documenter — French conjugation

to document (to record in documents)

Frequency#385RegularReflexivese documenter — to inform oneself

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
jedocumenteI document
tudocumentesyou document
il/elledocumentehe/she/it documents
nousdocumentonswe document
vousdocumentezyou (pl.) document
ils/ellesdocumententthey document

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
jedocumentaiI documented
tudocumentasyou documented
il/elledocumentahe/she/it documented
nousdocumentâmeswe documented
vousdocumentâtesyou (pl.) documented
ils/ellesdocumentèrentthey documented

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
jedocumentais
tudocumentais
il/elledocumentait
nousdocumentions
vousdocumentiez
ils/ellesdocumentaient

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
jedocumenteraisI would document
tudocumenteraisyou would document
il/elledocumenteraithe/she/it would document
nousdocumenterionswe would document
vousdocumenteriezyou (pl.) would document
ils/ellesdocumenteraientthey would document

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
jedocumenteraiI will document
tudocumenterasyou will document
il/elledocumenterahe/she/it will document
nousdocumenteronswe will document
vousdocumenterezyou (pl.) will document
ils/ellesdocumenterontthey will document

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 documentéI have documented
tutu as documentéyou have documented
il/elleil/elle a documentéhe/she/it has documented
nousnous avons documentéwe have documented
vousvous avez documentéyou (pl.) have documented
ils/ellesils/elles ont documentéthey have documented

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 documentéI had documented
tutu avais documentéyou had documented
il/elleil/elle avait documentéhe/she/it had documented
nousnous avions documentéwe had documented
vousvous aviez documentéyou (pl.) had documented
ils/ellesils/elles avaient documentéthey had documented

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

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 documentéI will have documented
tutu auras documentéyou will have documented
il/elleil/elle aura documentéhe/she/it will have documented
nousnous aurons documentéwe will have documented
vousvous aurez documentéyou (pl.) will have documented
ils/ellesils/elles auront documentéthey will have documented

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
jedocumente
tudocumentes
il/elledocumente
nousdocumentions
vousdocumentiez
ils/ellesdocumentent

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
jedocumentasse
tudocumentasses
il/elledocumentât
nousdocumentassions
vousdocumentassiez
ils/ellesdocumentassent

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
tudocumente
nousdocumentons
vousdocumentez