empresser — French conjugation

to hurry

Frequency#282Regular

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
jeempresseI hurry
tuempressesyou hurry
il/elleempressehe/she/it hurries
nousempressonswe hurry
vousempressezyou (pl.) hurry
ils/ellesempressentthey hurry

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
jeempressaiI hurried
tuempressasyou hurried
il/elleempressahe/she/it hurried
nousempressâmeswe hurried
vousempressâtesyou (pl.) hurried
ils/ellesempressèrentthey hurried

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
jeempressais
tuempressais
il/elleempressait
nousempressions
vousempressiez
ils/ellesempressaient

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
jeempresseraisI would hurry
tuempresseraisyou would hurry
il/elleempresseraithe/she/it would hurry
nousempresserionswe would hurry
vousempresseriezyou (pl.) would hurry
ils/ellesempresseraientthey would hurry

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
jeempresseraiI will hurry
tuempresserasyou will hurry
il/elleempresserahe/she/it will hurry
nousempresseronswe will hurry
vousempresserezyou (pl.) will hurry
ils/ellesempresserontthey will hurry

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 empresséI have hurried
tutu as empresséyou have hurried
il/elleil/elle a empresséhe/she/it has hurried
nousnous avons empresséwe have hurried
vousvous avez empresséyou (pl.) have hurried
ils/ellesils/elles ont empresséthey have hurried

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 empresséI had hurried
tutu avais empresséyou had hurried
il/elleil/elle avait empresséhe/she/it had hurried
nousnous avions empresséwe had hurried
vousvous aviez empresséyou (pl.) had hurried
ils/ellesils/elles avaient empresséthey had hurried

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

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 empresséI will have hurried
tutu auras empresséyou will have hurried
il/elleil/elle aura empresséhe/she/it will have hurried
nousnous aurons empresséwe will have hurried
vousvous aurez empresséyou (pl.) will have hurried
ils/ellesils/elles auront empresséthey will have hurried

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
jeempresse
tuempresses
il/elleempresse
nousempressions
vousempressiez
ils/ellesempressent

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
jeempressasse
tuempressasses
il/elleempressât
nousempressassions
vousempressassiez
ils/ellesempressassent

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
tuempresse
nousempressons
vousempressez