bavarder — French conjugation

to chat

Frequency#988Regular

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
jebavardeI chat
tubavardesyou chat
il/ellebavardehe/she/it chats
nousbavardonswe chat
vousbavardezyou (pl.) chat
ils/ellesbavardentthey chat

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
jebavardaiI chatted
tubavardasyou chatted
il/ellebavardahe/she/it chatted
nousbavardâmeswe chatted
vousbavardâtesyou (pl.) chatted
ils/ellesbavardèrentthey chatted

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
jebavardais
tubavardais
il/ellebavardait
nousbavardions
vousbavardiez
ils/ellesbavardaient

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
jebavarderaisI would chat
tubavarderaisyou would chat
il/ellebavarderaithe/she/it would chat
nousbavarderionswe would chat
vousbavarderiezyou (pl.) would chat
ils/ellesbavarderaientthey would chat

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
jebavarderaiI will chat
tubavarderasyou will chat
il/ellebavarderahe/she/it will chat
nousbavarderonswe will chat
vousbavarderezyou (pl.) will chat
ils/ellesbavarderontthey will chat

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 bavardéI have chatted
tutu as bavardéyou have chatted
il/elleil/elle a bavardéhe/she/it has chatted
nousnous avons bavardéwe have chatted
vousvous avez bavardéyou (pl.) have chatted
ils/ellesils/elles ont bavardéthey have chatted

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 bavardéI had chatted
tutu avais bavardéyou had chatted
il/elleil/elle avait bavardéhe/she/it had chatted
nousnous avions bavardéwe had chatted
vousvous aviez bavardéyou (pl.) had chatted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient bavardéthey had chatted

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

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 bavardéI will have chatted
tutu auras bavardéyou will have chatted
il/elleil/elle aura bavardéhe/she/it will have chatted
nousnous aurons bavardéwe will have chatted
vousvous aurez bavardéyou (pl.) will have chatted
ils/ellesils/elles auront bavardéthey will have chatted

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
jebavarde
tubavardes
il/ellebavarde
nousbavardions
vousbavardiez
ils/ellesbavardent

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
jebavardasse
tubavardasses
il/ellebavardât
nousbavardassions
vousbavardassiez
ils/ellesbavardassent

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
tubavarde
nousbavardons
vousbavardez