barber — French conjugation

to shave

Frequency#457Regular

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
jebarbeI shave
tubarbesyou shave
il/ellebarbehe/she/it shaves
nousbarbonswe shave
vousbarbezyou (pl.) shave
ils/ellesbarbentthey shave

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
jebarbaiI shaved
tubarbasyou shaved
il/ellebarbahe/she/it shaved
nousbarbâmeswe shaved
vousbarbâtesyou (pl.) shaved
ils/ellesbarbèrentthey shaved

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
jebarbais
tubarbais
il/ellebarbait
nousbarbions
vousbarbiez
ils/ellesbarbaient

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
jebarberaisI would shave
tubarberaisyou would shave
il/ellebarberaithe/she/it would shave
nousbarberionswe would shave
vousbarberiezyou (pl.) would shave
ils/ellesbarberaientthey would shave

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
jebarberaiI will shave
tubarberasyou will shave
il/ellebarberahe/she/it will shave
nousbarberonswe will shave
vousbarberezyou (pl.) will shave
ils/ellesbarberontthey will shave

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 barbéI have shaved
tutu as barbéyou have shaved
il/elleil/elle a barbéhe/she/it has shaved
nousnous avons barbéwe have shaved
vousvous avez barbéyou (pl.) have shaved
ils/ellesils/elles ont barbéthey have shaved

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 barbéI had shaved
tutu avais barbéyou had shaved
il/elleil/elle avait barbéhe/she/it had shaved
nousnous avions barbéwe had shaved
vousvous aviez barbéyou (pl.) had shaved
ils/ellesils/elles avaient barbéthey had shaved

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

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 barbéI will have shaved
tutu auras barbéyou will have shaved
il/elleil/elle aura barbéhe/she/it will have shaved
nousnous aurons barbéwe will have shaved
vousvous aurez barbéyou (pl.) will have shaved
ils/ellesils/elles auront barbéthey will have shaved

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
jebarbe
tubarbes
il/ellebarbe
nousbarbions
vousbarbiez
ils/ellesbarbent

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
jebarbasse
tubarbasses
il/ellebarbât
nousbarbassions
vousbarbassiez
ils/ellesbarbassent

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
tubarbe
nousbarbons
vousbarbez