courtiser — French conjugation

to court

Frequency#1096Regular

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
jecourtiseI court
tucourtisesyou court
il/ellecourtisehe/she/it courts
nouscourtisonswe court
vouscourtisezyou (pl.) court
ils/ellescourtisentthey court

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
jecourtisaiI courted
tucourtisasyou courted
il/ellecourtisahe/she/it courted
nouscourtisâmeswe courted
vouscourtisâtesyou (pl.) courted
ils/ellescourtisèrentthey courted

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
jecourtisais
tucourtisais
il/ellecourtisait
nouscourtisions
vouscourtisiez
ils/ellescourtisaient

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
jecourtiseraisI would court
tucourtiseraisyou would court
il/ellecourtiseraithe/she/it would court
nouscourtiserionswe would court
vouscourtiseriezyou (pl.) would court
ils/ellescourtiseraientthey would court

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
jecourtiseraiI will court
tucourtiserasyou will court
il/ellecourtiserahe/she/it will court
nouscourtiseronswe will court
vouscourtiserezyou (pl.) will court
ils/ellescourtiserontthey will court

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 courtiséI have courted
tutu as courtiséyou have courted
il/elleil/elle a courtiséhe/she/it has courted
nousnous avons courtiséwe have courted
vousvous avez courtiséyou (pl.) have courted
ils/ellesils/elles ont courtiséthey have courted

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 courtiséI had courted
tutu avais courtiséyou had courted
il/elleil/elle avait courtiséhe/she/it had courted
nousnous avions courtiséwe had courted
vousvous aviez courtiséyou (pl.) had courted
ils/ellesils/elles avaient courtiséthey had courted

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

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 courtiséI will have courted
tutu auras courtiséyou will have courted
il/elleil/elle aura courtiséhe/she/it will have courted
nousnous aurons courtiséwe will have courted
vousvous aurez courtiséyou (pl.) will have courted
ils/ellesils/elles auront courtiséthey will have courted

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
jecourtise
tucourtises
il/ellecourtise
nouscourtisions
vouscourtisiez
ils/ellescourtisent

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
jecourtisasse
tucourtisasses
il/ellecourtisât
nouscourtisassions
vouscourtisassiez
ils/ellescourtisassent

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
tucourtise
nouscourtisons
vouscourtisez