attrister — French conjugation

to sadden

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
jeattristeI sadden
tuattristesyou sadden
il/elleattristehe/she/it saddens
nousattristonswe sadden
vousattristezyou (pl.) sadden
ils/ellesattristentthey sadden

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
jeattristaiI saddened
tuattristasyou saddened
il/elleattristahe/she/it saddened
nousattristâmeswe saddened
vousattristâtesyou (pl.) saddened
ils/ellesattristèrentthey saddened

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
jeattristais
tuattristais
il/elleattristait
nousattristions
vousattristiez
ils/ellesattristaient

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
jeattristeraisI would sadden
tuattristeraisyou would sadden
il/elleattristeraithe/she/it would sadden
nousattristerionswe would sadden
vousattristeriezyou (pl.) would sadden
ils/ellesattristeraientthey would sadden

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
jeattristeraiI will sadden
tuattristerasyou will sadden
il/elleattristerahe/she/it will sadden
nousattristeronswe will sadden
vousattristerezyou (pl.) will sadden
ils/ellesattristerontthey will sadden

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 attristéI have saddened
tutu as attristéyou have saddened
il/elleil/elle a attristéhe/she/it has saddened
nousnous avons attristéwe have saddened
vousvous avez attristéyou (pl.) have saddened
ils/ellesils/elles ont attristéthey have saddened

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 attristéI had saddened
tutu avais attristéyou had saddened
il/elleil/elle avait attristéhe/she/it had saddened
nousnous avions attristéwe had saddened
vousvous aviez attristéyou (pl.) had saddened
ils/ellesils/elles avaient attristéthey had saddened

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

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 attristéI will have saddened
tutu auras attristéyou will have saddened
il/elleil/elle aura attristéhe/she/it will have saddened
nousnous aurons attristéwe will have saddened
vousvous aurez attristéyou (pl.) will have saddened
ils/ellesils/elles auront attristéthey will have saddened

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
jeattriste
tuattristes
il/elleattriste
nousattristions
vousattristiez
ils/ellesattristent

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
jeattristasse
tuattristasses
il/elleattristât
nousattristassions
vousattristassiez
ils/ellesattristassent

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
tuattriste
nousattristons
vousattristez