bienvenir — French conjugation

to welcome

Frequency#312Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jebienviensI welcome
tubienviensyou welcome
il/ellebienvienthe/she/it welcomes
nousbienvenonswe welcome
vousbienvenezyou (pl.) welcome
ils/ellesbienviennentthey welcome

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jebienvinsI welcomed
tubienvinsyou welcomed
il/ellebienvinthe/she/it welcomed
nousbienvînmeswe welcomed
vousbienvîntesyou (pl.) welcomed
ils/ellesbienvinrentthey welcomed

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jebienvenais
tubienvenais
il/ellebienvenait
nousbienvenions
vousbienveniez
ils/ellesbienvenaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jebienviendraisI would welcome
tubienviendraisyou would welcome
il/ellebienviendraithe/she/it would welcome
nousbienviendrionswe would welcome
vousbienviendriezyou (pl.) would welcome
ils/ellesbienviendraientthey would welcome

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jebienviendraiI will welcome
tubienviendrasyou will welcome
il/ellebienviendrahe/she/it will welcome
nousbienviendronswe will welcome
vousbienviendrezyou (pl.) will welcome
ils/ellesbienviendrontthey will welcome

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 bienvenuI have welcomed
tutu as bienvenuyou have welcomed
il/elleil/elle a bienvenuhe/she/it has welcomed
nousnous avons bienvenuwe have welcomed
vousvous avez bienvenuyou (pl.) have welcomed
ils/ellesils/elles ont bienvenuthey have welcomed

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 bienvenuI had welcomed
tutu avais bienvenuyou had welcomed
il/elleil/elle avait bienvenuhe/she/it had welcomed
nousnous avions bienvenuwe had welcomed
vousvous aviez bienvenuyou (pl.) had welcomed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient bienvenuthey had welcomed

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

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 bienvenuI will have welcomed
tutu auras bienvenuyou will have welcomed
il/elleil/elle aura bienvenuhe/she/it will have welcomed
nousnous aurons bienvenuwe will have welcomed
vousvous aurez bienvenuyou (pl.) will have welcomed
ils/ellesils/elles auront bienvenuthey will have welcomed

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jebienvienne
tubienviennes
il/ellebienvienne
nousbienvenions
vousbienveniez
ils/ellesbienviennent

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
jebienvinsse
tubienvinsses
il/ellebienvînt
nousbienvinssions
vousbienvinssiez
ils/ellesbienvinssent

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
tubienviens
nousbienvenons
vousbienvenez