effondrer — French conjugation

to collapse

Frequency#256Regular

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
jeeffondreI collapse
tueffondresyou collapse
il/elleeffondrehe/she/it collapses
nouseffondronswe collapse
vouseffondrezyou (pl.) collapse
ils/elleseffondrentthey collapse

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
jeeffondraiI collapsed
tueffondrasyou collapsed
il/elleeffondrahe/she/it collapsed
nouseffondrâmeswe collapsed
vouseffondrâtesyou (pl.) collapsed
ils/elleseffondrèrentthey collapsed

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
jeeffondrais
tueffondrais
il/elleeffondrait
nouseffondrions
vouseffondriez
ils/elleseffondraient

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
jeeffondreraisI would collapse
tueffondreraisyou would collapse
il/elleeffondreraithe/she/it would collapse
nouseffondrerionswe would collapse
vouseffondreriezyou (pl.) would collapse
ils/elleseffondreraientthey would collapse

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
jeeffondreraiI will collapse
tueffondrerasyou will collapse
il/elleeffondrerahe/she/it will collapse
nouseffondreronswe will collapse
vouseffondrerezyou (pl.) will collapse
ils/elleseffondrerontthey will collapse

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 effondréI have collapsed
tutu as effondréyou have collapsed
il/elleil/elle a effondréhe/she/it has collapsed
nousnous avons effondréwe have collapsed
vousvous avez effondréyou (pl.) have collapsed
ils/ellesils/elles ont effondréthey have collapsed

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 effondréI had collapsed
tutu avais effondréyou had collapsed
il/elleil/elle avait effondréhe/she/it had collapsed
nousnous avions effondréwe had collapsed
vousvous aviez effondréyou (pl.) had collapsed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient effondréthey had collapsed

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

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 effondréI will have collapsed
tutu auras effondréyou will have collapsed
il/elleil/elle aura effondréhe/she/it will have collapsed
nousnous aurons effondréwe will have collapsed
vousvous aurez effondréyou (pl.) will have collapsed
ils/ellesils/elles auront effondréthey will have collapsed

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
jeeffondre
tueffondres
il/elleeffondre
nouseffondrions
vouseffondriez
ils/elleseffondrent

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
jeeffondrasse
tueffondrasses
il/elleeffondrât
nouseffondrassions
vouseffondrassiez
ils/elleseffondrassent

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
tueffondre
nouseffondrons
vouseffondrez