conseiller — French conjugation

to advise

Frequency#487Regular

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
jeconseilleI advise
tuconseillesyou advise
il/elleconseillehe/she/it advises
nousconseillonswe advise
vousconseillezyou (pl.) advise
ils/ellesconseillentthey advise

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
jeconseillaiI advised
tuconseillasyou advised
il/elleconseillahe/she/it advised
nousconseillâmeswe advised
vousconseillâtesyou (pl.) advised
ils/ellesconseillèrentthey advised

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
jeconseillais
tuconseillais
il/elleconseillait
nousconseillions
vousconseilliez
ils/ellesconseillaient

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
jeconseilleraisI would advise
tuconseilleraisyou would advise
il/elleconseilleraithe/she/it would advise
nousconseillerionswe would advise
vousconseilleriezyou (pl.) would advise
ils/ellesconseilleraientthey would advise

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
jeconseilleraiI will advise
tuconseillerasyou will advise
il/elleconseillerahe/she/it will advise
nousconseilleronswe will advise
vousconseillerezyou (pl.) will advise
ils/ellesconseillerontthey will advise

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 conseilléI have advised
tutu as conseilléyou have advised
il/elleil/elle a conseilléhe/she/it has advised
nousnous avons conseilléwe have advised
vousvous avez conseilléyou (pl.) have advised
ils/ellesils/elles ont conseilléthey have advised

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 conseilléI had advised
tutu avais conseilléyou had advised
il/elleil/elle avait conseilléhe/she/it had advised
nousnous avions conseilléwe had advised
vousvous aviez conseilléyou (pl.) had advised
ils/ellesils/elles avaient conseilléthey had advised

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

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 conseilléI will have advised
tutu auras conseilléyou will have advised
il/elleil/elle aura conseilléhe/she/it will have advised
nousnous aurons conseilléwe will have advised
vousvous aurez conseilléyou (pl.) will have advised
ils/ellesils/elles auront conseilléthey will have advised

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
jeconseille
tuconseilles
il/elleconseille
nousconseillions
vousconseilliez
ils/ellesconseillent

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
jeconseillasse
tuconseillasses
il/elleconseillât
nousconseillassions
vousconseillassiez
ils/ellesconseillassent

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
tuconseille
nousconseillons
vousconseillez