contenter — French conjugation
to satisfy
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | contente | I satisfy |
| tu | contentes | you satisfy |
| il/elle | contente | he/she/it satisfies |
| nous | contentons | we satisfy |
| vous | contentez | you (pl.) satisfy |
| ils/elles | contentent | they satisfy |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | contentai | I satisfied |
| tu | contentas | you satisfied |
| il/elle | contenta | he/she/it satisfied |
| nous | contentâmes | we satisfied |
| vous | contentâtes | you (pl.) satisfied |
| ils/elles | contentèrent | they satisfied |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | contentais |
| tu | contentais |
| il/elle | contentait |
| nous | contentions |
| vous | contentiez |
| ils/elles | contentaient |
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 ?
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | contenterais | I would satisfy |
| tu | contenterais | you would satisfy |
| il/elle | contenterait | he/she/it would satisfy |
| nous | contenterions | we would satisfy |
| vous | contenteriez | you (pl.) would satisfy |
| ils/elles | contenteraient | they would satisfy |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | contenterai | I will satisfy |
| tu | contenteras | you will satisfy |
| il/elle | contentera | he/she/it will satisfy |
| nous | contenterons | we will satisfy |
| vous | contenterez | you (pl.) will satisfy |
| ils/elles | contenteront | they will satisfy |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'ai contenté | I have satisfied |
| tu | tu as contenté | you have satisfied |
| il/elle | il/elle a contenté | he/she/it has satisfied |
| nous | nous avons contenté | we have satisfied |
| vous | vous avez contenté | you (pl.) have satisfied |
| ils/elles | ils/elles ont contenté | they have satisfied |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'avais contenté | I had satisfied |
| tu | tu avais contenté | you had satisfied |
| il/elle | il/elle avait contenté | he/she/it had satisfied |
| nous | nous avions contenté | we had satisfied |
| vous | vous aviez contenté | you (pl.) had satisfied |
| ils/elles | ils/elles avaient contenté | they had satisfied |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | j'aurais contenté |
| tu | tu aurais contenté |
| il/elle | il/elle aurait contenté |
| nous | nous aurions contenté |
| vous | vous auriez contenté |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auraient contenté |
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.
| Pronoun | French | English |
|---|---|---|
| je | j'aurai contenté | I will have satisfied |
| tu | tu auras contenté | you will have satisfied |
| il/elle | il/elle aura contenté | he/she/it will have satisfied |
| nous | nous aurons contenté | we will have satisfied |
| vous | vous aurez contenté | you (pl.) will have satisfied |
| ils/elles | ils/elles auront contenté | they will have satisfied |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | contente |
| tu | contentes |
| il/elle | contente |
| nous | contentions |
| vous | contentiez |
| ils/elles | contentent |
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.
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| je | contentasse |
| tu | contentasses |
| il/elle | contentât |
| nous | contentassions |
| vous | contentassiez |
| ils/elles | contentassent |
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 !
| Pronoun | French |
|---|---|
| tu | contente |
| nous | contentons |
| vous | contentez |