confesser — French conjugation

to confess

Frequency#176Regular

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
jeconfesseI confess
tuconfessesyou confess
il/elleconfessehe/she/it confesses
nousconfessonswe confess
vousconfessezyou (pl.) confess
ils/ellesconfessentthey confess

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
jeconfessaiI confessed
tuconfessasyou confessed
il/elleconfessahe/she/it confessed
nousconfessâmeswe confessed
vousconfessâtesyou (pl.) confessed
ils/ellesconfessèrentthey confessed

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
jeconfessais
tuconfessais
il/elleconfessait
nousconfessions
vousconfessiez
ils/ellesconfessaient

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
jeconfesseraisI would confess
tuconfesseraisyou would confess
il/elleconfesseraithe/she/it would confess
nousconfesserionswe would confess
vousconfesseriezyou (pl.) would confess
ils/ellesconfesseraientthey would confess

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
jeconfesseraiI will confess
tuconfesserasyou will confess
il/elleconfesserahe/she/it will confess
nousconfesseronswe will confess
vousconfesserezyou (pl.) will confess
ils/ellesconfesserontthey will confess

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 confesséI have confessed
tutu as confesséyou have confessed
il/elleil/elle a confesséhe/she/it has confessed
nousnous avons confesséwe have confessed
vousvous avez confesséyou (pl.) have confessed
ils/ellesils/elles ont confesséthey have confessed

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 confesséI had confessed
tutu avais confesséyou had confessed
il/elleil/elle avait confesséhe/she/it had confessed
nousnous avions confesséwe had confessed
vousvous aviez confesséyou (pl.) had confessed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient confesséthey had confessed

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

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 confesséI will have confessed
tutu auras confesséyou will have confessed
il/elleil/elle aura confesséhe/she/it will have confessed
nousnous aurons confesséwe will have confessed
vousvous aurez confesséyou (pl.) will have confessed
ils/ellesils/elles auront confesséthey will have confessed

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
jeconfesse
tuconfesses
il/elleconfesse
nousconfessions
vousconfessiez
ils/ellesconfessent

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
jeconfessasse
tuconfessasses
il/elleconfessât
nousconfessassions
vousconfessassiez
ils/ellesconfessassent

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
tuconfesse
nousconfessons
vousconfessez