bénéficier — French conjugation

to benefit

Frequency#375Regular

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
jebénéficieI benefit
tubénéficiesyou benefit
il/ellebénéficiehe/she/it benefits
nousbénéficionswe benefit
vousbénéficiezyou (pl.) benefit
ils/ellesbénéficientthey benefit

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
jebénéficiaiI benefited
tubénéficiasyou benefited
il/ellebénéficiahe/she/it benefited
nousbénéficiâmeswe benefited
vousbénéficiâtesyou (pl.) benefited
ils/ellesbénéficièrentthey benefited

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
jebénéficiais
tubénéficiais
il/ellebénéficiait
nousbénéficiions
vousbénéficiiez
ils/ellesbénéficiaient

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
jebénéficieraisI would benefit
tubénéficieraisyou would benefit
il/ellebénéficieraithe/she/it would benefit
nousbénéficierionswe would benefit
vousbénéficieriezyou (pl.) would benefit
ils/ellesbénéficieraientthey would benefit

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
jebénéficieraiI will benefit
tubénéficierasyou will benefit
il/ellebénéficierahe/she/it will benefit
nousbénéficieronswe will benefit
vousbénéficierezyou (pl.) will benefit
ils/ellesbénéficierontthey will benefit

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 bénéficiéI have benefited
tutu as bénéficiéyou have benefited
il/elleil/elle a bénéficiéhe/she/it has benefited
nousnous avons bénéficiéwe have benefited
vousvous avez bénéficiéyou (pl.) have benefited
ils/ellesils/elles ont bénéficiéthey have benefited

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 bénéficiéI had benefited
tutu avais bénéficiéyou had benefited
il/elleil/elle avait bénéficiéhe/she/it had benefited
nousnous avions bénéficiéwe had benefited
vousvous aviez bénéficiéyou (pl.) had benefited
ils/ellesils/elles avaient bénéficiéthey had benefited

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

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 bénéficiéI will have benefited
tutu auras bénéficiéyou will have benefited
il/elleil/elle aura bénéficiéhe/she/it will have benefited
nousnous aurons bénéficiéwe will have benefited
vousvous aurez bénéficiéyou (pl.) will have benefited
ils/ellesils/elles auront bénéficiéthey will have benefited

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
jebénéficie
tubénéficies
il/ellebénéficie
nousbénéficiions
vousbénéficiiez
ils/ellesbénéficient

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
jebénéficiasse
tubénéficiasses
il/ellebénéficiât
nousbénéficiassions
vousbénéficiassiez
ils/ellesbénéficiassent

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
tubénéficie
nousbénéficions
vousbénéficiez