affecter — French conjugation

to affect (to influence)

Frequency#221Regular

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
jeaffecteI affect
tuaffectesyou affect
il/elleaffectehe/she/it affects
nousaffectonswe affect
vousaffectezyou (pl.) affect
ils/ellesaffectentthey affect

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
jeaffectaiI affected
tuaffectasyou affected
il/elleaffectahe/she/it affected
nousaffectâmeswe affected
vousaffectâtesyou (pl.) affected
ils/ellesaffectèrentthey affected

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
jeaffectais
tuaffectais
il/elleaffectait
nousaffections
vousaffectiez
ils/ellesaffectaient

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
jeaffecteraisI would affect
tuaffecteraisyou would affect
il/elleaffecteraithe/she/it would affect
nousaffecterionswe would affect
vousaffecteriezyou (pl.) would affect
ils/ellesaffecteraientthey would affect

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
jeaffecteraiI will affect
tuaffecterasyou will affect
il/elleaffecterahe/she/it will affect
nousaffecteronswe will affect
vousaffecterezyou (pl.) will affect
ils/ellesaffecterontthey will affect

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 affectéI have affected
tutu as affectéyou have affected
il/elleil/elle a affectéhe/she/it has affected
nousnous avons affectéwe have affected
vousvous avez affectéyou (pl.) have affected
ils/ellesils/elles ont affectéthey have affected

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 affectéI had affected
tutu avais affectéyou had affected
il/elleil/elle avait affectéhe/she/it had affected
nousnous avions affectéwe had affected
vousvous aviez affectéyou (pl.) had affected
ils/ellesils/elles avaient affectéthey had affected

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

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 affectéI will have affected
tutu auras affectéyou will have affected
il/elleil/elle aura affectéhe/she/it will have affected
nousnous aurons affectéwe will have affected
vousvous aurez affectéyou (pl.) will have affected
ils/ellesils/elles auront affectéthey will have affected

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
jeaffecte
tuaffectes
il/elleaffecte
nousaffections
vousaffectiez
ils/ellesaffectent

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
jeaffectasse
tuaffectasses
il/elleaffectât
nousaffectassions
vousaffectassiez
ils/ellesaffectassent

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
tuaffecte
nousaffectons
vousaffectez