allonger — French conjugation

to lengthen

Frequency#875IrregularReflexives'allonger — to lie down

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
jeallongeI lengthen
tuallongesyou lengthen
il/elleallongehe/she/it lengthens
nousallongeonswe lengthen
vousallongezyou (pl.) lengthen
ils/ellesallongentthey lengthen

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
jeallongeaiI lengthened
tuallongeasyou lengthened
il/elleallongeahe/she/it lengthened
nousallongeâmeswe lengthened
vousallongeâtesyou (pl.) lengthened
ils/ellesallongèrentthey lengthened

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
jeallongeais
tuallongeais
il/elleallongeait
nousallongions
vousallongiez
ils/ellesallongeaient

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
jeallongeraisI would lengthen
tuallongeraisyou would lengthen
il/elleallongeraithe/she/it would lengthen
nousallongerionswe would lengthen
vousallongeriezyou (pl.) would lengthen
ils/ellesallongeraientthey would lengthen

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
jeallongeraiI will lengthen
tuallongerasyou will lengthen
il/elleallongerahe/she/it will lengthen
nousallongeronswe will lengthen
vousallongerezyou (pl.) will lengthen
ils/ellesallongerontthey will lengthen

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 allongéI have lengthened
tutu as allongéyou have lengthened
il/elleil/elle a allongéhe/she/it has lengthened
nousnous avons allongéwe have lengthened
vousvous avez allongéyou (pl.) have lengthened
ils/ellesils/elles ont allongéthey have lengthened

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 allongéI had lengthened
tutu avais allongéyou had lengthened
il/elleil/elle avait allongéhe/she/it had lengthened
nousnous avions allongéwe had lengthened
vousvous aviez allongéyou (pl.) had lengthened
ils/ellesils/elles avaient allongéthey had lengthened

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

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 allongéI will have lengthened
tutu auras allongéyou will have lengthened
il/elleil/elle aura allongéhe/she/it will have lengthened
nousnous aurons allongéwe will have lengthened
vousvous aurez allongéyou (pl.) will have lengthened
ils/ellesils/elles auront allongéthey will have lengthened

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
jeallonge
tuallonges
il/elleallonge
nousallongions
vousallongiez
ils/ellesallongent

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
jeallongeasse
tuallongeasses
il/elleallongeât
nousallongeassions
vousallongeassiez
ils/ellesallongeassent

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
tuallonge
nousallongeons
vousallongez