aiguiller — French conjugation

to direct

Frequency#647Regular

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
jeaiguilleI direct
tuaiguillesyou direct
il/elleaiguillehe/she/it directs
nousaiguillonswe direct
vousaiguillezyou (pl.) direct
ils/ellesaiguillentthey direct

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
jeaiguillaiI directed
tuaiguillasyou directed
il/elleaiguillahe/she/it directed
nousaiguillâmeswe directed
vousaiguillâtesyou (pl.) directed
ils/ellesaiguillèrentthey directed

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
jeaiguillais
tuaiguillais
il/elleaiguillait
nousaiguillions
vousaiguilliez
ils/ellesaiguillaient

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
jeaiguilleraisI would direct
tuaiguilleraisyou would direct
il/elleaiguilleraithe/she/it would direct
nousaiguillerionswe would direct
vousaiguilleriezyou (pl.) would direct
ils/ellesaiguilleraientthey would direct

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
jeaiguilleraiI will direct
tuaiguillerasyou will direct
il/elleaiguillerahe/she/it will direct
nousaiguilleronswe will direct
vousaiguillerezyou (pl.) will direct
ils/ellesaiguillerontthey will direct

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 aiguilléI have directed
tutu as aiguilléyou have directed
il/elleil/elle a aiguilléhe/she/it has directed
nousnous avons aiguilléwe have directed
vousvous avez aiguilléyou (pl.) have directed
ils/ellesils/elles ont aiguilléthey have directed

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 aiguilléI had directed
tutu avais aiguilléyou had directed
il/elleil/elle avait aiguilléhe/she/it had directed
nousnous avions aiguilléwe had directed
vousvous aviez aiguilléyou (pl.) had directed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient aiguilléthey had directed

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

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 aiguilléI will have directed
tutu auras aiguilléyou will have directed
il/elleil/elle aura aiguilléhe/she/it will have directed
nousnous aurons aiguilléwe will have directed
vousvous aurez aiguilléyou (pl.) will have directed
ils/ellesils/elles auront aiguilléthey will have directed

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
jeaiguille
tuaiguilles
il/elleaiguille
nousaiguillions
vousaiguilliez
ils/ellesaiguillent

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
jeaiguillasse
tuaiguillasses
il/elleaiguillât
nousaiguillassions
vousaiguillassiez
ils/ellesaiguillassent

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
tuaiguille
nousaiguillons
vousaiguillez