attacher — French conjugation

to attach

Frequency#348Regular

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
jeattacheI attach
tuattachesyou attach
il/elleattachehe/she/it attaches
nousattachonswe attach
vousattachezyou (pl.) attach
ils/ellesattachentthey attach

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
jeattachaiI attached
tuattachasyou attached
il/elleattachahe/she/it attached
nousattachâmeswe attached
vousattachâtesyou (pl.) attached
ils/ellesattachèrentthey attached

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
jeattachais
tuattachais
il/elleattachait
nousattachions
vousattachiez
ils/ellesattachaient

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
jeattacheraisI would attach
tuattacheraisyou would attach
il/elleattacheraithe/she/it would attach
nousattacherionswe would attach
vousattacheriezyou (pl.) would attach
ils/ellesattacheraientthey would attach

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
jeattacheraiI will attach
tuattacherasyou will attach
il/elleattacherahe/she/it will attach
nousattacheronswe will attach
vousattacherezyou (pl.) will attach
ils/ellesattacherontthey will attach

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 attachéI have attached
tutu as attachéyou have attached
il/elleil/elle a attachéhe/she/it has attached
nousnous avons attachéwe have attached
vousvous avez attachéyou (pl.) have attached
ils/ellesils/elles ont attachéthey have attached

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 attachéI had attached
tutu avais attachéyou had attached
il/elleil/elle avait attachéhe/she/it had attached
nousnous avions attachéwe had attached
vousvous aviez attachéyou (pl.) had attached
ils/ellesils/elles avaient attachéthey had attached

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

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 attachéI will have attached
tutu auras attachéyou will have attached
il/elleil/elle aura attachéhe/she/it will have attached
nousnous aurons attachéwe will have attached
vousvous aurez attachéyou (pl.) will have attached
ils/ellesils/elles auront attachéthey will have attached

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
jeattache
tuattaches
il/elleattache
nousattachions
vousattachiez
ils/ellesattachent

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
jeattachasse
tuattachasses
il/elleattachât
nousattachassions
vousattachassiez
ils/ellesattachassent

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
tuattache
nousattachons
vousattachez