assommer — French conjugation

to knock out, to stun

Frequency#1579Regular

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
jeassommeI knock out
tuassommesyou knock out
il/elleassommehe/she/it knocks out
nousassommonswe knock out
vousassommezyou (pl.) knock out
ils/ellesassommentthey knock out

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
jeassommaiI knocked out
tuassommasyou knocked out
il/elleassommahe/she/it knocked out
nousassommâmeswe knocked out
vousassommâtesyou (pl.) knocked out
ils/ellesassommèrentthey knocked out

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
jeassommais
tuassommais
il/elleassommait
nousassommions
vousassommiez
ils/ellesassommaient

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
jeassommeraisI would knock out
tuassommeraisyou would knock out
il/elleassommeraithe/she/it would knock out
nousassommerionswe would knock out
vousassommeriezyou (pl.) would knock out
ils/ellesassommeraientthey would knock out

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
jeassommeraiI will knock out
tuassommerasyou will knock out
il/elleassommerahe/she/it will knock out
nousassommeronswe will knock out
vousassommerezyou (pl.) will knock out
ils/ellesassommerontthey will knock out

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 assomméI have knocked out
tutu as assomméyou have knocked out
il/elleil/elle a assomméhe/she/it has knocked out
nousnous avons assomméwe have knocked out
vousvous avez assomméyou (pl.) have knocked out
ils/ellesils/elles ont assomméthey have knocked out

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 assomméI had knocked out
tutu avais assomméyou had knocked out
il/elleil/elle avait assomméhe/she/it had knocked out
nousnous avions assomméwe had knocked out
vousvous aviez assomméyou (pl.) had knocked out
ils/ellesils/elles avaient assomméthey had knocked out

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

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 assomméI will have knocked out
tutu auras assomméyou will have knocked out
il/elleil/elle aura assomméhe/she/it will have knocked out
nousnous aurons assomméwe will have knocked out
vousvous aurez assomméyou (pl.) will have knocked out
ils/ellesils/elles auront assomméthey will have knocked out

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
jeassomme
tuassommes
il/elleassomme
nousassommions
vousassommiez
ils/ellesassomment

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
jeassommasse
tuassommasses
il/elleassommât
nousassommassions
vousassommassiez
ils/ellesassommassent

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
tuassomme
nousassommons
vousassommez