découler — French conjugation

to flow from

Frequency#103Regular

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
jedécouleI flow from
tudécoulesyou flow from
il/elledécoulehe/she/it flows from
nousdécoulonswe flow from
vousdécoulezyou (pl.) flow from
ils/ellesdécoulentthey flow from

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
jedécoulaiI flowed from
tudécoulasyou flowed from
il/elledécoulahe/she/it flowed from
nousdécoulâmeswe flowed from
vousdécoulâtesyou (pl.) flowed from
ils/ellesdécoulèrentthey flowed from

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
jedécoulais
tudécoulais
il/elledécoulait
nousdécoulions
vousdécouliez
ils/ellesdécoulaient

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
jedécouleraisI would flow from
tudécouleraisyou would flow from
il/elledécouleraithe/she/it would flow from
nousdécoulerionswe would flow from
vousdécouleriezyou (pl.) would flow from
ils/ellesdécouleraientthey would flow from

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
jedécouleraiI will flow from
tudécoulerasyou will flow from
il/elledécoulerahe/she/it will flow from
nousdécouleronswe will flow from
vousdécoulerezyou (pl.) will flow from
ils/ellesdécoulerontthey will flow from

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 découléI have flowed from
tutu as découléyou have flowed from
il/elleil/elle a découléhe/she/it has flowed from
nousnous avons découléwe have flowed from
vousvous avez découléyou (pl.) have flowed from
ils/ellesils/elles ont découléthey have flowed from

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 découléI had flowed from
tutu avais découléyou had flowed from
il/elleil/elle avait découléhe/she/it had flowed from
nousnous avions découléwe had flowed from
vousvous aviez découléyou (pl.) had flowed from
ils/ellesils/elles avaient découléthey had flowed from

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

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 découléI will have flowed from
tutu auras découléyou will have flowed from
il/elleil/elle aura découléhe/she/it will have flowed from
nousnous aurons découléwe will have flowed from
vousvous aurez découléyou (pl.) will have flowed from
ils/ellesils/elles auront découléthey will have flowed from

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
jedécoule
tudécoules
il/elledécoule
nousdécoulions
vousdécouliez
ils/ellesdécoulent

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
jedécoulasse
tudécoulasses
il/elledécoulât
nousdécoulassions
vousdécoulassiez
ils/ellesdécoulassent

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
tudécoule
nousdécoulons
vousdécoulez