élancer — French conjugation

to leap

Frequency#110Irregular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Irregular

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
jeélanceI leap
tuélancesyou leap
il/elleélancehe/she/it leaps
nousélançonswe leap
vousélancezyou (pl.) leap
ils/ellesélancentthey leap

Simple past (Passé simple) Irregular

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
jeélançaiI leaped
tuélançasyou leaped
il/elleélançahe/she/it leaped
nousélançâmeswe leaped
vousélançâtesyou (pl.) leaped
ils/ellesélancèrentthey leaped

Imperfect (Imparfait) Irregular

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
jeélançais
tuélançais
il/elleélançait
nousélancions
vousélanciez
ils/ellesélançaient

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
jeélanceraisI would leap
tuélanceraisyou would leap
il/elleélanceraithe/she/it would leap
nousélancerionswe would leap
vousélanceriezyou (pl.) would leap
ils/ellesélanceraientthey would leap

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
jeélanceraiI will leap
tuélancerasyou will leap
il/elleélancerahe/she/it will leap
nousélanceronswe will leap
vousélancerezyou (pl.) will leap
ils/ellesélancerontthey will leap

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 élancéI have leaped
tutu as élancéyou have leaped
il/elleil/elle a élancéhe/she/it has leaped
nousnous avons élancéwe have leaped
vousvous avez élancéyou (pl.) have leaped
ils/ellesils/elles ont élancéthey have leaped

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 élancéI had leaped
tutu avais élancéyou had leaped
il/elleil/elle avait élancéhe/she/it had leaped
nousnous avions élancéwe had leaped
vousvous aviez élancéyou (pl.) had leaped
ils/ellesils/elles avaient élancéthey had leaped

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

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 élancéI will have leaped
tutu auras élancéyou will have leaped
il/elleil/elle aura élancéhe/she/it will have leaped
nousnous aurons élancéwe will have leaped
vousvous aurez élancéyou (pl.) will have leaped
ils/ellesils/elles auront élancéthey will have leaped

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
jeélance
tuélances
il/elleélance
nousélancions
vousélanciez
ils/ellesélancent

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
jeélançasse
tuélançasses
il/elleélançât
nousélançassions
vousélançassiez
ils/ellesélançassent

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
tuélance
nousélançons
vousélancez