cuber — French conjugation

to cover

Frequency#236Regular

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
jecubeI cover
tucubesyou cover
il/ellecubehe/she/it covers
nouscubonswe cover
vouscubezyou (pl.) cover
ils/ellescubentthey cover

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
jecubaiI covered
tucubasyou covered
il/ellecubahe/she/it covered
nouscubâmeswe covered
vouscubâtesyou (pl.) covered
ils/ellescubèrentthey covered

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
jecubais
tucubais
il/ellecubait
nouscubions
vouscubiez
ils/ellescubaient

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
jecuberaisI would cover
tucuberaisyou would cover
il/ellecuberaithe/she/it would cover
nouscuberionswe would cover
vouscuberiezyou (pl.) would cover
ils/ellescuberaientthey would cover

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
jecuberaiI will cover
tucuberasyou will cover
il/ellecuberahe/she/it will cover
nouscuberonswe will cover
vouscuberezyou (pl.) will cover
ils/ellescuberontthey will cover

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 cubéI have covered
tutu as cubéyou have covered
il/elleil/elle a cubéhe/she/it has covered
nousnous avons cubéwe have covered
vousvous avez cubéyou (pl.) have covered
ils/ellesils/elles ont cubéthey have covered

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 cubéI had covered
tutu avais cubéyou had covered
il/elleil/elle avait cubéhe/she/it had covered
nousnous avions cubéwe had covered
vousvous aviez cubéyou (pl.) had covered
ils/ellesils/elles avaient cubéthey had covered

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

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 cubéI will have covered
tutu auras cubéyou will have covered
il/elleil/elle aura cubéhe/she/it will have covered
nousnous aurons cubéwe will have covered
vousvous aurez cubéyou (pl.) will have covered
ils/ellesils/elles auront cubéthey will have covered

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
jecube
tucubes
il/ellecube
nouscubions
vouscubiez
ils/ellescubent

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
jecubasse
tucubasses
il/ellecubât
nouscubassions
vouscubassiez
ils/ellescubassent

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
tucube
nouscubons
vouscubez