dévaler — French conjugation

to run down

Frequency#3Regular

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
jedévaleI run down
tudévalesyou run down
il/elledévalehe/she/it runs down
nousdévalonswe run down
vousdévalezyou (pl.) run down
ils/ellesdévalentthey run down

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
jedévalaiI ran down
tudévalasyou ran down
il/elledévalahe/she/it ran down
nousdévalâmeswe ran down
vousdévalâtesyou (pl.) ran down
ils/ellesdévalèrentthey ran down

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
jedévalais
tudévalais
il/elledévalait
nousdévalions
vousdévaliez
ils/ellesdévalaient

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
jedévaleraisI would run down
tudévaleraisyou would run down
il/elledévaleraithe/she/it would run down
nousdévalerionswe would run down
vousdévaleriezyou (pl.) would run down
ils/ellesdévaleraientthey would run down

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
jedévaleraiI will run down
tudévalerasyou will run down
il/elledévalerahe/she/it will run down
nousdévaleronswe will run down
vousdévalerezyou (pl.) will run down
ils/ellesdévalerontthey will run down

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 dévaléI have run down
tutu as dévaléyou have run down
il/elleil/elle a dévaléhe/she/it has run down
nousnous avons dévaléwe have run down
vousvous avez dévaléyou (pl.) have run down
ils/ellesils/elles ont dévaléthey have run down

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 dévaléI had run down
tutu avais dévaléyou had run down
il/elleil/elle avait dévaléhe/she/it had run down
nousnous avions dévaléwe had run down
vousvous aviez dévaléyou (pl.) had run down
ils/ellesils/elles avaient dévaléthey had run down

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

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 dévaléI will have run down
tutu auras dévaléyou will have run down
il/elleil/elle aura dévaléhe/she/it will have run down
nousnous aurons dévaléwe will have run down
vousvous aurez dévaléyou (pl.) will have run down
ils/ellesils/elles auront dévaléthey will have run down

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
jedévale
tudévales
il/elledévale
nousdévalions
vousdévaliez
ils/ellesdévalent

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
jedévalasse
tudévalasses
il/elledévalât
nousdévalassions
vousdévalassiez
ils/ellesdévalassent

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
tudévale
nousdévalons
vousdévalez