développer — French conjugation

to develop

Frequency#272Regular

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
jedéveloppeI develop
tudéveloppesyou develop
il/elledéveloppehe/she/it develops
nousdévelopponswe develop
vousdéveloppezyou (pl.) develop
ils/ellesdéveloppentthey develop

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
jedéveloppaiI developed
tudéveloppasyou developed
il/elledéveloppahe/she/it developed
nousdéveloppâmeswe developed
vousdéveloppâtesyou (pl.) developed
ils/ellesdéveloppèrentthey developed

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
jedéveloppais
tudéveloppais
il/elledéveloppait
nousdéveloppions
vousdéveloppiez
ils/ellesdéveloppaient

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
jedévelopperaisI would develop
tudévelopperaisyou would develop
il/elledévelopperaithe/she/it would develop
nousdévelopperionswe would develop
vousdévelopperiezyou (pl.) would develop
ils/ellesdévelopperaientthey would develop

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
jedévelopperaiI will develop
tudévelopperasyou will develop
il/elledévelopperahe/she/it will develop
nousdévelopperonswe will develop
vousdévelopperezyou (pl.) will develop
ils/ellesdévelopperontthey will develop

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 développéI have developed
tutu as développéyou have developed
il/elleil/elle a développéhe/she/it has developed
nousnous avons développéwe have developed
vousvous avez développéyou (pl.) have developed
ils/ellesils/elles ont développéthey have developed

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 développéI had developed
tutu avais développéyou had developed
il/elleil/elle avait développéhe/she/it had developed
nousnous avions développéwe had developed
vousvous aviez développéyou (pl.) had developed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient développéthey had developed

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

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 développéI will have developed
tutu auras développéyou will have developed
il/elleil/elle aura développéhe/she/it will have developed
nousnous aurons développéwe will have developed
vousvous aurez développéyou (pl.) will have developed
ils/ellesils/elles auront développéthey will have developed

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
jedéveloppe
tudéveloppes
il/elledéveloppe
nousdéveloppions
vousdéveloppiez
ils/ellesdéveloppent

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
jedéveloppasse
tudéveloppasses
il/elledéveloppât
nousdéveloppassions
vousdéveloppassiez
ils/ellesdéveloppassent

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
tudéveloppe
nousdéveloppons
vousdéveloppez