concevoir — French conjugation

to conceive

Frequency#164Regular

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
jeconçoisI conceive
tuconçoisyou conceive
il/elleconçoithe/she/it conceives
nousconcevonswe conceive
vousconcevezyou (pl.) conceive
ils/ellesconçoiventthey conceive

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
jeconçusI conceived
tuconçusyou conceived
il/elleconçuthe/she/it conceived
nousconçûmeswe conceived
vousconçûtesyou (pl.) conceived
ils/ellesconçurentthey conceived

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
jeconcevais
tuconcevais
il/elleconcevait
nousconcevions
vousconceviez
ils/ellesconcevaient

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
jeconcevraisI would conceive
tuconcevraisyou would conceive
il/elleconcevraithe/she/it would conceive
nousconcevrionswe would conceive
vousconcevriezyou (pl.) would conceive
ils/ellesconcevraientthey would conceive

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
jeconcevraiI will conceive
tuconcevrasyou will conceive
il/elleconcevrahe/she/it will conceive
nousconcevronswe will conceive
vousconcevrezyou (pl.) will conceive
ils/ellesconcevrontthey will conceive

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 conçuI have conceived
tutu as conçuyou have conceived
il/elleil/elle a conçuhe/she/it has conceived
nousnous avons conçuwe have conceived
vousvous avez conçuyou (pl.) have conceived
ils/ellesils/elles ont conçuthey have conceived

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 conçuI had conceived
tutu avais conçuyou had conceived
il/elleil/elle avait conçuhe/she/it had conceived
nousnous avions conçuwe had conceived
vousvous aviez conçuyou (pl.) had conceived
ils/ellesils/elles avaient conçuthey had conceived

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

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 conçuI will have conceived
tutu auras conçuyou will have conceived
il/elleil/elle aura conçuhe/she/it will have conceived
nousnous aurons conçuwe will have conceived
vousvous aurez conçuyou (pl.) will have conceived
ils/ellesils/elles auront conçuthey will have conceived

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
jeconçoive
tuconçoives
il/elleconçoive
nousconcevions
vousconceviez
ils/ellesconçoivent

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
jeconçusse
tuconçusses
il/elleconçût
nousconçussions
vousconçussiez
ils/ellesconçussent

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
tuconçois
nousconcevons
vousconcevez