dévaster — French conjugation

to devastate, to destroy

Frequency#317Regular

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
jedévasteI devastate
tudévastesyou devastate
il/elledévastehe/she/it devastates
nousdévastonswe devastate
vousdévastezyou (pl.) devastate
ils/ellesdévastentthey devastate

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
jedévastaiI devastated
tudévastasyou devastated
il/elledévastahe/she/it devastated
nousdévastâmeswe devastated
vousdévastâtesyou (pl.) devastated
ils/ellesdévastèrentthey devastated

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
jedévastais
tudévastais
il/elledévastait
nousdévastions
vousdévastiez
ils/ellesdévastaient

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
jedévasteraisI would devastate
tudévasteraisyou would devastate
il/elledévasteraithe/she/it would devastate
nousdévasterionswe would devastate
vousdévasteriezyou (pl.) would devastate
ils/ellesdévasteraientthey would devastate

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
jedévasteraiI will devastate
tudévasterasyou will devastate
il/elledévasterahe/she/it will devastate
nousdévasteronswe will devastate
vousdévasterezyou (pl.) will devastate
ils/ellesdévasterontthey will devastate

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 dévastéI have devastated
tutu as dévastéyou have devastated
il/elleil/elle a dévastéhe/she/it has devastated
nousnous avons dévastéwe have devastated
vousvous avez dévastéyou (pl.) have devastated
ils/ellesils/elles ont dévastéthey have devastated

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 dévastéI had devastated
tutu avais dévastéyou had devastated
il/elleil/elle avait dévastéhe/she/it had devastated
nousnous avions dévastéwe had devastated
vousvous aviez dévastéyou (pl.) had devastated
ils/ellesils/elles avaient dévastéthey had devastated

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

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 dévastéI will have devastated
tutu auras dévastéyou will have devastated
il/elleil/elle aura dévastéhe/she/it will have devastated
nousnous aurons dévastéwe will have devastated
vousvous aurez dévastéyou (pl.) will have devastated
ils/ellesils/elles auront dévastéthey will have devastated

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
jedévaste
tudévastes
il/elledévaste
nousdévastions
vousdévastiez
ils/ellesdévastent

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
jedévastasse
tudévastasses
il/elledévastât
nousdévastassions
vousdévastassiez
ils/ellesdévastassent

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
tudévaste
nousdévastons
vousdévastez