embaucher — French conjugation

to hire

Frequency#1368Regular

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
jeembaucheI hire
tuembauchesyou hire
il/elleembauchehe/she/it hires
nousembauchonswe hire
vousembauchezyou (pl.) hire
ils/ellesembauchentthey hire

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
jeembauchaiI hired
tuembauchasyou hired
il/elleembauchahe/she/it hired
nousembauchâmeswe hired
vousembauchâtesyou (pl.) hired
ils/ellesembauchèrentthey hired

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
jeembauchais
tuembauchais
il/elleembauchait
nousembauchions
vousembauchiez
ils/ellesembauchaient

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
jeembaucheraisI would hire
tuembaucheraisyou would hire
il/elleembaucheraithe/she/it would hire
nousembaucherionswe would hire
vousembaucheriezyou (pl.) would hire
ils/ellesembaucheraientthey would hire

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
jeembaucheraiI will hire
tuembaucherasyou will hire
il/elleembaucherahe/she/it will hire
nousembaucheronswe will hire
vousembaucherezyou (pl.) will hire
ils/ellesembaucherontthey will hire

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 embauchéI have hired
tutu as embauchéyou have hired
il/elleil/elle a embauchéhe/she/it has hired
nousnous avons embauchéwe have hired
vousvous avez embauchéyou (pl.) have hired
ils/ellesils/elles ont embauchéthey have hired

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 embauchéI had hired
tutu avais embauchéyou had hired
il/elleil/elle avait embauchéhe/she/it had hired
nousnous avions embauchéwe had hired
vousvous aviez embauchéyou (pl.) had hired
ils/ellesils/elles avaient embauchéthey had hired

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

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 embauchéI will have hired
tutu auras embauchéyou will have hired
il/elleil/elle aura embauchéhe/she/it will have hired
nousnous aurons embauchéwe will have hired
vousvous aurez embauchéyou (pl.) will have hired
ils/ellesils/elles auront embauchéthey will have hired

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
jeembauche
tuembauches
il/elleembauche
nousembauchions
vousembauchiez
ils/ellesembauchent

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
jeembauchasse
tuembauchasses
il/elleembauchât
nousembauchassions
vousembauchassiez
ils/ellesembauchassent

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
tuembauche
nousembauchons
vousembauchez