezyou (pl.) will activate
ils/ellesactionnerontthey will activate

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 actionnéI have activated
tutu as actionnéyou have activated
il/elleil/elle a actionnéhe/she/it has activated
nousnous avons actionnéwe have activated
vousvous avez actionnéyou (pl.) have activated
ils/ellesils/elles ont actionnéthey have activated

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 actionnéI had activated
tutu avais actionnéyou had activated
il/elleil/elle avait actionnéhe/she/it had activated
nousnous avions actionnéwe had activated
vousvous aviez actionnéyou (pl.) had activated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient actionnéthey had activated

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

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 actionnéI will have activated
tutu auras actionnéyou will have activated
il/elleil/elle aura actionnéhe/she/it will have activated
nousnous aurons actionnéwe will have activated
vousvous aurez actionnéyou (pl.) will have activated
ils/ellesils/elles auront actionnéthey will have activated

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
jeactionne
tuactionnes
il/elleactionne
nousactionnions
vousactionniez
ils/ellesactionnent

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
jeactionnasse
tuactionnasses
il/elleactionnât
nousactionnassions
vousactionnassiez
ils/ellesactionnassent

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
tuactionne
nousactionnons
vousactionnez