autoriser — French conjugation

to authorise

Frequency#279Regular

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
jeautoriseI authorise
tuautorisesyou authorise
il/elleautorisehe/she/it authorises
nousautorisonswe authorise
vousautorisezyou (pl.) authorise
ils/ellesautorisentthey authorise

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
jeautorisaiI authorised
tuautorisasyou authorised
il/elleautorisahe/she/it authorised
nousautorisâmeswe authorised
vousautorisâtesyou (pl.) authorised
ils/ellesautorisèrentthey authorised

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
jeautorisais
tuautorisais
il/elleautorisait
nousautorisions
vousautorisiez
ils/ellesautorisaient

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
jeautoriseraisI would authorise
tuautoriseraisyou would authorise
il/elleautoriseraithe/she/it would authorise
nousautoriserionswe would authorise
vousautoriseriezyou (pl.) would authorise
ils/ellesautoriseraientthey would authorise

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
jeautoriseraiI will authorise
tuautoriserasyou will authorise
il/elleautoriserahe/she/it will authorise
nousautoriseronswe will authorise
vousautoriserezyou (pl.) will authorise
ils/ellesautoriserontthey will authorise

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 autoriséI have authorised
tutu as autoriséyou have authorised
il/elleil/elle a autoriséhe/she/it has authorised
nousnous avons autoriséwe have authorised
vousvous avez autoriséyou (pl.) have authorised
ils/ellesils/elles ont autoriséthey have authorised

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 autoriséI had authorised
tutu avais autoriséyou had authorised
il/elleil/elle avait autoriséhe/she/it had authorised
nousnous avions autoriséwe had authorised
vousvous aviez autoriséyou (pl.) had authorised
ils/ellesils/elles avaient autoriséthey had authorised

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

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 autoriséI will have authorised
tutu auras autoriséyou will have authorised
il/elleil/elle aura autoriséhe/she/it will have authorised
nousnous aurons autoriséwe will have authorised
vousvous aurez autoriséyou (pl.) will have authorised
ils/ellesils/elles auront autoriséthey will have authorised

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
jeautorise
tuautorises
il/elleautorise
nousautorisions
vousautorisiez
ils/ellesautorisent

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
jeautorisasse
tuautorisasses
il/elleautorisât
nousautorisassions
vousautorisassiez
ils/ellesautorisassent

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
tuautorise
nousautorisons
vousautorisez