apprivoiser — French conjugation

to tame

Frequency#583Regular

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
jeapprivoiseI tame
tuapprivoisesyou tame
il/elleapprivoisehe/she/it tames
nousapprivoisonswe tame
vousapprivoisezyou (pl.) tame
ils/ellesapprivoisentthey tame

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
jeapprivoisaiI tamed
tuapprivoisasyou tamed
il/elleapprivoisahe/she/it tamed
nousapprivoisâmeswe tamed
vousapprivoisâtesyou (pl.) tamed
ils/ellesapprivoisèrentthey tamed

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
jeapprivoisais
tuapprivoisais
il/elleapprivoisait
nousapprivoisions
vousapprivoisiez
ils/ellesapprivoisaient

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
jeapprivoiseraisI would tame
tuapprivoiseraisyou would tame
il/elleapprivoiseraithe/she/it would tame
nousapprivoiserionswe would tame
vousapprivoiseriezyou (pl.) would tame
ils/ellesapprivoiseraientthey would tame

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
jeapprivoiseraiI will tame
tuapprivoiserasyou will tame
il/elleapprivoiserahe/she/it will tame
nousapprivoiseronswe will tame
vousapprivoiserezyou (pl.) will tame
ils/ellesapprivoiserontthey will tame

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 apprivoiséI have tamed
tutu as apprivoiséyou have tamed
il/elleil/elle a apprivoiséhe/she/it has tamed
nousnous avons apprivoiséwe have tamed
vousvous avez apprivoiséyou (pl.) have tamed
ils/ellesils/elles ont apprivoiséthey have tamed

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 apprivoiséI had tamed
tutu avais apprivoiséyou had tamed
il/elleil/elle avait apprivoiséhe/she/it had tamed
nousnous avions apprivoiséwe had tamed
vousvous aviez apprivoiséyou (pl.) had tamed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient apprivoiséthey had tamed

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

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 apprivoiséI will have tamed
tutu auras apprivoiséyou will have tamed
il/elleil/elle aura apprivoiséhe/she/it will have tamed
nousnous aurons apprivoiséwe will have tamed
vousvous aurez apprivoiséyou (pl.) will have tamed
ils/ellesils/elles auront apprivoiséthey will have tamed

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
jeapprivoise
tuapprivoises
il/elleapprivoise
nousapprivoisions
vousapprivoisiez
ils/ellesapprivoisent

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
jeapprivoisasse
tuapprivoisasses
il/elleapprivoisât
nousapprivoisassions
vousapprivoisassiez
ils/ellesapprivoisassent

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
tuapprivoise
nousapprivoisons
vousapprivoisez