deviser — French conjugation

to devise

Frequency#326Regular

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
jedeviseI devise
tudevisesyou devise
il/elledevisehe/she/it devises
nousdevisonswe devise
vousdevisezyou (pl.) devise
ils/ellesdevisentthey devise

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
jedevisaiI devised
tudevisasyou devised
il/elledevisahe/she/it devised
nousdevisâmeswe devised
vousdevisâtesyou (pl.) devised
ils/ellesdevisèrentthey devised

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
jedevisais
tudevisais
il/elledevisait
nousdevisions
vousdevisiez
ils/ellesdevisaient

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
jedeviseraisI would devise
tudeviseraisyou would devise
il/elledeviseraithe/she/it would devise
nousdeviserionswe would devise
vousdeviseriezyou (pl.) would devise
ils/ellesdeviseraientthey would devise

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
jedeviseraiI will devise
tudeviserasyou will devise
il/elledeviserahe/she/it will devise
nousdeviseronswe will devise
vousdeviserezyou (pl.) will devise
ils/ellesdeviserontthey will devise

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 deviséI have devised
tutu as deviséyou have devised
il/elleil/elle a deviséhe/she/it has devised
nousnous avons deviséwe have devised
vousvous avez deviséyou (pl.) have devised
ils/ellesils/elles ont deviséthey have devised

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 deviséI had devised
tutu avais deviséyou had devised
il/elleil/elle avait deviséhe/she/it had devised
nousnous avions deviséwe had devised
vousvous aviez deviséyou (pl.) had devised
ils/ellesils/elles avaient deviséthey had devised

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

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 deviséI will have devised
tutu auras deviséyou will have devised
il/elleil/elle aura deviséhe/she/it will have devised
nousnous aurons deviséwe will have devised
vousvous aurez deviséyou (pl.) will have devised
ils/ellesils/elles auront deviséthey will have devised

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
jedevise
tudevises
il/elledevise
nousdevisions
vousdevisiez
ils/ellesdevisent

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
jedevisasse
tudevisasses
il/elledevisât
nousdevisassions
vousdevisassiez
ils/ellesdevisassent

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
tudevise
nousdevisons
vousdevisez