dompter — French conjugation

to tame (a wild animal), break in (a horse)

Frequency#1678Regular

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
jedompteI tame
tudomptesyou tame
il/elledomptehe/she/it tames
nousdomptonswe tame
vousdomptezyou (pl.) tame
ils/ellesdomptentthey tame

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
jedomptaiI tamed
tudomptasyou tamed
il/elledomptahe/she/it tamed
nousdomptâmeswe tamed
vousdomptâtesyou (pl.) tamed
ils/ellesdomptèrentthey tamed

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
jedomptais
tudomptais
il/elledomptait
nousdomptions
vousdomptiez
ils/ellesdomptaient

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
jedompteraisI would tame
tudompteraisyou would tame
il/elledompteraithe/she/it would tame
nousdompterionswe would tame
vousdompteriezyou (pl.) would tame
ils/ellesdompteraientthey would tame

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
jedompteraiI will tame
tudompterasyou will tame
il/elledompterahe/she/it will tame
nousdompteronswe will tame
vousdompterezyou (pl.) will tame
ils/ellesdompterontthey will tame

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 domptéI have tamed
tutu as domptéyou have tamed
il/elleil/elle a domptéhe/she/it has tamed
nousnous avons domptéwe have tamed
vousvous avez domptéyou (pl.) have tamed
ils/ellesils/elles ont domptéthey have tamed

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 domptéI had tamed
tutu avais domptéyou had tamed
il/elleil/elle avait domptéhe/she/it had tamed
nousnous avions domptéwe had tamed
vousvous aviez domptéyou (pl.) had tamed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient domptéthey had tamed

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

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 domptéI will have tamed
tutu auras domptéyou will have tamed
il/elleil/elle aura domptéhe/she/it will have tamed
nousnous aurons domptéwe will have tamed
vousvous aurez domptéyou (pl.) will have tamed
ils/ellesils/elles auront domptéthey will have tamed

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
jedompte
tudomptes
il/elledompte
nousdomptions
vousdomptiez
ils/ellesdomptent

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
jedomptasse
tudomptasses
il/elledomptât
nousdomptassions
vousdomptassiez
ils/ellesdomptassent

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
tudompte
nousdomptons
vousdomptez