attarder — French conjugation

to delay; make late

Frequency#1257Regular

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
jeattardeI delay
tuattardesyou delay
il/elleattardehe/she/it delays
nousattardonswe delay
vousattardezyou (pl.) delay
ils/ellesattardentthey delay

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
jeattardaiI delayed
tuattardasyou delayed
il/elleattardahe/she/it delayed
nousattardâmeswe delayed
vousattardâtesyou (pl.) delayed
ils/ellesattardèrentthey delayed

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
jeattardais
tuattardais
il/elleattardait
nousattardions
vousattardiez
ils/ellesattardaient

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
jeattarderaisI would delay
tuattarderaisyou would delay
il/elleattarderaithe/she/it would delay
nousattarderionswe would delay
vousattarderiezyou (pl.) would delay
ils/ellesattarderaientthey would delay

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
jeattarderaiI will delay
tuattarderasyou will delay
il/elleattarderahe/she/it will delay
nousattarderonswe will delay
vousattarderezyou (pl.) will delay
ils/ellesattarderontthey will delay

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 attardéI have delayed
tutu as attardéyou have delayed
il/elleil/elle a attardéhe/she/it has delayed
nousnous avons attardéwe have delayed
vousvous avez attardéyou (pl.) have delayed
ils/ellesils/elles ont attardéthey have delayed

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 attardéI had delayed
tutu avais attardéyou had delayed
il/elleil/elle avait attardéhe/she/it had delayed
nousnous avions attardéwe had delayed
vousvous aviez attardéyou (pl.) had delayed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient attardéthey had delayed

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

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 attardéI will have delayed
tutu auras attardéyou will have delayed
il/elleil/elle aura attardéhe/she/it will have delayed
nousnous aurons attardéwe will have delayed
vousvous aurez attardéyou (pl.) will have delayed
ils/ellesils/elles auront attardéthey will have delayed

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
jeattarde
tuattardes
il/elleattarde
nousattardions
vousattardiez
ils/ellesattardent

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
jeattardasse
tuattardasses
il/elleattardât
nousattardassions
vousattardassiez
ils/ellesattardassent

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
tuattarde
nousattardons
vousattardez