boiter — French conjugation

to limp (to walk lamely, as if favouring one leg)

Frequency#116Regular

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
jeboiteI limp
tuboitesyou limp
il/elleboitehe/she/it limps
nousboitonswe limp
vousboitezyou (pl.) limp
ils/ellesboitentthey limp

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
jeboitaiI limped
tuboitasyou limped
il/elleboitahe/she/it limped
nousboitâmeswe limped
vousboitâtesyou (pl.) limped
ils/ellesboitèrentthey limped

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
jeboitais
tuboitais
il/elleboitait
nousboitions
vousboitiez
ils/ellesboitaient

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
jeboiteraisI would limp
tuboiteraisyou would limp
il/elleboiteraithe/she/it would limp
nousboiterionswe would limp
vousboiteriezyou (pl.) would limp
ils/ellesboiteraientthey would limp

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
jeboiteraiI will limp
tuboiterasyou will limp
il/elleboiterahe/she/it will limp
nousboiteronswe will limp
vousboiterezyou (pl.) will limp
ils/ellesboiterontthey will limp

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 boitéI have limped
tutu as boitéyou have limped
il/elleil/elle a boitéhe/she/it has limped
nousnous avons boitéwe have limped
vousvous avez boitéyou (pl.) have limped
ils/ellesils/elles ont boitéthey have limped

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 boitéI had limped
tutu avais boitéyou had limped
il/elleil/elle avait boitéhe/she/it had limped
nousnous avions boitéwe had limped
vousvous aviez boitéyou (pl.) had limped
ils/ellesils/elles avaient boitéthey had limped

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

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 boitéI will have limped
tutu auras boitéyou will have limped
il/elleil/elle aura boitéhe/she/it will have limped
nousnous aurons boitéwe will have limped
vousvous aurez boitéyou (pl.) will have limped
ils/ellesils/elles auront boitéthey will have limped

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
jeboite
tuboites
il/elleboite
nousboitions
vousboitiez
ils/ellesboitent

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
jeboitasse
tuboitasses
il/elleboitât
nousboitassions
vousboitassiez
ils/ellesboitassent

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
tuboite
nousboitons
vousboitez