congeler — French conjugation

to freeze

Frequency#191Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jecongèleI freeze
tucongèlesyou freeze
il/ellecongèlehe/she/it freezes
nouscongelonswe freeze
vouscongelezyou (pl.) freeze
ils/ellescongèlentthey freeze

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
jecongelaiI froze
tucongelasyou froze
il/ellecongelahe/she/it froze
nouscongelâmeswe froze
vouscongelâtesyou (pl.) froze
ils/ellescongelèrentthey froze

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
jecongelais
tucongelais
il/ellecongelait
nouscongelions
vouscongeliez
ils/ellescongelaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jecongèleraisI would freeze
tucongèleraisyou would freeze
il/ellecongèleraithe/she/it would freeze
nouscongèlerionswe would freeze
vouscongèleriezyou (pl.) would freeze
ils/ellescongèleraientthey would freeze

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jecongèleraiI will freeze
tucongèlerasyou will freeze
il/ellecongèlerahe/she/it will freeze
nouscongèleronswe will freeze
vouscongèlerezyou (pl.) will freeze
ils/ellescongèlerontthey will freeze

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 congeléI have frozen
tutu as congeléyou have frozen
il/elleil/elle a congeléhe/she/it has frozen
nousnous avons congeléwe have frozen
vousvous avez congeléyou (pl.) have frozen
ils/ellesils/elles ont congeléthey have frozen

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 congeléI had frozen
tutu avais congeléyou had frozen
il/elleil/elle avait congeléhe/she/it had frozen
nousnous avions congeléwe had frozen
vousvous aviez congeléyou (pl.) had frozen
ils/ellesils/elles avaient congeléthey had frozen

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

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 congeléI will have frozen
tutu auras congeléyou will have frozen
il/elleil/elle aura congeléhe/she/it will have frozen
nousnous aurons congeléwe will have frozen
vousvous aurez congeléyou (pl.) will have frozen
ils/ellesils/elles auront congeléthey will have frozen

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jecongèle
tucongèles
il/ellecongèle
nouscongelions
vouscongeliez
ils/ellescongèlent

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
jecongelasse
tucongelasses
il/ellecongelât
nouscongelassions
vouscongelassiez
ils/ellescongelassent

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
tucongèle
nouscongelons
vouscongelez