attribuer — French conjugation

to attribute

Frequency#700Regular

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
jeattribueI attribute
tuattribuesyou attribute
il/elleattribuehe/she/it attributes
nousattribuonswe attribute
vousattribuezyou (pl.) attribute
ils/ellesattribuentthey attribute

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
jeattribuaiI attributed
tuattribuasyou attributed
il/elleattribuahe/she/it attributed
nousattribuâmeswe attributed
vousattribuâtesyou (pl.) attributed
ils/ellesattribuèrentthey attributed

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
jeattribuais
tuattribuais
il/elleattribuait
nousattribuions
vousattribuiez
ils/ellesattribuaient

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
jeattribueraisI would attribute
tuattribueraisyou would attribute
il/elleattribueraithe/she/it would attribute
nousattribuerionswe would attribute
vousattribueriezyou (pl.) would attribute
ils/ellesattribueraientthey would attribute

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
jeattribueraiI will attribute
tuattribuerasyou will attribute
il/elleattribuerahe/she/it will attribute
nousattribueronswe will attribute
vousattribuerezyou (pl.) will attribute
ils/ellesattribuerontthey will attribute

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 attribuéI have attributed
tutu as attribuéyou have attributed
il/elleil/elle a attribuéhe/she/it has attributed
nousnous avons attribuéwe have attributed
vousvous avez attribuéyou (pl.) have attributed
ils/ellesils/elles ont attribuéthey have attributed

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 attribuéI had attributed
tutu avais attribuéyou had attributed
il/elleil/elle avait attribuéhe/she/it had attributed
nousnous avions attribuéwe had attributed
vousvous aviez attribuéyou (pl.) had attributed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient attribuéthey had attributed

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

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 attribuéI will have attributed
tutu auras attribuéyou will have attributed
il/elleil/elle aura attribuéhe/she/it will have attributed
nousnous aurons attribuéwe will have attributed
vousvous aurez attribuéyou (pl.) will have attributed
ils/ellesils/elles auront attribuéthey will have attributed

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
jeattribue
tuattribues
il/elleattribue
nousattribuions
vousattribuiez
ils/ellesattribuent

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
jeattribuasse
tuattribuasses
il/elleattribuât
nousattribuassions
vousattribuassiez
ils/ellesattribuassent

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
tuattribue
nousattribuons
vousattribuez