chauffer — French conjugation

to heat

Frequency#504Regular

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
jechauffeI heat
tuchauffesyou heat
il/ellechauffehe/she/it heats
nouschauffonswe heat
vouschauffezyou (pl.) heat
ils/elleschauffentthey heat

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
jechauffaiI heated
tuchauffasyou heated
il/ellechauffahe/she/it heated
nouschauffâmeswe heated
vouschauffâtesyou (pl.) heated
ils/elleschauffèrentthey heated

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
jechauffais
tuchauffais
il/ellechauffait
nouschauffions
vouschauffiez
ils/elleschauffaient

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
jechaufferaisI would heat
tuchaufferaisyou would heat
il/ellechaufferaithe/she/it would heat
nouschaufferionswe would heat
vouschaufferiezyou (pl.) would heat
ils/elleschaufferaientthey would heat

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
jechaufferaiI will heat
tuchaufferasyou will heat
il/ellechaufferahe/she/it will heat
nouschaufferonswe will heat
vouschaufferezyou (pl.) will heat
ils/elleschaufferontthey will heat

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 chaufféI have heated
tutu as chaufféyou have heated
il/elleil/elle a chaufféhe/she/it has heated
nousnous avons chaufféwe have heated
vousvous avez chaufféyou (pl.) have heated
ils/ellesils/elles ont chaufféthey have heated

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 chaufféI had heated
tutu avais chaufféyou had heated
il/elleil/elle avait chaufféhe/she/it had heated
nousnous avions chaufféwe had heated
vousvous aviez chaufféyou (pl.) had heated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient chaufféthey had heated

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

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 chaufféI will have heated
tutu auras chaufféyou will have heated
il/elleil/elle aura chaufféhe/she/it will have heated
nousnous aurons chaufféwe will have heated
vousvous aurez chaufféyou (pl.) will have heated
ils/ellesils/elles auront chaufféthey will have heated

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
jechauffe
tuchauffes
il/ellechauffe
nouschauffions
vouschauffiez
ils/elleschauffent

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
jechauffasse
tuchauffasses
il/ellechauffât
nouschauffassions
vouschauffassiez
ils/elleschauffassent

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
tuchauffe
nouschauffons
vouschauffez