divertir — French conjugation

to entertain

Frequency#536Regular

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
jedivertisI entertain
tudivertisyou entertain
il/elledivertithe/she/it entertains
nousdivertissonswe entertain
vousdivertissezyou (pl.) entertain
ils/ellesdivertissentthey entertain

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
jedivertisI entertained
tudivertisyou entertained
il/elledivertithe/she/it entertained
nousdivertîmeswe entertained
vousdivertîtesyou (pl.) entertained
ils/ellesdivertirentthey entertained

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
jedivertissais
tudivertissais
il/elledivertissait
nousdivertissions
vousdivertissiez
ils/ellesdivertissaient

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
jedivertiraisI would entertain
tudivertiraisyou would entertain
il/elledivertiraithe/she/it would entertain
nousdivertirionswe would entertain
vousdivertiriezyou (pl.) would entertain
ils/ellesdivertiraientthey would entertain

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
jedivertiraiI will entertain
tudivertirasyou will entertain
il/elledivertirahe/she/it will entertain
nousdivertironswe will entertain
vousdivertirezyou (pl.) will entertain
ils/ellesdivertirontthey will entertain

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 divertiI have entertained
tutu as divertiyou have entertained
il/elleil/elle a divertihe/she/it has entertained
nousnous avons divertiwe have entertained
vousvous avez divertiyou (pl.) have entertained
ils/ellesils/elles ont divertithey have entertained

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 divertiI had entertained
tutu avais divertiyou had entertained
il/elleil/elle avait divertihe/she/it had entertained
nousnous avions divertiwe had entertained
vousvous aviez divertiyou (pl.) had entertained
ils/ellesils/elles avaient divertithey had entertained

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

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 divertiI will have entertained
tutu auras divertiyou will have entertained
il/elleil/elle aura divertihe/she/it will have entertained
nousnous aurons divertiwe will have entertained
vousvous aurez divertiyou (pl.) will have entertained
ils/ellesils/elles auront divertithey will have entertained

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
jedivertisse
tudivertisses
il/elledivertisse
nousdivertissions
vousdivertissiez
ils/ellesdivertissent

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
jedivertisse
tudivertisses
il/elledivertît
nousdivertissions
vousdivertissiez
ils/ellesdivertissent

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
tudivertis
nousdivertissons
vousdivertissez