enceindre — French conjugation

to encircle

Frequency#1372Irregular

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
jeenceinsI encircle
tuenceinsyou encircle
il/elleenceinthe/she/it encircles
nousenceignonswe encircle
vousenceignezyou (pl.) encircle
ils/ellesenceignentthey encircle

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
jeenceignisI encircled
tuenceignisyou encircled
il/elleenceignithe/she/it encircled
nousenceignîmeswe encircled
vousenceignîtesyou (pl.) encircled
ils/ellesenceignirentthey encircled

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
jeenceignais
tuenceignais
il/elleenceignait
nousenceignions
vousenceigniez
ils/ellesenceignaient

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
jeenceindraisI would encircle
tuenceindraisyou would encircle
il/elleenceindraithe/she/it would encircle
nousenceindrionswe would encircle
vousenceindriezyou (pl.) would encircle
ils/ellesenceindraientthey would encircle

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
jeenceindraiI will encircle
tuenceindrasyou will encircle
il/elleenceindrahe/she/it will encircle
nousenceindronswe will encircle
vousenceindrezyou (pl.) will encircle
ils/ellesenceindrontthey will encircle

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 enceintI have encircled
tutu as enceintyou have encircled
il/elleil/elle a enceinthe/she/it has encircled
nousnous avons enceintwe have encircled
vousvous avez enceintyou (pl.) have encircled
ils/ellesils/elles ont enceintthey have encircled

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 enceintI had encircled
tutu avais enceintyou had encircled
il/elleil/elle avait enceinthe/she/it had encircled
nousnous avions enceintwe had encircled
vousvous aviez enceintyou (pl.) had encircled
ils/ellesils/elles avaient enceintthey had encircled

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

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 enceintI will have encircled
tutu auras enceintyou will have encircled
il/elleil/elle aura enceinthe/she/it will have encircled
nousnous aurons enceintwe will have encircled
vousvous aurez enceintyou (pl.) will have encircled
ils/ellesils/elles auront enceintthey will have encircled

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Irregular

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
jeenceigne
tuenceignes
il/elleenceigne
nousenceignions
vousenceigniez
ils/ellesenceignent

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
jeenceignisse
tuenceignisses
il/elleenceignît
nousenceignissions
vousenceignissiez
ils/ellesenceignissent

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
tuenceins
nousenceignons
vousenceignez