dépasser — French conjugation

to exceed

Frequency#235Regular

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
jedépasseI exceed
tudépassesyou exceed
il/elledépassehe/she/it exceeds
nousdépassonswe exceed
vousdépassezyou (pl.) exceed
ils/ellesdépassentthey exceed

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
jedépassaiI exceeded
tudépassasyou exceeded
il/elledépassahe/she/it exceeded
nousdépassâmeswe exceeded
vousdépassâtesyou (pl.) exceeded
ils/ellesdépassèrentthey exceeded

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
jedépassais
tudépassais
il/elledépassait
nousdépassions
vousdépassiez
ils/ellesdépassaient

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
jedépasseraisI would exceed
tudépasseraisyou would exceed
il/elledépasseraithe/she/it would exceed
nousdépasserionswe would exceed
vousdépasseriezyou (pl.) would exceed
ils/ellesdépasseraientthey would exceed

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
jedépasseraiI will exceed
tudépasserasyou will exceed
il/elledépasserahe/she/it will exceed
nousdépasseronswe will exceed
vousdépasserezyou (pl.) will exceed
ils/ellesdépasserontthey will exceed

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 dépasséI have exceeded
tutu as dépasséyou have exceeded
il/elleil/elle a dépasséhe/she/it has exceeded
nousnous avons dépasséwe have exceeded
vousvous avez dépasséyou (pl.) have exceeded
ils/ellesils/elles ont dépasséthey have exceeded

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 dépasséI had exceeded
tutu avais dépasséyou had exceeded
il/elleil/elle avait dépasséhe/she/it had exceeded
nousnous avions dépasséwe had exceeded
vousvous aviez dépasséyou (pl.) had exceeded
ils/ellesils/elles avaient dépasséthey had exceeded

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

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 dépasséI will have exceeded
tutu auras dépasséyou will have exceeded
il/elleil/elle aura dépasséhe/she/it will have exceeded
nousnous aurons dépasséwe will have exceeded
vousvous aurez dépasséyou (pl.) will have exceeded
ils/ellesils/elles auront dépasséthey will have exceeded

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
jedépasse
tudépasses
il/elledépasse
nousdépassions
vousdépassiez
ils/ellesdépassent

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
jedépassasse
tudépassasses
il/elledépassât
nousdépassassions
vousdépassassiez
ils/ellesdépassassent

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
tudépasse
nousdépassons
vousdépassez