civiliser — French conjugation

to civilise

Frequency#1644Regular

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
jeciviliseI civilize
tucivilisesyou civilize
il/ellecivilisehe/she/it civilizes
nouscivilisonswe civilize
vouscivilisezyou (pl.) civilize
ils/ellescivilisentthey civilize

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
jecivilisaiI civilized
tucivilisasyou civilized
il/ellecivilisahe/she/it civilized
nouscivilisâmeswe civilized
vouscivilisâtesyou (pl.) civilized
ils/ellescivilisèrentthey civilized

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
jecivilisais
tucivilisais
il/ellecivilisait
nouscivilisions
vouscivilisiez
ils/ellescivilisaient

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
jeciviliseraisI would civilize
tuciviliseraisyou would civilize
il/elleciviliseraithe/she/it would civilize
nousciviliserionswe would civilize
vousciviliseriezyou (pl.) would civilize
ils/ellesciviliseraientthey would civilize

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
jeciviliseraiI will civilize
tuciviliserasyou will civilize
il/elleciviliserahe/she/it will civilize
nousciviliseronswe will civilize
vousciviliserezyou (pl.) will civilize
ils/ellesciviliserontthey will civilize

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 civiliséI have civilized
tutu as civiliséyou have civilized
il/elleil/elle a civiliséhe/she/it has civilized
nousnous avons civiliséwe have civilized
vousvous avez civiliséyou (pl.) have civilized
ils/ellesils/elles ont civiliséthey have civilized

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 civiliséI had civilized
tutu avais civiliséyou had civilized
il/elleil/elle avait civiliséhe/she/it had civilized
nousnous avions civiliséwe had civilized
vousvous aviez civiliséyou (pl.) had civilized
ils/ellesils/elles avaient civiliséthey had civilized

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

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 civiliséI will have civilized
tutu auras civiliséyou will have civilized
il/elleil/elle aura civiliséhe/she/it will have civilized
nousnous aurons civiliséwe will have civilized
vousvous aurez civiliséyou (pl.) will have civilized
ils/ellesils/elles auront civiliséthey will have civilized

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
jecivilise
tucivilises
il/ellecivilise
nouscivilisions
vouscivilisiez
ils/ellescivilisent

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
jecivilisasse
tucivilisasses
il/ellecivilisât
nouscivilisassions
vouscivilisassiez
ils/ellescivilisassent

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
tucivilise
nouscivilisons
vouscivilisez