chuter — French conjugation

to fall, to drop

Frequency#927Regular

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
jechuteI fall
tuchutesyou fall
il/ellechutehe/she/it falls
nouschutonswe fall
vouschutezyou (pl.) fall
ils/elleschutentthey fall

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
jechutaiI fell
tuchutasyou fell
il/ellechutahe/she/it fell
nouschutâmeswe fell
vouschutâtesyou (pl.) fell
ils/elleschutèrentthey fell

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
jechutais
tuchutais
il/ellechutait
nouschutions
vouschutiez
ils/elleschutaient

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
jechuteraisI would fall
tuchuteraisyou would fall
il/ellechuteraithe/she/it would fall
nouschuterionswe would fall
vouschuteriezyou (pl.) would fall
ils/elleschuteraientthey would fall

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
jechuteraiI will fall
tuchuterasyou will fall
il/ellechuterahe/she/it will fall
nouschuteronswe will fall
vouschuterezyou (pl.) will fall
ils/elleschuterontthey will fall

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 chutéI have fallen
tutu as chutéyou have fallen
il/elleil/elle a chutéhe/she/it has fallen
nousnous avons chutéwe have fallen
vousvous avez chutéyou (pl.) have fallen
ils/ellesils/elles ont chutéthey have fallen

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 chutéI had fallen
tutu avais chutéyou had fallen
il/elleil/elle avait chutéhe/she/it had fallen
nousnous avions chutéwe had fallen
vousvous aviez chutéyou (pl.) had fallen
ils/ellesils/elles avaient chutéthey had fallen

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

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 chutéI will have fallen
tutu auras chutéyou will have fallen
il/elleil/elle aura chutéhe/she/it will have fallen
nousnous aurons chutéwe will have fallen
vousvous aurez chutéyou (pl.) will have fallen
ils/ellesils/elles auront chutéthey will have fallen

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
jechute
tuchutes
il/ellechute
nouschutions
vouschutiez
ils/elleschutent

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
jechutasse
tuchutasses
il/ellechutât
nouschutassions
vouschutassiez
ils/elleschutassent

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
tuchute
nouschutons
vouschutez