disparaître — French conjugation

to disappear

Frequency#144Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jedisparaisI disappear
tudisparaisyou disappear
il/elledisparaîthe/she/it disappears
nousdisparaissonswe disappear
vousdisparaissezyou (pl.) disappear
ils/ellesdisparaissentthey disappear

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jedisparusI disappeared
tudisparusyou disappeared
il/elledisparuthe/she/it disappeared
nousdisparûmeswe disappeared
vousdisparûtesyou (pl.) disappeared
ils/ellesdisparurentthey disappeared

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jedisparaissais
tudisparaissais
il/elledisparaissait
nousdisparaissions
vousdisparaissiez
ils/ellesdisparaissaient

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
jedisparaîtraisI would disappear
tudisparaîtraisyou would disappear
il/elledisparaîtraithe/she/it would disappear
nousdisparaîtrionswe would disappear
vousdisparaîtriezyou (pl.) would disappear
ils/ellesdisparaîtraientthey would disappear

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
jedisparaîtraiI will disappear
tudisparaîtrasyou will disappear
il/elledisparaîtrahe/she/it will disappear
nousdisparaîtronswe will disappear
vousdisparaîtrezyou (pl.) will disappear
ils/ellesdisparaîtrontthey will disappear

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 disparuI have disappeared
tutu as disparuyou have disappeared
il/elleil/elle a disparuhe/she/it has disappeared
nousnous avons disparuwe have disappeared
vousvous avez disparuyou (pl.) have disappeared
ils/ellesils/elles ont disparuthey have disappeared

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 disparuI had disappeared
tutu avais disparuyou had disappeared
il/elleil/elle avait disparuhe/she/it had disappeared
nousnous avions disparuwe had disappeared
vousvous aviez disparuyou (pl.) had disappeared
ils/ellesils/elles avaient disparuthey had disappeared

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

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 disparuI will have disappeared
tutu auras disparuyou will have disappeared
il/elleil/elle aura disparuhe/she/it will have disappeared
nousnous aurons disparuwe will have disappeared
vousvous aurez disparuyou (pl.) will have disappeared
ils/ellesils/elles auront disparuthey will have disappeared

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jedisparaisse
tudisparaisses
il/elledisparaisse
nousdisparaissions
vousdisparaissiez
ils/ellesdisparaissent

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
jedisparusse
tudisparusses
il/elledisparût
nousdisparussions
vousdisparussiez
ils/ellesdisparussent

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
tudisparais
nousdisparaissons
vousdisparaissez