camper — French conjugation

to camp

Frequency#1024Regular

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
jecampeI camp
tucampesyou camp
il/ellecampehe/she/it camps
nouscamponswe camp
vouscampezyou (pl.) camp
ils/ellescampentthey camp

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
jecampaiI camped
tucampasyou camped
il/ellecampahe/she/it camped
nouscampâmeswe camped
vouscampâtesyou (pl.) camped
ils/ellescampèrentthey camped

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
jecampais
tucampais
il/ellecampait
nouscampions
vouscampiez
ils/ellescampaient

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
jecamperaisI would camp
tucamperaisyou would camp
il/ellecamperaithe/she/it would camp
nouscamperionswe would camp
vouscamperiezyou (pl.) would camp
ils/ellescamperaientthey would camp

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
jecamperaiI will camp
tucamperasyou will camp
il/ellecamperahe/she/it will camp
nouscamperonswe will camp
vouscamperezyou (pl.) will camp
ils/ellescamperontthey will camp

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 campéI have camped
tutu as campéyou have camped
il/elleil/elle a campéhe/she/it has camped
nousnous avons campéwe have camped
vousvous avez campéyou (pl.) have camped
ils/ellesils/elles ont campéthey have camped

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 campéI had camped
tutu avais campéyou had camped
il/elleil/elle avait campéhe/she/it had camped
nousnous avions campéwe had camped
vousvous aviez campéyou (pl.) had camped
ils/ellesils/elles avaient campéthey had camped

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

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 campéI will have camped
tutu auras campéyou will have camped
il/elleil/elle aura campéhe/she/it will have camped
nousnous aurons campéwe will have camped
vousvous aurez campéyou (pl.) will have camped
ils/ellesils/elles auront campéthey will have camped

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
jecampe
tucampes
il/ellecampe
nouscampions
vouscampiez
ils/ellescampent

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
jecampasse
tucampasses
il/ellecampât
nouscampassions
vouscampassiez
ils/ellescampassent

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
tucampe
nouscampons
vouscampez