divaguer — French conjugation

to digress

Frequency#421Regular

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
jedivagueI digress
tudivaguesyou digress
il/elledivaguehe/she/it digresses
nousdivaguonswe digress
vousdivaguezyou (pl.) digress
ils/ellesdivaguentthey digress

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
jedivaguaiI digressed
tudivaguasyou digressed
il/elledivaguahe/she/it digressed
nousdivaguâmeswe digressed
vousdivaguâtesyou (pl.) digressed
ils/ellesdivaguèrentthey digressed

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
jedivaguais
tudivaguais
il/elledivaguait
nousdivaguions
vousdivaguiez
ils/ellesdivaguaient

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
jedivagueraisI would digress
tudivagueraisyou would digress
il/elledivagueraithe/she/it would digress
nousdivaguerionswe would digress
vousdivagueriezyou (pl.) would digress
ils/ellesdivagueraientthey would digress

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
jedivagueraiI will digress
tudivaguerasyou will digress
il/elledivaguerahe/she/it will digress
nousdivagueronswe will digress
vousdivaguerezyou (pl.) will digress
ils/ellesdivaguerontthey will digress

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 divaguéI have digressed
tutu as divaguéyou have digressed
il/elleil/elle a divaguéhe/she/it has digressed
nousnous avons divaguéwe have digressed
vousvous avez divaguéyou (pl.) have digressed
ils/ellesils/elles ont divaguéthey have digressed

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 divaguéI had digressed
tutu avais divaguéyou had digressed
il/elleil/elle avait divaguéhe/she/it had digressed
nousnous avions divaguéwe had digressed
vousvous aviez divaguéyou (pl.) had digressed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient divaguéthey had digressed

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

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 divaguéI will have digressed
tutu auras divaguéyou will have digressed
il/elleil/elle aura divaguéhe/she/it will have digressed
nousnous aurons divaguéwe will have digressed
vousvous aurez divaguéyou (pl.) will have digressed
ils/ellesils/elles auront divaguéthey will have digressed

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
jedivague
tudivagues
il/elledivague
nousdivaguions
vousdivaguiez
ils/ellesdivaguent

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
jedivaguasse
tudivaguasses
il/elledivaguât
nousdivaguassions
vousdivaguassiez
ils/ellesdivaguassent

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
tudivague
nousdivaguons
vousdivaguez