consommer — French conjugation

to consume; to ingest

Frequency#298Regular

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
jeconsommeI consume
tuconsommesyou consume
il/elleconsommehe/she/it consumes
nousconsommonswe consume
vousconsommezyou (pl.) consume
ils/ellesconsommentthey consume

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
jeconsommaiI consumed
tuconsommasyou consumed
il/elleconsommahe/she/it consumed
nousconsommâmeswe consumed
vousconsommâtesyou (pl.) consumed
ils/ellesconsommèrentthey consumed

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
jeconsommais
tuconsommais
il/elleconsommait
nousconsommions
vousconsommiez
ils/ellesconsommaient

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
jeconsommeraisI would consume
tuconsommeraisyou would consume
il/elleconsommeraithe/she/it would consume
nousconsommerionswe would consume
vousconsommeriezyou (pl.) would consume
ils/ellesconsommeraientthey would consume

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
jeconsommeraiI will consume
tuconsommerasyou will consume
il/elleconsommerahe/she/it will consume
nousconsommeronswe will consume
vousconsommerezyou (pl.) will consume
ils/ellesconsommerontthey will consume

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 consomméI have consumed
tutu as consomméyou have consumed
il/elleil/elle a consomméhe/she/it has consumed
nousnous avons consomméwe have consumed
vousvous avez consomméyou (pl.) have consumed
ils/ellesils/elles ont consomméthey have consumed

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 consomméI had consumed
tutu avais consomméyou had consumed
il/elleil/elle avait consomméhe/she/it had consumed
nousnous avions consomméwe had consumed
vousvous aviez consomméyou (pl.) had consumed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient consomméthey had consumed

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

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 consomméI will have consumed
tutu auras consomméyou will have consumed
il/elleil/elle aura consomméhe/she/it will have consumed
nousnous aurons consomméwe will have consumed
vousvous aurez consomméyou (pl.) will have consumed
ils/ellesils/elles auront consomméthey will have consumed

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
jeconsomme
tuconsommes
il/elleconsomme
nousconsommions
vousconsommiez
ils/ellesconsomment

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
jeconsommasse
tuconsommasses
il/elleconsommât
nousconsommassions
vousconsommassiez
ils/ellesconsommassent

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
tuconsomme
nousconsommons
vousconsommez