crever — French conjugation

to burst

Frequency#98Irregular

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
jecrèveI burst
tucrèvesyou burst
il/ellecrèvehe/she/it bursts
nouscrevonswe burst
vouscrevezyou (pl.) burst
ils/ellescrèventthey burst

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
jecrevaiI burst
tucrevasyou burst
il/ellecrevahe/she/it burst
nouscrevâmeswe burst
vouscrevâtesyou (pl.) burst
ils/ellescrevèrentthey burst

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
jecrevais
tucrevais
il/ellecrevait
nouscrevions
vouscreviez
ils/ellescrevaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Irregular

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
jecrèveraisI would burst
tucrèveraisyou would burst
il/ellecrèveraithe/she/it would burst
nouscrèverionswe would burst
vouscrèveriezyou (pl.) would burst
ils/ellescrèveraientthey would burst

Future (Futur) Irregular

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
jecrèveraiI will burst
tucrèverasyou will burst
il/ellecrèverahe/she/it will burst
nouscrèveronswe will burst
vouscrèverezyou (pl.) will burst
ils/ellescrèverontthey will burst

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 crevéI have burst
tutu as crevéyou have burst
il/elleil/elle a crevéhe/she/it has burst
nousnous avons crevéwe have burst
vousvous avez crevéyou (pl.) have burst
ils/ellesils/elles ont crevéthey have burst

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 crevéI had burst
tutu avais crevéyou had burst
il/elleil/elle avait crevéhe/she/it had burst
nousnous avions crevéwe had burst
vousvous aviez crevéyou (pl.) had burst
ils/ellesils/elles avaient crevéthey had burst

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

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 crevéI will have burst
tutu auras crevéyou will have burst
il/elleil/elle aura crevéhe/she/it will have burst
nousnous aurons crevéwe will have burst
vousvous aurez crevéyou (pl.) will have burst
ils/ellesils/elles auront crevéthey will have burst

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
jecrève
tucrèves
il/ellecrève
nouscrevions
vouscreviez
ils/ellescrèvent

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
jecrevasse
tucrevasses
il/ellecrevât
nouscrevassions
vouscrevassiez
ils/ellescrevassent

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
tucrève
nouscrevons
vouscrevez