adopter — French conjugation

to adopt

Frequency#629Regular

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
jeadopteI adopt
tuadoptesyou adopt
il/elleadoptehe/she/it adopts
nousadoptonswe adopt
vousadoptezyou (pl.) adopt
ils/ellesadoptentthey adopt

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
jeadoptaiI adopted
tuadoptasyou adopted
il/elleadoptahe/she/it adopted
nousadoptâmeswe adopted
vousadoptâtesyou (pl.) adopted
ils/ellesadoptèrentthey adopted

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
jeadoptais
tuadoptais
il/elleadoptait
nousadoptions
vousadoptiez
ils/ellesadoptaient

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
jeadopteraisI would adopt
tuadopteraisyou would adopt
il/elleadopteraithe/she/it would adopt
nousadopterionswe would adopt
vousadopteriezyou (pl.) would adopt
ils/ellesadopteraientthey would adopt

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
jeadopteraiI will adopt
tuadopterasyou will adopt
il/elleadopterahe/she/it will adopt
nousadopteronswe will adopt
vousadopterezyou (pl.) will adopt
ils/ellesadopterontthey will adopt

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 adoptéI have adopted
tutu as adoptéyou have adopted
il/elleil/elle a adoptéhe/she/it has adopted
nousnous avons adoptéwe have adopted
vousvous avez adoptéyou (pl.) have adopted
ils/ellesils/elles ont adoptéthey have adopted

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 adoptéI had adopted
tutu avais adoptéyou had adopted
il/elleil/elle avait adoptéhe/she/it had adopted
nousnous avions adoptéwe had adopted
vousvous aviez adoptéyou (pl.) had adopted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient adoptéthey had adopted

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

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 adoptéI will have adopted
tutu auras adoptéyou will have adopted
il/elleil/elle aura adoptéhe/she/it will have adopted
nousnous aurons adoptéwe will have adopted
vousvous aurez adoptéyou (pl.) will have adopted
ils/ellesils/elles auront adoptéthey will have adopted

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
jeadopte
tuadoptes
il/elleadopte
nousadoptions
vousadoptiez
ils/ellesadoptent

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
jeadoptasse
tuadoptasses
il/elleadoptât
nousadoptassions
vousadoptassiez
ils/ellesadoptassent

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
tuadopte
nousadoptons
vousadoptez