approfondir — French conjugation

to deepen

Frequency#254Regular

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
jeapprofondisI deepen
tuapprofondisyou deepen
il/elleapprofondithe/she/it deepens
nousapprofondissonswe deepen
vousapprofondissezyou (pl.) deepen
ils/ellesapprofondissentthey deepen

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
jeapprofondisI deepened
tuapprofondisyou deepened
il/elleapprofondithe/she/it deepened
nousapprofondîmeswe deepened
vousapprofondîtesyou (pl.) deepened
ils/ellesapprofondirentthey deepened

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
jeapprofondissais
tuapprofondissais
il/elleapprofondissait
nousapprofondissions
vousapprofondissiez
ils/ellesapprofondissaient

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
jeapprofondiraisI would deepen
tuapprofondiraisyou would deepen
il/elleapprofondiraithe/she/it would deepen
nousapprofondirionswe would deepen
vousapprofondiriezyou (pl.) would deepen
ils/ellesapprofondiraientthey would deepen

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
jeapprofondiraiI will deepen
tuapprofondirasyou will deepen
il/elleapprofondirahe/she/it will deepen
nousapprofondironswe will deepen
vousapprofondirezyou (pl.) will deepen
ils/ellesapprofondirontthey will deepen

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 approfondiI have deepened
tutu as approfondiyou have deepened
il/elleil/elle a approfondihe/she/it has deepened
nousnous avons approfondiwe have deepened
vousvous avez approfondiyou (pl.) have deepened
ils/ellesils/elles ont approfondithey have deepened

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 approfondiI had deepened
tutu avais approfondiyou had deepened
il/elleil/elle avait approfondihe/she/it had deepened
nousnous avions approfondiwe had deepened
vousvous aviez approfondiyou (pl.) had deepened
ils/ellesils/elles avaient approfondithey had deepened

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

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 approfondiI will have deepened
tutu auras approfondiyou will have deepened
il/elleil/elle aura approfondihe/she/it will have deepened
nousnous aurons approfondiwe will have deepened
vousvous aurez approfondiyou (pl.) will have deepened
ils/ellesils/elles auront approfondithey will have deepened

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
jeapprofondisse
tuapprofondisses
il/elleapprofondisse
nousapprofondissions
vousapprofondissiez
ils/ellesapprofondissent

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
jeapprofondisse
tuapprofondisses
il/elleapprofondît
nousapprofondissions
vousapprofondissiez
ils/ellesapprofondissent

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
tuapprofondis
nousapprofondissons
vousapprofondissez