chiper — French conjugation

to steal

Frequency#1134Regular

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
jechipeI steal
tuchipesyou steal
il/ellechipehe/she/it steals
nouschiponswe steal
vouschipezyou (pl.) steal
ils/elleschipentthey steal

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
jechipaiI stole
tuchipasyou stole
il/ellechipahe/she/it stole
nouschipâmeswe stole
vouschipâtesyou (pl.) stole
ils/elleschipèrentthey stole

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
jechipais
tuchipais
il/ellechipait
nouschipions
vouschipiez
ils/elleschipaient

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
jechiperaisI would steal
tuchiperaisyou would steal
il/ellechiperaithe/she/it would steal
nouschiperionswe would steal
vouschiperiezyou (pl.) would steal
ils/elleschiperaientthey would steal

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
jechiperaiI will steal
tuchiperasyou will steal
il/ellechiperahe/she/it will steal
nouschiperonswe will steal
vouschiperezyou (pl.) will steal
ils/elleschiperontthey will steal

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 chipéI have stolen
tutu as chipéyou have stolen
il/elleil/elle a chipéhe/she/it has stolen
nousnous avons chipéwe have stolen
vousvous avez chipéyou (pl.) have stolen
ils/ellesils/elles ont chipéthey have stolen

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 chipéI had stolen
tutu avais chipéyou had stolen
il/elleil/elle avait chipéhe/she/it had stolen
nousnous avions chipéwe had stolen
vousvous aviez chipéyou (pl.) had stolen
ils/ellesils/elles avaient chipéthey had stolen

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

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 chipéI will have stolen
tutu auras chipéyou will have stolen
il/elleil/elle aura chipéhe/she/it will have stolen
nousnous aurons chipéwe will have stolen
vousvous aurez chipéyou (pl.) will have stolen
ils/ellesils/elles auront chipéthey will have stolen

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
jechipe
tuchipes
il/ellechipe
nouschipions
vouschipiez
ils/elleschipent

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
jechipasse
tuchipasses
il/ellechipât
nouschipassions
vouschipassiez
ils/elleschipassent

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
tuchipe
nouschipons
vouschipez