chuchoter — French conjugation

to whisper

Frequency#1368Regular

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
jechuchoteI whisper
tuchuchotesyou whisper
il/ellechuchotehe/she/it whispers
nouschuchotonswe whisper
vouschuchotezyou (pl.) whisper
ils/elleschuchotentthey whisper

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
jechuchotaiI whispered
tuchuchotasyou whispered
il/ellechuchotahe/she/it whispered
nouschuchotâmeswe whispered
vouschuchotâtesyou (pl.) whispered
ils/elleschuchotèrentthey whispered

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
jechuchotais
tuchuchotais
il/ellechuchotait
nouschuchotions
vouschuchotiez
ils/elleschuchotaient

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
jechuchoteraisI would whisper
tuchuchoteraisyou would whisper
il/ellechuchoteraithe/she/it would whisper
nouschuchoterionswe would whisper
vouschuchoteriezyou (pl.) would whisper
ils/elleschuchoteraientthey would whisper

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
jechuchoteraiI will whisper
tuchuchoterasyou will whisper
il/ellechuchoterahe/she/it will whisper
nouschuchoteronswe will whisper
vouschuchoterezyou (pl.) will whisper
ils/elleschuchoterontthey will whisper

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 chuchotéI have whispered
tutu as chuchotéyou have whispered
il/elleil/elle a chuchotéhe/she/it has whispered
nousnous avons chuchotéwe have whispered
vousvous avez chuchotéyou (pl.) have whispered
ils/ellesils/elles ont chuchotéthey have whispered

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 chuchotéI had whispered
tutu avais chuchotéyou had whispered
il/elleil/elle avait chuchotéhe/she/it had whispered
nousnous avions chuchotéwe had whispered
vousvous aviez chuchotéyou (pl.) had whispered
ils/ellesils/elles avaient chuchotéthey had whispered

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

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 chuchotéI will have whispered
tutu auras chuchotéyou will have whispered
il/elleil/elle aura chuchotéhe/she/it will have whispered
nousnous aurons chuchotéwe will have whispered
vousvous aurez chuchotéyou (pl.) will have whispered
ils/ellesils/elles auront chuchotéthey will have whispered

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
jechuchote
tuchuchotes
il/ellechuchote
nouschuchotions
vouschuchotiez
ils/elleschuchotent

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
jechuchotasse
tuchuchotasses
il/ellechuchotât
nouschuchotassions
vouschuchotassiez
ils/elleschuchotassent

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
tuchuchote
nouschuchotons
vouschuchotez