consentir — French conjugation

to consent

Frequency#320Irregular

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
jeconsensI consent
tuconsensyou consent
il/elleconsenthe/she/it consents
nousconsentonswe consent
vousconsentezyou (pl.) consent
ils/ellesconsententthey consent

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
jeconsentisI consented
tuconsentisyou consented
il/elleconsentithe/she/it consented
nousconsentîmeswe consented
vousconsentîtesyou (pl.) consented
ils/ellesconsentirentthey consented

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jeconsentais
tuconsentais
il/elleconsentait
nousconsentions
vousconsentiez
ils/ellesconsentaient

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
jeconsentiraisI would consent
tuconsentiraisyou would consent
il/elleconsentiraithe/she/it would consent
nousconsentirionswe would consent
vousconsentiriezyou (pl.) would consent
ils/ellesconsentiraientthey would consent

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
jeconsentiraiI will consent
tuconsentirasyou will consent
il/elleconsentirahe/she/it will consent
nousconsentironswe will consent
vousconsentirezyou (pl.) will consent
ils/ellesconsentirontthey will consent

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 consentiI have consented
tutu as consentiyou have consented
il/elleil/elle a consentihe/she/it has consented
nousnous avons consentiwe have consented
vousvous avez consentiyou (pl.) have consented
ils/ellesils/elles ont consentithey have consented

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 consentiI had consented
tutu avais consentiyou had consented
il/elleil/elle avait consentihe/she/it had consented
nousnous avions consentiwe had consented
vousvous aviez consentiyou (pl.) had consented
ils/ellesils/elles avaient consentithey had consented

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

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 consentiI will have consented
tutu auras consentiyou will have consented
il/elleil/elle aura consentihe/she/it will have consented
nousnous aurons consentiwe will have consented
vousvous aurez consentiyou (pl.) will have consented
ils/ellesils/elles auront consentithey will have consented

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
jeconsente
tuconsentes
il/elleconsente
nousconsentions
vousconsentiez
ils/ellesconsentent

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
jeconsentisse
tuconsentisses
il/elleconsentît
nousconsentissions
vousconsentissiez
ils/ellesconsentissent

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
tuconsens
nousconsentons
vousconsentez