cadencer — French conjugation

to cadence

Frequency#995Irregular

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
jecadenceI cadence
tucadencesyou cadence
il/ellecadencehe/she/it cadences
nouscadençonswe cadence
vouscadencezyou (pl.) cadence
ils/ellescadencentthey cadence

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
jecadençaiI cadenced
tucadençasyou cadenced
il/ellecadençahe/she/it cadenced
nouscadençâmeswe cadenced
vouscadençâtesyou (pl.) cadenced
ils/ellescadencèrentthey cadenced

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
jecadençais
tucadençais
il/ellecadençait
nouscadencions
vouscadenciez
ils/ellescadençaient

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
jecadenceraisI would cadence
tucadenceraisyou would cadence
il/ellecadenceraithe/she/it would cadence
nouscadencerionswe would cadence
vouscadenceriezyou (pl.) would cadence
ils/ellescadenceraientthey would cadence

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
jecadenceraiI will cadence
tucadencerasyou will cadence
il/ellecadencerahe/she/it will cadence
nouscadenceronswe will cadence
vouscadencerezyou (pl.) will cadence
ils/ellescadencerontthey will cadence

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 cadencéI have cadenced
tutu as cadencéyou have cadenced
il/elleil/elle a cadencéhe/she/it has cadenced
nousnous avons cadencéwe have cadenced
vousvous avez cadencéyou (pl.) have cadenced
ils/ellesils/elles ont cadencéthey have cadenced

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 cadencéI had cadenced
tutu avais cadencéyou had cadenced
il/elleil/elle avait cadencéhe/she/it had cadenced
nousnous avions cadencéwe had cadenced
vousvous aviez cadencéyou (pl.) had cadenced
ils/ellesils/elles avaient cadencéthey had cadenced

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

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 cadencéI will have cadenced
tutu auras cadencéyou will have cadenced
il/elleil/elle aura cadencéhe/she/it will have cadenced
nousnous aurons cadencéwe will have cadenced
vousvous aurez cadencéyou (pl.) will have cadenced
ils/ellesils/elles auront cadencéthey will have cadenced

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
jecadence
tucadences
il/ellecadence
nouscadencions
vouscadenciez
ils/ellescadencent

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
jecadençasse
tucadençasses
il/ellecadençât
nouscadençassions
vouscadençassiez
ils/ellescadençassent

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
tucadence
nouscadençons
vouscadencez