coller — French conjugation

to stick

Frequency#747Regular

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
jecolleI stick
tucollesyou stick
il/ellecollehe/she/it sticks
nouscollonswe stick
vouscollezyou (pl.) stick
ils/ellescollentthey stick

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
jecollaiI stuck
tucollasyou stuck
il/ellecollahe/she/it stuck
nouscollâmeswe stuck
vouscollâtesyou (pl.) stuck
ils/ellescollèrentthey stuck

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
jecollais
tucollais
il/ellecollait
nouscollions
vouscolliez
ils/ellescollaient

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
jecolleraisI would stick
tucolleraisyou would stick
il/ellecolleraithe/she/it would stick
nouscollerionswe would stick
vouscolleriezyou (pl.) would stick
ils/ellescolleraientthey would stick

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
jecolleraiI will stick
tucollerasyou will stick
il/ellecollerahe/she/it will stick
nouscolleronswe will stick
vouscollerezyou (pl.) will stick
ils/ellescollerontthey will stick

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 colléI have stuck
tutu as colléyou have stuck
il/elleil/elle a colléhe/she/it has stuck
nousnous avons colléwe have stuck
vousvous avez colléyou (pl.) have stuck
ils/ellesils/elles ont colléthey have stuck

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 colléI had stuck
tutu avais colléyou had stuck
il/elleil/elle avait colléhe/she/it had stuck
nousnous avions colléwe had stuck
vousvous aviez colléyou (pl.) had stuck
ils/ellesils/elles avaient colléthey had stuck

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

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 colléI will have stuck
tutu auras colléyou will have stuck
il/elleil/elle aura colléhe/she/it will have stuck
nousnous aurons colléwe will have stuck
vousvous aurez colléyou (pl.) will have stuck
ils/ellesils/elles auront colléthey will have stuck

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
jecolle
tucolles
il/ellecolle
nouscollions
vouscolliez
ils/ellescollent

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
jecollasse
tucollasses
il/ellecollât
nouscollassions
vouscollassiez
ils/ellescollassent

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
tucolle
nouscollons
vouscollez