coloniser — French conjugation

to colonise

Frequency#297Regular

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
jecoloniseI colonize
tucolonisesyou colonize
il/ellecolonisehe/she/it colonizes
nouscolonisonswe colonize
vouscolonisezyou (pl.) colonize
ils/ellescolonisentthey colonize

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
jecolonisaiI colonized
tucolonisasyou colonized
il/ellecolonisahe/she/it colonized
nouscolonisâmeswe colonized
vouscolonisâtesyou (pl.) colonized
ils/ellescolonisèrentthey colonized

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
jecolonisais
tucolonisais
il/ellecolonisait
nouscolonisions
vouscolonisiez
ils/ellescolonisaient

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
jecoloniseraisI would colonize
tucoloniseraisyou would colonize
il/ellecoloniseraithe/she/it would colonize
nouscoloniserionswe would colonize
vouscoloniseriezyou (pl.) would colonize
ils/ellescoloniseraientthey would colonize

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
jecoloniseraiI will colonize
tucoloniserasyou will colonize
il/ellecoloniserahe/she/it will colonize
nouscoloniseronswe will colonize
vouscoloniserezyou (pl.) will colonize
ils/ellescoloniserontthey will colonize

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 coloniséI have colonized
tutu as coloniséyou have colonized
il/elleil/elle a coloniséhe/she/it has colonized
nousnous avons coloniséwe have colonized
vousvous avez coloniséyou (pl.) have colonized
ils/ellesils/elles ont coloniséthey have colonized

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 coloniséI had colonized
tutu avais coloniséyou had colonized
il/elleil/elle avait coloniséhe/she/it had colonized
nousnous avions coloniséwe had colonized
vousvous aviez coloniséyou (pl.) had colonized
ils/ellesils/elles avaient coloniséthey had colonized

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

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 coloniséI will have colonized
tutu auras coloniséyou will have colonized
il/elleil/elle aura coloniséhe/she/it will have colonized
nousnous aurons coloniséwe will have colonized
vousvous aurez coloniséyou (pl.) will have colonized
ils/ellesils/elles auront coloniséthey will have colonized

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
jecolonise
tucolonises
il/ellecolonise
nouscolonisions
vouscolonisiez
ils/ellescolonisent

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
jecolonisasse
tucolonisasses
il/ellecolonisât
nouscolonisassions
vouscolonisassiez
ils/ellescolonisassent

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
tucolonise
nouscolonisons
vouscolonisez