brouiller — French conjugation

to confuse, to mix up

Frequency#214Regular

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
jebrouilleI confuse
tubrouillesyou confuse
il/ellebrouillehe/she/it confuses
nousbrouillonswe confuse
vousbrouillezyou (pl.) confuse
ils/ellesbrouillentthey confuse

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
jebrouillaiI confused
tubrouillasyou confused
il/ellebrouillahe/she/it confused
nousbrouillâmeswe confused
vousbrouillâtesyou (pl.) confused
ils/ellesbrouillèrentthey confused

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
jebrouillais
tubrouillais
il/ellebrouillait
nousbrouillions
vousbrouilliez
ils/ellesbrouillaient

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
jebrouilleraisI would confuse
tubrouilleraisyou would confuse
il/ellebrouilleraithe/she/it would confuse
nousbrouillerionswe would confuse
vousbrouilleriezyou (pl.) would confuse
ils/ellesbrouilleraientthey would confuse

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
jebrouilleraiI will confuse
tubrouillerasyou will confuse
il/ellebrouillerahe/she/it will confuse
nousbrouilleronswe will confuse
vousbrouillerezyou (pl.) will confuse
ils/ellesbrouillerontthey will confuse

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 brouilléI have confused
tutu as brouilléyou have confused
il/elleil/elle a brouilléhe/she/it has confused
nousnous avons brouilléwe have confused
vousvous avez brouilléyou (pl.) have confused
ils/ellesils/elles ont brouilléthey have confused

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 brouilléI had confused
tutu avais brouilléyou had confused
il/elleil/elle avait brouilléhe/she/it had confused
nousnous avions brouilléwe had confused
vousvous aviez brouilléyou (pl.) had confused
ils/ellesils/elles avaient brouilléthey had confused

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

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 brouilléI will have confused
tutu auras brouilléyou will have confused
il/elleil/elle aura brouilléhe/she/it will have confused
nousnous aurons brouilléwe will have confused
vousvous aurez brouilléyou (pl.) will have confused
ils/ellesils/elles auront brouilléthey will have confused

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
jebrouille
tubrouilles
il/ellebrouille
nousbrouillions
vousbrouilliez
ils/ellesbrouillent

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
jebrouillasse
tubrouillasses
il/ellebrouillât
nousbrouillassions
vousbrouillassiez
ils/ellesbrouillassent

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
tubrouille
nousbrouillons
vousbrouillez