collectionner — French conjugation

to collect (to accumulate items)

Frequency#771Regular

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
jecollectionneI collect
tucollectionnesyou collect
il/ellecollectionnehe/she/it collects
nouscollectionnonswe collect
vouscollectionnezyou (pl.) collect
ils/ellescollectionnentthey collect

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
jecollectionnaiI collected
tucollectionnasyou collected
il/ellecollectionnahe/she/it collected
nouscollectionnâmeswe collected
vouscollectionnâtesyou (pl.) collected
ils/ellescollectionnèrentthey collected

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
jecollectionnais
tucollectionnais
il/ellecollectionnait
nouscollectionnions
vouscollectionniez
ils/ellescollectionnaient

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
jecollectionneraisI would collect
tucollectionneraisyou would collect
il/ellecollectionneraithe/she/it would collect
nouscollectionnerionswe would collect
vouscollectionneriezyou (pl.) would collect
ils/ellescollectionneraientthey would collect

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
jecollectionneraiI will collect
tucollectionnerasyou will collect
il/ellecollectionnerahe/she/it will collect
nouscollectionneronswe will collect
vouscollectionnerezyou (pl.) will collect
ils/ellescollectionnerontthey will collect

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 collectionnéI have collected
tutu as collectionnéyou have collected
il/elleil/elle a collectionnéhe/she/it has collected
nousnous avons collectionnéwe have collected
vousvous avez collectionnéyou (pl.) have collected
ils/ellesils/elles ont collectionnéthey have collected

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 collectionnéI had collected
tutu avais collectionnéyou had collected
il/elleil/elle avait collectionnéhe/she/it had collected
nousnous avions collectionnéwe had collected
vousvous aviez collectionnéyou (pl.) had collected
ils/ellesils/elles avaient collectionnéthey had collected

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

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 collectionnéI will have collected
tutu auras collectionnéyou will have collected
il/elleil/elle aura collectionnéhe/she/it will have collected
nousnous aurons collectionnéwe will have collected
vousvous aurez collectionnéyou (pl.) will have collected
ils/ellesils/elles auront collectionnéthey will have collected

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
jecollectionne
tucollectionnes
il/ellecollectionne
nouscollectionnions
vouscollectionniez
ils/ellescollectionnent

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
jecollectionnasse
tucollectionnasses
il/ellecollectionnât
nouscollectionnassions
vouscollectionnassiez
ils/ellescollectionnassent

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
tucollectionne
nouscollectionnons
vouscollectionnez