aspirer — French conjugation

to aspire (to wait, to long)

Frequency#8Regular

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
jeaspireI aspire
tuaspiresyou aspire
il/elleaspirehe/she/it aspires
nousaspironswe aspire
vousaspirezyou (pl.) aspire
ils/ellesaspirentthey aspire

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
jeaspiraiI aspired
tuaspirasyou aspired
il/elleaspirahe/she/it aspired
nousaspirâmeswe aspired
vousaspirâtesyou (pl.) aspired
ils/ellesaspirèrentthey aspired

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
jeaspirais
tuaspirais
il/elleaspirait
nousaspirions
vousaspiriez
ils/ellesaspiraient

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
jeaspireraisI would aspire
tuaspireraisyou would aspire
il/elleaspireraithe/she/it would aspire
nousaspirerionswe would aspire
vousaspireriezyou (pl.) would aspire
ils/ellesaspireraientthey would aspire

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
jeaspireraiI will aspire
tuaspirerasyou will aspire
il/elleaspirerahe/she/it will aspire
nousaspireronswe will aspire
vousaspirerezyou (pl.) will aspire
ils/ellesaspirerontthey will aspire

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 aspiréI have aspired
tutu as aspiréyou have aspired
il/elleil/elle a aspiréhe/she/it has aspired
nousnous avons aspiréwe have aspired
vousvous avez aspiréyou (pl.) have aspired
ils/ellesils/elles ont aspiréthey have aspired

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 aspiréI had aspired
tutu avais aspiréyou had aspired
il/elleil/elle avait aspiréhe/she/it had aspired
nousnous avions aspiréwe had aspired
vousvous aviez aspiréyou (pl.) had aspired
ils/ellesils/elles avaient aspiréthey had aspired

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

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 aspiréI will have aspired
tutu auras aspiréyou will have aspired
il/elleil/elle aura aspiréhe/she/it will have aspired
nousnous aurons aspiréwe will have aspired
vousvous aurez aspiréyou (pl.) will have aspired
ils/ellesils/elles auront aspiréthey will have aspired

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
jeaspire
tuaspires
il/elleaspire
nousaspirions
vousaspiriez
ils/ellesaspirent

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
jeaspirasse
tuaspirasses
il/elleaspirât
nousaspirassions
vousaspirassiez
ils/ellesaspirassent

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
tuaspire
nousaspirons
vousaspirez